In January 2010, John Fahey, president, CEO, and chairman of the board of trustees' executive committee of the Washington, D.C.-based National Geographic Society (NGS), must decide how best to organize the 121-year old mission-driven organization for a world of accelerating digital convergence and decreasing magazine sales. Historically a proponent of evolutionary change, he is considering a radical move: creating a senior management position responsible for e-commerce to coordinate web-based offerings and outreach across the Society's various departments, transition NGS from its many disparate and independent direct mail efforts to a more integrated and strategic e-commerce strategy, and leverage the NGS relationship with its members-currently defined as magazine subscribers, since a subscription comes with Society membership. Putting the final touches on the position and its reporting arrangements has led to significant debate within the organization, and Fahey is torn about how to proceed.Learning Objective: This case is designed to show students how leaders manage change in an unpredictable and highly uncertain environment, especially at an iconic organization that is strongly mission-driven. National Geographic is a world-renowned brand, well known for its magazine and environmental commitments. The CEO has long espoused an evolutionary approach to change, but is now facing a world where digital technology and multimedia products threaten to cannibalize and replace the organization's primary revenue source, its magazine. Students consider the nature of mission-driven organizations, the challenges of altering long-established, complacent cultures, the need for accompany shifts in organizational structure and roles, and the best approach to strategy making in an environment that is rapidly changing. The case can be paired with another case, "Time Life, Inc. (A)," HBS No. 395-012, which features the same CEO facing a similar set of challenges in the media business over a decade earlier. Students can compare the two situations and develop lessons about the need to adapt one's leadership style in analogous but somewhat different circumstances.


The relevance of innovation as source of competitive advantage is clearly justified in the literature (Adner and Kapoor, 2010; Song and Thieme, 2009). In particular, knowledge, as well as all items related to organizational learning, represents a main factor contributing to the innovation success (i.e., Song and Parry, 1997). In this sense, different authors have emphasized the importance that external sources of knowledge possess for the development and success of the innovation capability (Li and Tang, 2010; Spithoven et al., 2010). The globalization of manufacturing companies is closely linked to the globalization of distribution activities (Mattsson, 2003). It can be said that globalization of retailers drives globalization of manufacturing companies. So the latter will be influenced by the supply conditions of the target markets, the possibilities to supply new markets, or the possible threat to be replaced by alternative suppliers (Ruiz, 2000, Etemad, 2004). At the same time, supply chains have progressively become more international and complex (Monczka and Trent, 2005), representing principal sources of competitive advantage in terms of availability of technological and organizational competencies and access to minor operative costs (Pagano, 2009). The international supply tends increasingly to be considered as a strategic tool chasing to take advantage of the previous advantages. Consequently, organizations should promote this critical organizational relational capability (Kotabe and Murray, 2004).


Cyber assurance of heavy trucks is a major concern with new designs as well as with supporting legacy systems. Many cyber security experts and analysts are used to working with traditional information technology (IT) networks and are familiar with a set of technologies that may not be directly useful in the commercial vehicle sector. To help connect security researchers to heavy trucks, a remotely accessible testbed has been prototyped for experimentation with security methodologies and techniques to evaluate and improve on existing technologies, as well as developing domain-specific technologies. The testbed relies on embedded Linux-based node controllers that can simulate the sensor inputs to various heavy vehicle electronic control units (ECUs). The node controller also monitors and affects the flow of network information between the ECUs and the vehicle communications backbone. For example, a node controller acts as a clone that generates analog wheel speed sensor data while at the same time monitors or controls the network traffic on the J1939 and J1708 networks. The architecture and functions of the node controllers are detailed. Sample interaction with the testbed is illustrated, along with a discussion of the challenges of running remote experiments. Incorporating high fidelity hardware in the testbed enables security researchers to advance the state of the art in hardening heavy vehicle ECUs against cyber-attacks. How the testbed can be used for security research is presented along with an example of its use in evaluating seed/key exchange strength and in intrusion detection systems (IDSs). CITATION: Daily, J., Gamble, R., Moffitt, S., Raines, C. et al., "Towards a Cyber Assurance Testbed for Heavy Vehicle Electronic Controls," SAE Int. J. Commer. Veh. 9(2):2016, doi:10.4271/2016-01-8142. 2016-01-8142 Published 09/27/2016 Copyright © 2016 SAE International doi:10.4271/2016-01-8142 saecomveh.saejournals.org 339 Downloaded from SAE International by Colorado State Univ, Wednesday, June 21, 2017


Previous investigations of antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) by human leukocytes indicated that lymphocytes and granulocytes, but not monocytes, lysed tumor cell targets. We have recently shown that monocytes, too, can carry out ADCC toward at least three allogeneic tumor cell lines. This paper examines the characteristics of ADCC by all three Fc receptor-bearing human leukocytes (monocytes, lymphocytes, and granulocytes) toward the same antibody-coated 51Cr-labeled tumor target cells. For each leukocyte effector, ADCC was found to be temperature dependent and rapid, with most target cell lysis occurring within 4 hr of incubation. The extent of target cell destruction was positively related to the effector cell/target cell ratio and to the degree of antibody sensitization of the target cells. ADCC was clearly antibody dependent since the cytotoxic event did not involve nonantibody-coated "innocent bystander" target cells and was inhibited by staphylococcal Protein A and nonspecific monomeric immunoglobulin. Granulocyte ADCC required considerably larger amounts of target cell-bound antibody than did ADCC by lymphocytes and monocytes. Conversely, larger amounts of monomeric immunoglobulin were required to inhibit granulocyte ADCC as compared to monocyte and lymphocyte ADCC in experiments utilizing identical antibody-coated target cells. In innocent by-stander experiments, no evidence for a soluble mediator of target cell lysis was found for any of the effector leukocytes. We suggest that this experimental system which involves three Fc receptor-bearing human leukocyte populations and identical antibody-coated target cell preparations provides a new and unique method for studying this cell-mediated cytotoxic event.


The Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen of the EC Joint Research Centre (IPSC-JRC) has been mandated to perform a study on the Radio Frequency (RF) threat against telecommunications and ICT control systems. This study is divided into two parts. The rst part concerns the assessment of high energy radio frequency (HERF) threats, where the focus is on the generation of electromagnetic pulses (EMP), the development of corresponding devices and the possible impact on ICT and power distribution systems. The second part of the study concerns radio frequency interference (RFI) with regard to global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). This document contributes to the second part and contains a detailed literature study disclosing the weaknesses of GNSS systems. Whereas the HERF analysis only concerns intentional interference issues, this study on GNSS also takes into account unintentional interference, enlarging the spectrum of plausible interference scenarios. The mission of the JRC is to provide customer-driven scientific and technical support for the conception, de- velopment, implementation and monitoring of EU policies. As a service of the European Commission, the JRC functions as a reference centre of science and technology for the Union. Close to the policy-making process, it serves the common interest of the Member States, while being independent of special interests, whether private or national LB -N A -2242-E N -C


The prediction of resources in IOT platform plays important role in the network environment for the deployment application such as workload management, capacity planning, and dynamic allocation. In this paper we develop a new prediction model for the predicting multiple resources as per requirement needs. The new model is ARMA (Auto Regressive Moving Average) is to predict with highest accuracy of resource needs of different application in terms of, Bandwidth, RAM, Storage, CPU utilization. The new model is also predicting the throughput and response time, which intern enable the clients to have good scaling decision. The new model gives us a optimal solution as compared to other models. IoT is able to greatly improve the resource utilization of smart devices and promote the harmony between man-made and natural environments. Utilized as resources which is to run a composite service that supports user tasks. This heterogeneous device interaction causes difficulties to interact with the devices while gathering real time information management and monitoring from the environment.


The ease of use and robustness of genome editing by CRISPR/Cas9 has led to successful use of gene knockout zebrafish for disease modeling. However, it still remains a challenge to precisely edit the zebrafish genome to create single-nucleotide substitutions, which account for ~60% of human disease-causing mutations. Recently developed base editing nucleases provide an excellent alternate to CRISPR/Cas9-mediated homology dependent repair for generation of zebrafish with point mutations. A new set of cytosine base editors, termed BE4max and AncBE4max, demonstrated improved base editing efficiency in mammalian cells but have not been evaluated in zebrafish. Therefore, we undertook this study to evaluate their efficiency in converting C:G to T:A base pairs in zebrafish by somatic and germline analysis using highly active sgRNAs to twist and ntl genes. Our data demonstrated that these improved BE4max set of plasmids provide desired base substitutions at similar efficiency and without any indels compared to the previously reported BE3 and Target-AID plasmids in zebrafish. Our data also showed that AncBE4max produces fewer incorrect and bystander edits, suggesting that it can be further improved by codon optimization of its components for use in zebrafish.


Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are very popular in today's embedded systems design, and Partial Runtime-Reconfigurable (PRTR) FPGAs allow HW tasks to be placed and removed dynamically at runtime. Hardware task scheduling on PRTR FPGAs brings many challenging issues to traditional real-time scheduling theory, which have not been adequately addressed by the research community compared to software task scheduling on CPUs. In this article, we consider the schedulability analysis problem of HW task scheduling on PRPR FPGAs. We derive utilization bounds for several variants of global preemptive/nonpreemptive EDF scheduling, and compare the performance of different utilization bound tests.


Immunoproteomics approach applied on affective disorder and schizophrenia patient CSF samples yielded a number of candidate autoantigens. An overall analysis of those candidates revealed that impairment of myelination might have a role in etiology of such psychiatric disorders.

Validations were based on phage ELISA that is applied on the most prominent autoantigen candidate obtained from phage display selection. In parallel, a conventional ELISA by recombinant peptide rather then purified phage, helped reproduce the results that imply a tendency of autoimmune reactivity in patient CSF samples compared to controls. Comparison of these results with the closest family members of the candidate protein mapping to the same N-terminal sequence revealed that, the sequence obtained by phage display is more antigenic than its homologues.

Genomic expression profile of selected candidate and three other functionally related schizophrenia susceptibility genes were studied on mRNA in brain and spinal cord of mice, from postnatal day one until postnatal day forty-two. We could observe patterns of expression that may suggest a possible interplay of candidate proteins in the relevant neuronal maintenance mechanism.

Our approach using cDNA phage display used in the identification of autoantigens in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases of the CNS is quite feasible despite several drawbacks like high false-positive number.

Finally, our results may raise interest on myelination related proteins that may have roles in schizoaffective symptoms. However, strictly more effort has to be implemented to confirm and get more insight on our findings, for example developing mouse models and studying a broader range of serum and CSF samples.


Noise hunting is a critical requirement for realizing design sensitivity of a detector, and consequently, noise origins and its features have been revealed partially. Among the noise sources to be hunted, sources of nonlinearly correlated noise, such up-conversion noise, are hard to find and can limit the sensitivity of gravitational wave searches with advanced detectors. We propose using a correlation analysis method called maximal information coefficient (MIC) to find both nonlinear and linear correlations. We apply MIC to the scattered light noise correlated between the seismic activity and the strain signal, which limited the sensitivity of the Virgo detector during the first science run. The results show that MIC can find nonlinearly correlated noise more efficiently than the Pearson correlation method. When the data is linearly correlated, the efficiency of the Pearson method and MIC is comparable. On the other hand, when the data is known to be nonlinearly correlated, MIC finds the correlation while the Pearson method fails completely.


This paper focuses on online education and generic competences such as criticism and creativity. It brings to the fore theories that address processes of meaning making (i.e., a psychological constructionist account of the brain basis of emotion-the conceptual act model (Lindquist et al., 2012; Barrett et al., 2014) and reflect on various patterns of meaning making comprising those that lead to criticism and creativity (i.e., the Deleuzian and Guattarian (1987; 2009) philosophical accounts of affect, concept and stratum) to inspire pedagogical practices that aim to create critically-creative abilities among students. Concomitantly, it seeks to reflect on how such pedagogical undertakings can be actualized in online education and on the possibilities online environment offers to promote criticism and creativity among graduates. By posing questions related to teaching methods, learning activities, software and hardware, and their combinations in online education, and by addressing and problematizing concepts and phenomena of immersion and DFI-digital facial image, I will make an effort to not only highlight, what I call, the promises of cyberspace, but also ponder on how the aforementioned pedagogical practices can be actualized online.


Lately, satellite operators have been showing growing interest in all-electric satellites, which help slash the total budget of a satellite program and make the use of the radio frequency spectrum more efficient. However, due to certain technological features of electric propulsion sub-systems, it takes more time to move an all-electric satellite to its destination after the launch compared to a conventional chemically propelled satellite. Considering that the terms for putting various types of satellites into operation differ, while regulatory deadlines for bringing frequency assignments into use are the same for all types of satellites, the factor of time becomes a formidable obstacle preventing a wide use of all-electric satellites. At the same time, a rational, equitable, efficient, and economical use of the radio frequency spectrum is one of the tasks of the International Telecommunication Union and its Member States are encouraged to apply the latest technical advances as soon as possible. Will this United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies be able to respond to the current needs of the world space industry and secure all-electric satellites equal rights in outer space?


Objective:To comprehensively evaluate the association between the positive expression rate of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) by using Meta-analysis.Method:Search the CNKI, Wan fang, VIP and PubMed database for accumulating papers studying on the relationship between the positive expression of TGF-β1 and PTC in Chinese and English. Revman 5.3 was used to analyze the included trials.Result:A total of 6 studies comprising 617 samples was included in the meta-analysis. The TGF-β1 were found in 243 patients (64.63%) of 376 PTC patients, and the total positive expression rate is 46.19%. Performing the subgroup analysis according to age, gender, lymphatic metastasis and TNM, the results showed that there was a significant association between the positive expression rate of TGF-β1 and lymphatic metastasis (OR=5.44, 95%CI3.31-8.93,P <0.000 01).Conclusion:This meta-analysis confirmed significant associations between the expression of TGF-β1 and PTC with lymph node metastasis. TGF-β1 may be used as a predictive factor for prognosis of PTC with lymph node metastasis.


The objective of the study is to evaluate the potential of LNG as a vehicle fuel, to determine market niches, and to identify needed technology improvements. The white paper is being issued when the work is approximately 30 percent complete to preview the study direction, draw preliminary conclusions, and make initial recommendations. Interim findings relative to LNG vehicle technology, economics, and safety are presented. It is important to decide if heavier hydrocarbons should be allowed in LNG vehicle fuel. Development of suitable refueling couplings and vehicle fuel supply pressure systems are recommended. Initial economics analyses considered transit buses and pickup and delivery trucks fueled via onsite liquefiers and imported LNG. Net user costs were more than (but in some cases close to) those for diesel fuel and gasoline. Lowering the cost of small-scale liquefiers would significantly improve the economics of LNG vehicles. New emissions regulations may introduce considerations beyond simple cost comparisons. LNG vehicle safety and available accident data are reviewed. Consistent codes for LNG vehicles and refueling facilities are needed.


Nearly all cellular functions are mediated by protein-protein interactions and mapping the interactome provides fundamental insights into the regulation and structure of biological systems. In principle, affinity purification coupled to mass spectrometry (AP-MS) is an ideal and scalable tool, however, it has been difficult to identify low copy number complexes, membrane complexes and those disturbed by protein-tagging. As a result, our current knowledge of the interactome is far from complete, and assessing the reliability of reported interactions is challenging. Here we develop a sensitive, high-throughput, and highly reproducible AP-MS technology combined with a quantitative two-dimensional analysis strategy for comprehensive interactome mapping of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We reduced required cell culture volumes thousand-fold and employed 96-well formats throughout, allowing replicate analysis of the endogenous green fluorescent protein (GFP) tagged library covering the entire expressed yeast proteome. The 4159 pull-downs generated a highly structured network of 3,909 proteins connected by 29,710 interactions. Compared to previous large-scale studies, we double the number of proteins (nodes in the network) and triple the number of reliable interactions (edges), including very low abundant epigenetic complexes, organellar membrane complexes and non-taggable complexes interfered by abundance correlation. This nearly saturated interactome reveals that the vast majority of yeast proteins are highly connected, with an average of 15 interactors, the majority of them unreported so far. Similar to social networks between humans, the average shortest distance is 4.2 interactions. A web portal (www.yeast-interactome.org) enables exploration of our dataset by the network and biological communities and variations of our AP-MS technology can be employed in any organism or dynamic conditions.


Two inkjet heads that discharge ink of the same color as in a first cyan inkjet head (20C1) and a second cyan inkjet head (20C2) are provided. The first cyan inkjet head (20C1) and the second cyan inkjet head (20C2) are disposed so that the respective positions in the conveyance direction of the cans (10) differ from each other and are disposed so that the positions in the axial direction of the cans (10) differ from each other. A first magenta inkjet head (20M1) for discharging magenta ink is provided at a position adjacent to the second cyan inkjet head (20C2) in the axial direction of the cans (10).


This study aims to complement previous studies on down-regulation of sucrose synthase and cinnamate 4-hydroxylase in hybrid aspen (Bjurhager et al. 2010; Gerber et al. 2014) with a quantitative anatomical comparison (Sandquist et al. 2015). The main focus was placed on evaluating quantitative modifications to fiber morphology and lignin composition. This was achieved by combining results from light-, electron-, and UV-microscopy together with histochemical staining. Overall there was good agreement between the morphological results in this study compared to the previously published chemical and physical reports, particularly on cinnamate 4-hydroxylase down-regulated aspen. The previously reported statistical correlations between fiber lumen area and plant diameter, and fiber length and tree height (Sandquist et al. 2015) have been further refined. Knock-down of genes coding for biologically important proteins such as sucrose synthase and cinnamate 4-hydroxylase had broad spanning morphological impacts. Down-regulated sucrose synthase genotype showed significantly reduced fiber development, possibly with altered S/G ratio. Down-regulated cinnamate 4-hydroxylase genotype showed an overall reduction of lignin in fibers as indicated from both chemical staining and UV-microscopy measurements. Down-regulated pectate lyase genotype showed no overall significant effects on fiber morphology, ultrastructural, nor lignin staining.


Scandium and yttrium carbonyl cations produced in the gas phase via laser vaporization are mass selected and studied with infrared laser spectroscopy in the C-O stretching region. Mass spectra, ion fragmentation behavior, and infrared spectra, complemented by computational chemistry, establish the coordination numbers and structures of these complexes. Sc(+) does not form the eight-coordinate 18-electron complex but instead produces a 16-electron seven-coordinate species. However, Y(+) forms the anticipated eight-coordinate structure. Density functional theory computations provide structures and corresponding vibrational spectra for these complexes. Sc(CO)7(+) has a C3v capped octahedral structure, while Y(CO)8(+) forms a D4d square antiprism. The C-O stretches at 2086 and 2087 cm(-1) for Sc(CO)7(+) and Y(CO)8(+), respectively, are among the most red-shifted frequencies measured for any transition metal carbonyl cation.


The efficient mechanism of light capture by photosynthetic proteins allows for energy transfer and conversion to electrochemical energy at very low light intensities. In this work, reaction center (RC) proteins, or a core complex consisting of the RC encircled by light harvesting (LH1) proteins (RC-LH1) from photosynthetic bacteria, were immobilized on an insulating layer of an ion-sensitive field-effect transistor (ISFET) to build bio-photodetectors. The orientation of the RC proteins was controlled via application of a hybrid linker made of 10-carboxydecylphosphonic acid and cytochrome c that anchored the RCs to their electron donor side. Bio-phototransistors consisting of either the core RC or the RC-LH1 core complex were tested under white and monochromic light. The difference between the dark and light currents at different wavelengths are well-matched with the absorption spectrum of the photosynthetic proteins. The results show potential for the use of photosynthetic proteins in photodetectors.


We give a full description of locally finite 2-groups G such that the normalized group of units of the group algebra FG over a field F of characteristic 2 has exponent 4.


Accurate knowledge of the surgical anatomy of the hepatic veins and inferior vena cava is indispensable for surgeons, since catastrophes usually occur in this area. Material from 83 autopsies was examined concerning the patterns of ramifications of the hepatic veins along with right suprarenal and inferior phrenic veins as well as the length of the various segments of the inferior vena cava. Various maneuvers performed during operations on the liver are dependent upon the surgical anatomy of the hepatic veins and the inferior vena cava.


In two or more-dimensional systems where the components of the sample data are strongly correlated, it is not proper to divide the input space into several subspaces without considering the correlation. In this paper, we propose the usage of the method of principal component in order to uncorrelate and remove any redundancy from the input space or the adaptive-neuro fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS). This leads to an effective partition of the input space to the fuzzy model and significantly reduces the modeling error. A computer simulation for three frequently used benchmark problems shows that ANFIS with the uncorrelation process performs better than the original ANFIS.


The aim of this study was to explore the clinical characteristics and treatment of acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). The clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, differential diagnoses, therapeutic methods, and prognosis of 55 patients with acquired TTP were retrospectively analyzed. Among the 55 TTP patients, 17 were males and 38 were females, with a mean age of 40 ± 15 years. Twenty‐one patients had the Triad syndrome, which included neurological syndromes, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, and thrombocytopenia. Twenty‐three patients had the Quinary syndrome, which included fever, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, renal insufficiency, and neurological symptoms. Twenty‐eight patients received the measurement for a disintegrin and metalloprotease with a thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13 (ADAMTS13) activity and 23 patients had <10% of the normal range. ADAMTS13 inhibitor was tested in 20 patients and was positive in 18 patients. Both ADAMTS13 activity and ADAMTS13 inhibitor were examined in 20 patients and 90% of the patients showed double positive results. The treatment methods included plasma exchange, glucocorticoids, rituximab, immunosuppressants, and intravenous immunoglobulin. Thirty‐three patients survived, and 22 patients died. Plasma exchange improved the remission rate from 16.7% to 65.3% (P = .022). The combined immunosuppressive therapy based on plasma exchange and glucocorticoids raised the remission rate from 43.8% to 75.8%. Most of acquired TTP patients had the Triad syndrome or the Quinary syndrome. A high proportion of TTP patients had ADAMTS13 activity reduction and ADAMTS13 inhibitor positivity. Plasma exchange and immunosuppressive therapy may improve the prognosis of this disease.


Magd. 42, not in the revised form given by Gueraud in P. Enteuxeis. The introduction is too brief to be informative but manages in its short compass to be misleading, as when it is implied that all the ' Fayum Papyri' of 1877 went into the Rainer collection and that all the papyri found by Grenfell and Hunt at Behnesa in 1897 formed part of the contents of a single record-office. But these and other blemishes do not destroy the value of a volume which is certainly to be welcomed.


The many researches of recommendation technique already have been performed. These techniques were used mostly content-based filtering, collaborative filtering or hybrid filtering approach. They are performed the recommendation using userpsilas rating, user similarity, itempsilas features, user profiles. They consider several features of user and user profiles but they do not consider a quality of items itself. Because they donpsilat be able to efficiently define the quality definition of all item and they donpsilat be able to easily get user feedbacks. To solve the difficulty of the measurement of item quality and apply item quality as a weight to recommendation techniques, we measure item quality through popularity of item and user awareness. And we propose an approach to apply item quality to recommendation.


In a wide variety of engineering applications, the mathematical model cannot be fully identified. Therefore, one would like to construct robust operators (filters, classifiers, controllers etc.) that perform optimally relative to incomplete knowledge. Improving model identification through determining unknown parameters can enhance the performance of robust operators. One would like to perform the experiment that provides the most information relative to the engineering objective. The authors present an experimental design framework for parameter estimation in signal processing when the random process model is in the form of canonical expansions. The proposed experimental design is based on the concept of the mean objective cost of uncertainty, which quantifies model uncertainty by taking into account the performance degradation of the designed operator owing to the presence of uncertainty. They provide the general framework for experimental design in the context of canonical expansions and solve it for two major signal processing problems: optimal linear filtering and signal detection.


OBJECTIVES
The study compared the transurethral resection in saline (TURis), transurethral vaporization in saline (TUVis), bipolar plasma enucleation of the prostate (BPEP), and open prostatectomy (OP) in a single-center, prospective, randomized controlled clinical setting exclusively involving large prostate patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
During a 4½ year enrollment period, 320 cases of prostate volume over 80 mL, maximum flow rate (Qmax) below 10 mL/second, International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) over 19, or urinary retention were included in the trial and equally randomized in the four study arms. Patients were assessed preoperatively as well as at the 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up checkups using the IPSS, quality of life (QoL) score, Qmax, postvoiding residual urinary volume (PVR), and prostate-specific antigen (PSA).

RESULTS
Similar preoperative parameters were established in the four series. OP and BPEP were characterized by resembling operating times, while TURis and TUVis displayed prolonged surgical durations. TURis emphasized a substantially decreased mean resected tissue weight. TUVis showed the lowest mean hemoglobin level drop, followed by TURis and BPEP (equivalent results) and finally OP (highest bleeding). OP described the longest mean catheterization period and hospital stay, followed by TURis, and afterward by TUVis and BPEP (similar data). During the follow-up period, statistically equivalent IPSS, QoL, Qmax, and PVR outcomes were established for OP, BPEP, and TURis. TUVis displayed significantly smaller Qmax improvements, but similar other functional features. Significantly lower mean PSA levels were determined secondary to OP and BPEP when compared to bipolar resection and subsequently to vaporization.

CONCLUSIONS
OP and BPEP emphasized the highest surgical efficiency (prolonged postoperative recovery for OP), while TUVis displayed the lowest hemorrhagic risks. On the medium term, generally resembling functional outcomes were determined for the four techniques, with significantly decreased mean PSA values secondary to OP and BPEP.


Migration induces complex processes of human transformation that are usually not reflected in theories that describe these changes. In most theories regarding these transformations, the implicit assumption is that immigrants undergo a transition to the culture of the mainstream population according to a modernization perspective. Based on a review of the literature as well as through illustrations with empirical data, it is argued that current conceptualizations, such as acculturation, cannot capture the complexities of the transformations that take place when multiple cultural traditions come into contact with each other. In this paper, alternative models of understanding the cultural complexities in migration settings are proposed with a focus on how these apply to child rearing practices.


Bacillus thuringiensis is a well-known species of entomophathogenic bacteria that is widely used as a biopesticide against many insect pests. It produces parasporal crystals (-endotoxin) and endospores during sporulation. In this report, the -endotoxin produced by Bacillus thuringiensis BT-1 and BT-2 were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope(TEM), SDS-PACE, and solubilization activity by alkaline solution. BT-1, BT-2 were cultured in the GBY medium, and the -endotoxin of them was purified with discontinuous sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Their -endotoxin was observed by SEM and TEM. Morphologically, the -endotoxin of BT-1 was a square and flat type, whose size was , and the -endotoxin of the BT-2 was spherical form whose size was determined by SEM and TEM. The -endotoxin of the BT-1 was composed of 28 kDa and 21 kDa, however, it of the BT-2 was composed of 50 kDa, 35 kDa, and 22 kDa bands determined by SDS-PACE. The purified crystals of BT-1 and BT-2 were dissolved gradually in alkaline solution as time goes by, and it was perfectly dissolved after 3 hours. It is supposed that the -endotoxin of crystal was converted to a state of activation in the course of time in the intestines of insect.


In an attempt to reassess the accuracy of the roentgenologic diagnosis of chronic bronchitis, we have studied the chest radiographs of approximately 300 men comprising roughly equal numbers of normal subjects and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Emphasis has been placed on the thickness of bronchial walls visualized end-on in the parahilar zones, identified in roughly 80% of both groups. Step-wise discriminant analysis of six variables showed that the median estimate of bronchial wall thickness was of some value in discrimination.


It is well known that the eighteenth century Scottish philosopher and sceptic David Hume was a severe critic of religious belief, but what may not be so familiar, and has been brought to our attention in recent years by Isaiah Berlin, is that some religious believers have found in Hume's sceptical arguments a source of nurture for their religious faith. In particular, Berlin singles out the example of Hume's contemporary, Johann Georg Hamann (17388), a devout but unconventional believer as well as one of the leaders of the German Counter-Enlightenment. Hamann's primary claim to fame, however, rests upon his influence upon the Danish theologian, Soren Kierkegaard. Although Kierkegaard never met Hamann, he was familiar with his writings, and calls Hamann 'his only teacher.' Kierkegaard's vast influence on modern Christianity, especially Protestantism, is, of course, a commonplace. What, though, is often overlooked, and Berlin calls our attention to, is that this man who influenced Kierkegaard was himself deeply influenced by Hume. The student of religion, as well as the philosopher, cannot help but be struck by this historical connection between Hume and believers such as Johann Hamann and thus, ultimately, between David Hume and modern Protestantism.


The organogenesis of inflorescences, flowers, and fruits was followed for 2 yr in a male and a female tree of eastern cottonwood, Populus deltoides. Soon after anthesis, an inflorescence for the next year is initiated as a continuation of the apical meristem in most axillary buds of the extension shoot of the current year. Bract and then floral primordia arise helically, and by the end of summer all floral appendages are evident. Individual perianth parts are evident early in ontogeny but not at anthesis; they are vascularized independently by distal traces of discrete vascular strands that also serve the androecium or gynoecium. The stamens arise and are vascularized in centrifugal order, the first- and last-formed stamens receiving their traces from the proximal and subdistal divisions, respectively, of the discrete vascular strands serving groups of stamens. There is no external evidence of stamen fascicles. Centrifugal polyandry is interpreted as a derived state in Populus. The usual number of carpels in P. deltoides is three, but two and four are not rare, and two is probably the plesiomorphic state for the genus.


23 year old female presented with involuntary movement of right upper and lower limb of 2 years duration. Apparently normal since 2 years back developed sudden onset of involuntary movements and weakness of right upper and lower limbs. On examination patient had choreiform movements of right upper limb and lower limb, right hemi paresis with power 4/5 .On neuroimaging, MRI brain showed decreased perfusion in caudate, lentiform nucleus and anterior limb of internal capsule with multiple ischemic areas in the cerebral parenchyma; suggestive of CNS vasculitis. On rheumatological evaluation, positive for anti-nuclear antibody (ANA). ANA profile was positive for Anti- Ro- 52 antibodies. Patient was on maintenance immunotherapy with oral steroids and immunosuppressant. Patient had 3 episodes of involuntary movements of right upper and lower limbs in the past 2 years. This episode of involuntary movements lasted for 10 days, since she discontinued the maintenance immunotherapy. The involuntary movements subsided one week after restarting the immunotherapy. These involuntary movements are choreiform in nature.


The present study aims to purify and characterize lectin from tartary buckwheat seeds and study its properties as well as biological activities to determine its possible biomedical applications in promoting maturation and proliferation of peripheral blood DCs derived from healthy donors and to study the effect of inducing apoptosis in human leukemia U937 cells. A novel tartary buckwheat lectin (TBL) protein, purified from tartary buckwheat seeds, showed a single band with a molecular mass of 65 kDa in SDS-PAGE. The purified TBL hemagglutinated both human and animal erythrocytes and showed preference for blood type O and the rabbit blood type. TBL is active at up to 60°C, and it is acid- and alkali-stable. TBL (25 μg/mL) combined with 5 x 10(-5) M rhIL-4 promotes maturation and proliferation of peripheral blood dendritic cells (DCs), which is stronger than that promoted by rhTNF-α (20 ng/mL). Exposure of DCs to 50 μg/mL TBL for 48 h resulted in extensive upregulation of maturation markers CD83 and CD40. These TBL-DCs were capable of producing several pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-10 (IL-10) and interleukin-12 (IL-12). The results of the treatment of human leukemia U937 cells with TBL in doses of 12.5, 25, 50, and 100 μg/mL showed that tartary buckwheat-derived lectin induces apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. Our results encourage the use of tartary buckwheat and tartary buckwheat-derived lectins as immunopotentiating foods, targeted to strengthen immune responses and display a potential dietary supplement for cancer prevention.


Bone non-union after fracture, considered a therapeutic challenge for orthopedics, always needs a reversion surgery, including autograft transplantation (AGT). However, adverse events related to autograft harvest cannot be ignored. Our group designed a novel system called the bone marrow stem cell Screen-Enrich-Combine Circulating System (SECCS) by seeding mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) during surgery to thereafter rapidly process bioactive bone implantation. In this retrospective case-control study, 30 non-union patients who accepted SECCS therapy and 20 non-union patients who accepted AGT were enrolled. By SECCS therapy, the MSC-enriched β-TCP particles were implanted into the non-union gap. During the enrichment procedure, a significant proportion of MSCs were screened and enriched from bone marrow into porous β-TCP particles, and the cells possessed the capacity for three-line differentiation and were CD90+/CD105+/CD34-/CD45-. Approximately 82.0±10.7% of MSCs were enriched from 60 mL bone marrow without damaging cell viability, and approximately 11,444.0±6,018 MSCs were transplanted per patient. No implant-related infections occurred in any case. After 9 months of follow-up, 27 patients (90%) in the SECCS group acquired clinical union, compared with 18 patients (90%) in the AGT group (clinical union time, P = 0.064), and postoperative radiographic union score at 9 months post-operation was similar between the two groups. In conclusion, the SECCS could concentrate a large proportion of MSCs from bone marrow to acquire enough effective cells for therapy without in vitro cell culture. Bone substitutes processed by SECCS demonstrated encouraging promotion of bone regeneration and showed a satisfactory clinical curative effect for diaphyseal bone non-union, which was non-inferior to AGT.


In this paper, the transient inertial viscoelastic flow around a circular cylinder is investigated numerically. A second order finite-volume method is used to increase the numerical accuracy. Here, the Giesekus model is used as the constitutive equation. This nonlinear model has prominent ability in describing normal stress differences and viscosity in power-law regions. The impacts of the elasticity and Reynolds number on the shedding frequency are discussed. Also, drag reduction phenomenon in the viscoelastic flow is studied by extracting pressure distribution on the cylinder surface. The obtained results are in good agreement with recent experimental and numerical investigations reported in the literature for Newtonian fluids.


Crowd counting aims to predict the number of people and generate the density map in the image. There are many challenges, including varying head scales, the diversity of crowd distribution across images and cluttered backgrounds. In this paper, we propose a multi-scale context aggregation network (MSCANet) based on single column encoder-decoder architecture for crowd counting, which consists of an encoder based on dense context-aware module (DCAM) and a hierarchical attention-guided decoder. To handle the issue of scale variation, we construct the DCAM to aggregate multi-scale contextual information through densely connecting the dilated convolution with varying receptive fields. The proposed DCAM can capture rich contextual information of crowd areas due to its long-range receptive fields and dense scale sampling. Moreover, to suppress the background noise and generate a high-quality density map, we adopt a hierarchical attention-guided mechanism in the decoder. This helps to integrate more useful spatial information from shallow feature maps of the encoder by introducing multiple supervision based on semantic attention module (SAM). Extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed approach achieves better performance than other similar state-of-the-art methods on three challenging benchmark datasets for crowd counting. The code is available at https://github.com/KingMV/MSCANet.


Trade measures play several important functions in multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). However, because they restrict the free flow of goods between countries, these measures also potentially conflict with trade rules contained in the WTO Agreements. This paper demonstrates how the most important MEAs employ trade measures to further their objectives and how this might clash with WTO rules. It is shown that a potential for conflict clearly exists even though no country has ever challenged a measure purportedly undertaken in pursuance of a MEA before the WTO. Several policy options for reconciliation are examined and an amendment of GATT rules to introduce a MEA savings clause, possibly combined with a certification of specific measures by MEA secretariats, is found to be the preferred option.


Advances in the use of health care technology have resulted in increased adverse events (AEs) related to the use of medical devices. The study focused on the existing reporting systems. This study was conducted in a tertiary care public sector hospital. Devices included Syringe infusion pumps, Cardiac monitors, Pulse oximeters, Ventilators and Defibrillators. A total of 211 respondents were recruited. Interviews were held with 30 key informants. Medical records were scrutinized. Relevant statistical tests were used. Resident doctors reported maximum frequency of AEs, followed by nurses; and least by consultants. A significant association was found between the cadre of health care personnel and awareness that the patients and bystanders have a risk of sustaining AE. Awareness regarding reporting of AEs was low, and it was generally done verbally. Other critical findings are discussed in the light of the barriers to reporting, reasons for non-compliance, recording system, and so on. Keywords—Adverse events, health care technology, public sector hospital, reporting systems.


RSAC-6 is the latest version of the RSAC program. It calculates the consequences of a release of radionuclides to the atmosphere. Using a personal computer, a user can generate a fission product inventory; decay and in-grow the inventory during transport through processes, facilities, and the environment; model the downwind dispersion of the activity; and calculate doses to downwind individuals. Internal dose from the inhalation and ingestion pathways is calculated. External dose from ground surface and plume gamma pathways is calculated. New and exciting updates to the program include the ability to evaluate a release to an enclosed room, resuspension of deposited activity and evaluation of a release up to 1 meter from the release point. Enhanced tools are included for dry deposition, building wake, occupancy factors, respirable fraction, AMAD adjustment, updated and enhanced radionuclide inventory and inclusion of the dose-conversion factors from FGR 11 and 12.


This article reports findings from an empirical study of Settlement Week mediation in four general civil trial courts. Nearly all parties and lawyers had favorable assessments of the mediation process, the mediator and, in cases that settled, the agreement. The only mediator qualification that increased the likelihood of settlement was the mediators' level of mediation experience. The mediators' hours of training, years in law practice, and expertise in the subject matter of the case were not related to settlement. Although the mediators' recommending a particular resolution increased the likelihood of settlement, it did so at the expense of parties' perceptions of fairness. Findings regarding the effect of other mediator qualifications and actions on settlement and on participants' assessments are also discussed.


IEEE 802.16e amendments for the mesh mode do not specify particular QoS mechanisms. However, each Mesh Subscriber Station (MSS) transmits its own traffic and forwards the traffic of its children while each traffic flow has its particular QoS constraints. As all forwarded traffics use the same link, one MSS may experience starvation or act selfishly. Besides, the MSS's mobility adds important complexity as all the affected flows need to be re-routed, re-admitted and re-scheduled while respecting their original QoS requirements. In this paper, we adopt the concept of assigning five virtual nodes to each MSS reflecting the five QoS classes of IEEE 802.16e and we propose scheduling the uplink transmissions of the real-time Polling Service (rtPS) traffic class by adopting the Genetic Algorithms concept. We define the priority assigner component which communicates with the scheduler of the mesh BS in order to set and update flows' priority and we optimize the time spent by a flow in the queue while implementing the mobility constraints within the mutation function.


Speech recognition in a noisy environment is one of the hottest topics in the speech recognition research. Noise-tolerant acoustic models or noise reduction techniques are often used to improve recognition accuracy. In this paper, we propose a method to improve accuracy of spoken dialog system from a language model point of view. In the proposed method, the dialog system automatically changes its language model and dialog strategy according to the estimated recognition accuracy in a noisy environment in order to keep the performance of the system high. In a noise-free environment, the system accepts any utterance from a user. On the other hand, the system restricts its grammar and vocabulary in a noisy environment. To realize this strategy, we investigated a method to avoid the user's out-of-grammar utterances through an instruction given by the system to a user. Furthermore, we developed a method to estimate recognition accuracy from features extracted from noise signals. Finally, we realized a proposed dialog system according to these investigations.


This paper presents an efficient technique to prune deep and/or wide convolutional neural network models by eliminating redundant features (or filters). Previous studies have shown that over-sized deep neural network models tend to produce a lot of redundant features that are either shifted version of one another or are very similar and show little or no variations; thus resulting in filtering redundancy. We propose to prune these redundant features along with their connecting feature maps according to their differentiation and based on their relative cosine distances in the feature space, thus yielding smaller network size with reduced inference costs and competitive performance. We empirically show on select models and CIFAR-10 dataset that inference costs can be reduced by 40% for VGG-16, 27% for ResNet-56, and 39% for ResNet-110.


Coupling robber pad are important components in railway vehicles. It can be used for reduce shock, vibration and noise. Simple tension, equi-biaxial tension and pure shear test were performed to acquire the coefficient of robber material which were Mooney-Rivlin and Ogden model. The finite element analysis was executed to evaluate the behavior of deformation and stress distribution by using the commercial finite element analysis code. Useful life evaluation are very important in design procedure to assure the safety and reliability of the robber components. In this paper, useful life prediction of rubber pad for railway vehicle were experimentally investigated. Accelerated heat-aging test for rubber material were carried. Compression set results changes as the threshold are used for assessment of the useful life and time to threshold value were plotted against reciprocal of absolute temperature to give the Arrhenius plot.


Primaquine (PQ), a synthetic compound with potent antimalarial activity is characterized by low plasma half life, requiring frequent administration leading to several undesired side effects, patient incompliance. The objective of the present study was to design an extended release formulation incorporating PQ in hydrophillic matrix composed of HPMC,Sodium CMC, Sodium alginate. Effects of polymeric dispersions of ethyl cellulose (EC) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was also studied. Tablets were prepared by wet granulation method. The results of angle of repose ( Sodium CMC>Sodium alginate, which was further sustained by polymeric dispersions of EC and PVP. The kinetics of drugs showed extended release of up to 20 hrs (F3) following non fickian diffusion (0.45


While available evidence suggests that the events of September 11th negatively influenced the relative earnings of employees with Arab background in the US, it is not clear that they had similar effects in other countries. Our study for Germany provides evidence that the events also affected the relative earnings of Muslims outside the US. However, the results show that there was no uniform effect on all types of Muslims across all types of firms. Accounting for moderating factors, a significantly negative effect can only be found for low-skilled Muslims employed in small- and medium-sized firms. This conforms to theoretical expectations. Moreover, we demonstrate that defining appropriate treatment and control groups is crucial for identifying the effects.


While continuously developing high-performance chemoresistive gas sensors, reducing device power consumption is not negligible. One of the most efficient ways is to enable gas sensors to work close to room temperature. In this work, we present a gas sensor based on hexagonal tin disulfide (SnS2) nanoplates for sensitive and reversible NO2 sensing at room temperature. Two-dimensional SnS2 nanoplates are synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method using Triton X-100 as a surfactant. The sensor exhibits a high response of 15.6 for 50 ppm NO2 with an experimental limit of detection of 50 ppb at room temperature. Besides, excellent linearity, outstanding selectivity, and reliable long-term stability within 40 d are also demonstrated during the experiment process. The sensing mechanism of this sensor could be explained as the physisorption and charge transfer between NO2 molecules and SnS2 nanoplates, which make it possible for the sensor to work at such a low operating temperature. Our research resulted in a SnS2 nanoplate-based sensor that may pave a new way for effective NO2 detection in the future.


"A picture is worth more than thousand words "is a common saying. What a image can communicate can not be expressed through words. Images play an indispensable role in representing vital information and needs to be saved for further use or can be transmitted over a medium. In order to have efficient utilization of disk space and transmission rate, images need to be compressed. Image compression is the technique of reducing the file size of a image without compromising with the image quality at a acceptable level. This reduction in file size saves disk/.memory space and allows faster transmission of images over a medium. Image compression is been used from a long time and many algorithms have been devised. In this paper we have converted an image into an array using Delphi image control tool. Image control can be used to display a graphical image Icon (ICO), Bitmap (BMP), Metafile (WMF), GIF, JPEG, etc, then an algorithm is created in Delphi to implement Huffman coding method that removes redundant codes from the image and compresses a BMP image file (especially grayscale image) and it is successfully reconstructed. This reconstructed image is an exact representation of the original because it is lossless compression technique. This Program can also be applied on other kind of RGB images (BMP, JPEF, Gif, and tiff) but it gives some color quality loss after reconstruction .Compression ratio for grayscale image is better as compared to other standard methods.


2-(3-Methyl-1,3-diazabuten-1-yl)-3-ethoxycarbonylthiophenes are phosphorylated with phosphorus(III) halides in basic media at position 5 of the thiophene ring. Up to three heteroaromatic substituents can be introduced one by one at the same phosphorus atom. On this basis, mono-, bis-, and trishetaryl substituted P(III) and P(V) derivatives have been obtained. Phosphorylated 2-(N,Ndimethylformamidino)-3-ethoxycarbonylthiophenes provide a synthetic access to phosphorylated thienopyrimidines. C © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 12:641–651, 2001


Abstract Here we summarize an April 2016, 7-patient cluster of human adenovirus (HAdV) infections in a cardiothoracic surgery intensive care unit. We show that the patients were infected with a single HAdV21b type. Rapid HAdV typing diagnostics and effective antiviral interventions are needed for immunocompromised patients suffering from HAdV infections.


Restaurant review platforms such as Yelp and TripAdvisor have received an increasing amount of photos in the review submissions. These photos provide additional values to the reviews as previous literature has shown that platform users generally perceive them as being useful. As such, the choice of the "cover images" (i.e., the representative images of each restaurant) can potentially influence the level of user engagement in the platform. However, the selection of such images is time consuming and often requires human intervention. Meanwhile, it is particularly challenging to develop a quantitative approach to systematically assess the images on their effectiveness in increasing user engagement. In this study, we collaborate with a large-scale review platform in Asia to investigate this issue. We discuss two different image selection designs, namely the crowd-based and AI-based systems. The AI-based system, which is used to learn complex latent image features, is further enhanced through the feature representation transfer process to overcome lack of high-quality labeled data. In addition to the holdout evaluation method, we conduct a randomized field experiment to objectively evaluate the effectiveness of both designs and show that the AI-based system can outperform the crowd in selecting images that stimulate user interactions. Post-hoc analyses using observational data are conducted to identify underlying mechanisms that drive the superior performance of the AI-based system.


Plenty of approaches to stabilize chained nonholonomic systems have been proposed in the literature. However, the stabilization with constrained inputs is seldom addressed. This problem has practical importance since all physical nonholonomic systems have actuator limitations. In this article, a novel switching control design is proposed. The design strategy is inspired by the structural similarity between chained nonholonomic systems and multiple-integrator systems. The key idea is to make u1 to be piecewise constant, which renders the rest of the states a chain of constant weighted integrators. Moreover, since the saturation control u2 eventually works in a linear region with fixed eigenvalues, a buffer zone for x1 is introduced to ensure the convergence of the rest of the states. The effectiveness of the proposed design is verified by computer simulations.


""Heidegger and Modernity" is an intervention in the Heidegger debate in France which many may see as decisive. Its central claim is that the responses of left Heideggerians to continuing disclosures regarding Heidegger's Nazi affiliations fail to come to terms with central ambiguities in his philosophical responses, both early and late, to modernity and technology. . . . Incisive and hard hitting, Luc Ferry and Alain Renault have condensed in a short and tightly organized book both a judicious and well-informed account of the Heidegger question and an implicit defence of humanism which has a strong political resonance." Liam O'Sullivan, "Political Studies""


This paper describes a management platform for a web client side of internet-based electrical engineering lab using SSH framework. This experiment platform covers 6 subjects, dividing users into 6 levels of authority to manage. Because of the excellent scalability, the management platform can be developed into an integrative system with combination of virtual and physical experiment.


This paper examines how a local community has tried to legalise its possession of land in the outskirts of the city of Medan, Indonesia. In the absence of accessible legal pathways and in the face of state and gang violence, the community has resorted to an imaginative mimicry of legal land access procedures. This paper argues that law-making does not exclusively originate from the state, but also from society, and as such the community has effectively created legal facts. Data were collected through interviews and long-term contact with the community.


Ribonuclease protection assay was used to demonstrate mRNA expression of several cytokines as well as inducible NO synthase (iNOS), constitutive endothelial NO synthase (cNOS) and perforin in the myocardium during the course of experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM) in rats. Interleukin 2 (IL-2) appeared in the initial inflammatory phase (day 14), subsided in the maximum inflammatory phase (day 19) and disappeared by the recovery phase (day 25). mRNA of IL-3 beta, interferon gamma INF-gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) were detected only in the maximum inflammatory phase and iNOS also appeared for several days at this time. In contrast. IL-10 mRNA was detected after the maximum inflammatory stage and persisted into the recovery phase (days 25-36). Although transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) could be detected in all phases, the expression was markedly enhanced in the maximum inflammatory phase and gradually diminished (around day 36) to basal levels. Perforin mRNA was not detected at any point in the disease. Besides macrophages and CD4 T cells, a number of neutrophils were found in the myocardium especially at peak inflammatory stage. We suggest that antigen (Ag) primed Ag presenting cells or macrophages interact with T cells (Th1) to produce IL-2 and subsequent IFN-gamma, which further activates macrophages in the myocardium. Consequently, TNF-alpha and iNOS may inflict tissue damage to myocardium. It is also suggested that TGF-beta) and one representative Th2 cytokine, IL-10, help inhibit inflammation. These findings suggest that Th1 and Th2 cytokines are produced at different stages of EAM and modulate the inflammation and the course of EAM.


The recently introduced cardiac troponins are highly sensitive and specific markers for myocardial cell necrosis. The availability of these markers required a change in the classical definition of acute myocardial infarction. This definition of acute myocardial infarction, issued in 2000 by the American College of Cardiology and the European Society of Cardiology, requires elevation of cardiac biomarkers (preferably troponins). The new definition has multiple medical, epidemiological, social, occupational and other implications. As many as 30% of patients previously diagnosed with unstable angina now receive the diagnosis of myocardial infarction. These additional patients change the epidemiology of acute myocardial infarction. New approaches to issues of insurance and employment following myocardial infarction are necessary following the introduction of the new definition. A few aspects of the new definition of myocardial infarction remain controversial, especially those regarding mild myocardial damage following percutaneous coronary intervention. The Israel Heart Society has recently joined other such Societies in the world and endorsed the new definition. While some further refinement of the definition is probably required, we believe it is the best tool available today for the working diagnosis of myocardial infarction and call upon physicians to learn it and use it on a routine basis.


Didemnum molle, a colonial ascidian that harbors the symbiotic cyanophyte Prochloron spp., is distributed throughout the coral reefs of the Indo—West Pacific Ocean. Several morphotypes of D. molle are characterized by the color and size of their colonies. Previous molecular phylogeny inferred from gene sequences for the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) identified four morphotypes (i.e., gray, brown, white, and large) from several sites in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan. With the addition of 17 specimens, including another morphotype (small), from several collection sites (Taiwan and the Ryukyus), the present report demonstrates genetic separation among the five morphotypes based on COI sequences. A number of sexually mature specimens of the different morphotypes were collected at the same times and sites, indicating reproductive isolation among morphotypes.


Anaerobic consortia obtained from a wide variety of environments were tested for oxidizing several ecologically significant substrates with the humic model compound, anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonate (AQDS), as terminal electron acceptor. All the substrates, including hydrogen, acetate, propionate, methanol and lactate, were completely or partially converted to methane when bicarbonate was the only electron acceptor available. Addition of AQDS (20 mM) to the cultures prevented methanogenesis in most cases and AQDS reduction became the preferred pathway. AQDS was shown to be toxic for methanogenesis and this effect played an important role in enabling quinone-respiring bacteria to outcompete methanogens. Furthermore, AQDS respiration is thermodynamically more favorable than methanogenesis. All the consortia evaluated were capable of oxidizing hydrogen linked to the reduction of AQDS. Most inocula tested were also able to oxidize acetate and lactate in the same way. When methanol was provided as an electron donor competition between methanogenesis and acetogenesis occurred. Acetate accumulated from the latter process was responsible for quinone respiration. These results suggest that quinone-respiring bacteria are ubiquitous and that quinones in humus may significantly contribute to carbon cycling process by serving as a terminal electron acceptor for the anaerobic microbial oxidation of a wide variety of ecologically important substrates.


A composite right/left handed (CRLH) transmission line (TL) phase shifter, using ferroelectric (Ba/sub 0.25/Sr/sub 0.75/TiO/sub 3/) varactors as tunable element, is presented for the first time. It is theoretically and experimentally demonstrated how the unique features of CRLH TLs, enables a differential phase shift with flat frequency dependence around the center frequency. The experimental prototype is a coplanar design integrated on a high resistive Si substrate. It includes four CRLH T-unit cells and has a physical length of 3850/spl mu/m. The ferroelectric varactors are realized in parallel plate version. Under 15-V dc bias applied over each varactor, the differential phase shift is flat around 17GHz and has an absolute value of 50/spl deg/.


Graphical abstract Abstract Various host and parasite factors interact to determine the outcome of infection. We investigated the effects of two factors on the within-host dynamics of malaria in mice: initial infectious dose and co-infection with a helminth that limits the availability of red blood cells (RBCs). Using a statistical, time-series approach to model the within-host 'epidemiology' of malaria, we found that increasing initial dose reduced the time to peak cell-to-cell parasite propagation, but also reduced its magnitude, while helminth co-infection delayed peak cell-to-cell propagation, except at the highest malaria doses. Using a mechanistic model of within-host infection dynamics, we identified dose-dependence in parameters describing host responses to malaria infection and uncovered a plausible explanation of the observed differences in single vs co-infections. Specifically, in co-infections, our model predicted a higher background death rate of RBCs. However, at the highest dose, when intraspecific competition between malaria parasites would be highest, these effects of co-infection were not observed. Such interactions between initial dose and co-infection, although difficult to predict a priori, are key to understanding variation in the severity of disease experienced by hosts and could inform studies of malaria transmission dynamics in nature, where co-infection and low doses are the norm.


The purpose of this study is to present the simulation results and an overview of the performance assessment of a solar heating & cooling system by means of the evacuated tube solar collector. The simulation was carried out using the thermal simulation code TRNSYS with new model of a single-effect LiBr/ absorption chiller developed by this study. The calculation was performed for yearly long-term thermal performance and for two design factors: the solar hot water storage tank and the cold water storage tank. As a result, it was anticipated that the yearly mean system efficiency is 46.7% and the solar fraction for the heating, cooling and hot water supply are about 84.4 %, 41.7% and 72.4%, respectively.


Many academics, consultants and managers advocate stretch goals to attain superior organizational performance. However, there is limited research exploring the effects of stretch goals on the distribution of performance. We explore the effects of goal difficulty on the mean, variance, and skewness of performance in two experimental studies. Participants were given either moderate or stretch goals for profit in a widely used management simulation with realistic dynamics. The stretch goals were achievable and well below optimal. Compared to moderate goals, stretch goals improved performance for a few, while most implemented policies that inadvertently led to bankruptcy, or, faced with that risk, abandoned the goal. Consequently, stretch goals led to higher performance variance and a right-skewed performance distribution but did not improve median performance. As a result of higher variance, stretch goals also led to lower risk adjusted performance. Furthermore, stretch goals generated large attainment discrepancies that increased perceived risk taking and undermined goal commitment. These two mechanisms help explain how stretch goals lead to high variance and a right skewed performance distribution. In complex environments, finding and following strategies to realize stretch goals is difficult and risky, and, instead, some managers adopt lower self-set goals or focus on survival. Depending on the risk preferences of managers, stretch goals might therefore be suboptimal even though a few organizations benefit. These findings extend theory on organizational goals and suggest caveats for the adoption of stretch goals.


The design and implementation of REDD+ projects requires understanding the local ecological, economic and social context. This paper analyzes how REDD+ influences the context of ecosystem management, from both a conceptual and an ecosystem-scale perspective. We analyze how REDD+ changes the economic interests in ecosystem management for different stakeholders, and present a case study demonstrating the economic benefits of sustainable forest use versus oil palm plantation in Indonesia. We also analyze the economic costs of carbon emissions from land use conversion, and show that in Kalimantan, Indonesia, net revenues from REDD+ need to be US$ 3/ton CO2 to allow sustainable forest use to compete with oil palm on peat, and US$ 7/ton CO2 for mineral soil. Subsequently we present four insights from our ecosystem analysis relevant for REDD+.


The Schroder backward integration method for estimating the reverberation time of an enclosure, as suggested in the ISO 3382 standard, is analyzed from an estimation theoretic perspective, in a general context that is applicable to both blind and non-blind estimation. Expressions for the estimation bias and variance of the reverberation decay rate are derived and verified using Monte-Carlo simulations. Comparison is made with a straight-forward linear regression method (not using backward integration). It is shown that, even though significantly reducing the estimation variance, the use of backward integration can in many cases mitigate the estimation accuracy due to large bias. This clearly indicates that prudence is called for when using backward integration for automated decay rate estimation problems.


A procedure is described for the isolation of amino acid-incorporating systems from Novikoff ascites tumor and from rat liver. Under the conditions employed the tumor system will incorporate approximately 30–70 µµmoles of amino acid/mg ribosomal protein when C14-labeled valine, phenylalanine, or lysine is added to the incubation medium. Addition of ribonucleic acid preparations from tumor and liver nuclei, tumor ribosomes, or tobacco mosaic virus to the tumor amino acid-incorporating system caused a 16–45 per cent increase in amino acid incorporation. Addition of polyuridylic acid to the tumor system with C14-l-phenylalanine caused a seven- to tenfold increase in the incorporation of this amino acid. These findings indicate that this mammalian system responds to the same nucleotide coding sequence for phenylalanine as E. coli and provide evidence that the tumor-incorporating system will respond to a limited extent to natural ribonucleic acids and to synthetic polynucleotides.


Outer-sphere oxidation of phenols is under intense scrutiny because of questions related to the dynamics of proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET). Oxidation by cationic transition-metal complexes in aqueous solution presents special challenges because of the potential participation of the solvent as a proton acceptor and of the buffers as general base catalysts. Here we report that oxidation of phenol by a deficiency of [Os(phen)(3)](3+), as determined by stopped-flow spectrophotometry, yields a unique rate law that is second order in [osmium(III)] and [phenol] and inverse second order in [osmium(II)] and [H(+)]. A mechanism is inferred in which the phenoxyl radical is produced through a rapid PCET preequilibrium, followed by rate-limiting phenoxyl radical coupling. Marcus theory predicts that the rate of electron transfer from phenoxide to osmium(III) is fast enough to account for the rapid PCET preequilibrium, but it does not rule out the intervention of other pathways such as concerted proton-electron transfer or general base catalysis.


The production process of manufacturing systems is usually not static and always interrupted by stochastic events, such as the deterioration effect of cutting tools. This study focuses on the dynamic flexible job shop-scheduling problem considering the deterioration effect (DFJSP-DE). Two types of disturbances are considered, i.e. the implicit disturbance caused by the deterioration effect and the explicit disturbance caused by the reprocessing of unqualified jobs. Firstly, a step-deterioration effect model is proposed, with which the actual processing time of each operation can be predicted more accurately. A multi-objective optimisation model is formulated for the DFJSP-DE. The makespan, energy consumption, and stability of rescheduling solutions are three objectives to be optimised simultaneously. For this non-deterministic polynominal (NP)-hard problem, the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm III is employed to search the Pareto solutions for the DFJSP-DE. Finally, the results of three numerical experiments show that the proposed approach can solve DFJSP-DE effectively and efficiently.


In this correspondence, we are concerned with an algorithm used to find the set of all inexact prime implicants of an inexact switching function as defined with the help of fuzzy algebra. The principal advantage claimed over existing methods is that it is suitable for an efficient computer implementation. The steps are easy to apply and well adapted to being programmed without any heuristic methods.


This article extends earlier research by the authors that was devoted to the experimental evaluation of ultra-fine particles produced by the laboratory combustion of beechwood samples. These particles can have severe influence on human health. The current paper presents a parametrical study carried out to assess the influence of the composition of the atmosphere and the temperature on the production of ultra-fine particles during the micro-scale combustion process. The paper presents a laboratory procedure that incorporate the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and detailed monitoring of the size distribution of the produced fine particles. The study utilises the laboratory scale identification of the formation and growth of the fine particles during the temperature increase of beech wood samples. It also compares the particle emissions produced by beech heartwood and beech bark. The size of the emitted particles is very strongly influenced by the concentration of light volatiles released from the heated wood sample. From the experimental study, decreasing oxygen content in the atmosphere generally results in higher particulate matter (PM) production.


Table-like graphs can be interesting, useful, and even mildly innovative. This column outlines some Stata techniques for producing such graphs. graph dot is likely to be the most under-appreciated command among all existing commands. Using by() with various choices is a good way to mimic a categorical axis in many graph commands. When graph bar or graph dot is not flexible enough to do what you want, moving to the more flexible twoway is usually advisable. labmask and seqvar are introduced as new commands useful for preparing axis labels and axis positions for categorical variables. Applications of these ideas to, e.g., confidence interval plots lies ahead.


Using electronic voting systems is divisive as some countries used such systems and others did not. Electronic voting (e-voting) is relatively a new concept based on its application that aims at reducing errors and improving the convenience and integrity of election process. This paper tried to explore the factors that influence the adoption of such systems in a university environment. The study utilized a sample of 302 bachelor degree students in a public Jordanian university and in relation to students' council election process. Results indicated that students were keen on the concepts of trust and usefulness of e-voting when adopting such systems. The study supported the findings of TAM in the area of technology acceptance. Conclusions are at the end of this paper.


After three years of negotiation between the institutions of the Community on 29 May 2006 the new Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 on Shipments of Waste has been passed by the Council. The Regulation becomes valid and directly applicable in the Member States on 12 July 2007, thus substituting the first EC regulation on transfrontier shipment of waste (Regulation (EEC) No 259/93). This article attempts a first analysis of the re-enactment and briefly outlines the major amendments in relation to the current legal situation.


The colonization of proglacial margins by vegetation following glacier recession is a slow process, not least because glacially produced sediments are commonly well drained. Following from human‐induced climate change, warming could increase both growth rates and water availability because of glacier melting, so compensating for situations where climate change reduces precipitation. Compensation is likely a function of location, which will control access to meltwater and groundwater, themselves spatially variable. For the Olguin glacier (Torres del Paine, Chile), we test the hypothesis that as climate has warmed and precipitation has fallen, tree growth rate response is dependent upon the access of trees to glacial meltwater. Cores were taken from trees in three revegetating zones: (Z1) proglacial stream proximal, (Z3) proglacial stream distal, and (Z2) intermediate between Z1 and Z3. For trees within each zone, we measured annual tree‐ring widths and δ2H values. Z1 growth rates were strongly correlated with temperature and Z3 with precipitation, and Z2 showed a shift from precipitation correlation (i.e., following Z3) to temperature correlation (i.e., following Z1) through time. δ2H values were lowest at Z1, reflecting water of glacial origin, were highest at Z3, reflecting meteoric water supply, and shifted through time at Z2 from meteoric to glacial. Increased water supply associated with temperature‐driven glacier recession may compensate for decreasing water supply from precipitation to influence tree growth. This compensation is likely related to the spatial organization of the subsurface flux of glacial melt and leads to different revegetation processes to those envisaged in the classical chronosequence model of vegetation following glacier recession.


The term asbestos refers to six unique fibrous minerals mostly used in the production of asbestos cement sheets and pipes. According to the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), there exists at least "sufficient evidence" that all types of asbestos may cause cancer in humans (mesothelioma, lung cancer, laryngeal tumor and ovarian cancer). The only asbestos limit in drinking water is 7 million fiber/liter. This study is a narrative synthesis about the possible hazards to human health related to the presence of asbestos in drinking water. The various scientific studies and epidemiological reports examined highlight that there is an ongoing debate on the possible carcinogenic risk associated with asbestos exposure through ingestion. Nevertheless, considering the latency with which diseases caused by asbestos may emerge, control measures should be adopted.


Abstract. According to current best estimates, the modern ocean's N cycle is in severe deficit. N isotope budgeting provides an independent geochemical constraint in this regard as well as the only means for past reconstruction. Overall, it is the relative proportion of N2 fixation consumed by water column denitrification that sets average oceanic δ15N under steady-state conditions. Several factors (conversion of organic N to N2, Rayleigh closed and open system effects) likely reduce the effective fractionation factor (e) for water column denitrification to about half the inherent microbial value for eden. If so, the average oceanic δ15N of ~5‰ is consistent with a canonical contribution from water column denitrification of 50% of the source flux from N2 fixation. If an imbalance in oceanic N sources and sinks changes this proportion then a transient in average oceanic δ15N would occur. Using a simple model, changing water column denitrification by ±30% or N2 fixation by ±15% produces detectable (>1‰) changes in average oceanic δ15N over one residence time period or more with corresponding changes in oceanic N inventory. Changing sedimentary denitrification produces no change in δ15N but does change N inventory. Sediment δ15N records from sites thought to be sensitive to oceanic average δ15N all show no detectible change over the last 3 kyr or so implying a balanced marine N budget over the latest Holocene. A mismatch in time scales is the most likely meaningful interpretation of the apparent conflict with modern flux estimates. Decadal to centennial scale oscillations between net N deficit and net surplus may occur but on the N residence timescale of several thousand years, net balance is achieved in sum. However, sediment δ15N records from the literature covering the period since the last glacial maximum show excursions of up to several ‰ that are consistent with sustained N deficit during the deglaciation followed by readjustment and establishment of balance in the early Holocene. Since imbalance was sustained for one N residence time period or longer, excursions in ocean N inventory of 10 to 30% likely occurred. The climatic and oceanographic changes that occurred over this period evidently overcame, for a time, the capacity of ocean biogeochemistry to maintain N balance.


Objective: The aim of this study was to the determine impact of severe esophageal anastomotic leak (SEAL) upon long-term survival and locoregional cancer recurrence. Background: The impact of SEAL upon long-term survival after esophageal resection remains inconclusive with a number of studies demonstrating conflicting results. Methods: A multicenter database for the surgical treatment of esophageal cancer collected data from 30 university hospitals (2000–2010). SEAL was defined as a Clavien-Dindo III or IV leak. Patients with SEAL were compared with those without in terms of demographics, tumor characteristics, surgical technique, morbidity, survival, and recurrence. Results: From a database of 2944 operated on for esophageal cancer between 2000 and 2010, 209 patients who died within 90 days of surgery and 296 patients with a R1/R2 resection were excluded, leaving 2439 included in the final analysis; 208 (8.5%) developed a SEAL and significant independent association was observed with low hospital procedural volume, cervical anastomosis, tumoral stage III/IV, and pulmonary and cardiovascular complications. SEAL was associated with a significant reduction in median overall (35.8 vs 54.8 months; P = 0.002) and disease-free (34 vs 47.9 months; P = 0.005) survivals. After adjustment of confounding factors, SEAL was associated with a 28% greater likelihood of death [hazard ratio = 1.28; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04–1.59; P = 0.022], as well as greater overall (OR = 1.35; 95% CI: 1.15–1.73; P = 0.011), locoregional (OR = 1.56; 95% CI: 1.05–2.24; P = 0.030), and mixed (OR = 1.81; 95% CI: 1.20–2.71; P = 0.014) recurrences. Conclusions: This large multicenter study provides strong evidence that SEAL adversely impacts cancer prognosis. The mechanism through which SEAL increases local recurrence is an important area for future research.


Dynamic security region (DSR) gives power system engineers systematic and global information about the feasible operation region. This paper is a result of an investigation into the use of DSR concept and its effective application in bulk power systems. It particularly concerns with developing a software-based tool for the transient stability monitoring in the on-line operation environment. A practical DSR solving method based on massively parallel computer clusters is described, and a new software package, named power system dynamic security region (PSDSR) is developed. Following a brief discussion about the main requirements, the paper gives a summary of the development of PSDSR from both the software architecture and the function implementation. A most distinctive character, the practical application in monitoring the cut-set power flows, with result visualization is emphasized.


The subject matter of the article is methods and technologies of ensuring the cybersecurity of industrial and web-oriented systems and networks, training of cybersecurity specialists during the acquisition of professional knowledge. The purpose of the article is to ensure the cybersecurity of industrial and web-oriented systems and networks by developing and implementing appropriate methodologies (concepts, principles, set of models, methods) and technologies in the industry, as well as in training the cybersecurity specialists during the acquisition of professional knowledge. The problem of developing models, methods, and technologies for ensuring the cybersecurity of mobile systems, web-oriented systems based on content management systems, virtual networks that provide their interaction, and a methodology for training cybersecurity specialists are formulated. Based on the analysis the particular tasks of developing convolutional neural network model, information technology methods and models for ensuring the cybersecurity of web-oriented systems and networks, a methodological framework of creating information technology, and a model of digital knowledge platform for use in the field of cybersecurity specialists training and security of industrial systems were formulated. The basic theoretical decisions, which underlie the construction of real industrial and web-oriented systems and networks, were described in the article. The results of work are increased reliability value of detecting the malware in the Android operating system, reduced rates of false positives, provided an allowable value of the success rate of attacks at a minimum cost, reduced time spent on building and rebuilding the structure of the virtual network, increased efficiency of cybersecurity specialists training and security of industrial systems. From the above, it is possible to conclude that the obtained results can be used in a line of existing and prospective approaches at designing difficult, complex, hybrid, technical, cyber-physical systems with a web-oriented interface for users and administrators.


Some petrochemical features of ultramafic rocks are firstly discussed by taking account of mantle norms and M values. The existence of iron-rich ultramafic intrusives, e.g., the Union Bay complex, is pointed out and world-wide occurrences of these complexes are suggested. Commonly the rocks constituting ultramafic intrusives contain less aluminium than mantle peridotite, as represented by peridotite inclusions in basaltic rocks, and have a considerable wide range in their M values, whereas peridotite inclusions show relatively uniform M values. Secondly, the distribution relation of aluminium with four-fold co-ordination and silicon between co-existing clinopyroxenes and orthopyroxenes is discussed. Although tschermakitic molecule may be more soluble in clinopyroxenes than in orthopyroxenes at a given pressure, AlIV contents in orthopyroxenes are greater than those in clinopyroxenes from ordinary ultramafic intrusives. The reverse relation is observed in pyroxenes from peridotite inclusions and the Lizard primary peridotites which were formed at higher pressure. This is interpreted on the basis of physico-chemical considerations.


High grade transformation in epithelial-myoepithelial carcino¬ma is a recently defined entity with only a few cases reported in the literature. We present a 59 years old female patient with a polypoid lesion in nasal cavity, together with clinical com¬plaints as recurrent epistaxis and stuffiness. Histological and immunohistochemical examination of the surgically excised le¬sion revealed a diagnosis of epithelialmyoepithelial carcino¬ma with high grade transformation. Epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma originates from salivary glands, mainly parotid gland. Other affected sites are submandibular gland and minor sali¬vary glands. Epithelialmyoepithelial carcinoma is characterized by double layered duct-like structures. Greater cytologi¬cal atypia, higher mitotic rate, presence of necrosis and loss of the biphasic ductlike structures are features of high grade transformation. Local recurrence and cervical lymph node me¬tastases are seen with low incidence in classical epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma, whereas epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma with high grade transformation has high tendency for lymph node and distant metastases.


The female flowers of hops (Humulus lupulus L.) are used in the brewing of beer and are under investigation for use in dietary supplements for the management of menopausal symptoms in women. Hop extracts contain the weakly estrogenic compound isoxanthohumol (IX), proestrogenic xanthohumol, and the potent estrogen 8-prenylnaringenin (8PN). Because IX can be metabolized in the human liver to form 8PN, the specific cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes responsible for this O-demethylation reaction were identified. In addition, the enzymes that convert IX and 8PN to their most abundant metabolites were identified because these metabolic pathways might also affect the estrogenicity of hop preparations. Specifically, the P450 enzymes that catalyze the oxidation of the prenyl side chains of IX and 8PN into trans- or cis-alcohols were investigated. Human liver microsomes and monoclonal antibodies that inhibit specific P450 enzymes were used in combination with liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry to identify the enzymes responsible for these transformations. CYP2C19 was found to catalyze the formation of both cis- and trans-alcohols of the prenyl side chain of 8PN with Km values of 14.8 ± 3.2 and 16.6 ± 4.6 μM, respectively. CYP2C8 converted 8PN regioselectively to the trans-alcohol of the prenyl group with a Km of 3.7 ± 0.9 μM. Finally, CYP1A2 was found to catalyze the O-demethylation of IX to generate 8PN, with a Km value of 17.8 ± 3.7 μM. These results suggest that the estrogenicity of hop constituents in vivo will depend in part on metabolic conversion that may show individual variation.


This study aimed to evaluate the dry matter intake, digestibility of diet components, performance, feed conversion, carcass characteristics and economics aspects of inclusion with low purity glycerin supplementation on cattle finished on pasture with Brachiaria decumbens. We used 35 male cattle bulls, predominantly Nellore, with initial body weight of 428.0 ± 32.11 kg, distributed in a completely randomized design with five treatments and seven replications. Treatments consisted of glycerin inclusion levels (0, 3, 6, 9 and 12%) in the dry matter (DM). The animals were weighed every 28 days to assess the weight gain (ADG) and adjust the diet. At the end of the experiment the animals were weighed to obtain the average final body weight (BWF) and slaughtered to evaluate the carcass yield (HCY) and carcass traits. The economic analysis was conducted in relation to weight gain in kilos, in order to verify the feasibility of the use of diets with five levels of glycerin, without considering other fixed and operational costs. Increased linearly (P <0.05) levels of glycerin on the intake and digestibility of ether extract and ADG. Linear effect (P <0.05) on the digestibility of neutral detergent fiber (CDFDN), crude protein (CDCP) and feed conversion (FC). No effects were observed (P <0.05) the inclusion of glycerin on carcass traits evaluated. The inclusion of glycerin reduced the cost of production of meat at sign when the price of this ingredient represented up to 70% of the price of corn. Glycerin low purity can be included in the diet of cattle uncastrated finishing the pasture with improved performance and ncreased economic benefits.


Trichuris muris, is the murine parasite and widely deployed model for the human whipworm Trichuris trichiura, a parasite that infects around 500 million people globally. Trichuriasis is a classical disease of poverty with a cycle of re-infection due to the continual exposure of humans, particularly children, to infective eggs, which contaminate the soil in endemic areas. Indeed, modelling studies of trichuriasis have demonstrated that the low efficacy rate of current anthelmintics combined with the high possibility of re-infection from the reservoir of infective eggs within the environment, mean that the elimination of morbidity due to trichuriasis is unlikely to occur. Despite the importance of the infective egg stage in the perpetuation of infections, understanding the biology of the Trichuris ova has been neglected for decades. Here we perform experiments to assess the impact of temperature on the embryonation process of T. muris eggs and describe in detail the stages of larval development within these eggs. In keeping with the early works performed in the early 1900s, we show that the embryonation of T. muris is accelerated by an elevation in temperature, up to 37°C above which eggs do not fully develop and become degenerate. We extend these data to provide a detailed description of T. muris egg development with clear images depicting the various stages of development. To the best of our knowledge we have, for the first time, described the presence of birefringent granules within egg-stage larvae, as well as providing a qualitative and quantitative description of a motile larval stage prior to quiescence within the egg. These experiments are the first step towards a better understanding of the basic biology which underlies the process of egg embryonation. With the threat of elevation in global temperatures, the accelerated embryonation rate we observe at higher temperatures may have important consequences for parasite transmission rates and prospective modelling studies. In addition, a deeper understanding of the Trichuris ova may allow the development of novel control strategies targeting the egg stage of Trichuris in the environment as an adjunct to MDA.


This large-scale study provides a new and comprehensive picture of finance, government, and society in the Habsburg lands in the reign of the great reforming Empress Maria Theresia of Austria (1740-1780). Despite extensive work on the subject in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many aspects of Maria Theresia's reign have remained obscure, and historians have been uncertain whether to place her in the same tradition of enlightened despotism as her son Joseph II (1780-1790). By drawing together present historical concerns with the structure of society, government, and public finance, this two-volume work makes a thorough reassessment of the reign.The author argues that the leading features of the Empress's domestic policy were financial and institutional reforms aimed at developing greater military power. Hence, although in principle favouring economic and social progress, she was compelled to increase tax burdens and extend the liability to military service, thus arousing popular discontent. Making extensive use of original sources, the book places royal finance firmly in its social and administrative context, and reveals many of the practical constraints on reforming policies. The conclusions throw new light on Austrian society and government in the eighteenth century, and make an important contribution to the little-studied history of central and eastern Europe in the Age of Enlightenment. Students of European political, social, and economic history in the eighteenth century, and of the Enlightenment will find it very interesting.