Partial β-tubulin sequences were determined for 180 strains representing all accepted species of Penicillium subgenus Penicillium. The overall phylogenetic structure of the subgenus was determined by a parsimony analysis with each species represented by its type (or other reliably identified) strain. Eight subsequent analyses explored the relationships of three or four strains per species for clades identified from the initial analysis. β-tubulin sequences were excellent species markers, correlating well with phenotypic characters. The phylogeny correlated in general terms with the classification into sections and series proposed in the accompanying monograph. There was good strict consensus support for much of the gene tree, and good bootstrap support for some parts. The phylogenetic analyses suggested that sect. Viridicata, the largest section in the subgenus, is divided into three clades. Section Viridicata ser. Viridicata formed a monophyletic group divided into three subclades supported by strict consensus, with strong bootstrap support for P. tricolor (100%), P. melanoconidium (99%), P. polonicum (87%) and P. cyclopium (99%) and moderate support for P. aurantiogriseum (79%). The three strains each of Penicillium freii and P. neoechinulatum had identical sequences. Three strains of P. viridicatum had unique sequences, with two strains differing in two or three positions from the type. Within ser. Camemberti, P. palitans (83%) and P. crustosum (99%) were supported by bootstrap. Penicillium camemberti and P. caseifulvum had identical sequences to each other, and to the type strain of P. commune. Section Viridicata ser. Verrucosa was monophyletic and included two well-supported subclades, one consisting of P. thymicola (87%), and the other of P. verrucosum (88%), derived within the paraphyletic P. nordicum. The phylogeny for sect. Roqueforti (100%) was robust, with excellent bootstrap support for all included species, i.e. P. roqueforti (100%), P. carneum (94%) and P. paneum (100%). In sect. Penicillium, Series Expansa was paraphyletic, with the monophyletic ser. Italica derived within it. The synnematous species in ser. Claviformia were a paraphyletic group with the species of ser. Urticicolae., including P. griseofulvum (99%), derived within. Section Digitata, ser. Digitata comprised a single well-supported species, P. digitatum (100%). The phylogenetic structure of sect. Chrysogena had limited strict consensus and bootstrap support. One clade comprises P. chrysogenum and P. flavigenum (96%), another P. dipodomyis and P. nalgiovense, and a third P. mononematosum and P. confertum. Penicillium persicinum and P. aethiopicum were weakly placed in this section, both emerging from the backbone of the gene tree. Section Coronata (82%) was a well-supported monophyletic group at the base of the phylogram. Penicillium olsonii (100%) was basal in the section, with the sibling species P. bialowiezense (100%) and P. brevicompactum (100%) together forming a well-supported clade (96%).


Alkanes are potential precursors to many value-added chemicals such as olefins and other petrochemicals. However, the conversion of light alkanes can be challenging due to their strong C–H bonds. Chemical looping technology based on cyclic redox schemes is an attractive platform that utilizes metal oxides as oxygen carriers for clean and effective fuel processing. Chemical looping systems can potentially be operated over a wide range of reaction conditions with a lower capital and operating cost under a reduced energy and environmental penalty. The reactivity and long-term performance of the oxygen carriers are key for the successful deployment of the chemical looping technology. This work reviews the recent advances in chemical looping alkane utilization including chemical looping partial oxidation (CLPO) of methane, chemical looping oxidative coupling of methane (CLOCM) and oxidative dehydrogenation (CLODH) of ethane, propane and butane. In particular, material design, mechanistic insights of the reactions, and associated reactor configurations for the reactions are discussed. The perspective viewpoints are also given on the viability of the cyclic redox schemes for shale gas dehydrogenation/reforming applications.


The announced relevance of this article consists of absence investigations on higher education design for prisoners with given the specificity of the prison society. At the same time higher education is a more actual factor of personal development, behavior correction and future socialization in the society. The purpose of this article consists of the process model of higher education design on the information and communication technologies basis for convicts during their stay in prisons with the specificity of the prison environment. The leading method of this research problem is the method of simulation based on the developed mechanisms of compensate for the imbalance of personal isolation and social communication of the convicts. It allows you to treat this problem as the deliberate and organized process of the personality development of the convicted person in the intellectual, professional and emotional spheres. In the article the structure of the model of higher education design for the prisoners on the information and communication technologies includes the target, organizational, procedural, methodological, the resulting components and the feedback block, the combination of which is aimed at the development of the personality of the convicted person during his stay in the prison and further socialization after the liberation. The materials of this article are   practical value for the teachers, educators and lawyers in the organization of educational process in prisons. Keywords: Penitential System (PS), Prisoner, Information-Communicational Technologies of Education, Social Isolation JEL Classifications: A23, I23, I26


1. Neuromuscular synapse formation was studied using nerve and muscle cells dissociated from Xenopus embryos and kept in culture for 1 to 3 days. Within a few minutes of manipulated contact with isolated cholinergic neurons, miniature endplate potential-like depolarizations (MEPPs) due to spontaneous release of acetylcholine (ACh) from the neurons were detected in the muscle cells. 2. Addition of an antibody to a frog neural cell adhesion molecule (anti-NCAM) into the culture medium of nerve-muscle co-cultured for 1-3 days decreased the percentage of functional nerve-muscle contacts. 3. Acute exposure to anti-NCAM (1 hour) inhibited significantly muscle cell contact-triggered ACh release from initially identified cholinergic neurons. 4. Lysed muscle cells manipulated into contact with neurons induced ACh release, whereas lysed neurons did not, suggesting the presence of specific molecules on the muscle cell membrane capable of triggering ACh release from the cholinergic neuron. 5. Transient appearance of electrical coupling was detected between neuronal soma and muscle cell, suggesting the possibility of exchange of modulators for the formation and maintenance of neuromuscular synapses. 6. Neuromuscular synaptogenesis constitutes a complex process where at least two different types of direct cell-cell interaction seem to occur: a) cell surface molecule contact (and binding) for cell recognition and triggering of ACh release, and b) transient intercytoplasmic communication between the cells for possible passage of modulatory molecules.


The transverse coupling of chemical waves is investigated using a model scheme for excitable media. Chemical waves supported on the surfaces of a semipermeable membrane couple via diffusion through the membrane, resulting in new types of spatiotemporal behavior. The model studies show that spontaneous wave sources may develop from interacting planar waves, giving rise to a complex sequence of patterns accessible only by perturbation. Coupled circular waves result in the spontaneous formation of spiral waves, which subsequently develop patterns in distinct domains with characteristic features. The long time entrainment behavior of coupled spiral waves reveals regions of 1:2 phase locking.


Several deciduous broad-leaved tree species, differing in leaf phenology, invade larch (Larix kaempferii (Lamb.) Carrière) plantations in Japan. The understory light environment of larch forests changes drastically between the leafy and leafless periods. To determine how the invading seedlings exploit the changing light environment, and if phenological differences reflect the light- and nitrogen-use traits of the seedlings, we measured leaf phenology, seasonal changes in light-saturated photosynthetic rate (P(sat)), leaf nitrogen (N) content (N(area)), chlorophyll/nitrogen ratio (Chl/N), specific leaf area (SLA) and N remobilization rate (NRMR) over 3 years. The mid-successional or gap-phase species, Magnolia hypoleuca Siebold & Zucc., had a short leafy period and high P(sat) and NRMR. In contrast, two late-successional tree species, Prunus ssiori Friedr. Schmidt, which undergoes leaf flush before larch, and Carpinus cordata Blume, which maintains green leaves until frost, both had low P(sat) and NRMR but exploited the opportunity for growth during the period when the larch canopy trees were leafless. Quercus mongolica Fisch. ex Ledeb. var. crispula (Blume) Ohashi, a mid-late-successional species that underwent leaf flush at the same time as the overstory larch, had values of photosynthetic parameters between those of the gap-phase and late-successional species. Among species, M. hypoleuca and Q. mongolica had higher photosynthetic rates and photosynthetic N-use efficiencies. In all species, the relationship between N(area) and P(sat) showed species-specific yearly fluctuations; however, there was no yearly fluctuation in the relationship between N(area) and P(sat) at CO2 saturation. Yearly fluctuations in the N(area)-P(sat) relationship appeared to be induced by changes in SLA and N-use characteristics, which in turn are affected by climatic variations.


Background: Indonesia still ranks in the 10th largest stunting rate in the world. Research seeks to find new approaches to improve the quality of maternal behavior in providing nutrition to babies. Purpose of this study is to know the effectiveness of Interproffesional Collaboration. Methods: The study was conducted in Karanganom Klaten, Central Java, March-August 2019. This study was an experimental study with a quasi-experimental design on 90 respondents who had babies less than 2 years. The treatment is in the form of an Interproffesional Collaboration program (doctors, nurses, midwives, nutritionists, and sanitarians) which provide health promotion programs according to their respective professions for 3 months. The research instrument was a cognitive test, a questionnaire, and a of infants under two years of ageantrompomary examination sheet. Data were analyzed using Dependent t-test. Results: The mean value of knowledge about stunting increased from 31.44 to 80.22 (p = 0.001), knowledge about how to give nutrition to of infants under two years of age increased from 48.81 to 70.74 (p = 0.001), the attitude towards stunting changed from 9.68 to 16.52 (p = 0.001), and the behavior of providing nutrition was also getting better from 76.53 to 87.73 (p = 0.001). The results of the Dependent Paired t-test p = 0.001, proved that the Interproffesional Collaboration program (nurses, doctors, midwives, nutrition, and sanitarians) was effective in increasing the knowledge, attitudes and behavior of residents in preventing the risk of stunting. Conclusion: Interproffesional Collaboration is effective to increase knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of mothers of infants under two years of age (baduta) in an effort to prevent the risk of stunting and improve the nutritional status.


Precessional reversal in composite patterned media elements has been studied for various applied field parameters. The decrease of the percentage of the elements covered by the applied field leads to a rapid increase of the reversal field and decrease of the critical rise time required for precessional reversal. For weak and strong applied fields, the reversal time respectively was found to decrease and increase with an increase of the applied field strength and decrease of the rise time. For certain (large) values of the applied field strength and pulse duration bands of non-reversal can be obtained. This behavior is associated with multiple precessional oscillations between two equilibrium states. Such oscillations can be eliminated by properly choosing the field pulse duration and element damping constant.


Individuals in aquatic communities frequently assess their biotic environment through infochemicals. In particular, kairomones are commonly involved in interactions between predator and prey. However, the relationship between individuals and chemicals produced by other organisms that are not direct predators, but may indicate the presence of a predator, is not well characterized. We used experimental microcosms to test whether the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii alters vertical migration patterns in response to kairomones produced by zooplankton (Daphnia) and planktivores (fish). Our results suggested that phototaxis in C. reinhardtii was strongly affected by the type of kairomone present, the concentration of the kairomone, and the duration of exposure to the kairomone. Kairomones generally increased phototaxis in C. reinhardtii. The adaptive significance of such behavioral changes in natural settings would depend largely on local community composition. The similarity in phototactic responses of C. reinhardtii to Daphnia and fish kairomone suggest that, in at least this species of phytoplankton, the underlying genetic elements responsible for kairomone detection may be responsive to a broad range of chemical stimuli, allowing this species to adjust its phototaxis in response to not only the presence of its grazers, but also to predators of its grazers.


Most existing techniques for regulating the ink flow in offset presses rely oil density measurements carried out oil specially printed patches. In the present contribution. we develop a methodology to deduce ink thickness variations from spectral measurements of multichromatic halftone patches located within the printed page. For this purpose, we extend the Clapper-Yule spectral reflectance prediction model by expressing the transmittance of the colorants composed of superposed inks as a function of the ink transmittances and of fitted ink layer thicknesses. We associate to each ink all ink thickness variation factor. At print time, this ink thickness variation factor can be fitted to minimize a difference metric between predicted reflection spectrum and measured reflection spectrum. The ink thickness variations deduced from multichromatic halftones allow to clearly distinguish between normal ink volume, reduced ink volume, or increased ink volume. This information can then he used for performing control operations on the printing press. (C) 2009 Wiley periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 34, 432-442. 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.20541


Available online at: http://www.iiees.ac.ir/jsee Reservoir-triggered seismicity (RTS) is a phenomenon, which has been observed in several large dam projects all over the world, especially for the reservoirs which are constructed in seismically active regions. Practically all the territory of the Republic of Armenia is characterized as the high seismic active area. A review of reservoir triggered seismicity in Armenia shows that it mainly occurs in large dams which are located near active faults. In this paper it has been shown that the number of microearthquakes increase after Tolors reservoir operation, cause changes of seismic regime in the observed regions. The correlation of seismicity and water level in Tolors reservoir allows assuming the influence of long-term harmonious changes of water level on the seismic activity in the region.


A broadband dipolar recoupling method robust to chemical shift is introduced to observe (19)F-(19)F proximities in fluoroaluminates in high magnetic field and at ultra-fast magic angle spinning (>60 kHz).


Significant scholarship on the criticality of entrepreneurship to economic development exists. Policy makers have also accepted existing entrepreneurship and economic development theories in efforts to drive economic development reduce poverty, unemployment and increase wealth levels of the populations. In view of this, researches on the qualities and related predictors or antecedents that are related to the inclination of individuals to engage in entrepreneurial activities have been considered. The present study sought to pull together research studies on the demographical variables that affect entrepreneurial disposition. A narrative overview of literature anchored the study. The study found that most sections of the literature on predictors of entrepreneurial disposition have focused on personal attitudes, personality traits and qualities that increase the likelihood of an individual to engage in entrepreneurship. Gender has been the most prominent demographical variable that has received scholarship and it has been established that males seem to be more predisposed to engage in entrepreneurship than females, even though female entrepreneurship is on the rise. Studies on age have suggested that entrepreneurial predisposition seems to ascend among the younger age groups to a peak around middle age before it starts to decline. It appears that consideration of other demographical variables such as marital status, race and place of origin have not been adequately explored.


The major purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of systematic application of operations management decision-making techniques on the financial performance of small firms. Data was gathered from a large number of firms through questionnaires to determine if those firms consciously employed any decision making tools in each of eleven operations management activities. A secondary purpose of the research was to explore the nature of operations management activities in the non-manufacturing environment. The results of this exploratory research provide an impetus for further study of operations management in both the small business environment and the non-manufacturing sector of the economy.


Collagens can be distinguished from other proteins based on their triple-helical structure. Synthetic peptide models have been developed to better understand the triple helix structurally and to evaluate the triple helix as a recognition element for biological processes. Associated triple-helical peptides were first designed and assembled by solid-phase methodology in the late 1960s. Such peptides were used for triple-helical structural characterization by CD, nmr, and ir spectroscopies, and x-ray crystallography, and for studying the structural preferences of hydroxylases. In the late 1970s, methods were developed for covalently linking the three strands of triple-helical peptides. One benefit of "branched" peptides was the enhancement of triple-helical thermal stability. The incorporation of specific collagen sequences into thermally stable synthetic triple helices in the early 1990s has allowed for the mechanistic investigation of collagen-mediated cell adhesion and platelet aggregation. In time, discriminatory therapeutics may result from the continued exploration and further understanding of the biological effects of collagen primary, secondary, and tertiary structures via triple-helical peptide models.


AbstractObjective: To compare the safety and efficacy of iron sucrose over oral iron for the correction of preoperative anemia in women with menorrhagia. Methods: Women with mwnorrhagia having Hemoglobin (Hb) level less than 10 gm/dl and features of iron deficiency were included in the study. Women matching the inclusion and exclusion criteria, allocated to group A (IV iron sucrose) or group B (oral iron). IV iron sucrose was administered as 100 mg (2 ampoules) in 100 ml normal saline by slow IV infusion. The women in the group B received ferrous sulphate as oral iron in the dose of one tablet (200 mg salt) three times a day. Repeat laboratory estimations were done after four weeks. Results were analyzed by paired t test using SPSS 15 and Microsoft excel. Results: Before treatment, mean Hemoglobin level (mean ± SD) was similar in both groups (7.18 ± 1.18 gm/dl in group A and 7.18 ± 1.02 gm/dl in group B). After treatment, rise of Hb level was more in group A (10.70 ± 0.73 gm/dl) than group B (9.64 ± 0.70 gm/dl). After treatment, the desired Hb level of 10 gm/dl or more were achieved in 96% of women in group A while only in 56% of women in group B. Conclusion: Preoperative intravenous iron sucrose administration is more effective than oral iron and is as safe as oral iron therapy in the correction of preoperative anemia due to menorrhagia.


We theoretically study ghost imaging with incoherent and partially coherent light radiation by using classical optical coherence theory. A Gaussian thin lens equation is derived for the ghost image. The equation depends on both paths. The quality and visibility of the ghost image are influenced by the source's transverse size, coherence width, and object characteristics. The differences between ghost imaging formed with incoherent light radiation and with entangled photon pairs are discussed.


It has been argued recently that transverse asymmetries that are expected to be shielded from the presence of the S-wave (Kpi) pairs originating from the decay of a scalar K0* meson, are indeed affected by this pollution due to the impossibility to extract cleanly the normalization for these observables. In this short note we show how using folded distributions, which is nowadays the preferred method to obtain the information from the 4-body decay mode B-> K*(-> Kpi) l+l-, one can easily bypass this problem and extract the clean observables P_{1,2,3} and also P'_{4,5,6} in a way completely free from this pollution including all lepton mass corrections. We also show that in case one insists in using uniangular distributions to extract these observables it is possible to reduce this pollution to just lepton mass suppressed terms. On the contrary, the S_i observables, that are by definition normalized by the full differential decay distribution, will indeed suffer from this pollution via their normalization. Finally, we also present a procedure to minimize the error associated to neglecting lepton mass corrections in the distribution defining a massless-improved limit.


This paper presents an initial, qualitative study on how a game based on a mobile robot with an expressive head can be used by older adults as a rehabilitation application. The game is investigated in two independent field studies - one in a nursing home and one in a rehabilitation centre. An analysis of the interaction is made based on video recordings, observations and qualitative interviews using an open, exploratory approach. The primary goal of the study is to observe seniors' acceptance of the robot, to obtain knowledge about their game play patterns and get ideas about future improvements of the game.


In order to confirm our previous findings of increased sulphafurazole (sulfisoxazole, SF) inactivation by intestinal occlusion, SF was given intravenously 20 mg/kg to rats with a low small intestinal occlusion and to sham-operated controls 40-45 hours after the operation. Occlusion did not cause major changes in the distribution of SF to various tissues, but there were some indications of increased SF acetylation after occlusion. The occlusion rats produced ascitic fluid into the abdominal cavity and the total SF levels in the ascitic fluid were almost identical to those in blood, also after oral administration of SF, 50 mg/kg. After intraperitoneal administration of 2 ml of SF (60 microgram/ml) more SF accumulated into the small intestinal wall in occlusion rats than in controls, and the acetyl SF levels were increased in the small and large intestine. So, our previous suggestion of an increased excretory function of the large intestine in occlusion states may not be the only explanation for increased drug levels in the large intestine found after oral administration of SF. Part of the SF in the intestinal wall can also result from ascitic fluid SF, and ascites must be taken into account when considering drug pharmacokinetics.


An adaptation of the proximal algorithm for the traffic assignment problem under a user
equilibrium formulation for a general asymmetric traffic network is presented in this
paper, following the recently published results of Pennanen regarding convergence under
nonmonotonicity. As is well known the problem can be formulated as a variational
inequality and the algorithmic solutions developed uptodate guarantee convergence
only under too restrictive conditions which are difficult to appear in practice. In this
paper new conditions guaranteing convergence are developed and the possibility of
including the algorithm on a bilevel scheme is discussed


Aerial surveys were conducted in 1974 and 1975 to determine distribution and abundance of waterfowl along the coasts of Somerset, Cornwallis, Little Cornwallis, and Byam Martin islands, Boothia Peninsula, as well as parts of Prince of Wales, Devon, Bathurst, and Melville islands. Waterfowl nested normally in 1975 but were prevented from doing so in 1974 by a late thaw. In 1974, but not in 1975, Barrow Strait was ice free by 1 June. Densities of most species were lower in spring 1975 than in 1974, when inhospitable conditions inland forced the birds to concentrate in coastal areas. In late summer Brant ( Branta bernicla) and Oldsquaw ( Clangula hyemalis ) were more numerous in 1975 than in 1974; Brant left the central High Arctic in midsummer 1974, but the reason for the smaller number of Oldsquaw is not evident. Both Snow Geese ( Chen caerulescens ) and eiders ( Somateria spp.) were more abundant in late summer 1974 than in 1975. Many Snow Geese moved to southeastern Somerset Island and adjacent waters to moult in 1974. In 1975 many eiders and Snow Geese remained at inland locations with their broods. Queens Channel, northern Somerset Island and Bellot Strait were particularly important to waterfowl, irrespective of spring phenology. Melville and Byam Martin islands were used by Brant, and Canada Geese ( Branta canadensis ) occurred mainly on the Boothia Peninsula. Snow Geese were abundant in both years in southeastern Somerset Island, particularly near Creswell Bay, where both breeding and moulting occurred. Coastal waters of Barrow Strait, Prince Regent Inlet and the Gulf of Boothia were heavily used by Oldsquaw in spring and summer, and Crooked Lake, Prince of Wales Island, was used by many moulting Oldsquaw in both years. Common Eiders ( S. mollissima ) occurred principally in Queens Channel, Barrow Strait and near Bellot Strait; King Eiders ( S. spectabilis ) also concentrated in the same areas but were more widely distributed throughout the study area. Key words: Arctic Islands, N.W.T., waterfowl distribution, nonbreeding, aerial surveys, Brant, snow Geese, Oldsquaw, eiders


Mineralogical and chemical properties of Madison soil derived from quartz mica schist reflected the degree of weathering. The Madison soil had sandy surface horizons and clayey B horizons. The clay in surface horizons contained more mica than clay in the subsoils; a maximum of about 40 per cent mica in the coarse clay of surface horizons. Intergradient chlorite-vermiculite was present in appreciable quantities in clays of surface horizons. The presence in the whole soil of B2 horizons of about 15 per cent gibbsite and 12 per cent free iron oxides indicated a high degree of weathering. Kaolinite and gibbsite increased with depth and were the major clay minerals in all clay fractions in the lower portion of the profiles. Kaolinite and gibbsite also were important accessory minerals of the coarse and medium silt fractions and increased in percentage with depth. The B3 horizons had much of the morphology of the schist. Results indicated a high weathering intensity in the subsoil and leaching of weathering products.


AIM
Despite improvements in therapeutic modalities, the treatment of arterial aneurysms complicating Behçet's disease (BD) is still challenging. This study examined the long-term prognosis after surgery for arterial aneurysms in BD.

METHODS
This study included 9 patients with BD (8 men and 1 woman) who underwent surgery for arterial aneurysms between 1989 and 2008. The outcomes after the surgical intervention were assessed, including procedure-related complications and survival.

RESULTS
The initial surgical procedures were performed for aortic or iliac aneurysms in 5 patients and for lower-extremity aneurysms in 4 patients. There was no operative mortality. The mean follow-up period was 135±69 months, ranging from 53 to 259 months. Patients with aortic or iliac aneurysms underwent graft interposition with Dacron prostheses. Their postoperative courses were uneventful, and all patients were alive during the follow-up with no procedure-related complications. Those treated for lower-extremity aneurysms tended to show perioperative and postoperative complications, including aneurysmal degeneration of the autogenous vein graft in 2 patients. One patient who initially underwent surgery for a popliteal artery aneurysm died due to the rupture of a dissecting aortic aneurysm after serial surgical interventions for multiple aneurysms. Concomitant aortic or iliac aneurysms in 2 patients were followed up without any change in size under medical treatment using colchicine and corticosteroids.

CONCLUSION
Although we cannot draw a firm conclusion because of the small number of cases in the present series, graft interposition can lead to a favorable prognosis in BD patients with aortic or iliac aneurysms, whereas surgical treatment of BD-related lower-extremity aneurysms is frequently associated with short- and long-term postoperative complications. Immunosuppressive therapy might possibly improve treatment outcomes.


In this paper, two three-phase three-level Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) converters connected back-to-back are used for a direct drive wind power generator. A permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) is used as the generator, which is driven by the wind turbine. Main problem of voltage unbalance in each electrolyte capacitor is controlled by using a simple chopper control circuit. A simple hardware method for balancing the Neutral Point (NP) voltage is proposed, which allows enhanced ride-through performance. This method can effectively balance the NP voltage without the limitations of modulation methods and load conditions. It also provides increased ride-through capabilities for the inverter during input voltage sags. Because of the NP balancing, the necessary size of the dc-bus capacitors is reduced. Here, MATLAB/SIMULINK simulation results are presented for the validity of proposed scheme.


Non specific inflammations of the intestine are the group of chronic disorders, such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease and with episodic aggravation of inflammatory lesions, called active phase and non-active phase, called remission. Non-steroid antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) are one of the most frequently used medications in the World. NSAIDS therapy in ulcerative colitis patients is a very important clinical problem, because of frequent extraintestinal symptoms, such as arthritis, which make patients to take these drugs. But the mechanisms of the NSAIDS influence on the course of inflammatory diseases of inferior part of gastrointestinal tract is still not known. Our results of clinical studies indicated the influence of nonselective and selective COX2 inhibitors on ulcerative colitis activity. However clinical aggravation was detected in 8% of patients treated with conventional NSAIDS and in one person administered selective COX2 inhibitor. Administration of the conventional NSAIDS as well as coxibs, significantly influenced severity of diarrhea. Moreover conventional COX inhibitors increased severity of colon bleeding and endoscopic colon inflammatory lesions in comparison to ulcerative colitis patients, as well not administered NSAIDS as given coxibs. Total patients evaluation involving the intensity of clinical symptoms did not reveal significant differences between examined groups. The above results showed, that the balance between risk and advantages resulting from administration of NSAIDS both, non-selective and selective COX is to be accepted in ulcerative colitis patients in non-active phase.


This study investigated the information needs of cotton growers residing in two villages in the district of Bahawalpur. Face-to-face interviews were conducted by visiting farms or homes using a semi-structured interview schedule. Data were analyzed by applying descriptive statistics. The results indicated that cotton growers required information, in general, in the areas of soil management and plot preparation, cotton seeds, crop care, and pre- and post- harvesting activities. Moreover, these farmers relied very much upon informal networks (progressive farmers, sales agents, and pesticides dealers) while looking for the needed information. Lack of timely access, illiteracy, infrequent visits of extension staff, and language barrier were the major problems that these farmers faced while getting needed information. The results of this research indicated the need for an integrated agricultural information delivery system for farmers. This research has made a significant contribution in cotton growers' information behavior research.


In order to face a new marktet reality, Operational Excellence initiatives will build the cornerstones of future operations strategies in the pharmaceutical sector. The biggest challenge is and will be the engagement of people. The authors of this book point out that it will be the ability to make each employee think in terms of continuous improvement and change that will enable companies to overcome the organizations' internal inertia and separate the winners from the losers.
Leading managers, consultants and researchers from both sides of the Atlantic contributed to tis second book about a topic that has already started to change the way thousands of employees understand and do their jobs. As addition to the first book "Operational Excellence in the Pharmaceutical Industry" which focused on the essence of OPEX, this book focuses on the managerial and organizational aspects of comprehensive Operational Excellence programs.


Introduction: Dust is one of the significant factors which cause occupational respiratory diseases among workers. Objective: The main purpose of this study was to determine the dust concentration, its silica percentage and comparison with standard. Method: This cross-sectional study was carried out at one of iron-stone ores in Southern Khorasan province. Air dust sampling was done using the NIOSH 7500 method and personal sampling pump with the cyclone in 52 stations in different situations of the mine. Total and respirable dust was determined by gravimetrical method. 5 bulk samples were taken for the determination of silica. Bulk samples determined with X-ray method and compared with standard. Result: Highest respirable dust concentration was measured in the extraction section (10.6 mg/m 3 ) and the lowest in the administration (4.02 mg/m3). Also, highest total dust concentration was measured in the crusher section (94.3 mg/m 3 ) and the lowest in the administration (16.6 mg/m 3 ). Average percentage of silica in the mine was 15.5%. Either measured respirable and total dust concentration was several times higher than standard concentration. Conclusion: Percentage of total and respirable dust in all parts of the mine according to the silica percentage was higher than the standard limit. Therefore, it's required to reduce or eliminate workers exposure to silica by using engineering controls, administrative and personal protective measures.


The success of large language models has been utterly demonstrated in recent times. Using these models and fine tuning for the specific task at hand results in high performance. However, these models also learn biased representations from the data they have been trained on. In particular, several studies recently showed that language models can learn to be biased towards certain genders. Quite recently, several studies tried to eliminate this bias via proposing human feedback included in fine-tuning. In our study we show that by changing the question asked to the language model the log probabilities of the bias measured in the responses changes dramatically. Furthermore, in several cases the language model ends up providing a completely opposite response. The recent language models finetuned on the prior gender bias datasets do not resolve the actual problem, but rather alleviate the problem for the dataset on which the model is fine-tuned. We believe our results might lay the foundation for further alignment and safety problems in large language models.


In order to analyze the critical sources of potential harmful elements (PHEs) in road dust from Taiyuan during winter, 40 road dust samples were collected. The contents of PHEs, including As, Cd, Pb, Ni, Cr, Cu, and Zn, in the road dust samples were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and atomic fluorescence spectrometry. The ecological risks and human health risks posed by dust PHEs were assessed using NIRI and a health risk evaluation model recommended by USEPA, respectively. The sources of dust PHEs were identified by using the combination of principal component analysis and positive matrix factorization (PMF); the total PHE contents and the ecological risks and human health risks posed by PHEs in dust were apportioned to the PHE sources based on the PMF results; subsequently, the critical source of dust PHEs was determined using the multiple attribute decision making method (MADM). The results demonstrated that: 1 the average concentrations of As, Cd, Pb, Ni, Cr, Cu, and Zn were 17.92, 0.32, 69.10, 30.06, 107.74, 73.37, and 268.49 mg·kg-1, respectively, which were higher than the corresponding background values of soil in Taiyuan, indicating that the PHEs had accumulated in road dust; the mean value of NIRI was 63.86, demonstrating that PHEs in dust posed moderate risks, and the dust PHEs pollution was controllable. 2 Human health risk assessment indicated that exposure to PHEs in dust did not pose serious non-carcinogenic or carcinogenic risks. Ingestion was the most important pathway for exposure to PHEs in road dust that damages human health, and As and Cr have been found to pose the most risks among the seven PHEs. 3 The present study found three main sources of PHEs measured in the dust: natural, traffic, and industrial, which accounted for 35.95%, 40.25%, and 23.82% of the total concentrations of PHEs, respectively. 4 Industrial emissions contributed the least to the total PHEs contents in dust; however, the PHEs released from industrial sources caused relatively high risks, with the results of MADM indicating that industrial sources were the most critical source for dust PHEs. Our results indicated that the critical source identification of PHEs, which was determined to be the most pernicious source, could provide reference for subsequent pollution source control.


Concentrations of prolactin were measured in the plasma of male and female canaries serially sampled during repeated breeding cycles. Concentrations in female canaries were low during nest building and increased significantly (P less than 0.05) during the first few days of incubation. Levels increased further (P less than 0.01) in the middle of the incubation period to reach concentrations which were ten times higher than before breeding. Levels remained high for several days after the eggs hatched, as the young were fed in the nest. Prolactin concentrations declined gradually as the young were reared, reaching basal levels by the time the young were fledged, but always increased again in the females as they began incubating eggs in subsequent breeding cycles. Male canaries, which do not incubate but do assist in feeding the young, showed only slight increases in prolactin during the parental period. Male and female canaries which did not breed had low levels of prolactin throughout the experiment. The results show that prolactin secretion is high not only during incubation but also during the parental feeding phase in an altricial passerine bird. These findings are discussed in relation to the different patterns of prolactin secretion which occur during breeding in other birds.


Between 1981 and 1995 the dominant form of Fortune 500 firms changed from the multidivisional form to the multisubsidiary form (Zey and Camp 1996). The explanation for the movement toward subsidiarization originates in changes during the late 1970s and 1980s in the political economy, the relationship between corporations and capital, and the regulation of corporations. As a result of the declining capital accumulation of the 1970s, the federal government instituted two measures of corporate welfare, the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA86) and the Revenue Act of 1987 (RA87), that provided corporations with nontaxable ways to restructure their acquisitions and divisions as subsidiaries. Thus, by the process of subsidiarization, corporations were able to continue capital flows. We examine the increase in subsidiarization from 1981–1995 as a means of assessing the utility of four theoretical perspectives to explain change in corporate form. A one-way random effects panel analysis demonstrates how corporate financial conditions, national business laws, and organizational characteristics combine to affect the rate of subsidiarization of U.S. corporations. Separate panel models for 1981–1985 (pre- TRA86) and 1986–1995 (post- TRA86) reveal that changes in corporate tax laws affect capital accumulation and result in significant change in corporate form. This analysis supports the structural political economy contingency theory arguing that change in capital accumulation, brought about by macro changes in political legal conditions of corporations, leads to the transformation of corporate form.


As in recent decades, Malta has experienced an increase in both the number of available university programs in ageing studies and graduate students, the aim of this article is to evaluate the country's efforts in ensuring a trained workforce in gerontology, geriatrics, and dementia education. While Malta punches above its weight as far as gerontology education is concerned, one also notes a number of shortcomings. The country is still devoid of a clear space for professional gerontologists to put in practice all their knowledge, and unfortunately both public and private employers are still highly unaware of the skills that professional gerontologists can bring toward the improvement of the quality of life and well-being of older persons living either in the community or long-term care. Moreover, curricula remain hindered by two key limitations. Primarily, there is a disproportionate Western bias in the choice of theories and practices in all realms of ageing studies. Second, that no full-time faculty member at the Department of Gerontology and Dementia Studies is a geriatrician, and that such faculty members all service the University on a visiting basis. In this respect, this chapter recommends three key and urgent strategies for gerontology education in Malta. These include establishing gerontology as a discipline in its own right is long overdue, founding gerontology as a bona fide profession, and accrediting gerontology.


Tumor invasion into extracellular matrix (ECM) and basement membrane (BM) is a crucial step in the complex multistage process that leads to metastasis formation. GG6-10 galloylglucose, isolated from Galla Rhois, inhibited the invasion of metastatic HT-1080 cells into a reconstituted BM, such as a Matrigel/fibronectin (FN)-coated filter, in a concentration-dependent fashion. GG6-10 affected neither the tumor cell adhesion and haptotactic migration to ECM components (Matrigel and FN), nor the growth of HT-1080 cells. The gelatin zymography revealed that GG6-10 was able to inhibit not only the degradation of gelatin mediated by matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-2 and -9 in conditioned medium of HT-1080 tumor cells but also the production of MMP from the tumor cells in a concentration-dependent manner. MMP production is well known to be positively regulated by various cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). Thus, we examined the effect of GG6-10 on the TNF-alpha-mediated translation of the MMP-9 gene using HT-1080 cells transfected with the MMP-9 promoter linked to the luciferase gene as a reporter. Similarly to prednisolone, GG6-10 was found to inhibit the TNF-alpha-inducible promoter activity. In keeping with these results, GG6-10 might inhibit tumor cell invasion by inhibiting the gelatinolysis mediated by MMP-2 and -9 and interfering with the production of MMP via inhibiting transcription of the promoter for MMP.


This article is a cross-section of stories of three young men navigating the expectations of a school with a 100% college admissions goal. Similar to their classmates, none of these male teens had a parent who had attended college. In addition, each of them had at one point in their high school lives declared that they would be dropping out of high school. Their stories bring to light privileged assumptions and hidden struggles about what it takes for seniors in a low-income district to be college-bound and, in doing so, prove themselves worthy of public recognition.


ABSTRACT Although social cognitive difficulties are common following stroke, the extent to which such difficulties observed in the acute phase are related to long-term socioemotional outcomes remains poorly understood. To address this question empirically, 53 stroke patients completed a measure of Theory of Mind (The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test) and a cognitive flexibility measure that has been related to social cognitive processes (a Reversal Learning Task) at hospital bedside. These participants then completed measures of socioemotional functioning at a 6-month follow-up. Baseline difficulties on the two measures were found to predict distinct types of socioemotional difficulties. The RMET uniquely predicted self-reported depression and loneliness whereas the Reversal Learning task uniquely predicted peer-reported social behavior, specifically social inappropriateness and stereotyping and prejudice. Importantly, a measure of general cognitive function did not explain variance in these outcome measures, suggesting that social cognitive difficulties are linked to poor socioemotional outcomes. By showing for the first time that social cognitive deficits observed acutely post-stroke are related to longer term functional outcomes, these findings reinforce the importance of including brief social cognitive measures as part of routine post-stroke clinical assessment.


Background The Bromodomain (BRD) Extra Terminal (BET) family of proteins (BRD2, 3, 4 and T) contain bromodomains that recognize and bind acetylated histone tails. Binding affects chromatin structure facilitating recruitment of transcriptional complexes to specific genes regulating gene expression and mRNA elongation in a context and signal dependent fashion. BET proteins are involved in regulating transcription, cell growth and survival. Inhibiting BET protein binding to chromatin decreases expression of growth promoting genes and blocks both expression and transcriptional functions of MYC resulting in significant antitumor effects. GSK2820151 is a potent and selective small molecule BET inhibitor. In preclinical studies, GSK2820151 potently inhibited proliferation of several solid tumor cell types in culture and demonstrated efficacy in xenograft models. These data plus understanding derived from the clinical progression of the BET inhibitor GSK525762 in solid (NCT01587703) and hematological (NCT01943851) tumors form the rationale for investigating the therapeutic potential of this structurally differentiated molecule GSK2820151 in a broad array of solid tumor types in this study. Methods 201893 is a first-time in human phase I open-label, dose escalation study to investigate the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and a recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D) based on the safety, pharmacokinetics (PK), pharmacodynamics, and clinical activity of orally administered GSK2820151 in patients with solid tumors. This study will utilize an accelerated dose titration followed by a conventional 3+3 dose escalation phase to achieve MTD. The dose will be escalated based on PK data, the safety profile of prior cohorts, as well as the predicted dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) rates on all potential doses from the Neuenschwander Continual Reassessment Method (N-CRM) analysis. This is a single-arm study in which all subjects will receive GSK2820151 and will continue treatment until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or withdrawal of consent. A subject will be considered to have completed the study 2 years after the last treatment or if the subject dies or is still in follow-up at the time the study is closed or terminated, whichever is sooner. Approximately 30-50 patients will be enrolled. The study population will be adults, with advanced or recurrent, histologically or cytologically confirmed, solid malignancy that is either metastatic or unresectable, who either: o refuse or are not candidates for standard curative or palliative therapy, o have a disease for which no non-investigational therapy exists, OR o have progressed on prior therapy Trial is opened to recruitment and as of January 12, 2017 one patient has been enrolled in the study. The trial is continuing as planned, results will be presented at a later date. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02630251 Study is funded by GlaxoSmithKline Citation Format: Shirish Gadgeel, Vicki Keedy, Simon Taylor, Khalid Amin, Thierry Horner, Yuehui Wu, Rab Prinjha, Arindam Dhar, Brandon Kremer. A first-in-human phase I dose escalation study of BET inhibitor GSK2820151 in patients with advanced or recurrent solid tumors cancers [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr CT104. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-CT104


This paper introduces an application of the S-4 logic. There are two aims in this paper. Aim 1is to check the relation between our model and the S-4 logic. We 11 see the soundness and completeness of the S-4 logic with respect to the model by using the concept of structure. Aim 2is to prove avariation of no trade theorem in the model.


The response of spinal motoneurons to synaptic input greatly depends on the activation of persistent inward currents (PICs), which in turn are enhanced by the neuromodulators serotonin and noradrenaline. Local vibration (LV) induces excitatory Ia input onto motoneurons and may alter neuromodulatory inputs. Therefore, we investigated whether LV influences the contribution of PICs to motoneuron firing. This was assessed in voluntary contractions with concurrent, ongoing LV, as well as after a bout of prolonged LV. High‐density surface electromyograms (HD‐EMG) of the tibialis anterior were recorded with a 64‐electrode matrix. Twenty males performed isometric, triangular, dorsiflexion contractions to 20% and 50% of maximal torque at baseline, during LV of the tibialis anterior muscle, and after 30‐min of LV. HD‐EMG signals were decomposed, and motor units tracked across time points to estimate PICs through a paired motor unit analysis, which quantifies motor unit recruitment–derecruitment hysteresis (ΔF). During ongoing LV, ΔF was lower for both 20% and 50% ramps. Although significant changes in ΔF were not observed after prolonged LV, a differential effect across the motoneuron pool was observed. This study demonstrates that PICs can be non‐pharmacologically modulated by LV. Given that LV leads to reflexive motor unit activation, it is postulated that lower PIC contribution to motoneuron firing during ongoing LV results from decreased neuromodulatory inputs associated with lower descending corticospinal drive. A differential effect in motoneurons of different recruitment thresholds after prolonged LV is provocative, challenging the interpretation of previous observations and motivating future investigations.


Abstract Context: The global surge in multi-drug resistant bacteria and the imminence of tuberculosis pandemic necessitate alternative therapeutic approaches to augment the existing medications. Pomegranate, the fruit of Punica granatum Linn. (Punicaceae), widely recognized for potency against a broad spectrum of bacterial pathogens, deserves further investigation in this respect. Objective: This study determines the therapeutic potential of pomegranate juice, extracts of non-edible peel prepared with methanol/water, and its four polyphenolic constituents, namely caffeic acid, ellagic acid, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and quercetin, against drug-resistant clinical isolates. Materials and methods: Phenotypic characterisation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) and KPC-type carbapenemase producing Klebsiella pneumoniae was performed by biochemical and molecular methods. Resistance profiles of M. tuberculosis and K. pneumoniae were determined using LJ proportion and Kirby–Bauer methods, respectively. Pomegranate fruit extracts, and the compounds, were evaluated at a dose range of 1024–0.5 µg/mL, and 512–0.25 µg/mL, respectively, to determine minimum inhibitory (MIC) and bactericidal concentrations (MBC) against the drug-resistant isolates by the broth micro-dilution method. Results: The peel extracts exhibited greater antimycobacterial activity (MIC 64–1024 μg/mL) than the potable juice (MIC 256 - > 1024 μg/mL). EGCG and quercetin exhibited higher antitubercular (MIC 32–256 μg/mL) and antibacterial (MIC 64–56 μg/mL) potencies than caffeic acid and ellagic acid (MIC 64–512 μg/mL). Discussion and conclusion: The pomegranate fruit peel and pure constituents were active against a broad panel of M. tuberculosis and β-lactamase producing K. pneumoniae isolates. EGCG and quercetin need further investigation for prospective application against respiratory infections.


The classification of B cell lymphomas - mainly based on light microscopy evaluation by a pathologist - requires many years of training. Since the B cell receptor (BCR) of the lymphoma clonotype and the microenvironmental immune architecture are important features discriminating different lymphoma subsets, we asked whether BCR repertoire next-generation sequencing (NGS) of lymphoma-infiltrated tissues in conjunction with machine learning algorithms could have diagnostic utility in the subclassification of these cancers. We trained a random forest and a linear classifier via logistic regression based on patterns of clonal distribution, VDJ gene usage and physico-chemical properties of the top-n most frequently represented clonotypes in the BCR repertoires of 620 paradigmatic lymphomas - nodular lymphocyte predominant B cell lymphoma (NLPBL), diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) - as well as 291 control tissues. With regard to DLBCL and CLL, the models demonstrated optimal performance when utilizing only the most prevalent clonotype for classification, while in NLPBL - that has a dominant background of non-malignant bystander cells - a broader array of clonotypes enhanced model accuracy. Surprisingly, the straightforward logistic regression model performed best in this seemingly complex classification problem, suggesting linear separability in our chosen dimensions. It achieved a weighted F1-score of 0.84 on a test cohort including 125 cases from all three lymphoma entities and 58 healthy individuals. Together, we provide proof-of-concept that at least the 3 studied lymphoma entities can be differentiated from each other using BCR repertoire NGS on lymphoma-infiltrated tissues by a trained machine learning model. Author Summary Lymphoma, a complex group of malignant blood cancers, poses a significant diagnostic challenge due to its diverse subtypes. Yet, precise classification is crucial for tailored treatment. In our research, we developed a machine learning algorithm and conducted comprehensive validation to discern distinct B cell lymphoma subtypes. We therefore leveraged B cell repertoires of lymphoma-infiltrated tissue, as ascertained through next-generation sequencing. Our data offers three key insights: We detail the creation and training of our machine learning algorithm, explaining how we selected features and designed the model. We demonstrate the algorithm's diagnostic precision using sequencing data from a test-set of patients. Moreover, through a deep dive into the most distinguishing aspects of our algorithm, we unveil distinctive disease-related patterns present within the malignant B cell and its surrounding environment. This analysis showed that both the malignant lymphoma cell, but also healthy bystander immune cells contribute to the distinctive architecture that characterizes a specific lymphoma subtype. We hope our work will contribute towards creating tools to diagnose lymphoma more easily and accurately ultimately leading to better outcomes for patients with this type of cancer.


Background and purpose: The incidence of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) in Bali, especially in Denpasar, remains high. Efforts to eradicate mosquito nests have been carried out but did not give a significant reduction in the incidence number. The dengue vaccine is now available and can be a way of prevention. The dengue vaccine has not been included in the mandatory immunization program by the government so people who want to get vaccinated have to pay for it by themselves. This study aims to determine the relationship between socio-demographic factors and perceptions with the willingness to pay for the dengue vaccine among parents of elementary school students in Denpasar.Methods: This study used a cross sectional design involving 100 mothers of students from grade 3 to grade 6 at Dauh Puri 5 Elementary School and Dauh Puri 6 Elementary School who were selected with systematic random sampling. Data collected included education level, income, respondents' perceptions and willingness to pay for dengue vaccine. Data were collected by interview using a questionnaire, the results were analyzed using a multivariate logistic regression.Results: The average willingness of parents to pay for the dengue vaccine per dose was IDR 131,170. Percentage of respondents who were willing to pay for the dengue vaccine was 31%. The results of analysis showed that variables associated with parents' willingness to pay for the dengue vaccine were education level (OR=4.06; 95%CI: 1.19-13.76), perceived susceptibility (OR=1.59; 95%CI: 0.58-4.37) and perceived benefits (OR=2.60; 95%CI: 1.00-6.81).Conclusion: Parents' willingness to pay for the dengue vaccine remains very low compared to the current price of vaccine per dose. The government needs to provide subsidies so that the dengue vaccine can be included in the national immunization program and be accessed by all people. Further research is needed with a broader scope and more varied population's characteristics to obtain a willingness to pay value that can represent society in general.


France has a double system of child welfare as decreed by the law of July 1989. Social welfare is under the responsibility of the Regional Council (social services, early childhood health services, and child protection services). These type of services require the family's collaboration with respect to the proposals concerning child protection: financial aid, family counseling, and placement. In case of severe danger, or if it is impossible to obtain the family's collaboration, the child's judge can order family counseling or placement. None of these measures modifies parental authority. A child in danger and the child's best interest are the two fundamental concepts which ought to guide social welfare and children's court workers in choosing the best possible protection measure.


The benefits of an e-learning system will not be maximised if learners do not use the system. This study was conducted with 26 postgraduate students at a faculty in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak taking an on-campus course supplemented with an e-learning system. The purpose of the study was to determine which factors were related to intention to use an e-learning system as a supplementary learning tool. The factors investigated were system characteristics such as functionality, interactivity and response rates; user characteristics incorporating computer self-efficacy and Internet experience; perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. The findings of the study showed that the participants viewed the e-learning system characteristics positively especially in terms of functionality and interactiveness. However, the response rate for the e-learning system was not up to expectations. Most of the participants believed that they were capable of using the e-learning system to accomplish their learning tasks and have adequate Internet use experience. Intention to use the e-learning system for supplementary learning was positively related to the participants' computer self-efficacy. Computer 2 self-efficacy was also positively related to perceive usefulness of an e-learning system and perceived ease of use. All three systems characteristics of functionality, interactivity and response rate were related to perceived usefulness. Therefore, in developing an e-learning system, the system developers have to consider ensuring the system is easy for the user to handle and improve the system's functionality, interactivity and response rates. Developers, designers, and institutional purchasers of e-learning systems should also ensure compatibility between system features and user requirements to enhance technology adoption for e-learning. Furthermore, to maximize the benefits of e-learning system, educational institution should demonstrate the use of the technology and provide instructional material to ease students' learning of the technology. In addition, it should describe how the technology would benefit students and assist them learn the course content or achieve other learning goals. Recommendations for future studies are also included in the conclusion of the paper.


The advent of cDNA microarrays and other molecular technologies necessitates the acquisition of tumor cell‐enriched material because nonmalignant cells often decrease the sensitivity of the assays. Fine‐needle aspiration (FNA) specimens from carcinoma have long been noted to be enriched in malignant cells. The current study quantitated the relative representation of tumor versus nontumor cells in FNA specimens compared with tissue sections using breast carcinoma as a model.


Optimal system of the corporate governance makes sure that corporations use their own assets effectively and also they consider the interests of the extensive range of stakeholders and community. Based on theoretical topics clients who have stronger corporate governance provide the more qualitative accounting information. Therefore, with increasing the quality of accounting information, the probability of occurrence of fraud and irregularities financial statements will be reduced and the representation of the unqualified opinions seem Logical. In this study, the effect of the quality of the mechanisms of the corporate governance on the independent auditor's opinion has been investigated. The hypothesis of this study has been investigated through investigating of the independent Auditor's Opinion for 90 accepted companies in the Stock Market, related to 8 year time period with considering the governance rate of these corporate. The results of this investigation indicated that significant relationship between corporate governance in the corporate with the moderate governance rate and weak one and the representation of unqualified opinion auditors. But we don't see such a relationship for clients with strong governance rate and the representation of the unqualified opinion.


type="main"> Can good policy overcome or alter the effects of history? This question is addressed in this article using unique district-level data for 148 districts of former British India. Controlling for observable differences in geography and income, the ordinary least squares estimates suggest a large and positive effect of colonial expenditures on rural primary education in 1911 on rural literacy up to 1991. However, instrumental variable estimates that control for the endogeneity of colonial investments suggest that the effects of historical spending are significant only up to 1971. Two policy changes can account for these findings: an increase in spending following the 1968 National Education Policy and a greater emphasis on the universal provision of public goods such as schools in the 1970s. Unlike recent studies documenting the persistent effects of historical investments on contemporary outcomes, this study emphasizes how effective policies can overturn the effects of history.


Many methods have been proposed for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of structures such as highway bridges, skyscrapers, and pipelines. The analysis of acoustic emission (AE) signals produced during cracking in concrete or steel is a promising approach for nondestructive monitoring to detect degradation in the integrity of a structure. Because of their central role in the highway infrastructure, bridge analysis is a particularly important application area for NDE. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of AE testing, and describe some of the difficulties in applying classical signal processing (deconvolution) techniques to AE analysis of a bridge. We present instead a neural network approach that has the potential to overcome many of these difficulties.


We study a non-anticommutative chiral non-singlet deformation of the N =(1, 1) abelian gauge multiplet in Euclidean harmonic superspace. We present a closed form of the gauge transformations and the unbroken N =(1, 0) supersymmetry transformations preserving the Wess-Zumino gauge, as well as the bosonic sector of the N =(1, 0) invariant action. This contribution is a summary of our main results in hep-th/0510013. Extensions of gauge theories to non-commutative and non-(anti)commutative superspaces are currently of remarkable interest within the high energy physics community, mainly due to their relevance to subjects like string theory (see for example [2, 3] and references therein). Here we focus in a subclass of non-(anti)commutative Euclidean supersymmet-ric field theories called Q-deformed, realized via a Weyl-Moyal product with a bilinear nilpotent Poisson operator, which is constructed in terms of the supercharges,


The simulation of a quantum search algorithm in an Ising spin chain is equivalent to solving a system of 2L coupled first order differential equations with L being the number of qubits. The near-resonant approximation can be used to simplify the evolution of the states in the database. In this work, we compare the simulation of a quantum search algorithm using the exact evolution according to Schrodinger equation and using the near-resonant approximation. Our results show that the error of the near-resonant approximation is comparable to that of the exact evolution in terms of the fidelity measure. The advantage gained in having this small error at the near-resonant approximation is its faster execution time relative to the exact case.


SUMMARY In Standedge cutting near Marsden, Yorkshire, the Butterly Marine Band, of late Kinderscoutian (Namurian R 1C ) age, is gradationally overlain by a small-scale (7 m) coarsening-upward sequence. This is characterised by parallel-laminated mudstone-dominated units at the base and by parallel-laminated fine sandstone/siltstone-dominated lithofacies at the top. The sequence, which probably reflects the infilling of a shallow interdistributary bay by sediment-laden incursions from distributaries, is truncated by erosion at the base of the Upper Kinderscout Grit. Planolites occurs sporadically in the 2 m of laminated silty mudstones lying immediately above the Marine Band. In the succeeding thin sandstones, siltstones and silty mudstones trace fossils are abundant and include ' Scolicia ', Cochlichnus and hitherto undescribed forms. Pelecypodichnus and Pelecypodichnus escape shafts are extremely numerous in these beds and both are commonly connected to trails which are parallel to bedding planes. The association of trails with burrows indicates that bivalve movement was initially across the substratum, then steeply downward and finally more or less vertically upward. The structures fit the recently described marginally marine bivalves provisionally designated of. Sanguinolites Hind non M'Coy from the top of the Upper Kinderscout Grit in Sabden Brook, near Clitheroe. On the basis of comparative internal and external shell morphology this form appears to be ancestral to Carbonicola (Eagar 1977). Burrows and escape shafts at Standedge fit well into the sequence of burrow morphologies in which progressively longer escape shafts develop from the middle of the Shale Grit to the middle of the Marsdenian. Thence they merge upward into forms ascribed to Carbonicola, which are associated with trace fossils suggestive of fresher water. Escape shafts of Carbonicola, as far as they have been investigated, tend to show more pronounced current orientation of their long axes than shafts attributed to cf. Sanguinolites.


OBJECTIVE: To describe a case of right retroiliac ectopic ureter opening into the seminal vesicle, an uncommon congenital malformation. METHODS/RESULTS: This anomaly was diagnosed in a 24-year-old male with recurrent acute right epididymitis based on the clinical, ultrasound and CT findings. Cystoscopy and IVP provided no additional information. Surgical exploration showed right renal agenesis and a retroiliac ectopic ureter opening into a dilated right seminal vesicle. These structures were resected. Patient evolution was satisfactory with no recurrence of the infective episodes. CONCLUSIONS: Diagnosis of this anomaly is based on clinical suspicion and the findings of the diagnostic imaging techniques. Surgical exploration, which is only required in symptomatic patients, will establish the correct diagnosis and treatment.


Abstract A key challenge for research and practice is to understand how the ecosystem approach can be rolled out in spatial planning, management and decision-making. Any framework used to apply the ecosystem approach needs to not only be environmentally coherent but also socially meaningful. Drawing on semi-structured interviews and case studies, this paper examines the potential role of one place-based approach, landscape character assessment, as a medium to ensure socio-ecological relevance in operationalising the ecosystem approach. Our findings show that although place-based approaches have value as frameworks for distilling the ecosystem approach into a manageable form, their ecological relevance is a subject of debate. However, the potential relationship between landscape character, function and ecosystem services presented a powerful pathway for operationalising the ecosystem approach. The ecosystem approach may, in turn, complement landscape character assessment by providing a framework for exploring the functional dimension of landscape condition.


The methanolic extract of bark of Artabotrys hexapetalus were investigated for in-vitro anthelmintic and cytotoxic activities. Evaluation of cytotoxic activity was done using the brine shrimp lethality bio-assay. The crude methanolic extract showed significant cytotoxic potential (LC50 value of 7.688 μg/ml) comparing with that of standard vincristine (0.839 μg/ml). The other study was undertaken to evaluate anthelmintic activity where albendazole was used as reference standard. Methanolic extract of barks (50 mg/ml) caused paralysis of the worms at 68.33 minutes and death at 84.0 minutes while albendazole (positive control) paralyzed and killed the worms at 17 minutes and 48 minutes respectively at the concentration of 10 mg/ml. The study confirms the significant anthelmintic activities of bark extract of Artabotrys hexapetalus and therefore demands the isolation of active principles through bioassay.


BACKGROUND
Most developing countries have been unable to implement well-organized health care systems, especially comprehensive Pap smear screening-based programs. One of the reasons for this is regional differences in medical services, and a low-cost portable cervical screening system is necessary. To improve regional discrepancies in cervical screening systems, we investigated the usefulness and acceptability of cervical self- sampling by liquid-based cytology (LBC) for 290 volunteers in the Lao PDR.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Following health education with comprehensive documents, cervical self-sampling kits by LBC were distributed in three provincial, district, and village areas to a total of 290 volunteers, who were asked to take cytology samples by themselves. Subsequently, the acceptability of self-sampling was evaluated using a questionnaire.

RESULTS
The documents were well understood in all three regions. Regarding the acceptability of self-sampling, the selections for subsequent screening were 62% self-sampling, 36% gynecologist-sampling, 1% either method, and 1% other methods. The acceptability rates were higher in the district and the village than in the province. For the relationship between acceptability and pregnancy, the self-sampling selection rate was higher in the pregnancy-experienced group (75%) than in the pregnancy-inexperienced group (60%). For the relationship between selection of self-sampling and experience of screening, the self-sampling selection rate was higher in the screening-inexperienced group (62%) than in the screening-experienced group (52%).

CONCLUSIONS
Our data show that this new way forward, involving a combination of self-sampling and LBC, is highly acceptable regardless of age, educational background, and residence in rural areas in a developing country.


This paper presents a novel approach towards iris recognition based on dual boundary (Pupil-Iris & Sclera-Iris) detection and then using a modified Multilayer Feed Forward neural network (MFNN) to perform an efficient automatic classification. The novelty of the work resides in the fact that the proposed method features the localization of the dual iris boundaries to be used as feature vector for classification. The process of information extraction starts by preprocessing the eye-image to remove specular highlight and then locating the pupil of the eye by using edge detection. The centroid of the detected pupil is chosen as the reference point for extracting the boundary points. The boundary points are recorded using radius vector functions approach. The proposed feature vector is obtained by concatenating the contour points of the Pupil-Iris boundary and the Sclera-Iris boundary which will yield a unique pattern named as Iris signature. The proposed method is translational and scale invariant. The classification is performed using the MFNN via a modified version of back-propagation algorithm which uses a time varying learning rate. The proposed system has been tested on moderate no of pictures taken from MMU iris database in the presence of additive noise for different values of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Experimental result for percentage recognition shows that the proposed method outperforms the single boundary method.


The"Workshop on Machine learning in heterogeneous porous materials"brought together international scientific communities of applied mathematics, porous media, and material sciences with experts in the areas of heterogeneous materials, machine learning (ML) and applied mathematics to identify how ML can advance materials research. Within the scope of ML and materials research, the goal of the workshop was to discuss the state-of-the-art in each community, promote crosstalk and accelerate multi-disciplinary collaborative research, and identify challenges and opportunities. As the end result, four topic areas were identified: ML in predicting materials properties, and discovery and design of novel materials, ML in porous and fractured media and time-dependent phenomena, Multi-scale modeling in heterogeneous porous materials via ML, and Discovery of materials constitutive laws and new governing equations. This workshop was part of the AmeriMech Symposium series sponsored by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and the U.S. National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics.


The environmental fates and consequences of intensive sulfur (S) applications to croplands are largely unknown. In this study, we used S stable isotopes to identify and trace agricultural S from field-to-watershed scales, an initial and timely step toward constraining the modern S cycle. We conducted our research within the Napa River Watershed, California, US, where vineyards receive frequent fungicidal S sprays. We measured soil and surface water sulfate concentrations ([SO4 2−]) and stable isotopes (δ 34S–SO4 2−), which we refer to in combination as the 'S fingerprint'. We compared samples collected from vineyards and surrounding forests/grasslands, which receive background atmospheric and geologic S sources. Vineyard δ 34S–SO4 2− values were 9.9 ± 5.9‰ (median ± interquartile range), enriched by ∼10‰ relative to forests/grasslands (−0.28 ± 5.7‰). Vineyards also had roughly three-fold higher [SO4 2−] than forests/grasslands (13.6 and 5.0 mg SO4 2−–S l−1, respectively). Napa River δ 34S–SO4 2− values, reflecting the watershed scale, were similar to those from vineyards (10.5 ± 7.0‰), despite vineyard agriculture constituting only ∼11% of the watershed area. Combined, our results provide important evidence that agricultural S is traceable at field-to-watershed scales, a critical step toward determining the consequences of agricultural alterations to the modern S cycle.


Objective To study and compare the effects of different demineralization-inhibition methods on the shear bond strength (SBS) and fracture mode of an adhesive used to bond orthodontic brackets to demineralized enamel surfaces. Methods Eighty freshly extracted, human maxillary premolars were divided into 4 equal groups and demineralized over the course of 21 days. Brackets were bonded to the demineralized enamel of teeth in Group 1. In Group 2, bonding was performed following resin infiltration (ICON®, DMG, Hamburg, Germany). Before bonding, pre-treatment with acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF) or solutions containing casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate with 2% neutral sodium fluoride (CPP-ACP/wF) was performed in Groups 3 and 4, respectively. The SBS values of the brackets were measured and recorded following mechanical shearing of the bracket from the tooth surface. The adhesive remnant index (ARI) scores were determined after the brackets failed. Statistical comparisons were performed using one-way ANOVA, Tukey's post-tests, and G-tests. Results Significant differences were found in some of the intergroup comparisons of the SBS values (F = 39.287, p < 0.001). No significant differences were found between the values for the APF-gel and control groups, whereas significantly higher SBS values were recorded for the resin-infiltrated and CPP-ACP/wF-treated groups. The ARI scores were also significantly different among the 4 groups (p < 0.001). Conclusions Tooth surfaces exposed to resin infiltration and CPP-ACP/wF application showed higher debonding forces than the untreated, demineralized surfaces.


This Examination Thesis was done at the Blekinge Institute of Technology of Karlskrona. The work is a part of the education to Bachelor of Science in product development. The task consists of changing the steering wheel transmission of the DYNAPAC CA soil compactor machine made by Svedala Compaction Equipment AB. During the work we have followed the Fredy Olsson product development method. The work is divided in two parts: The Concept phase and The Primary Construction phase. In the Concept phase we first defined the project. After that we did investigations to find different solutions, which were electronic solution, hydraulic solution, gears and shafts, synchronous belts, single wire and double wires. Then, we made descriptions of all the proposals, next step was a primary evaluation of the product solutions. We used three matrixes to find out which solutions we were going to keep for the progress of the project and found the synchronous belt as the most advantageous steering system. In the Primary Construction we chose the most suitable belt using a criterions matrix. We designed the modifications of the different parts of the steering system with the I-DEAS CAD system. We also made some tests,calculations and cost analyses. Our final proposal is a new steering system, which is based on the mentioned synchronous belts and pulleys. We think that the found solution is going to work safe and successfully for a very long time. It is also harmless for the nature and the environment.


Abstract Given the assumption that weather risks affect crop yields, we designed a weather index insurance product for soybean producers in the US state of Illinois. By separating the entire vegetation cycle into four growth stages, we investigate whether the phase-division procedure contributes to weather–yield loss relation estimation and, hence, to basis risk mitigation. Concretely, supposing stage-variant interaction patterns between temperature-based weather index growing degree days and rainfall-based weather index cumulative rainfall, a nonparametric weather–yield loss relation is estimated by a generalized additive model. The model includes penalized B-spline (P-spline) approach based on nonlinear optimal indemnity solutions under the expected utility framework. The P-spline analysis of variance (PS-ANOVA) method is used for efficient estimation through mixed model re-parameterization. The results indicate that the phase-division models significantly outperform the benchmark whole-cycle ones either under quadratic utility or exponential utility, given different levels of risk aversions. Finally, regarding hedging effectiveness, the expected utility ratio between the phase-division contract and the whole-cycle contract, and the percentage changes of mean root square loss and variance of revenues support the proposed phase-division contract.


The knowledge and estimate of transport behaviours of fluids are very influential in heat and mass flow. In this study, an equation correlating the Arrhenius energy (Ea), the pre-exponential factor (A), the Arrhenius temperature (T) and the Arrhenius activation temperature (T*) is applied so as to buttress the depth of discussion. The results obtained from the viscosity experiments of Mustard and Cotton seed oils at different temperature ranges offers very good results statistically. The Activation energy Ea, Entropic (preexponential) factor A, Arrhenius temperature TA and the Arrhenius activation temperature for the mustard oil were observed to be 374.37381 J/mole, 12.39260595 cP, -17.89797783 C, 45.051 C respectively while Activation energy Ea, Entropic (pre-exponential) factor A, Arrhenius temperature TA and the Arrhenius activation temperature for the cotton seed oil are respectively 451.90611 J/mole, 8.210386507 cP, 25.8292961 C, 54.381 C. The coefficients of regressions (R) for the graph of the natural log of viscosity versus reciprocal of temperature (Figures 2 and 4) for the mustard oil and cotton seed oil are 0.9996 and 0.9996 respectively. Since the correlation coefficient is the measure of how well a collection of data points can be modeled by a line, we can hence conclude that the natural log of the viscosity of both seed oil samples versus the inverse of their respective temperatures have a very good fit.


Transition metal atoms with corresponding nitrogen coordination are widely proposed as catalytic centers for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in metal–nitrogen–carbon (M–N–C) catalysts. Here, an effective strategy that can tailor Fe–N–C catalysts to simultaneously enrich the number of active sites while boosting their intrinsic activity and utilization is reported. This is achieved by edge engineering of FeN4 sites via a simple ammonium chloride salt‐assisted approach, where a high fraction of FeN4 sites are preferentially generated and hosted in a graphene‐like porous scaffold. Theoretical calculations reveal that the FeN4 moieties with adjacent pore defects are likely to be more active than the nondefective configuration. Coupled with the facilitated accessibility of active sites, this prepared catalyst, when applied in a practical H2–air proton exchange membrane fuel cell, delivers a remarkable peak power density of 0.43 W cm−2, ranking it as one of the most active M–N–C catalysts reported to date. This work provides a new avenue for boosting ORR activity by edge manipulation of FeN4 sites.


Although seed quality and quantity, as well as reproductive performance are important life history stages of plants, little is known about the reproductive responses of trees to environmental changes such as increased anthropogenic deposition of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Dioecious plants are good models with which to test the environmental impact on female or male reproductive responses individually. We analysed effects of different long-term nutritional availability on the reproductive performance of two dioecious species (Taxus baccata L. and Juniperus communis L.) characterised by different life histories. By using pot experiments with vegetatively propagated plants grown in different fertilisation conditions, we observed an increase in plant growth and strobili production but a decrease in seed efficiency. Seeds produced by fertilised plants had greater seed mass. Fertiliser addition did not change C or N content nor the C/N ratio of T. baccata seeds, but increased N content and the N/P ratio; however, it did lower the C/N ratio in J. communis. Fertilisation did not change the metabolite profile in T. baccata but 18 metabolites were changed in J. communis. The study revealed new links between species life history, environmental changes, and reproduction. The findings imply that future environmental conditions may alter both seed productivity, and quality, as well as plant reproductive behaviour.


Beams of high-strength concrete (fcc up to 90 MPa) were tested in shear and bending. Various types of fiber (metallic and nonmetallic) were added to the concrete matrix to up to 1% per volume concrete. Also, four different beam depths were investigated. The efficiency of fibers depends on the governing load-carrying mechanisms, which may vary for different beam dimensions. The chosen steel fibers did not improve the capacity of the 250 mm deep beams as they did for some of the 300 mm beams. They enhanced the toughness in the 500 mm beams, but were not enough for the 700 mm beams. Also, a fiber cocktail may prove more effective than using a single type of fiber. The chosen steel fibers are competitive with conventional stirrups, according to this study. A nonlinear truss model is devised to predict the load-carrying capacity of the beams. The model gave good predictions for beams without stirrups and depths up to 500 mm.


Acute, reversible changes in human vestibular function can be produced by exposure to "Torso Rotation" (TR), a method involving the overuse of certain types of simple, self-generated movements. A single session results in multiple, short-lasting aftereffects, including perceptual illusions, VOR gain reduction, gaze and postural instability, and motion sickness. With repeated exposure, motion sickness susceptibility disappears and gaze stability improves. VOR gain continues to be reduced, however. Therefore, another gaze stabilizing system must come into play. Are visual and/or neck inputs involved in this functional compensation? Six subjects participated in this 7-day experiment. Eye and head movements were measured during 2 tests: 1) voluntary "head only" shaking between 0.3 and 3.0 Hz (lights off) and 2) voluntary "head and torso" shaking, moving the upper body en bloc (neck immobilized). Measurements were obtained before and repeatedly after TR. Velocity gain (eye velocity/head velocity) was determined for each of these tests. Each day, mean velocity gain during "head only" shaking in the dark (averaged over 1.0 to 2.0 Hz) dropped significantly after TR (P < 0.01), with no long-term improvement (P > 0.9). Similar results, although more noisy, were obtained for "head and torso" shaking. As a control, EOG calibration data confirmed that gaze stability in the light did improve over the 7 days of testing. This experiment demonstrates that the reduction in gaze instability following repeated exposure to TR results from an increased use of vision. It excludes the VOR, the COR, and predictive mechanisms (including efference copy) as contributors. In addition, in the 20 minutes following TR completion, gaze stability recovered less than during previous VOR testing in the dark. These results are compatible with the motion that exposure to TR leads to a change in sensorimotor strategy involving a de-emphasis of vestibular inputs.


Summary form only given, as follows. The main early results from conjunctoid learning theory are reviewed. Recent conjunctoid results are outlined, including: (1) a new formulation that treats supervised and unsupervised learning-as well as reinforced learning, associative memory and optimization-as special cases; (2) advances in conditional maximum-likelihood estimation toward consistent, noniterative, and highly parallel learning trial updating; (3) advances in VLSI implementation and Monte-Carlo simulation; and (4) the resulting applications prospects. >


In this Communication, we report the unprecedented solid-state structures for a series of zinc(II) silsesquioxane complexes. Initial catalytic data for the ring-opening polymerization of rac-lactide are also presented together with analogous heterogeneous species.


Purpose- This study examined associations among the Big Five personality dimensions and compulsive buying tendency and variety seeking tendency in Erzurum. Methodology- Participants ( n =389) completed a survey that included measures of personality, compulsive buying and variety seeking. Findings- The results revealed that four personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience) were positively correlated with variety seeking tendency. Extraversion was positively related with compulsive buying tendency, and conscientiousness was negatively related with CBT. Finally, compulsive buying tendency was positively related with variety seeking tendency. Conclusion- Six of eleven hypotheses are accepted in our model. Our study shows that the perception levels of participants in the way of variables, the highest-valued personality factors are agreeableness and conscientiousness, while the lowest-valued personality trait is emotional stability. The perception level of compulsive buying tendency is very low. However, the perception level of variety seeking is high.


The capacity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) to induce mammary carcinomas has been studied in three rat strains. Wistar/Furth (WF) rats are highly susceptible to DMBA-induced mammary carcinogenesis, Copenhagen (Cop) rats are completely resistant, and Fischer 344 (F344) rats have an intermediate susceptibility. We have previously shown that WF rats possess 'enhancer genes', which enhance susceptibility to induced mammary cancer. Cop rats, however, possess a single 'suppressor' gene which confers complete resistance to mammary cancer. Both gene types are apparently absent in F344 rats. In order to determine possible mechanisms of action of these enhancer and suppressor genes, we have examined DMBA metabolism and DNA binding in mammary epithelial cells isolated from each rat strain. Quantitative analyses of both metabolism and DNA binding indicate no significant differences among the strains. In addition, HPLC analyses of DMBA metabolites and DMBA-DNA adducts were essentially identical. These data suggest that the genes controlling susceptibility and resistance to mammary carcinogenesis in these rat strains are likely to be active at later stages of the carcinogenic process.


In response to a request from Senator Tom Harkin, the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) evaluated the effects of a uniform 10 percent reduction in program crop acreage in the United States. Specifically, FAPRI analyzed the effects on price, trade, consumption, and production in the eight program-crop markets and all related markets. FAPRI also investigated both the domestic and international implications of this reduction in U.S. planted area. In particular, FAPRI analyzed whether a decrease in U.S. production would be accommodated by a decrease in domestic use and inventories and corresponding changes in foreign production, use, and inventories.


TRC Environmental Consultants, Inc. conducted 72 field tests to determine particulate emission levels for a rotary railcar coal dumper operated by the Potomac Electric Power Company. Approximately 60 parameters were monitored as part of the testing program. These parameters related to particulate emissions, meteorology, and coal properties. The railcar dumper was situated inside of a shed. No other control devices were in operation during the test program. Emissions were measured at the entrance and exit doorways of the shed using the mass flux technique. Background levels were accounted for using the upwind/downwind technique. The amount of particulate material that deposited within the shed was also recorded. The study resulted in the determination of emission levels that were one to two orders of magnitude less than those cited in the literature. These emission levels were found to correlate the strongest with the moisture content of the coal and whether the coal was washed or unwashed.


Myositis ossificans traumatica is an unusual complication following a muscle contusion injury. A significantly large myositic mass causing ankylosis of the elbow is even rarer. We report a 13-year-old boy who presented with a 14-month history of a fixed elbow with no movement and a palpable bony mass in the anterior aspect of the elbow. He had sustained significant trauma to the affected limb 1 month prior to onset of symptoms, which was managed by native massage and bandaging for 4 weeks. The clinicoradiological diagnosis was suggestive of myositis ossificans, and the myositic mass was completely excised. Histopathology revealed lamellar bone. The 2-year follow-up showed full function of the affected limb and no signs of recurrence. We report this case of clinical interest due to the unusually large myositic mass.


A theoretical model of the movement of aerosols in the lungs is proposed. The model is based upon the transport equations taking into account the aerosol inertial deposition processes. Particles move along curvilinear trajectories in self-twisted vortex air flows. Deposition occurs over several cycles of inhalation and exhalation. This mechanism works for particles with a diameter greater than 1 – 2 microns. All particles with a diameter of 4 microns and more are captured in the respiratory tract before the terminal bronchioles. Only particles with a size of less than 2 microns can penetrate into the respiratory parts of the lungs, but the cleaning coefficient for them is close to unity. The lung cleaning model describes the limiting capabilities of the mucociliar у system. The importance of taking into account the temporal characteristics of the mucociliary escalation of dust deposited in the lungs has been demonstrated. The existence of a mode of accumulation of particles in the lungs, due to a lack of cleaning time during periodic dust exposure, has been established.


Abstract Childhood obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges globally. It is associated with various adverse health consequences throughout life. Prevention and early intervention represent the most reasonable and cost‐effective approaches. Considerable progress has been achieved in the management of obesity in children and adolescents; yet, implementation in the real world remains a challenge. This article aimed to present an overview of the diagnosis and management of obesity in children and adolescents.


We report exact model calculations of the spin-dependent tunneling in double magnetic tunnel junctions in the presence of impurities in the well. We show that the impurity can tune selectively the spin channels giving rise to a wide variety of interesting and novel transport phenomena. The tunneling magnetoresistance, the spin polarization, and the local current can be dramatically enhanced or suppressed by impurities. The underlying mechanism is the impurity-induced shift of the quantum well states (QWSs), which depends on the impurity potential, impurity position, and the symmetry of the QWS.


How salamanders accomplish progenitor cell proliferation while faithfully maintaining genomic integrity and regenerative potential remains elusive. Here we found an innate DNA damage response mechanism that is evident during blastema proliferation (early- to late-bud) and studied its role during tissue regeneration by ablating the function of one of its components, Eyes absent 2. In eya2 mutant axolotls, we found that DNA damage signaling through the H2AX histone variant was deregulated, especially within the proliferating progenitors during limb regeneration. Ultimately, cell cycle progression was impaired at the G1/S and G2/M transitions and regeneration rate was reduced. Similar data were acquired using acute pharmacological inhibition of the Eya2 phosphatase activity and the DNA damage checkpoint kinases Chk1 and Chk2 in wild-type axolotls. Together, our data indicate that highly-regenerative animals employ a robust DNA damage response pathway which involves regulation of H2AX phosphorylation via Eya2 to facilitate proper cell cycle progression upon injury.