BACKGROUND
In order to better target prevention initiatives for the obesity epidemic in Canada, policy-makers, in addition to information about risk factors, require an understanding of the preventive potential which is best provided by the risk factor's population attributable risk fraction (PARF).

OBJECTIVE
To estimate the PARF for childhood overweight risk factors as identified by a population-based study of elementary schoolchildren in Nova Scotia.

METHODS
Population-based survey data of Grade 5 students who participated in the 2003 Children's Lifestyle and School Performance Study in Nova Scotia, Canada, were linked to a provincial perinatal registry. PARFs were calculated from a parsimonious multilevel logistic regression model.

RESULTS
Physical activity, sedentary activity, maternal smoking during pregnancy, and maternal pre-pregnancy weight were considered potentially preventable. Sedentary activity (as estimated from time spent viewing TV, computers and video games or "screen time") and maternal pre-pregnancy weight appeared to offer the greatest potential for prevention. In total, approximately 40% of-overweight in childhood could potentially be prevented.

CONCLUSION
Excess screen time and maternal pre-pregnancy weight offer the greatest potential for prevention of childhood overweight at 11 years of age.


Because Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) unconvincingly activates human naive CD8+ T cells, a rBCG (BCG-70M) that secretes a fusion protein comprising BCG-derived heat shock protein (HSP)70 and Mycobacterium leprae-derived major membrane protein (MMP)-II, one of the immunodominant Ags of M. leprae, was newly constructed to potentiate the ability of activating naive CD8+ T cells through dendritic cells (DC). BCG-70M secreted HSP70-MMP-II fusion protein in vitro, which stimulated DC to produce IL-12p70 through TLR2. BCG-70M-infected DC activated not only memory and naive CD8+ T cells, but also CD4+ T cells of both types to produce IFN-γ. The activation of these naive T cells by BCG-70M was dependent on the MHC and CD86 molecules on BCG-70M-infected DC, and was significantly inhibited by pretreatment of DC with chloroquine. Both brefeldin A and lactacystin significantly inhibited the activation of naive CD8+ T cells by BCG-70M through DC. Thus, the CD8+ T cell activation may be induced by cross-presentation of Ags through a TAP- and proteosome-dependent cytosolic pathway. When naive CD8+ T cells were stimulated by BCG-70M-infected DC in the presence of naive CD4+ T cells, CD62LlowCD8+ T cells and perforin-producing CD8+ T cells were efficiently produced. MMP-II-reactive CD4+ and CD8+ memory T cells were efficiently produced in C57BL/6 mice by infection with BCG-70M. These results indicate that BCG-70M activated DC, CD4+ T cells, and CD8+ T cells, and the combination of HSP70 and MMP-II may be useful for inducing better T cell activation.


. The article is focused on the possible ways of accumulating chemical elements (zinc, copper, chromium, nickel, lead, mercury) in the organs of aquatic organisms. In the course of the study, the coefficients of accumulating the chemical elements in the organs and tissues were calculated for the Russian ( Acipenser gueldenstaedtii , Brandt , 1833) and Persian sturgeons ( Acipenser persicus , Borodin, 1897) relative to the water of the northwestern part of the Caspian Sea, bottom sediments and the main objects of their food (Khvalyn goby ( Neogobius caspius ), Sandpiper goby ( Neogobius fluviatilis ), Caspian goblin ( Benthophilus microcephalus ), cus )). The studies were carried out according to the standard method of atomic absorption spec-trometry. It is shown that the main source of accumulating the studied chemical elements in the organs and tissues of the Russian and Persian sturgeons is the water of the northwestern part of the Caspian Sea. It was found that the bottom sediments of the Caspian Sea act as an additional source of zinc and mercury found in the liver and kidneys of sturgeon species. Based on the calculated accumulation coefficients of chemical elements, there was revealed a predominantly alimentary na-ture of accumulating copper, nickel and mercury in the organs of both sturgeon species.


This paper claims that idiomatic expressions play a very important role in the protagonist's speech characteristics in Ilf and Petrov's novels. Phraseologisms used in a criminal sense are either the author's neologisms treated in the style of criminal slang or idiomatic expressions corresponding to criminal topics. Two of these phraseologisms clearly belong to criminal slang. Comic effect is reached by the manner of their use in context. As a result of this, they cause even more problems for translation. Apart from these objective moments, the translator's artistic sense and linguistic sense of humour are also significant factors.


We report the first observation of the doubly-magic nucleus 100Sn. This isotope was produced by nuclear fragmentation of 124Xe projectiles at 1095 A MeV using the heavy-ion synchrotron SIS at GSI, Darmstadt. The projectile fragments were separated in flight with the projectile fragment separator FRS and identified by measuring event by event magnetic rigidity, the time of flight and the energy deposition. The analysis of the decay events following the implantation of the fragments into a stack of Si detectors revealed for the first time the halflives of the isotopes 100Sn, 104Sb, 105Sb.


The Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (BCPT-P-1) demonstrated that tamoxifen could reduce the risk of invasive breast cancer in high-risk women by 49%, but that it could also increase the risk of endometrial cancer, vascular events and cataracts. This paper provides an estimate of the net health impacts of tamoxifen administration on high-risk Canadian women with no prior history of breast cancer. The results of the BCPT-P-1 were incorporated into the breast cancer and other modules of Statistics Canada's microsimulation POpulation HEalth Model (POHEM). While the main intervention scenario conformed as closely as possible to the eligibility criteria for tamoxifen in the BCPT-P-1 protocol, 3 additional scenarios were simulated. Predicted absolute risks of breast cancer at 5 years of 1.66%, 3.32% and 4.15% were calculated for women 35 to 70 years of age. When the BCPT-P-1 results were incorporated into the simulation model, the analysis suggests no increase in life expectancy in this risk group. Tamoxifen appeared to be beneficial for women with a 5-year predicted risk of 3.32% or greater. The results of these simulations are particularly sensitive to the reduction in mortality observed in the BCPT-P-1, as well as being sensitive to other characteristics of the simulation model. Overall, the analysis raises questions about the use of tamoxifen in otherwise healthy women at high risk of breast cancer. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.com


This paper details a framework developed at NIST that highlights the standardization efforts going on within the various levels of an Internet-based distributed measurement and control (DMC) system. The framework highlights state-of-the-art hardware and software techniques used at NIST to design, implement, and deploy next-generation Internet-based DMC applications and systems. The framework targets three important areas of standardization including transducer interfaces, open network communication, and distributed application development. An implementation of a DMC application on the Internet based on the NIST framework is also described. The paper concludes with a brief introduction to other research activities at NIST culminating from this core Internet-based DMC research.


A cultivation behavior in high density cultivation of mung bean sprouts was investigated from the engineering viewpoint. The effect oxygen concentration on the growth rate was evaluated, because heterotrophic growth and secondary metabolism reactions were related to oxygen. The cart with controllable circuit for gas phase was used for high density cultivation. In a growing test of mung bean in high density and individual cultivations under various oxygen concentrations, courses of fresh weight, and whiteness index of seedling of mung bean sprouts were measured, and specific growth rate based on fresh weight were investigated. In high density cultivation, specific growth rate was faster than in individual cultivation, and differences in growth rate according to growth stage were observed with oxygen concentration. On low oxygen concentration whiteness index of the seedling raised. Therefore, it is assumed that oxygen concentration was so low that secondary metabolism reaction of brown substances in root of seedling was limited. These results suggest that growth and secondary metabolism reactions in high density cultivation could be regulated by controlling oxygen concentration in gas phase. In this study, we proposed that the concept of Controlled Atmosphere (CA) might be applied in plant cultivation as well as CA storage.


Chlorpropham was given in the diet to provide levels of 0 (control), 500, 1,000, and 2,000 mg/kg from 5 weeks of age of the F0 generation to 9 weeks of age of the F1 generation in mice, and selected reproductive and neurobehavioural parameters were measured. There were no adverse effects of chlorpropham on either litter size or litter weight and sex ratio at birth. The average body weight of offspring was significantly reduced in the middle-dose group at postnatal days (PNDs) 0 and 4 in female offspring, and was significantly increased in the middle-dose group at PND 14 in male offspring. In neurobehavioural parameters, surface righting at PND 4 was significantly affected in a dose-related manner, and negative geotaxis at PND 4 was significantly accelerated in a dose-related manner in female offspring. In male offspring, surface righting at PND 7 was significantly depressed in the middle-dose group, and olfactory orientation at PND 14 was significantly affected in the low- and middle-dose groups. The dose levels of chlorpropham in the present study produced few adverse effects in reproductive and neurobehavioural parameters in mice.


A nucleophilic group in the active site of aldehyde dehydrogenase, which covalently binds the aldehyde moiety during the enzyme-catalyzed oxidation of aldehydes to acids, was acylated with the chromophoric aldehyde trans-4-(N,N-dimethylamino)cinnamaldehyde (DACA). Acyl-enzyme trapped by precipitation with perchloric acid was digested with trypsin, and the peptide associated with the chromophoric group was isolated and shown to be Gln-Ala-Phe-Gln-Ile-Gly-Ser-Pro-Trp-Arg. After redigestion with thermolysin, the chromophore was associated with the C-terminal hexaresidue part. If the chromophore is attached to this peptide, serine would be expected to bind the aldehyde and lead to the required acylated derivative. Differential labeling experiments were performed in which all free thiol groups on the acylated enzyme were blocked by carboxymethylation. The acyl chromophore was then removed by controlled hydrolysis and the protein reacted with [14C]iodoacetamide. No 14C-labeled tryptic peptides were isolated, suggesting that the sulfur of a cysteine cannot be the acylated residue in the precipitated acyl-enzyme.


Background. Shame has been associated with a range of maladaptive behaviours, including substance use. Young people may be particularly vulnerable to heightened shame sensitivity, and substance use is a significant problem amongst UK adolescents. Although there appears to be a relationship between shame and substance use, the direction of the relationship remains unclear. Aim. The purpose of this study was to undertake a systematic review of the literature relating to shame and substance use in young people. Method. Five electronic databases were searched for articles containing terms related to 'adolescence,' 'shame' and 'substance use.' Six articles were included in the final analyses. Results. Adverse early experiences, particularly sexual abuse, predict shame-proneness, and substance use is a mechanism by which some individuals cope with negative feelings. In general, there is a dearth of literature investigating the shame-substance use relationship in adolescent samples. The available literature associates shame-proneness with poorer functioning and suggests that it may potentially lead to psychopathology and early-onset substance use. Scant attention has been paid to the cognitive and emotional processes implicated. Further research is required to ascertain the strength of the shame-substance use relationship in young people and to develop appropriate interventions for this population.


From a computational point of view, fluid behaviour under micro-gravity conditions is more complicated than under terrestrial conditions: the fluid has a tendency to undergo large topological changes, requiring an accurate and robust method for free-surface advection. Moreover, the fluid is often contained in a cavity (e.g. satellite) that itself is moving; not only because of external forces (e.g. manoeuvring thrusters on a satellite), but also under influence of the fluid motion: the dynamics of the solid-body motion arid the liquid motion are coupled. In the paper a method is presented for simulating coupled liquid-solid dynamics under micro-gravity conditions (although the method also works in a terrestrial environment). The liquid dynamics is solved by discret,ising the Navier-Stokes equations on a Cartesian grid. Transportation of the free surface is based on the VOF-method; however, slightly adapted in order to a.void the (numerical) creation of "flotsam" and "jetsam". The solid-body motion is governed by equations for its linear and angular moment,um, in which terms appear that represent the force and t,orque induced by the sloshing liquid. Care has to be taken in solving these equations to keep the coupling numerically stable for arbinary liquid/solid mass ratios.


In this paper we concentrate on prediction of future values based on the past course of a variable. Traditionally this problem is solved using statistical analysis – first a time-series model is constructed and then statistical prediction algorithms are applied to it in order to obtain future values. The time series modelling is a very powerful method, but it requires knowledge or discovery of initial conditions when constructing the model. The experiment described in this paper consists of a comparison of results computed by Multi-layer perceptron network with different learning algorithms previously published and results computed with different types of ARMA models. For the network configuration an analytical approach has been applied through the cross-validation method. We performed an exact comparison of both approaches on real-world data set. Results of two types of artificial neural network learning algorithms are compared with two algorithms of statistical prediction of future values.The experiment results are later discussed from several different points. First the comparison is focused on output precision of both approaches. The comparison consists of matching neural networks results and real values on few steps of prediction. Then the results of ARMA models are compared with real values and conclusion is made. The conclusion also includes theoretical and practical recommendations.


Context: To study hyperparathyroid-induced hypercalcemic crisis (HIHC). Aims: We see very advanced cases of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) and therefore, we sought to determine the incidence of HIHC in our surgically-treated PHPT patients, clinical presentation, and short- and long-term results with the use of bisphosphonate therapy and expeditious parathyroidectomy over a 20-year period at a single institution. Settings and Design: Retrospective review of PHPT patients at Department of Endocrine Surgery, a tertiary care referral center. Materials and Methods: Retrospective review of 177 patients of advanced PHPT who underwent parathyroidectomy at a single institution from 1989 to 2010. All patients with serum calcium ≥14 mg/dl (≥3.5 mmol/l) were included in HIHC group. Statistical Analysis: Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine differences between groups. Data is expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM); P values less than 0.05 were considered significant. Results: We observed a higher incidence of HIHC (n = 37, 21%) with higher incidence of pancreatitis (n = 5, 13.5%). Crisis patients had heavier (6,717 mg) glands. Use of bisphosphonate therapy in seven crisis patients resulted in quicker lowering of serum calcium (mean: 4.5 vs 14.6 days in other crisis patients, P = 0.027) permitting early surgery. The incidence of postoperative hypocalcemia was not higher in these patients. Although the parathyroid adenoma was common pathology in both the groups, the incidence of parathyroid carcinoma was higher in crisis group (10.8%). Outcome with regards to postoperative eucalcemia was similar in both groups. Conclusions: Crisis patients are at risk of developing pancreatitis. Bisphosphonate therapy has the potential to quickly lower the serum calcium permitting early surgery without added risk of postoperative hypocalcemia. Successful and sustained eucalcemia with excellent long-term survival is possible with use of bisphosphonates and semi-emergent, focused parathyroidectmy.


Peach tree short life (PTSL) is associated with the presence of ring nematode, Mesocriconema xenoplax, and poor orchard management practices. Finding a noncommer- cial fi eld site to evaluate rootstocks for PTSL resistance is increasingly diffi cult. The time needed to create a PTSL test site was investigated. In 1994, a site not planted in peaches for >80 years was identifi ed in Byron, Ga. Analysis of preplant soil samples revealed that there were no M. xenoplax on the site. One-third of the land was planted to peach and infested with 1600 ring nematodes per tree in Spring 1994 (P2) and another one-third in Spring 1995 (P1). The remaining one-third of the land received no trees or ring nematode and served as the control (F2). In Fall 1995, trees were removed from P1 and P2 plots and all treatments were replanted to peach in 1996. In 1997, tree death resulting from PTSL occurred only in P2 (7%). By 2000, PTSL tree death reached 41% in P2, 16% in P1, and 4% in F2 plots. Nematode populations were higher (P < 0.05) in P1 (649 ring nematode/ 100 cm3 soil) than in F2 (221 ring nematode/100 cm 3 soil) plots, whereas populations in P2 (300 ring nematode/100 cm3 soil) plots did not differ from those in P1 or F2 plots. Establishing a PTSL screening site was possible 3 years after M. xenoplax introduction; PTSL development among treatments in the subsequent planting was dependent upon cumulative population exposure of trees to M. xenoplax.


In this paper, we report on early findings from a low-income energy efficiency programme, get bill smart (GBS). The project trials a community-partnership approach to supporting low-income households to pursue energy savings and comfort improvements in their home. In our discussion, we examine the role of community action in facilitating improvements to the indoor built environment. Here, we reflect on the challenges and opportunities that have arisen in seeking to build community-capacity in a disadvantaged community. We observe that: the project design was effective in facilitating local ownership; its objectives did align with local priorities; and there was some translation of energy saving messages. However, challenges were encountered with facilitating the emergence of leadership and an ongoing community network around affordable warmth and energy use. While a temporary network has emerged through the delivery of GBS, early insights from the project indicate that, on balance, there are more inhibitors rather than facilitators of this outcome within the neighbourhood. Tipping this balance may require further investment and support beyond the project parameters.


Abstract All asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat are subject to mandatory immigration detention. Since 2001, Australia has housed asylum seekers in offshore immigration detention facilities in Nauru and Papua New Guinea. The detention centers have been criticized both locally and internationally for the inhuman conditions in which asylum seekers are forced to live. In 2016, The Guardian Australia published more than 2000 leaked incident reports from the detention center on Nauru detailing incidents related to health, safety, and well-being of detainees. This study reports on analysis of 2,116 publicly available incident reports recorded from May 2013 to October 2015. A qualitative content analysis was conducted, resulting in the categorization of the reports into six codes based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). More than half of the incidents (n = 1,463, 69.1 percent) were categorized as in breach of human rights Most violations related to the right to life, liberty, and security (n = 748), and the right to an adequate standard of living (n = 673). While some of the reports described minor incidents, others were life-threatening or critical in terms of the asylum seekers' mental or physical health; numerous reports involved children and youth. The reports reflect the severe mental burden of immigration detention and the inappropriate physical conditions in the center. The results are consistent with other research on immigration detention that has identified poor conditions and negative consequences of detaining asylum seekers.


General and local characteristics of EEG activation were studied in frontal, central, temporal and occipital areas of the left and right cerebral hemispheres in 20 adult subjects during execution of various mental tasks. The analysis of the changes of five main EEG rhythms (delta, theta, alpha, beta-1 and beta-2) showed that EEG power decrease in alpha- and beta-frequency ranges is a reliable and sensitive index of brain activation at thinking. On this basis EEG activation mosaics are described at carrying out of each task and its systemic changes at transition from one type of task to another one, depending on their psychological structure--modality and complexity.


This paper introduces a new perspective on Rawls's Difference Principle. We link two distinctive approaches to analysing the social welfare implications of alternative policy actions; the utilitarian approach and the Rawlsian distributive justice approach, together in a cohesive way. While there is a large optimal tax literature, that literature generally treats the decision maker as a utilitarian. This paper adds a different dimension in that we compare and contrast what would happen if a Rawlsian government (RG), had as its objective function maximizing the utility of the poorest social group and compare that economic state to one where a utilitarian government (UG) existed that had as its principle objective maximizing the total utility of its entire society but subject to the constraint of a targeted level of inequality, using the maximum entropy method to capture the distribution of individual ability. Each government chooses tax parameters to achieve their respective goals under balanced budget constraints. Individuals in both regimes have different capabilities and maximize utility through suitable labor/leisure choices. The exercise shows that Gini coefficients are lower but hours worked increase under both RG and UG regimes even if people are allowed to work while they receive welfare payments. There are, however, differences in the total utility and inequality levels achieved under the different regimes.


A laser transit is a surveying instrument that projects a pulsing laser beam at a point of interest and calculates the three-dimensional coordinates of the point from the reflection. We tested the laser transit on a rock slope and compared the results with a photogrammetric survey. The case study showed that laser technology is a fast and accurate technique to quantify topography with a range of 350 m and an accuracy of 10 cm. The three-dimensional model of the topography can be printed in real time and can serve as basis for geological mapping and determination of bed thicknesses, dips, and other structural elements of the rock. We foresee applications in seismic modeling of outcrops and studies of sediment anatomy and structural geology.


Background Coimbra is certainly among the Portuguese university cities with more nightlife-oriented towards students. The CPTTP and IREFREA–Portugal, are investing, in partnership with other organisations of our city (Health, Education, Security Forces, Municipality, Others sectors) in primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention in nightlife settings. This initiative aims to contribute: to identify and eliminate the risk factors associated with (potentially) traumatic situations (intentional and unintentional); to identify and enhance protective factors; to strengthen community resilience. Description of the problem Recreation nightlife plays an important role in students' lives but also has an intrinsic association to a multitude of risk factors in areas such as sexuality, violence, alcohol and other substances and road driving. According to a survey conducted by IREFREA in Coimbra, in 2014 (sample: 253 men and 184 women, aged between 16 and 43 years old) many of the night goers report that "today" there is more violence and aggression in the night life (60%), more alcohol intoxication (70%) and higher consumption of illegal drugs (43%). 17.6% reported having had road accidents, 21.4% have been hurt by these and 16.9% have had problems with the police. It is also too high a% of individuals who reported having had sex under the influence of alcohol (64.8%). Results More participation, interaction and cooperation between network members; more investment on prevention and investigation; more production and exchange of content; more accession of new "actors" and more interactivity and connectivity. Conclusions Adopting the ecological model, approaching nightlife in a public health perspective, organising care in a multidisciplinary, multisectoral network has contributed to the promotion of more involvement of the "city" aiming the safety and well-being of their citizens.


Reading requires the assembly of cognitive processes across a wide spectrum from low-level visual perception to high-level discourse comprehension. One approach of unravelling the dynamics associated with these processes is to determine how eye movements are influenced by the characteristics of the text, in particular which features of the words within the perceptual span maximise the information intake due to foveal, spillover, parafoveal, and predictive processing. One way to test the generalisability of current proposals of such distributed processing is to examine them across different languages. For Turkish, an agglutinative language with a shallow orthography–phonology mapping, we replicate the well-known canonical main effects of frequency and predictability of the fixated word as well as effects of incoming saccade amplitude and fixation location within the word on single-fixation durations with data from 35 adults reading 120 nine-word sentences. Evidence for previously reported effects of the characteristics of neighbouring words and interactions was mixed. There was no evidence for the expected Turkish-specific morphological effect of the number of inflectional suffixes on single-fixation durations. To control for word-selection bias associated with single-fixation durations, we also tested effects on word skipping, single-fixation, and multiple-fixation cases with a base-line category logit model, assuming an increase of difficulty for an increase in the number of fixations. With this model, significant effects of word characteristics and number of inflectional suffixes of foveal word on probabilities of the number of fixations were observed, while the effects of the characteristics of neighbouring words and interactions were mixed.


AIM
The study aimed to evaluate the impact of glucose-based peritoneal dialysis solutions (GBPDS) on diabetic patients on maintenance peritoneal dialysis.

METHODS
In this cross-sectional study we compared the influence of long term use of GBPDS on sixteen parameters related to the peritoneal glucose load, hydration status, inflammation, blood pressure, lipid profile and left ventricular mass in 45 stable PD patients (20 diabetic and 25 non-diabetic) receiving GBPDS.

RESULTS
At 24 months HbA1c, peritoneal glucose load index (PGLI), fluid overload (FO), plasma BNP, hsCRP and IL-6 levels, WBC count, blood pressure, triglycerides, LDL-C and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) were higher in diabetic patients compared to non-diabetic subjects (P ≤ 0.04). Of 16 tested variables, 14 had deteriorated at 24 months in diabetic patients. PGLI values > 3 g/kg/day or FO > 1.0 L were associated with abnormal values of HbA1c, plasma BNP, CRP and plasma IL-6 levels. 60% of diabetic patients had PGLI > 3g/kg/day compared to 32% of non-diabetic patients (P < 0.001). Seventy per cent of diabetic patients had FO > 1.0 L compared to 28% of non-diabetic patients (P < 0.001). Only 12% of diabetic patients had nocturnal blood pressure dipping compared to 45% of non-diabetics (P = 0.03). 57.8% of the studied patients had increased LVMI. Diabetic patients had higher LVMI values compared to non-diabetics (P < 0.001). The presence of DM was found to be the most powerful predictor for the development of LVH (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION
Utilization of GBPDS in diabetic PD patients may be associated with substantial adverse consequences affecting glycemic control, hydration status, lipid profile, inflammation, blood pressure control and LVM.


Structural changes of the arterial vasculature are of major pathophysiologic and prognostic significance in human hypertension. A high-resolution ultrasonic echotracking device was used to measure internal diameter and intima-media thickness of the radial artery, a medium-sized muscular conduit artery, in 60 hypertensive patients and in 40 age-matched control subjects. Of the 60 hypertensives, 33 were never treated and 27 were well-controlled by antihypertensive therapy. Radial artery mass and thickness/radius ratio were used to describe the radial artery structure. Radial artery mass was validated in vitro by comparing the weight of arterial segments to the ultrasonographic determination of their mass, calculated as: rho L(pi Re2-pi Ri2), where rho is the arterial wall density, L the length of the arterial segment, and Re and Ri the ultrasonic values of internal and external radii, respectively. Diastolic internal diameter did not differ among the three groups, but wall thickness, radial artery mass, and thickness/radius ratio were significantly higher in the untreated hypertensive group than in the control group. In treated well-controlled hypertensive subjects, radial artery mass and thickness/radius ratio were not different from that of control subjects. Among the population of untreated patients, significant univariate relations existed between radial artery mass and blood pressure and radial artery mass and age. In multivariate analysis, radial artery mass was independently predicted by mean blood pressure, age, and sex. Circumferential wall stress, calculated from diastolic internal diameter, wall thickness, and diastolic blood pressure, was not different in the three groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Lana Kittie, younger sister to graphic-novel star Fashion Kitty (BCCB 12/05), wants to prepare birthday celebrators to throw a successful birthday party, and she offers comprehensive list of tips and suggestions. Her advice spans everything from sending invitations to choosing an outfit to blowing out the candles; she often illustrates with both good and bad examples (e.g. when greeting guests: "Yay! You're here! A present for me? Why, thank you!" versus "Oh good, you brought a present. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! Yay! Another present FOR ME!"). There are lots of humorous moments in Lana's birthday discourse, and there's an entertainingly snarky edge to the list of tips (a good hostess is reminded to choose party activities that everyone can do together, rather than making the guests listen to her sing original songs or look at a "special and important-to-me collection"). The result is an appealingly packaged set of behavioral guidelines, aimed at a crowd who can often use a little help in that area. Ultimately, though, the text never elevates beyond a list; there is no trajectory, and the ending falls flat. Touches of patterned fabric collage are incorporated into the ink-outlined illustrations, offering visual interest to generally solid planes of color, and there's a playful energy to the compositions. Visually, Lana hovers somewhere between an anthropomorphized cat and a little girl with a feline face. Despite the lack of textual momentum, there are plenty of birthday-centric listeners who will identify with Lana's disproportionate interest in the celebrating of one's birthday, and they may just find the advice they need in her words of wisdom. HM


Protein breakdown and recycling, which depend on the levels of proteolytic enzymes, are an essential part of the plant response to environmental stress. In order to study changes in the activity of proteases in Phaseolus vulgaris L. subjected to water deficit, three cultivars of European origin that exhibit different degrees of sensitivity to drought were chosen on the basis of changes in water potential, psiw, water and protein contents of leaves during progressive water deficit, and loss of membrane integrity after osmotic stress. Twenty-day-old plants were subjected to water deficit by withholding irrigation. Specific enzyme activities in leaf extracts were determined for plants under different degrees of drought stress using different substrates and protease inhibitors. Proteolytic activities were partially characterized by gel exclusion chromatography. Activities of two of the three identified serine proteinases changed under water deficit. The activity of the one with apparent molecular mass of approximately 65 kDa was observed to increase progressively with increasing withdrawal of water in the more sensitive cultivars, but to decrease in the more resistant cultivar. The same activity was elevated in senescent leaves. Under conditions of severe water deficit, the most sensitive cultivar exhibited a marked increase in the activity of two different aminopeptidases, while the more resistant cultivar showed a significant decrease in the activity of these aminopeptidases. These results point to complex and probably specific roles for different proteases in the plant response to drought.


The 22 anemone-like rays of the star-nosed mole, Condylura cristata , constitute a unique mammalian structure. These rays, 11 surrounding each nostril, have at least three distinct lengths and are covered on the front, back, and sides with sensory receptors or Eimer organs. The conduit for these incoming stimuli, the infraorbital branch of the fifth cranial (trigeminal) nerve, is extremely large and composed of at least three distinct bundles (receiving fibers from rays 1–3, 4–7, and 8–11). The proboscis moves on a unique nasomax-illary articulation by means of highly differentiated nasolabial musculature. Elongation of the proboscis during the evolution of Condylura appears to have weakened the masticatory mechanism. As a consequence, the procumbent central incisors, the spatial separation among the lateral incisors and premolars, slender mandibular rami, and the fragile coronoid and angular processes distinguish Condylura from all other talpids but recall specialized vermivores (among the tenrecs and civets) and termite-eaters (among the hyenas). Varied lengths of the rays, uniform distribution of the sensory papillae containing the Eimer receptors, and proximity of the nerve endings to the surface of the stratum corneum support the hypothesis of electrosensitivity in addition to tactile function for this adaptive complex.


In the preceding paper it was reported that the degree of the stereoregularity of polymethyl methacrylate could be determined from the NMR spectrum through the analysis of three peaks due to the α-methyl groups. It has been found that the infrared spectrum can also give an equivalent result if it is once calibrated by the NMR method. We have considered a statistical method to interpret any locus in the ternary diagram which corresponds to the change in the stereoregularity of polymers with the polymerization temperature and with the type of catalyst. By introducing two parameters, the average sequence length of I-, D- and S-blocks have been calculated. On the other hand, the acetone-extraction of the samples prepared in anionic polymerization has been carried out in order to determine the degree of stereoregularity of both the extract and the residue. From the plots in the ternary diagram, we have discussed some mechanisms of the anionic polymerization. We may conclude that two different mechanisms take p...


This study developed the new Transient Liquid Insert Metal Diffusion Bonding (TLIM-bonding) technique using alloying powder whose chemical compositions were similar to those of base metal. The base metals used were commercial Ni-base superalloys such as MM007, MarM247 and Inconel 713C alloys. They were bonded with both a Ni-15%Cr-4%B amorphous insert metal and IN100 alloying powder sheet with the thickness of about 250 μm.In the case of a MM007 alloy, the times required for completion of isothermal solidification and sequent homogenizing process were about 0.6 ks and 86.4 ks at 1423 K, respectively using this technique even with the bonding clearance of about 100 μm. The former time was about 1/80 and the latter time was about 1/30 compare to the times obtained by a conventional TLIM bonding. The short period during homogenizing process may be due to element diffusion from alloying powder to base metal by three-dimensional diffusion process.The tensile strength of MM007, MarM247 and Inconel 713C joints at 1255 K were almost equal to those of each base metal, respectively.From the experimental results, it should be useful to insert alloying powder to a wide bonding clearance joint during TLIM-bonding in fabrication


The role of toxicological information consisting of chemical substance toxicity, clinical signs and symptoms, treatment and diagnosis of poisonings is presented in the study. These data are collected in computer programmes TOKSY 5, TOKSY7 (MacroSoft Warazawa) which together with American CCIS data base (MICROMEDEX, Denver, Colorado) and IPCS INTOX Database are helpful instrument while giving the toxicological information or/and medical consulting. All cases are registered in IPCS (International Programme on Chemical Safety) INTOX SYSTEM data base that enables epidemiological analysis and also an evaluation of economical and social effects caused by poisonings.


A native biofilm (NBF) bioreactor for monitoring total toxicity in water was developed in this article. Specific objectives include the investigation of (i) the NBF was introduced in toxicity measurement, and (ii) the immobilized microorganisms on carbon fiber felts are adopted for mediator toxicity assay. Culture conditions of NBF with 35 ◦C and 24 h were adopted, and a measuring condition with 45 mM ferricyanide (at pH 7) was optimized. Under the above conditions, NBF bioreactor was successfully employed to assess toxicities of four toxicants. By adopting the NBF, the IC50 values obtained were much lower than that of the single bacterium as the test microorganism. Furthermore, the long-term storage stability was examined. The result showed that the activity of the microorganisms of NBF was found to be roughly the same within 42 days. We confirmed that this NBF combined with mediator toxicity assay may be served as an early warning for affecting public health and avoiding environmental pollution.


We study the dynamics of orientational phase ordering in fluid membranes. Through numerical simulation we find an unusually slow coarsening of topological texture, which is limited by subdiffusive propagation of membrane curvature. The growth of the orientational correlation length xi obeys a power law xi proportional, variant t(w) with w<1/4 in the late stage. We will also discuss defect profiles and correlation patterns in terms of long-range interaction mediated by curvature elasticity.


Internationalisation and international linkages between producers, marketing partners and customers in various geographical areas has become an everyday reality for contemporary firms. The core area of this paper includes the process of internationalization of the small and medium enterprises and the role of the trends at the food market, particularly those which may be a potential stimulator for the internationalisation process and the most efficient way to segment markets. The study represents a qualitative process- based research. The strategy of the study is descriptive and explorative. Interviews, questionnaires, panel discussions and analysis of documents form the basis for the research material. The main emphasis is on 7 small and medium enterprises in Slovakia, specialized in production of cereal products and sweets. Present position at the market, market trends, product quality, process of innovation and relationships of these firms to their business networks are taken into account. The research process explores the opportunities for further expansion in the segment of highly innovative products in the Europe and worldwide.


With the advent of DNA microarray analysis, it is now possible to examine the response of virtually the entire human genome to cellular drug exposure and to uncover a wide variety of genes correlating with the establishment of drug resistance. This relatively new field of "pharmacogenomics" is likely to vastly increase our understanding of the mechanisms of drug action and how cells respond and adapt to drug exposure. However, DNA microarray studies typically result in the identification of hundreds of genes that may or may not be of relevance in vivo-particularly when large, genetically diverse study populations are used. The challenge to the researcher is to design experimental systems and approaches which minimize variability in the data, increase the reproducibility amongst experiments, allow array data from multiple experiments to be assessed by a variety of statistical, supervised learning, and data clustering approaches, and provide a clear link between drug response and the expression of specific genes. This review provides a description and critical analysis of recent studies on the pharmacogenomics of drug response and discusses current guidelines and approaches for the performance and analysis of DNA microarray experiments in this area.


Recently, deep neural networks (DNNs) have been regarded as the state-of-the-art classification methods in a wide range of applications, especially in image classification. Despite the success, the huge number of parameters blocks its deployment to situations with light computing resources. Researchers resort to the redundancy in the weights of DNNs and attempt to find how fewer parameters can be chosen while preserving the accuracy at the same time. Although several promising results have been shown along this research line, most existing methods either fail to significantly compress a well-trained deep network or require a heavy fine-tuning process for the compressed network to regain the original performance. In this paper, we propose the \textit{Block Term} networks (BT-nets) in which the commonly used fully-connected layers (FC-layers) are replaced with block term layers (BT-layers). In BT-layers, the inputs and the outputs are reshaped into two low-dimensional high-order tensors, then block-term decomposition is applied as tensor operators to connect them. We conduct extensive experiments on benchmark datasets to demonstrate that BT-layers can achieve a very large compression ratio on the number of parameters while preserving the representation power of the original FC-layers as much as possible. Specifically, we can get a higher performance while requiring fewer parameters compared with the tensor train method.


This paper designs pH and conductivity control systems for a biomanufacturing platform that specializes in the production of biologically derived medicines on demand. Dynamic models and control strategies are presented for a buffer mixing unit that must produce high quality buffers for use within various production steps including a perfusion bioreactor and chromatography separation train. As salt addition does not affect the pH of the buffer, we separate the conductivity and pH control problems. The buffer conductivity is controlled using a PID controller tuned for robustness. The reaction-invariant method is used to overcome inherent nonlinearities in the titration curve such that good closed-loop performance can be obtained for any pH setpoint. Maximum a posteriori estimation is used to estimate parameters online in order to adapt the model in the presence of plant-model mismatch. Lastly, a dual mixer system is proposed to accurately estimate any bias in the inlet flowrates, which is a common fault in these types of systems. The effectiveness of this control strategy is demonstrated in a relevant case study.


Spirocha?ta icterohaemnorrhagica, discovered by InYada and Ido in 1914, and first cultivated by Ito and Matsuzaki, is one of few spirochootes known to be pathogenic. It varies in length between 4 and 25 p-average 8 to 9 ,u; the ends are sharp and often hooked; it is irregularly undulated as a rule, but other shapes occur. It can be grown with comparative ease in a variety of media, at temperature between 220 and 32° C. Its vitality is considerable, though capricious. These spirochootes are agglutinated by appropriate antiserum.


We examined the effects of monetary and non-monetary pre-giving incentives on donations. Small monetary incentives induced higher donation intention but lower donation amounts compared to equal-value non-monetary incentives and no incentives. Results are explored via reciprocation, and communal and exchange relationship due to pre-giving. Reframing Sustainability: Negotiating Environmental Responsibility in the Food Market Carl Yngfalk, Stockholm Centre for Organizational Research, Stockholm University, Sweden While little research has examined tensions related to sustainability in marketing organization, the present study investigates how resistance and disruptions in environmental responsibility are configured in the market and in consumer relationship management. Results from a neo-institutional analysis elucidate commercial rationalities that enact forms of corporate 'legitimate resistance' to incentives of sustainable consumption and production in contemporary food retail. Responses to Humor in Shame-Inducing Health Issue Advertisements with the Effects of Health Worry Levels Hye Jin Yoon, Southern Methodist University, USA Humor effects in shame-inducing health issue advertising is non-existent. Two experimental studies found responses to different levels of humor and shame in health issue prevention messages to be contingent on the individual's health worry levels. The findings provide implications for theoretical as well as practical contributions. 816 / Working Papers Two Faces of Impulsiveness: Self-Control Failure and Impulsivity in Discounting Models Haewon Yoon, Carroll School of Management, Boston College, USA The current study explores different discounting models of intertemporal choice using a new model framework technique that can highlight qualitative properties of discounting models. Our fundamental bias in future time perception may play an important role in why we make untenable plans to wait for the future option. The Effect of Color Harmony on Creative Cognition and Perceived Innovativeness of Brands Nara Youn, Hongik University, Seoul, Korea Chang Yeop Shin, Hongik University, Seoul, Korea Angela Lee, Northwestern University, USA Color studies in psychology have focused on the symbolic meanings of each color rather than their interrelations. Color could also impact creativity through the disfluency of moderately disharmonious color combinations. This research demonstrates that using moderate disharmony is more effective in prompting creative thinking than any one color in isolation. Polarisation effects in Primary versus Secondary Sharing Sik Chuen Yu, University of Sydney, Australia Donnel Briley, University of Sydney, Australia Pennie Frow, University of Sydney, Australia Users of mainstream social media platforms can either create and share original content (primary sharing) or pass along what has been shared by others (secondary sharing). This research proposes that the likelihood of sharing messages with balanced versus extreme opinions depends on whether the sharing mode is primary or secondary. Crispy Chips Or Spinach Dips, Which One Do You Crave More? Understanding Consumers' Deep Respect For Their Favorites Ozge Yucel-Aybat, Pennsylvania State University-Harrisburg, USA Theodora Avramidis, Pennsylvania State University-Harrisburg, USA The current research suggests that consumers' long-term orientation may impact their decisions to save the best for last. Results show that, when given the option, long-term oriented consumers may be more likely to be patient and savor their favorite item last, rather than starting with their favorite one. Construal Level Theory Explains the Occurrence of Choice Overload Effects Ulku Yuksel, The University of Sydney Business School, Australia Nguyen T Thai, The University of Sydney Business School, Australia This research demonstrates how desirability/feasibility mindset explains choice overload effects. Consumers who are exposed to large (small) choice-sets construe impending tasks concretely (abstractly), and weigh desirability attributes less (more) than feasibility attributes. Subsequently, the triggered feasibility mindset decreases the preference for large assortments. The Nobility of The "Yuck" Response: The Hidden Motivation Underlying Counterhedonic Food Consumption Zhe Zhang, C. T. Bauer College of Business, University of Houston, USA Vanessa Patrick, C. T. Bauer College of Business, University of Houston, USA We propose that consumption of "non-tasty, but beneficial" foods is driven by a counterhedonic (versus homeostatic or hedonic) eating pathway. We showcase the unique emotional transformative experience of moving from disgust to moral nobility that characterizes the counterhedonic consumption process and demonstrate the emergence of a virtuous self post-consumption. Advances in Consumer Research (Volume 43) / 817 Targeting the Right Age of Children with the Right Package Design Dan Zhang, City University of New York, USA This research explores age effects on children's preferences of package design in curvilinearity, figurativeness, and complexity. Analysis of data from 763 children suggests that children's preferences for curved package shapes increase with age. Meanwhile, the subject of figurativeness matters. Finally, preferences for complex package shapes increase with age. Apology or Denial? How Stability Attribution Affects Consumer Distrust Towards the Firm Haichuan Zhao, USTC-CityU Joint Advanced Research Center, University of Science and Technology of China, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong Lan Jiang, Department of Marketing, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong Chenting Su, Department of Marketing, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong Zhongsheng Hua, School of Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China This research explores how social account can mitigate distrust caused by violation.Study1 shows that apology be better when violation is competence based, and denial be better when violation is integrity based,and perceived stability as the underlying mechanism.Study 2 shows remedial action plan can affect the choice of social accounts. How Embarrassing For You (And me): The Nature of Vicarious Embarrassment Alexander Ziegler, University of Kentucky, USA John Peloza, University of Kentucky, USA Alexis Allen, University of Kentucky, USA Lucas Hopkins, Florida State University, USA Although embarrassment is regarded as a social phenomenon, vicarious embarrassment remains unstudied in consumer research. Vicarious embarrassment is the emotion observers feel when witnessing an embarrassing event. Thus observers cause, but also are affected by, embarrassment. We introduce blame as a causal mechanism behind vicarious embarrassment. 818 / Working Papers


Forensic accounting, as a process of legal inspection of corporate accounting practices, has today become an important strategy to prevent fraud and financial misconduct, which has created information transparency for investors to make financial decisions. Oil companies, as one of the capital market companies, are able to strengthen the forensic accounting paradigm to provide documentation and transparency of decision-making to prevent market distrust caused by investor risks, and to contribute to the sustainable development of its presence in advancing competitive strategies. The purpose of this study is to develop an effective forensic accounting paradigm based on the risks of investors in oil companies. In this study in order to identify the components (dimensions of forensic accounting) and research propositions (investor risk themes) were used from combined analysis with the participation of 15 accounting experts at the university level. In the quantitative part, the components and propositions identified in the form of matrix questionnaires were evaluated by interpretive ranking process (IRP) by 20 financial managers of oil companies in the capital market. The results showed that the statements of inflation risk and credit risk as the most influential themes threaten investors in oil companies, which strengthens the focus on legal mechanisms as a component of the forensic accounting paradigm. This result shows that in the presence of inflationary and credit risks of oil companies 'investors, the importantof legal mechanisms in judicial accounting can lead to increased information transparency to protect the interests of oil companies' investors.


Background Treatment decisions in emergencies when the patient is (acutely) incapable pose a challenge for nursing and emergency staff, especially if the attending physician and/or the designated proxy are not available. In Germany, advance directives usually provide insufficient guidance for these situations. Methods In a controlled regional intervention study to implement advance care planning (ACP) in one town's nursing homes and the related caregivers' network, we introduced a new form, the POLST-E. It differs from many POLST forms common in the US in two major respects: (1) it is only available as an integral part of a comprehensive advance directive resulting from a facilitated ACP process; (2) its scope is restricted to specific options for emergency treatment. Results We presented a descriptive analysis of all POLST-Es completed in the intervention region during the study period, and compare it with any ACP for emergencies found in the control region (data analysis will be completed by May). Discussion The POLST-E bridges the gap between individual planning and honouring the resulting plans in emergency situations by professionals. It therefore is a crucial tool for effective ACP. Further, it changes the facilitation process fundamentally in that patients or proxies are now offered choices with regard to medical emergencies arising from current (not only future hypothetical) health statuses – a choice missing in the traditional development of advance directives in Germany.


We present a new sound and complete axiomatization of regular expression containment. It consists of the conventional axiomatization of concatenation, alternation, empty set and (the singleton set containing) the empty string as an idempotent semiring, the fixed- point rule E* = 1 + E × E* for Kleene-star, and a general coinduction rule as the only additional rule.
 Our axiomatization gives rise to a natural computational interpretation of regular expressions as simple types that represent parse trees, and of containment proofs as coercions. This gives the axiom- atization a Curry-Howard-style constructive interpretation: Containment proofs do not only certify a language-theoretic contain- ment, but, under our computational interpretation, constructively transform a membership proof of a string in one regular expression into a membership proof of the same string in another regular expression.
 We show how to encode regular expression equivalence proofs in Salomaa's, Kozen's and Grabmayer's axiomatizations into our containment system, which equips their axiomatizations with a computational interpretation and implies completeness of our axiomatization. To ensure its soundness, we require that the computational interpretation of the coinduction rule be a hereditarily total function. Hereditary totality can be considered the mother of syn- tactic side conditions: it "explains" their soundness, yet cannot be used as a conventional side condition in its own right since it turns out to be undecidable.
 We discuss application of regular expressions as types to bit coding of strings and hint at other applications to the wide-spread use of regular expressions for substring matching, where classical automata-theoretic techniques are a priori inapplicable.
 Neither regular expressions as types nor subtyping interpreted coercively are novel per se. Somewhat surprisingly, this seems to be the first investigation of a general proof-theoretic framework for the latter in the context of the former, however.


Newspaper and magazine gossip is a potent and sulphurous brew - much derided and much devoured - that long ago became part of the daily diet of millions. The raw ingredients are scandal, rumour, glamour and scurrility, and the best is shot through with (preferably illicit) sex, disclosure and danger. How and why has this happened, and where will this obsession lead us? "Scandal!" takes us from Regency London, where muck-raking scandal sheets were hawked in the streets, to the modern free-for-all where tabloid and internet gossip rule. From the madness of King George to the madness of Bill Clinton's affair with Monica, this book goes behind the scenes to look at the mechanisms that disseminate gossip and the power and influence that it continues to exert.


The thermal performance of a carbon fibre composite-copper monoblock, a sub-component of a fusion reactor divertor, was investigated by finite element analysis. High-accuracy simulations were created using an emerging technique, image-based finite element modelling, which converts X-ray tomography data into micro-structurally faithful models, capturing details such as manufacturing defects. For validation, a case study was performed where the thermal analysis by laser flash of a carbon fibre composite-copper disc was simulated such that computational and experimental results could be compared directly. Results showed that a high resolution image-based simulation (102 million elements of 32 m width) provided increased accuracy over a low resolution image-based simulation (0.6 million elements of 194 m width) and idealised computer aided design simulations. Using this technique to analyse a monoblock mock-up, it was possible to detect and quantify the effects of debonding regions at the carbon fibre composite-copper interface likely to impact both component performance and expected lifetime. These features would not have been accounted for in idealised computer aided design simulations. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).


Cloud computing is a powerful computing paradigm that provides a variety of computing services to its users. An example is storage, which allows individuals and enterprises to outsource their files to remote storage. However, saving private information onto third-party storage increases the security issues of data and privacy protection concerns. For this reason, cloud service providers (CSPs) are required to save an encrypted version of user data. In this paper, a novel encryption technique based on the use of Fully Homomorphic Encryption is presented. The technique uses a superincreasing sequence to derive the key and works on encrypted data with no need for decryption; this yields the same results as performing it on plaintext data. In the proposed technique, the characters are converted to their corresponding ASCII code values, which differs from the binary values produced by other existing techniques.


The focus of this paper is to explore the issue of occupational health and safety in the Nigerian public sector in Edo state. Available research and literature has shown that millions of workers all over the world have suffered from one form of occupational hazard or the other. In Nigeria, there is need for more empirical evidence on health and safety in the public sector. In view of the importance attached to occupational hazards, this paper seeks to examine major causes of occupational hazards in the public sector and Managements' commitment in handling them in the dynamic work environment. Collected data were subjected to analysis with the use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 16.0). The study showed that about 26.2% of the respondents have had one form of occupational hazards or the other and only about 14.3% of those that have had occupational hazards were compensated. This implies that the management of these organizations are yet to consider health and safety as a work place issue. Some of those who have had occupational hazards did not report to the management for fear of negative effect that may result from it. Also, the study showed that very little has been done about occupational health and safety in the public sector. Thus, there is a great need for the government as an employer of labour to devote more attention to the issue of health and safety in the work place. More comprehensive studies are required to develop our ideas and construct models to aid the management of health and safety in its total ramification in Nigeria.


Baraitser-Winter syndrome is a very rare genetic disorder caused by cytoplasmic actin-encoding genes defects. Although most patients have similar phenotype, concomitant cardiac anomalies widely vary. In addition to well-described congenital heart diseases, aortic aneurysms occur due to underlying actin gene mutation in these patients in the further years. Herein, we present a 26-year-old male case who underwent Bentall procedure with the diagnosis of new-onset aortic valve regurgitation and an ascending aorta aneurysm.


The effect of the ultra-filtered spray-dried porcine plasma, associated to a commercial acid in the drinking water was tested for recovering pigs with clinical signs of the porcine postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS). Forty piglets with clinical signs of the PMWS were used following a selection at 20 days after their housing in one finishing facility. They were divided in four treatment groups (T) of 10 pigs each: T1 - chlorine treated water ad libitum (control); T2 - solution prepared with 2.5% of plasma diluted in water; T3 - acid (Selko® ) diluted in water at the concentration of 12 ml/10l; T4 - solution prepared with 2.5% of plasma diluted and the acid (Selko® ) diluted in water at the concentration of 12 ml/10l. The pigs received no medication and were euthanized at 28 or 40 days after the beginning of the experiment for serological and pathological tests. Differences at the weight gain and in the clinical-pathological situation were not observed among the treatments. However, pigs from T4 were in better clinical-pathological situation. The pigs of all four treatments showed a good recovery, although they were not medicated. Even though, it was observed a high frequency of lesions compatible to PMWS in the lungs, kidneys and lymph nodes. It was concluded that the plasma spray-dried associated to the acid did not improve the performance and the clinical-pathological situation of pigs with clinical signs of PMWS.


Chronic diseases are characterized by continuous pain and suffering, affecting the personal well-being, emotional, family and social. Patients experience moments of disruption, in face of alterations or deformations in their body image, and the need to change their habits and social roles. Some patients accept their situation, having good practices of self-care, adapting to their limitations and seeing the future with hope, while others represent the disease with sadness, negativity, fear and worry. The suffering but particularly death, emerges as a possibility that they prefer to ignore. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of how patients perceive their chronic disease, as well as life and death. Data were collected through a focus-group conducted with the consent of ten participants - adult and aging patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Among the various questions discussed, we highlight these: 'How do you envisage your illness?', 'How do you feel towards life?', 'How does illness affect your life?', ' How do you envisage death?' All participants recognize the disease as incurable, associating it with suffering, loneliness and grief. Women complain especially of the limitations imposed by the disease, which hinder the achievement of household tasks, while men emphasize the constraints they experience at a professional level. Patients reveal resignation or intention to learn to live with a persistent pain, but they all tend to ignore death. They believe in therapy, although they see it as excessive and with a temporary effect. The most important thing they consider is to be alive, hoping to get better. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n9p326


Male meiotic chromosomes and larval salivary gland polytene chromosomes were studied in Feulgen squash preparations of Simulium (Edwardsellum) damnosum Theobald. The position of the primary constrictions of the three meiotic bivalents approximate the position of the centromeres in the three giant salivary gland polytene chromosomes. A description of the standard chromosomes of the subgenus and the micromophological landmarks associated with each chromosome is given and illustrated with microphotographs. The value of these landmarks, the uniqueness of the banding pattern and the use of both in the diagnosis of species complexes are discussed.


This social activity is to give low-income children a chance to let the, understand the evolution of Chinese characters, hope through this activity, can attract the group of children to have more interested in other language, especially Chinese language. To understand the Chinese culture, no longer discriminate against the Indonesian Chinese culture. Evidence of discrimination against Chinese Indonesians can be found throughout the history of Indonesia, although government policies implemented since 1998 have attempted to redress this. Due to this discrimination, Chinese Indonesians have suffered an identity crisis, unable to be accepted by both native Chinese and native Indonesians. With this program, there is a hope to bridge the differences that exist with the introduction of the Chinese character on poor children in Surabaya, to let them more understand about Chinese language and the culture behind. And create a better relationship for the next generation in Indonesia. After the progress, we asking the children about this program, and they said they love it and wish to know more about China and their culture.


Spray cross-section was measured by the Optical Line Patternator (OLP) and Optical Tomography at high ambient pressure. The laser line beam passed through the spray region, then Mie scattered signal and transmitted light were captured. The measured signal was processed to obtain a distribution of attenuation coefficient in spray cross-section. Beer-Lambert"s law and mathematical reconstruction methods were used to reconstruct the distribution of attenuation coefficient. Spray became dense at high pressure and attenuation of scattered signal occurred seriously. OLP method, which uses Mie scattered signal, showed limit in compensating attenuation problem in dense spray region. Optical tomography reconstructed spray cross-section well, from transmission rate of light penetrating spray region.


This paper examines the spillover effects of U.S. unconventional monetary policy (UMP) on emerging market capital flows and asset prices. Affine term structure model estimates show that U.S. monetary policy shocks, identified with high-frequency Treasury futures data, represent revisions to expected short-term yields and term premia, especially during the UMP period. The policy shocks exhibit sizable effects on U.S. holdings of emerging market assets. These effects disproportionately manifest through valuation changes versus physical flows, are more pronounced for equity relative to bond markets, and are asymmetric between the quantitative easing and tapering periods, with flows more important during the unwinding.


Initialization plays a crucial role in training neural models. Binary Neural Networks (BNNs) is the most extreme quantization which often suffers from drop of accuracy. Most of neural network initialization is studied in full-prevision network setting, in which the variance of the random initialization decreases with the number of parameters per layer. We show that contrary to common belief, such popular initialization schemes are meaningless to BNNs. We analyze binary networks analytically, and propose to initialize binary weights with the same variance across different layers. We perform experiments to show the accuracy gain using this straight-forward heuristic.


A novel material updating scheme, which does not require intermediate states of a material used, is presented for source distribution optimization problems. A mutation factor to determine a degree of topological change in the next design stage on the basis of a current layout accelerates the convergence of an objective function. Easy implementation and fast convergence of the scheme are verified using two MRI design problems where current and permanent magnet distributions have been optimized, respectively.


The effect of delay spread (DS), the specular multipath components (SMCs), and the impact of dense multipath components (DMCs) on multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) system performance in a tunnel environment are studied by considering a Richter's maximum-likelihood (RiMAX)-based estimator. The path loss (PL), angular spread, interuser spatial correlation, and capacity of a massive MIMO framework are analyzed at the 3.5-GHz frequency band through a measurement campaign inside a subway tunnel to implement the latest 5G standards. The radio channel consists of a uniform rectangular array of 32 transmitting elements and a uniform cylindrical array of 64 receiving elements with horizontal and vertical polarizations. The power ratio of the DMCs is found to be distance dependent, as the DMCs and SMCs behave differently in tunnels. Moreover, the study shows that the channel capacity, angular spread, and DS are reduced as the distance between the transmitting and receiving antenna arrays increases, whereas the PL exponent increases with the distance. This research highlights the importance of considering spatial characteristics in 5G massive MIMO system models and provides guidelines to enhance the networks' accuracy in underground mobile communications.


Injection molding is a very important industrial process for the manufacturing of plastics objects. During an injection molding process of composites, the fiber-matrix separation and fiber orientation are caused by the flow of molten polymer/fiber mixture. As a result, the product tends to be nonhomogeneous and anisotropic. Hence, it is very important to clarify the relations between separation orientation and injection molding conditions. So far, there is no research on the measurement of fiber orientation using image processing. In this study, the effects of fiber content ratio and molding condition on the fiber orientation-angle distributions are studied experimentally. Using the image processing method, the fiber orientation distribution of weld-line in injection-molded products is assessed. And the effects of fiber content and injection mold-gate conditions on the fiber orientation are also discussed.


Introduction: In normal conditions, circulating red blood cells (RBCs) are not supposed to adhere. Some erythroid adhesion molecules expressed on young reticulocytes are therefore lost upon maturation. Conversely, abnormal RBC adhesiveness in sickle cell anemia (SCA) through activation, sustained or increased expression of adhesion molecules are considered central in vaso occlusive crisis (VOC), the hallmark of SCA. SCA is seldom symptomatic in the first six months of life. One main explanation lies in the sustained level of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) and F cells during this period preventing HbS polymerization. However, infra clinical vaso occlusion, particularly in the spleen, has been demonstrated to be present and the absolute reticulocyte count is paradoxically elevated in the first semester of life, evidencing the very early onset of hemolysis. Our objectives were to analyze the profile of erythroid adhesion molecules in SCA and non-SCA infants in combination with HbF level, in order to evidence significant differences specifically attributable to SCA, informative on very early pathophysiology and disease severity. Patients and methods: Infants were enrolled in a longitudinal multi center prospective study on prognostic factors in SCA between September 2010 and March 2013. Blood sampling was performed at enrolment (3-6 months) at steady state, in asymptomatic infants. In parallel, blood samples from infants with no hemoglobinopathy were collected. Flow cytometer analysis (BD FACSCanto II) was performed using murine monoclonal antibodies against CD36, CD44, CD47, CD49d, CD58, CD99, CD147, CD239 and CD242. Statistical analysis was performed with Graphpad software, Prism 6. Differences in the percentage of positive cells and the level of expression of molecules between groups were calculated with Mann Whitney test. Results were considered statistically significant at an a-risk level of 5%. Results: Fifty-four SCA infants were included and compared to 17 non-SCA infants. Median age in the two groups was not statistically different (144 days, range 81-196 versus 128, range 68-621, p=0,84). Mean HbF level was, as previously described, statistically increased in SCA compared to non-SCA infants (41.2% +/-11.2 versus 10,4 % +/- 1,8; p Reticulocytes from SCA infants display a distinct surface molecule expression profile, with a statistically increased percentage of reticulocytes expressing the following adhesion molecules: CD239 (Lu/BCAM), CD242 (ICAM-4), CD47, CD99, CD58, CD147 and CD44 (Figure 1). Furthermore the mean intensity of fluorescence is statistically increased concerning CD239, CD58 and CD242 (data not shown). Surprisingly, known adhesion markers demonstrated to play an important role in SCA pathogeny i.e. CD36 and CD49d (α4β1/Very Late Antigen-4) are not significantly increased in SCA infants (Figure 1) No significant difference of expression profile was found on mature or total RBCs between SCA and non-SCA infants (data not shown). Discussion: Recent publications have pointed to the significance of reticulocytosis associated with an increased risk of death or stroke during childhood. Our results further demonstrate that this early rise of reticulocyte count in SCA infants, despite elevated HbF level, include reticulocytes with a specific adhesion molecule expression profile. This numerically small subpopulation of red cells may play in fact a major role in this complex disease. An interesting hypothesis may be that the spleen, as long as its function is preserved, prevents VOC by trapping this subpopulation in very young infants. As spleen function decreases, proadhesive reticulocytes remain in the circulation, which may, in combination with the decline of HbF, subsequently favor extra splenic VOC. Ongoing analysis will confirm if this idiosyncratic erythroid adhesion molecule profile in infants indeed correlates with HbF level and, importantly, correlates with functional activation, in order to serve as a readily available biomarker of disease severity. Disclosures De Montalembert:Novartis: Speakers Bureau. Le Van Kim:SHIRE: Research Funding.


Many hundreds of millions of people throughout the world are infected by nematodes found in the intestine or tissues with a high prevalence in developing countries. Despite their frequency and morbidity, these infections, which may affect migrants and travelers, remain difficult to diagnosis even in developed countries. This is primarily due to the variety of clinical signs often associated with a lack of highly sensitive and specific diagnostic tools. Parasitological diagnosis is often difficult to achieve and can neither be applied during the pre-patent period nor for parasitic impasses. Serological diagnosis is frequently hampered by a lack of specificity due to cross-reaction with others helminthes. Molecular biology methods still require optimization. The diagnostic approach applied by a clinician of a suspected nematode infection is based on a vast set of data including patient history and way of life, clinical examination, non-specific biological tests and, when available, specific diagnostic tests.


A novel anti-TNF-α/IL-6R triple-specific fusion protein, by linking 3 single domain chains, was designed and constructed in our lab. The high purity fusion proteins were obtained by our developed prokaryotic expression system process with high binding affinity with TNF-α (94.75 pM), Human Serum Albumin (1.83 nM) and IL-6R (2.29 nM). In this study, the anti-TNF-α/IL-6R triple-specific fusion protein protected the mouse fibroblast fibrosarcoma cell line (L929) from the apoptosis effects induced by TNF-α, establishing that the expressed fusion proteins can selectively combine with TNF-α in vitro. In vivo, the survival rate of cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) was notably increased in the group with anti-TNF-α/IL-6R triple-specific fusion protein treatment, and meaningfully higher compared with the single-targeted IL-6R and TNF-α fusion protein at the same dose. After the treatment with anti-TNF-α/IL-6R triple-specific fusion protein, the level of serum TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 were significantly decreased, and sepsis-induced pathological injuries in the kidney were remarkably attenuated. The anti-TNF-α/IL-6R triple-specific fusion protein can be the potential candidate for the development of new drug design against sepsis.


During the entire time that cosmonauts stay on board the international space station, different extreme space flight factors affect their bodies. In order to find out what physiological changes occur under the influence of spaceflight, different parameters of the human body before and after flights are monitored. Analysis of the urine proteome is one of the most perspective non-invasive methods of condition monitoring. The aim of the study was to perform a comparative semi-quantitative label-free urine proteome analysis of samples collected from 21 cosmonauts before and after long-duration spaceflight at the international space station. For proteomic analysis, urine samples were collected from cosmonauts at three time periods: six months prior to the flight as a background, and on days 1 and 7 of the recovery period after landing. All probes were analyzed by LC-MS/MS, and 256 proteins were identified with more than one unique peptide. The core proteome consists of 50 proteins that are detected in more than 70% of the samples. Label-free semi-quantitative analysis enables us to find 20 proteins which were significantly changed on +1 day and +7 day with respect to background. Most of these proteins participate in the regulation of biological processes, in the regulation of the immune system and in intracellular processes also; some of these proteins are related with stress and response to stimulus. In conclusion, the proteomic analysis of cosmonauts' urine samples provides new data on the human body's adaptation to ground conditions after long-duration spaceflight.


If the visual world is artificially shifted by only 10°, people initially experience difficulty in directing their actions toward visual goals, but then rapidly compensate the visual distortion. The consequence of such adaptation can be measured as visual and proprioceptive aftereffects, as well as by performance on pointing tasks without visual feedback. Recent work has shown that more cognitive deficits can be improved following prism adaptation in patients with unilateral neglect. Here we show that a short visuo-manual adaptation to prisms improves performance on a mental number-bisection task recently shown to be impaired in unilateral neglect. The association previously found between space and number representation (the mental number line) may thus be grounded in common action principles. Our results suggest that visuo-motor plasticity functionally links parietal areas involved in space and number representation.


Interjections have often been viewed as unsystematic and unimportant to the description of language. Ordbog over Dansk Talesprog challenges this idea of interjections as irregular and insignificant by creating a dictionary of Danish interjections, in this article exemplified by the Danish interjection nja. By examining interjections in Danish spoken language, it is found that interjections can in fact be systematically described and are very relevant to language description. Also a sound based approach to language produces new lemmas which are not orthographically distinct and thus not visible in the written language. This way Ordbog over Dansk Talesprog can supplement traditional orthography based dictionaries and contribute to a more precise and thorough description of the Danish language.


The author examines psychic trauma resulting from human rights violations in Chile. Starting from trauma theories developed by authors such as Ferenczi, Winnicott and Stolorow, she posits the relevance of the subject's emotionally signifi cant environment in the production of the traumatic experience. She describes the characteristics of the therapeutic process on the basis of a clinical case. She emphasizes the need to recognize the damage that may be produced within the reliable link between patient and analyst, pointing out the risk of retraumatization if analysts distance themselves and apply 'technique' rigorously, leaving out their own subjective assessments. Therapists must maintain their focus on the conjunction of the patient's intersubjective context and inner psychic world both when exploring the origin of the trauma and when insight is produced. The author posits repetition in the transference as an attempt at reparation, at fi nding the expected response from the analyst that will help patients assemble the fragments of their history and achieve, as Winnicott would put it, a feeling of continuity in the experience of being.


Vibrational properties of the superoxide radical anion (O2(-●) in liquid water have been experimentally investigated for the first time. The stretching frequency, its shift from the gas-phase to aqueous solution, anharmonicity constant, and the Raman bandwidths provide an insight into the radical-water interactions and the hydration cage. In view of the spectroscopic information obtained in this work, the structural models based on molecular dynamics simulation in solution and gas-phase infrared studies of the water molecules bound to O2(-●) are critically examined.


Shear stresses on vegetated beds play an important role in driving a wide range of processes at the sediment‐water interface, including sediment transport. Existing methods for the estimation of bed shear stress are not applicable to vegetated beds due to the significant alteration of the near‐bed velocity profile and turbulence intensities by the vegetation. In addition, bed shear stress distributions are highly spatially variable in the presence of vegetation. In this study, computational fluid dynamics simulations were used to investigate the spatial variability of bed shear stresses in the presence of emergent vegetation (modeled as arrays of circular cylinders) and the variation of bed stress with characteristics of both the bulk flow and the array. A recently proposed model that assumes a linear variation of stress in the viscous layer immediately above the bed is shown to be a reliable tool for estimating the spatially averaged bed shear stress over a wide range of flow conditions and vegetation densities. However, application of this model is found to be restrictive due to the lack of a reliable predictive tool for the thickness of the viscous layer. Based on a balance between turbulent kinetic energy production in the vegetation stem wakes and the viscous dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy at the bed, an enhanced formulation is proposed to predict the thickness of the viscous layer, which significantly improves the accuracy of model predictions. This improved model enhances the predictive capability for important benthic processes (such as sediment transport) in vegetated aquatic systems.


We present a 57-year-old man with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome who had undergone total gastrectomy 12 years previously. At that time, a cystic mass in the left lobe of the liver was palpated but was not removed. The patient currently had high serum gastrin levels. Abdominal ultrasound, CT and MR images showed a well defined liver mass with solid and cystic components. The lesion was resected and a primary hepatic carcinoid tumour was diagnosed. Post-operatively, serum gastrin levels were normal. A primary liver carcinoid may appear as multicystic liver mass with solid components. Careful exclusion of a primary tumour elsewhere is required to establish the diagnosis of this rare entity.


Nowadays the manufacture of value-added products is the main interest of every branch of industry. An implementation plan is one of the necessary requirements for obtaining a value- added product. In this paper the implementation plan of an image rejection algorithm in digital domain is presented. The RF signal demodulation in low-IF receivers takes place in two steps. First the RF signal is translated to an intermediary frequency. This down conversion can introduce interferences between the desired signal and the signal in the adjacent band. The elimination of the interfered signal is called image rejection. The implementation uses a Simulink model, as a prove of the theory. A hardware implementation scheme, built on the Simulink model, is given also. Finally, conclusions are drawn and further developments will be discussed.


With the increasingly widespread use of traffic flow simulation models, several questions concerning the reliability, efficiency and accuracy of such models need to be addressed convincingly. In general, the most time-efficient traffic flow models are based on the macroscopic approach to describe traffic dynamics. Macroscopic models reproduce the evolution of aggregated traffic characteristics over time and space with respect to observable variables, such as flow and speed, requiring much less computational time, compared to microscopic ones. This work assesses a second-order macroscopic gas-kinetic traffic flow (GKT) model and its numerical implementation using real traffic data from a motorway network in the U.K., where recurrent congestion originated from high on-ramp flows during the morning peak hours is observed. A parallel, metamodel-assisted Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm is employed for the calibration of the model parameters, and numerical simulations demonstrate that the DE algorithm can be a very promising method for the calibration of such traffic flow models.


This paper presents a strategy for controlling generators in a small-footprint power system without the need for a centralized decision maker. In particular, we discuss an iterative algorithm which is utilized to coordinate a set of generators such that they collectively operate according to some predetermined criterion while accounting for individual capacity constraints. We implement the algorithm using a hardware testbed comprised of low-complexity devices capable of performing simple computations and communicating wirelessly with other nearby devices. The hardware testbed is then used to control the generation output of the synchronous generators in a six-bus, small-footprint power system. Experimental results are presented for several load changes as well as for a case in which a spinning reserve is added to the system.


A novel approach to isolation and functional characterization of the Hansenula polymorpha genes basing on the use of two strains of different origin is described. One of these strains is better suited for the isolation of genomic DNA fragments, while the other is preferable for their functional analysis. Thirty three genomic sequences governing expression of a reporter protein have been isolated. Analysis of the sequence encoding a homolog of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cofilin revealed two introns. Another isolated DNA fragment encoded a homolog of the S. cerevisiae V ps10p. Disruption of the corresponding gene resulted in secretion of a vacuolar protein, carboxypeptidase Y, into the culture medium.


In link-state routing, routes are determined based on estimates of the current delays on the links. Ideally, a data packet should be routed based on the delays it will encounter at each link of the path at the time the packet gets to the link. To address this issue, we have developed a new approach that improves link-state routing by estimating and using the future link delays encountered by data packets. In link-state routing, link-delay estimates are periodically flooded throughout the network. This flooding of link-delay estimates is done without considering the relevance of these estimates to routing quality. Our approach also improves link-state routing by broadcasting these estimates only to the extent that they are relevant. Simulation studies suggest that our approach can lead to significant reductions in routing traffic with noticeable improvements of routing quality in high-load conditions. We have also studied the issue of improving the current link-delay estimation approach. To address this issue, we have developed a new link-delay estimation approach and provided guidance on this direction.


There is a global crisis of antibiotic resistance, which is among the world's most serious health problems. Antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) have been implicated in the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria that cause common infections over the past 70 years due to their use in animal agriculture. The use of phage therapy is a promising approach for combating bacterial infections and encouraging healthy poultry growth.In addition to being an excellent vehicle for foodborne pathogens, poultry and poultry meat usually contain millions of bacteria, particularly Campylobacter and Salmonella. There are multiple current strategies for phage therapy, including phage cocktails, enzymes derived from phages, phages combined with antibiotics, phage engineering, the combination of phages and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR-Cas). Poultry phages are used for phage therapy, phage biocontrol, and phage biosanitization. As foodborne pathogens increase, biocontrol has the potential to become the most effective way to reduce them in animals as well as in processed foods. Phage biocontrol may decrease the use of antibiotics in poultry production, thus paving the way for the use of an essential part of our health care system that has been forgotten.

https://www.ijcmas.com/11-4-2022/M. Vineetha Reddy and Vandana Gupta.pdf


Abstract Purpose This article presents our experience regarding survival benefits in inoperable intermediate stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and advanced stage HCC treated with 131I-lipiodol. Materials and Methods This is a retrospective study of intermediate stage HCC (Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer [BCLC] stage B) not responding to prior treatment and/or advanced stage HCC (BCLC stage C) treated with 131I-lipiodol. 131I-lipiodol was injected into the hepatic artery through transfemoral route. Postprocedure, the patient was isolated for 5 to 7 days. All patients underwent tumor response evaluation after 4 weeks. Survival of patients was calculated up to either death or conclusion of the study. Results A total of 55 patients (52 males [94.5%], 3 females [5.4%]) were given intra-arterial 131I-lipiodol therapy. The median overall survival after transarterial radioembolization (TARE) was 172 ± 47 days (95% confidence limit, 79–264 days). The overall survival at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months was 69, 47, 32, and 29%, respectively. A multivariate Cox regression analysis showed the presence of treatment prior to TARE to most significantly influence survival (B = 2.161, p ≤ 0.001). This was followed by size of the lesion which was second in line (B = 0.536, p = 0.034). Among 45 patients, 14 patients (31.1%) showed a partial response, 11 patients (24.4%) showed stable disease, and 20 patients (44.4%) showed progressive diseases. Conclusion TARE with 131I-lipiodol can be a safe and effective palliative treatment in advanced stage HCC and in patients with poor response to prior treatments like transarterial chemoembolization.


We used in situ hybridization to study Ig mRNA levels in murine peritoneal and splenic B cells. Ig mRNA production fell into three distinct groups: low, intermediate, and high. Splenic B cells primarily exhibited low levels characteristic of resting B cells or high Ig mRNA levels characteristic of plasma cells. In contrast, a significant fraction of peritoneal B cells exhibited intermediate Ig mRNA levels. Intermediate Ig mRNA was T cell dependent in that congenic nu/nu mice had far fewer peritoneal cells expressing the intermediate Ig message than their wild type counterparts. CD5+ CD11b+ IgMbright+ peritoneal B cells were found to be mainly responsible for the production of intermediate Ig mRNA levels. The peritoneal CD5- CD11b+ IgMbright+ "sister" B cell subpopulation contained a lower percentage of intermediate Ig mRNA-producing B cells. CD5-CD11b-IgMdull+ "conventional" B cells produced negligible levels of Ig mRNA, comparable to those of unfractionated splenic B cells. Northern analysis showed that the majority of Ig mRNA expressed in the peritoneum is of the membrane rather than the secreted form. Consistent with that result, in short-term culture, peritoneal cells showed markedly less Ig secretion than did spleen cells. These studies describe novel Ig mRNA expression by peritoneal B cells and emphasize that within the peritoneal cavity, B cells do not tend to become antibody-secreting cells.


An all digital realization of a channel vocoder is described, including both computational algorithms and hardware structures. The machine, constructed almost entirely of digital elements, operates at a 2400 bit/s rate and produces synthetic speech, whose intelligibility and speaker recognition properties are comparable to those of an average telephone line. The extensive use of integrated digital circuitry allows size and cost reductions that are not currently possible in conventional high-quality analog vocoder systems.


ABSTRACT Sourcing subsurface evaporation (Ess) into groundwater (Eg) and unsaturated zone (Eu) components has received little scientific attention so far, despite its importance in water management and agriculture. We propose a novel sourcing framework, with its implementation in dedicated post-processing software called SOURCE (used along with the HYDRUS1D model), to study evaporation sourcing dynamics, define quantitatively "shallow" and "deep" water table conditions and test the applicability of water table fluctuation (WTF) and "bucket" methods for estimation of Eg and Eu separately. For the "shallow" and "deep" water table we propose Eg > 0.95Ess and Eg = 0 criteria, respectively. Assessment of the WTF method allowed sourcing of very small fluxes otherwise neglected by standard hydrological methods. Sourcing with SOURCE software was more accurate than the standard "bucket" method mainly because of greater flexibility in spatio-temporal discretization. This study emphasized the dry condition relevance of groundwater evaporation which should be analysed by applying coupled flow of heat, vapour and liquid water. Editor D. Koutsoyiannis; Associate editor S. Kanae