Background : Although recipients and donors in living kidney transplantation are exposed to psychological distress, including depression and anxiety during the pre-operative period, only a few studies have evaluated their psychological relationship. This study aimed at determining the psychological characteristics and correlation between transplant recipients and donors as well as at investigating it in relation to biologically related and unrelated donors. Methods : This retrospective study on living kidney transplantation at the Korea University Anam Hospital was conducted from April 2008 to June 2019. While participants' personality patterns were assessed using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2(MMPI-2), their mood states before transplantation were evaluated via both the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Statistical analysis was performed using a paired t-test and Spearman's correlation analyses. Results : The recipient group showed a significantly higher sub-score in hypochondriasis (t =-4.49, P=.0001), depression (t =-3.36, P=.0015), hysteria (t =-3.30, P=.0018), STAI-T (t =-2.14, P=0.0372), and CES-D (t =-3.93, P=.0003) than donor group. A comparison of the psychological association between the recipient and donor groups revealed a significant positive correlation in the STAI-S (r=.357, P=.009) and CES-D (r=.362, P=.008). When assessing the difference in correlation based on the biological relationship between the recipients and donors, there is a positive correlation in CES-D (r=.415, P=.0202) in biologically related donors and recipients. In biologically unrelated but emotionally related group, recipients' STAI-S score and donors' STAI-S (r=0.413, P=.163), STAI-T (r=.559, P=009) score is positively correlated, and recipients' STAI-T score and donors' STAI-S (r=.466, P=.033), STAI-T (r=.520, P=.016) score is also positively correlated. Besides, recipients' CES-D and donors' STAI-S (r=.529, P=.014) and STAI-T (r=.560, P=.008) score show a positive correlation. Conclusions : The study indicated that transplantation recipients suffered from a higher level of depression and anxiety compared to the donors before transplantation. The findings suggest that recipients are more depressive and anxious than donors, and psychological problems like depression and anxiety can be shared in living kidney transplantation donors and recipients, especially in biologically unrelated but emotionally related groups.


Most High Frequency (HF) communications systems deployed on the field today implement ALE (Automatic Link Establishment) techniques in order to help the end-user automatically set up a link with good properties. Two generations (so called 2G and 3G ALE) have been standardized since the 90s, and are today being revisited due to the emergence of wideband HF waveforms. In this paper, we model ALE protocols using an abstraction model based on Markov chains. Our model captures faster and more easily than simulations the main characteristics of the ALE processes and the interactions between their numerous parameters. In that sense, this model constitutes a useful tool to help design and benchmark future ALE strategies. In order to validate the model, classical ALE simulations have also been carried out, that show the high similarity obtained with the model. We also show how to exploit the model to give insights on the limitations of current 2G ALE, for instance on the handshake method and on the impact of frequency selection strategy on the ALE duration.


Background: To investigate whether familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) gene mutation carriers without overt left ventricular hypertrophy have subclinical changes in left ventricular function.Methods: We studied Eighteen HCM families with pathogenic mutations, 45 patients with overt HCM (gene positive/phenotype positive (G+/P+)), 40 patients without myocardial hypertrophy (gene positive/phenotype negative G+/P-)), and 48 genotype-negative related healthy controls. Conventional echocardiography and velocity vector imaging (VVI) were performed, and blood levels of N- terminal pro- brain natriuretic peptide (NT- pro- BNP) were analyzed.Results: Although the global longitudinal, circumferential and radial strain was similar between the G+/P- group and the control group, the longitudinal strain of basal inferoseptum and basal anteroseptum was lower in G+/P- patients than in controls, while the basal and middle inferolateral longitudinal strains were significantly higher. Compared with the controls, G+/P+ patients had significantly lower global and segmental longitudinal and radial strains. There were no significant differences between the normal control and G+/P+ groups for global and segmental circumferential strains. The middle of the left ventricle (LV) was clockwise in G+/P+ patients (opposite to normal).The rotation angle of the mid LV rotation in the G+/P+ group were significantly higher than those in the G+/P- subjects and controls. The NT-proBNP levels were higher in G+/P+ patients than in G+/P- people and controls.Conclusions: Sarcomere gene mutation carriers without overt left ventricular hypertrophy have subclinical segmental systolic dysfunction. Velocity vector imaging is feasible for differentiating HCM, G+/P- patients from controls.


Kjell Öberg, MD, PhD, is Professor of Endocrine Oncology at the Medical Faculty of Uppsala University, Sweden. He is founder and Head of the Endocrine Oncology Clinic and a specialist in endocrinology and internal medicine. He has more than 20 years of experience in the field of neuroendocrine tumors. Between 1986 and 1992 he was Clinical Associate Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. From 1998 to 2002 he was Chairman of the Department of Medical Sciences at the Medical Faculty of Uppsala University. He is currently Dean of the Medical Faculty, and has been since July 2002. Dr Öberg is co-ordinator of the European Neuroendocrine Tumour Network (ENET) and also Chairman of the Nordic Endocrine Tumour Network. He has pioneered the treatment of carcinoid tumor patients with interferon (IFN) and somatostatin analogs and has developed assays for tumor markers such as chromogranin A and radiological procedures, such as specialised PET scannings. He described genetic deletion in multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN-1) for the first time in 1988. In 1991 Dr Öberg received the European Interferon Research Award. He has given hundreds of lectures at international meetings and has published more than 400 papers within his research field. In June 2003, Dr Öberg received the award of 'Eminent Scientist Year 2003' from the International Research Promotion Council (IRPC) and World Scientist Forum. In November 2004 he received the European Gold Medal in Endocrinology from the English Endocrine Society.


Accumulating evidence have demonstrated that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)             are involved in the initiation and progression of various vascular diseases. Canonical             Wnt signaling controls the fate of MSCs, and plays an important role in vascular             calcification. However, vascular calcification can be inhibited by the non-canonical             Wnt signaling pathway Wnt5a/Ror2. This study aimed to investigate whether the             Wnt5a/Ror2 pathway is associated with determination of the differentiation fate             of MSCs in vascular calcification. Direct co-cultures were established by seeding             smooth muscle cells (SMCs) or calcified SMCs and MSCs together at ratios of SMCs             or calcified SMCs 15x104; SMCs or calcified SMCs 5x104: MSCs 10x104, SMCs or calcified             SMCs 10x104: MSCs 5x104. Osteosynthesis-inducing medium (OS) was added to the             culture medium in the groups of MSCs with non-calcified SMCs. Cells were cultured             for nine days. Osteoblastic differentiation was evaluated by cell morphology and             the activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in cell lysates and ALP staining. Furthermore,             we investigated the inhibition of Wnt signaling, and observed that the members             of the non-canonical signaling pathway Wnt5a/Ror2 were expressed in each group.             Additionally, MSCs cultured in culture media with OS did not differentiate into             an osteoblast phenotype when in direct contact with non-calcified SMCs, irrespective             of the number of MSCs. However, an osteoblast phenotype was observed when MSCs             were cultured in media without OS differentiation towards direct contact with             calcified SMCs, and the levels of osteoblastic markers had a direct correlation             with the number of MSCs. Of note, the Wnt5a protein was associated with the levels             of calcification, thus, although rarely detected in non-calcification, Ror2 mRNA             in the non-calcified groups was significantly higher compared to that in the calcified             groups. Therefore, the Wnt5a/Ror2 pathway is associated with determination of             the differentiation fate of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in vascular calcification.


Knowledge workers spend the majority of their working hours processing and manipulating information. These users face continual costs as they switch between tasks to retrieve and create information. The TaskTracer project at Oregon State University is investigating the possibilities of a desktop software system that will record in detail how knowledge workers complete tasks, and intelligently leverage that information to increase efficiency and productivity. Our approach combines human-computer interaction and machine learning to assign each observed action (opening a file, saving a file, sending an email, cutting and pasting information, etc.) to a task for which it is likely being performed. In this paper we report on ways we have applied machine learning in this environment and lessons learned so far.


For the localisation of sound sources, usually the acoustic pressure is propagated by means of acoustic holography techniques. In this paper the merits of the propagation of sound intensity instead of acoustic pressure are addressed. A newly developed theory based upon Planar Nearfield Acoustic Holography (PNAH) is described which propagates cross-spectra directly. Using this theory, called cross-spectral NAH, it is possible to propagate, in approximation, sound intensity spectra directly without the need to propagate the acoustic pressure and acoustic particle velocity spectra individually. In this paper, the cross-spectral PNAH theory is applied to an acoustical set-up with four baffled pistons, which can be solved analytically. The sound intensity is propagated towards the source by means of cross-spectral NAH and is compared with both the more commonly used indirectly propagated sound intensity and with the analytical sound intensity. It is shown that an accurate reconstruction of the sound intensity can be obtained by means of cross-spectral NAH, which is less sensitive to measurement noise in comparison with the indirect propagation of sound intensity.


Providing orthopaedic care for children is most likely the greatest responsibility an orthopaedic resident will face during residency. As growing individuals, children's bones are much softer and pliable than bones in adults and therefore they break and heal differently, requiring different treatment. If the break includes the physis, which is unique to children, it must be treated in a way that will avoid growth problems. If not treated early or correctly, fractures or deformities, either congenital or mechanical, can result in significant disability in adulthood. Although this rotation may seem daunting at first, treating children is extremely fulfilling. This article shares some practical tips for surviving your first night on pediatric orthopaedic call.


Animal life essentially is a set of gene expression processes. Thorough understanding of these processes driven by dietary nutrients and other environmental factors can be regarded as a bottom line of modern advanced animal nutrition research for improving animal growth, development, health, production, and reproduction performance. Nutrigenomics, a genome-wide approach using the knowledge and techniques obtained from the disciplines of genomics (including transcriptomics) and molecular biology, is to study the effects of dietary nutrients on cellular gene expression, cellular metabolic responses and, ultimately, the phenotypic changes of a living organism. Transcriptomics can be applied to investigate animal tissue transcriptome at a defined physiological or nutritional state, which provides a holistic view of the intracellular expression of RNA, especially mRNA. As a novel, promising transcriptomics approach, RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) technology can monitor all-gene expressions simultaneously in response to dietary intervention. The principle and history of RNA-Seq technology will be briefly reviewed, and the three principal steps of this methodology, including the laboratory analysis of tissue samples, the bioinformatics analysis of the generated sequence data, and the subsequent biological interpretation of the data, will be described. The application of RNA-Seq technology in different areas of animal nutrition research, which include maternal nutrition, feeding strategy and gut microbiota, will be summarized. Lastly, the application of RNA-Seq technology in swine science and nutrition research will also be discussed. In short, to further improve animal feeding or production efficiency, RNA-Seq technology holds a great potential to be employed to explore the new insights into better understanding of nutrient-gene interactions in agricultural animals, and it is expected that the application of this cutting-edge technology in animal nutrition research will continue to grow in the foreseeable future. This research was supported in part by a USDA-NIFA Multistate Project (No. 1007691).


With the EU having an adventure in FTA negotiations after the serious setback from the Doha Round trade negotiations, China becomes increasingly concerned about the potential trade diversion effects and the possible G2 domination by the EU and the US in terms of rule-making power in world trade. This article offers both a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the potential impact on China from the EU's two major FTA negotiations - one with the US and the other with Japan. Chinese intellectuals who are paying attention to these two FTAs, however, have very mixed opinions, which can be characterized as positive, negative or what can be termed as 'marginal impact'. On the basis of the analysis of the mixed opinions, the authors make further predictions about the possible responses of the Chinese government towards new FTA strategy of the EU, and suggest that the EU's FTAs need to exhibit sign of greater amicability and accepting of differing opinions and most importantly, they should form building blocks, instead of stumbling blocks, for the multilateral trading system.


The so-called Capmix technique for energy extraction is based on the cyclic expansion of electrical double layers to harvest dissipative energy arising from the salinity difference between freshwater and seawater. Its optimal performance requires a careful selection of the electrical potentials for the charging and discharging processes, which must be matched with the pore characteristics of the electrode materials. While a number of recent studies have examined the effects of the electrode pore size and geometry on the capacitive energy extraction processes, there is little knowledge on how the surface properties of the electrodes affect the thermodynamic efficiency. In this work, we investigate the Capmix processes using the classical density functional theory for a realistic model of electrolyte solutions. The theoretical predictions allow us to identify optimal operation parameters for capacitive energy extraction with porous electrodes of different surface hydrophobicity. In agreement with recent experiments, we find that the thermodynamic efficiency can be much improved by using most hydrophilic electrodes.


Road traffic accidents are a major health problem in Nigeria. Death and injuries resulting from road crashes in the country have been on the increase over the years. For instance, fatality rate rose from 5.3 in 1970 to 5.8 in 2005. The purpose of the paper is to assess the pattern and socio-economic burden of road crashes on road accident victims in south-western Nigeria. The study relied on the administration of 438 questionnaires to road accident victims in both public and private hospitals in south-western Nigeria. The data were presented using descriptive statistics. Findings indicated that more than 70% of the accident victims were within the productive age group of between 15–45 years, with over 60% of them living below the poverty line. Motorcycles and buses accounted for 70% of the vehicles while about 40% of the victims were pedestrians. Each victim on average spent a minimum of US$17 per day on medical expenses and had at least one person attached to him/her throughout the period of admission. This has grave implications on the welfare of the families and the socio-economic development of the country. The paper calls for the use of preventive methods and post-crash management initiatives in order to reduce the magnitude and burden of road crashes on members of the society in south-western Nigeria.


Ebola is a new emerging infection that cause the global public health problem at present. There are severe infected cases from the epidemic foci in Africa and the trend for worldwide expansion lead to the great concern of medical society. The neurological problem in Ebola is an interesting topic in neurology. Here, the author briefly summarize and discuss on this topic in this article.


: Vertigo occurs either with motion stimulation which causes an intersensory mismatch or by a dysfunction of one of the stabilizing sensory systems, representing either a "physiological" or a "pathological" vertigo syndrome, respectively. This review emphasizes the differential effects of physical maneuvers and drugs and surgery in the prevention or treatment of motion sickness, height vertigo, head extension vertigo, as well as peripheral labyrinthine lesions, paroxysmal positional vertigo, Meniere's syndrome, vertiginous epilepsy and phobic vertigo.


The highly regioselective anodic monofluorination of 2-substituted 1,3-oxathiolan-5-ones was successfully carried out using a novel supporting electrolyte, Et(4)NF.4HF, while use of a conventional supporting electrolyte, Et(3)N.3HF, resulted in no formation or extremely low yields of the fluorinated products.


The Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol design for distributed wireless networks has been a topic of extensive research in the last years. The protocol design challenge relies on the infra-structureless nature of distributed wireless networks, which difficult the implementation of optimal throughput MAC schemes. However, interesting optimal-based MAC protocols have been proposed in the last years, including protocols such as AOB, Idle Sense, as well as a MAC scheme that we have recently proposed. Contrarily to previous works, where the existing optimal-based protocols are evaluated considering an ideal physical layer without transmission errors, this paper evaluates the performance of these protocols when transmission errors are considered. The analysis compares a recent optimal MAC scheme proposed by our team (OMACP - Optimal MAC Protocol) with two other optimal-based protocols (Idle Sense and AOB), extending the evaluation to two heuristic-based solutions (IEEE 802.11 MAC and GDCF protocol). A comparison is made for the throughput, delay and fairness index achieved by each protocol. The results evidence higher performance for optimal-based protocols, highlighting the good performance of our recently proposed protocol.


AIM: To measure the level of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus awareness among visitors in PHC at KAMC and to explores the factors which influence the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus awareness. METHODS: The study was a cross-sectional study conducted between February and September 2018 in four primary health care centers belong to King Abdulaziz Medical City. The study participants were male and female adult visitors to the centers` age from 18 to 60 years of age. The sample size was 400 participants. The participants were enrolled via a random convenience sampling method. Study data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Analytic statistics were done using the Chi-square (χ2) test for associations and/or the difference between two categorical variables. A P-value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The awareness about Systemic Lupus Erythematosus among male and female was not statistically significant as (P = 0.304), but there was a statistically significant difference according to education level. Visitors with high school education are aware of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus than those with a lower level of education (Primary & Middle school) who are not aware of the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus by (P = 0.023). CONCLUSION: The study shows that this survey is valuable and beneficial to the community as it helps people to assess their knowledge about Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and become aware of this disease, as well as awareness of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus should be promoted among the community.


This paper considers the European Court of Justice's Schrems II ruling from a variety of angles. From a strictly legal point of view, considering the GDPR, the CJEU came to a logical conclusion. In this paper, I nevertheless try to think about other ways of understanding the dispute and the ruling. In addition to data protection law, the case is about surveillance, platform power, resistance, global politics, data territoriality and the Court's competence. These sensitive issues come forth when the strict data protection issues are set aside and a slightly more open analysis undertaken. In the end, however, the ruling does bring about real-life problems that pertain to data protection law. Transfers of data to third countries are a pressing problem that no one seems to know how to solve.


Purpose of the study. To evaluate the dynamics of deformation of spongy application hemostatic materials in an in vitro experiment. Materials and methods. As materials of the study the following samples of hemostatic materials were used: Tachocomb (No. 1), Gelita-Spon Standard (No. 2), Reggicel Fibrillar (No. 3), samples of hemostatic sponges developed jointly with Lintex (St.Petersburg, Russia) on the basis of sodium-Carboxymethyl Cellulose (No. 3): Samples were placed on a glass substrate which was mounted on the rising REM cross-arm 0.2–1 to estimate 50% compression residual strain. A glass substrate rigidly attached to the indenter was mounted so that its lower surface would touch the upper surface of the sample. The crossarm was then lifted at 30 mm/min, compressing the sample until the force reached 50 N, after which the sample was allowed to stand under pressure for 10 seconds. After the load was removed, the sample was removed from the substrate and the compression thickness measured (immediately after compression, after 5, 10 and 30 minutes). Results. The values of the compression residual deformation on the thickness 50% (immediately after the load removal) of the samples of group No. 1 differ statistically significantly from the values of groups No. 2 and No. 3 on 5.92 and 3.51, respectively. The difference between groups No. 1 and No. 4 is 5.61. The ODP values 50% 5 minutes after the load of Group No. 1 samples was removed differ from Groups No. 2 and No. 3 on 5.93 and 3.85, respectively. The difference between groups No. 1 and No. 4 is 6.57. After 30 minutes after compression, the values of the residual deformation of the samples of group No. 1 differ from those of groups No. 2 and No. 3 on 6.9 and 4.3. The difference between groups No. 1 and No. 4 is 6.9. Also, the values of the residual deformation of the samples of group No. 2 exceed the values of the samples of group No. 3 by 1.6 times, and in comparison with group No. 4 is less by 0.03. There are fewer statistical differences with other groups in pilot groups 5–7. Conclusion. The highest values of the indicator "residual deformation at compression by thickness 50%" are noted in group No. 7 (samples based on Na-CMC unpressurized) — 32.34, which causes high mechanical properties of jaws made from this material.


We performed up-conversion (UC) experiments in rare-earth (Er3+, Tm3+, Nd3+) doped yttrium oxide (Y2O3) powders using a high power (1.6 W) near-infrared (808 nm) diode laser modulated at 20 Hz as the excitation source. Below the threshold for incandescence, the analysis of the dynamics of the UC luminescence showed the presence of an unusual depletion of the luminescence signal. This anomalous effect could be controlled by the laser excitation power or the modulation frequency or the combination of rare-earth species doped in the samples. The phenomenon was associated with a thermo-optical effect generated by strong laser absorption, poor thermal dissipation of the powder and energy transfer (ET) between different rare-earth species. The experimental results also led us to believe that the ET mechanism cools down the rare-earth donor, Tm3+, and heats up the rare-earth acceptor, Er3+.


The first two studies investigated reactions to several different types of humorous comments. Participants indicated they would be significantly more likely to continue interacting with a friend who used adaptive self-enhancing or affiliative humor rather than maladaptive aggressive or self-defeating humor; with the most detrimental effects being evident for aggressive humor. Adaptive humorous comments also made recipients feel significantly more positive and less negative about themselves. Humor styles were further investigated in terms of implicit theories about humor. Study 2 indicated that for the self, humor was perceived as being used most often with close friends, followed by family members, romantic partners, casual acquaintances, and least often with teachers. Participants also indicated that affiliative humor was used most frequently for each relationship, followed by self-enhancing humor, self-defeating humor, and then aggressive humor. Study 3 examined the perceived frequency of use for each humor style by others. Participants indicated affiliative humor to be the most frequently used humor style, regardless of the group being rated (people in general, people one knows, family and friends), self-enhancing humor to be the second most frequently used, and the two maladaptive humor styles as being used the least often. Different co-variation patterns for the four humor styles were also found. These findings were then discussed in terms of the strong differential impact of humor styles on the recipients of humorous comments; as well as the implicit theories of humor styles that are evident for self or others.


In this paper, we focus our study on energy-efficient routing algorithms. We study an algorithm called energy-efficient tree-based routing, which is based on a tree-like topology rooted at a fixed base station (sink node) of the network with a fixed 2-dimensional (2D) grid topology. The performance of this algorithm is assessed by computer simulation and is compared with other existing algorithms. Tree-based routing algorithm is found to achieve longer network lifetime, smaller end-to-end network delay, and has better robustness to failures when compared with other algorithms in the case where the base station is placed at the perimeter of the grid.


Making trade-offs between ecological services and other contributors to human well-being is a difficult but critical process that requires valuation. This allows both better recognition of the ecological, social, and economic trade-offs and also allows us to bill those who use up or destroy ecological services and reward those that produce or enhance them. It also aids improved ecosystems policy. In this paper we clarify some of the controversies in defining the contributions to human well-being from functioning ecosystems, many of which people are not even aware of. We go on to describe the applicability of the various valuation methods that can be used in estimating the benefits of ecosystem services. Finally, we describe some recent case studies and lay out the research agenda for ecosystem services analysis, modeling, and valuation going forward.


Characteristics of railway noise depend on the type of rolling stock, track parameters and the operating conditions. Auralization in combination with visualization is a relatively new technology to support decision-making and to enable the inclusion of human perception in the assessment of di erent noise scenarios. Within this virtual environment, mitigation actions or potential design alternatives can be demonstrated in an intuitive way. This makes it an essential modern technique to communicate between stakeholders and to non-experts. The auralization of a vehicle pass-by event is based on separate modules: sound generation, propagation and reproduction. This allows for an investigation of mitigation measures at the source as well as on the propagation paths. The rail vehicle as an acoustical source is modeled by a series of moving point sources that represent physical sources. These sources emit speci c signals that are arti cially generated using parametric sound synthesis. For rolling and impact noise, emissions are generated for each axle using a physically-based synthesis model that uses rail and wheel roughness data as input. The audio signals at the virtual observer point are rendered via a loudspeaker array or headphones, whereas the visualizations are presented with a screen or a head-mounted display. With this approach, relevant railway noise mitigation measures such as changes of rail and wheel roughness, avoidance of wheel ats, variants of aggregates, and the e ects of a barrier or a cutting can be demonstrated and compared.


The submitted paper deals with the relationship of the sympathetic nervous system, metabolic syndrome of insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk. The author describes the structure and function of the sympathetic nervous system--the central part of the sympathetic nerve is in the hypothalamus and medulla oblongata. The hypothalamus combines vegetative control of the cardiovascular system and processes which influence the intermediary metabolism. This contributes to the explanation of the frequent incidence of metabolic disorders in subjects with arterial hypertension or ischaemic heart disease. The increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system is directly associated with the general cardiovascular mortality. Subjects with the metabolic syndrome of insulin resistance have a higher activity of the sympathetic nerve and thus a greater cardiovascular risk. The author describes the pathogenetic basis of this risk also in association with the sympathoadrenal system. The increased activity of the sympathetic nerve and insulin resistance can be successfully improved by a change of the lifestyle, i.e. non-smoking, a low-calorie diet, regular exercise and reduction of body weight. In addition cardiovascular risk can be reduced also pharmacologically, best by some antihypertensive drugs. In addition to classical antihypertensive drugs the author mentions agonists of imidazole receptors and their influence on the regulation of blood pressure and insulin resistance.


Abstract Modelling of the plasma transport for inherently three-dimensional (3D) problems as in stellarators requires dedicated complex codes. FINDIF is a 3D multifluid plasma edge transport code that has been previously successfully used for the analysis of energy transport in the TEXTOR-DED tokamak [1], where 3D perturbations led to an ergodic structure of field lines in the plasma edge. The ongoing efforts to apply it meaningfully to Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) plasma problems resulted in advancements in the main model and accompanying tools for mesh generation and post-processing. In order to verify the applicability of the code and to compare with the reported simulation (EMC3-EIRENE) and experimental (OP1.1) results, a series of simulations for varying plasma density, temperature and anomalous transport coefficients as well as for fixed input power were performed. The connection length pattern of FINDIF traced magnetic field lines on the limiter was reproduced and its impact on heat loads was confirmed. An increase in the peak heat load on the limiter with a rise in plasma density, temperature and anomalous plasma transport coefficients was observed. The decay lengths of density, electron temperature and heat flux did not change with density, and were decreasing with temperature and increasing with anomalous plasma transport coefficient, which was compared to the simple scrape-off layer (SOL) model.


Incomplete rankings on a set of items $\{1,\; \ldots,\; n\}$ are orderings of the form $a_{1}\prec\dots\prec a_{k}$, with $\{a_{1},\dots a_{k}\}\subset\{1,\dots,n\}$ and $k < n$. Though they arise in many modern applications, only a few methods have been introduced to manipulate them, most of them consisting in representing any incomplete ranking by the set of all its possible linear extensions on $\{1,\; \ldots,\; n\}$. It is the major purpose of this paper to introduce a completely novel approach, which allows to treat incomplete rankings directly, representing them as injective words over $\{1,\; \ldots,\; n\}$. Unexpectedly, operations on incomplete rankings have very simple equivalents in this setting and the topological structure of the complex of injective words can be interpretated in a simple fashion from the perspective of ranking. We exploit this connection here and use recent results from algebraic topology to construct a multiresolution analysis and develop a wavelet framework for incomplete rankings. Though purely combinatorial, this construction relies on the same ideas underlying multiresolution analysis on a Euclidean space, and permits to localize the information related to rankings on each subset of items. It can be viewed as a crucial step toward nonlinear approximation of distributions of incomplete rankings and paves the way for many statistical applications, including preference data analysis and the design of recommender systems.


A method for the palladium-catalyzed arylation of α,β-unsaturated valerolactams is reported. This new protocol provides arylation products in yields up to 95% and is applicable to a wide array of aryl and heteroaryl bromides. The optimization, scope and limitations are described.


Eosinophilic gastroenteritis is an uncommon disease with an obscure etiology, although associations with allergy, the idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome, and connective tissue disease have been reported. We present the case of a 37-year-old woman with a history of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura who presented with refractory nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Imaging studies were significant for bowel wall thickening and ascites, while laboratory studies revealed a positive antinuclear antibody (ANA), a positive anti-double stranded (DS) DNA antibody, low complement, and proteinuria. Exploratory laparotomy with gastric and small bowel biopsies established the diagnosis of eosinophilic gastroenteritis. In addition, the patient met clinical criteria for the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus. Previous studies have described eosinophilic gastroenteritis in patients with scleroderma, polymyositis, or dermatomyositis. This is the first report to our knowledge of an individual with eosinophilic gastroenteritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.


This article reviews memory functions in the medial parietal areas, which consist of the retrosplenial cortex, the posterior cingulate cortex, and the precuneus. These areas are involved in various cognitive functions including memory processing, spatial cognition, and self-related processing. Fundamental previous studies from the areas of neuropsychology, neuroimaging, psychiatry, and neurology, are covered to describe memory-related functions in the medial parietal areas. The focus is on the default mode network and the encoding/retrieval flip as key issues for understanding memory functions in the medial parietal areas.


In the differential diagnoses of facial pain, it is useful to consider the psychogenic types and then the sites of dysfunction or disease. This review emphasizes those facial pains in which examination of the patient is normal or nonspecific, and the cause is not obvious. Atypical facial pain is a diagnosis of exclusion without known pathophysiologic mechanisms, and is often psychogenic. Dysfunction of the muscles of mastication (myofascial pain dysfunction) is a common cause of facial pain; the acronym TMJ (temporomandibular joint) is best reserved for demonstrable disease of the joint. Other organic diseases and pathophysiologic processes affecting the muscles and bone, mouth, eyes, ears, nose, throat, blood vessels, and cranial nerves, and pain syndromes affecting the central nervous system are discussed. If the underlying cause of pain cannot be found and eliminated, other therapeutic approaches are discussed.


Abstract. the purpose of this research is increasing the teacher's performance in teaching through class visitation in academic supervision in Weton Elementary School, Sub district of Rembang, Regency of Rembang with School Action Research. The techniques of collecting data are using the documentation study, observation and interview. Test of data validation are using resources triangulation and techniques triangulation. The data analyse is using qualitative analyzing. The academic supervision in Weton Elementary School begins with the planning. In planning, the researcher makes the program, prepares the supervision instrument; in the form of sheet of scoring in planning the learning or sheet of the lesson planning and sheet of scoring in implementation the learning or instrument of scoring the teacher's performance. In implementation, the researcher observes the learning. The results of scoring the teacher's performances are only on Grade IV, V and VI. In planning the learning, in the pre-cycle the average is 61%, after the action in the First Cycle the average is 72,23% and after the action in the Second Cycle the average is 81%. About implementation the learning is using scoring the teacher's performance. The result is increasing, in the pre-cycle the average is 73, after the action in the First Cycle the average is 79 and after the action in the Second Cycle the average is 83.


Teachers often face a variety of stressful situations at their work that may come to threaten their psychological well being. The so-called coping strategies are responses to a stressful situation implemented to try to manage or neutralize it. We analyze the relationship between cognitive coping strategies, self-efficacy, and job variables in a sample composed by 413 teachers. The evaluation was conducted through a questionnaire with 3 different stressful situations, as well as items of the Brief COPE, the CERQ, and other items designed to assess cognitive coping. Self-efficacy was evaluated asking the teachers to what extent they feel able to cope with each situation of stress successfully. The job variables evaluated were: type of school, educational level, and usefulness of received training to face this kind of situations. The results show that teachers of public schools use more the strategies of Pessimistic Passivity and Obsessive Self-Reference than those teachers of private schools. Teachers of Infant and Primary Education use more the Rational Planning when they face problems of students' behavior, and also use less Pessimistic Passivity when they are work overloaded, than teachers of Secondary Education. We also found significant differences in Pessimistic Passivity and Rational Planning according to the level of efficacy perceived. Finally, those who consider more useful their training use fewer strategies like Pessimistic Passivity and Obsessive Self-Reference. The results suggest the importance of adequate the interventions to prevent teachers stress to their educative level of teaching and to the kind of school in which their work. Also the results point out that it is necessary to design trainings of quality for teachers that became useful for their daily work and make them feel with much more efficacy.


Anyone familiar with the concept of the European Union could easily put in a nutshell its key values and principles: democracy, peace, and cooperation through preservation and promotion of equality, diversity and human rights.In theory this might be considered an ideal basis on which an intergovernmental, multicultural and supranational union should be founded. Nonetheless, as well-intentioned as the Union's forefathers may have been, it is uncertain whether, while outlining these guiding principles, they were envisaging the unprecedented political phenomenon that the European Union has become today. Consequently, it would be unwise to think that the different policies which ensure the Union's values and principles are adequately sustained should remain stagnant and rigid, bearing in mind the EU's dynamic metamorphosis from a six-state community in 1951 to a 27-state union today.This thesis aims to examine the conflict within the framework of the Union's language policies. This area is quite sensitive as most Member States consider language an important identity marker and would therefore do their best to retain control over this sector. Meanwhile language policy should be one of the Union's prime concerns as it could foster EU integration.


Tachyplesin I is a potent antimicrobial peptide with broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity. It has 2 disulfide bonds and can form 3 disulfide bond isomers. In this study, the structure and antimicrobial activity of 3 tachyplesin I isomers (tachyplesin I, 3C12C, 3C7C) were investigated using molecular dynamic simulations, circular dichroism structural study, as well as antimicrobial activity and hemolysis assay. Our results suggest that in comparison to the native peptide, the 2 isomers (3C12C, 3C7C) have substantial structural and activity variations. The native peptide is in the ribbon conformation, while 3C12C and 3C7C possess remarkably different secondary structures, which are referred as "globular" and "beads" isomers, respectively. The substantially decreased hemolysis effects for these 2 isomers is accompanied by significantly decreased anti‐gram‐positive bacterial activity.


This paper introduces FT Speech, a new speech corpus created from the recorded meetings of the Danish Parliament, otherwise known as the Folketing (FT). The corpus contains over 1,800 hours of transcribed speech by a total of 434 speakers. It is significantly larger in duration, vocabulary, and amount of spontaneous speech than the existing public speech corpora for Danish, which are largely limited to read-aloud and dictation data. We outline design considerations, including the preprocessing methods and the alignment procedure. To evaluate the quality of the corpus, we train automatic speech recognition systems on the new resource and compare them to the systems trained on the Danish part of Sprakbanken, the largest public ASR corpus for Danish to date. Our baseline results show that we achieve a 14.01 WER on the new corpus. A combination of FT Speech with in-domain language data provides comparable results to models trained specifically on Sprakbanken, showing that FT Speech transfers well to this data set. Interestingly, our results demonstrate that the opposite is not the case. This shows that FT Speech provides a valuable resource for promoting research on Danish ASR with more spontaneous speech.


Nanofluidic devices with micro and nanostructures are becoming increasingly important for biological and chemical applications. However, the majority of the present fabrication methods suffer from a low pattern transfer quality during the simultaneous embossing of the microscale and nanoscale patterns into a thermoplastic polymer due to insufficient polymer flow. In this work, a novel hybrid patterning technique, integrating hot embossing and inverse ultraviolet (UV) photolithography, is developed to fabricate micro and nanochannels with a high replication precision of the SU-8 layer. The influence of embossing temperature and time on the replication precision was investigated. The effect of UV lithography parameters on the micro and nanochannel pattern was analyzed. To improve the SU-8 bonding strength, the influence of the O2 plasma treatment parameters on the water contact angles of the exposed and unexposed SU-8 layer were studied. A complete SU-8 nanofluidic chip with 130 nm wide and 150 nm deep nanochannels was successfully fabricated with a replication precision of 99.5%. Compared with most of the current processing methods, this fabrication technique has great potential due to its low cost and high pattern transfer quality of the SU-8 micro and nanochannels.


By legislating safety regulations for design, manufacturing and operation of rolling stock through rolling stock safety law, diverse of safety requirements have been established. On the other hands, differences of technical level in practical circumstances between domestic and overseas are pointed out that not be able to be overcome in short period. About collision safety requirements for rolling stock, European countries have been applying TSI requirement to all of rolling stock and domestic collision safety requirements in rolling stock safety law are based on TSI. In following thesis, it is showing an analysis simulation for current rubber cushion and hydraulic buffer system to verify if they are fit to collision safety requirements and result of the simulation program for prior verification. This also suggests a method to prove the performances of coupler system for future.


Rationale: Uncommon epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations are increasingly being identified in non-small cell lung cancer. Insertion and deletion mutations have been detected in exons 18, 19, and 20, but not in exon 21. In patients with uncommon mutations, the second-generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor afatinib has shown good efficacy, whereas that of dacomitinib, another second-generation EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor, remains unknown. Here, we reported a patient with a novel EGFR21 exon insertion-deletion (indel) mutation and demonstrated the efficacy of dacomitinib. Patient concerns: A 59-year-old nonsmoking Chinese male was admitted to the hospital with lung cancer after a chest computed tomography for coughing and sputum. The patient's condition progressed after multiple treatments including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Diagnosis: The patient had clinical manifestations of cough and sputum and was pathologically confirmed to have T2bN1M0 (stage IIB) lung adenocarcinoma according to the seventh edition of tumor-node-metastasis staging. The patient underwent a second operation after detection of recurrence, and postoperative pathology confirmed adenocarcinoma of the lung. The patient progressed again after surgery, and the tumor-node-metastasis stage was changed to T4N0M1a (stage IVA) before treatment with dacomitinib. Interventions: After detection of the EGFR exon 21 indel mutation, the patient began treatment with dacomitinib (45 mg once a day) on March 12, 2021. Outcomes: After 1 month of targeted therapy, the patient showed a partial response to dacomitinib. As of March 19, 2022, his condition remained stable and he continued to receive dacomitinib. Progression-free survival reached 12.4 months. The patient experienced mild adverse reactions of pruritus during the use of dacomitinib, but recovered after drug treatment. Lesson: We reported a novel EGFR exon 21 indel mutation in a lung adenocarcinoma patient. Dacomitinib showed efficacy in the treatment of a patient with this mutation, suggesting that its efficacy in patients with uncommon mutations should be explored further. The next-generation sequencing is recommended as a guiding tool for the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer.


Selenium (Se) plays an important role in fine-tuning immune responses. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) involves hyperresponsive immunity of the digestive tract, and a low Se level might aggravate IBD progression; however, the beneficial effects of natural Se-enriched diets on IBD remain unknown. Previously, we developed high-yield Se-enriched Spirulina platensis (Se-SP) as an excellent organic nutritional Se source. Here we prepared Se-containing phycocyanin (Se-PC) from Se-SP and observed that Se-PC administration effectively reduced the extent of colitis in mouse induced by dextran sulfate sodium. Supplementation with Se-PC resulted in significant protective effects, including mitigation of body weight loss, bloody diarrhea, and colonic inflammatory damage. The anti-inflammatory effects of Se-PC supplementation were found to involve modulation of cytokines, including IL-6, TNF-α, MCP-1, and IL-10. Mechanistically, Se-PC inhibited the activation of macrophages by suppressing the nuclear translocation of NF-κB, which is involved in the transcription of these pro-inflammatory cytokines. These results together suggest potential benefits of Se-PC as a functional Se supplement to reduce the symptoms of IBD.


Objective: To explore the effect of acellular normal and fibrotic lung matrices on alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) expression in human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549. Methods: Twenty adult SD rats were randomly divided into normal group and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis(IPF)group (n=10 each). The pulmonary fibrosis was induced by Bleomycin. Normal and fibrotic decellularized lungs were made, then sections with 500 μm thick were cut by a standard Vibratome. None scaffold was set as control group. A549 cells were seeded dropwise into different slices (normal and fibrotic scaffolds), and cultured for one week in vitro. The expression of α-SMA was measured by immunofluorescence staining and quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results: In control group, the expression of α-SMA protein was positive in A549 cells by immunofluorescence staining. However, it expressed weakly both in normal and fibrotic scaffold group, and the fluorescence intensity in fibrotic scaffold group was significant lower than that in normal group (P<0.05). The relative expression amount of α-SMA mRNA in normal and fibrotic scaffold group were (0.70±0.11) and (0.55±0.12), which were significant lower than that of control group (1.28±0.21) (P<0.05). Moreover, the relative expression of α-SMA mRNA in fibrotic scaffold group was decreased compared to that in normal scaffold group (P<0.05). Conclusions: Acellular normal and fibrotic lung scaffold can downregulate the expression of α-SMA in human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549. It may inhibit the movement of A549 cells in acellular normal and fibrotic lung matrices, especially in acellular fibrotic lung scaffold.


Reuven Firestone in his works on the concept of holy war in Islam has criticized the traditional resolution for the problem of disparity between the Qurʾānic verses on war and suggested a new interpretation of the relationship between the verses. This paper aims to reevaluate Firestone's contribution by taking a closer look at his critique of the traditional theory as well as his alternative suggestion. This study shows that what Firestone attributes to the Muslim tradition is a mistaken projection of some modern views onto the early authorities. The ambivalent stance of Firestone towards the historicity of the early Muslim literature results in a loose hypothesis regarding the formation of the Qurʾānic verses on war which neither meets the traditional specifications, nor satisfies the criteria of the skeptic party of Islamicists.


A highly enantioselective and direct synthesis of C2-quaternary indolin-3-ones from 2-arylindoles by combining electrochemistry and organocatalysis is described. Excellent enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee) and diastereoselectivities (>20 : 1) can be obtained through anodic oxidation in combination with asymmetric proline-catalyzed alkylation in an undivided cell under constant-current conditions.


The asymptotic correlations among maximum likelihood (ML) and various least squares (LS) estimators in factor analysis are derived. The LS estimators include the unweighted (ULS) and weighted estimators for unstandardized variables and the ULS estimators for standardized variables. The derived formulas cover the cases with restrictions on parameters. Numerical examples with simulations are provided to confirm the accuracy of the formulas and the influence of scales on the asymptotic correlations.


With the increase of vehicles in the ocean and the gradual expansion of the scope of ocean observation, the level and intensity of interference which is similar to the targets is much greater than the targetsignal. The traditional methods of target detection and interference suppression will make the target signals lower but they cannot suppress the interference completely. In order to solve the problem of multi-target detection and interference suppress effectively, a new idea is presented in this paper. This is that, through exploitation of the observed freedom degrees (space-time-spectrum), joint estimation of multi-dimensional parameters are used to discriminate each target/interference in high dimensional space. Thus, the new idea can discern multi-targets and interference through resolution in terms of a multi-dimensional approach. Targets/interference in high dimensional space are discrete, so this suggestion can also achieve the purpose of multi-target detection and interference suppression. In order to achieve multi-dimensional joint estimation, it is necessary to consider high-reliablity resolution of each basic unti dimension, so design of the array is particularly important. A DSLA (Double Spiral Line Array) is an ideal broadband-space array, because it has simple and regular three-dimensional space structure and a complex array spatial distribution. The joint estimation of multi-dimensional state parameters using highly complex spatial distribution is beneficial to the method of multi-dimensional targets and interference resolution. This paper, demonstrates the feasibility of the new idea by discussing the space-wavenumber spectrum in theory and by analyzing the characteristics of high-reliability resolution of DSLA, centered on the detection and interference suppression of multi-targets through joint estimation of multi-dimensional parameters. Furthermore, computer simulation on discriminating multi-targets and interference with multi-dimension method is given.


Breast tumor segmentation of ultrasound images provides valuable information of tumors for early detection and diagnosis. Accurate segmentation is challenging due to low image contrast between areas of interest; speckle noises, and large inter-subject variations in tumor shape and size. This paper proposes a novel Multi-scale Dynamic Fusion Network (MDF-Net) for breast ultrasound tumor segmentation. It employs a two-stage end-to-end architecture with a trunk sub-network for multiscale feature selection and a structurally optimized refinement sub-network for mitigating impairments such as noise and inter-subject variation via better feature exploration and fusion. The trunk network is extended from UNet++ with a simplified skip pathway structure to connect the features between adjacent scales. Moreover, deep supervision at all scales, instead of at the finest scale in UNet++, is proposed to extract more discriminative features and mitigate errors from speckle noise via a hybrid loss function. Unlike previous works, the first stage is linked to a loss function of the second stage so that both the preliminary segmentations and refinement subnetworks can be refined together at training. The refinement sub-network utilizes a structurally optimized MDF mechanism to integrate preliminary segmentation information (capturing general tumor shape and size) at coarse scales and explores inter-subject variation information at finer scales. Experimental results from two public datasets show that the proposed method achieves better Dice and other scores over state-of-the-art methods. Qualitative analysis also indicates that our proposed network is more robust to tumor size/shapes, speckle noise and heavy posterior shadows along tumor boundaries. An optional post-processing step is also proposed to facilitate users in mitigating segmentation artifacts. The efficiency of the proposed network is also illustrated on the "Electron Microscopy neural structures segmentation dataset". It outperforms a state-of-the-art algorithm based on UNet-2022 with simpler settings. This indicates the advantages of our MDF-Nets in other challenging image segmentation tasks with small to medium data sizes.


A shift-tolerant neural network architecture for phoneme recognition is described. The system is based on algorithms for learning vector quantization (LVQ), recently developed by Kohonen (1986, 1988), which pay close attention to approximating optimal decision lines in a discrimination task. Recognition performances in the 98%-99% correct range were obtained for LVQ networks aimed at speaker-dependent recognition of phonemes in small but ambiguous Japanese phonemic classes. A correct recognition rate of 97.7% was achieved by a large LVQ network covering all Japanese consonants. These recognition results are as good as those obtained in the time delay neural network system developed by Waibel et al. (1989), and suggest that LVQ could be the basis for a high-performance speech recognition system. >


General expressions giving the error in rawin computations arising from the neglect of the earth's curvature are derived. The error is found to be a function of the height of the balloon, the elevation angle, the wind speed, and the balloon ascent rate. The results are presented in the form of a graph which can be used by researchers to correct wind observations made without taking the earth's curvature into account. The nature of the curvature errors is such that maximum values of both wind speeds and wind shears tend to be exaggerated.


The story of "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and his teammates purportedly conspiring with gamblers to throw the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds has lingered in our collective consciousness for more than eighty years. With baseball so closely linked to American values and ideals, the Black Sox Scandal of 1919 disenchanted baseball fans, changed the way Americans felt about the national pastime, and fostered changes in the game.Daniel A. Nathan's wide-ranging, interdisciplinary cultural history is less concerned with the details of the scandal than with how it has been represented and remembered by journalists, historians, novelists, filmmakers, and baseball fans. Offering insights into what different cultural narratives reveal about their creators and the eras in which they were produced, Saying It's So is a complex study of cultural values, memory, and the ways people make meaning.Addressing the relationship between cultural narratives and social reality, Nathan considers the media's coverage of scandal -- from front-page attention to scathing commentaries and cartoons -- when the story broke in 1920 and in the following years. He also examines how oral tradition reiterated the scandal before new narratives began to appear at midcentury.In a series of astute reflections on Bernard Malamud's novel The Natural, Eliot Asinof's popular history Eight Men Out, and the work of the historians David Voigt and Harold Seymour, Nathan sheds light on the ways cultural and historical meaning is produced. Also considered are representations of the scandal in popular fiction and film during the Reagan era, the popular tourist destination and baseball field in Dyersville, Iowa, created for the filmField of Dreams, Ken Burns's television documentary Baseball, and the country's reactions to the 1994-95 Major League Baseball strike.


ABSTRACT Turkey has the highest proportion of young people not in employment, education, or training (NEET) among OECD countries, standing at 26 percent of all those aged 15–29 years. Notably, however, a young woman in Turkey is three times more likely to be out of education and employment than a young man. Based on statistical data on the NEET category and qualitative research drawing on experiences of young NEET women in six large cities in Turkey, this article discusses the gendered characteristics of this category. This article aims to reconcile competing perspectives in youth studies, namely transition and cultural perspectives, and argues for the importance of introducing cultural elements and gender perspective in the NEET literature, for which the Turkish case offers an important case study.


In this paper we provide an overview of the status of various colchicine derivatives in preclinical development with special focus on their anti-cancer activity. We discuss several groups of compounds that have been designed to differentially bind with specific affinities for tubulin β isotypes, especially in regard to βIII, which is commonly over-expressed in cancer. Computational prediction, protein-based and cell-based assays are summarized as well as some animal tests conducted on these compounds. It is concluded that an untapped potential exists for exploiting the colchicine scaffold as a pharmacophore with the possibility of increasing its affinity for tubulin isotypes overexpressed in cancer and decreasing it for normal cells thereby widening the therapeutic window.


Abstract Objective: This work describes the application of natural plant polysaccharide as pharmaceutical mucoadhesive excipients in delivery systems to reduce the clearance rate through nasal cavity. Methods: Novel natural polysaccharide (Hibiscus rosasinensis)-based mucoadhesive microspheres were prepared by using emulsion crosslinking method for the delivery of rizatriptan benzoate (RB) through nasal route. Mucoadhesive microspheres were characterized for different parameters and nasal clearance of technetium-99m (99mTc)-radiolabeled microspheres was determined by using gamma-scintigraphy. Results: Their Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies showed that the drug was stable during preparation of microspheres. Aerodynamic diameter of microspheres was in the range 13.23 ± 1.83–33.57 ± 3.69 µm. Change in drug and polysaccharide ratio influenced the mucoadhesion, encapsulation efficiency and in-vitro release property. Scintigraphs taken at regular interval indicate that control solution was cleared rapidly from nasal cavity, whereas microspheres showed slower clearance (p < 0.005) with half-life of 160 min. Conclusion: Natural polysaccharide-based microspheres achieved extended residence by minimizing effect of mucociliary clearance with opportunity of sustained delivery for longer duration.


Due to advances in omics technologies, numerous genome-wide studies on human samples have been published, and most of the omics data with the associated clinical information are available in public repositories, such as Gene Expression Omnibus and ArrayExpress. While analyzing several public datasets, we observed that errors in gender information occur quite often in public datasets. When we analyzed the gender description and the methylation patterns of gender-specific probes (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase [G6PD], ephrin-B1 [EFNB1], and testis specific protein, Y-linked 2 [TSPY2]) in 5,611 samples produced using Infinium 450K HumanMethylation arrays, we found that 19 samples from 7 datasets were erroneously described. We also analyzed 1,819 samples produced using the Affymetrix U133Plus2 array using several gender-specific genes (X (inactive)-specific transcript [XIST], eukaryotic translation initiation factor 1A, Y-linked [EIF1AY], and DEAD [Asp-Glu-Ala-Asp] box polypeptide 3, Y-linked [DDDX3Y]) and found that 40 samples from 3 datasets were erroneously described. We suggest that the users of public datasets should not expect that the data are error-free and, whenever possible, that they should check the consistency of the data.


Abstract When the Dutch government presented the Second Transport Structure Plan (SW-II) in 1988, it pronounced a new view on transport planning that would give equal weight to accessibility and liveability. Mobility control and selective accessibility were central themes, which would benefit both the environment and economy. A few years later, it became evident that most of the core objectives of the SW-II would not be reached. The professional debate on the implementation of Dutch transport planning indicated a number of explanations for the inadequacy of the national policies, mainly related to the institutional context of public planning, and the lack of coordination between the actors involved. In response to the experiences of the SW-II, the proposed new national transport policy announces better cooperation between the actors in the field of transport planning, and replaces sustainable development with sustainable economy. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Abstract Numerous angular stable plates for the distal radius exist, and technically based comparisons of the polyaxial locking interfaces are lacking. The aim of this mechanical study was to investigate three different locking interfaces of angular stable volar plates by cantilever bending: VA-LCP Two-Column Distal Radius Plates 2.4 mm (Synthes® GmbH, Oberdorf, Switzerland), IXOS® P4 (Martin, Tuttlingen, Germany) and VariAX™ (Stryker®, Duisburg, Germany). We assessed the strength of 0°, 5°, 10° and 15° screw locking angles and tested the bending strength from 10° to 5° angles by cyclic loading until breakage. The final setup repeated the above assessments by inclusion of four locking screws. The single screw-plate interfaces of the VA-LCP showed the highest bending moment at an angle of 0° and 5°, the IXOS® P4 at an angle of 10° and 15° and the VariAX™ when changing the insertion angle from 10° into 5°. The strength of polyaxial locking interfaces and mechanism of failure proved to be different among the examined plates.


Until recently, major theatrical discussions excluded regional pantomime. This new research adds to the regional perspective, through the analysis of Aladdin pantomimes in Birmingham and the Black Country. from 1813 to 1914. Originally from the Arabian Nights' Stories, Aladdin positioned within local contexts. reveals relationships between the exotic and theatrical Chinese locations and the everyday products and trade that informed the lives of local theatre audiences.

Even though Aladdin had its origins in the Arabic tales, authors and audiences approached the pantomime through their existing knowledge of China. Later Aladdin productions continued to mirror the oriental undercurrents and societal synergy surrounding the dissemination of ideas concerning Chineseness. My critical analysis of Aladdin establishes the depiction of China through locally manufactured goods, the willow pattern plate, the tea trade and the art of Japanning.

The interaction of pantomime and product was an affirmation of the association between the exotic and the everyday. and the connection that regional audiences made with the real China and the topsy-turvy unreal world of pantomime. The critical coexistence of these opposing elements enables a reassessment of the regional role of pantomime in local political. social and cultural development.


Al3Ti, Al13Cr2 and Al13Fe4 are important intermetallics in a number of Al alloy systems including complex ultra-high-strength systems with excellent elevatedtemperature performance. A full knowledge of their properties and crystallographic structures is a key factor for the understanding of these complex alloys. In the present study samples of the three pure intermetallics were prepared and regions of interest identified in a billet of Al93Fe3Cr2Ti2 alloys and 20 × 10 × 2 µm samples extracted utilizing a Focussed Ion Beam Transmission Electron Microscopy (FIB TEM) sample preparation technique. Using the microfocus spectroscopy beamline I18 at Diamond Light Source we were able to examine 5 µm sections of the samples using X-ray Diffraction (μ-XRD) and Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (μ-EXAFS) in an attempt to describe the local structure of the second-phase particles and characterized the microstructure of the FIBed samples to selectively illuminate the different phases.


Objective: Our study was undertaken to find if any correlation exists between levels of Anti-Mullerian (AMH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and estradiol (E2), with the ovarian reserve. Methods: A Randomized, prospective study was conducted at Infertility Clinic,Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Hospital,Jaipur on 105 patients aged 25-40 years undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF)/ intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycle from from May-Dec2010. Serum levels of hormones were determined at day 3 and ovarian follicle response was assessed on day of administration of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin). The results were analyzed using proportions, standard deviation and chi-square test. Results: Results revealed that Serum AMH was significantly correlated (r 0.302, p 0.1) and E2 (r 0.999, p>0.1) were not found to have any such association with ovarian reserve in the study.


Orientation: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) advances such as computers, tablets, and cell phones allow for information flow like never before, both in terms of speed and volume. But, unfortunately, this has resulted in technostress. Research purpose: To investigate the impact of technostress on the productivity and the overall life satisfaction of managers working in ferrochrome smelters. Motivation for the study: Limited research has been conducted on technostress in a South African context. Most of the researches on technostress were conducted amongst computer professionals and Information Technology (IT) consultants and they did not focus on non-ICT specialists such as managers who are exposed to ICT as a regular part of their workday. Research approach/design and method: This study was conducted within a quantitative paradigm using a correlational design. Main findings: The managers experience low levels of technostress, high levels of IT-enabled productivity, and above-average life satisfaction. No practically significant differences exist for any of the research factors between males and females, whilst techno-complexity and techno-uncertainty increase with age. Technostress does not affect productivity, but a negative relationship exists between technostress and life satisfaction. Practical/managerial implications: Techno-uncertainty and techno-complexity are present amongst older managerial employees. Techno-complexity decreases the self-reported levels of productivity. Strategies such as training and assistance to reduce the techno-complexity for older managerial employees should be considered. Contribution/value-add: This study creates an awareness of the potential negative impact of ICT on productivity and life satisfaction. It contributes to the body of knowledge by quantifying the impact of the managers' perceived technostress on productivity and life satisfaction.


The first-line treatment of non-restorable traumatically injured or carious deciduous teeth is extraction which may be a curse for the future dentition as well as social activity of a child. Various therapeutic modalities from removable partial dentures to fixed space maintainer can be used for replacement of such lost teeth. Two types of fixed aesthetic space maintainers for replacing premature loss of maxillary deciduous incisors in 4-year-old children are discussed.


Rock surface erosion by wildfire is significant and widespread but has not been quantified in southern California or for chaparral ecosystems. Quantifying the surface erosion of bedrock outcrops and boulders is critical for determination of age using cosmogenic radionuclide techniques, as even modest surface erosion removes the accumulation of the cosmogenic radionuclides and causes significant underestimate of age. This study documents the effects on three large granitic boulders following the Esperanza Fire of 2006 in southern California. Spalled rock fragments were quantified by measuring the removed rock volume from each measured boulder. Between 7% and 55% of the total surface area of the boulders spalled in this single fire. The volume of spalled material, when normalized across the entire surface area, represents a mean surface lowering of 0.7–12.3 mm. Spalled material was thicker on the flanks of the boulders, and the height of the fire effects significantly exceeded the height of the vegetation prior to the wildfire. Surface erosion of boulders and bedrock outcrops as a result of wildfire spalling results in fresh surfaces that appear unaffected by chemical weathering. Such surfaces may be preferentially selected by researchers for cosmogenic surface dating because of their fresh appearance, leading to an underestimate of age.


The author uses her experiences as a poet and as a psychoanalyst to compare the two. She discusses poems by James Merrill, Philip Larkin, and Theodore Roethke in order to consider how the analyst listens, how the poet writes, how each listens to what is unsaid in the music of language. Rhythm, meter, and the sounds of words constitute this music. Sound and image are means by which language bypasses logic and touches us. Considering how a poem has an impact can teach us something about how words affect us in psychoanalysis.


ABSTRACT Histomonosis has become an important disease of turkeys since the ban of effective feed additives and therapeutics. Some critical risk factors for pathogen introduction into a farm have already been identified but open questions remain. Therefore, a retrospective case–control-study was used to identify the most significant risk factors for Histomonas (H.) meleagridis-introduction into a turkey farm. A total of 113 questionnaires were collected from 73 control-farms and 40 Histomonas-positive case-farms in Germany between 20 April 2021 and 31 January 2022. The data were analysed for possible risk factors by descriptive and univariate, single- and multi-factorial analysis. The presence of earthworms, snails and beetles, as vectors of H. meleagridis, as well as the proximity to other poultry-keeping farms in addition to a frequent observation of wild birds nearby the turkey farm, showed the highest risk potential for histomonosis outbreaks. Furthermore, poor biosecurity measures seem to have increased the probability for an outbreak. Insufficient climate management, straw as litter material and an inadequate litter refill frequency might have promoted a favourable humidity for vector- or pathogen survival providing important areas for improved disease control measures in the future.
 RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
 A retrospective case–control-study was conducted to identify impactful risk factors for a H. meleagridis introduction. The probability of a histomonosis outbreak was increased by the presence of vectors and reservoirs nearby a farm. Impactful risk factors concerning biosecurity measures, climate and litter management were identified.


OBJECTIVES
The association between obesity and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is well-established in adults; however, data in pediatric population is scarce. Our study aimed to assess the association between GERD and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in overweight children.

METHODS
From April to August of 2020, we included children aged 7-18 years who attended the Endocrinological Outpatient Clinic at the Paediatric Institute, University of Debrecen, Hungary. The participants completed two questionnaires: the Pediatric Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Symptom Questionnaire (PGSQ) and the HRQoL questionnaire (PedsQL). Based on the criteria of the World Health Organization (WHO), the patients were categorized into two groups: an overweight or obese group and a group with normal weight.

RESULTS
A total of 107 children (51 % female, mean age 13.2 years, 46 % overweight or obese) completed the questionnaires. The median PGSQ score was similar in both groups (4.0 (IQR: 1.0-7.8) vs. 3.0 (IQR: 1.0-7.0), p=0.6). However, the total PedsQL score was significantly lower in the children with overweight or obesity compared to those with normal weight (80.1 (71.1-91.0) vs. 88.0 (76.1-94.6), p=0.031). The PedsQL score was lower among overweight patients with GERD symptoms than that of normal-weight patients without GERD symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS
Our findings highlight the importance of raising awareness about GERD to enhance the HRQoL and prevent long-term complications in obese children.


Diabetes mellitus is a current problem because the number of deaths from its complications is more than the total number of people who died of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Nowadays the most widespread experimental model of diabetes mellitus is the chemical. As inducers of diabetes, streptozotocin is used in 69% of experimental studies and alloxan - in 31%. The  dose and route of alloxan administration, duration and severity of diabetes induced by alloxan is discutable. The aim of our study was the evaluation of effectiveness of the animal model of alloxan-induced hyperglycemia and determination the features of heart remodelling in rats of different age.
Matherial and Method: The experiment was conducted on 28 laboratory male rats of two age groups: young (3 months old), and mature (8 months old). Modeling of alloxan hyperglycemia performed by injection of alloxan, pre-dissolved in 0.9% solution of sodium chloride, intraperitoneally once at a dose of 170 mg/kg on an empty stomach. The animals additionally received a 10% glucose solution during 24 hours after alloxan administration and 5% glucose solution during the experiment. The glucose level was measured with Accu-Chek Advantage (Boehringer, Germany) after 2, 12 and 24 hours after alloxan injection, and then weekly. The average level of glucose in the blood remained at 11 mmol / L ± 2 mmol / L. The experiment lasted 45 days. We analysed hearts remodeling by organometry and light microscopy.
Results: The mortality of 3 months old rats was 12.5%, and 8 months old rats mortality was 25%. The organometric study indicated the weight increase of both venrtricles, which was more pronounced in 8-month old rats. Also we revealed the dilation of left ventricle in young rats and dilation of both ventricles in mature ones. Light microscopy showed microcirculation disorders, polymorphismus of cardiomyocytes nuclei, the phenomenon of cytolysis, desorientation, wavy deformation and fragmentation of cardiomyocytes fibers, swollowing of myocardial stroma, and local fibrosis with focal cell infiltration.
Conclusions: The obtained results suggest that alloxan can be used for further experiments on laboratory animals with the aim of modeling the diabetes mellitus type 1 and finding ways to correct the detected changes. The features of myocardial remodeling under the influence of alloxan-induced hyperglycemia are the tendency for hypertrophy and ventricular dilatation, disturbance of myocardial microcirculation, its contractile dysfunction and local fibrosis.


This article engages with a case study situated in a public social service system in Uganda, Africa. Through case analysis, I highlight the complexities related to professional ethics in social work practice in Africa and argue that efforts to promote ethics, human rights and social justice in this context require creativity, innovation and activism to confront structural conditions that trap people in unjust circumstances. While building ethical capabilities demands grounding practice in the global social work principles, additional infusion of ubuntu ethics and African social work platforms for sharing experiences and actions are needed.


With the expansion of the power system scale, the demand for power system visualization is increasing in the recent of years. A stable operation of the power system is very important for people's normal life. Operators have to monitor 4-5 screens at the same time to check the status of the system. Each screen contains thousands of transmission lines and thousands of different data. When one of the data is out of the safe range, the operator needs to take action and repair it in time. Otherwise, it will lead to a catastrophe. The goal of this thesis is to test whether the graphics visualization can be used in the power system and accurately communicate the data. A new visualization was created which included graphics to express data in the single transmission line diagram. Afterwards, a user study was conducted with 7 people, where the results showed that some data could be expressed in the image but not all of them. And the feature of image visualization was that it contained more useful information that could be easily understood by the operators.


Sacred Languages and Sacred Texts is the first comprehensive study of the role of languages and texts in the religions of the Greco-Roman world, including Judaism and Christianity. It explores bilingualism, language learning, literacy, book production and translation, as well as some of the more explicitly religious factors, including beliefs about language, missionary zeal, ritual, conservatism and the power of a priestly establishment. Sacred Languages and Sacred Texts sheds new light on the role of the power of words, spoken and written, in religion.


We study multilayer Haldane models with irregular type of stacking. Considering the nearest interlayer hopping, we prove that the value of the topological invariant is equal to the number of layers times the value of the topological invariant of monolayer Haldane model for irregular stacking(except AA), and interlayer hoppings do not induce direct gap closing or phase transitions. However, if the next-to-nearest hopping is taken into account, phase transitions can occur.


Research on intelligent agent techniques has been paid more and more attention in the field of distributed artificial intelligence. The paper introduces agent-oriented software techniques, discusses the basic frame of an agent program and the basic structure of a language interpreter. The development tendency of intelligent agent techniques is forecasted.


ABSTRACT This study examined the effect of socio-economic features of low-income communities and COVID-19 related cases in New York City. The study developed hypotheses and conceptual framework of low-income communities and COVID-19 associated cases based on literature and theoretical review. The proposed framework was then tested using Structural Equation Model (SEM) with secondary data collected from New York Health and Mental Hygiene Department, US Census Bureau, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The findings revealed that unfavourable working conditions, underlying health conditions, and poor living conditions significantly and positively affects the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases. The study further revealed a positive and significant relationship between confirmed COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 related deaths. Theoretically, this study provides empirical results and a conceptual framework that could be used by other researchers to investigate low-income communities and COVID-19 related topics. Practically, this study called on the federal and state governments to effectively apply the health justice approach to eliminate healthcare discrimination for people living in low-income and marginalised communities as well as providing accessible, safe housing for the more vulnerable who need a place to self-quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure. Further practical and theoretical implications policies are discussed.


Author(s): CHO, MIN HEE | Advisor(s): Liu, Tsu-Jae King | Abstract: Capacitorless dynamic random access memory (DRAM) is a promising solution to cell-area scalability and complex fabrication process issues for conventional DRAM. The thin body SOI transistor, which suppresses the short channel effect and also minimizes variability, is selected for the capacitorless DRAM cell structure. The impact of substrate doping concentration on capacitorless DRAM cell performance is studied and a novel selective well structure is proposed. A capacitorless DRAM cell design with BJT-based operation (BJT mode) is known to have larger sensing margins and longer retention times. Controlling band-to-band tunneling leakage (BTBT) related to the electric field plays a key role in limiting retention time. In the BJT mode, BTBT in the Hold 0 state limits data retention time (D0 failure). By optimizing the underlap between the front gate and the source/drain regions as well as the operating voltages, retention time exceeding 1 second should be attainable for a cell with 25 nm gate length. The scaling limits of optimized capacitorless DRAM cells are also investigated through the analysis of variations. Signal sense margin analysis indicates that the ultimate scaling limit is 13 nm (gate length) for embedded DRAM applications and 16.5 nm for stand-alone DRAM applications. The positive feedback MOSFET (PF-FET) was fabricated on thin body (10 nm) and UTBOX (10 nm) SOI structure. Positive feedback occurs as a result of both the BJT operation and the floating body effect from weak impact ionization. It exhibits very steep subthreshold slope of 0.03 mV/dec. Wide hysteresis enables the PF-FET to be utilized for memory application. The sensing margin is 62 µA/µm and retention time is greater than 4 seconds.


A modified Coulomb-Volkov theory is used to study the interaction of intense laser pulses with atomic Hydrogen. Photon energy greater than the ionization potential and non-perturbative conditions are considered. The dynamical Stark effect is accounted by introducing the initial state coupling to the remaining discrete and continuum atomic spectrum. Both the Stark shift and the decay of the initial state are studied. The ionization spectra, the Stark shift and the total ionization probability are compared with results obtained from numerical solution of the time dependent Schrodinger equation. Both results agree well.


The key to monitoring structural health and defect detection of materials is the capacity to detect impact waves and their propagation through materials. A sensor must be extremely flexible and have a complex shape to detect impact waves from a certain type of construction. Complex sensors can be produced using direct ink write (DIW). In this article, the DIW approach is used to create a flexible impact wave propagation sensor (IWPS). Barium titanate (BaTiO3, or BTO), a ferroelectric ceramic material, is dispersed in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), which not only increases the flexibility of the 3D-printed sensor but also assures a consistent piezoelectric response across the entire sensor. This study investigated the impact load that caused an impact wave in a flexible sensor and its response to the impact load-generated impact wave. On BTO/PDMS stretchable composites, MWCNT (multi-walled carbon nanotube) based electrodes were printed using the DIW's multi-material printing capability. After contact poling of IWPS, 50wt% of BTO in the PDMS matrix produced a piezoelectric coefficient of 20 pC/N. Applying impact loading at the sensor's center caused an impact wave which eventually vanished as it got further away from the applied impact load's origin. The output voltage from several IWPS nodes was measured in order to characterize the propagation of impact waves. Additionally, the particle-wave velocity of a specific material attached to IWPS was calculated in this study using the voltage response time differences at various sensor locations. The particle-wave velocities of stainless steel (SS) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) were measured using the specially built IWPS and were found to be 5625 m/s and 2000 m/s, respectively. These values are comparable with their theoretical values.


The existing numerical approximations of convection flux, especially the spatial higher-order difference schemes, in unstructured cell-centered finite volume methods are examined in detail with each other and evaluated with respect to the accuracy through their application to a 2-D benchmark problem. Six higher-order schemes are examined, which include two second-order upwind schemes, two central difference schemes and two hybrid schemes. It is found that the 2nd-order upwind scheme by Mathur and Murthy(1997) and the central difference scheme by Demirdzic and Muzaferija(1995) have more accurate prediction performance than the other higher-order schemes used in unstructured cell-centered finite volume methods.


MicroRNAs (miRNAs), which are small (~21 nucleotides) non-coding RNAs, are important players in endochondral ossification, articular cartilage homeostasis, and arthritis pathogenesis. Comprehensive and genetic analyses of cartilage-specific or cartilage-related miRNAs have provided new information on cartilage development, homeostasis, and related diseases. State-of-the-art combinatorial approaches, including transcription-activator like effector nuclease (TALEN)/clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) technique for targeting miRNAs and high-throughput sequencing of RNA isolated by cross-linking immunoprecipitation for identifying target messenger RNAs, should be used to determine complex miRNA networks and miRNA-dependent cartilage regulation. Use of advanced drug delivery systems involving cartilage-specific miRNAs will accelerate the application of these new findings in arthritis therapy.


Restoration success using nursery grown plants in riparian environments of Mediterranean areas is limited by summer high mortality rate due to severe drought stress. The aim of this work is to develop a morphological / physiological modified plant which could establish itself in low water availability areas. Four morphologic formats of Salix elaeagnos Scop. were tested depending on two factors: Container volume (3 and 6 L) and pruning (pruned and not pruned). Twenty four individuals of four different formats were grown in a nursery for at least three months and outplanted in a per liter filled assay pool simulating a riverbed restoration for 12 weeks. Morpho-physiological destructive measurements of 32 plants (8 per format) were done in the beginning (T0), half, 6 weeks, (T1) and ending (T2) of the assay. It was found that in T0, there were important biomass differences, being the 6 L volume and not pruned format (6NP) the highest. During T1, water availability was high and it was advantageous for 6NP which showed absolute and relative highest growth rates. However at T2, water availability declined and relative rates of growth and new roots production were higher for the 6 L volume and pruned format (6P). Three liters formats suffered harder water stress than 6 L ones. 6 L containers better performance is explained for its high volume and depth, which leads to reaching underground water level easily. Results shown as pruning, high root /canopy ratio can be beneficial when water conditions are or will be unfavorable in river restorations now and under potential new climate change conditions.

 Key words: Agronomical practices, climate change, drought stress, leaf water content, relative growth rate,relative soil.


Identification and Quantification of Carbonate Species Using Rock-Eval Pyrolysis — This paper presents a new reliable and rapid method to characterise and quantify carbonates in solid samples based on monitoring the CO 2 flux emitted by progressive thermal decomposition of carbonates during a programmed heating. The different peaks of destabilisation allow determining the different types of carbonates present in the analysed sample. The quantification of each peak gives the respective proportions of these different types of carbonates in the sample. In addition to the chosen procedure presented in this paper, using a standard Rock-Eval 6 pyrolyser, calibration characteristic profiles are also presented for the most common carbonates in nature. This method should allow different types of application for different disciplines, either academic or industrial.


We have demonstrated previously that patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) show an increase in serum and synovial fluid levels of complexes between alpha1-proteinase inhibitor (alpha1PI) and IgA. These are believed to form through disulfide binding between the Cys232 residue on alpha1PI and the penultimate cysteine residue (Cys471) of the IgA alpha chain. The mechanism for this has not been elucidated. We show here that alpha1PI oxidized by the myeloperoxidase-hydrogen peroxide (MPO-H2O2) system promotes the formation of IgA-alpha1PI complexes when incubated with IgA and that such complexes have no inhibitory activity against porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE). The activity of alpha1PI was considerably reduced also in IgA-alpha1PI complexes isolated from serum of an RA patient. We suggest that formation of IgA-alpha1PI complexes in inflammation may involve oxidation of alpha1PI, and as a consequence the alpha1PI in such complexes has reduced elastase inhibitory activity.


White organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) for lighting are finding their way to the market. These OLEDs have organic layers only a few nanometres thick. Improving their efficiency and stability requires nanometre-precision information about where the light is emitted. Reconstruction of the emission profile from the measured emission and molecular-scale modelling provide a unique nanoscale look inside white OLEDs.


This report proposes an empirical Bayes approach to the problem of equating scores on test forms taken by very small numbers of test takers. The equated score is estimated separately at each score point, making it unnecessary to model either the score distribution or the equating transformation. Prior information comes from equatings of other test forms, with an appropriate adjustment for possible differences in test length.


The excellent article by Professor Droop in the May number of Greece and Rome leaves little to add. There are, however, one or two points on which it seems to me necessary to enlarge and perhaps to join issue.


Abstract Nyssa yunnanensis W. Q. Yin ex H. N. Qin & Phengklai (Nyssaceae) is a critically endangered range-restricted tree species known from only three small populations in a tropical forest area of southern Yunnan Province, southwestern China. Two types of individuals occur, one bearing staminate flowers and the other with morphologically perfect flowers that produce both pollen and fruit, suggesting an androdioecious breeding system. Field and laboratory studies conducted between 2004 and 2007 indicate, however, that N. yunnanensis is functionally dioecious: pollen from the morphologically perfect flowers is inaperturate and inviable, rendering the trees that bear these flowers functionally female. Field observations showed that the staminate flowers opened 10 to 15 days earlier than the protogynous female flowers but that flowering ceased at nearly the same time in both sexes. Thirty-six species of insects were observed and collected visiting the flowers of N. yunnanensis, four of which served as effective pollinators. Breeding system experiments demonstrated that the predominantly entomophilous pollination system is supplemented by anemophily and further indicated that N. yunnanensis is xenogamous and does not appear to exhibit parthenogenesis. The average sex ratio of individuals within the three populations was female-biased (0.57∶1), but the ratio among flowers was male-biased (2.56∶1) because flower production was higher in males. The 37 known trees of N. yunnanensis are likely the remnants of a once more widespread, abundant species that has been heavily impacted by human disturbance, a fate shared with many other threatened Southeast Asian taxa whose continued survival will require dedicated conservation efforts informed by a detailed understanding of population structure and reproductive biology.


Soil enzyme activity data from a lysimeter pot trial involving four dissimilar soils irrigated over two simulated seasons (SS) with winery wastewater (WW) and municipal water (MW), were converted to numerical scores using the alteration index three (AI3). Unlike the activities of individual enzymes which are substrate specific and do not reflect the overall status of the soil microbiome, AI3 enabled differences in treatment-induced alteration states between combinations of soil and water to be quantified and statistically assessed. The more negative AI3 scores corresponded to a more altered state in the WW than the MW treatments, after SS3 than after SS4 and in the 0-10 cm compared to the 10-20 cm soil depth interval. AI3 is therefore a potentially useful adjunct to soil enzyme activity assays in monitoring and management of biological activity in vineyard soils. These findings, however, require verification under commercial vineyard conditions.


A detailed analysis of momentum and transverse momentum spectra of relativistic particles (π±) produced in π--nucleus collisions at 50 GeV/c reveals that the behaviour of π--nucleus and π--nucleon collisions is identical. An investigation of high momentum particles indicates that the leading particle is almost absent in π--nucleus collisions. The estimated values of the leading particle multiplicity is 0.15 ± 0.02 which is insignificant in comparison to the average multiplicity in π--nucleus collisions. The partial inelasticities are found to depend weakly upon the mass number of the hit nucleus.