Probability criterion has its practical significance, and its investment decision-making is determined by the expected discounted wealth. In a complete, standard financial market with short-selling allowed, this paper probes into the investment decision-making with probability criterion. The upper limit of criterion function is obtained. The corresponding discounted wealth process and hedging portfolio process are provided. Finally, an illustrative example of one-dimensional constant-coefficient financial market is given.


Purpose: This study was done to examine symptom experiences and related factors in angina patients. Method: The participants were 92 patients admitted to C university hospital between October and December 2004. The tools used were a questionnaire on symptom experience related to angina developed by Gensini(Coronary Angiographic Gensini Score). Global Assessment of Recent Stress Scale and a tool measuring performance of health behavior. Results: The mean score for symptom experience was relatively low (M=27.65, SD=18.44) as was the score for coronary severity (Gensini score) was 16.30 point (SD=18.04). The mean score for perceived stress was moderate (M=30.16, SD=12.26). Compliance was relatively good in these patients with angina (M=61.55, SD=7.60). Analysis of the correlation of symptom experience showed a statistically significant positive relationship with perceived stress (r=.410, p=.000). There was significant negative relationship (r=-.251, p=.016) between symptom experience and compliance. In the regression analysis, symptom experience was found to be significantly influenced by stress (R²=.168, p=.000), age (R²=.057, p=.002), and economic status (R²=.061, p=.007). These variables explained 26.2% of the variance in symptom experience. Conclusion: The results of this study provide evidence that symptoms of angina can present not only as chest pain itself but also with fatigue, shortness of breath, and sleep disturbance as the most common symptoms.


In the context of underground construction, forensic engineering is taken to be the application of engineering principles and methodologies to determine the cause of a performance deficiency, often a collapse, in an excavation, and the reporting of the findings, usually in the form of an expert opinion within the legal system. The procedures that may be used in forensic geotechnical investigations and the interface of the engineer with the legal system are discussed. The application of the principles and methodologies outlined are illustrated through a brief account of the investigation of the collapse of a small part of an excavation in the Lane Cove Tunnel Project, Sydney, Australia, on 2 November, 2005.


Determinants of Hypertension among Females in the Community Health Centre of Talawaan, North Minahasa Adisti Rumayar 1 , Nancy Malonda 1 , Ardiansa Tucunan 1 1 Faculty of Public Health, Sam Ratulangi University, Manado, Indonesia * Corresponding Author: Adisti, E-mail: email@example.com Background : Hypertension remains a public health concern in Indonesia. It has the highest prevalence among cardiovascular disorders, which as a group of chronic diseases is attributed as the primary cause of mortality within the country.  The decades-long intervention through the community health centers nationwide appears failed to substantially reduce the cases, particularly on rural areas where research on sociodemographic determinants is lacking. Of particular interest is adult women, a population that is frequently under-served in health programs but may be pivotal in hypertension control and prevention measures due to their roles within the family. The objective of this study is to investigate the determinants of hypertension among women in rural area of Indonesia. Materials and methods: The study is conducted in Talawaan, District of North Minahasa using case-control design. Seventy women age 20-45 visiting the community health center of the area are sampled evenly for the case and control groups. The binary logistic regression is used to model the determinants of hypertension, defined as systolic blood pressure > 120 mmHg, among these females. Results: Twenty eight (37%) women have hypertension. After controlling the effect of other factors, age > 40 years (odds ratio, OR 8.4, 95% CI 2.0 – 34.2, p = 0.003), family history (OR 8.1, 95% CI 2.1 – 30.6, p = 0.002), and body mass index (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.0 – 1.3, p = 0.019) seem to be related to hypertension. A relatively higher score of stress also marginally increase the odds of hypertension (p = 0.071 ). Women's education, family income, religion, use of contraception, alcohol consumption, and smoking are not included in the multivariate model since their relationship with hypertension is not significant even at bivariate level. Conclusions: Age, family history, and body mass index appear to determine the existence of hypertension among studied women. Stress is also a potential factor, but further study is needed to confirm its contribution. Acknowledgements: This study is supported by funding from LPPM Unsrat. The author is grateful to dr. Fredrik Langi, MMedStats, PhD for technical assistance and constructive comments on the preliminary draft. Keywords:  hypertension, women, determinants, Indonesia


Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subgroup of breast cancer that rapidly develops resistance to chemotherapy. Currently, TNBC patients are treated with anthracycline and taxane-based regimens. These treatments result in some improvements in the clinical outcomes; however, they are associated with poor prognosis. Also, endocrine therapies are ineffective since the tumors do not express the estrogen receptor. Recent studies have shown that histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors could reverse the epigenetic profile of some genes, including ER, EGFR, and RAR≥2. We have recently shown that treatments that combine the HDAC inhibitor, Entinostat (MS-275), with the aromatase inhibitor, Letrozole, result in regression of xenografts of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Since RAR≥2 is re-expressed as well, we reasoned that combining epigenetic therapy using MS-275, with differentiation therapy using a RAR≥2 agonist (ATRA) will provide an effective combination of drugs against TNBC. We also examined possible potentiation of anticancer activity of these agents by low nontoxic doses of chemotherapy (doxorubicin and paclitaxel). In vitro, human TNBC cell lines, MDA-MB-231, HCC 1143, SUM159, SUM149 and BT20 responded significantly better to the triple combination compared to the drugs used singly or in combination with MS-275. Upon treatment, re-expression of the silenced RAR≥2 and downstream effectors was observed in the cell lines in vitro and in tumor xenografts of MDA-MB-231 cells. Subcutaneous tumor growth in immunodeficient mice was strongly inhibited (10/14 significant regression) using a combination of MS-275, ATRA and low dose Doxorubicin, compared to the drugs administered singly or in combination with MS-275. No significant weight loss was observed in any of the groups. This combination was then used to treat tumor xenografts of SUM159, another TNBC cell line, and gave a promising result. Furthermore, combination of MS-275, ATRA, and a clinical dose of Paclitaxel can effectively inhibit growth of MDA-MB-231 and SUM159 cells. These results suggest that combination of HDAC inhibitor and RAR≥2 agonist with low dose chemotherapy has the potential to be an effective treatment against TNBC. This study provides encouraging new information for a nontoxic, and novel combination of drugs which could be effective against TNBC. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2010;70(24 Suppl):Abstract nr PD01-05.


In English law, in spite of the existence of the Crown Prosecution Service, every person still has the right to bring a criminal prosecution. Nowadays, this right is little used by individuals acting in a personal capacity, but private prosecutions have become much more common in recent years as corporations have attempted to use them to protect their commercial interests, and as some law firms have encouraged individuals and corporations to bring them as a means of obtaining redress. In 1977, Lord Diplock stated that the right to bring a private prosecution is 'a useful constitutional safeguard against capricious, corrupt or biased failure or refusal of [the relevant state] authorities to prosecute offenders against the criminal law.'1 However, there is more recent judicial authority for the view that the right to prosecute privately is a historical anomaly of little worth, and potentially dangerous.2

It is with both of these judicial views in mind that we examine the relationship between certain organisations which exist solely to protect the commercial interests of particular corporations, and English and Welsh state agencies such as police authorities and local councils, which have a duty to consider the public interest but which sometimes work in partnership with such organisations.We argue that this relationship raises serious concerns about the potential abuse of state power by private organisations, and that a specific code of conduct may be required to guard against such abuse.


ABSTRACT This paper examines {10} twin nucleation and growth under uniaxial tension at the prismatic/basal boundary through both molecular dynamics simulations and continuum mechanics modelling. Our results show that two disconnection dipoles exist on every intrinsic prismatic plane of the crystal which constructs the prismatic/basal boundary. Only one of the two disconnection dipoles is at the nucleus of {10} twins. The disconnection is activated and glides plane-by-plane along the direction throughout twin growth. The prismatic plane of the matrix is converted to the basal plane of the twin during the sliding of the disconnection. It is also predicted that a twin nucleates when the local gradient of elastic-energy or the average elastic-energy difference along the prismatic/basal boundary exhibit a sharp increase. Furthermore, the critical strain for twin nucleation can be obtained with the aid of local energy-based descriptors, when viewing twin nucleation as an instability phenomenon. Simulations suggest that both the local gradient and spatial average of elastic-energy difference are fundamental quantities behind the onset of twin nucleation at the prismatic/basal grain boundary in hexagonal close-packed metals under uniaxial loadings. Furthermore, results from our simulations and mechanics model, provide the position and the critical strain of the {10} twin nucleation at the prismatic/basal boundary.


Six non-anomeric isourea derivatives of d-fructose (7, 8), d-glucose (9, 10), 6-deoxy-l-altrose (11) and l-rhamnose (12) were synthesized from the precursors 1–6 by a CuCl-catalyzed addition of a non-glycosidic OH-group to DCC and DIPC, respectively. Subsequently, the isoureido group of phenyl 2,3,4-tri-O-benzyl-6-O-(N,N′-dicyclohexylisoureido)-β-d-glucopyranoside (10) was replaced by an azido and a thioacetyl group, respectively, yielding the corresponding 6-deoxy-6-azido-d-glucopyranoside (13) and 6-deoxy-6-thioacetyl-d-glucopyranoside (14) in moderate to good yields.


— Search engine transaction logs have been investigated through large number of studies. Here mining of search engine query log is done. By mining user's feedback, ranks of search engine result pages are optimized, so that related pages come earlier in the list. In this way user can easily and quickly find desired pages. Here web mining techniques are used to order the documents. This method first mines query logs using a novel similarity function to perform query clustering of similar queries. Then it discovers sequential pattern of clicked URLs in each cluster using existing Sequential Pattern mining algorithm PLWAP. In the end, search result list is re-ranked by updating existing rank values of pages using discovered sequential patterns. By this method, user desired relevant pages move upwards in result list and reduce search space for users.


BACKGROUND
The most common presentation of cluneal neuropathy is ipsilateral low back and gluteal pain. Cluneal neuralgia has been described historically in surgical contexts, with much of the description and treatment related to entrapment and decompression, respectively. Treatment options for addressing axial low back pain have evolved with advancements in the field of interventional pain medicine, though clinical results remain inconsistent. Recent attention has turned toward peripheral nerve stimulation. Nonsurgical interventions targeting the superior and medial cluneal nerve branches have been performed in cases of low back and buttock pain, but there is no known review of the resulting evidence to support these practices.

OBJECTIVES
In this manuscript we provide a robust exploration and analysis of the available literature regarding treatment options for cluneal neuropathy. We provide clinical manifestations and recommendations for future study direction.

STUDY DESIGN
Narrative review.

METHODS
This was a systematic, evidence-based narrative, performed after extensive review of the literature to identify all manuscripts associated with interventional treatment of the superior and medial cluneal nerves.

RESULTS
Eleven manuscripts fulfilled inclusion criteria. Interventional treatment of the superior and middle cluneal nerves includes blockade with corticosteroid, alcohol neurolysis, peripheral nerve stimulation, radiofrequency neurotomy, and surgical decompression.

LIMITATIONS
The supportive evidence for interventions in cluneal neuropathy is largely lacking due to small, uncontrolled, observational studies with multiple confounding factors. There is no standardized definition of cluneal neuropathy.

CONCLUSION
Limited studies promote beneficial effects from interventions intended to target cluneal neuropathy. Despite increased emphasis and treatment options for this condition, there is little consensus on the diagnostic criteria, endpoints, and measures of therapeutics, or procedural techniques for blocks, radiofrequency, and neuromodulation. It is imperative to delineate pathology associated with the cluneal nerves and perform rigorous analysis of associated treatment options.


Biofuels have come under increasing scrutiny due to adverse environmental and social impacts. In this context, the potential benefits of biofuel development for small family farmers is frequently overlooked. We analyze how sustainability standards and regulatory safeguards try to integrate family farmers' concerns in complex biofuels commodity chains. The study is based on castor feedstock production in the semi-arid northeast of Brazil, where family farmers participate in the National Program on Biodiesel Production and Use through the Social Fuel Certificate mechanism. Our findings indicate that strong regulatory frameworks such as the Social Fuel Certificate are necessary to incentivize family farmer participation and guarantee their benefits. However, they may still be insufficient for sustainable rural development given existing livelihood diversification and limited impact of feedstock production on family income. Sustainable development in less-developed regions such as the semi-arid northeast will thus likely depend on broader development strategies rather than process-oriented sustainability standards.


This paper proposes a very efficient and simple fine-resolution inner search for the well-known diamond search (DS) algorithm. Based on the local unimodal error surface assumption, a new 4-corner-based inner search technique is proposed to speedup the original DS in both large and small motion environments by exploiting the group-distortion information of some evaluated points. Experimental results show that the enhanced diamond search (EDS) is faster than the original DS up to 30% with negligible PSNR degradation


This study is quantitative descriptive research to firm that listed in Stock Exchange of Jakarta, Muhammadiyah University of Malang by title, ?Capital Asset Pricing Model as Base Decision Taking of Investment to Firm that Listed in LQ-45?. The goal of this study is to know how to determine stock investment appropriately to each kind of investor by using CAPM to Firm that listed in LQ-45. The analysis tool is used to know how to determine stock investment appropriately to each kind of investor by through calculation step are; Return Individual (Ri), Return Market (Rm), Risk Free Rate, Beta (β), and Expected Return (E(Ri)). Base on the calculation by using CAPM analysis may be know that base on the stock observed show that beta (β) and Expected Return E(Ri) have highest on BLTA stock by (β) value about 1,7686490 and E(Ri) about 0,728129, and the last position in LSIP stock by (β) value about -0,344396 and E(Ri) value about -0,127649. Base on the calculation, generally may be know that SML linier it shows more high risk on stock (β) then more high also to benefit degree that be expected E(Ri) from stock investment. Beside that based on the calculation may be determine stock investment that more exactly to each kind of investor are follow: for risk seeker then stock investment will be done to BLTA, PNLF, UNVR, ASII, BBRI, ANTM, CTRS, ADHI, MPPA, PNBN, BNII, INCO, and RALS stock; while to risk neutrality then stock investment will done to INDF, CMNP, BRPT, TLKM, SMRA, and BBCA stock; and the last for risk averter then stock investment will done by ADMG, BDMN, ISAT, INTP, BMRI, MEDC, KLBE, KIJA, INKP, LPKR, UNTR, PGAS, BUMI, GJTL, SMCB, PTBA, ENRG, TKIM, BTEL, BNGA, and AALI stock. Base on the conclusion above, so writer may imply that investor invest their fund to stock that suitable with kind of investment in face risk. Keyword : CAPITAL ASSET PRICING Link Terkait : http://skripsi.umm.ac.id/files/disk1/244/jiptummpp-gdl-s1-2008-elpinaindr-12171-I++PENDA-N.pdf


The Pollution Prevention (P2) web site provides specific information on the law, grant program and where to find technical assistance for businesses or organizations that want to adopt P2 practices.


This paper discusses intermediate results of an ongoing research project to estimate all external costs from all transport modes in Belgium. It gives estimates of the marginal external costs of air pollution from urban transport. The evaluation of the environmental impacts is based on the European ExternE accounting framework. This methodology uses the impact pathway analysis for the detailed bottom-up assessment of impacts from air pollutants. It integrates state of the art knowledge in the fields of emission modelling, dispersion modelling, dose-response functions and monetary valuation. This paper focuses on the impact of location (rural areas versus cities), regulation, traffic conditions and congestion on environmental externalities. These case studies for Belgium confirm earlier results of the ExternE project that external environmental costs of car transport are significant and that damage to public health is the dominant impact. In addition, it shows that externalities of urban peak traffic are 2 to 4 times higher than for normal urban driving conditions. Finally, it calculates which occupancy rates are required for urban public transport (trams and diesel buses) to have lower external costs compared to passenger cars.


Genetic diversity in ten accessions of cashew consisting of three wild species, four genotypes of cultivated species and three interspecific hybrids was studied using RAPD, microsatellite (SSR) and Isozyme markers. Polymorphic bands generated with 11 RAPD primers, six primer pairs of SSR and Isozymes of six enzymes were used for analysis. A total of 151 bands were obtained with 123 polymorphic bands (81.5%) by combining the markers data. High percentage of polymorphism in markers and an average genetic similarity of 54% suggested high genetic variation and moderate diversity existing among the accessions. The Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic averaging cluster analysis made on genetic similarity grouped the accessions broadly into three major clusters. In these, Anacardium pumilum with its inter-specific hybrids and Anacardium orthonianum with its inter-specific hybrid clustered separately and only Anacardium occidentale clustered with Anacardium microcarpum indicating close affinity between these two species. Even morphologically these two species showed resemblance.


Sharp wave ripples (SPW‐Rs) represent the most synchronous population pattern in the mammalian brain. Their excitatory output affects a wide area of the cortex and several subcortical nuclei. SPW‐Rs occur during "off‐line" states of the brain, associated with consummatory behaviors and non‐REM sleep, and are influenced by numerous neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. They arise from the excitatory recurrent system of the CA3 region and the SPW‐induced excitation brings about a fast network oscillation (ripple) in CA1. The spike content of SPW‐Rs is temporally and spatially coordinated by a consortium of interneurons to replay fragments of waking neuronal sequences in a compressed format. SPW‐Rs assist in transferring this compressed hippocampal representation to distributed circuits to support memory consolidation; selective disruption of SPW‐Rs interferes with memory. Recently acquired and pre‐existing information are combined during SPW‐R replay to influence decisions, plan actions and, potentially, allow for creative thoughts. In addition to the widely studied contribution to memory, SPW‐Rs may also affect endocrine function via activation of hypothalamic circuits. Alteration of the physiological mechanisms supporting SPW‐Rs leads to their pathological conversion, "p‐ripples," which are a marker of epileptogenic tissue and can be observed in rodent models of schizophrenia and Alzheimer's Disease. Mechanisms for SPW‐R genesis and function are discussed in this review. © 2015 The Authors Hippocampus Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


We report the results of a study in which we introduce a tricarbosilane end-group in a mesogenic scaffold derived from an axially chiral biphenyl with a large transverse dipole moment. This structural modification is intended to promote the formation of a chiral smectic C (SmC*) phase, with the aim of discovering a mesogen with a virtual transition temperature to a proper ferroelectric phase (To) that approaches the crystal-SmC* melting point. We show herein that the combination of a 4-pentylbicyclo[2.2.2]octane-1-carboxylate chain and a tricarbosilane-terminated 4-alkoxybenzoate chain gives a mesogen (R,S)-WL43 forming an enantiotropic orthogonal smectic A (SmA) phase and a higher order tilted smectic phase. Substitution of the 4-pentylbicyclo[2.2.2]octane-1-carboxylate group with a trans-4-pentylcyclohexane-1-carboxylate group gives a mesogen (R,S)-WL45 forming monotropic SmA and SmC phases. The SmC* phase formed by the enantiomerically pure (R)-WL45 exhibits Goldstone-mode switching characteristic of a surface-stabilized FLC, but its spontaneous polarization PS is too low to be measured by conventional methods.


The recent introduction of several pieces of legislation mandating minimum and maximum retention periods for corporate records has prompted the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) community to develop various records retention solutions. Records retention is a significant subfield of records management, and legal records retention requirements apply over corporate records regardless of their shape or form. Unfortunately, the scope of existing solutions has been largely limited to proper identification, classification and retention of documents, and not of data more generally.
 In this paper we address the problem of managed records retention in the context of relational database systems. The problem is significantly more challenging than it is for documents for several reasons. Foremost, there is no clear definition of what constitutes a business record in relational databases; it could be an entire table, a tuple, part of a tuple, or parts of several tuples from multiple tables. There are also no standardized mechanisms for purging, anonymizing and protecting relational records. Functional dependencies, user defined constraints, and side effects caused by triggers make it even harder to guarantee that any given record will actually be protected when it needs to be protected or expunged when the necessary conditions are met. Most importantly, relational tuples may be organized such that one piece of data may be part of various legal records and subject to several (possibly conflicting) retention policies.
 We address the above problems and present a complete solution for designing, managing, and enforcing records retention policies in relational database systems. We experimentally demonstrate that the proposed framework can guarantee compliance with a broad range of retention policies on an off-the-shelf system without incurring a significant performance overhead for policy monitoring and enforcement.


This paper discusses some problems about how to overcome afeard feeling of students who learn swimming for the first time form reasons and expressiveness. It is proved that some optimized methods, such as happy teaching,game teaching, ps-ychology teaching which summed up from swimming practice for many years, are propitious to improve teaching effect.


In this paper, I describe ongoing research exploring ways in which young teachers' digital lives unfold inside and outside classrooms. I first interviewed teachers in 2006, and identified three different routes into digital worlds: serious solitary self-taught, serious solitary school-taught and playful social. A number of teachers agreed to be interviewed again in 2010. I outline ways in which I compare and contrast interviews over time, using analytic markers developed in 'Inventing Adulthoods', a Qualitative Longitudinal Research project. I also describe ways in which I set my analysis in Adam's concepts of time: 'biographical time, generational time and historical time'. Case studies are outlined of three teachers, one serious solitary and two playful social. All three were language coordinators in 2006, and already experienced, innovative teachers of literacy. I argue that in 2010, the serious solitary teacher is able to bring new competences to the classroom, but fitting existing ways of teaching. In contrast, the playful social teachers bring new ways of knowing about digital worlds into classrooms, but these new ways are realised only if competences are recognised, communities are supportive and traditional ways of knowing about teaching and the curriculum do not block new ways of thinking.


. The article defines the goals of digital transformation of companies, highlights the main distinctive elements of digitalization of enterprises, and classifies the factors that affect the speed of digital transformation. The authors assessed the level of digital economy development in Russia, Ukraine and developed countries over the period of 2007-2020 according to the International Digital Economy and Society Index (I-DESI) as well as the Global Innovation Index (GII). The change in the ranking of individual countries according to the GII is presented, top ten leading countries in each group are identified. The authors compare the most popular innovative technological trends, present the expected payback periods for investments in digital solutions in Russia and the world, determine the barriers that hinder the development of digitalization in companies. The analysis carried out shows that against the background of a significant slowdown in the global economic growth, there are concerns about a reduction in R&D, venture capital and intellectual property.


AIMS
To determine whether New Zealand's goals for immunisation coverage are being met in Christchurch and to assess whether scheduled vaccinations are being delivered in a timely fashion.

METHODS
A cohort of all infants born in Christchurch during June, July and August 1995 were matched with immunisation benefit claim information for the 6-week, 3-month, 5-month and 15-month immunisation events. Those with incomplete reports were traced for amendment or verification of their immunisation status.

RESULTS
The cohort contained 1002 infants. The full complement of scheduled immunisations was delivered to an estimated 95.8% (95% CI: 94.5, 97.2) of infants within the cohort by two years of age. Infants who presented late for their 6-week immunisation visits were significantly more likely to be late for their next visits (chi 2 log rank = 8.2, df = 1, p < 0.01), as were those late for their 3-month visits (chi 2 = 20.9, df = 1, p < 0.01), and their 5-month visits (chi 2 = 52.5, df = 1, p < 0.01). Infants were significantly less likely to receive their full complement of immunisations by two years of age if they presented late for their 6-week (Fisher's exact test, p = 0.01), 3-month (p < 0.01) or 5-month (p = 0.01) immunisation visits.

CONCLUSIONS
The Immunisation 2000 target of 95% full immunisation coverage by two years of age was met by this cohort. However, infants who were late for any immunisation visits were more likely to be late for subsequent visits and incompletely vaccinated by two years of age, compared to those infants who presented on time.


Transcription initiation factor 90 (TIF‐90), an alternatively spliced variant of TIF‐IA, differs by a 90 base pair deletion of exon 6. TIF‐90 has been shown to regulate ribosomal RNA (rRNA) synthesis by interacting with polymerase I (Pol I) during the initiation of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) transcription in the nucleolus. Recently, we showed that TIF‐90‐mediated rRNA synthesis can play an important role in driving tumorigenesis in human colon cancer cells. Here we show that TIF‐90 binds GTP at threonine 310, and that GTP binding is required for TIF‐90‐enhanced rRNA synthesis. Overexpression of activated AKT induces TIF‐90 T310, but not a GTP‐binding site (TIF‐90 T310N) mutant, to translocate into the nucleolus and increase rRNA synthesis. Complementing this result, treatment with mycophenolic acid (MPA), an inhibitor of GTP production, dissociates TIF‐90 from Pol I and hence abolishes AKT‐increased rRNA synthesis by way of TIF‐90 activation. Thus, TIF‐90 requires bound GTP to fulfill its function as an enhancer of rRNA synthesis. Both TIF variants are highly expressed in colon cancer cells, and depletion of TIF‐IA expression in these cells results in significant sensitivity to MPA‐inhibited rRNA synthesis and reduced cell proliferation. Finally, a combination of MPA and AZD8055 (an inhibitor of both AKT and mTOR) synergistically inhibits rRNA synthesis, in vivo tumor growth, and other oncogenic activities of primary human colon cancer cells, suggesting a potential avenue for the development of therapeutic treatments by targeting the regulation of rRNA synthesis by TIF proteins.


Abstract This paper examines mortgage outcomes for a large sample of individual home purchases and refinances linked to credit scores in seven major US markets. Among those with similar credit scores and loan attributes, black and Hispanic homeowners had much higher rates of delinquency and default in the downturn. These estimated differences are especially pronounced for loans originated near the peak of the housing boom. These findings suggest that black and Hispanic homeowners drawn into the market near the peak were especially vulnerable to adverse economic shocks and raise concerns about homeownership as a mechanism for reducing racial disparities in wealth. This paper examines mortgage outcomes for a large sample of individual home purchases and refinances linked to credit scores in seven major US markets. Among those with similar credit scores and loan attributes , black and Hispanic homeowners had much higher rates of delinquency and default in the downturn. These estimated differences are especially pronounced for loans originated near the peak of the housing boom. These findings suggest that black and Hispanic homeowners drawn into the market near the peak were especially vulnerable to adverse economic shocks and raise concerns about homeownership as a mechanism for reducing racial disparities in wealth. ( JEL D14, J15, R23, R31, R38 ) say , to , of


Mathematical ability is the ability required by students to solve a problem, students with high abilities will find it easy to solve problems because they have a good understanding of concepts, whereas students with low abilities will find it difficult to solve problems because they do not understand concepts correctly, which is what causes students to make conceptual errors. A condition when students experience a conceptual error is called a misconception. This research is a qualitative study that has the purpose to describe the misconceptions at each level, such as high mathematical ability, moderate mathematical ability, and low mathematical ability on quadrilateral material and alternatives to overcome them. The subjects in this study were 3 students who were selected using purposive sampling.  In this study, students were given a mathematical ability test so that they could be grouped according to their level, then misconceptions were analyzed using a misconception test with the modified CRI method and continued with a diagnostic interview. The results showed that students with low mathematical abilities experienced more misconceptions than other abilities. The three subjects experienced misconceptions in determining the shapes which include rectangular shapes and the nature of rectangular. The causes of misconceptions are caused by pictures, students' abilities, and incomplete reasoning. The alternatives that can be done to overcome misconceptions are providing cognitive conflict, providing scaffolding, and re-explanation.
Keywords: misconception, quadrilateral, mathematical ability, alternative to overcome misconceptions.


Recently, we proposed short-time Fourier transform (STFT)-based loss functions for training a neural speech waveform model. In this paper, we generalize the above framework and propose a training scheme for such models based on spectral amplitude and phase losses obtained by either STFT or continuous wavelet transform (CWT), or both of them. Since CWT is capable of having time and frequency resolutions different from those of STFT and is cable of considering those closer to human auditory scales, the proposed loss functions could provide complementary information on speech signals. Experimental results showed that it is possible to train a high-quality model by using the proposed CWT spectral loss and is as good as one using STFT-based loss.


In our previous study we proposed an optimization-based collision avoidance method for multi-car elevator systems where more than one car is installed in every shaft. However, it has two drawbacks. The one is that undesirable operation called reversal occurs, i.e. on-board passengers travel in the opposite direction to their destination floors. The other is that the system may enter a livelock state and become unable to serve passengers. Therefore, in this study we will improve the collision avoidance method so that neither reversal nor livelock occurs. Then, its effectiveness will be examined by computer simulation.


The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of paclitaxel on radiation-induced p53-dependent apoptosis. A human ependymoblastoma transplanted to nude mice was used. They were treated with paclitaxel (40 mg/kg), irradiation (2 Gy), or a combination of both. Apoptosis was markedly increased in the irradiation group. p53 protein expression was well correlated with the frequency of radiation-induced apoptosis. There was only a slight increase in apoptosis in the paclitaxel group, with little p53 protein expression. In the combination group, the frequency of apoptosis varied with the time intervals, and the group irradiated 12 h after paclitaxel administration showed much less apoptosis than the irradiation group. The Ki-67 labeling index in the paclitaxel group was always higher than before administration. The present study indicates that p53-dependent apoptosis was frequently induced in the human tumor in vivo by irradiation, but not by paclitaxel alone. When combined with irradiation, the timing affected the frequency of apoptosis and the degree of p53 protein expression.


Objective This study investigated whether temporomandibular joint (TMJ) condyle-fossa relationships are bilaterally symmetric in class III malocclusion patients with and without asymmetry and compared to those with normal occlusion. The hypothesis was a difference in condyle-fossa relationships exists in asymmetric patients. Methods Group 1 comprised 40 Korean normal occlusion subjects. Groups 2 and 3 comprised patients diagnosed with skeletal class III malocclusion, who were grouped according to the presence of mandibular asymmetry: Group 2 included symmetric mandibles, while group 3 included asymmetric mandibles. Pretreatment three-dimensional cone-beam computed tomography (3D CBCT) images were obtained. Right- and left-sided TMJ spaces in groups 1 and 2 or deviated and non-deviated sides in group 3 were evaluated, and the axial condylar angle was compared. Results The TMJ spaces demonstrated no significant bilateral differences in any group. Only group 3 had slightly narrower superior spaces (p < 0.001). The axial condylar angles between group 1 and 2 were not significant. However, group 3 showed a statistically significant bilateral difference (p < 0.001); toward the deviated side, the axial condylar angle was steeper. Conclusions Even in the asymmetric group, the TMJ spaces were similar between deviated and non-deviated sides, indicating a bilateral condyle-fossa relationship in patients with asymmetry that may be as symmetrical as that in patients with symmetry. However, the axial condylar angle had bilateral differences only in asymmetric groups. The mean TMJ space value and the bilateral difference may be used for evaluating condyle-fossa relationships with CBCT.


Data on lion home range size, pride size, density, group size, cub survival, litter size and adult sex ratio were extracted from studies carried out in 10 habitats. The data were compared with five measures of food supply: mean prey biomass, prey biomass during the season of greatest abundance, prey biomass during the season of least abundance, biomass of middle-sized prey species (i.e. those with mean adult live-weights between 50 and 250 kg), and the mean size of carcasses fed on by lions. The results indicated that range size is inversely correlated with the abundance of prey during the period of least abundance, but not with overall prey abundance. Range size showed no consistent variation with pride size or with minimum metabolic requirements. Pride size (measured in terms of average number of animals per pride and average number of adult females) and cub survival strongly correlated with lean season food abundance. No relationship was found between group size or litter size and any of the measures of food supply Adult sex ratio did not vary consistently with food supply or lion density, although the data did suggest that prides inhabiting small, circumscribed reserves may experience less inter-male competition and this, in turn, may affect the adult sex ratio.


The electrical activity of the heart is represented by the ECG signal. A wide range of heart conditions can be detected by ECG interpretation. Hence it  is increasingly being used in medical sciences and technology as a valuable diagnostic tool. The commonly used ECG-machine used for diagnosis and supervision at the present is expensive and stationary. The design of a portable , affordable, user friendly ECG monitor system that can be manageable by common man is a great research area. This paper presents review on the considerations for design of portable ECG machine, which mainly deals with the circuitry of ECG machine, such as electrodes, analog front end unit, processing and display units. By choosing the appropriate components a portable ECG machine can be constructed.


The effects of control limits of power system stabilizers (PSS) have been studied using the Transient Stability Simulation Package (TSSP) and a real-time simulator. Extensive simulations were carried out for three different power systems with PSSs using either electrical power or speed deviation as input signal. Results from batch and real-time simulations are in agreement with each other for the cases studied. It has been concluded that higher PSS output limit settings can achieve added damping and enhance transient stability. They yield excellent PSS performance during major system disturbances.


Sociologists and criminologists have relied on the concept of "turning points" to map individual criminal careers over the life course. Similar to individuals, criminal organizations undergo drastic changes that influence their trajectory over time and space. Using the case of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN) in New York City, we introduce the concept of "organizational turning points" to explain the group's evolution through various legitimate and illegitimate forms. Bringing together conceptual lenses from literature on organizational change, culture and cognition, and criminology, we demonstrate that street gangs can be complex and fluid organisms that change over time and space. Identifying and recognizing organizational turning points in criminal groups can have important implications for scholars and practitioners alike.


: Introduction: Diarrhea is the cause of nearly 18% of all child deaths. In early childhood, the symptoms of diarrhea can be similar to a urinary tract infection (UTI). The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of UTIs and antibiotic susceptibility in children hospitalized with acute diarrhea. Place and Duration: In the Pediatric department of District Headquarter Hospital, Bagh for one-year duration from April 2019 to March 2020. Methods: All cases of acute diarrhea aged 1-60 months and hospitalized. They were included if diarrhea persisted 3 times a day and antibiotics had not been used in the last two days. The sensitivity and resistance of the cultures to common antibiotics was assessed. Results: Of all 575 patients, 31 (5.4%; 18 males ≈ 58%, 13 females ≈ 42%) had a UTI. There was no gender difference (p = 0.012), but 77.4% of the subjects were under 12 months of age (p = 0.012; OR = 2.89). The urine culture results were as follows: 27 cases (87.1%), Escherichia coli; two (6.5%), Enterococcus; one (3.2%), Pseudomonas; and one entity (3.2%), Klebsiella. Susceptibility to antibiotics was found to be 93.5% to nitrofurantoin and 61.3% to ceftriaxone and nalidixic acid. They were 67.7% resistant to co-trimoxazole and 64.5% to gentamicin. Conclusion: Although UTIs are not as common in acute childhood diarrhea, this should be taken into account especially in infancy.


Background The construction of lightweight robots poses one of the major challenges in the field of active robots since bearing the weight of an active robot significantly increases metabolic cost. However, few studies have achieved a substantial reduction in the robot weight. The primary reason is that the weight of the actuator, which comprises the main weight of the robot, is limited by the specific power, power requirements and assisting efficiency. Methods In this paper, we propose a new method that is utilizing the energy harvesting function of the Achilles tendon to improve the assistance efficiency of ankle robots to reduce the weight of the actuator and we design a novel ankle robot to test the validity of the method. The robot works with the ankle plantar flexor at 43%-60% of the gait cycle and has no other effects on the joints or the tendon of the lower limb. Healthy subjects were recruited to test the prototype in three conditions: free walking, power-on walking, and power-off walking. Data on the robot assisting power, metabolic cost and kinematics in different conditions were collected and analyzed. Result The results showed that the ankle robot can deliver forces at the controlled assistance timing. The average assisting power of 0.0650±0.0054 W/kg per leg resulted in an 8.7±8.1% and 19.0±6.4% net reduction in metabolic cost in power-on walking compared to free-walking and power-off walking, respectively. Conclusion Compared with the results of some of the best research, our initial result supports the validity of the method. This method can help to reduce the weight of active robots and the technical innovative method to determine the assistance timing more accurately and the novel design of the ankle robot can provide a reference for future research. To the best of our knowledge, this method is the first to use the human physiological structure to optimize the design of active robots.


Background: Microscopy is the gold standard method currently acceptable in diagnosis of malaria in a clinical setting but is subject to diagnostic bias as it cannot detect malaria parasites as they are very low or absent in peripheral circulation. Rapid immunochromatographic test (ICT) can detect the parasite antigen in peripheraral circulation and thus may be a suitable complementary epidemiological tool for malaria diagnosis among the expectant women in low parasitaemia areas. However, the sensitivity and accuracy of rapid ICT in diagnosis of malaria in pregnancy has not been established. Methods: A laboratory based cross sectional study was used. Blood samples from 314 pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic were screened for malaria parasites using microscopy, rapid ICT and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: Out of the 314 samples analyzed for malaria, 44 samples (14.0%) were positive for P. falciparum by microscopy while 62 (19.7%) were positive by rapid ICT. The sensitivity and specificity of rapid ICT was 84.4% and 96.8% respectively while that of microscopy was 68.8% and 100.0% respectively. There was a moderate level of agreement between results of rapid ICT and microscopy and high level of agreement when rapid ICT results were compared against microscopy and PCR results (κ = 0.517; p <0.001 and κ = 0.821; p <0.001) respectively. Conclusion:The findings of this study suggest the potential adoption of rapid ICT as a complementary epidemiology tool for malaria diagnosis among expectant women in areas of low parasitaemia and where microscopy is difficult to implement.


Urban areas have a dual role in climate change· they are major contributors to climate change as they produce more than 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and they also accept the impact of it. Urban trees have great value in urban ecosystems because of their role as carbon sinks, so they contribute to climate change mitigation. The aim of this paper is to collect data about the impact of climate change on forestry species in urban areas via the science of phenology. In recent years, via phenology, the observation and study of the effects of climate change are possible, as there appears to be a shift in the start of biological events, and also a change in their duration. These changes in the seasonal activity of plants, from time to time, are a sensitive but perfectly visible indicator of changes in the functioning of ecosystems. Phenology refers to the recording of dates in which different phases of the plant's life cycle such as budburst, flowering, dormancy, and hibernation have been observed both in species and in plant communities. Temperature, solar radiation, and water availability are the three factors that affect plant phenology. To appreciate the impact of climate change on the phenological stages of forestry species, three Phenological Monitoring Areas (PMA) were created in three urban spaces in Thessaloniki, in December 2020, within the framework of the project LIFE CliVut (Climate Value of Urban Trees) LIFE18 GIC/IT/001217. Each PMA contains 20 species (10 species of trees and 10 species of shrubs), and 100 individuals (5 individuals per species). The monitoring of the phenological stages of the forestry species was carried out throughout a year on a weekly basis according to the protocol that was created in the frame of the project taking into consideration the BBCH scale.


In our study we investigated second and foreign language (L2) sentence readability, an area little explored so far in the case of several languages, including Swedish. The outcome of our research consists of two methods for sentence selection from native language corpora based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) techniques. The two approaches have been made available online within Larka, an Intelligent CALL (ICALL) platform offering activities for language learners and students of linguistics. Such an automatic selection of suitable sentences can be valuable for L2 teachers during the creation of new teaching materials, for L2 students who look for additional self-study exercises as well as for lexicographers in search of example sentences to illustrate the meaning of a vocabulary item. Members from all these potential user groups evaluated our methods and found the majority of the sentences selected suitable for L2 learning purposes.


In a patient with Tolosa-Hunt syndrome, serial cerebral angiograms showed arterial stationary wave phenomenon and persistent deformity of the carotid siphon. Stationary arterial waves are noted in only 0.3 percent of cerebral angiograms and have not been reported in Tolosa-Hunt syndrome. In accordance with theories proposed by Theander and New, we felt that the intense stenosis of the carotid siphon produced by the periarteritis in our patient caused relative obstruction and high resistance, giving rise to resonance of arterial pressure waves and creation of the arterial stationary waves.


Fetal trisomy 16 is considered uniformly lethal early in gestation. It has been reported to be associated with the variability of clinical features and outcomes. Mosaic trisomy 16 leads to a high risk of abnormality in prenatal cases. Intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) is a common outcome of mosaic trisomy 16. Herein, we report on the case of Thai male IUGR fetus with trisomy 16 mosaicism. The fetal body was too small. Postmortem investigation of placenta revealed the abnormality including small placenta with furcated cord insertion and single umbilical cord artery. Cytogenetic study demonstrated trisomy 16 that was found 100% in placenta and only 16% in the fetal heart while other organs had normal karyotype. In addition, cardiac and other internal organs examination revealed normal morphology.


This study investigated whether the content of children's drawings of an event changes over three successive interviews about that event. It also assessed whether children recall more details verbally than they draw. Twenty-seven 3- to 6-year old children witnessed a live event which ended with one actor stealing a cuddly toy. They were interviewed about it 1 day, 2 weeks, and 6 months later. At each interview, children were asked to make a drawing of the event while narrating what happened. We analyzed the content of the drawings for seven features relevant to the event as well as inaccurate information. Children's inclusion of "the perpetrator" and "the victim" decreased over time but the other features remained stable. Children verbally reported significantly more details than they drew. Our findings suggest that children provide less information in drawings than in verbal reports, but this information may be more reliable and stable compared to verbal reports over multiple interviews.


Directional nanopillars with high-aspect-ratio have wide applications in home or industrial appliances and biomimetic robots. Their fabrication, however, is a challenge for conventional methods. In this study, we propose a simple stretching imprint process to prepare controllable directional (30°-90° in a slanted angle) nanopillars (200-800 nm in diameter) with high aspect ratio (>30) using a microcavity mold, beyond the conventional nanoimprint process, for 1 : 1 pattern transfer from the mold to the replica. The mechanism of the stretching imprint process is further investigated, and a rheology model for the filament evolution during the stretching process is established, which clearly shows that the aspect-ratio, diameter in submicrons, slanted angle, and also the tip profile of the free-standing nanopillars can be easily controlled by the imprint process using a microcavity mold. Further experiments indicate that the fabricated directional free-standing nanopillars show strong friction anisotropy, which may find applications in biomimetic studies.


BACKGROUND/AIMS
Botulinum toxin A (BTX-A) is an inhibitor of muscular contractions in both striated and smooth muscle. The purpose of this study was to observe the safety and efficacy of endoscopic injections of BTX-A into the gastric wall in obese patients.

METHODOLOGY
Twenty obese patients (BMI >28 kg/m2) were randomized into two groups: Group 1 (200 U BTX-A) and Group 2 (300 U BTX-A). For each patient, 20 puncture sites were selected into the gastric wall. Body weights and BMIs were recorded and gastric emptying times were determined before treatment and 1, 4 and 12 weeks after treatment. Blood samples for cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, leptin, motilin, peptide tyrosine (PYY) and ghrelin levels were obtained before treatment and 1, 4 and 12 weeks after treatment.

RESULTS
Nineteen patients completed the follow-up. Both groups showed significant body weight and BMI decrease (p<0.05) with decreased TG levels. The gastric emptying times were longer than those before treatment in both groups, especially at the 1-week point (p<0.05). A significant decrease in fasting ghrelin levels in all 19 obese patients was found after BTX-A administration 4 weeks later, and PYY levels in all 19 patients decreased, especially at the 12-week point. No severe complications were observed.

CONCLUSIONS
Endoscopic multi-punctures of BTX-A including fundic injections may decrease body weight and BMI by delaying the gastric emptying time. The effect of BTX-A on ghrelin levels may also be involved in the reduction of appetite.


In Wireless Sensor Network (WSNs), gather the data by using mobile sinks has become popular. Reduce the number of messages which is used for sink location broadcasting, efficient energy data forwarding, become accustomed to unknown earthly changes are achieved by a protocol which is projected by a SinkTrail. The forecast of mobile sinks' location are done by using logical coordinate system. When sensor nodes don't have any data to send, at that time they switch to sleep mode to save the energy and to increase the network lifetime. And due to this reason there is a chance of the involvement of nodes that are in sleeping state between the path sources to the mobile sink which is selected by the SinkTrail protocol. Before become the fully functional and process the information, these sleeping nodes can drop the some information. Due to this reason, it is vital to wake- up the sleeping nodes on the path earlier than the sender can start transferring of sensed data. In this paper, on-demand wake- up scheduling algorithm is projected which is used to activates sleeping node on the path before data delivery. Here, in this work the multi-hop communication in WSN also considers. By incorporating wake-up scheduling algorithm to perk up the dependability and improve the performance of on-demand data forwarding extends the SinkTrail solution in our work. This projected algorithm improves the quality of service of the network by dishonesty of data or reducing the loss due to sleeping nodes. The efficiency and the effectiveness projected solution are proved by the evaluation results.


This paper argues that the social foundations of education, and particularly the disciplines of history, philosophy and sociology of education, must continue to play an integral role in programs of teacher education. We report on the decline of the study of history of education within Faculties of Education in Canada as an example of the marginalization of the role of the social foundations in teacher education programs generally. In this context we furnish what we take to be some of the strongest reasons for the requirement for future teachers to engage with the social foundations—some of these arguments apply to all of the foundational areas, and some apply to specific foundational disciplines. Some of these arguments will be familiar, some new. We conclude that if a teacher education program in Canada is to be of a very high quality then it must include a strong social foundations component. Keywords: teacher education, sociology of education, history of education, philosophy of education, social foundations of education


Moving frame finite-difference time-domain (MFFDTD) method is applied to numerical modeling of a wind turbine blade deflection sensing system that uses an ultrawideband (UWB) wireless link along the blade. The moving frame in MFFDTD follows the propagation of only relatively small important part of the UWB pulse and therefore brings substantial savings in simulation time compared to the original FDTD method operating on the entire blade. In this paper, concrete formulas for determining the extent of the moving frame are given, taking into account the effects of the numerical dispersion of the FDTD method on the UWB pulse extent. In the numerical experiment, the actual speedup for a simulation of a 58.7m long wind turbine blade is shown to be approx. 11.5×, reducing the running time from 17 to 1.5 hours.


We study the interaction between an isolated solitary wave and an underwater slotted barrier numerically. With the advantages on enhancing water circulations and sediment movements, the slotted barrier is considerably more cost effective and less environmental impact than the conventional hard structures. The numerical results are calculated by a two-dimensional volume of fluid (VOF)-type model which solves the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations and the nonlinear k-e turbulence closure model. We discuss the effect of porosity and vertical locations of slotted barrier on the free surface elevation, velocity and vorticity fields. Then, the attentions also paid on tracing the trajectories of fluid particles around the object to help understand possible sediment movements for suspended loads and on evaluating the wave reflection, transmission, and dissipation coefficients using the energy integral method.


The growth of the marine renewable energy sector requires the potential effects on marine wildlife to be considered carefully. For this purpose, utilization distributions derived from animal-borne biologging and telemetry data provide accurate information on individual space use. The degree of spatial overlap between potentially vulnerable wildlife such as seabirds and development areas can subsequently be quantified and incorporated into impact assessments and siting decisions. While rich in information, processing and analyses of animal-borne tracking data are often not trivial. There is therefore a need for straightforward and reproducible workflows for this technique to be useful to marine renewables stakeholders. The aim of this study was to develop an analysis workflow to extract utilization distributions from animal-borne biologging and telemetry data explicitly for use in assessment of animal spatial overlap with marine renewable energy development areas. We applied the method to European shags (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) in relation to tidal stream turbines. While shag occurrence in the tidal development area was high (99.4%), there was no overlap (0.14%) with the smaller tidal lease sites within the development area. The method can be applied to any animal-borne bio-tracking datasets and is relevant to stakeholders aiming to quantify environmental effects of marine renewables.


Recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) -based vectors expressing therapeutic gene products have shown great promise for human gene therapy. A recent milestone has been the safety and efficacy observed using recombinant AAV2 expressing retinal pigment epithelial associated 65KDa protein for Leber Congenital Amaurosis. This review summarizes manufacturing and characterization of 'AAV2-hRPE65v2', the vector used in one completed Phase I/II clinical trial. Regulatory challenges and strategies that were successfully used for this groundbreaking trial are described.


The temperature dependence of the coercive force (Hc) of ferromagnetic TM-Al-O (TM=Fe, Co) granular films has been investigated in the temperature range from 290 down to 2 K. Fe-Al-O films show weak anisotropy. In contrast, Co-Al-O films show clear in-plain anisotropy. The coercive forces of Co-Al-O films show a logarithmic temperature dependence at low temperatures while those of Fe-Al-O films are almost independent of temperature.


Nonsimultaneous measurements of voltage and current harmonics associated with the distribution and utility-interactive photovoltaic systems at the Southwest Residential Experiment Station are summarized in this paper. A qualitative analysis of the data is presented. The harmonic impacts of the prototypes-on the distribution system appear to be minimal. Needs in the area of measurement and analysis of harmonic propagation in general systems are identified.


1. A procedure for measuring rates of aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis in vitro and in intact leaves is presented. 2. Leaf discs showed rates close to those of intact leaves. 3. Cell-free preparations showed similar rates when assayed by pyrophosphate exchange, but actual aminoacyl-tRNA formation rates appeared to be much lower. Evidence is presented that dilution of supplied labelled amino acids was a major factor causing the low apparent rates. 4. Attempts to strip endogenous amino acids from plant tRNA resulted in low acceptor capability of the tRNA.


The purpose of the researcher is to find out the unilateral cancellation made by consumers when ordering food or drinks on the menu Go Food the application Gojek. Researchers use qualitative research based on empirical field and juridical data, the research method is social legal research. This research concludes that the practice of unilateral cancellation carried out by consumers has various reasons and factors that support the occurrence of unilateral cancellations and cause losses to Gojek drivers, unilateral cancellations are not only carried out by consumers but also by Gojek drivers because the application Gojek is experiencing an error. also inflicts harm on himself. The practice of cancellation by consumers on the menu Go Food is an act of breaking promises because consumers do not keep their promises to pay for their orders so that there is no loss between consumers and Gojek drivers. There is no sense of responsibility given by consumers to Gojek drivers so that one-sided cancellations will repeat itself, consumers should have a good attitude when purchasing so that Gojek drivers get wages from consumers. Islamic business ethics sees the practice of one-sided cancellation from consumers is not justified, because in Islamic business it cannot be mutually beneficial and should be mutually beneficial. The attitude of consumers who make this unilateral cancellation is not encouraged by Islamic business ethics.


Plasma free fatty acid (FFA), glucose and insulin responses to feeding and fasting were investigated in a sample of two lines of Large White pigs. One line had been selected for nine generations against backfat thickness and for improved growth rate and feed conversion efficiency. The other line had been randomly bred for six generations. No between-line differences in the plasma constituents were observed in the fed or absorptive state. This is assumed to be the state in which the pigs were reared since they were without food for a maximum of 16 h daily. An increase in the concentration of plasma FFA, indicating the presence of the starved state, only occurred after 16 h without food. It is suggested therefore that changes in these plasma constituents are not important in the reduced fat deposition in the Selection line pigs. In the starved state, however, the Selection line pigs had higher concentrations of plasma FFA than Control line pigs. The relevance of this finding to the differences in body composition is discussed.


Measurements of the maximum supercurrents which may be carried through clean lead/ copper /lead sandwiches, prepared from rolled copper foils up to 40 /μm thick, cleaned under vacuum, have been made with a Slug voltmeter, at temperatures down to 0.34 K. The magnitude of the critical supercurrent density is subject to considerable random variation, but is described to order of magnitude by the semi-empirical expression je = A exp (-DT/α), where A = 1010±1 A m-2, and α = (1.0 ± 0.2) x 10-6 K m providing strong evidence that the process is controlled by a temperature-dependent coherence length ζ,T = α/T. No supercurrents have been observed in the lead-gold system, and those for tin-copper are much smaller than those for both soldered and evaporated lead and lead/bismuth alloy on copper, which are all of comparable magnitude. These effects may be due to the growth of intermetallic compounds at the interfaces.


To optimize the bonding of glass polyalkenoate (ionomer) cement to dentin, different conditioning methods have been suggested. The effect of two easily applied conditioning methods, a 10-15 seconds cleaning with a 10% polyacrylic acid or rinsing with copious amounts of water, was compared in class V abrasion/erosion lesions. The cervical lesions were restored, without any form of mechanical cavity preparation, with an anhydrous glass ionomer cement. During a 4-yr period, 137 restorations were evaluated every 6 months. Cumulative loss rates after 4 yr were 15.6% for the polyacrylic acid group and 21.9% for the water rinsing group. The difference was not significant. No secondary caries was registered.


The characterization and design of photovoltaic systems is a difficult issue due to the variable operation atmospheric conditions. With this aim, simulators and measurement equipments have been proposed. However, most of them do not deal with real atmospheric conditions. This letter proposes an electronic device that first measures the real evolution of the I-V characteristic curves of photovoltaic modules and generators, and then physically emulates in real time these curves to test photovoltaic inverters. The device consists of a dc-dc converter, a microcontroller and a data storage unit. The two operation modes (emulation and measurement) are digitally driven by the microcontroller. The converter current is controlled by means of a variable-hysteresis control loop, whose reference is provided by the microcontroller. In addition, a digital voltage control loop is designed to find out the complete characteristic curves of the photovoltaic generators. A 15-kW prototype is designed and built that can measure three times per second the characteristic curves of up to seven generators and then emulate their electrical behavior to test photovoltaic inverters. With the proposed device, the optimal configuration and performance of photovoltaic modules and generators, as well as the operation of photovoltaic inverters can be thoroughly analyzed under real atmospheric conditions.


An extensive experimental program was carried out to study the vibration behavior of tube bundles subjected to two-phase cross-flow. Turbulence-induced excitation is discussed in Part 3 of this series of three papers. Random vibration response to turbulence-induced excitation is a significant vibration mechanism in heat exchanger tube bundles subjected to two-phase cross-flow. The vibration responses of centrally located tubes in four tube bundle configurations subjected to air-water cross-flow was measured. The results are presented in the form of a normalized forced-excitation spectrum which can be used as a design guideline over a void fraction range from 25 percent to 99 percent and over a practical range of flow rates. The data are further analyzed to determine the dependence of the vibration response on Reynolds number, void fraction and frequency. Measurements taken on a single tube, a row of tubes and on tubes having varying end conditions were used to assist in interpreting the bundle data.


Abstract The base rate literature has an opposite twin in the social psychological literature on stereotypes, which concludes that people use their preexisting beliefs about probabilistic category attributes too much, rather than not enough. This ironic discrepancy arises because beliefs about category attributes enhance accuracy when the beliefs are accurate and diminish accuracy when they are not. To determine the accuracy of base rate/stereotype beliefs requires research that addresses specific content.


Surgery for congenital and early childhood lung cysts is often dictated by symptoms such as respiratory distress, infection or pneumothorax. Asymptomatic cysts present a therapeutic dilemma: surgical intervention and "conservative" observation have advocates. The risk of malignancy in such cysts is considered by some an indication for surgical intervention and is reviewed in this paper. Pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB) is the most frequent malignancy associated with childhood lung cysts. Although rare, PPB occurs predictably in certain clinical and familial situations. This unique biology of PPB can inform the cyst management decision. The earliest manifestation of PPB is a malignant lung cyst in young children, clinically and radiographically indistinguishable from benign congenital lung cysts. Histopathologic examination differentiates cystic PPB from the benign cystic variants. Surgical excision of cystic PPB (with or without chemotherapy) cures approximately 85–90% of children. If not excised, cystic PPB evolves to cystic/solid or solid high‐grade sarcoma (cure rate 45–60%) by age 2–6 years. Numerous reports of "malignancy in a congenital lung cyst" are now understood as the characteristic progression of cystic PPB. PPB is genetically determined in many cases. Detailed family history may reveal the hallmarks of PPB in the patient or young relatives: a unique constellation of diseases including lung cysts, cystic nephroma, childhood cancers, stromal sex‐chord ovarian tumors, seminomas or dysgerminomas, intestinal polyps, thyroid hyperplasias, and hamartomas. Pneumothorax and multifocal/bilateral lung cysts also characterize PPB. These diagnoses predict that a lung cyst is more likely PPB than a benign congenital cyst. Patients fitting this pattern deserve histologic diagnosis. The genetic basis for this heritable syndrome is unknown but is being actively investigated. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2009; 44:14–30. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The heat capacity of β-lithium hexafluoroaluminate, Li3ALF6, was determined from 15 to 380 K and the thermodynamic properties calculated from the results. The entropy at 298.15 K was found to be 187.88 ±0.38 J/K · mol (44.904 ± 0.090 cal/K · mol).


Background Effect of exercise for patient with osteoporotic vertebral fractures. Objectives Severe osteoporosis, with compression fractures of the vertebrae leads to a decrease in the quality of life and functional activity of patients. The effectiveness of exercise could affect improvement in functional status and quality of life of patients. Methods Seventy-eight postmenopausal women with vertebral fractures were randomized into the exercise group (n=40) and control group (n=38). The mean age was 70.7 ±8.1 SD years in the exercisers and 67.6 ± 7.0 SD years in the control (p=0.07). All women had at least one osteoporotic vertebral fracture and suffered from chronic back pain. Baseline variables in QUALEFFO score were not significantly different between groups. Exercise program included stretching, strength training and weight-bearing exercises. The program was conducted two times per week 60 minute a day for 12 months. Participants in the control group were instructed to continue with their usual daily activities. Participants were assessed at baseline and 12 months using the Quality of Life Questionnaire of the European Foundation for Osteoporosis (QUALEFFO-41) and the "Timed Up and Go" test. Dynamic balance was assessedusing ofstabilometrics- computer posturographicsystem of diagnostics of balance, skills movements Balance-Master, NeuroCom. Results There was improvement in total QUALEFFO score over 12 months in the exercise group (44.2) in compared to control group (56.6), p<0.0000, improvements were observed as in total QUALEFFO score, so and in all domains. According to the results of stabilometrics received significant difference in the assessment of functional capacity, skills movements and sways of the centre of gravity in the exercise group. There was improvement in test «SIT-TO-STAND - WT Transfer» in the exercise group (0,9) compared with the control (1.5) p=0,001, «Body WT Rising Index» - 9.8 and 12.2 (p=0,03) and «Tandem Walk end Sway» - 6,8 and 9.1 (p=0,02), respectively. A small decrease of the time of performance «Timed Up and Go» test observed in the exercise group from 11.5 to 10.8 (p<0.05) and there were no significant change in the control group (from 10.8 to 11.1, p=0.37). Conclusions Exercise therapy reliably improves the quality of life of patients with osteoporotic fractures of the vertebrae, as well as improves the functional mobility and balanceof patients. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Different populations of unstimulated and IL-2-activated PBL were used in binding and killing assays against somatic mouse/human lymphocyte cell hybrids containing different human chromosomes. Unstimulated PBL effector cells showed low binding and killing activity to both cell hybrids and mouse parental cell lines. However, IL-2-activated killer (LAK) cells bound strongly to, and effectively killed, cell hybrids carrying human chromosome 6, but were inefficient in both assays to mouse parental cells and to cell hybrids not carrying human chromosome 6. These results show that human LAK cells but not endogenous NK cells bind and kill mouse/human lymphocyte hybrids containing human chromosome 6. We thus suggest that LAK cells recognize ligands encoded by genes on chromosome 6.


Multiparticle systems on complicated metric graphs might have many applications in physics, biology and social life. But the corresponding science still does not exist. Here we start it with simplest examples where there is quadratic interaction between neighboring particles and deterministic external forces. In this introduction we consider stable configurations and stable flows on one and two edge graphs. Moreover, distribution of mean (as in virial theorem) kinetic and potential energies along the graph is considered.


The paper describes a research programme undertaken to develop a high performance SBS modified bituminous binder for production in South Africa. The target performance specification included a softening point minimum of 80 0 C, and an elastic recovery of 75%. Compatibility problems were experienced between the SBS polymer and the South African bitumen. Revisions to the 1994 SABITA SBS specification are suggested. The sampling and testing of SBS modified bitumen requires changes to the South African test methods. The use of a simple recipe specification for SBS modified bitumens is strongly cautioned against. The viscosity of SBS bitumen at the asphalt plant pugmill is only slightly increased over unmodified bitumen, despite laboratory indications otherwise.


This study addresses an axis-manoeuvring problem using two-axis rotational kinematics. The goal of two-axis rotational kinematics is to find a policy of rotating an arbitrary axis towards another arbitrary direction using only one or two rotations of coordinate axes. The axis-manoeuvring policy is determined on the basis of geometrical attitude configuration. This study establishes a formula to find the rotational sequence as well as rotational angles for underactuated control systems.


Allogeneic transplantation for renal cell carcinoma has shown encouraging preliminary results. We reviewed the published literature to evaluate the impact of patient selection. Most studies did not include information on prognostic factors. We used patient entry rank within individual studies as a novel surrogate for patient selection, motivated by our own experience of an apparent impact of entry rank. One hundred patients were identified from nine studies. Twenty‐six per cent of patients demonstrated either a partial or complete response. Median overall survival was 12·3 months. Grade 2–4 acute graft‐versus‐host disease correlated with an increased likelihood of response (odds ratio: 5·4, 95% confidence interval: 1·6–18·1, P = 0·006) but not survival. Earlier patient entry rank on each trial was associated with a higher probability of response (P = 0·004) and superior survival (P = 0·004). Patient entry rank served as a powerful prognostic factor, suggesting bias in patient selection that evolved over the course of the study. Further studies are warranted to determine the influence of order of patient entry in other early clinical trial settings.


Treatment of the mandibular fracture consists of reduction and fixation. Primary wire & Arch bar are perhaps the ideal method for intermaxillary fixation. But, daily feeding, swallowing, speech, and in some instances, respiration is difficult to maintain during the period of intermaxillary fixation, owing to muscle weakness, emotional disorder and poor oral hygiene in a position of the long-term bed disabled patient with multiple injuries. Therefore, Intermaxillary fixation is not applied in the disabled bed patient, the alternative methods must be obtained. In the case of the mandibular fracture, because of the absence of weight bearing, osseous union may eventually occur even without immobilization if the patient is maintained without wound infection on a controlled soft diet. For the purpose of the prevention of the wound infection, the establishment of an drainage on the oral lacerated wound is necessary for the removal of the hematoma & seroma in the fracture site. This is the report of a case that was managed conservatively without the intermaxillary fixation in the long-term disabled bed patient with a mandibular compound fracture.


PurposeUnderstanding diversity amongst potential beneficiaries of land redistribution is of critical importance for both design and planning of successful land reform interventions. This study seeks to add to the existing literature on farming types, with specific emphasis on understanding diversity within a sub-group of commercially oriented or emerging smallholders.Design/methodology/approachUsing a multivariate statistical analysis – principal component and cluster analyses applied to a sample of 442 commercially-oriented smallholders – five distinct clusters of emerging farmers are identified, using variables related to farmers' characteristics, income and expenditure and farm production indicators and willingness to participate in land redistribution. The five clusters are discussed in light of a predefined selection criteria that is based on the current policies and scholarly thinking.FindingsThe results suggest that there are distinct differences in farming types, and each identified cluster of farmers requires tailored support for the effective implementation of land reform. The identified homogenous sub-groups of smallholders, allows us to understand which farmers could be a better target for a successful land redistribution policy.Originality/valueMost of the existing typology studies in South Africa tend to focus on general smallholders and in the Eastern Cape province; this study extends the literature by focussing on specific prime beneficiaries of land reform in three provinces. This study uses a more detailed dataset than the Statistics general and agricultural household surveys.


Breast cancer is a global problem that accounts for almost a fourth of all cancers in women. Despite the many therapeutic strategies currently in use, treated patients often suffer from cancer relapse and metastasis due to the presence of a subpopulation of tumorigenic cells capable of self-renewal and termed cancer stem cells (CSCs). To address the properties of this critical sub-population, we utilized our recently-developed lentiviral CSC reporter carrying an Oct4/Sox2 response element coupled to a green fluorescent protein (SORE6-GFP) to detect and isolate the CSC population in a low-grade ER+ human breast cancer model, MCF10Ca1h, by FACS. Whole transcriptome sequencing analysis (RNA-seq) on the sorted cells identified Peptidylarginine deiminase IV (PADI4) as differentially expressed between CSCs and non-CSCs. PADI4 was recently shown to regulate citrullination of histone H1, displacing it from chromatin and resulting in global chromatin decondensation and pluripotency induction in embryonic stem cells (Christophorou, et al., 2014, Nature 507:104). Thus, we hypothesized that PADI4 may also regulate the stemness phenotype in breast cancer CSCs, likely through effects on chromatin structure. We showed that PADI4 protein expression is higher in luminal breast cancer cell lines than other subtypes, and we did shRNA knockdown (KD) of PADI4 in the luminal MCF10Ca1h model. PADI4 KD increased tumorosphere formation and clonogenicity indicating increased CSC population/activity. Additionally, MCF10Ca1h cells treated with a PADI4 selective inhibitor showed an increase in CSCs as assessed using the SORE6-GFP stem cell reporter. In vivo limiting dilution studies demonstrate that PADI4 KD increased tumor incidence at low cell inoculum, reflecting a statistically significant 2-4 fold increase in CSCs upon PADI4 KD. Our findings suggest that PADI4 may function as a tumor suppressor in luminal breast cancer. In support of this conclusion, deep deletions of PADI4 locus are found in 1% of human breast cancers in the TCGA datasets. Analysis of the effect of PADI4 KD on chromatin organization in the CSC and non-CSC compartments is ongoing. Citation Format: Nellie Moshkovich. Peptidylarginine deiminase IV (PADI4) is a novel tumor suppressor that may contribute to regulation of breast cancer stem cell dynamics [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1916. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-1916


This paper presents a modified artificial bee colony algorithm (MABC) for solving function optimization problems and control of mobile robot system. Several strategies are adopted to enhance the performance and reduce the computational effort of traditional artificial bee colony algorithm, such as elite, solution sharing, instant update, cooperative strategy, and population manager. The elite individuals are selected as onlooker bees for preserving good evolution, and, then, onlooker bees, employed bees, and scout bees are operated. The solution sharing strategy provides a proper direction for searching, and the
instant update strategy provides the newest information for other individuals; the cooperative strategy improves the performance for high-dimensional problems. In addition, the population manager is proposed to adjust population size adaptively according to the evolution situation. Finally, simulation results for optimization of test functions and tracking control of mobile robot system are introduced to show the effectiveness and performance of
the proposed approach.


Abstract Redevelopment of urban sites is an ongoing concern for many communities in the industrial Northeast United States. While many mill sites still languish, examples of successful revitalization can be found. Most of these efforts require more than market conditions to make them viable. Partnerships between developers and the community and state are seen to be crucial. These public–private partnerships come in many forms, not always monetary. The detail and effectiveness of these partnerships often depend on the experience and expertise of developers and community professionals. Given that many of these communities have limited staff, agreements are often made quickly with a rather short-term perspective. This often leads to either side (most often the municipal side) not fully benefiting in terms of long-term impacts. Longitudinal studies to examine impacts over time are helping understand the complexities of these agreements and offer transferable lessons. This paper, a case study of public–private investment in an old mill complex located in Maynard, Massachusetts that was vacated in 1993, is intended to help communities consider those costs and benefits. It discusses the historical significance of the mill to the town, examines the rationale for investors to purchase the mill and their intentions in revitalizing the structures, describes the public–private agreements that were undertaken, analyzes the immediate impact of the resulting agreements, and examines the impact over the years.


Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity is the most frequently relied upon reference standard for monitoring liver injury in humans and nonclinical species. However, limitations of ALT include a lack of specificity for diagnosing liver injury (e.g., present in muscle and the gastrointestinal tract), its inability to monitor certain types of hepatic injury (e.g., biliary injury), and ambiguity with respect to interpretation of modest or transient elevations (< 3× upper limit of normal). As an initial step to both understand and qualify additional biomarkers of hepatotoxicity that may add value to ALT, three novel candidates have been evaluated in 34 acute toxicity rat studies: (1) alpha-glutathione S-transferase (GSTA), (2) arginase 1 (ARG1), and (3) 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPD). The performance of each biomarker was assessed for its diagnostic ability to accurately detect hepatocellular injury (i.e., microscopic histopathology), singularly or in combination with ALT. All three biomarkers, either alone or in combination with ALT, improved specificity when compared with ALT alone. Hepatocellular necrosis and/or degeneration were detected by all three biomarkers in the majority of animals. ARG1 and HPD were also sensitive in detecting single-cell necrosis in the absence of more extensive hepatocellular necrosis/degeneration. ARG1 showed the best sensitivity for detecting biliary injury with or without ALT. All the biomarkers were able to detect biliary injury with single-cell necrosis. Taken together, these novel liver toxicity biomarkers, GSTA, ARG1, and HPD, add value (both enhanced specificity and sensitivity) to the measurement of ALT alone for monitoring drug-induced liver injury in rat.


Steel-core/steel-tube duplex reinforcing members have been studied and it has been observed that suitably designed core members can accept peak stress levels in the region of 1 GN m-2 in zero-tension load cycling for more than 106 cycles. Observations have been made of the growth of fatigue cracks in metal plates reinforced with elements of this type. Two experimental configurations have been investigated in which the reinforcing members have been arranged to be perpendicular to the length of the crack and parallel to the direction of the applied load. An edge crack in a brass sheet has been subjected to a cyclic crack opening force. A central crack was placed in a stainless steel plate, to the surface of which non-fracturing reinforcing members were attached. Studies show that it is feasible to prevent the growth of cracks of appreciable dimensions in stainless steel plates when operating at high stress values under cyclic loading. These characteristics are obtainable in composite systems which contain relatively small volume fractions of steel duplex fibres. Possible engineering applications of these composite systems are outlined.


This study investigated the use of Emotional Intelligence (EI) in promoting self-efficacy of the visually impaired fresh students. Twenty eight visually impaired students participated in the study, made up of 19 males and 9 females of age range from 18 to 23 and a mean age of 20.5. The instrument used for data collection was Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS) developed by Schutte et al. (1988). Three hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of alpha. The results indicated that there were significant differences in the level of improvement experienced by the treated group compared to control group. Also the male and female subjects were significantly different in their responses to treatment. The year of onset of blindness of the subjects indicated significant difference in the subjects' responses. Emotional Intelligence programme is thus an effective programme for managing self-efficacy.


Clerodendrum is a genus of about 500 species belongs to the family Lamiaceae. Several species of this genus have been proved for the treatment of various diseases. Clerodendrum thomsoniae Balf.f were selected in this study; according to the literature available, there is no systematic toxicity studies for this plant were described. The current study was therefore carried out to evaluate the acute and sub-acute toxicity in mice and rats. The acute oral toxicity study was performed in mice following OECD guidelines 425, and the sub-acute toxicity was performed in male and female rats following OECD guidelines 407. The results showed that mice given a single dose of up to 2000 mg/kg orally did not show any toxicity signs or mortality. In the sub-acute toxicity analysis in rats, 3 specific daily doses of 150, 300, and 600 mg/kg for 28 days did not induce any major changes to the hematological and biochemical parameters. Histopathological studies revealed normal architecture that did not indicate any morphological disturbances. In our study, no deaths or any signs of toxicity were found in acute and subacute toxicity studies after oral administration according to OECD guidelines, which concluded that ethyl acetate extract of Clerodendrum thomsoniae Balf (EACT) could use for in vivo biological activity studies in laboratory animals to explore its various medicinal activity before study in human subjects.


Author(s): Kmet, Muriel Marie | Advisor(s): Chen, Bin | Abstract: Understanding how neuronal diversity is achieved within the cerebral cortex remains a major challenge in neuroscience. The surge of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) as a novel model system provides a unique opportunity to study human corticogenesis in vitro and€ identify the mechanisms that promote neuronal differentiation to achieve neuronal diversity in the human brain. Here, we demonstrate the derivation of corticofugal neurons from a genetically engineered Fezf2-YFP hESC reporter line, and uncover two distinct Fezf2 subpopulations that are reminiscent of the 2 Fezf2-expressing neuronal subtypes in the developing mouse brain. Fezf2 is a transcription factor that is both necessary and sufficient for the specification of subcerebral projection neurons in mouse. Its role in human corticogenesis is still unknown. However, the high conservation of FEZF2 protein between mouse and human suggest that Fezf2 is a specific marker of human cerebral neurons as well. Two hypotheses drove our research: 1) Extrinsic factors that modulate in vivo developmental signaling pathways play a critical role in the differentiation of hESCs to a corticofugal fate in vitro; 2) Human embryonic stem cell-derived neurons can survive in vivo and extend axonal projections to specific targets in the rodent brain. Our research shows that hESCs-derived corticofugal neurons are an effective model system to investigate the molecular pathways that regulate human cortical differentiation, axon extension and survival, an endeavor that was until now proscribed due to the manipulation of human embryos.


Mate choice is considered an important influence in the evolution of mating signals and other sexual traits, and—since divergence in sexual traits causes reproductive isolation—it can be an agent of population divergence. The importance of mate choice in signal evolution can be evaluated by comparing male signal traits with female preference functions, taking into account the shape and strength of preferences. Specifically, when preferences are closed (favouring intermediate values), there should be a correlation between the preferred values and the trait means, and stronger preferences should be associated with greater preference–signal correspondence and lower signal variability. When preferences are open (favouring extreme values), signal traits are not only expected to be more variable, but should also be shifted towards the preferred values. We tested the role of female preferences in signal evolution in the Enchenopa binotata species complex of treehoppers, a clade of plant-feeding insects hypothesized to have speciated in sympatry. We found the expected relationship between signals and preferences, implicating mate choice as an agent of signal evolution. Because differences in sexual communication systems lead to reproductive isolation, the factors that promote divergence in female preferences—and, consequently, in male signals—may have an important role in the process of speciation.


We present Olly, a musical textile tangible user interface (TUI) designed around the observations of a group of five children with autism who like music. The intention is to support scaffolding social interactions and sensory regulation during a semi-structured and open-ended playful activity. Olly was tested in the dance studio of a special education needs (SEN) school in North-East London, UK, for a period of 5 weeks, every Thursday afternoon for 30 minutes. Olly uses one Bare touch board in midi mode and four stretch analog sensors embedded inside four elastic ribbons. These ribbons top the main body of the installation which is made by using an inflatable gym ball wrapped in felt. Each of the ribbons plays a different instrument and triggers different harmonic chords. Olly allows to play pleasant melodies if interacting with it in solo mode and more complex harmonies when playing together with others. Results show great potentials for carefully designed musical TUI implementation aimed at scaffolding social play while affording self-regulation in SEN contexts. We present a brief introduction on the background and motivations, design considerations and results.


Ideal point estimation is a topic of central importance in political science. Published work relying on the ideal point estimates of Poole and Rosenthal for the U.S. Congress is too numerous to list. Recent work has applied ideal point estimation to the state legislatures, Latin American chambers, the Supreme Court, and many other chambers. Although most existing ideal point estimators perform well when the number of voters and the number of bills is large, some important applications involve small chambers. We develop an estimator that does not suffer from the incidental parameters problem and, hence, can be used to estimate ideal points in small chambers. Our Monte Carlo experiments show that our estimator offers an improvement over conventional estimators for small chambers. We apply our estimator to estimate the ideal points of Supreme Court justices in a multidimensional space.


Dry eye and dry mouth are the principal sources of morbidity for patients with Sjögren's syndrome (SS). There are few effective treatments, particularly systemic ones. Targeting aquaprin-5 (AQP5)-mediated tear secretion has been tested as a novel ancillary strategy and has proved promising. Patients have a great interest in using complementary medicine, including nutraceuticals and bioactive compounds to alleviate their symptoms. Potential mechanisms by which phytocompounds and bioactive compounds may benefit SS ocular and mouth symptoms through modulation of AQP5 activity are presented within this review. Supplementation with prebiotics (such as polyphenols with high bioavailability) in SS patients with lower Firmicutes/Bacteroides (F/B) community ratio phenotype, through administration of butyrate-producing diets, is proposed as ancillary strategy for dry eye and mouth. The potential use of natural bioactive compounds to treat dry eye could also apply to dry mouth occurring in the context of aging and SS. This novel hypothesis could have implications with respect to planning a successful dietary regimen for achieving and maintaining a normal gut microbiota in SS patients. This regimen would include augmenting butyrate-producing foodstuffs and/or polyphenol-rich syrups, and high amounts of some specific probiotic-rich foodstuffs such as yogurt, soy yogurt, or as probiotic supplements. There are applications for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products aiming to relieve dry eye and mouth.


The issue of global warming and climate change is strongly receiving public attention and has become a major environmental concern both nationally and internationally. Brewing industries are among the largest consumers of water and the largest source of organic effluent mostly from the brewing, cleaning, and cooling processes which must be treated to allowable levels to reduce environmental pollution. Close to 10 L water is used for every 1 L beer that is brewed, though the amount of water in the final beer is small. A study was undertaken to characterize and assess the variations in the quality of untreated brewery waste water. Samples from different process streams including brewing line, clean in place line and mixing line from two brewing industries in Kenya were analyzed for BOD5, COD, TDS, TSS, sodium, total nitrogen and phosphorous using standard method as per American Public Health Association (APHA). There was a significant variation (p<0.001) in the all the physicochemical parameters between the industries and a significant interaction (p<0.001) between sampling point and the company. Analysis of the BOD to COD ratio showed the biodegradability index to range from 0.039 to 0.567 for brewing line, 0.177 to 0.766 for cleaning in place and 0.776 to 0.911 for mixing point, thus the waste water was found to be easily biodegradable at the mixing point for all the industries. However pretreatment would be required to improve anaerobic digestion.