Abstract Background A subcategory of severe septic shock, toxic shock syndrome (TSS) represents up to 20% of pediatric septic shock in the United States. Diagnostic criteria for streptococcal TSS (STSS) and non-streptococcal TSS (NSTSS) were first published by the CDC in the early 1990s, with updates, respectively, in 2010 and 2011. Methods The Nationwide Children's Hospital electronic medical record was queried for inpatient hospitalizations with ICD-9/10 codes of interest between 1/1/2010 and 8/31/2017. The query returned 579 hospitalizations which were assessed for adherence to STSS and NSTSS criteria published by the CDC. 61 cases of TSS were identified: 27 STSS, 32 NSTSS. The prevalence of organ system involvement was quantified, and organ system involvement unanticipated by CDC criteria was examined for prevalence, quality and chronology. Results TSS patients were predominately female (62%) with an average age of 12. The most common presentation of TSS was with hypotension (93%), fever (82%) and rash (72%). Findings unanticipated by CDC criteria include: pyuria in STSS (41%), pulmonary involvement in NSTSS (66%) and coagulation abnormalities in NSTSS (92%). Pyuria in STSS was commonly accompanied by protein (73%) and leukocyte esterase (55%) on urinalysis. Pyuria also commonly presented with hematuria (45%). Radiographic evidence of pulmonary involvement in NSTSS was typically described as bilateral/diffuse airspace disease, presenting simultaneously with pulmonary edema and pleural effusions. Abnormalities in PT/PTT associated with NSTSS were commonly found within the first few hours of admission and began normalizing by the next day; d-dimer assays were abnormal in the six instances in which they were assessed. Conclusion This study suggests that early signs and symptoms of pediatric TSS may exist beyond those described by existing guidelines. The organ systems found to be involved in this review are often found early in the clinical course and can be assessed by noninvasive methods. Contextualization of these findings within the narrative of TSS might help clinicians better detect and diagnose a disease associated with significant patient morbidity and mortality. They may also aid in understanding the results of toxic shock surveillance efforts. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


Abstract Periodic comet Swift-Tuttle is the largest known object in the Solar System whose current orbit allows it to make repeated close approaches to the Earth. As such it poses a significant impact hazard. In addition, P/Swift-Tuttle possesses the second longest observing are of any comet, with recorded observations spanning two millennia. These data place extremely tight constraints on the current orbit. This paper analyzes the likely dynamical evolution of P/Swift-Tuttle for 40,000 years centered on the present. The evolution is uncertain prior to the earliest observations in 69 BC; however, given that nongravitational forces appear to be negligible, the future evolution is clear until an exceptionally close encounter with Earth in 4479 AD. Beyond this date, the current librations about the 1:11 mean-motion resonance with Jupiter will continue until at least 7000 AD, while the orbital descending node is likely to remain within 0.1 AU of Earth's orbit for the next 20,000 years. The resonant librations increase the orbit's Lyapunov time by a factor of two in the future and strongly influence the movement of the orbital nodes. The librations are maintained by indirect rather than direct planetary perturbations, which explains why a retrograde comet of such long orbital period is located in a resonance, and why Jupiter is the resonant planet. After 4479 the probability of impacting Earth is roughly 2 × 10 -8 per revolution until 12,000 AD, while the chance of a collision in 4479 is of order 1 in 10 6 .


Benefit sharing has been a recurrent theme in international debates for the past two decades. However, despite its prominence in law, medical ethics and political philosophy, the concept has never been satisfactorily defined. In this conceptual paper, a definition that combines current legal guidelines with input from ethics debates is developed. Philosophers like boxes; protective casings into which they can put concisely-defined concepts. Autonomy is the human capacity for self-determination; beneficence denotes the virtue of good deeds, coercion is the intentional threat of harm and so on. What about benefit sharing? Does the concept have a box and are the contents clearly defined? The answer to this question has to be no. The concept of benefit sharing is almost unique in that various disciplines use it regularly without precise definitions. In this article, a definition for benefit sharing is provided, to eliminate unnecessary ambiguity.


Authors investigate the carrier mobility in field-effect transistors mainly when fabri- cated on Si(110) wafers. They showed that the methods developed to extract the conduction parameters cannot be implemented for Si(110) p-MOSFETs. Authors then developed a more accurate mobility model able to simulate not only the drivability but also the transconductance for these same devices. The study of the relation between the mobility, channel direction and wafer orientation revealed that the channel direction had a significant impact on the mobility for transistors fabricated on Si(110) wafers, the highest electron and hole mobilites being obtained for a channel along the <100> and <110> directions, respectively. No relations were found for Si(100) wafers. The study of the dependence of the scattering mechanism limiting the mobility in Si(110) n-MOSFETs showed that the Coulomb and surface roughness scattering mechanisms were responsi- ble for the degradation of the mobility when compared to the one on Si(100) wafers. Finally, the measurement of the mobility in an accumulation-mode MOSFETs is not straightforward since a bulk contribution, owing to the SOI layer, is adding to channel current. A methodology has been successfully implemented that led to the experimental verification of the universal behaviour of the mobility in an accumulation layer.


Introduction. Myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is a diagnostic method using radionuclides to assess heart muscle perfusion. The aim of this study was to assess adherence to the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines in referring patients to SPECT and to evaluate the occurrence of perfusion disorders depending on the type of indication.
 Material and methods. The study included 100 outpatients (45 males), of mean age 65 ± 10 years, who were referred for SPECT in the John Paul II Hospital in Krakow. According to the 2013 ESC Guidelines of stable coronary artery disease (CAD) management, indications for this study are those patients: with electrocardiogram (ECG) anomalies at rest, which prevent its accurate interpretation during stress (1st); with pacemaker (2nd); who are symptomatic with prior revascularisation (3rd); who are unable to exercise adequately during a stress test (4th); and with uncharacteristic chest pain (5th). Patients were divided into two groups according to their SPECT study result. Group 1 comprised patients with perfusion disorders, and Group 2 patients without perfusion disorders.
 Results. SPECT perfusion disorders were detected in 53 patients (53%) (these patients made up Group 1). Compliant with ESC Guidelines referrals included: 8% of patients with the 1st indication, 2% with the 2nd, 24% with the 3rd, 15% with the 4th and 23% with the 5th. Apart from the aforementioned indications, referrals including 'CAD' and 'another heart arrhythmia' were noted in 32% and 7%, respectively. From all the above mentioned ESC indications for SPECT, we observed statistically significant differences in the prevalence of perfusion disorders solely in patients with the 3rd indication on their referrals (p = 0.013).
 Conclusions. Overall, 72% of referrals in this study were compliant with ESC Guidelines. The most common indications for SPECT were 'CAD' and 'symptomatic patients with prior revascularisation'. Only the group of patients with the 3rd indication had statistically significantly more frequent perfusion disorders in SPECT.


A study was conducted on the effect of the rhizobacterium Azospirillum brasilense strain Cd on the production of herbaceous swards growing at 2 rangeland habitats in Israel. One habitat was the semiarid zone (< 300 mm annual rainfall, calcareous soil on rocky slopes) while the other was a typical Mediterranean zone (approximately-600 mm annual rainfall, karstic rock covered with terra rossa soil). The inoculum was applied in water suspension at a concentration of 109 colony forming units (CFU) ml-1. The effect of inoculation was compared with P-fertilizer application at a rate of 5 g/M2. The same treatments were also applied on potted soil from the 2 sites. The semiarid ecosystem showed a strong response to Azospirillum inoculation, to P-fertilizer and to the combination of these 2 treatments, with aerial biomass production increasing by approximately fourfold in the treatments as compared with the control. The response to inoculation or P-fertilization was similar, with no interaction or additive effect noted for the combined treatment. At the Mediterranean site, the response to inoculation or P-fertilization alone was variable, with only a moderate effect on biomass production as compared with the control; however, the inoculation-fertilization interaction was highly significant and doubled biomass production. In the greenhouse experiment, the response to inoculation or fertilization was significant and the biomass production at the end of the growing season was approximately 50% higher than in the control. At both sites, standing biomass was greater in the treated plots already at early stages of growth, thereby potentially lengthening the effective grazing season. It is suggested that inoculation with Azospirillum brasilense on a commercial scale may offer a means of increasing rangeland production without resorting to costly and ecologically unfavorable fertilizer application.


This is a comparative analysis of two novels entitled "The Son of Mad Mat Lela," which is written by Ishak Hadji Muhammad, a famous Malaysian writer and the other one is "Teach us to Outgrow our Madness," by a Japanese novelist Kenzaburo Oe. This study compared the literary styles of Muhammad and Oe through the lens of their vocabulary and language use. Muhammad's literary styles is simple, clear and vivid. One reads the story with delight because the words that strung together sound on the air like music. He does not use metaphor; his style is still striking in his own way. Many readers still notice his style no matter how plain it is. This is to say that Muhammad could write lucidly, simply and lively by observing grammar rules in writing. He uses common phrases of the day not with artificially but with naturalness. While, Oe's literary style is more of long and complex sentences or two that occupy  a paragraph. Most of his passages convey strong emotion describing an intimate knowledge of the lives of the characters.


Abstract : This work adds new functionality to an existing visual programming environment. It applies software maintenance techniques for use with the Java Language in a Microsoft Windows operating system environment. The previously undocumented application is intended to support programming with executable diagrams. This application has the potential to expand programming access to non-programmers, provide better software documentation and improve software maintainability. It is currently capable of supporting meta-programming tasks such as parsing and compiler building. The 11,184 legacy lines of code (LOC) were corrected, extended and documented to support future maintenance using an additional 957 LOC and changes to 45 LOC.


The industries have been working hard, for decades, to improve quality in their products, using process that assure a quality level which meets customers needs. An important and strategic component, the IT area, collaborates with the companies to meet the goals satisfactorily, which is not considered with the necessary attention. The IT area of an organization should be managed with the same importance dedicated to product manufacturing process.


Genetically modified mouse models have proven useful to study learning and memory processes and the neurocircuitry and molecular mechanisms involved, as well as to develop therapies for diseases involving cognitive impairment. A variety of tests have been developed to measure cognition in mice, and here we present those established and regularly used in the German Mouse Clinic. The test paradigms have been carefully chosen according to reliability of results and disease relevance of the cognitive functions assessed. Further criteria were time efficiency and ease of application. All tests assess slightly different but also overlapping or interacting aspects of learning and memory so that they can be used to complement each other in a comprehensive assessment of cognitive function. The five protocols described are for spontaneous alternation in the Y‐maze, social discrimination, object recognition, automated assessment of learning and memory using the IntelliCage, and olfactory discrimination learning. © 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


Several C18 HPLC columns, varying in column length as well as packing material diameter, were used to separate mixtures of biochemical compounds in standards and in various physiological fluids. The column performances were compared both qualitatively and quantitatively. Factors investigated included efficiency, resolution, selectivity, column effect on peak height, temperature effects, cost per analysis, and analysis times. Column lifetime was also examined. The results were used to evaluate the suitability of the various columns for use in the chromatographic analysis of physiological samples.


Netherton's syndrome is characterized by ichthyosiform desquamation, bamboo hair and often atopic diathesis. It is transmitted as an autosomal-recessive trait. In this paper we report a baby with Netherton's syndrome who developed hypernatremia during the neonatal period. This complication should be remembered in erythrodermic infants as a preventable cause of neonatal morbidity.


Gelatinized starch was prepared by constantly stirring a mixture of starch and water at 95°C for 1 hour. Starch-graft-acrylic acid (S-g-AA) hydrogels were prepared by grafting acrylic acid (AA) [monomer/starch (w/w) 0.5–1.5] onto gelatinized starch with ceric ammonium nitrate as initiator under nitrogen atmosphere. The surface morphology of samples was studied using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The hydrogels were evaluated for the removal of Cu2+ ion from aqueous solutions at different pH. The concentration of Cu2+ ion in aqueous solution was kept constant at 4 mmol/L. The metal ion removal capacities changed depending on treatment time, initial pH of the solution, and monomer/starch (w/w) ratio of the S-g-AA hydrogels. Cu2+ ion removal capacities were determined by atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS).


Single-FPGA spatial implementations can provide an order of magnitude speedup over sequential microprocessor implementations for data-parallel, floating-point computation in SPICE model-evaluation. Model-evaluation is a key component of the SPICE circuit simulator and it is characterized by large irregular floating-point compute graphs. We show how to exploit the parallelism available in these graphs on single-FPGA designs with a low-overhead VLIW-scheduled architecture. Our architecture uses spatial floating-point operators coupled to local high-bandwidth memories and interconnected by a time-shared network. We retime operation inputs in the model-evaluation to allow independent scheduling of computation and communication. With this approach, we demonstrate speedups of 2–18×over a dual-core 3GHz Intel Xeon 5160 when using a XilinxVirtex 5 LX330T for a variety of SPICE device models.


Modification with polymers such as polyethylene glycol (PEG) can increase circulating lifetime, reduce immunogenicity and simplify the handling of pharmaceutical proteins. These benefits are currently exploited in six marketed polymer-modified protein therapeutics and about a dozen product candidates in clinical trials. However, traditional protein modification techniques are restricted by the limited control over polymer structure and the location and number of polymer attachment sites. New technology, in the form of chemical protein synthesis and the generation of precision polymers, has been applied to generate synthetic erythropoiesis protein (SEP). This promising treatment for anaemia has been synthesised with precision polymer modification methodology to improve the target protein pharmaceutical. The chemical and biological properties of proteins prepared by both traditional and novel approaches are contrasted in this discussion of chemical protein synthesis and polymer modification in protein drug discovery.


The objective of this study is to present a profile on the environmental factors and their impact on human infertility. 200 aborted subjects in Chennai metropolitan city, were analyzed for the reasons for miscarriages. A comprehensive, questionnaire related to their medical, surgical family history, life style habits, consanguity, glucose level, blood pressure, type of infertility, BMI etc., were collected, with informed consent of women. The aborted samples were collected and analyzed for chromosomal abnormalities, using chorionic villi sampling culture method. Out of 200 subjects 30% were missed abortion, 27.5 % were due to the absence of cardiac activity in the fetus and in few cases, syndromes and ploidy were observed. With this background a study was initiated to analyze the tentative factors involved in early abortions due to chromosomal abnormalities. It was brought to the light that many of the environmental factors / agents might be multifactorial causation for chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus and consecutively leading to early abortions, where the subjects parent's genetical background seems to be normal.


The intention of this research is to find the characteristic method of Korean traditional villa in its creation of architecturally diversified space and enhancing the depth of space. The relationship between th e method of composing the architectural frame and the theories of Oriental painting composition become the main structure of this analysis. The theory of close-middle distance-long view, zigzag flow ov view point through the layered space construction, asymmetrical balancing, and shifting perspective were to be found in the research on Naksunjae, a private set of housings for the King within the palace of the Chosun Dynasty. According to this constant feature, several restorations and corrections made under the Japanese Colonial Period could be considered an error, as can be checked in the layout drawing of East Side Palace, made in the early 1900s.


__Abstract__

This report provides recommendations about the governance of electrotechnical standardisation in Europe to seven independent National Committees: DKE (Germany), Electrosuisse (Switzerland), OVE (Austria), NEC (the Netherlands), NEK (Norway), SEK (Sweden), and SESKO (Finland). It answers the following questions:

1. How can formal standardisation be organised so that it enables industry to have optimal impact with minimal effort, without compromising reasonable participation and influence by other stakeholder groups?
2. Does CENELEC have any added value as a separate European standardisation organisation next to CEN and ETSI?
3. How can it be ensured that industry defines market relevance of standardisation projects?

The researcher first interviewed the general directors of these NCs and listened to their concerns. These concerns were then analysed using some additional interviews, professional and scientific literature, and the researcher's own experience.

Problems as perceived by the seven electrotechnical NCs include:
• Concerns whether industry, the main stakeholder in electrotechnical standardisation, can remain in the lead for both technical and for governance issues.
• Concerns that current governance directs most of its attention at the European level of standardisation, whereas the international level is far more important for industry.
• Concerns about the increasing influence of the European Commission and the decreasing influence of industry.
• Concerns about the complex governance structure of CENELEC and its counterpart CEN.
• Concerns about further integration of CENELEC and CEN, which brings more 'political' (non-technical) and European (non-international) issues to CENELEC agenda, leads to a decrease in the influence of the electrotechnical industry on policy, and results in sub-optimal solutions for the electrotechnical sector.
• Dissatisfaction with CEN CENELEC Management Centre that is supportive in regular technical work, but insufficiently supportive in governance-related issues and sometimes putting the wrong emphasis.
• Difficulty to align with newer CENELEC members from Central, Eastern and partly Southern Europe which tend to have less involvement of the electrotechnical industry and have a different culture, which leads to differences in input in CENELEC.
• Bureaucracy: the huge number of governance-related committees and working groups which leads to vast numbers of meetings and documents and puts a huge administrative burden on NCs.

Other interviews, industry position papers , and internal CENELEC documents confirm the relevance of these issues, but one specifically appears to be up for discussion: the wish to focus on the international level. Indeed, this is the natural level for industry, in combination with the national level. The European level is an artificial level for political reasons. But it is a reality. Standards have contributed to the single European market without barriers to trade. Standards are relevant for policy areas as well, such as sustainability and the digital agenda. Because CENELEC prefers to focus on rubberstamping international standards, the European Commission largely determines the European agenda and as a result, industry is no longer in the lead and may feel pressurised to participate in committees they would not have chosen themselves. Meanwhile the agenda of governance-related committees is overwhelmed by European issues, sometimes also related to politics. CENELEC, its sister organisation CEN, and their common secretariat CCMC have responded by creating even more committees, which generate new documents. As a result, the system is bogged down by bureaucracy and is no longer effective. In order to improve the situation, CENELEC, CEN, their members and CCMC have focused on more efficiency, but as will be explained in this report, this makes the situation worse instead of better because it draws attention to internal issues while the external environment requires more effectiveness.

An 'escape' is needed and two scenarios have been designed. Scenario A is in line with the wishes of the independent NCs: a focus on alignment with IEC. Scenario B advocates a more proactive European role. In both scenarios, the overload of committees and working groups is stopped simply by dismantling most of them. Although they may be important, they hinder more important work. Their work should stop or be (partly) taken over by the secretariat.

In Scenario A, the focus shifts further to the international level by aligning European structures and meetings with international ones and by putting the European Commission at a distance. Standardisation requests are no longer honoured, the default answer to these requests is 'no'. Compared to the current situation, CENELEC becomes leaner, industry can focus on technical standardisation issues, and the administrative workload of NCs is reduced considerably. It requires a more pro-active role of the secretariat. If CCMC is not prepared to play this role, then a move to another secretariat can be considered. However, this scenario more or less ignores European issues, and the default rejection of standardisation requests is not realistic. The focus on IEC leads to less rather than more integration between CENELEC and CEN, which may be beneficial for the electrotechnical industry but not necessarily for CEN and CENELEC members, particularly those members from countries that have a limited electrotechnical industry and thus hardly have any involvement in IEC.

In Scenario B, the needs in the European market get more priority. The market for electrotechnical components and products is global, but the market for systems in which these are applied can be global, European, national, or even local. In these systems, electrotechnology is interwoven with ICT, other technologies, and services. In Scenario B, CENELEC takes a forerunner role in developing architectures of standards for such systems. It develops the electrotechnical standards themselves in cooperation with IEC, while leaving the remaining standards to other standards setting bodies, including ETSI and CEN. In this scenario, CENELEC cooperates with the European Commission but in a different way than it currently does – next to it, not under it. The proactive role requires a proactive secretariat that is knowledgeable in the art of systems-related standardisation. CCMC, in its current shape, is not in a position to play this role. Many conveners of committees and standardisation officers at the national level need additional education to enable them to lead and support this more sophisticated form of standardisation. In this scenario, CENELEC remains independent from CEN, 1) because of this sophisticated character, 2) to allow industry to be in the lead, 3) because of its relation to IEC, and 4) to ensure an external focus. However, if CEN moves in a similar direction, more integration between CEN and CENELEC makes sense at a later stage – the historical reasons for having separate organisations disappear due to the integration of technologies and markets.

First feedback suggests that most NCs involved in this project are not prepared to play a more active role in Europe and therefore prefer Scenario A. However, because its weaknesses, a third scenario has been developed that starts as an improved version of Scenario A and then moves in the direction of Scenario B. CENELEC's purpose would be to develop, approve and disseminate trustworthy and sound standards in the field of electrotechnology, relevant for stakeholders in Europe. In this growth scenario, CENELEC would start with a pilot project of system-related standardisation.


Objective Despite of antiviral drugs and successful treatment, an effective vaccine against hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is still required. Recently, bioinformatic methods same as prediction algorithms, have greatly contributed to the use of peptides in the design of immunogenic vaccines. Therefore, finding more conserved sites on the surface glycoproteins (E1 and E2) of HCV, as major targets to design an effective vaccine against genetically different viruses in each genotype was the goal of the study. Materials and Methods In this experimental study, 100 entire sequences of E1 and E2 were retrieved from the NCBI website and analyzed in terms of mutations and critical sites by Bioedit 7.7.9, MEGA X software. Furthermore, HCV-1a samples were obtained from some infected people in Iran, and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT- PCR) assay was optimized to amplify their E1 and E2 genes. Moreover, all three-dimensional structures of E1 and E2 downloaded from the PDB database were analyzed by YASARA. In the next step, three interest areas of humoral immunity in the E2 glycoprotein were evaluated. OSPREY3.0 protein design software was performed to increase the affinity to neutralizing antibodies in these areas. Results We found the effective in silico binding affinity of residues in three broadly neutralizing epitopes of E2 glycoprotein. First, positions that have substitution capacity were detected in these epitopes. Furthermore, residues that have high stability for substitution in these situations were indicated. Then, the mutants with the strongest affinity to neutralize antibodies were predicted. I414M, T416S, I422V, I414M-T416S, and Q412N-I414M-T416S substitutions theoretically were exhibited as mutants with the best affinity binding. Conclusion Using an innovative filtration strategy, the residues of E2 epitopes which have the best in silico binding affinity to neutralizing antibodies were exhibited and a distinct peptide library platform was designed.


This paper examines AC motor shaft voltages and resulting bearing currents when operated under pulse width modulation (PWM) voltage source inverters. The paper reviews the electrical characteristics of bearings and motors that cause shaft voltages and bearing currents. A brief review of previous work is presented, including a system model for electrical analysis of bearing currents. Relying on the work of a companion paper, the propensity for electric discharge machining (EDM) is determined by a design equation that is a function of system components. Pertinent machine parameters and their formulae are presented and values calculated for machines from 5 to 1000 hp. The effects of system elements on shaft voltages and bearing currents are evaluated experimentally and the results compared to theory. Finally, the paper presents quantitative results for one solution to the shaft voltage and bearing current problem.


Between 1991 and 1998 the authors performed 21 pylorus-preserving pancreatoduodenectomies (PPPD), 32 Beger and 13 Frey procedures in chronic pancreatitis with inflammatory head enlargement. The pre- and intraoperative data, as well as the postoperative early and late results were also compared. The preoperative clinical features and the intraoperative morphology were similar in the three groups. Considering the operative and late mortality and the reoperation there was no statistical difference between the procedures. The postoperative hospitalization time was the shortest after the duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resections (Beger and Frey). While the rate of early complications was significantly higher after PPPD, there was no difference in the rate of late complications between the groups. Although each operation gave similarly good late results (freedom from pain, weight gain, exocrine function, quality of life), the condition of the patients was better and the development rate of diabetes was lower (1/27), after Beger procedure, that after PPPD (6/14). Consequently the duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resections seem to be more advantageous, than the PPPD. Nevertheless the latter procedure is the only possibility in some cases.


The numerically simulated performances of two subcell tandem and three subcell triple amorphous silicon-based, multijunction solar cells are compared. The current-voltage characteristics are calculated using a simulation program which allows for accurate determination of single-junction or multijunction cell response under monochromatic or global AM1.5 spectrum. The validity of the solar cell model is confirmed by the excellent agreement between the simulated and measured characteristics of in-house fabricated 13.0% tandem and 13.7% triple cells with a minimum optical bandgap of 1.4 eV. It is shown that if an even narrower bandgap material of 1.3 eV were used, the triple junction device would exceed the tandem by over 1% under global AM1.5 (14.2% versus 13.2%). Assuming that both cells absorb the same amount of light, this difference is mainly due to the weaker electric fields in the double-junction cell in which the individual cell thicknesses are larger. >


The first free cyclobutadiene (CBD) germanium analogue was obtained as room-temperature stable dark red crystals via the reaction of the bulky EMind-substituted 1,2-dichlorodigermene with lithium naphthalenide. The cyclic 4π-electron antiaromaticity is essentially stabilized by the polar Jahn-Teller distortion in the germanium CBD producing a planar rhombic-shaped charge-separated structure.

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This paper presents a glossary of terms relevant to some of the consequences of disease. The glossary was originally prepared as an appendix to the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps, but ultimately it was not possible for it to be included in this publication. Although the work cannot be regarded either as official or as definitive, it is offered as a contribution to resolving some of the difficulties encountered by those in rehabilitation medicine when they try to communicate with each other.


Since decades, drop impact has been a popular topic of investigation for the importance that such a phenomenology has in many different application domains.So far, the effect of micro-particles on the drop impact morphology has been studied for a limited number of configurations and often modelled as a change in the viscosity of the carrier fluid. However, this approach has been found sometimes questionable. The aim of the thesis is to better understand the phenomenology associated with particle-laden drop impact such as the distribution of particles in splats and to extend the number of experimental configurations for particle-laden drop impact to occur.The impact of millimetre-size particle-laden drops was investigated for hydrophilic and hydrophobic substrates. The drops were dispersions of water and round, spherical and nearly iso-dense hydrophobic particles with diameters around 200 µm and 500 µm. The substrates were transparent glass and polycarbonate plates. The impact was studied by side, bottom and angle view images in the range 148≤We≤744 and 7092≤Re≤16368.The particles were found to suppress the appearance of singular jetting and drop partial rebound, and also cause early splashing, receding break-up and rupture. The occurrences of these phenomena depend on the impact velocity, particles' diameter and volume fraction. The drops with 200 µm particles spread in two phases: fast and slow, caused by inertial and capillary forces, respectively. Also, the increase of volume fraction of 200 µm particle leads to a linear decrease of the maximum spreading factor caused by the inertia force on the hydrophilic and hydrophobic substrates. The comparison of our data and the existing ones for splashing led to the formulation of а new splashing criterion for particle-laden drops. The novel criterion improves upon current models in predicting the splashing threshold by introducing effect of particle volume fraction and particle wettability. The analysis of particle distribution showed that 200 µm particles formed atypical distributions in splats after the impact in contrast to 500 µm particles with random pattern. The 200 µm particles formed rings/disks and a crown-like structure on hydrophilic and hydrophobic substrates, respectively. These patterns were described by correlations.


Portrait of the Hallettsville High School graduating class of 1931. There are fourteen young men and eleven young ladies pictured. All of the boys are wearing suits, and the girls are wearing dresses. At the bottom right is written "H.H.S. Class 1931 Hallettsville-Tex."


Not only is the diagnosis of isolated premature thelarche difficult to distinguish from other variants of premature sexual maturation, but within the subgroups of isolated premature thelarche, there are probably at least two subgroups: "classical" and "atypical". We do not appreciate how potential treatment could affect each group, although it seems likely that those in the "classical" group would not have an indication for treatment. The longer-term follow-up of large numbers of patients is essential if we are to understand the long-term sequelae of this condition.


Abstract. In order to clarify the cause of variability among the model outputs for surface ozone in the Model Intercomparison Study Asia Phase III (MICS-Asia III), three regional models, CMAQ v.5.0.2, CMAQ v.4.7.1 and NAQPMS (abbreviated as NAQM in this paper) have been selected. The detailed analyses have been made for monthly averaged diurnal variation for select grids covering metropolitan area of Beijing and Tokyo, and at a remote oceanic site, Oki. The chemical reaction mechanism, SAPRC99 used in the CMAQ models tends to give higher net chemical ozone production than CBM-Z used in NAQM agreeing with previous studies. Inclusion of heterogeneous "renoxification" reaction of HNO3 (on soot) → NO + NO2 only in NAQM is supposed to give higher NO concentration to give better agreement with observational data for NO and nighttime O3 mixing ratios. In addition to chemistry, the difference in vertical transport of O3 was found to affect the simulated results significantly. Particularly, the increase in downward flux of O3 from upper layer to the surface after the dawn is found to be substantially different among the models. Larger early morning vertical transport of O3 by CMAQ 5.0.2 would be the reason for higher daytime O3 by this model in July. All the three models overestimate the daytime ozone by ca. 20 ppbv at the remote site Oki in July, where in situ photochemical activity is minimal.


Context: Scrub typhus is an acute febrile illness caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi. It is a re-emerging rickettsial disease known to occur all over India. Also no data exists as to what proportion of fever cases are due to scrub typhus in West Bengal. Aims: This study was aimed at identifying the proportion of Orientia tsutsugamughi infection among the patients presenting with acute febrile illness and their epidemiological characteristics, clinical profile and laboratory parameters. Methods and Material: Blood samples of patients suffering from acute undifferentiated febrile illness for more than five days duration were collected from different hospitals of Kolkata and IgM capture Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbant Assay (ELISA) was performed at referral virology laboratory of School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata over the period, April 2017 to March 2018. Results: 89 cases were found reactive for scrub typhus IgM out of 259 suspected cases (34.36%). Scrub typhus was mainly prevalent in children with slight male predilection. Most of the patients were from rural belt with a history of poor housing conditions. The common symptoms associated with fever were headache, nausea/vomiting, cough and skin rashes. Common signs were hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, followed by eschar and lymphadenopathy. Important laboratory findings were anaemia, leucocytosis, thrombocytopenia, and elevated liver enzymes whereas serum urea/creatinine level was almost within normal limits. There was no mortality. Conclusions: In this study 34.36% of febrile patients (duration of fever ≥ five days) were positive for scrub typhus. So it needs to be included in the differential diagnosis of febrile illness in West Bengal.


Background The benefits of regular physical activity are well known. Few adults in the UK meet the recommended levels. There is growing evidence suggesting that neighbourhood characteristics interact with individual characteristics to determine physical activity levels. Objective Examine relationships between neighbourhood-level and individual-level characteristics and physical activity. Setting 40 of the most deprived neighbourhoods in London (census lower super output areas (LSOA) ranked in the top 11% of LSOAs in London by Index of Multiple Deprivation). Design Cross-sectional, interviewer-administered survey with households in the 40 neighbourhoods (n=4107 adults aged >=16 years); fieldworker-completed neighbourhood audit tool to measure area characteristics. Methods Physical activity was measured using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire in the household survey. The outcome measure was meeting the minimum recommended levels of physical activity (5 x 30 min moderate activity per week). Multilevel modelling in Stata 11 was used to examine the effects of individual and neighbourhood characteristics on achieving the recommended weekly physical activity levels. Multiple imputation was used to account for missing data. Results 70% of respondents reported physical activity equivalent to the recommended 5x30 min per week; the intra-neighbourhood correlation coefficient was 0.15. Preliminary results (adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics) indicate that women were less likely than men to meet the recommended physical activity levels (OR=0.6; 95% CI 0.4 to 0.7); individuals with positive mental health were more likely to meet the recommended levels (OR for 1 point increase in Hope Scale=1.2; 95% CI 1.0 to 1.3). After adjusting for individual characteristics, 9% of the residual variance in propensity to meet recommended physical activity was attributable to neighbourhood differences. Neighbourhood levels of incivilities, proximity and quality of parks/green space, walkability and cyclability were not associated with meeting recommended physical activity levels. Further results for other neighbourhood characteristics will be presented and social inequalities in the effects of neighbourhoods on health will be examined. Conclusion The level of physical activity in low income communities in London is higher than the national average measured in the Health Survey for England. In preliminary analyses we found no evidence of neighbourhood effects on physical activity levels in deprived London neighbourhoods. These observations may be due to: (i) limited clustering of physical activity levels across the most deprived neighbourhoods in London; (ii) limited variability in neighbourhood environments in these communities; (iii) individual level characteristics are stronger determinants of physical activity in these communities; (iv) complex and contingent causal pathways of physical activity, not captured in our models.


A lay person may listen puzzled as a specialist in a public hearing discusses a technical point. Similarly, a challenging question from a technically knowledgeable member of the audience may be difficult to fathom. Failure to understand what a speaker discusses-despite one's interest in a topic-can cause frustration, anger and despair. It makes a listener wonder why they are there trying to engage, and why technical specialists persist in such a style of presentation. Breakdowns in communication between technical and nontechnical people are linked to the concept of "expert". This link involves the process of the "negotiation of expert status"; this refers to the social construction of the role of the "expert" by the participants in a conversation. The term "negotiation" refers to the sometimes subtle and sometimes overtly contentious nature of a debate about who deserves to be listened to as a voice of authority on a particular topic.


A rotating arm apparatus capable of circumferential speeds up to 475 m/s (Mach 1.4) has been used to make quantitative measurements of the velocity and angle dependence of ram erosion for a wide range of materials. It has been possible to relate the mechanical properties of some materials with their rain erosion resistance. The behaviour of the drops during impact has been studied by high speed photography.


A simplified nonlinear spectral transport equation, for narrowband Gaussian random surface wavetrains, slowly varying in space and time, is derived fron the weakly nonlinear equations of Davey & Stewartson. The stability of an initially homogeneous wave spectrum, to small oblique wave perturbations is studied for a range of spectral bandwidths, resulting in an integral equation for the amplification rate of the disturbance. It is shown for random deep water waves that instability of the wavetrain can exist, as in the corresponding deterministic Benjamin-Feir (B-F) problem, provided that the normalized spectral bandwidth σ/k 0 is less than twice the root mean square wave slope, multiplied by a function of the perturbation wave angle ϕ = arctan (m/l). A further condition for instability is that the angle ϕ be less than 35.26°. It is demonstrated that the amplification rate, associated with the B-F type instability, diminishes and then vanishes as the correlation length scale of the random wave field (ca. 1/σ)is reduced to the order of the characteristic length scale for modulational instability of the wave system.


As systems for active level crossing protection are expensive there is a need to explore affordable technologies which will provide improved protection for road users at level crossings with passive protection systems. This investigation is part of a project on Affordable Level Crossing Protections funded by Australia's Cooperative Research Centre for Rail Innovation under its Engineering and Safety Program. The literature showed it was clear that there is a need to determine user responses to railway level crossings so that human factors requirements could be determined. The Population Research Laboratory at Central Queensland University conducted the Queensland Social Survey in mid-2009. It determined, amongst other things, the self-reported reactions of road users when they negotiate railway level crossings. Some interesting patterns were revealed. The outcomes provide further illumination of how road users respond to a range of situations as they approach a railway level crossing. Consistently high proportions of respondents said they never do things which are illegal, risky or dangerous at level crossings. The paper presents analysis and discussion of the road user responses with consideration of a number of contributing factors, including crossing design, user perception of warning signage, user attitudes to compliance with road rules, and the environmental context.


The experience of stress is receiving increasing attention in the context of adolescent mental health, which is why a valid and reliable stress assessment instrument is of great importance. For this purpose, an English-language adolescent stress questionnaire (ASQ) was developed, which assesses the subjective stress experience of adolescents in different areas of life (e.g., at home, at school, and during leisure time). However, the latest long version of the questionnaire with 56 items (ASQ-2) was found to be too extensive, so a more economical short version ASQ-S with 27 items was developed. The aim of this study was to validate a German and a Greek version of the ASQ-S. In order to investigate the psychometric properties of the German and Greek ASQ-S confirmatory factor analysis, analyses of variance and correlations were applied to sample data from Switzerland, Germany, and Greece (N = 1,071 seventh-grade students; Mage = 12.53; SD = 0.76). The results yielded only poor to moderate internal reliability across all three countries and the suggested 9-dimensional factor structure could not be confirmed. Instead, a modified 6-factor structure was tested which showed acceptable model fits while demonstrating form invariance across the three countries. Furthermore, the ASQ-S scales correlated positively with depressive symptoms and anxiety and negatively with self-esteem and life satisfaction, all of which supported adequate concurrent validity. The results revealed that the utility of the ASQ-S appears to be limited when translated to other languages and should be used with caution when administered in international contexts.


Perhaps I may be allowed to suggest as additions to the list of references appended to Dr. Dixey's paper, J. E. S. Moore's The Tanganyika Problem (London, 1903) and E. Parson's important paper, "The origin of the Great Rift-Valleys as evidenced by the geology of coastal Kenya" (Trans. Geol. Soc. S. Afr. xxxi, 1929, pp. 63-96). The map accompanying my own paper on the "Karroo System in East and Central Africa" (C.R. Int. Geol. Congr. xv, 1929, S. Aft. ii, 1930, pp. 263-87) gives some idea of what may be termed the paulo-post-Karroo faulting, which, as Dr. Dixey points out, has often been confused ~rith the later "Rift" system. As it was the result of going over much of the area on foot, the paper contains details about various definite points, and attention may be drawn to the fact that both alongside Lake Tanganyika and in the Zambesi Valley all the faulting I saw had the downthrows the wrong way for the depressions to be ascribed to its influence. The fact that the faulting does not completely neutralize the effect of the general dip seems to show that Moore was not so far out, after all, with his "eurycolpic folds". A point touched upon as long ago as 1903 in the Geological Magazine (1903, p. 548) may be again emphasized here. It is not by any means as certain as seems to be generally assumed that the southern half of Africa has had its present shape for any great length


The effects of white light, red light, blue light, yellow light, red+blue light and red+blue+yellow light on the growth and quality of Gynura bicolor were investigated under the same light intensity (350±5 μmol·m-2·s-1) by using light-emitting-diodes (LEDs) which could accurately regulate light quality and light intensity. The results indicated that compared with white light, red light could significantly promote the growth of G. bicolor and induce the accumulation of dry substance and soluble sugar content, but blue light inhibited the plant growth. The content of chlorophyll significantly decreased under the colored LEDs. Although the combination of red, blue and yellow light did not increase the dry substance accumulation, it resulted in significant elevation of total phenols, flavonoids and anthocyanins. The accumulation of these reduced substances could increase the tolerance to oxidative stress and the nutrient value in G. bicolor. This study provided a theoretical basis for G. bicolor diverse production regulated by light quality.


A high-performance liquid chromatographic method using photodiode array and single quadrupole electrospray mass detection for analysis and profiling of bisdesmosidic saponins in Saponaria vaccaria seed was developed. Profiles of seed extract from three different plant sources were obtained and found to contain the same saponins, albeit in different proportions. Several known saponins were identified by selected ion extraction of quasi-molecular ions from the total ion chromatogram and confirmed by their mass spectra. Application of high cone voltages afforded mass spectra containing key diagnostic fragments and relatively strong singly charged quasi-molecular ions. In addition to previously identified saponins, several new quillaic acid and gypsogenin bisdesmosides could be detected via mass spectral analysis. Five of these were tentatively identified as pentose homologues of known saponins, having an added xylosyl residue linked to the 3-O-glucuronyl group (1 --> 3). The stereochemistry and identity of the xylosyl linkage in the new saponins was determined by chemical means. Previously reported vaccaric or segetalic acid-type bisdesmosides could not be detected in any of the extracts.


Micro-ID is a new test system designed to identify members of the family Enterobacteriaceae in 4 h. It consists of 15 biochemical tests on reagent-impregnated paper disks; each test is in its own compartment in a molded plastic tray. Based on the pattern of positive and negative biochemical reactions, a five-digit octal code number is calculated. A computer-generated identification manual accompanies the product, and for each octal code listed there is a numerical value that represents the unknown isolate's degree of fit to a typical organism (LFR), a second numerical value that represents its separation from other organisms (PNOR), and a verbal description of the quality of identification. Only one reagent is added to the system. Manufacturer's directions were modified in this laboratory to allow identification from a turbid blood culture bottle within 4 h. Based on 330 routine clinical cultures tested, there was a 96.1% agreement with conventional identification to the genus and species level: 1.2% yielded first two choices possible, with one being the correct choice; 1.2% provided a correct genus, but no species identification; and 1.5% produced an incorrect identification. The Micro-ID is an accurate, facile system for the rapid identification of Enterobacteriaceae from blood cultures.


Levels of Bacteroidetes in the gut microbiome are positively associated with insulin resistance (IR) in humans. Considering that IR is promoted by elevations in hepatic sphingolipids (SL), particularly ceramides, and that Bacteroidetes are the only microbiome phylum possessing genes encoding serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT), which mediates SL synthesis, we investigated a potential link between bacterial SL production, host SL metabolism, and IR. In vitro, bacterial SLs entered colonocytes and were metabolized into complex SL, including ceramides. In mice, administration of WT Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, but not a SPT-deficient mutant, resulted in elevated levels of liver ceramides and reduced responsiveness to exogenously administered insulin. This work establishes bacterial SLs as a new class of microbiome-derived molecule capable of impacting host metabolism. One Sentence Summary SL production by gut Bacteroidetes regulates liver ceramide levels and insulin sensitivity.


abstract:The 1754 incident precipitating the French and Indian War took place over a disputed claim between France and England for the Ohio River Valley. A young George Washington commanded a Virginia militia company to the Forks of the Ohio at the site of present-day Pittsburgh. The French duly rousted him and his men. The French had established Fort Duquesne, the latest in a series of forts on the Allegheny River built by them to protect their claim. They based their authority on the 1669 discovery of the Ohio River by an obscure former Jesuit priest, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. In the absence of a Procèss Verbal documenting his discovery, the legitimacy of France's claim has long been disputed. New research and insights into somewhat confusing primary sources bear out La Salle's discovery and the primacy of France's claim.


Pit cells, which are recovered in low density fraction of lymphocytes derived from the liver (L-Fr.1,2), are recognized as perisinusoidal cells. In the present study, the accumulation of liver-derived low (L-Fr.1,2) and high (L-Fr.3,4) density 51Cr-labeled lymphocytes was assessed in the liver, spleen and peripheral blood of syngeneic BALB/c mice in comparison with those derived from the spleen (S-Fr.1,2 and S-Fr.3,4) and peripheral blood (P-Fr.1,2 and P-Fr.3,4). L-Fr.1,2, L-Fr.3,4 and P-Fr.1,2 accumulated selectively in the liver, whereas P-Fr.3,4 did not accumulate in the liver. L-Fr.3,4 was composed of two major subpopulations; Thy1+CD4+ and Thy1+CD8+. This suggested that L-Fr.3,4 were distinctive from P-Fr.3,4 or L-Fr.1,2 and inhabited the liver. P-Fr.1,2 and S-Fr.1,2 tended to accumulate in the liver and 51Cr labeled P-Fr.1,2 and S-Fr.1,2 were recovered mainly in L-Fr.1,2 L-Fr.3,4, S-Fr.1,2 and P-Fr.3,4 48 h after the transfer of these cells, suggesting that a part of P-Fr.1,2 and S-Fr.1,2 might be in dynamic equilibrium with those of L-Fr.1,2 and could be a part of the source of L-Fr.3,4. Results also suggested that some of L-Fr.1,2 of T cell lineage might change into L-Fr.3,4 in the liver and might be released into the systemic circulation. Thereafter, L-Fr.3,4 might behave as P-Fr.3,4 and no longer show organ-specific accumulation.


Therapeutic angiogenesis and myogenesis restore perfusion of ischemic myocardium and improve left ventricular contractility. These therapeutic modalities must be considered as complementary rather than competing to exploit their advantages for optimal beneficial effects. The resistant nature of cardiomyocytes to gene transfection can be overcome by ex vivo delivery of therapeutic genes to the heart using genetically modified stem cells. This review article gives an overview of different vectors and delivery systems in general used for therapeutic gene delivery to the heart and provides a critical appreciation of the ex vivo gene delivery approach using genetically modified stem cells to achieve angiomyogenesis for the treatment of infarcted heart.


This paper concerns the open source software project Bitcoin. Bitcoin is often described as virtual cash and this paper asks what the term 'virtual' signifies when applied to 'cash' and in turn what 'virtual cash' says about Bitcoin. Bitcoin is related here to the 1990s activist movement of libertarian cryptographers known as 'cypherpunks' and to the cyber-libertarian political philosophy, demonstrating the historical intertwining of cryptography and politics. Cypherpunks argued that privacy is a prerequisite for an open society and that cryptography and anonymous transaction systems were needed as assurance. Bitcoin is the latest effort by cryptographers to create digital tokens similar to cash, where Bitcoin's designer Nakamoto argues that with Bitcoin users no longer have to trust a third party, traditionally the bank. Bitcoin does not fulfill this promise as trust remains to be established, albeit in a different manner. Power is not destroyed, but transferred from banks to Bitcoin's protocol. The paper concludes that 'virtual' refers to Bitcoin's model of how cash appears to function in everyday exchange, allowing user privacy. Bitcoin does not model another aspect of cash, namely that it is a credential referring to debt. Bitcoin discontinues the concept of debt.


We report on the use of low-density parity check (LDPC)-centric error correction coding (ECC) for magnetic recording read channel in the presence of significant burst errors. Since an LDPC code by itself is severely vulnerable to burst errors due to its soft-decision probability-based decoding, we focus on LDPC-centric concatenated coding in which LDPC code is used as inner code. To improve the burst error tolerance, we propose a hybrid LDPC-centric concatenated coding strategy in which one inner LDPC codeword is replaced by another codeword with much stronger burst error correction capability. This special inner codeword reveals the burst error location information, which can be leveraged by the inner LDPC code decoding to largely improve the overall robustness to burst errors. Using a hybrid BCH-LDPC/RS concatenated coding system as a test vehicle, we demonstrate a significant performance advantage over its RS-only and LDPC-only counterparts in the presence of three different types of burst errors.


The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of Critical Thinking of the students at PAK department, IAKN Tarutung, North Sumatra Indonesia. This research hypothesis: qThere is a positive and significant influence between students' critical thinking upon Christian religion education (PAK) Subjects in Compounding Communities.The population consisted of 200 students and the sample was taken as 50% of the total population that equals to 100 students. Regression coefficient test showed that r2-obt = 0.6399 and the percentage of influence between the Compounding Society Subjects on the Effectiveness of Critical Thinking is 63.99%. Hypothesis test with simple linear regression variance analysis obtained the value of F-count = 174.22g F¬table (? = 0.05, dk = 30) = 4.00.


Four Thoroughbred foals were seen to quickly eat part of the faeces deposited by their own dams on some 40 per cent of the mare-defaecating occasions observed between the second and fifth week after birth. They did not do it before or after this period. This behaviour was thought to be a feeding pattern which formed a normal part of the foal's development.


Aim: The association between echogenic intracardiac focus (EIF) and fetal aneuploidy is well established, with a recognized ethnic variation. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of EIF in Turkish pregnancies and examine its association with fetal aneuploidy and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Material and Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of second-trimester obstetric ultrasonography (16–24 weeks) at a university hospital for over 4 years. During the evaluation, all pregnancies with and without EIF were divided into three groups; Group 1: control group (randomly selected patients without EIF, n = 100); Group 2: isolated EIF group, (EIF is the sole finding, n = 45) and Group 3: non-isolated EIF group, (EIF with accompanying other ultrasound findings for fetal aneuploidy and/or presence of congenital anomalies, n = 21). The pregnancy outcomes of patients with isolated and non-isolated EIF and control group were compared. Results: Overall, 2590 obstetric sonograms were examined, with an EIF prevalence of 2.55%. The presence of other ultrasonography findings and/or congenital anomalies accompanying EIF was associated with an increased risk of fetal aneuploidy, and 2 of 21 (9.5%) pregnancies in the non-isolated EIF group had fetal aneuploidy. In addition, non-isolated EIF was associated with perinatal mortality, preterm delivery, and polyhydramnios when compared to controls and isolated EIF pregnancies. There was no difference in the pregnancy outcomes between control and patients with isolated EIF. Conclusion: EIF is a rare occurrence in Turkish pregnancies and as a sole finding, it is not associated with fetal aneuploidy or other adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, the presence of ultrasonography findings and/or congenital anomalies accompanying EIF was associated with an increased rate of fetal aneuploidy and adverse pregnancy outcomes.


Dyslipidaemia is a modifiable cause of increased mortality in patients with mental illness. We described prevalence, aetiology and treatment of dyslipidaemia in patients with mental illness. Patients with mental illness have a higher prevalence of dyslipidaemia than the general population due to genetic predisposition, unhealthy lifestyle and/or psychotropic medications. Attention towards early identification of dyslipidaemia, close monitoring, and a low threshold for initiating treatment with lifestyle interventions and lipid-lowering agents are warranted in patients with mental illness.


ABSTRACT This paper contributes to the recent debate between two important streams within current economic geography and regional studies: global value chains/global production networks theories, and regional innovation system theory. Based on the review of key literature, the authors first identify the key conceptual differences between these two streams and then provide a comparative overview of their policy implications. Thereafter, the authors show that considerable space for mutual inspiration in conceptual as well as policy terms exists, especially between the notions of strategic coupling and the new path development model. Moreover, the authors suggest six additional arenas of mutual conceptual and policy-relevant inspiration between these two streams as avenues for future research.


Introduction The paper will discuss a community financing based wellness model, piloted amongst drivers in Lagos State. The model builds on the hub and spoke investment model and utilises 'susu' a traditional micro-finance mechanism as an entry point. The model integrates protection from work-related safety and health hazards with promotion of injury and illness prevention efforts to advance worker well-being. Based on a needs assessment, the primary initiative was to establish a wellness intervention targeting a cross section of drivers involved in organised and unorganised micro and small enterprises in Lagos State. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted on the first cohort (45) of 3 based on a convenience sample. A self-administered, close-ended questionnaire recorded the participant's personal characteristics, health status, and health interests. Blood pressure and blood sugar levels were taken by trained volunteers. A repeat evaluation after the 6 month deployment of the program is planned. Key informant interviews and a satisfaction survey is planned. Results Preliminary baseline results amongst others indicate that a significant percentage of the drivers smoked cigarettes (22%) while 2% admitted to the use of marijuana, were overweight (84%), and/or were not aware they had high blood pressure (10%). Also, 42% of surveyed drivers experienced headaches more than 3 times in a week. Other findings *% had defective and 32% had low back which has lasted for more than 3 times in a week. Conclusion Wellness measures targeting identified occupational health risks, emotional, spiritual and environmental aspects of health were developed. The paper will share the model, best practices, lessons learned and programme future plans. This model can be replicated by other organised and unorganised micro and small enterprises to promote productivity and manage disease within the workforce while still promoting wellness.


Public spaces such as airports, railway stations or stadiums bring together large numbers of people on a quite limited space to use a security-sensitive infrastructure. Electronic security systems may help to provide better and faster security, as well as safety for the general public. Application scenarios may include intrusion detection and monitoring of large crowds in order to provide guidance in case of unexpected events (e.g., a mass panic). However, current security systems used within the public infrastructure are typically expensive, non-trivial to deploy, difficult to operate and maintain, prone to malfunction due to individual component failures, and generally lack citizen privacy-friendliness. The advent of novel, large-scale distributed security systems based on wireless, lightweight sensors may enhance security and safety in public spaces. In this realm, SAFEST is a project aiming at analyzing the social context of area surveillance and developing a system that can fulfill this task, both in terms of technology as well as acceptance by the general public. The targeted system will operate in a distributed way, collect anonymized data, securely transfer this data to a central location for evaluation, and - if necessary - notify the operator or issue alerts directly to the general public. Work on the technical aspects of the system is accompanied by social studies investigating the individual perception of risk and the methods for reaching public acceptance of the technical solutions.


Trees of 11 cultivars of late maturing mandarins, tangerines and hybrids from nucellar clones were budded to Rangpur lime and Cleopatra mandarin in a field nursery where common tristeza is endemic. In 1976, these combinations were established in a planting where the Cap50 Bonito CTV complex was prevalent. By 1993, most combinations on Rangpur lime were in an advanced stage of decline and a stem pitting evaluation was carried out on the rootstock of the grafted combinations. Almost all of the Rangpur lime rootstocks showed stem pitting, with the exception of those grafted with the scions Harris, Murcott and King; whereas none of the scions or Cleopatra mandarin rootstocks showed stem pitting and had significantly higher yields. These reactions were considered to be the result of differential interaction of Cap50 Bonito CTV strains among different Mandarin or Tangerine1 Rangpur combinations that developed over the 17-yrperiod of field exposure. Furthermore, significant tolerance to the same Cap50 Bonito CTV complex was demonstrated with the same scion on Cleopatra rootstock. Several hypothesis are advanced to explain these differences. Field observations indicate that mandarins and certain mandarin hybrids are tolerant to the Cap50 Bonito complex of CTV. However it was observed that some Mexerica do Rio (Willow leaf type) mandarins growing in the Southern coastal areas, and some Ponkan tangerines growing in the Southern plateau of the State of S5o Paulo, Brazil, were smaller in size than other trees in the same orchard. Stem pitting (SP) was observed in the rootstocks of either Rangpur lime or Caipira sweet orange, but not in the scion (3, 6). These observations suggested that the Cap50 Bonito CTV complex could be symptomless in mandarin scions. Evidence for this suggestion was obtained by graft and aphidinoculation of CTV from Mexerica do Rio, Cravo and Dancy mandarins growing in the Cap50 Bonito area to healthy sweet orange plants. The inoculated plants showed stunting and SP similar to control plants inoculated from sweet orange trees showing typical Cap50 Bonito CTV symptoms (4). In another experiment, several scions and rootstocks combinations including mandarins, Mexerica do Rio and Dancy were aphid-inoculated with the Cap50 Bonito isolate. The Oneco tangerine rootstock showed more severe SP symptoms when the top was Mexerica do Rio than Dancy mandarin (5). These results show that Cap50 Bonito CTV reaction is different in the Rangpur lime rootstock of one mandarins variety or the other. In 1993, an evaluation was conducted of an experiment initiated in 1976 at the Cap50 Bonito Experiment Station, Cap50 Bonito County, Sao Paulo, Brazil, which compared late maturing mandarin, tangerine and hybrids budded on Rangpur lime and Cleopatra mandarin (1). During this evaluation, it was noticed that a great number of plants on Rangpur lime rootstock were in an advanced stage of decline whereas the plot on Cleopatra was growing well. Since the Rangpur lime rootstock is known for its intolerance to the Cap50 Bonito CTV complex, it was thought that this strain of CTV might be responsible for the damage. Therefore, a stem pitting evaluation was carried out on those experimental trees. In this paper we present the results of this evaluation. 326 Thirteenth IOCV Conference, 1996Short Communications Buds from nucellar clones of nine late maturing mandarines and tangerines (Harry, Dancy, Kara, Loose Jacket, Szinkon, Ladu, King, Mexerica Tardia A and Oneco) and two tangors (Murcott and Ortanique) were propagated on Rangpur lime and Cleopatra mandarin. Trees of each combination were prepared in a field nursery at the Sylvio Moreira Citrus Center, Cordeiropolis County, where common tristeza is endemic, and later (1976) established in the Capgo Bonito Experiment Station in close proximity to trees with typical symptoms of the Capgo Bonito CTV complex. The statistical design was randomized blocks, with one plant per parcel repeated five times, for each rootstock, amounting to 120 useful trees. The experiment had only an outer border row (1). After 17 years of field exposure, the incidence of SP on Rangpur lime and Cleopatra mandarin rootstocks was evaluated removing a 15 x 5 cm rectangle of bark immediately below the budunion to expose the wood on each of six trees per selection. SP intensity was rated as the number of pits on the inner face of a 5 cm2 piece of bark on a scale of 0 to 5 where 0 = no pits; 1 = 1 to 15 pits; 2 = 16 to 30 pits; 3 = 31 to 50 pits; 4 = 51 to 80 pits; and 5 = entire surface covered with pits. Fruit yield was measured biannually from 1989 through 1994 due to the alternate year production characteristic of mandarins. SP ratings are presented in Table 1. Generally, some of the plants on Rangpur lime rootstocks were pitted; whereas others with the same scion were not. For example, only 60% of the plants topped with Kara or Loose Jacket, and only 40% of those topped with Ortanique or Szinkon, showed SP. Oneco was an exception than 100% of the plants had SP in their Rangpur lime rootstock. Maximum SP intensity was observed on Rangpur lime grafted with Kara, Loose Jacket, Szinkon, Oneco and Ortanique scions (Fig. Id). No SP was found on Rangpur lime rootstock grafted with Harris, King or Murcott scions neither on any of the Cleopatra mandarin rootstocks. Sometimes trees showing SP were smaller than those of the same scion/rootstock combination without SP (Fig. la , b).


The paper presents new data on the occurrence of 69 beetle species collected in 2017 in the Białowieża Forest, NE Poland. The list contains representatives of 27 families: Anthribidae, Bostrichidae, Ciidae, Cleridae, Coccinellidae, Corylophidae, Cryptophagidae, Curculionidae, Dasytidae, Elateridae, Endomychidae, Eucnemidae, Histeridae, Laemophloeidae, Latridiidae, Leiodidae, Lycidae, Melandryidae, Mycetophagidae, Ptinidae, Ripiphoridae, Salpingidae, Staphylinidae, Tenebrionidae, Tetratomidae, Throscidae, and Zopheridae. The majority of the species represents saproxylic, i.e. dead wood-dependent, beetles. Biology and distribution of some rarely recorded species are briefly discussed. All species are reported for the first time from the Białowieża Forest and, furthermore, Corticaria crenicollis Mannerheim, 1844 (Latridiidae) is new for the fauna of Poland.


ABSTRACT Lee, G.; Lee, C.; Shin, H.; Sunwoo, W., and Jun, K.S., 2020. A study for dynamic decision making framework for tsunami evacuation. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 855-859. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. This study aims to construct a systematic decision making framework, which can apply response plans dynamically for mitigation of casualties by reflecting regional characteristics, based on Tsunami hazard and evacuation route analysis. Tsunami is a serious disaster that can cause an extensive damage and an early prevention of tsunami is crucial for reduction in the number of casualties. In addition, the safety of the residents vary depending on the information of evacuation routes. Therefore, the priority details that must be considered in counter-measures in target area need to be derived through an evacuation routes based on the conditions and the characteristics of local situation. Hazard assessment is determined by considering tsunami inundation and travel time obtained by a numerical model. Finally, a dynamic decision making framework is proposed considering both hazard risk and evacuation route analysis. The outcome from this study will help not only the management of evacuation map, but also the response plan which provides evacuation information based on the characteristics of local area and residents. Therefore, many lives can be protected from tsunami by applying the decision making framework proposed in this study.


to studies of women, work and gender ideologies, while El-Bakri's and Kameir's paper particularly concerns itself with the difficulties of treating women's political participation as separate from other aspects of daily life. The central focus of each study is on the ways in which national policies and international economic processes (including the move from subsistance to cash-cropping and migration associated with the regional petro-economy) have led to changes in the division of labour within the household and increased household dependence on cash incomes, whether in agriculture, from men's labour migration or from women joining the waged labour force. It is clear from these studies that movement into a cash economy and increasing consumerism, far from necessarily improving women's lot, can actually worsen it. Two papers from the Keddie and Baron (ed.) volume, (reviewed above, p. 370) also investigate economic change and women's empowerment: they could profitably be read with the papers in Shami et al. Thus, D. Quataert argued that women's increasing participation in the formal manufacturing economy in Turkey in the nineteenth century did not afford women increased domestic power, while as Friedl's paper on rural Iran demonstrates, men's out-migration and changes in the agricultural economy can lead to a devaluing or feminization of subsistence activities.


The ethanolic extract of the whole plant of Evolvulus alsinoides L. (Convolvulaceae) was investigated for antiinflammatory, antipyretic and antidiarrhoeal properties in female albino rats. Preliminary phytochemical studies were carried out to confirm the presence of active chemical constituents in the plant extract, and the result showed a positive report for the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids and cardiac glycosides. The pharmacological result showed that the ethanolic extract at a dose of 250 mg/kg body weight and 500 mg/kg body weight caused a significant (P < 0.05) inhibition of the carrageenan-induced rat paw oedema and a significant (P < 0.05) reduction of hyperpyrexia induced by Brewer's yeast in rats. The extract also elicited marked antidiarrhoeal activity against castor oil-induced diarrhoea at a dose of 500 mg/kg. This study has proved scientifically the ancient claim that the whole plant of Evolvulus alsinoides has antiinflammatory, antipyretic and antidiarrhoeal activities.


Data clustering refers to the method of grouping data into different groups depending on their characteristics. This grouping brings an order in the data and hence further processing on this data is made easier. This paper explains the clustering process using the simplest of clustering algorithms the K-Means. The novelty of the paper comes from the fact that it shows a way to perform clustering in Microsoft Excel 2007 without using macros, through the innovative use of what-if analysis. The paper also shows that, image processing operations can be done in excel and all operations except displaying an image do not require a macro. The paper gives a solution to the problem of reading an image in excel by introducing a user defined add-in. The paper also has explained and implemented image segmentation as an application of clustering. This paper aims at showing that Microsoft Excel is a great tool as far as technical learning is concerned for the fact that, it can implement almost all algorithms and processes, and is very successful in providing the first hand exposure to an novice student. General Terms Machine learning, Clustering, Image processing.


The temperature dependence of the photocurrent of amorphous GaInZnO/InZnO thin film transistors was investigated at various illumination wavelengths. The photocurrent is highly dependent on the irradiation conditions, even though the saturation characteristics were similar regardless of illumination. When the photon energy was greater than 2.82 eV, it was large enough to excite a bound electron independent of the thermal energy. When the irradiation photon energy was not large enough for direct excitation, it was observed that the states in the Urbach tail region, approximately 0.18–0.28 eV below the conduction band, acted as shallow traps that induced a thermally activated photocurrent.


ConspectusRylene imides are oligo(peri-naphthalene)s bearing one or two six-membered carboxylic imide rings. Their flexible reaction sites and unique photoelectronic properties have afforded active research for applications in photovoltaic devices, light-emitting diodes, and fluorescent sensors. Over the past few decades, synthetic flexibility along with the evolution of molecular design principles for novel aromatic imides has rendered these intriguing dyes considerably valuable, especially for organic photovoltaics (OPVs).During the course of molecular evolution, the most difficult criterion to meet is how to modulate the intra- and intermolecular interactions to alter the aggregation behavior of rylene imides as well as their compatibility with donor materials, with the prerequisite that the appropriate molecular energy level is maintained. In the meantime, our group has focused on the precise synthesis of π-extended rylene imide electron acceptors (RIAs) to rationally alter the molecular chemical and electronic structure, packing arrangement, and photoelectronic properties. These powerful molecular design strategies include the construction of a fully conjugated rigid multichromophoric architecture and successful integration of heteroatoms. Herein, these multichromophoric oligomers are precisely defined as giant rylene imides. Importantly, these strategies provide a vast space for progress in RIAs and present a more comprehensive structure-performance relationship network that can be distinguished from other electron acceptor systems. In particular, the successful acquisition of these fused superhelical architectures provides a meaningful reference for the pluralistic development of OPVs, such as triplet organic solar cells and polarized-light photovoltaic detectors. Meanwhile, the introduction of heteroatoms into the rylene conjugated skeleton provides donor/acceptor interfaces with enhanced electronic interactions and thereby suppresses the polaron-pair binding energy. Nonetheless, much remains to be implemented to broaden the absorption capability of rylene imides as well as to realize full utilization of these meaningful chiral isomers with a wide and strong UV-vis spectroscopic response.In this Account, we provide an overview of our novel approaches toward a supermolecular framework and of the reformed molecular design principle for rylene imide-based electron acceptors since 2012. We begin with a discussion of the rapidly emerging synthesis strategies for giant rylene imides. Then several typical examples with remarkable photovoltaic properties and unique working mechanisms are selected, aimed at providing an in-depth discussion of structure-property-performance relationships. The remaining challenges and newly emerging research information for giant rylene imide-based electron acceptors are further put forward. It is our aspiration that this Account will trigger intensive research interest in these pluralist rylene-based electron acceptors, thereby further accelerating the profound sustainable development of organic solar cells.


Takayasu arteritis is a chronic multisystem vasculitis which has been known to be associated with myriad of ophthalmological manifestations. Steroids and immunomodulators are the mainstay of medical management in early stages of disease. We report the case of a 15-year-old girl with complaints of diminution of vision in both the eyes. Her ophthalmic examination suggested a diagnosis of Takayasu retinopathy with posterior ischemic optic neuropathy in her left eye and ocular ischemic syndrome in the right eye. Digital subtraction angiography revealed a significant narrowing of major vessels originating from the arch of aorta and the left vertebral artery. She underwent left subclavian artery and left vertebral artery balloon angioplasty followed by left vertebral artery stenting. Her vision improved significantly postprocedure, suggesting that endovascular intervention in the later stages of disease is a promising treatment modality for Takayasu retinopathy.


A 13-year-old patient named Jahi McMath was determined to be dead by neurologic criteria following cardiopulmonary arrest and resuscitation at a hospital in Oakland, California. Her family did not agree that she was dead and refused to allow her ventilator to be removed. The family's attorney stated in the media that families, rather than physicians, should decide whether patients are dead and argued in the courts that the families' constitutional rights of religion and privacy would be violated otherwise. Ultimately, a judge agreed that the patient was dead in keeping with California law, but the constitutional issue was undecided. The patient was then transferred to a hospital in New Jersey, a state whose laws allow families to require on religious grounds that death be determined by cardiopulmonary criteria. Although cases such as this are uncommon, they demonstrate public confusion about the concept of neurologic death and the rejection of this concept by some families. The confusion may be caused in part by a lack of uniformity in state laws regarding the legal basis of death, as reflected in the differences between New Jersey and California statutes. Families who reject the determination of death by neurologic criteria on religious grounds should be given reasonable accommodation in all states, but society should not pay for costly treatments for patients who meet these criteria unless the state requires it, as only New Jersey does. Laws that give physicians the right to determine death by neurologic criteria in other states probably can survive a constitutional challenge. Physicians and hospitals faced with similar cases in the future should follow state laws and work through the courts if necessary.


We discuss topological Landau-Ginzburg theories coupled to two-dimensional topological gravity. We point out that the basic recursion relations for correlation functions of the two-dimensional gravity have exactly the same form as the Gauss-Manin differential equations for the period integrals of superpotentials. Thus the one-point functions on the sphere of the Landau-Ginzburg theories are given exactly by the period integrals. We discuss various examples, A-D-E minimal models and the c=3 topological theories.


We prospectively analysed the liver histology and clinical data of 45 patients with a clinical diagnosis of chronic hepatitis. There was more chronic active hepatitis than chronic persistent hepatitis. In both, there were more men than women except in the subgroup of lupoid hepatitis, where all were women. As a group, chronic persistent hepatitis patients tended to have less severe abnormalities in biochemical liver function tests. Chronic hepatitis B infection accounted for 38% (17/45) of all patients. Of these, 53% (9/17) were Maori or Polynesian, although they only account for approximately 1/5 of the European population in Auckland. This correlated with the known high hepatitis B surface antigen carrier frequency in the Maori and Polynesian and the high incidence of primary hepatocellular carcinoma in this ethnic group. The present study also showed there are relatively few chronic active hepatitis patients, those with immunological abnormalities (lupoid hepatitis, 5/45), who are likely to respond to steroid treatment.


FDA has approved the cancer biomarkers like CA-125 (Cancer Antigen-125), HE4 (Human Epididymis Protein 4), PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) etc., to monitor the cancer progression by measuring the concentration levels of biomarkers in the biofluid samples of the patients. This research paper explains the detection process of the Cancer Antigens-CA 125 from a micro volume of the biofluid sample. The biochip is incorporated with the sensing platform in a microfluidic channel to detect the cancer antigens during the biofluid flow in the microchannel. The sensing platform is designed with multiple layers, in order to enhance the antibody immobilization on nano circuit and thus the detection signal. The antigen-antibody interaction during the biofluid flow on the immobilized antibodies in the microchannel change the capacitance measurements in the sensing circuit. The change in the capacitance indicates the targeted cancer antigens concentration in the biofluid sample. The concentration of CA-125 antigens used in the experiment is 55ug/ml at a pH of 7.4, in order to establish the functionality of the biochip. The change in capacitance after the antigen-antibody interaction is 679.62 pF is when compared to the bare electrodes. The In-situ realtime measurement of cancer biomarkers from a finger prick blood sample in a simple and easy way using the micro biochip helps to monitor the cancer progression more easily and thus enable the enhanced cancer management.


ABSTRACT In 1907, Lapicque proposed that an electric field passes through the neuronal membrane and transmits a signal. Subsequently, a "snake curve" or spike was used to depict the means by which a linear flat current undergoes a sudden Gaussian or Laplacian peak. This concept has been the accepted scenario for more than 115 years even appearing in textbooks on the subject. It was not noted that the membrane spike should have a cylindrical shape. A nerve spike having a dot shape on membrane surface cannot propagate through a cylindrical surface since it would dissipate instantaneously. A nerve spike should have the appearance of a ring, encompassing the diameter of a cylindrical axon or dendron. However, this subtle change has remarkable implications. Maintaining a circular form of an electric field is not easy, especially at the surface of an organic object. Here, we suggest that neuroscience could redefine itself if we accept that a nerve spike is not a localized 3D Gaussian or Laplacian wave packet, rather it is a 3D ring encompassing the diameter of a neural branch.


Real-Time (RT) Delphi approach is widely used method for knowledge acquisition process. The current RT-Delphi approach ignores considering the unifying domain concepts and their attributes. This limitation can provide the contradiction of the domain experts' judgments and increasing misunderstandings when talking about specific topics. In addition, the current RT-Delphi ignores the explanation capabilities for consensus results, which it is vital for policy/decision makers to be more confidence. The core of this research is to develop ontology-based RT-Delphi with explanation capabilities. We applied the developed approach in to two crucial important case studies in Egypt, which are food security and water security.


In the article the problems connected with processes of socialization of modern youth in the nonconventional religious organizations and sects, received the wide circulation in territory of Russia are analyzed recently. The basic characteristics of a phenomenon of nonconventional religiousness are designated, the criteria of disruptiveness sects are given, the analysis of existing researches on this theme is carried out.


We generalize the first and second Noether theorems (Noether identities) to a constrained system in phase space. As an example, the conservation law deriving from Lagrange's formalism cannot be obtained from H e via the generalized first Noether theorem (GFNT); Dirac's conjecture regarding secondary first-class constraints (SFCC) is invalid in this example. A preliminary application of the generalized Noether identities (GNI) to nonrelativistic charged particles in an electromagnetic field shows that on the constrained hypersurface in phase space one obtains electric charge conservation. This conservation law is valid whether Dirac's conjecture holds true or not.


Many hepatic adenomas have been demonstrated to have a clear relationship with oral contraceptive use, and it is presumed that there may be hormone receptors within the cytoplasm or nucleus of adenoma cells that mediate tumor growth in response to hormonal stimulation. Only a small number of examples of benign hepatic tumors have been analyzed for the presence of estrogen and progesterone receptors, and there has been a lack of consensus with regard to the findings. All previous studies have determined receptor levels by biochemical methods. In a retrospective study, we employed specific monoclonal antibodies against estrogen and progesterone receptors in 10 benign paraffin-embedded hepatic lesions: five examples of hepatic adenoma and five examples of focal nodular hyperplasia. All patients were female, except for one male with adenoma and one male with focal nodular hyperplasia. No patient had received tamoxifen citrate or any other form of hormonal therapy for their hepatic lesion. Positive controls included benign and malignant breast tissue. No positive staining was seen in hepatic adenoma, focal nodular hyperplasia, or normal adjacent liver parenchyma. Intense positive staining was seen in all positive control tissues. This negative result with the use of specific monoclonal antibodies in an established immunohistochemical method for analysis of estrogen and progesterone receptors does not exclude the presence of these receptors in benign hepatic lesions, but does suggest that, if present, they occur in much smaller amounts than in benign and malignant breast tissue. The presence of hormone receptors in benign hepatic tumors deserves further study.


Anticoagulation is recommended for the treatment of pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT). In some cases, an inferior vena cava (IVC) filter is used to prevent PE. We report the case of a 70-year-old woman who developed non-massive PE and proximal DVT, which were treated using an IVC filter; two filters were placed owing to the fracture of the filters. Few previous reports have discussed IVC fractures and the difficulty in detecting such fractures on computed tomography before retrieval. Based on our experience, we suggest that a temporary IVC filter for DVT treatment should be considered carefully.


Abstract.Ants of the genus Acanthognathus stalk small insects and catch their prey by a strike with their long, thin mandibles. The mandibles close in less than 2.5 ms and this movement is controlled by a specialized closer muscle. In Acanthognathus, unlike other insects, the mandible closer muscle is subdivided into two distinct parts: as in a catapult, a large slow closer muscle contracts in advance and provides the power for the strike while the mandibles are locked open. When the prey touches specialized trigger hairs, a small fast closer muscle rapidly unlocks the mandibles and thus releases the strike. The fast movement is steadied by large specialized surfaces in the mandible joint and the sensory‐motor reflex is controlled by neurones with particularly large, and thus fast‐conducting, axons.


In the framework of the DS4 EUROFEL collaboration, a research work plan at the SPARC free-electron laser (FEL) test facility aiming at the investigation of seeded and cascaded FEL configurations is under implementation. The main goal of the collaboration is to study and test the amplification and the FEL harmonic generation process of an input seed signal obtained as higher-order harmonics generated both in crystals (400 and 266 nm) and in gases (266, 160, 114 nm). The SPARC FEL can be configured to test several cascaded FEL configurations. In this paper we introduce SPARC and its main parameters and we analyze the superradiant cascade and the harmonic cascade seeded with a signal with the typical time structure of the harmonics generated in gas. & 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


The management of advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is undergoing a revolution, with the introduction of new agents and surgical paradigms. Thoughtful integration of diagnostic, surgical and medical approaches to the patient is paramount for disease control. Methods of risk stratifying kidney cancers are reviewed, as well as mechanisms of action of newer drugs approved in advanced metastatic kidney cancer. These drugs present opportunities for application to patients in an earlier stage of disease, and adjuvant RCC trials designs are discussed. Improvements have been made in the understanding of the molecular and genetic basis of RCC, both for causative and prognostic markers, with models addressing prediction of tumor behavior and therapeutic targets. Practice patterns have shifted from cytokine therapies to targeted molecular approaches, particularly emphasizing the VEGF pathway, related intracellular kinases and the mammalian target of rapamycin. Autologous vaccine adjuvant studies are maturing. In conclusion, elucidation of specific genes, proteins and aberrant molecular pathways associated with kidney cancer are ongoing. These new agents may lead to opportunities to improvement of disease-free survival through therapy in the adjuvant setting.


Cryptotanshinone (CTS) is a natural compound from the Chinese herb Salvia miltiorrhiza. Previous studies demonstrated that CTS possesses anti‐apoptotic and anti‐inflammatory properties. However, its effects and underlying mechanism on renal ischaemia reperfusion (IR) injury remain unknown. In the present study, we investigated the effects of CTS on renal IR injury and its potential underlying mechanisms. Mice were randomized into four groups as follows: (a) sham operation + vehicle, (b) sham operation + CTS, (c) IR + vehicle, (d) IR + CTS. The CTS‐treated group were injected intraperitoneally with CTS (10 mg/kg/d) for 7 days prior to IR operation. Renal IR injury was induced by clamping the bilateral renal artery for 30 minutes followed by 24 hours of reperfusion. The mice were then killed to collect the serum and the kidneys for analysis. The results of the present study showed that CTS pretreatment significantly attenuates IR‐induced renal functional and morphological injuries, which was accompanied with inhibition of cell apoptosis and inflammatory response. Moreover, the phosphorylation of p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) and the activation of nuclear factor‐κB (NF‐κB) signalling were inhibited by CTS. Therefore, CTS could be a useful therapeutic agent in the fight against renal IR injury.


is a troublesome dicot weed that occurs in major wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) production areas in China. Tribenuron-methyl failed to control shepherd's purse in some fields in Runan County, Henan Province. This study aimed to establish the cross-resistance pattern of a resistant (R) population and explore the potential target-site and non-target-site based resistance mechanisms. Acetohydroxyacid synthase ( AHAS ) gene sequencing revealed a single nucleotide change of CCT to CGT resulting in the Pro to Arg substitution at amino acid position 197 in resistant individuals. Compared with the susceptible (S) population, R population displayed high level resistance to tribenuron-methyl. Cross resistance patterns showed that the R population was high resistant to flucarbazone-Na; moderately resistant to florasulam; low resistant to pyrithiobac sodium and pyroxsulam, and sensitive to imazethapyr. The pretreatment of malathion reduced the 50% growth reduction (GR 50 ) value of tribenuron-methyl by 29% in the R population, suggesting that target-site resistance and non-target-site resistance mechanisms were both present in tribenuron-methyl -resistance of shepherd's purse. This is the first report of the acetolactate synthase Pro197Arg mutation in shepherd's purse. ABSTRACT low-level resistance to pyrithiobac and with a of and no with a of