Foraging theory has been the inspiration for several decision-making algorithms for task-processing agents facing random environments. As nature selects for foraging behaviors that maximize lifetime calorie gain or minimize starvation probability, engineering designs are favored that maximize returned value (e.g. profit) or minimize the probability of not reaching performance targets. Prior foraging-inspired designs are direct applications of classical optimal foraging theory (OFT). Here, we describe a generalized optimization framework that encompasses the classical OFT model, a popular competitor, and several new models introduced here that are better suited for some task-processing applications in engineering. These new models merge features of rate maximization, efficiency maximization, and risk-sensitive foraging while not sacrificing the intuitive character of classical OFT. However, the central contributions of this paper are analytical and graphical methods for designing decision-making algorithms guaranteed to be optimal within the framework. Thus, we provide a general modeling framework for solitary agent behavior, several new and classic examples that apply to it, and generic methods for design and analysis of optimal task-processing behaviors that fit within the framework. Our results extend the key mathematical features of optimal foraging theory to a wide range of other optimization objectives in biological, anthropological, and technological contexts.


This paper presents an analysis of variation of skull size and shape in the course of population cycles of two ecologically different vole species: water vole and high-mountain vole. We have found consistent changes of the direction, rate, and balance of morphogenesis during population cycles. We discuss the role of intra-populational factors and inter-populational variation during the territorial expansion of the species.


The present work primarily investigates the morphological evolution of the body-centered-cubic (BCC)/B2 phases in AlxNiCoFeCr high-entropy alloys (HEAs) with increasing Al content. It is found that the BCC/B2 coherent morphology is closely related to the lattice misfit between these two phases, which is sensitive to Al. There are two types of microscopic BCC/B2 morphologies in this HEA series: one is the weave-like morphology induced by the spinodal decomposition, and the other is the microstructure of a spherical disordered BCC precipitation on the ordered B2 matrix that appears in HEAs with a much higher Al content. The mechanical properties, including the compressive yielding strength and microhardness of the AlxNiCoFeCr HEAs, are also discussed in light of the concept of the valence electron concentration (VEC).


Modeling non-empirical and highly flexible interatomic potential energy surfaces (PES) using machine learning (ML) approaches is becoming popular in molecular and materials research. Training an ML-PES is typically performed in two stages: feature extraction and structure-property relationship modeling. The feature extraction stage transforms atomic positions into a symmetry-invariant mathematical representation. This representation can be fine-tuned by adjusting on a set of so-called "hyper-parameters" (HPs). Subsequently, an ML algorithm such as neural networks or Gaussian process regression (GPR) is used to model the structure-PES relationship based on another set of HPs. Choosing optimal values for the two sets of HPs is critical to ensure the high quality of the resulting ML-PES model.
In this paper, we explore HP optimization strategies tailored for ML-PES generation using a custom-coded parallel particle swarm optimizer (available freely at this https URL). We employ the smooth overlap of atomic positions (SOAP) descriptor in combination with GPR-based Gaussian approximation potentials (GAP) and optimize HPs for four distinct systems: a toy C dimer, amorphous carbon, $\alpha$-Fe, and small organic molecules (QM9 dataset). We propose a two-step optimization strategy in which the HPs related to the feature extraction stage are optimized first, followed by the optimization of the HPs in the training stage. This strategy is computationally more efficient than optimizing all HPs at the same time by means of significantly reducing the number of ML models needed to be trained to obtain the optimal HPs. This approach can be trivially extended to other combinations of descriptor and ML algorithm and brings us another step closer to fully automated ML-PES generation.


The calcium release-activated calcium channel (CRAC) is a highly Ca2+-selective ion channel that is activated on depletion of inositol triphosphate (IP3)-sensitive intracellular Ca2+ stores. It was recently reported that CaT1, a member of the TRP family of cation channels, exhibits the unique biophysical properties of CRAC, which led to the conclusion that CaT1 comprises all or part of the CRAC pore (Yue, L., Peng, J. B., Hediger, M. A., and Clapham, D. E. (2001) Nature 410, 705–709). Here, we directly compare endogenous CRAC with heterologously expressed CaT1 and show that they manifest several clearly distinct properties. CaT1 can be distinguished from CRAC in the following features: sensitivity to store-depleting agents; inward rectification in the absence of divalent cations; relative permeability to Na+ and Cs+; effect of 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (2-APB). Moreover, CaT1 displays a mode of voltage-dependent gating that is fully absent in CRAC and originates from the voltage-dependent binding/unbinding of Mg2+ inside the channel pore. Our results imply that the pores of CaT1 and CRAC are not identical and indicate that CaT1 is a Mg2+-gated channel not directly related to CRAC.


Errors of justice are a serious problem, and the police contribute substantially to them. Much can be done to reduce these errors, involving overreaction, underreaction, and misreaction that imposes either due process errors on the arrested or errors of impunity on the community, or both. The sources, severity, and frequency of these errors vary considerably, and they vary by circumstance and the characteristics of the victim, suspect, and community. Dealing with them effectively begins with understanding these variants and the costs, both social and fiscal, of each type of error on the community. Police legitimacy is likely to be enhanced in the process.


Channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque), populations in six lakes in northern Idaho, USA, were sampled to describe their population characteristics. During the summers of 2011 and 2012, 4864 channel catfish were sampled. Channel catfish populations had low to moderate catch rates, and length structure was dominated by fish <400 mm. Channel catfish were in good body condition. All populations were maintained by stocking age-1 or age-2 fish. Growth of fish reared in thermally enriched environments prior to stocking was fast compared to other North American channel catfish populations. After stocking, growth of channel catfish declined rapidly. Once stocked, cold water temperatures, prey resources and (or) genetic capabilities limited growth. Total annual mortality of age 2 and older channel catfish was generally <40%. Tag returns indicated that angler exploitation was low, varying from 0 to 43% among lakes. This research provides insight on factors regulating channel catfish population dynamics and highlights important considerations associated with their ecology and management. K E Y W O R D S : countergradient variation, exploitation, growth, Ictalurus punctatus, mortality, stocking.


The experimental implantation of embryo tissues into adult or growing animals of the same species has been practised both by embryologists and by pathologists—by the former in the study of the capacity of the implanted tissues for independent growth and differentiation, and by the latter usually in the hope (which has not been realized) of shedding light on the genesis of tumours and especially of the teratomata. Fishes, amphibians, birds, and mammals have been used in these studies; and the more important of the easily accessible accounts include those of Zahn (1884), Fere (1895–1903), Birch-Hirschfeld and Garten (1899), Traina (1902), Nichol (1905), Del Conte (1907), Askanazy (1907, 1926), Petrow (1908), Tiesenhausen (1909), Shattock and co-workers (1910), Freund (1911), Dietrich (1912), Reinke (1913), Weber (1920–23), Bosaeus (1926) (who gives a complete and very useful summary of the literature up to 1926), Pichler (1933), and Nicholas (1934). In general, the results which have been obtained may be summarized briefly as follow. Embryos or parts of embryos, implanted whole or minced or pulped into adult animals of like species, may suffer any of three fates: (i) the tissues may be rapidly and completely absorbed, or (ii) they may survive, grow, and differentiate for some days or weeks, and then suffer resorption, or (iii) they may grow to considerable masses of mixed differentiated tissues which may persist for long periods, even for the lifetime of the host animal. The results vary with the species of animal, the age and degree of subdivision of the embryo tissue introduced, the site of implantation, and probably the age, health, and other personal peculiarities of the host animal. Although some workers have claimed to observe the development of tumours from the implanted tissues, none of the instances of this alleged transformation can be accepted as proved.


This study investigated the influence of socio-demographic variables such as age, level of education, belief, and gender on the utilization of ICT among library staff in university libraries in Cross-River and Akwa-Ibom States, Nigeria. To carry out this study, three research objectives that were later translated to hypotheses were generated on the basis of age, gender, level of education, and belief, to guide the research. Literature relating to the variables selected were reviewed to cover both conceptual and empirical sources. The Ex-post facto research design was utilized for the study. A sample of 461 respondents was drawn from six university libraries using the purposive (census) sampling technique. A structured questionnaire titled, 'Socio-demographic Variables and Utilization of Information and Communication Technology for Library services (SDVUICTLS)' was used as the main instrument for data collection. The tool was subjected to face and content validation by experts in Test, Measurement and Evaluation Faculty of Education, University of Calabar. The reliability coefficient ranged from 0.75 to .88 and was established through Cronbach's Alpha method. The hypotheses were tested at .05 alpha levels. The data analysis techniques used were One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and independent t-test. The results of data analyses revealed that age (F=8.195), level of education (F = 5.232), belief (F = 4.242), significantly influenced utilization of ICT by library staff in the university libraries, while there was no significant influence of gender t=.252) on the utilization of ICT by library staff for library services. Based on these findings, it was recommended that library management/ parent institutions should embark on aggressive training and retraining of staff especially those that are 40 years and above with special reference to utilization of ICT for provision of services in the libraries.  The study equally recommended that Librarians should make personal effort to train themselves with or without the assistance of the management because this will make them to be more relevant and effective in delivering library services to the library users


The author of the article has reviewed and analyzed the most important methods and tools of examining managerial competence. At the beginning of the article the author has defined contemporary economy and indicated the roles of the managers in the organizations. The further part of this paper shows the interpretation of the term managerial competence presented by different authors. The last part of the article is devoted to the overview of the methods and tools which can be used to examine the competence of the management staff. The author has also indicated the types of obtained information depending on the selected method or tool as well as the level of the costs related to their use. The purpose of the article is to present the methods and the tools of examining managerial competence. As a research tool, query literature has been used. The analysis carried out may contribute to improve the processes of examining managerial competence in the contemporary organizations.


We describe a new finite element method which uses weighted extended B-splines on a regular grid as basis functions for solving Dirichlet problems on bounded domains in arbitrary dimensions. This web-method does not require any grid generation and can be implemented very efficiently. It yields smooth, high order accurate approximations with relatively low dimensional subspaces.


An information technology for analyzing the economic parameters of a medical institution is suggested in the article within the framework of the information system already functioning in the Republican foundation of compulsory medical insurance (Bashkortostan). The analysis of financing the therapeutic-and-prophylactic facilities is based on the graphic-and-analytic method and on extensive real statistics.


Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are gradually adopted in the industrial world due to their advantages over wired networks. In addition to saving cabling costs, WSNs widen the realm of environments feasible for monitoring. They thus add sensing and acting capabilities to objects in the physical world and allow for communication among these objects or with services in the future Internet. However, the acceptance of WSNs by the industrial automation community is impeded by open issues, such as security guarantees. To examine both of these perspectives, we select and survey relevant WSN technologies dedicated to industrial automation. We determine to carry out a threat analysis, which act as basis of our evaluation of the current state-of-the-art. According to the results of this evaluation, we identify and discuss some research issues.


Single-cell molecular analysis has become increasingly important in biomedical research, especially in the field of cancer research, where cell heterogeneity is a characteristic feature. We developed a multiplexed single-cell protein detection assay for the C1™ system that can isolate and process 96 individual cells in parallel. The assay uses oligonucleotide-conjugated antibodies, which produce a detectable DNA amplicon only when they bind to the target protein. The resulting DNA amplicons are quantified by qPCR on the Biomark™ HD system. Data are analyzed using the Singular™ Analysis Toolset. A total of 50 antibody binders were developed for this assay to target proteins related to apoptosis, cell cycle, cell proliferation, tumor suppressors, biomarkers, stem cells, growth factors and proteins associated with specific cancers, such as breast and prostate cancers. The assay can be performed in a 48-plex format, which yields over 4,600 datapoints in two days. Assay sensitivity and specificity were assessed using recombinant proteins and various cell lysates. To demonstrate the usefulness of this assay, we used it to profile the protein level changes in A431 cells treated with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor gefitinib. EGFR is a member of ErbB family of type I tyrosine kinases, whose overexpression and mutations are involved in a variety of cancers. While much effort has been made to investigate the consequences of EGFR activation or inhibition, hardly any information is available regarding how EGFR regulation changes protein expression in single cells. Using a multiplexed protein assay, we discovered some interesting co-expression patterns of proteins in single cells. We also demonstrated that TNFRSF10B was upregulated, while MET, GATA3, BRCA1, CCNB1, Ki-67 and CCNA2 were downregulated by gefitinib treatment. Notably, the reduction of the cell cycle-related proteins CCNB1 and CCNA2 and the cell proliferation marker Ki-67 was consistent with the inhibited cell growth by gefitinib. In addition, we measured mRNA expression to investigate the association between protein and mRNA levels in single cells. Single-cell analysis—determining protein changes and analyzing the correlation between different proteins at the single-cell level—yields valuable information that is not achievable using bulk-cell analysis. Citation Format: Ilona Holcomb, Gajalakshmi Dakshinamoorthy, Benjamin Liu, Marc Unger, Ramesh Ramakrishnan, Haibiao Gong. Single-cell multiplexed profiling of protein-level changes induced by EGFR inhibitor gefitinib. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1853.


In this paper we discuss an alternative approach to optimal and near optimal tracking and estimation of rotations with applications in vision systems. The technique used here will be that of Geometric Algebra (GA) which provides a very elegant and efficient framework for dealing with geometric entities and transformations. It is coordinate-free and has associated with it a well-developed calculus and multi-linear algebra. Much of the power of GA lies in the way it represents and interprets rotations. Estimation and tracking of geometric entities are important in many fields -- e.g. 3D object tracking, multi-camera systems, space and terrestrial navigation etc., and to date Kalman filter techniques have provided a fast and efficient means of solving such problems. We will show how Kalman filters with conventional type state- spaces are derived in a GA setting and then extend these ideas to deal with a state-space consisting of rotors. Taking advantage of the fact that we are able to write down a minimally parameterized cost function and differentiate with respect to rotors in the GA framework, a solution to the tracking and optimal orientation estimation problem can be obtained efficiently. The resulting algorithm is applied to a variety of real and simulated data using articulated models. In particular, we will look at tracking human motion data from an optical motion capture unit. The extraction, interpolation, modification and classification of the underlying motion is also discussed with reference to future research directions.


BACKGROUND: Surgical site infections (SSI)are second most important nosocomial infections, As the prevalence is more in developing countries this study was conducted to know the bacteriological profile of surgical site infection, various predisposing factors, antibiogram. METHODS: 200 swabs were collected from clinically diagnosed cases of surgical site infection. Two sterile cotton swabs were used to collect the samples, One for grams stain and other for culture. Culture done on Blood agar, MacConkeys agar, nutrient agar for isolation. Biochemical tests were done for further speciation. Antibiotic sensitivity done by Kirby-bauers disc diffusion test using Mueller Hinton agar according to standard guidelines. Detection MRSA was done according to CLSI guidelines. RESULTS: Out of 200 samples,27 showed aerobic bacterial growth. Majority of SSI was by single organism either gram positive cocci or gram negative bacilli. Most common isolate was Staphylococcus aureus 11(40.7%) others were Klebsiella 07(25.9%),Pseudomonas 03(11.1%), E.coli 02(7.4%), Proteus, CoNS, Acinetobacter, Enterococci were 01(3.7%) each. CONCLUSION: SSI increasing because various factors like poor hygine ,emergence of drug resistant organism. Most common organism isolated from SSI was Staphylococcus aureus. MRSA noted 9.09% cases.SSI can be prevented by giving adequate antibiotic prophylaxis prior to operations. Proper hand wash in between dressing patients can cause significant reduction in number of cases SSI.


A fast micellar electrokinetic chromatography fingerprint method combined with quantification was developed and validated to evaluate the quality of Fufang Danshen Pills, a traditional Chinese Medicine, which has been used in the treatment of cardiovascular system diseases, in which the tetrahedron optimization method was first used to optimize the background electrolyte solution. Subsequently, the index of the fingerprint information amount of I was performed as an excellent objective indictor to investigate the experimental conditions. In addition, a systematical quantified fingerprint method was constructed for evaluating the quality consistency of 20 batches of test samples obtained from the same drug manufacturer. The fingerprint analysis combined with quantitative determination of two components showed that the quality consistency of the test samples was quite good within the same commercial brand. Furthermore, the partial least squares model analysis was used to explore the fingerprint-efficacy relationship between active components and antioxidant activity in vitro, which can be applied for the assessment of anti-oxidant activity of Fufang Danshen pills and provide valuable medicinal information for quality control. The result illustrated that the present study provided a reliable and reasonable method for monitoring the quality consistency of Fufang Danshen pills.


We show that if a compact complex surface admits a locally conformally flat metric, then it cannot contain a smooth rational curve of odd self-intersection. In particular, the surface has to be minimal. Then we give a list of possibilities.


Greatness Redefined for the 21st Century
 Today's business climate is defined by speed, social technologies, and people's expectations of "values" besides value. As a result, leaders have to create an outstanding culture for all, no matter who they are or what they do for the organization. This groundbreaking book, from the creators of the gold-standard Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list, shows how it's done. Through inspiring stories and compelling research, the authors demonstrate that great places to work for all benefit the individuals working there and contribute to a better global society—even as they outperform in the stock market and grow revenue three times faster than less-inclusive rivals. This is a call to lead so that organizations develop every ounce of human potential.


A novel compact all-single-mode fiber add-drop-multiplexer for dense wavelength-division-multiplexing systems is demonstrated. The device consists of a polished fiber coupler with identical Bragg gratings within the interactive length. The multiplexer operation has been theoretically analyzed and calculated transmission and reflection spectra are given. A fabricated prototype device shows good performance, but suffers from a high-insertion loss of 7 dB, which is due to the long but imperfect coupling region and can be drastically reduced in principle. A return loss >30 dB, coupling efficiency=99%, and bandwidth at FWHM /spl Delta//spl lambda/=1.2 mn was measured.


Today, tissue engineers are attempting to engineer virtually every human tissue. Potential tissue-engineered products include cartilage, bone, heart valves, nerves, muscle, bladder, liver, etc. Tissue engineering techniques generally require the use of a porous scaffold, which serves as a threedimensional template for initial cell attachment and subsequent tissue formation both in vitro and in vivo. The scaffold provides the necessary support for cells to attach, proliferate, and maintain their differentiated function. Its architecture defines the ultimate shape of the new grown soft or hard tissue. In the early days of tissue engineering, clinically established materials such as collagen and polyglycolide were primarily considered as the material of choice for scaffolds. The challenge for more advanced scaffold systems is to arrange cells/tissue in an appropriate 3D configuration and present molecular signals in an appropriate spatial and temporal fashion so that the individual cells will grow and form the desired tissue structures - and do so in a way that can be carried out reproducibly, economically, and on a large scale. This paper is not intended to provide a general review of tissue engineering, but specifically concentrate on the design and processing of synthetic polymeric scaffolds. The material properties and design requirements are discussed. An overview of the various fabrication techniques of scaffolds is presented, beginning with the basic and conventional techniques to the more recent, novel methods that combine both scaffold design and fabrication capabilities.


An analytical approach to determine the solar cell series resistance (Rs), dark saturation current due to diffusion of charge carriers (I01), and dark saturation current due to generation/recombination of charge carriers in the space charge region (I02), from the double-diode solar cell equation is presented. The theory uses the measured Isc, Voc, Vmp and Imp data of the cell. The results confirm that the diffusion process dominates charge transport at high forward bias voltages of the cell, whilst the generation/recombination process dominates charge transport at low forward bias voltages. Theoretical and experimental I-V characteristics match within +or-2%, which confirms the adequacy of the theory.


We present spiral, a data-centric routing algorithm for short-term communication in unstructured sensor networks. Conventional data-centric routing algorithms are based on flooding or random walk. Flooding returns the shortest route but has a high search cost; random walk has a lower search cost but returns a sub-optimal route. Spiral offers a compromise between these two extremes - it has a lower search cost than flooding and returns better routes than random walk. Spiral is a biased walk that visits nodes near the source before more distant nodes. This results in a spiral-like search path that is not only more likely to find a closer copy of the desired data than random walk, but is also able to compute a shorter route because the network around the source is more thoroughly explored. Our experiments show that in a 500-node network with an average degree of 20 and two copies of every data object, for a short-term communication of 40 packets the total communication cost by spiral is only 72% of that by flooding, 81% of ERS, 74% of random walk, and 73% of DFS


A review of:
Forbes, Dorothy, Christine Neilson, Janet Bangma, Jennifer Forbes, Daniel Fuller, and Shari Furniss. "Saskatchewan Residents' Use of The Cochrane Library." Partnership: the Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research 2.2 (2007).

Objective – To evaluate the use of The Cochrane Library by librarians, health care providers and consumers in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.

Design – Volunteer telephone interviews and surveys of training participants at multiple time points; usage statistics.

Setting – Saskatchewan.

Subjects – Ninety-four volunteers participated in the study. Participants were self-selected from approximately 300 health practitioners and 100 public library staff attending training sessions, located primarily in rural areas. The majority of public library staff who attended training sessions were not professional librarians, although 31.5% of the study participants were librarians. Nurses made up the next largest group (16.3%), followed by therapists (7.6%), library support staff (5.4%), pharmacists (4.3%), physicians (3.3%), other health care providers (20.7%), and other (9.8%). Most were 40-65 years of age (71.6%) and female (92.4%).

Methods – Forty-six training sessions were provided upon request between October 2004 and December 2006. Attendees were invited to participate in the study. Telephone interviews were conducted at three, six, nine, and twelve months following training sessions. Demographic information and data on the use of and satisfaction with The Cochrane Library were collected. Additionally, monthly statistics were tracked by Wiley-Blackwell for user sessions, number of searches, and the number of full-text articles and abstracts visited.

Main Results – Telephone interviews revealed that 65.2% of participants had accessed The Cochrane Library at three months; 64.2% had at six months. At nine months access dropped to 45.2%. At twelve months only 27.4% of participants reported using the resource. Of those who used The Cochrane Library, 16.4% reported at the three-month interview that it was not helpful. This number decreased at six months (11.6%), nine months (7.7%) and twelve months (11.8%). 57.5% of respondents claimed to have learned something from The Cochrane Library, although a few (11.1%) reported that the information found had no impact. Others reported that the knowledge gained confirmed their beliefs (26.1%) and/or helped in decision-making (32.6%). No time points were reported for the data collected about the use and helpfulness of information found in The Cochrane Library. Three-year data from Wiley-Blackwell showed that The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews was most frequently accessed (abstracts=26,016; full texts=15,934). The Cochrane Central Register was accessed 5,640 times and Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects was accessed 1,612 times. Periods of low usage corresponded with summer and Christmas breaks. The type of search strategy used was tracked; the authors note that an emphasis on MeSH during training between October 2004 and December 2006 corresponded with the higher number of MeSH searches during the same time period. Participants reported using The Cochrane Library in response to patron requests, to prepare educational materials, and to support health care policy and practice changes. Reasons for not using The Cochrane Library included lack of time, limited access to the Internet, forgetting how to find and use the Web site, and disappointment with the content.

Conclusion – Since the fall of 2004, The Cochrane Library has been promoted and made available free of charge to all Saskatchewan residents. Usage fluctuates during the year, with less use during the summer and winter holidays; it is reasonable to presume that students use The Cochrane Library during the academic school year. Most telephone interviewees who used The Cochrane Library reported that it was somewhat to very helpful; this number increased slightly over time while the number of respondents who used the resource fell measurably over twelve months. In other words, those who continued to use The Cochrane Library over time were more likely to report a higher level of satisfaction with the resource. Interviews indicated how librarians used The Cochrane Library, why they do or do not use the resource, and their level of satisfaction. The study revealed less about how others, such as practitioners or consumers, use the resource. Based on the limits of the telephone interviews, follow-up studies should try to capture more detailed usage data to describe the attributes of those who do and do not use The Cochrane Library. The authors note that additional data collected through online surveys or the Wiley-Blackwell website could help determine how to sustain use of the resource.


The problem of maximizing the share of a new product introduced in a competitive market is shown to be NP-hard. A directed graph representation of the problem is used to construct shortest-path and dynamic-programming heuristics. Both heuristics are shown to have arbitrarily-bad worst-case bounds. Computat ional experience with real-sized problems is reported. Both heuristics identify near-optimal solutions for the simulated problems, the dynamic-programming heuristic performing better than the shortest-path heuristic.


Among several types of redox flow batteries (RFBs) under development, non-aqueous redox flow batteries (NRFBs) have the potential to approach the energy density of lithium-ion batteries, while maintaining the advantages of flow systems, including ability to decouple power and energy ratings, and thermal stability. Despite their promise, NRFBs suffer from low energy densities because the solubility limitation of redox species in non-aqueous solvents remains relatively lower compared to water. One promising concept for drastically improving the energy density of NRFBs is the utilization of solid charge storage materials, which are reversibly oxidized or reduced in the electrolyte tanks upon interaction with the redox active species (mediators) dissolved in electrolyte (i.e., redox targeting flow battery (RTFB)). Herein, we demonstrate a RTFB using a highly stable, bio-inspired mediator, vanadium(IV/V)bis-hydroxyiminodiacetate (VBH), coupled with cobalt hexacyanoferrate (CoHCF) as the solid charge storage material. Based on the charge/discharge cycling experiments, the energy capacity was found to enhance by ~5x when CoHCF pellets were added into the tank compared to the case without CoHCF. With the pellet approach, up to the ~70% of the theoretical capacity of CoHCF were utilized at 10 mA cmȡ2 current density. Sufficient evidence has indicated that this concept utilizing redox targeting reactions makes it possible to surpass the solubility limitations of the active material, allowing for unprecedented improvements to the energy density of RFBs.


The main goal of this thesis is to incorporate part of the flourishing literature on network structures in a marketing context. Most of the results we have obtained and presented generate several implications. First of all we hope that the reader, after going through these chapters is convinced that often networks do play a role, that they can explain different market dynamics and that studying networks can be used to develop marketing strategies. Most of the theoretical implications derive from the following metaphor: a new product that diffuses into a society of consumers is like an epidemic that spreads into a population of susceptible individuals. Inspired by this metaphor, we believe that marketing can gain useful insights studying, adjusting and adopting epidemic models. This is what we explicitly do in chapters 2, 3 and 4. We build different network structures of consumers with their preferences and their attributes and we study how the diffusion dynamics of different products vary. Although we believe that the diffusion of a new product might look like the spread of an epidemic, we are also aware that these two processes are not completely the same. A substantial part of the work presented here consists of adapting the epidemic models to a marketing framework that can include product characteristics, personal preferences and social influence.


Many people know the Tibetan Plateau and its high-altitude animal husbandry; however, few people know the alpine meadows on the plateau. Widely distributed in the middle-east part of the plateau (roughly longitude 82–103°E, latitude 27–39°N) (Fig. 1), this alpine meadow is a unique natural landscape and an important grassland resource; not found anywhere else on earth (1, 2). It covers an area of about 700 000 km2, accounting for nearly 50% of the total usable grassland area on the plateau (3). Animal husbandry, the backbone of the plateau's economy, is mainly dependent on the alpine meadows; however, growing economic development has placed pressure on these precious and fragile grasslands. In recent years, natural disasters, frequently occurring along the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers together with the construction of the plateau's railway have increased peoples' awareness of the alpine meadows. This is related to fact that i) the region of the Yellow River, the Yangtze River and the Lancang River, is regarded as "the water tower of China", where alpine meadows are widely distributed; and ii) the railway under construction is creating "a great corridor" which partly crosses the alpine meadows. Thus, the sustainable management of the alpine meadows is not only closely related to the survival and development of the herdsmen on the plateau, but also to the environmental protection of China.


Germline mutations in mismatch repair genes predispose patients to Lynch Syndrome and the majority of these mutations have been detected in two key genes, MLH1 and MSH2. In particular, about a third of the missense variants identified in MLH1 are of unknown clinical significance. Using the PeakPicker software program, we have conducted a proof-of-principle study to investigate whether missense variants in MLH1 lead to allelic imbalances. Lymphocyte RNA extracted from patients harboring known MLH1 variants was used to quantify the ratio of variant to wild-type transcript, while patient lymphocyte DNA was used to establish baseline allelic expression levels. Our analysis indicated that the missense variants c.350C>T, c.793C>T, and c.1852_1853AA>GC, as well as the truncating variant c.1528C>T were all associated with significantly unbalanced allelic expression. However, the variants c.55A>T and c.2246T>C did not demonstrate an allelic imbalance. These results illustrate a novel and efficient method to investigate the pathogenicity of unclassified genetic variants discovered in mismatch repair genes, as well as genes implicated in other inherited diseases. In addition, the PeakPicker methodology has the potential to be applied in the diagnostic setting, which, in conjunction with results from other assays, will help increase both the accuracy and efficiency of genetic testing of colorectal cancer, as well as other inherited diseases.


This paper presents comparisons of results from tests and 3D CFD combustion simulations based on both RANS and hybrid URANS/LES (SAS-SST model) turbulence models applied to an industrial Stirling engine combustion chamber at atmospheric pressure. Both methane gas and landfill gas were simulated. The combustor is designed to operate in the MILD combustion mode which is characterized by low flame temperatures and low NOx emissions. A 4-step reduced reaction mechanism, named AAT4NR, involving seven species was developed to represent the landfill gas. The optimization was performed at atmospheric pressure for a range of fresh gas temperatures [300 K - 1000 K] and equivalence ratios [0.15 - 1]. Comparisons with detailed chemistry solutions of a planar propagating flame front show that the laminar flame speed, the adiabatic flame temperature, the ignition delay time and the species concentration at equilibrium are adequately predicted. There is good agreement between the quantities predicted with URANS/LES and experimental data, in terms of flow and flame dynamics, averaged temperatures, NOX-levels and the concentrations of some major species.


The activation of endogenous IFNγ signaling pathway or the administration of recombinant IFNγ increases the expression of MHC-I. MHC-I molecules are core elements for antigen recognition in tumor cells. A better understanding of the regulation of their expression would contribute to counteracting tumor immune escape and enduring permanent tumor rejection. Efficient and functional expression of HLAs dramatically impacts the number of tumor-associated antigens presented to CTL for cell recognition. Many patients diagnosed with various types of cancer have inhibited the IFNγ signaling pathway. This review explores how anomalies associated with IFNγ signaling in tumor cells affect HLA-I expression, current immunotherapies association, and outcome. Globally, MHC-I lesions could be divided into reversible and permanent. Irreversible lesions cannot be recapitulated; hence, the patient will not respond to immunotherapies requiring MHC-I activity. However, gaining precise and systematic molecular knowledge improves tumor stratification, which could help predict which tumors will recover expression of MHC-I. Complementary IFNγ effectors can function as a compensatory mechanism that restores the expression of HLA-I proteins in tumors with deleterious IFNγ pathways. For those non-responsive patients with inactive IFNγ pathways, designing personalized approaches to recover HLA-I expression can make the tumor sensitive to immunotherapy, leading to a better outcome.


We report on the device results of thermally evaporated high efficiency Cu2ZnSn(SxSe1−x)4 (CZTSSe) thin film solar cells with power conversion efficiencies of 7.1% (x=1.0) and 7.5% (x=0.34). We have carried out extensive electrical and structural characterization of CZTSSe solar cells to identify major factors that limit the efficiency. Bias-dependent quantum efficiency measurements revealed ineffective collection of charge carriers photo-generated deep in the absorber layer suggesting a short minority carrier diffusion length, which was confirmed by time-resolved photoluminescence measurements. Temperature-dependence of the series resistance of the devices is consistent with the presence of a Schottky-type barrier in the back contact, likely caused by secondary phases near the CZTS/Mo interface and/or an interfacial MoSx layer.


Known for its "extreme linguistic diversity" (Elugbe 1994), Nigeria is home to languages numbering about 400. Although its land mass is less than 7 per cent of the total area of the African continent, most scholars concur that about 20 per cent of Africa's more than 2,000 languages are spoken in Nigeria. Official language policies have variously been enunciated in documents such as the National Policy on Education (1977, revised in 1981), and the 1979 Constitution. Two other less cited documents exist, to wit the 1989 Constitution and the 1987 Political Bureau report. Such policies testify to the attention supposedly devoted to education, unity and independence.


A technical analysis was conducted to predict the development trend for heat pump system. The study was based on a submitted patent from 1983 to 2002 in Korea, U.S.A. and Japan. The total number of raw data from the registered database was 19,261 and the obtained data to be analyzed through the filtering process was 5,143. Technical development of compression type heat pump was more dominant than the other types, absorption, adsorption, and chemical heat pump. The patents for compression type made up over 80% in each country. Most of patents were developed for the defrosting and controlling technology of the compression type heat pump system. Approximately 24% and 62% of the patents about compression type heat pump were for defrosting and control technologies, respectively.


Ranveer Chandra is a Senior Researcher in the Mobility & Networking Research Group at Microsoft Research. His research is focused on mobile devices, with particular emphasis on wireless communications and energy efficiency. Ranveer is leading the white space networking project at Microsoft Research. He was invited to the FCC to present his work, and spectrum regulators from India, China, Brazil, Singapore and US (including the FCC chairman) have visited the Microsoft campus to see his deployment of the world's first urban white space network. The following interview captures the essence of his work on white spaces by focusing on his work published in ACM SIGCOMM 2009, which received the Best Paper Award.


The complex [RuCp(PPh3)2(HdmoPTA)](OSO2CF3)2 (2; HdmoPTA = 3,7-H-3,7-dimethyl-1,3,7-triaza-5-phosphabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane) was synthesized and characterized. Its crystal structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The complex showed a more potent antiproliferative activity than cisplatin against a representative panel of human cancer cells.


The 11 March 2011 M 9.0 Tohoku earthquake generated significant long duration shaking that propagated hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter and affected urban areas throughout much of Honshu. Recorded responses of tall buildings at several hundred km from the epicenter of the main shock and other events show tall buildings were affected by long-period motions of events at distant sources. This study presents behavioral aspects of 29-story and 30-story neighboring buildings in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo, Japan, as inferred from records retrieved from a sparse array of accelerometers deployed in the superstructures, at ground and 100 m below the ground level over a time interval covering before, during, and after the main shock. Such long-period effects are common in several regions of Japan as well as in the United States and in other seismically active countries. Permanent shifts in fundamental frequencies are observed. Drift ratios indicate possible structural nonlinear behavior occurred during the main shock. The need to consider risks to built environments from distant sources, including those in neighboring countries, is emphasized.


Background: Children's blood lead levels have declined worldwide, especially after the removal of lead in gasoline. However, significant exposure remains, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. To date, there have been no global estimates of the costs related to lead exposure in children in developing countries. Objective: Our main aim was to estimate the economic costs attributable to childhood lead exposure in low- and middle-income countries. Methods: We developed a regression model to estimate mean blood lead levels in our population of interest, represented by each 1-year cohort of children < 5 years of age. We used an environmentally attributable fraction model to estimate lead-attributable economic costs and limited our analysis to the neurodevelopmental impacts of lead, assessed as decrements in IQ points. Our main outcome was lost lifetime economic productivity due to early childhood exposure. Results: We estimated a total cost of $977 billions of international dollars in low- and middle-income countries, with economic losses equal to $134.7 billion in Africa [4.03% of gross domestic product (GDP)], $142.3 billion in Latin America and the Caribbean (2.04% of GDP), and $699.9 billion in Asia (1.88% of GDP). Our sensitivity analysis indicates a total economic loss in the range of $728.6–1162.5 billion. Conclusions: We estimated that, in low- and middle-income countries, the burden associated with childhood lead exposure amounts to 1.20% of world GDP in 2011. For comparison, in the United States and Europe lead-attributable economic costs have been estimated at $50.9 and $55 billion, respectively, suggesting that the largest burden of lead exposure is now borne by low- and middle-income countries. Citation: Attina TM, Trasande L. 2013. Economic costs of childhood lead exposure in low- and middle-income countries. Environ Health Perspect 121:1097–1102; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1206424


Objective To discuss three cases with complications of oral/nasal feeding tube placement in pediatric patients with endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation and review literature on complication rates and placement techniques. Design Case report and review of the literature. Patients A 14-year-old male with respiratory distress following a near drowning, a 10-year-old male with recurrent acute lymphocytic leukemia and Pneumocystis carnii pneumonia, and a 16-year-old female with complex congenital heart disease and respiratory failure. Interventions Placement of oral or nasal feeding tube. Results Three cases of feeding tube placement errors occurred in our combined medical surgical, 19-bed, tertiary care hospital, pediatric critical care unit within the past year. All three resulted in placement of the feeding tube in the respiratory tree despite the presence of cuffed endotracheal tubes. All three patients had subsequent worsening of their respiratory status. One patient developed a pneumothorax, one patient developed pulmonary hemorrhage, and the other had an increased oxygen requirement. Conclusions Patients are at risk for misplacement of oral or nasal feeding tubes even when intubated with a cuffed endotracheal tube, which was previously felt to be a protective factor. Errors in the placement of feeding tubes may cause serious morbidity and mortality. Checking placement of feeding tubes with methods described in the literature may not be sufficient, and radiographic confirmation of placement is needed.


A cheap and more environmentally friendly method for the synthesis of high quality PbS nanoparticles in olive oil at 60 °C has been developed. Carefully controlling the conditions of reactions leads to PbS nanoparticles with well-defined sizes, and band gaps between 1.72 and 0.88 eV. The nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, HRTEM, NIR absorption spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and a fluorescence lifetime experiment based on the time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) technique. Photoelectrochemical study carried out by steady-state current–voltage measurements of self-assembled PbS nanoparticles on ZnO–SnO2 electrodes in 1 M Na2SO3 electrolyte solution showed that as-prepared PbS nanoparticles were photochemically active.


Purpose: Safety net hospitals (SNH) have been associated with inferior surgical outcomes and increased resource use. Utilization and outcomes for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a rescue modality for patients with respiratory or cardiac failure, may vary by safety net status. We hypothesized SNH to be associated with inferior outcomes and costs of ECMO in a national cohort. Materials and Methods: The 2008-2017 National Inpatient Sample was queried for ECMO hospitalizations and safety net hospitals were identified. Multivariable regression was used to perform risk-adjusted comparisons of mortality, complications and resource utilization at safety net and non-safety net hospitals. Results: Of 36,491 ECMO hospitalizations, 28.2% were at SNH. On adjusted comparison SNH was associated with increased odds of mortality (AOR: 1.23), tracheostomy use (AOR: 1.51), intracranial hemorrhage (AOR: 1.39), as well as infectious complications (AOR: 1.21, all P < .05), with NSNH as reference. SNH was also associated with increased hospitalization duration (β=+4.5 days) and hospitalization costs (β=+$32,880, all P < .01). Conclusions: We have found SNH to be associated with inferior survival, increased complications, and higher costs compared to NSNH. These disparate outcomes warrant further studies examining systemic and hospital-level factors that may impact outcomes and resource use of ECMO at SNH.


This study evaluated the in vitro cytotoxic, apoptotic and genotoxic effects of MTA, TheraCal and Dermabond (2-octyl cyanoacrylate) on L929 mouse fibroblast cells. Culture medium was exposed to the materials for 24 hours, 1 week and 2 weeks. Cells were seeded in 96 well plates with 5x103 cells/100 μL media per well for MTT assay, 6 well plates with 2x105 cells /2 mL media per well for comet assay,12-well plates with 2x105 cells/well for apoptosis assay and cells were exposed to the material eluates. The cell viability, genotoxicity and apoptotic status were evaluated by MTT, comet and apoptosis assays respectively at three different times (24 hours, 1 week and 2 weeks). There was no statistically significant difference (p˃0.05) between MTA and Dermabond at 24 hours, 1 week and 2 weeks exposures. However, TheraCal significantly reduced the cell viability at 1-week exposure to 66.70% (p˂0.05). TheraCal caused DNA damage at all exposures and there was a statistically significant difference (p˂0.05). According to flow cytometry results, TheraCal at 24-hour and 1-week showed significantly higher cytotoxic effects compared to MTA and Dermabond. No significant differences were detected between MTA and Dermabond. As observed from the current study it can be concluded that MTA and Dermabond are biocompatible capping materials in vital endodontic treatments. Since TheraCal exhibited cytotoxic and genotoxic effects caution should be exercised when it is being used.


Abstract. This paper presents a new Multiview Stereo Pipeline (MVS), called CARS, dedicated to satellite imagery. This pipeline is intended for massive Digital Surface Model (DSM) production and has therefore been designed to maximize scalability robustness and performance. Those two properties have driven the design of the workflow as well as the choice of algorithms and parameter trends, making our pipeline unique with respect to existing solutions in literature. This paper intends to serve as a reference paper for the pipeline implementation, and therefore provides a detailed description of algorithms and workflow. It also demonstrates the pipeline robustness and stability in several use cases, and compares its accuracy with the state-of-the-art pipelines on a reference dataset.


The mechanisms underlying the development of disease during arenavirus infection are poorly understood. However, common to all hemorrhagic fever diseases is the involvement of macrophages as primary target cells, suggesting that the immune response in these cells may be of paramount importance during infection. Thus, in order to identify features of the immune response that contribute to arenavirus pathogenesis, we have examined the growth kinetics and cytokine profiles of two closely related New World arenaviruses, the apathogenic Tacaribe virus (TCRV) and the hemorrhagic fever-causing Junin virus (JUNV), in primary human monocytes and macrophages. Both viruses grew robustly in VeroE6 cells; however, TCRV titres were decreased by approximately 10 fold compared to JUNV in both monocytes and macrophages. Infection of both monocytes and macrophages with TCRV also resulted in the release of high levels of IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α, while levels of IFN-α, IFN-β and IL-12 were not affected. However, we could show that the presence of these cytokines had no direct effect on growth of either TCRV of JUNV in macrophages. Further analysis also showed that while the production of IL-6 and IL-10 are dependent on viral replication, production of TNF-α also occurs after exposure to UV-inactivated TCRV particles and is thus independent of productive virus infection. Surprisingly, JUNV infection did not have an effect on any of the cytokines examined indicating that, in contrast to other viral hemorrhagic fever viruses, macrophage-derived cytokine production is unlikely to play an active role in contributing to the cytokine dysregulation observed in JUNV infected patients. Rather, these results suggest that an early, controlled immune response by infected macrophages may be critical for the successful control of infection of apathogenic viruses and prevention of subsequent disease, including systemic cytokine dysregulation.


Nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1 (NTPDase1/CD39) is the dominant ecto-nucleotidase of vascular and placental trophoblastic tissues and appears to modulate the functional expression of type-2 purinergic (P2) G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). Hence, this ectoenzyme could regulate nucleotide-mediated signalling events in placental tissue. This immunohistochemical and immuno-electron microscopic study demonstrates the expression of NTPDase1/CD39, P2Y1 and P2Y2 receptors in different cell types of human placenta. Specifically P2Y1 has an exclusive vascular distribution whereas P2Y2 is localized on trophoblastic villi. Co-localization of P2Y1 and NTPDase1/CD39 are observed in caveolae, membrane microdomains of endothelial cells. The differential localization of these P2 receptors might indicate their unique roles in the regulation of extracellular nucleotide concentrations in human placental tissues and consequent effects on vascular tone and blood fluidity.


A review is given of the fundamental aspects involved in material processing using thermal plasma technology. The description of plasma generating devices covers DC plasma torches, DC transferred arcs, RF inductively coupled plasma torches and hybrid combinations of them. Emphasis is given to the identification of the basic energy coupling mechanism in each case and the principal characteristics of the flow and temperature fields in the plasma. Materials processing techniques using thermal plasmas are grouped in two broad categories depending on the role played by the plasma in the process. Only typical examples are given of each type of process. These are grouped under two broad subsections dealing respectively with applications in which the plasma is used as a source of heat in high temperatures, and those in which the plasma is used as a source of chemically active species. The author also deals with plasma diagnostics and mathematical modeling and the role which they can play in the long term development of the technology. >


The paper discusses the parallelization of a novel explicit harmonic balance Navier-Stokes solver for wind turbine unsteady aerodynamics. For large three-dimensional problems, the use of a standard MPI parallelization based on the geometric domain decomposition of the physical domain may require an excessive degree of partitioning with respect to that needed when the same aerodynamic analysis is performed with the time-domain solver. This occurrence may penalize the parallel efficiency of the harmonic balance solver due to excessive communication among MPI processes to transfer halo data. In the case of the harmonic balance analysis, the necessity of further grid partitioning may arise because the memory requirement of each block is higher than for the time-domain analysis: it is that of the time-domain analysis multiplied by a variable proportional to the number of complex harmonics used to represent the sought periodic flow field. A hybrid multi-level parallelization paradigm for explicit harmonic balance Navier-Stokes solvers is presented, which makes use of both distributed and shared memory parallelization technologies, and removes the need for further domain decomposition with respect to the case of the time-domain analysis. The discussed parallelization approaches are tested on the multigrid harmonic balance solver being developed by the authors, considering various computational configurations for the CFD analysis of the unsteady flow field past the airfoil of a wind tubine blade in yawed wind.


This paper studies a competitive model of insurance markets in which consumers are privately informed about their risk and risk preferences. We provide a characterization of the equilibria, which depend non-trivially on consumers' type distribution, a desirable feature for policy analysis. The use of consumer char-acteristics for risk classification is modeled as the disclosure of a public informative signal. A novel property of signals, monotonicity, is shown to be necessary and sufficient for their release to be welfare improving for almost all consumer types. We also study the effect of changes to the risk distribution in the population as the result of demographic changes or policy interventions. We show that an increase in the risk distribu-tion, according to the monotone likelihood ratio ordering of distribution, leads to lower utility for almost all consumer types. In contrast, the effect is ambiguous when considering the first order stochastic dominance ordering.


We present a single-source dual atom interferometer and utilize it as a gradiometer for precise gravitational measurements. The macroscopic separation between interfering atomic wave packets (as large as 16 cm) reveals the interplay of recoil effects and gravitational curvature from a nearby Pb source mass. The gradiometer baseline is set by the laser wavelength and pulse timings, which can be measured to high precision. Using a long drift time and large momentum transfer atom optics, the gradiometer reaches a resolution of 3 × 10−9 s−2 per shot and measures a 1 rad phase shift induced by the source mass.


The effect of temperature on the production of F pili by an F+ strain of Escherichia coli B/r was studied by electron microscopy and by a technique involving serum-blocking power. The latter method is based on the ability of F pili to adsorb F pili antibody which inhibits male-specific phage infection. The total amount of pili in a sample was estimated by serum-blocking power; the length of F pili and number per cell was determined by electron microscopy. Cell extracts prepared by sonic oscillation lacked serum-blocking power, suggesting that F pili are not present in the cytoplasm. The number of F pili per cell varied with the growth temperature, but the average length of F pili remained constant. Maximum number of pili per cell occurs between 37 and 42 C; below 37 C the number decreases, reaching zero at about 25 C. When cells are grown at 37 C, blended, and resuspended in fresh media at 25 C, they make F pili. These pili are probably assembled from a pool of subunits that were synthesized during growth at 37 C. The rates of assembly at 25 and 37 C, as judged by the rate of increase in length of F pili, are similar. When cells were grown at 25 C and shifted up to 37 C, there was a 30-min lag in pili production followed by a period of rapid outgrowth. When cells were shifted down from 37 to 20 C, outgrowth (assembly) of pili ceased, and approximately 50% of the attached pili were released in 2 min. No release was observed when cells were shifted to 0 C. This suggests that pili may be released from the cell by a mechanism that requires metabolic activity, but not the outgrowth of F pili.


Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL

MiR-210 is significantly upregulated in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCC), but the mechanism and biological consequences of miR-210 upregulation are poorly understood. Here, we show that miR-210 is highly expressed in renal carcinoma cell lines and that its expression is clearly correlated with accumulation of hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) under normoxia as well as hypoxia, suggesting that miR-210 upregulation in renal carcinoma cells is most likely due to accumulation of HIF1α. To reveal the effects of miR-210 upregulation, the miR-210 precursor was transfected into renal carcinoma cells. After transfection, the cells accumulated at G2/M phase of the cell cycle and their viability was decreased, suggesting that miR-210 overexpression may trigger an event that hinders normal cell division. Immunocytochemistry demonstrated a multipolar spindle accompanied by centrosome amplification in cells overexpressing miR-210. It has been reported that centrosome amplification induces chromosome mis-segregation, finally leading to chromosome instability and aneuploidy. Indeed, the proportion of aneuploid cells (>4n) was increased in miR-210 overexpressed cells. By using the TargetScan and PicTar algorithms, E2F3 was identified as one of the possible targets of miR-210, and was suppressed at the protein level by miR-210. Moreover, the proportion of aneuploid cells was increased in E2F3 siRNA transfected cells. On the basis of these results, we propose that miR-210 upregulation due to HIF1α accumulation may induce aneuploidy via E2F3 downregulation at least in part, and may play a role in tumorigenesis and/or progression of CCC.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 131. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-131


Expression-deliquoring tests using three types of paper sludges (tissue, newsprint, and paperboard) as deliquoring agent were carried out in order to investigate the effects of sludge dosage and pressure on the expression-deliquoring of slurry. The addition of deli-quoring agent causes expression-deliquoring of slurry to be faster than would be the case without the deliquoring agent. In case of the tissue sludge, the highest compression rate was achieved when 5% of deliquoring agent was added, while in cases of the news-print and the paperboard sludge, 7%. Compression rate was increased as pressure increases. Porosity was decreased as pressure increases. The lowest porosity was observed when 5% of tissue sludge was added.
When compared the weight of cake where deliquoring agent was not added and the weight of cake that was fastest expression-deliquoring, there was about 17.5% of the weight reduction


Background: in sub-Saharan Africa, the co-morbidity of diabetes mellitus and HIV is still poorly assessed. This study
aimed to determine the incidence and risk factors of diabetes mellitus among PHAs with HIV followed on an
outpatient basis at the adult day hospital (HDJ) in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.
Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted and concerning period from January 2008 to December 2015
at the adult HDJ. The diagnosis of diabetes mellitus was based on the basis of 2 blood glucose levels >7 mmol/l or
patient having a status of diabetes mellitus confirmed. The Cox proportional risk method was used to identify risk
factors for the development of diabetes mellitus. The significance level was set at p value < 5% for all statistical tests.
Data were analyzed by STATA13 software.
Results: we included 4,500 patients. The incidence of diabetes mellitus was 4.7 per 1000 person-years. Diabetic
subjects were predominantly infected with HIV1 (89.4%); the age group 36-45 years was the most represented
(34.6%). We observed a predominance of females (61.5%) and an abnormal body mass index (BMI) for 42.9% of
cases.
The majority of diabetics were detected at WHO stage 3 (42.5%), had arterial hypertension (38.0%), had abnormal
glomerular filtration rate (30.0%) and had CD4 counts of less than 350 cells/μl for 70.0% of the cases. among them
38% had hypertension; 30% had abnormal glomerular filtration rate and 70% had a low CD4 count of less than 350
cells/μl. In multivariate analysis only age >55 years was identified as an independent risk factor for the occurrence of
diabetes mellitus during follow-up.
Conclusion: Diabetes mellitus was found among PLWHIV from the day hospital cohort in Bobo Dioulasso. Age was
the risk factor found for the onset of diabetes. Integrated approach for patient's management in different units in
sub-Saharan Africa is suitable facing double epidemiological burden.


A new descriptive term, comb layering , is proposed to replace the informal term Willow Lake-type layering , first introduced by Poldervaart and Taubeneck (1959) to describe layering in granitoid rocks in which constituent crystals are oriented approximately perpendicular to individual layers. The term schlieren layering is proposed to describe the "normal" layering of granitic rocks defined by alternating layers enriched or depleted in the normal mafic minerals. In such layers, elongate minerals commonly lie in the plane of the layering. Comb layering is widespread in plutonic rocks of California and is commonly associated with orbicular diorites. Evidence from a detailed study of three localities in the Sierra Nevada indicates that comb layering forms chiefly in overturned troughs along overhanging walls of plutons or along walls of dikes or pipes that cut country rocks adjoining plutons. Orbicular rocks associated with the comb layering are formed by a nucleus surrounded by multiple comb layers.

The growth direction in comb layers can be determined by the branching and widening of plagioclase and hornblende crystals and is invariably toward the parent pluton. Field data indicate that comb layering cannot have formed from silicate magma, and further suggest that the layers have been deposited by large volumes of aqueous fluids that migrated upward along contacts between magma and wallrock or along the interface between magma and previously solidified melt. Comb layering and orbicules are largely restricted to structural traps into which upwardly migrating, solute-rich water was channeled owing to its low density. The comb layers grew on the solid walls of fluid-filled channels, whereas orbicules formed by precipitation of comb layers on hobbling inclusions suspended within the upward-flowing fluid.


Conventional wisdom has posited that it is difficult, if not highly unlikely, for a state to defeat an insurgency using conventional military strategy. However, the May 2009 victory of the Government of Sri Lanka over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam demonstrates that such victories are possible. This victory is attributed to a political strategy rather than the purely military one emphasized in the literature. This political component comes down to a contest for legitimacy between the GOSL and the LTTE's leadership at the local level for the loyalty of two audiences: the rank-and-file of the insurgency, and the aggrieved minority population from which the insurgency was born. Among the former audience, if the state's legitimacy position gains in relative terms, the state can co-opt members of the rank-and-file through defection. Among the latter audience, the effectiveness of counterinsurgency operations will depend on a competition between the two actors for the support of the local aggrieved minority population. The logic behind these hypotheses on cooption and local support is born out in the Sri Lankan case, and, furthermore, is argued to have more general applicability by comparison to insurgent conflicts in Thailand and the Philippines. The Sri Lankan case demonstrates that when both actors have low support among locals (Sri Lankan Tamils) it is the insurgency, and not the state, that becomes more vulnerable on the battlefield. The Patani insurgency in Thailand is found to be closed to cooption, while the local population (Thai Malay Muslims) is argued to support neither side outright. This has led to conditions of stalemate on the battlefield. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines is found to be highly open to cooption since the 2003 ceasefire, with high levels of support among locals (Muslim Moros). This gives the insurgency a significant military advantage over the state if the peace process were to break down.


Deficiencies in the ability of cells to sense and repair damage in individuals with rare genetic instability syndromes increase the risk of developing cancer. Ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T), such a condition, is associated with a high incidence of leukemia and lymphoma that develop in childhood. Although A-T is an autosomal recessive disorder, some penetrance appears in individuals with one mutated ATM gene (A-T carriers), namely, an increased risk of developing breast cancer. The gene mutated in A-T, designated ATM, is homologous to several DNA damage recognition and cell cycle checkpoint control genes from other organisms. Recent studies suggest that ATM is activated primarily in response to double-strand breaks, the major cytotoxic lesion caused by ionizing radiation, and can directly bind to and phosphorylate c-Abl, p53, and replication protein A (RPA). Analysis of ATM mutations in patients with A-T or with sporadic non-A-T cancers has suggested the existence of two classes of ATM mutation: null mutations leading to A-T and dominant negative missense mutations predisposing to cancer in the heterozygous state. Studies with A-T mouse models have helped determine the basis of lymphoid tumorigenesis in A-T and have shown that ATM plays a critical role in maintaining genetic stability by ensuring high-fidelity execution of chromosomal events. Thus, ATM appears to act as a caretaker of the genome.


This paper discusses the application of a Lagrangian relaxation algorithm for solving short-term power system resource scheduling problems in the presence of "endogenously priced" resources. The authors demonstrate how such resources can be incorporated into the scheduling model as opposed to the prevailing practice of activating them through post-dispatch price signals derived from the short term scheduling of resources directly controlled by the electric utility. Through a simulation study, the authors compare operations and costs of integrated scheduling to those resulting from the post-dispatch approach. Their analysis demonstrates that integrated scheduling can produce significant improvements. >


ABSTRACT This article draws on ethnographic research at L'école Gulliver, a preschool in Paris that integrates children with disabilities in mainstream classrooms with non-disabled peers. The preschool provides a case example of a collectivist integration approach to constructing shared institutional life, which is conceptualized in part through their connection to the work of Felix Guattari with psychiatric patients at a French in-patient clinic, La Borde. At both La Borde and Gulliver, daily life and institutional practices are structured to maximize transversality, with the intention of fostering a new kind of "group-subject" that is responsive to the realities of daily institutional life. We argue that practices at Gulliver challenge progressive inclusive teaching practices that largely ignore or neglect to account for the emotional difficulties of inclusion. Their approach challenges the focus in progressive inclusive education on the individual child or educator to the detriment of understanding the power of the collective production of subjectivities. At Gulliver, the experience of disability is a shared reference point across the group, and although it is experienced differently for different individuals, it is central to the construction of a group-subject that, in being more expansive and responsible than any individual, is to the benefit of all.


A new genus and species of pitviper from the Annam Mountain Range, Quang Binh Province, Vietnam are described. The description is based on a single male specimen. This member of the Trimeresurus group is characterized by the presence of raised horn-like multiple supraoculars and by having the unique structure of the dorsal scales showing a keel consisting of three horn-like upraisings as well as the unique microdermatoglyphic pattern of the Oberhautchen, which is tessellate fimbriate. First notes on its biology are provided and possible relationships of this new and striking taxon are discussed.


Gastroesophageal reflux disease is a chronic disease with a high incidence worldwide. The various symptoms have substantial impact on the quality of life of affected individuals. A long-term self-management program can increase the ability of patients to make behavioral changes, and health outcomes can improve as a consequence. This study's aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of a self-management program for gastroesophageal reflux disease. A total of 115 patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease were allocated to the experimental group and the control group. The former received self-management intervention along with conventional drug therapy, whereas the latter received standard outpatient care and conventional drug therapy. After the clinical trial, the control group also received the same self-management intervention. The levels of self-management behaviors, self-efficacy, gastroesophageal reflux disease symptoms, and psychological condition were compared. Those in the experimental group demonstrated significantly higher self-efficacy for managing their illness, showed positive changes in self-management behaviors, and had comparatively better remission of symptoms and improvement in psychological distress. The program helped patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease self-manage their illness as possible.


Chronic Myeloproiferative Disorders (CMPDs) are a spectrum of haematological malignancies of which the molecular pathogenesis remains unknown. Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) being the only disorder with a recognisable pathogenomic abnormality, the Ph chromosome. Recent published data has supported the role of tyrosine kinases in the disease pathogenesis, in particular the role of a cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase JAK2. It has been shown that >80% of Polycythaemia Vera (PV) patients and 30% of Essential Thrombocythaemia (ET) patients demonstrate a clonal and recurrent mutation V617F in the JH2 pseudo-kinase domain of JAK2 located on 9p24.1. Our array CGH investigations of cell lines, established from lymphoid and myeloid blast phase samples revealed a complex pattern of imbalances affecting the short arm of chromosome 9: on the background of 2–3-fold amplification, a loss of the 9p24.1 region, which harbours the JAK 2 sequences was repeatedly observed. FISH using BAC DNA probes from the 9p24.2 and 9p23 region was carried out to map the JAK2 gene and the flanking sequences. Results so far indicate the presence of both imbalances (amplifications & deletions) and rearrangements involving the JAK2 region in 5 cell lines. An on going FISH study of CMPD patients (CML, PV, ET and MF) with normal and abnormal karyotypes has revealed 9p24 imbalances in 18% (5 out of 28). The observation of JAK2 aberrations in a range of haematological malignancies demonstrates the potential importance of tyrosine kinases in the leukemogenesis. The pathegenomic significance of aberrations found in the region surrounding JAK2 has yet to be defined and our study demonstrates the importance of molecular cytogenetics as a tool in understanding the significance of JAK2 in CMPDs.


To investigate the possibility that hemopoietic cells may become infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV), viral DNA was studied by molecular hybridization in bone marrow aspirates of 51 children with leukemia. HBV‐DNA was found in the bone marrow of eight children (15%) and Southern blot analysis revealed the presence of free, monomeric viral sequences. Only one of the eight children with HBV‐DNA in bone marrow cells was HBsAg‐positive in serum, whereas two additional patients were transiently HBsAg‐positive in serum during follow‐up, but were negative at the time HBV‐DNA was found in bone marrow. Four other cases developed antibodies to HBV. Cases of myeloid leukemia were more frequently positive for HBV‐DNA in bone marrow (55%), compared with cases of lymphoid leukemia (7%). These results indicate that hemopoietic cells are susceptible to infection with hepatitis B virus and stimulate new interest into the relation of HBV infection to the development of some forms of leukemia, as four of eight cases of myeloid leukemia were HBV‐DNA positive in bone marrow aspirates at diagnosis, prior to receiving any transfusion therapy. Cancer 59:292–296, 1987.


Solar active region (AR) 11283 is a very magnetically complex region and it has produced many eruptions. However, there exists a non-eruptive filament in the plage region just next to an eruptive one in the AR, which gives us an opportunity to perform a comparison analysis of these two filaments. The coronal magnetic field extrapolated using our CESE–MHD–NLFFF code reveals that two magnetic flux ropes (MFRs) exist in the same extrapolation box supporting these two filaments, respectively. Analysis of the magnetic field shows that the eruptive MFR contains a bald-patch separatrix surface (BPSS) cospatial very well with a pre-eruptive EUV sigmoid, which is consistent with the BPSS model for coronal sigmoids. The magnetic dips of the non-eruptive MFRs match Hα observation of the non-eruptive filament strikingly well, which strongly supports the MFR-dip model for filaments. Compared with the non-eruptive MFR/filament (with a length of about 200 Mm), the eruptive MFR/filament is much smaller (with a length of about 20 Mm), but it contains most of the magnetic free energy in the extrapolation box and holds a much higher free energy density than the non-eruptive one. Both the MFRs are weakly twisted and cannot trigger kink instability. The AR eruptive MFR is unstable because its axis reaches above a critical height for torus instability, at which the overlying closed arcades can no longer confine the MFR stably. On the contrary, the quiescent MFR is very firmly held by its overlying field, as its axis apex is far below the torus-instability threshold height. Overall, this comparison investigation supports that an MFR can exist prior to eruption and the ideal MHD instability can trigger an MFR eruption.


In yeast two-hybrid screening, protein 4.1N, a scaffolding protein, was identified as a binding partner of the α7 ACh (acetylcholine) receptor. For rat hippocampal slices, the linoleic acid derivative DCP-LA {8-[2-(2-pentyl-cyclopropylmethyl)-cyclopropyl]-octanoic acid} increased the association of the α7 ACh receptor with 4.1N, and the effect was inhibited by GF109203X, an inhibitor of PKC (protein kinase C), although DCP-LA did not induce PKC phosphorylation of 4.1N. For PC-12 cells, the presence of the α7 ACh receptor in the plasma membrane fraction was significantly suppressed by knocking down 4.1N. DCP-LA increased the presence of the α7 ACh receptor in the plasma membrane fraction, and the effect was still inhibited by knocking down 4.1N. In the monitoring of α7 ACh receptor mobilization, DCP-LA enhanced signal intensities for the α7 ACh receptor at the membrane surface in PC-12 cells, which was clearly prevented by knocking down 4.1N. Taken together, the results of the present study show that 4.1N interacts with the α7 ACh receptor and participates in the receptor tethering to the plasma membrane. The results also indicate that DCP-LA increases membrane surface localization of the α7 ACh receptor in a 4.1N-dependent manner under the control of PKC, but without phosphorylating 4.1N.


Ni-Co-Fe ternary alloy films were electrodeposited from a sulfate bath. The effects of the saccharin concentration on the deposit stress behavior of these films were investigated. When the saccharin concentration was 0.004 M, the deposit stress was the lowest (61 MPa, tensile stress mode). Then, the relation between the deposit stress and the magnetic properties was investigated. As the deposit stress of the Ni-Co-Fe thin films decreased from 307 to 61 MPa, the coercivity and the squareness decreased from 6.17 to 1.35 Oe and from 0.65 to 0.18, respectively. The dependence of the deposit stress on the temperature in the plating bath was investigated. As the temperature in the plating bath was increased from 25 to 50 °C the deposit stress of the Ni-Co-Fe alloy films decreased from 61 to 32 MPa.


Summary Field investigations conducted at Ludhiana (India) showed that the foliar application of 2-chloroethyltrimethyl-ammonium chloride (CCC) (50% a.i.) at 300,600 and 900 ml/ha about 5 weeks after planting did not depress plant height. The dose of 600 ml CCC/ha was most effective and increased seed yield by 1·31 and 0·74 t/ha over the control (water spray) in 1978–9 and 1979–80, respectively. The corresponding increases in total yield were 1·37 and 0·86 t/ha. However, in 1980–1 when CCC was applied 3 weeks after planting even the lower dose of 300 ml/ha depressed the plant height. Then the treatment of CCC increased significantly the number of tubers of seed size and seed yield by decreasing the 'ware' yield but did not influence the total yield. The yields of potatoes were not affected signifioantly by the application of N-dimethyl amino succinamic acid (B 9) and succinic acid (SA). In an experiment where the interaction of nitrogen and CCC was studied both factors not only increased the seed yield but also increased the total yield. However, there was no interaction between nitrogen and CCC.


We consider the Navier-Stokes equations with Navier's slip boundary conditions in a three-dimensional curved thin domain around a given closed surface. Under suitable assumptions we show that the average in the thin direction of a strong solution to the bulk Navier-Stokes equations converges weakly in appropriate function spaces on the limit surface as the thickness of the thin domain tends to zero. Moreover, we characterize the limit as a weak solution to limit equations, which are the damped and weighted Navier-Stokes equations on the limit surface. We also prove the strong convergence of the average of a strong solution to the bulk equations towards a weak solution to the limit equations by showing estimates for the difference between them. In some special case our limit equations agree with the Navier-Stokes equations on a Riemannian manifold in which the viscous term contains the Ricci curvature. This is the first result on a rigorous derivation of the surface Navier-Stokes equations on a general closed surface by the thin-film limit.


The abuse of psychiatry in Nazi Germany 60 years ago was the abuse of the 'duty to care'. Its scale was enormous; 300 000 people were sterilized and 100 000 killed in Germany alone and many thousands further afield, mainly in eastern Europe. This episode occurred in a country with a high reputation for its medicine, including psychiatry, and for its interest in the ethics of medical research. The economic conditions which preceded the violent political upheaval had led to increasing concern about 'the burden on the State' of the mentally ill and disabled. These preoccupations are still with us today. There may still be lessons to be learnt from the Nazi episode.


Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is one of the most frequently observed cancers in India that is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage. Although surgery remains the only curative option, the majority of GBCs are unresectable. Palliative chemotherapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin is the recommended treatment in such cases. The current study reports a case of a 47-year-old female who exhibited GBC that had metastasized to the liver and peritoneum. She was administered palliative chemotherapy with gemcitabine and cisplatin, but due to disease progression the regimen was changed and an aggressive treatment initiated with gemcitabine and oxaliplatin with additional biosimilar bevacizumab (modified Gemox-B regimen). The patient completed six chemotherapy cycles with partial response and received bevacizumab (7.5 mg/kg 3-weekly) based maintenance treatment for an additional 6 cycles, after which she demonstrated disease progression, thus having a progression free survival of ~11 months. The patient is currently receiving palliative chemotherapy with capecitabine.


The authors present a review of literature focusing on state-of-art of surgical management of cervical spondylogenic myelopathy (CSM). Pathophysiology of CSM, evaluation and differential diagnosis are also described. Special attention is given to the value of neurophysiological aspects in pre- and postoperative examination.


The coffee market has been rapidly growing up recently as well as the coffee industry which makes the number of educational institutions increasing in Korea. On the other hand, the classes lean too much on the practical exercise so the coffee education is urgently needed to define precisely and systematize academically. This study is accomplished on the basis of the teachers and students requirement analysis. The features that sets this study apart from the existing educational digital media is that the definite teaching-learning methods and teaching strategies were developed first. Furthermore, the physical and chemical phenomenon of coffee brewing were simulated by 3D animation software based on the visual languages. The general process of this media production was composed by the mutual relationship of the teacher's needs, educationist's strategies and media producer. After applying the digital media to students in the lesson of coffee science theory it was effective to increase their concentrativeness, interesting and learning motive. This media is also receiving the positive evaluation by the teachers to help the students in understanding the coffee science.


In layout design, how to construct a high performance clock net is critical to the operation of synchronous systems. In this paper, we propose a legitimate skew driven clock routing algorithm. This algorithm synthetically considers the advantages of preceding clock routing topology generation algorithms, utilizes legitimate skew in constructing clock tree, and improves the clock tree structure to obtain minimal total wire length and clock delay. Also, the feasibility of final skew range results is guaranteed. The experimental results show this algorithm effectively reduces the total wire length and improves the performance of clock tree, while satisfying legitimate skew bounds.


Quantitative behaviour analysis requires the classification of behaviour to produce the basic data. In practice, much of this work will be performed by multiple observers, and maximising inter-observer consistency is of particular importance. Another discipline where consistency in classification is vital is biological taxonomy. A classification tool of great utility, the binary key, is designed to simplify the classification decision process and ensure consistent identification of proper categories. We show how this same decision-making tool - the binary key - can be used to promote consistency in the classification of behaviour. The construction of a binary key also ensures that the categories in which behaviour is classified are complete and non-overlapping. We discuss the general principles of design of binary keys, and illustrate their construction and use with a practical example from education research.


Protein transduction offers great promise for clinical applications as a safe alternative to viral gene delivery. We have previously shown that NF-YA transcription factor which regulates the expression of several genes implicated in hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) renewal and differentiation, including the Hox4 paralogs HoxB4, HoxC4, HoxD4, LEF1, Notch1, p27 and telomerase (Zhu J. et al. PNAS, 102:11728–11733; 2005) can be delivered as a TAT-NF-YA fusion protein to primitive human hematopoietic CD34+ cells (Domashenko A. et al. Blood, 106:144B; 2005). In these earlier studies transduced human NF-YA protein demonstrated functional activity by upregulated HOXB4 mRNA, as measured by real time PCR. Based on these results we have now asked whether TAT-NF-YA treatment of CD34+ cells:

1. stimulates the ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic precursor and progenitor cells and

2. maintains and/or expands the repopulating capacity of HSC in the NOD/SCID mouse model.

Human CD34+ cells from peripheral blood or bone marrow were treated with IL3/IL6/SCF/FL/TPO, with or without TAT-NF-YA protein, and grown for up to two weeks in a serum free media. Fifteen days after fusion protein delivery cell growth in treated culture was 4-fold higher than in control cultures without added TAT-NF-YA. Cells plated on methylcellulose at different time points of cell growth showed an increase of colony-forming progenitor cells (CFC) in culture exposed to TAT-NF-YA primarily due to increase of GEMM population: ~3 fold at day 4 and 7-fold day 9 after protein delivery. These results suggest that TAT-NF-YA promotes cell proliferation by maintaining the most primitive population in an undifferentiated state, biasing HSC toward self-renewal rather than differentiation. To measure more directly the engraftment potential of TAT-NF-YA treated cells, bone marrow CD34+ cells cultured for 3 or 6 days after exposure to the protein were transplanted into NOD/SCID mice. After 9 weeks, human CD45+ donor cells were analyzed for myeloid and lymphoid surface markers in the bone marrow of recipient mice by flow cytometry with anti-human CD33 and CD19 antibodies. TAT-NF-YA plus cytokine treated cells demonstrated significantly higher long-term repopulating capacity of cultured cells compared to cells cultured with cytokines alone, averaging a 4-fold increase for 3-day and a 3-fold increase for 6-day cell culture in the percent of huCD45+ cells recovered from the circulation and spleen of NOD/SCID mice. The proportion of lymphoid and myeloid engrafted populations was not significantly different in control and protein treated cells. These data provide evidence that NF-YA delivered as a TAT fusion protein to primary hematopoietic cells may stimulate progenitor/stem cell expansion, homing and/or repopulating ability. More generally, these results indicate that protein transduction has significant potential for various applications in manipulation of HSC, thereby offering a potentially safer alternative to viral gene therapy; both because the protein has a shot half-life in the targeted cells in vivo and because there is opportunity for insertional mutagenesis.


Neutrophils play an appreciable role in reactions of local immunity at COPD. The aim of our study was to examine the concentration of the reactive carbonyl derivatives of proteins (RCD) in neutrophils at patients with varying severity of COPD. COPD exacerbations with development of respiratory failure had accompanied by the syndrome of bronchial obstruction at all patients. The 1 group (n = 29) included patients with COPD moderate severity, mixed form (emphysematous and bronchial). The 2 group (n = 21) consisted of patients with COPD, severe, mixed form. Group 3 (n = 35) included patients with COPD, moderate, bronchial type. Group 4 (n = 23) included patients with COPD, severe, bronchial type. In control group there were 32 healthy ones. All patients and healthy subjects had given their consent to participate. The RCD was measured in cells following the protocol of R.L. Levine et al. (1990). RCD level in neutrophils of patients with mixed form of COPD was lower compared with controls ones (p


Engklek is a game that used to be played by people in Indonesia, especially children. This game improves balance, trains leg muscle endurance, and encourages direct social interaction between players. Unfortunately, this game is rarely played today because of the lack of availability of space and competition with modern games. The ATUMICS method helps to transform traditions into a current context by maintaining the crucial elements and replacing the elements that inhibit the aspects that are more acceptable to today's society. In terms of playing techniques, game utilities, the icon of the board games, and game concepts are maintained. From here, the concept of the Engklek game is formed, which can be played anywhere including indoors. The concept of the game has been developed to ensure that (1) the set of the game is easy to carry anywhere and played everywhere, (2) children learn to organize and practice their hand skills through the process of compiling puzzles, releasing, and arranging board games, (3) new pieces tend to be safer when accidentally stepped on, (4) board games, pieces, and bags are made from environmentally friendly materials and support sustainable design, (5) there are new icons from pieces that support icons from other Engklek games, (6) the shape of the game board speeds up the game preparation process, (7) the shape of new pieces is more exciting and easy to remember for children. The concepts found here need to be developed into prototypes and tested on children so that the mapping of product strengths and weaknesses can be mapped better.
Keywords: atumics method, transforming tradition, traditional game, Engklek


Three concrete mixes of widely differing water cement ratios were made using crushed waste concrete as coarse aggregate. The properties investigated include the physical properties of the recycled aggregate, the compressive and flexural strengths of the concrete. The se properties were compared with those of similar concrete specim ens made with conventional natural aggregate. Also tested was the compressive strength of concrete cubes cut from the waste concrete. Results of the tests suggest that the strength of concrete made from recycled waste concrete aggregate is dependent on the strength of the original concrete from which the recycled aggregate is derived. It is concluded that recycled aggregate can be used to produce quality concrete when the strength of concrete required is not greater than the strength of the original concrete from which the recycled aggregate is derived.


Abstract High-quality patient-centred care for hospitalised patients at the end of life requires health care teams to engage patients and families in communication and decision-making about goals of care. In the absence of such engagement, patient preferences may not be reflected in their care, and patients may be subjected to unwanted life-sustaining technologies such as mechanical ventilation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The DECIDE (DECIsion-making about goals of care for seriously ill, hospitalised medical patients) study was conducted with the aims of identifying barriers and ideas for improving end-of-life communication and decision-making with seriously ill patients in Canadian hospitals. Its qualitative component involved interviews with 30 physicians and nurses asking them to recall and describe hospital-based goals of care communication and decision-making incidents that had gone 'well' or 'unwell'. This article explores a dominant pattern in participants' accounts, which is a norm of waiting to initiate end-of-life discussions until seriously ill patients are within days or even hours of death. Attending to clinicians' explanations of when and why goals of care discussions are routinely delayed provides opportunity to clarify and critically consider important and normally unarticulated rationales underlying end-of-life discussion practices between health care teams and patients/families in Canadian hospitals.


ABSTRACT:This essay turns to Don DeLillo's novel Point Omega to revisit a blind spot of narrative theory—narrative's relation with lyricality and poeticity. Responding to recent debates on this topic by shifting the emphasis toward modes of reception and readerly engagement, my essay examines how the novel's experimental mix of literary forms changes the game of what narrative commonly does. Point Omega's unusual brevity (it is the shortest of DeLillo's recent short novels) and eventlessness (nothing much happens, and much of what happens evades reconstruction) are key to this operation. I argue that the novel endorses lyric and poetic strategies—among them, slowing down the reading process by amplifying the demand for "speakerly appropriation" (Schlaffer), and spacing the narrative by exploiting the cinematic frame as the prime compositional measure—with the effect of impairing the temporal reign of emplotment along with the knowledge-generating logic of cause and effect. As a result of downplaying narrative dominance (and frustrating our expectations to find out what has happened), we read for cohesion (a sense of unity) rather than for coherence (a system of rules). I contend that this poetological agenda and the receptive mode that it harbors mark a break with—or plot against—the concern with paranoia that was the staple of DeLillo's earlier, longer, Cold War novels. And I suggest that Point Omega's post-paranoid style casts a lyric-poetic instance on the fundamental unknowability of reality against the blazing knowledge regimes of our crisis-ridden age.