This study examines aspects of the nesting behaviour of Brants' whistling rat Parotomys brantsii, a medium-sized rodent indigenous to southern Africa. In the semi-arid regions in which it occurs P. brantsii breeds opportunistically, modifying its breeding period in relation to rainfall. Within a winter rainfall area, females produced up to four litters of three to four young during the winter–spring period following a gestation period of c. 38 days, with females showing a post-partum oestrus. The behaviour of females was modified by the birth of their pups, after which they spent extended periods underground, interspersed with bouts of food-collecting activity. With the emergence of pups above-ground, females increased their vigilant activity. At 5 weeks pups had developed all the important behavioural characteristics of adults, such as creating their own overnight food stores, collecting nesting material and defending a warren area against conspecifics. This was also the age at which the young dispersed from their natal nest area as well as the time at which females could reach sexual maturity, despite physical immaturity. The high reproductive output of female P. brantsii, as well as the rapid ontogeny of their young, compared to other otomyine rodent species, may represent an adaptation for maximizing reproductive potential in the semi-arid areas they inhabit.


Omni-cameras are becoming ubiquitous in several applications that require a wide field of view (such as 3D reconstruction, video surveillance, robot vision, etc.) and thus the need to reduce computational time during omni-image un-warping. In this paper a computationally efficient alternative referred as pano-mapping pointers array (PMPA) is proposed. First, a buffer is created to save the omni-image. Then, a PMPA is created, where each entry points to a specific place in the buffer depending on the interpolation desired (nearest neighbors or bilinear interpolation). Finally, using the PMPA we unwarp the omni-image. The PMPA is created once for an omni-camera, interpolation method and panoramic image resolution. Experiments on a standard computer demonstrate that the proposed method is about 5.8 (nearest neighbors) and 2.1 (bilinear interpolation) times faster than the classic pano-mapping table method and about 1.7 (nearest neighbors) times faster than the one-eighth pano-mapping table method.


OBJECTIVES
The finding that persons with delusions tend to jump-to-conclusions ( JTC) in the beads task has often been replicated. This study investigates whether hasty decision-making in the beads task is associated with hasty decisions in tasks with more relevance for everyday decision-making. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that hasty decisions in these tasks will be associated with subclinical delusional beliefs.

DESIGN
A correlational study.

METHODS
A sample of students (N=85) completed the beads task and three additional non-probabilistic decision-tasks. Subclinical delusional beliefs were assessed using the Peters et al. delusions inventory (PDI; Peters, Joseph, & Garety, 1999).

RESULTS
In support of the hypothesis, participants with hasty decisions in the beads task also made hasty decisions in two of the other tasks. Hasty decisions were only associated with higher subclinical delusional beliefs in one of the tasks (a letter recognition task).

CONCLUSIONS
Decision-making in the beads task can be generalized to decisions in other contexts. Other decision-making tasks may be more closely related to delusions than the beads task.


We have grown ultrathin films of layered transition metal dichalcogenides (MoSe2,NbSe2) heteroepitaxially on cleaved faces of mica (muscovite). This is the first success in the heteroepitaxial growth between highly heterogeneous layered materials having different crystal structures and lattice constants that differ by as much as 58%. The lattice matching condition is greatly loosened in those cases because the growth proceeds with weak van der Waals forces between the substrate and the grown layer. This opens a new way to fabricate a heterostructure composed of many kinds of layered materials having various physical and chemical properties.


The amount of videos over the Internet and electronic surveillant cameras is growing dramatically, meanwhile paired sentence descriptions are significant clues to select attentional contents from videos. The task of natural language moment retrieval (NLMR) has drawn great interests from both academia and industry, which aims to associate specific video moments with the text descriptions figuring complex scenarios and multiple activities. In general, NLMR requires temporal context to be properly comprehended, and the existing studies suffer from two problems: (1) limited moment selection and (2) insufficient comprehension of structural context. To address these issues, a multi-agent boundary-aware network (MABAN) is proposed in this work. To guarantee flexible and goal-oriented moment selection, MABAN utilizes multi-agent reinforcement learning to decompose NLMR into localizing the two temporal boundary points for each moment. Specially, MABAN employs a two-phase cross-modal interaction to exploit the rich contextual semantic information. Moreover, temporal distance regression is considered to deduce the temporal boundaries, with which the agents can enhance the comprehension of structural context. Extensive experiments are carried out on two challenging benchmark datasets of ActivityNet Captions and Charades-STA, which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach as compared to state-of-the-art methods. The project page can be found in https://mic.tongji.edu.cn/e5/23/c9778a189731/page.htm.


Male mice were immunized with the suspension of synaptonemal complexes (SC) isolated from mouse spermatocytes nuclei. The indirect immunofluorescent analysis showed the active binding of sera obtained from immunized mice to SC of mouse spermatocyte spreads. At early and mid-pachytene, SC can be clearly identified in 19 autosome bivalents and in sex chromosome bivalent. According to the electron microscopic analysis, all structural elements of SC bind antibodies. Metaphase chromosomes were not stained with the immune sera. Specificity of interaction between SC components and antibodies was confirmed in a series of control experiments. Analysis of sera obtained from mice after their syngeneic immunization with isolated SC fraction suggested that certain mouse SC components induce the formation of autoantibodies. This, in turn, suggests that these SC components are meiosis-specific.


Summary Embryonic stem (ES) cells are characterized by pluripotency, in particular the ability to form a germline on injection into blastocysts. Despite numerous attempts, ES cell lines derived from rat embryos have not yet been established. The reason for this is unclear, although certain intrinsic biological differences among species and/or strains have been reported. Herein, using Wistar-Imamichi rats, specific characteristics of preimplantation embryos are described. At the blastocyst stage, Oct4 (also called Pou5f1) was expressed in both the inner cell mass (ICM) and the trophectoderm (TE), whereas expression of Cdx2 was localized to the TE. In contrast, at an earlier stage, expression of Oct4 was detected in all the nuclei in the morula. These stages were examined using a combination of feeder layers (rat embryonic fibroblast [REF] for primary outgrowth and SIM mouse embryo-derived thioguanine- and ouabain-resistant [STO] cells for passaging) to establish rat ES-like cell lines. The rat ES-like cell lines obtained from the morula maintained expression of Oct4 over long-term culture, whereas cell lines derived from blastocysts lost pluripotency during early passage. The morula-derived ES-like cell lines showed Oct4 expression in a long-term culture, even after cryogenic preservation, thawing and EGFP transfection. These results indicate that rat ES-like cell lines with long-term Oct4 expression can be established from the morula of Wistar-Imamichi rats using a combination of feeder layers.


Vision is the science that informs us about the biological and evolutionary algorithms that our eyes, opticnerves and brains have chosen over time to see. This article is an attempt to solve the problem of colour to grey conversion, by borrowing ideas from vision science. We introduce
 an algorithm that measures contrast along the opponent colour directions and use the results to combine a three dimensional colour space into a grey. The results indicate that the proposed algorithm competes with the state of art algorithms.


The combination of power and specificity inherent within the immune system make its manipulation an attractive prospect for the development of novel anticancer therapies. However, tumors are frequently poorly recognized by the immune system, and intrinsic controls limit the benefit from active immunization. These and other issues have proved major challenges in the search for effective cancer immunotherapy. Recent advances in the understanding of the immune system and the development of methods to manipulate it have led to the point where engineered T-cell therapy can be tested in the clinical setting with a realistic chance of success. These advances are considered and potential future clinical and scientific issues involved in the successful development of effective, engineered T-cell therapy are examined.


BACKGROUND The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) provides health care to large numbers of veterans afflicted with keratinocyte carcinoma (KC). OBJECTIVE To estimate the number of veterans treated for KCs and the related diagnosis, actinic keratosis (AK) and the costs of treating these conditions over a 1-year period. MATERIALS AND METHODS The authors conducted a cross-sectional analysis of veterans diagnosed with KC or AK during fiscal year 2012 using administrative data on outpatient encounters and prescription drugs provided or paid by VHA. Marginal costs of each condition were estimated from a regression model. The authors estimated counts of outpatient encounters, procedures, and costs related to KC and AK care. RESULTS In 2012, there were 49,229 veterans with basal cell carcinoma, 26,310 veterans with squamous cell carcinoma, and 8,050 veterans with unspecified invasive KC. There were also 197,041 veterans with AK and 6,388 veterans with KC-related diagnoses. The VHA spent $356 million on KC and AK outpatient treatment for procedures, prescription drugs, and other dermatologic care during FY2012. CONCLUSION There was high prevalence of KC and AK and considerable spending to treat these conditions in VHA. Treatment costs are not generalizable to care provided by non-VHA providers where a facility fee was not incurred.


MYRRHA (Multi-purpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech Applications) is a multipurpose research facility currently being developed at SCK•CEN. It will be able to work in both critical and subcritical modes and, cooled by lead-bismuth eutectic, it will play a key role in the development of the Pb-alloy technology needed for the LFR (Lead Fast Reactor) GEN IV concept. MYRRHA will demonstrate the ADS (Accelerator Driven System) full concept by coupling a proton accelerator, a spallation target and a subcritical reactor at a reasonable power level to allow operation feedback. MYRRHA will also contribute to the study of partitioning and transmutation of high-level waste. In this paper, the Minor Actinide (MA) transmutation capabilities and performance are investigated in the MYRRHA critical core as well as the impact of the MA loading on the safety-related neutronic parameters, β eff and Λ eff .


ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to: Look at the future potential of "Grow Biointensive" sustainable mini-farming in terms of the production of calories and carbon per unit of water; discuss world applications by briefly looking at the overall preliminary results of two experiences in India and Russia; and review the future challenges and research opportunities for the "Grow Biointensive" method of agriculture and the need for corroboration through comparison with independent research projects and programs with data collected on a rigorous statistical basis and subjected to statistical analysis.


The `outer mode' is one of the MHD modes that limits the fusion performance of the hot ion H mode discharges in JET. It has previously been proposed that the outer mode is a non-linearly saturated external kink mode. This was based on the localization of the perturbation close to the edge as observed in soft X ray (SXR), electron temperature and electron density measurements. In addition, MHD stability calculations showed that the plasma edge is close to the ideal external kink stability boundary at the time when the outer mode is observed. The SXR data of the outer mode are compared with predictions based on the mode structure of the ideal n = 1 external kink mode. Excellent agreement is found, confirming the identification of the outer mode as an external kink mode.


In this paper, a new topological approach for studying an integer sequence constructed from Logistic mapping is proposed. By evenly segmenting [0,1] into N non-overlapping subintervals which is marked as , representing the nodes identities, a network is constructed for analysis. Wherein the undirected edges symbolize their relation of adjacency in an integer sequence obtained from the Logistic mapping and the top integral function. By observation, we find that nodes' degree changes with different values of  instead of the initial value—X0, and the degree distribution presents the characteristics of scale free network, presenting power law distribution. The results presented in this paper provide some insight into degree distribution of the network constructed from integer sequence that may help better understanding of the nature of Logistic mapping.


We present our experience of the sonographic prenatal diagnosis of dacryocystocele and review the literature. This lesion can be distinguished from a facial hemangioma, dermoid or anterior encephalocele by the ultrasound findings and Doppler flow studies. These conditions are separate entities and their associated diagnosis and prognosis are very different in each case. As dacryocystocele may be part of numerous syndromes, its prenatal visualization raises the rare possibility of associated anomalies. Copyright © 1999 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology


The use of external surrogates to predict tumor motion in real-time for extra-cranial sites requires the use of accurate correlation models. This is extremely challenging when motion prediction is to be performed over several breathing cycles, as occurs for realtime tumor tracking with Cyberknife® Synchrony®. In this work we compare three different approaches to infer tumor motion based on external surrogates, since no comparative study is available to assess the accuracy of correlation models in tumor tracking over a long time period. We selected 20 cases in a database of 130 patients treated with realtime tumor tracking by means of the Synchrony® module. The implemented correlation models comprise linear/quadratic correlation, artificial neural networks and fuzzy logic. The accuracy of each correlation model is evaluated on the basis of ground truth tumor position information acquired during treatment, as detected by means of stereoscopic X-ray imaging. Results show that the implemented models achieve an error reduction with respect to Synchrony®, measured at the 95% confidence level, up to 10.8% for the fuzzy logic approach. This latter is able to partly reduce the incidence of tumor tracking errors above 6 mm, resulting in improved accuracy for larger discrepancies. In conclusion, complex models are suggested to predict tumor motion over long time periods. This leads to an effective improvement with respect to Cyberknife® Synchrony®. Future studies will investigate the sensitivity of the implemented models to the input database, in order to define optimal strategies.


We study the well-posedness of a 3D nonlinear stochastic wave equation which derives from the Maxwell system by the Galerkin method. Then we study the approximate controllability of this system by the Hilbert uniqueness method.


Objects and Aims Referrals to secondary care memory clinic has more than tripled. This has led to increased demand on diagnostic services. Conversation Analysis (CA) can help in the screening for dementia. In CA important features of the conversation between doctor, patient are analysed. In this project we created an avatar to automatically initiate conversation. Methods The avatar, a computerised head asked questions created by consulting neurologists to which patients responded verbally. Audio and video data was collected and a simple interface with two buttons ('start/forward' and 'repeat') on a keyboard was used. Audio recordings were transcribed and annotated by the CA expert. Results 24 participants were recruited. All finished the trial without problems. We received feedback from participants, many saying they felt the avatar was easy to talk to. The CA expert correctly classified in 6 of 7 cases of Functional Memory disorder (FMD) and 4 out of 6 cases of neurodegenerative dementia. Conclusion An Avatar has potential to be a low cost addition to memory screening


I believe this book to be a great resource for teaching and for researchers interested in soil biodiversity in the tropics as well as elsewhere, providing a guide with standardized and tried methods to monitor biodiversity. With soils in decline world-wide and new pressure for changes in land use, there is an urgent need for standardized methods to monitor the effect of land management on soil biodiversity. The book brings together world leading experts and establishes standards for characterization and quantification of soil organisms ranging from macrofauna and mesofauna to micro-organisms. Methodologies for each group of soil biota are described and discussed in great detail so that it is accessible for non-specialists. All methods have been applied in an integrated sampling scheme to assess the relationship between land use and soil biodiversity in tropical soils. In addition to a description of standardized methods, there are detailed chapters on general concepts, sampling strategies and classification of land use and management. The book starts with the relationship between soil community and ecosystem services and goods from which functional groups are derived and target groups are selected. This is followed by a chapter on selection of sampling sites and requirements for replication emphasizing the need to design a sampling scheme that matches the objectives of the study. The integration of the standardized methods into a well-designed monitoring and sampling scheme makes this book valuable for everybody involved in monitoring changes in soil biodiversity.


Abstract Protein structure exhibits greater complexity and diversity than DNA structure, and usually affects the interpretation of the function, interactions and biological annotations. Reduced amino acid alphabets (Raaa) exhibit a powerful ability to decrease protein complexity and identify functional conserved regions, which motivated us to create RaacFold. The RaacFold provides 687 reduced amino acid clusters (Raac) based on 58 reduction methods and offers three analysis tools: Protein Analysis, Align Analysis, and Multi Analysis. The Protein Analysis and Align Analysis provide reduced representations of sequence-structure according to physicochemical similarities and computational biology strategies. With the simplified representations, the protein structure can be viewed more concise and clearer to capture biological insight than the unreduced structure. Thus, the design of artificial protein will be more convenient, and redundant interference is avoided. In addition, Multi Analysis allows users to explore biophysical variation and conservation in the evolution of protein structure and function. This supplies important information for the identification and exploration of the nonhomologous functions of paralogs. Simultaneously, RaacFold provides powerful 2D and 3D rendering performance with advanced parameters for sequences, structures, and related annotations. RaacFold is freely available at http://bioinfor.imu.edu.cn/raacfold.


This research was conducted to determine herbage yield and some quality characteristics of bitter vetch genotypes grown at Bingöl ecological conditions. The study was conducted at the Research and Application fields of Faculty of Agriculture at Bingol University during 2014-2015 summer growing seasons. In the study, 14 different bitter vetch genotypes (IFVE 248-SEL 2785, IFVE 973-SEL 2795, IFVE 2698-SEL 2798, IFVE 2920-SEL 2801 IFVE 3977-SEL 2802, IFVE 3351SEL 2804, Yerel Lice, D-357, MP, HAT-3, HAT-9, HAT-13, HAT-14 ve HAT-17) were used as plant material. The study was conducted according to randomized complete blocks design with 3 replications. In the study, plant height, green herbage yield, dry yield, crude ash ratio, crude protein ratio, crude protein yield, acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), digestible dry matter ratio, dry matter consumption and relative feed value characteristics were investigated. Statistically significant differences were found between the genotypes in all traits examined in the study, except for the plant height. According to the results of two-year research, IFVE 248-SEL 2785, IFVE 3977-SEL 2802 and HAT-14 genotypes were prominent when dry herbage and crude protein yield and ADF and NDF ratios were considered; It has been suggested that these genotypes should be considered in breeding projects to contribute to the forage production of the region.


Although little is known about the precise mechanisms by which the molecular chaperone Hsp90 recognizes its client proteins, Cdc37 has been shown to play a critical role in the targeting of Hsp90 to client protein kinases. Described here is the identification and characterization of a novel 35-kDa human protein that is 31% identical to Cdc37. We have named this novel protein Harc (Hsp90-associating relative ofCdc37). Northern blot analysis revealed the presence of Harc mRNA in several human tissues, including liver, skeletal muscle, and kidney. Biochemical fractionation and immunofluorescent localization of epitope-tagged Harc (i.e. FLAG-Harc) indicated that it is present in the cytoplasm of cells. FLAG-Harc binds Hsp90 but unlike Cdc37 does not bind Src family kinases or Raf-1. Mapping experiments indicate that the central 120 amino acids of both Harc and Cdc37 constitute a Hsp90-binding domain not described previously. FLAG-Harc is basally serine-phosphorylated and hyperphosphorylated when co-expressed with an activated mutant of the Src family kinase Hck. Notably, FLAG-Harc forms complexes with Hsp90, Hsp70, p60Hop, immunophilins, and an unidentified p22 protein but not with the Hsp90 co-chaperone p23. Thus Harc likely represents a novel participant in Hsp90-mediated protein folding, potentially targeting Hsp90 to Hsp70-client protein heterocomplexes.


This study evaluated concretes containing cement kiln dust (CKD) and fly ash to determine whether satisfactory properties can be achieved for long-lasting performance in the field. The results indicate that certain combinations of cement, CKD, and fly ash may provide concretes with acceptable performance. A determination of acceptable combinations will require extensive study which was beyond the scope of this project. Excessive expansions occurred when CKD blends were used in mortars subjected to cyclic wetting and drying at a temperature of 80 deg C (176 deg F). The addition of CKD to fly ash concrete did not improve strength development, but did reduce the coulomb values (AASHTO T277 or ASTM C 1202) at early ages, indicating reduced chloride permeability. However, at later ages fly ash concretes containing cement with an alkali content of 0.70% or above had very low coulomb values indicating high resistance to chloride penetration irrespective of the alkali activation.


The resonant behaviour of a nonlinear LC circuit and two inductively coupled nonlinear LC circuits is examined experimentally. The amplitude and the phase response curves for primary and secondary resonances are shown.


In order to develop any strategy, it is essential to first identify opportunities, threats, weak and strong points. Assessment of technology level provides the possibility of concentrating on weak and strong points. The results of technology assessment have a direct effect on decision making process in the field of technology transfer or expansion of internal research capabilities so it has a critical role in technology management. This paper presents a conceptual model to analyze the technology capability of a company as a whole and in four main aspects of technology. This model was tested on 10 automotive parts manufacturers in IRAN. Using this model, capability level of manufacturers was investigated in four fields of managing aspects, hard aspects, human aspects, and information and knowledge aspects. Results show that these firms concentrate on hard aspect of technology while others aspects are poor and need to be supported more. So this industry should develop other aspects of technology as well as hard aspect to have effective and efficient use of its technology. These paper findings are useful for the technology planning and management in automotive part manufactures in IRAN and other Industries which are technology followers and transport their needed technologies. Keywords—Technology, Technological evaluation, Technology Maturity


Buckling Restrained Braces (BRBs) have been found to perform better than conventional braces in resisting cyclic lateral loads due to earthquakes. The tendency of a brace to undergo global buckling is resisted by a sleeve tube and concrete in between. The bond between the core and concrete is broken to ensure that only the core gets loaded. This also decouples the strength from the stiffness and it is possible to vary them independent of each other. The paper describes the cyclic tests on two BRBs of identical strength but slightly different stiffness and concludes that much work needs to be done to evaluate the optimum values for a particular structure. Keywords— Buckling restrained braces, Reduced core


Sr, Nd, and Os isotopic data are presented for sediments from diverse locations in the Bay of Bengal. These data allow the samples to be divided into three groups, related to their sedimentary contexts. The first group, mainly composed of sediments from the shelf off Bangladesh and the currently active fan, has Sr and Nd characteristics consistent with a dominantly Himalayan source. Their 187Os/188Os ratios (∼1.2-1.5) show that the average detrital material delivered by the Ganga-Brahmaputra (G-B) river system is not unusually radiogenic. A large difference in 187Os/188Os ratio exists between these Bengal Fan sediments and Ganga bedloads (187Os/188Os ∼2.5, Pierson-Wickmann et al. [2000]). This difference mainly reflects addition of a less radiogenic Brahmaputra component, though mineralogical sorting and loss of radiogenic Os during transport may also play some role. The second sample group contains sediments from elsewhere in the Bay, particularly those located on the continental slope. They display Os isotopic compositions (0.99–1.11) similar to that of present seawater and higher Os and Re concentrations. These characteristics suggest the presence of a large hydrogenous contribution, consistent with the lower sedimentation rate of these samples. Sr and Nd ratios indicate that a significant fraction of these sediments is derived from erosion of non-Himalayan sources, such as the Indo-Burman range. These observations could be explained by the deflection of sediments from the G-B river system by westward currents in the head of the Bay. The third group contains only one sample, but shows that in addition to a Himalayan source, sediment discharge from Sri Lanka may influence the detrital component in the distal part of the fan. The similarity between the isotopic compositions of the group I R/V Sonne samples and those of Ocean Drilling Program Leg 116 [France-Lanord et al., 1993; Reisberg et al., 1997] suggests that the material eroding in the Himalayas has been roughly constant since the Miocene. The high Os isotopic ratios of leachates of both Sonne group I and Miocene Leg 116 sediments imply that much of the leachable highly radiogenic Os component was conserved during transport through the estuary or interaction with seawater. In constrast, samples with lower, but still relatively high, sedimentation rates (Sonne groups II and III and Pliocene Leg 116) seem to have significantly adsorbed or exchanged Os and Re with seawater. This suggests that in some cases the Os isotopic ratios of leachates of detrital sediments can be used to constrain the ancient marine Os record, or conversely, to date unfossiliferous sediments.


This article examines the role of the European Parliament in ensuring democratic participation in European Union external relations and global governance. Although the Lisbon Treaty has reinforced the European Parliament's foreign affairs prerogatives, many obstacles hinder its influence. This prompts the European Parliament to invest considerable institutional resources not only to counterbalance the Commission and the Council and reduce information asymmetry, but also to enhance its posture on the world stage through value-oriented and region-oriented parliamentary diplomacy. The article argues that by conducting world diplomacy, the European Parliament generates critical mass for its institutional empowerment by a crafty application of its treaty rights, by means of non-legislative instruments, and by establishing bilateral and multilateral diplomatic contacts with parliamentary and executive bodies worldwide. The European Parliament thereby attempts to portray itself as an actor without which decisions cannot be made.


Treosulfan (l-threitol-1,4-di-methanesulfonate) is a prodrug of a bifunctional alkylating agent that is being used increasingly in pediatric bone marrow transplantation regimens. The activation pathway is a complex reaction, which consists of two consecutive reactions leading to epoxybutane derivatives which are responsible for DNA alkylation. A simple, sensitive high performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of the sum of treosulfan and its epoxy metabolites by UV detection after derivatization with sodium diethyldithiocarbamate in human plasma was developed and validated. Plasma samples containing treosulfan and epoxy metabolites were converted into thiocarbamate derivative with 10% sodium diethyldithiocarbamate. Dinitrobiphenyl was used as an internal standard. The analysis was carried out using a reversed phase C18 column with a mobile phase consisting of methanol-water (65:35, v/v) at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The eluent was monitored at 254 nm. The standard calibration curve was established between 2.5 and 50 µg/mL, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9987. Intra- and interday precision and accuracy of the method was <8% and met the analytical criteria. Pharmacokinetic parameters were determined in six children who received intravenous treosulfan (dose range 12-24 g/m(2)) in combination with fludarabine prior to blood or marrow transplantation.


Context. GX 9+9 (4U 1728−16) is a low mass X-ray binary source harboring a neutron star. Although it belongs to the subclass of the bright Atoll sources together with GX 9+1, GX 3+1, and GX 13+1, its broadband spectrum is poorly studied and apparently does not show reflection features in the spectrum.
Aims. To constrain the continuum well and verify whether a relativistic smeared reflection component is present, we analyze the broadband spectrum of GX 9+9 using BeppoSAX and XMM-Newton spectra covering the 0.3−40 keV energy band.
Methods. We fit the spectrum adopting a model composed of a disk-blackbody plus a Comptonized component whose seed photons have a blackbody spectrum (Eastern Model). A statistically equivalent model is composed of a Comptonized component whose seed photons have a disk-blackbody distribution plus a blackbody that mimics a saturated Comptonization likely associated with a boundary layer (Western model). Other trials did not return a good fit.
Results. The spectrum of GX 9+9 was observed in a soft state and its luminosity is 2.3 × 1037 erg s−1 assuming a distance to the source of 5 kpc. In the Eastern Model scenario, we find the seed-photon temperature and electron temperature of the Comptonized component to be 1.14−0.07+0.10 keV and 2.80−0.04+0.09 keV, respectively, while the optical depth of the Comptonizing corona is 8.9 ± 0.4. The color temperature of the inner accretion disk is 0.86−0.02+0.08 keV and 0.82 ± 0.02 keV for the BeppoSAX and XMM-Newton spectrum, respectively. In the Western Model scenario, instead, we find that the seed-photon temperature is 0.87 ± 0.07 keV and 1.01 ± 0.08 keV for the BeppoSAX and XMM-Newton spectrum, respectively. The electron temperature of the Comptonized component is 2.9 ± 0.2 keV, while the optical depth is 9.4−1.1+1.5. The blackbody temperature is 1.79−0.18+0.09 keV and 1.85−0.15+0.07 keV for the BeppoSAX and XMM-Newton spectrum, respectively. The addition of a relativistic smeared reflection component improved the fit in both the scenarios, giving compatible values of the parameters, even though a significant broad emission line in the Fe-K region is not observed.
Conclusions. From the reflection component we estimated an inclination angle of about 43−4+6 deg and 51−2+9 deg for the Eastern and Western Model, respectively. The value of the reflection fraction Ω/2π is 0.18 ± 0.04 and 0.21 ± 0.03 for the Eastern and Western Model, respectively, suggesting that the Comptonized corona should be compact and close to the innermost region of the system.


Second generation digital mobile radio systems have been very successful for voice communications and are now beginning to offer support for data services. Third generation mobile radio systems are currently being standardized worldwide to be initially deployed starting in 2001 providing support for multimedia applications with a flexible air interface and higher bandwidths. Wireless LAN technology is complementary to 3G systems and could be used to provide high bandwidth hot spot coverage, for example in railway stations and offices, for the emerging video and broadband services that will begin to emerge on fixed networks. The IST BRAIN project, which is partly funded by the European Commission, has been formed to solve the problems of providing seamless service for broadband users in these hot spots. This paper describes these problems in greater detail as well as outlining how the BRAIN project is tackling them.


Introduction: Accurate intravascular volume status assessment is central to heart failure management, but current non-invasive bedside techniques remain a challenge. The visual inspection of jugula...


Background Regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been a therapeutic target of interest since early pre-clinical work revealed that their depletion led to enhanced tumor control. Despite continuing advances in the development of novel cellular-, antibodyand chemotherapeutic-based strategies to increase anti-tumor immunity, Treg presence and activity within the tumor microenvironment remains a complicating factor to their clinical efficacy. To overcome dosing limitations and off-target effects from antibody-based Treg deletional strategies, we investigated the ability to target FOXP3, the master regulator of Treg development, maintenance, and suppressive function using hydrocarbon stapled alpha-helical peptides (SAHs). We developed SAHs in the likeness of a portion of the native FOXP3 antiparallel coiled-coil homodimerization domain, in an effort to impede FOXP3 transcriptional function. SAHs overcome three major protein-protein interaction (PPI) therapeutic hurdles, namely: cellular penetrance, target specificity, and secondary structure stability. Our overall goal is to use these SAHs as investigatory drugs to demonstrate proof-of concept of the druggability of FOXP3. We aim to show their utility to further understand FOXP3 transcriptional dynamics and explore their potential use in altering the immune landscape in combination with other immunefocused therapies. Methods Utilizing the FOXP3 crystal structure as a guide, we developed a number of single and double SAH peptides corresponding to the leucine zipper homodimerization domain (DD) of FOXP3 (SAH-FOXP3DDs). We tested the ability of SAH-FOXP3DDs to bind FOXP3, to access the intracellular compartment, to alter Treg transcriptional and phenotypic profiles, and to inhibit Treg-mediated immune suppression. Results Select SAH-FOXP3DDs bound recombinant FOXP3DN and the FOXP3 leucine zipper (LZCC) domain with high affinity and dose-dependently inhibited binding of FOXP3 to cognate DNA in vitro. Lead SAH-FOXP3DDs were cell permeable and showed no non-specific toxicity to T cells at high concentrations. Flow cytometric and qRT-PCR analysis of treated Tregs revealed dose-dependent changes in protein and gene expression of several FOXP3 targets suggestive of FOXP3-specific transcriptional alteration. Treatment of Tregs with lead SAHs effectively inhibited in vitro Tregmediated T cell suppression and induced global gene expression changes corresponding to loss of function Foxp3 in vivo. Conclusions This work supports the ability of SAHs to target transcription factors, particularly as a method of interrogating specific PPI functions, and provides strong proof-of-principle evidence that FOXP3 is druggable. SAH-FOXP3DDs will not only further our understanding of FOXP3 transcriptional control but will serve as prototype therapeutics whereby we can explore their ability to amplify anti-tumor immunity in pre-clinical tumor models.


Business and human rights have not traditionally been addressed or theorized in close connection to each other. Rather, human rights have been seen as the exclusive domain of the state, that is, as a legal or political concept with little relevance or implication for companies. This view has changed dramatically in recent decades. There is now a broad interdisciplinary and dynamic discussion on the potential human rights responsibilities of business. While a systematic debate on the issue can be traced back at least to the mid-1990s, contributions to this debate have increased substantially in the wake of John Ruggie's appointment as the United Nations Special Representative on Business and Human rights in 2005. This article structures this evolving debate and guides readers to the most relevant sources in the field. The debate has attracted contributions from a wide variety of disciplines and perspectives. This review is limited to contributions published in the broader management and business ethics literature and a selection of key contributions from the legal literature on the topic. Furthermore, with just a few exceptions, it includes only contributions that explicitly refer to human rights in the context of business. Articles that relate to or inform the debate on business and human rights, such as discussions on corporate social responsibility or on human rights in general, but lack the specific connection of both fields were not included.


Fungal pathogens caused various diseases which resulted in heavy yield and quality losses on plants of commercial interests such as fruits, vegetables, and flowers. In our preliminary experimental results, the methanol extracts of four species of medicinal plants Melaphis chinensis, Eugenia caryophyllata, Polygonum cuspidatum, and Rheum officinale possessed antifungal activity to causal agent of cabbage anthracnose, Colletotrichum higginsianum. Thus it was conducted to identify and quantify the chemical constituents in these herbs and to assess the antifungal effects of these compounds. Among the tested principles, the indicator compound methyl gallate from M. chinensis was the most effective one against the conidial germination. In addition, it exhibited significant effects of controlling anthracnose disease of Chinese cabbage caused by C. higginsianum PA-01 in growth chamber. These results indicate that M. chinensis may be potential for further development of plant-derived pesticides for control of anthracnose of cabbage and other cruciferous crops.


Creation and proper functioning of the money market in Romania is subject to a preponderant constancy of private property, to support competition as a factor increasing the efficiency of the economy. Appearance money market in Romania is related to the transformations that have manifested in our country since 1989. As a mechanism of market economy, can not talk about them in existence before 1989. In a centralized economy, instruments, financial categories have ceased to reflect the actual situation in the economy. Fixing of prices with a high dose of subjectivism has generated the emergence of profitable enterprises without their own merits and others with losses that were not responsible for their financial situation.


Abstract Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 87) weighing 350-400 g were used for studying the anatomy of the horizontal segment of middle cerebral artery and infarct area after occlusion of the artery. In the experimental group (n = 27) middle cerebral artery was coagulated 3-4 mm length from the origin of the lateral striate arteries to the inferior cerebral vein and divided. Control rats (n = 20) had all the surgical procedures except occlusion. Another group of rats (n = 40) were used to determine the anatomical variations of middle cerebral artery after intracarotid carbon black injection. Five major patterns of middle cerebral artery were observed and two of them were major and constituted 92.5% of rats. Twenty-four hours after middle cerebral artery occlusion, all animals were neurologically evaluated. On the third day after occlusion the brains were stained with 2% 2,3,5-triphenyltetrozolium chloride. The area of Infarction was assessed by computerized analysis method. In our study after determining the variations of the middle cerebral artery and Its branches in our strain of rats, we were able to achieve 92.5% grade III and IV infarcted area. [Neurol Res 2000; 22: 609-614]


The GABAA receptor has been identified as the single most important target for the intravenous anesthetic propofol. How effects at this receptor are then translated into a loss of consciousness, however, remains a mystery. One possibility is that anesthetics act on natural sleep pathways. Here, we test this hypothesis by exploring the anesthetic sensitivities of GABAergic synaptic currents in three specific brain nuclei that are known to be involved in sleep. Using whole-cell electrophysiology, we have recorded GABAergic IPSCs from the tuberomammillary nucleus (TMN), the perifornical area (Pef), and the locus ceruleus (LC) in brain slices from both wild-type mice and mice that carry a specific mutation in the GABAA receptor β3 subunit (N265M), which greatly reduces their sensitivity to propofol, but not to the neurosteroid alphaxalone. We find that this in vivo pattern of anesthetic sensitivity is mirrored in the hypothalamic TMN and Pef nuclei, consistent with their role as direct anesthetic targets. In contrast, anesthetic sensitivity in the LC was unaffected by the β3N265M mutation, ruling out this nucleus as a major target for propofol. In support of the hypothesis that orexinergic neurons in the Pef are involved in propofol anesthesia, we further show that these neurons are selectively inhibited by GABAergic drugs in vivo during anesthesia, and that a modulation in the activity of Pef neurons alone can affect loss of righting reflex. Overall, our results support the idea that GABAergic anesthetics such as propofol exert their effects, at least in part, by modulating hypothalamic sleep pathways.


One hundred consecutive inpatients with clinically suspected deep venous thrombosis (DVT) were examined by US; the last 19 cases were studied also by means of color-Doppler US. In order to evaluate the method reliability, US results were compared with those obtained with contrast venography, which was performed on all patients. The studied region included the femoro-popliteal vein, while no attempt was made to image the calf veins, which are difficult to evaluate with US. In our series, venographic results were in substantial agreement with US findings, with 99% and 100% sensitivity and specificity, respectively. Diagnosis was based only on noncompressibility of the thrombotic vein, despite the absence of visible clots; pulsed Doppler information supported diagnosis by evaluating blood flow. Further diagnostic progress was provided by color-Doppler US, which allows flow lumen to be defined in color. US also allowed the detection of the conditions mimicking DVT, such as muscular ruptures, hematomas, popliteal cysts, or compressive tumors. In conclusion, US and color-Doppler US prove to be valid alternatives to contrast venography in the diagnosis of proximal DVT of the lower limbs.


The composition of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in each cell is in constant flux through processes of mutation, replication, and degradation. In multiple species, certain tissues consistently harbour greater loads of mtDNA mutations relative to others. However, the mechanisms that drive this stereotyped distribution of mtDNA mutations within individuals are unknown. Using C. elegans as a model system, we found that mitochondrial autophagy (mitophagy), mediated through the conserved PTEN-induced putative kinase (PINK1) and the E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase parkin, selectively removes mtDNA mutations from specific tissue types. Moreover, neurons in particular were prone to accumulating mtDNA mutations when mitophagy was perturbed genetically, or through the ectopic expression of proteotoxic species that are associated with neurodegenerative diseases. These results suggest that mitophagy deterministically drives differences in heteroplasmy between tissues, and points at the existence of a causal link between proteotoxicity, mitophagy, and mtDNA mutation levels in neurons.


Mobile agent technology (MAT) seems to promising approach for achieving flexible and decentralised network management. A system independent mobile agent platform is used in order to control the roaming and downloading of the required management code, in the form of mobile agents, onto the network devices. A management task such as the configuration or monitoring of a specific QoS parameter related to a particular application may require that a mobile agent (MA) or a set of MAs should visit several network nodes. We present an approach for enhancing the performance of a mobile agent based network management system by monitoring and controlling the communication paths between the network management applications and the mobile agents. In particular we show that when a mobile agent should act on a set of nodes, the time required to perform a management task is decreased if for the sequence by which the nodes will be visited we take into account the workload on them, i.e. at any time to try to visit the less loaded ones.


This paper examines the gap between the perspectives of public transit managers and elected officials and other opinion leaders on what makes transit a success, and the role of ridership levels in that assessment. The authors draw upon the literature, discussions with experts and elected officials, and interviews with transit managers in the San Francisco Bay Area. The authors identify the considerations that lead to policies that urge transit agencies to expand, and those that raise operator concerns about such growth. The researchers and policy makers interviewed saw transit's prospects quite differently from transit managers and senior staff. The researchers and policy makers believed that transit agencies could increase ridership at reasonable cost by optimizing networks, matching services to markets, adjusting schedules, adopting new technologies, expanding service to new areas, partnering with local government and the private sector, and encouraging transit-oriented development. Transit agency managers, in contrast, felt strongly that simply keeping their existing systems running was a major challenge, especially in light of funding constraints. Operating current services well and keeping current customers happy were key objectives. This gap in expectations was widened by current methods of transit finance, which are both uncertain and demanding of staff time. This suggests that relieving funding pressures will be a necessary first step if transit operators are to be asked to take on larger social roles, such as helping to mitigate global warming in a significant way. Market segment studies, partnerships with other agencies and the private sector and demonstration projects also could help transit agencies to increase ridership in financially responsible ways.


The application of ceramic materials is limited due to the complicated preparation process and intrinsic brittleness. In this work, a pressureless manufacturing route that enables the formation of barium aluminosilicate (BAS) glass-ceramic consisting of internal β-Sialon fibers with enhanced thermal conductivity is developed. By adjusting the carbon source content, composites with different Sialon contents can be easily fabricated. The thermal conductivity of the sample with 3.5 wt.% is improved to 5.845 W/m ∙ K with the Sialon content of 26 wt.% in the composite, which is 112.64 % higher than that of the pure BAS matrix. The theoretical models suggest that the enhanced thermal conductivity is mainly ascribed to the thermal conduction network constructed by Sialon fibers. This work provides a method with industrial application prosperity to fabricate the high temperature ceramic matrix composite of different sizes and complex shapes.


Although production of U/sub 3/O/sub 8/ declined only slightly in 1980, New Mexico's share of domestic production has declined from 48% in 1976 to 35% in 1980. Production projections indicate a continued decline in 1981 and lower production until at least 1984. New Mexico has 41% of total domestic reserves producible in the $50-per-lb cost category. In keeping with the anticipated steady depletion of reserves, production of crude oil in New Mexico was 69.9 million bls, a 6.3% decline in production from 1979. Condensate production of 5.4 million bbls in 1980, however, represented an increase of 7% from 1979 production. Although natural gas production was the lowest since 1970 and declined by 2.6% from 1979 production, 1980 was the 15th year that production exceeded 1 trillion cu ft. Despite declines in production, the valuation of oil and gas production has increased significantly with oil sales doubling from the previous year and gas sales increasing by $409 million because of higher prices. Reserves have been estimated to be 959 million bbls of crude oil and 17.667 trillion cu ft of natural gas. Production of 19.5 million short tons of coal in 1980 represented a 33% increase over 1979 production and anmore » increase of 157% since 1970. Coal resources in New Mexico are estimated to be 180.79 billion short tons, and production is projected to incease to 39.61 million tons in 1985 and 67.53 million tons in 1990. The most notable developments in geothermal energy have been in technical advances in drilling, testing, and applications, especially in the area of hot dry rock systems. The US Bureau of Land Management has issued 113 geothermal leases that remain active. Recent geothermal exploration activity has been detailed for 21 companies.« less


We identified a gene encoding a catalase from the anaerobic bacteria Desulfovibrio vulgaris (Miyazaki F), and the expression of its gene in Escherichia coli. The 3.3-kbp DNA fragment isolated from D. vulgaris (Miyazaki F) by double digestion with EcoRI and SalI was found to produce a protein that binds protoheme IX as a prosthetic group in E. coli. This DNA fragment contained a putative open reading frame (Kat) and one part of another open reading frame (ORF-1). The amino acid sequence of the amino terminus of the protein purified from the transformed cells was consistent with that deduced from the nucleotide sequence of Kat in the cloned fragment of D. vulgaris (Miyazaki F) DNA, which may include promoter and regulatory sequences. The nucleotide sequence of Kat indicates that the protein is composed of 479 amino acids per monomer. The recombinant catalase was found to be active in the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, as are other catalases from aerobic organisms, but its K(m) value was much greater. The hydrogen peroxide stress against D. vulgaris (Miyazaki F) induced the activity for the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide somewhat, so the catalase gene may not work effectively in vivo.


This investigation aims at monitoring the formation of diamines in the gastrointestinal tract of human infants, and thereby also the bacterial colonization of the intestine, by studying the urinary excretion of the heterocyclic amine piperidine during development and in different malabsorptive states. A gas chromatographic assay of the dinitrophenyl derivative of piperidine and a mass spectrometric method of identification were worked out and applied. The piperidine excretion was expressed in units of urinary creatinine concentration. Adult women show a greater variation than men, both inter- and intra-individually. The piperidine excretion is very low and mostly undetectable in the first week of life. There is an increase in weaning, with a significant difference between breast-fed and formula-fed infants at 4--6 months. There is a significant difference between infants suffering from untreated coeliac disease and infants without malabsorption. The findings indicate that piperidine excretion is a sensitive biochemical index of changes in the gastrointestinal flora. The high excretion in coeliac disease suggests that piperidine, which is known to have nicotine-like synaptic activity in the CNS, is one of the hitherto unidentified 'auto-intoxicating' substances arising from the bacterial decomposition of protein suggested by Metchnikoff in 1903.


Lead acetate (3–10%, pH between 4.3 and 7.0, alone or containing 2% glutaraldehyde), when used as fixative, has been demonstrated to produce an intracellular microcrystalline precipitate of lead orthophosphate, Pb5(PO4)3OH (lead hydroxyapatite). This confirms earlier work with the light microscope (6). In interphase cells the nucleoli are sharply delimited by the massive lead phosphate precipitate. Some diffuse precipitate is found in the nucleoplasm; it is always delimited by the nuclear membrane. Nucleolar localization of this orthophosphate pool is not a diffusion artifact; the pool is probably in a loosely bound state and is not retained by conventional fixatives. In maize root cells in advanced mitotic stages the lead phosphate crystals are seen distributed throughout the cytoplasm and also relatively concentrated on the late anaphase-early telophase chromosomes. This pool of inorganic phosphate anions may be involved in the mitotic cycle of chromatin condensation, and it may be partially responsible for the absence of mature ribosomes in the nucleolus through the chelation of divalent cations. It is evident that the siver-reducing component detected in the nucleoli of fixed cells (6) is a completely different substance.


Serotype 1 Lang strain s4 mRNA, which encodes the major capsid surface polypeptide sigma 3 of reovirions, was cloned as a cDNA:mRNA heteroduplex in Escherichia coli using phage M13. A complete consensus nucleotide sequence for s4 mRNA has been determined from cDNA clones. The Lang strain s4 mRNA is 1196 nucleotides in length and possesses an open reading frame with a coding capacity of 365 amino acids, sufficient to account for a sigma 3 polypeptide of 41,212 daltons. Comparison of the serotype 1 (Lang) s4 sequence with the serotype 3 (Dearing) s4 sequence reveals 94% homology at the nucleotide level; the predicted sigma 3 polypeptides of the Lang and Dearing strains display 96% homology at the amino acid level. Two third base C codons (leu:CUC and ser:AGC) are used about one-tenth as frequently in the reovirus s4 mRNAs as compared to mammalian cellular mRNAs.


Learning to code has become so popular that it is now almost the default that beginners will encounter coding on a website, along with thousands of others at the same time. Providing feedback and recognition in the face of such increasing numbers is a challenge that can be met by the automated test generation. Through automation and access to massive amounts of data, we show that the frequency, coverage, accuracy and personalization of feedback can be improved over earlier systems. Recognition can also be made automatic by using a gaming model. Based on the Code Hunt programming Game, we have developed and tested a system of test-driven synthesis (TDS) and produced results that show that we can accurately produce sensible feedback. Moreover the feedback increases engagement in continuing with the difficult task of learning to code. We also report on the effect of recognition of progress during the game and during contests.


Chemical and crystal chemical analyses have been performed on a suite of subcontinental, mantle-derived hornblende (kaersutite) samples. Mdssbauer techniques have been utilized to investigate Fe valence and site occupancies, U extraction techniques have been used to determine bulk H contents, proton-induced y-ray emission (PIGE) analysis was employed to measure F, and electron microprobe techniques coupled with the above measurements have been utilized to determine major-element contents of hornblende. Similar analyses were performed on a suite of metamorphic amphibole samples from Cosca et al. (1991). Comparison with their wet chemical results on Fe3+/Fe2+ permitted determination of C : 1.22, the correction for differential recoil-free fraction effects, which was used to correct the mantle sample M0ssbauer data. The results of the analyses for the kaersutite samples show a nearly l:l inverse relationship between the Fe3+ and H+ contents. Although the range of Fe3+/H+ in the less oxidized kaersutite samples may be explained by partial H loss during entrainment and ascent, the nearly total dehydrogenation of the Fe3*-rich megacrysts would require time scales significantly longer than what is expected for transport. Thus, it seems likely that these oxykaersutite samples grew in a more oxidized metasomatic fluid, where incorporation of H was not required for charge compensation. As megacrysts from the same location show wide variation in Fe3* and H+, it appears likely that significant variations in the oxidation state of the mantle metasomatic fluid occurred over relatively small temporal or spatial scales.


Purpose of review More point-of-care (POC) diagnostic tests are becoming available for HIV diagnosis and treatment in resource-limited settings. These novel technologies have the potential to foster decentralized HIV care and treatment for the benefit of clinical laboratories, HIV clinics, and HIV-infected patients. There continue to be many business, technological, and operational challenges that limit product development and regulatory approval, which limits products available for the required operational and cost-effectiveness studies and delays policy adoption and implementation. Recent findings Although the rapid HIV diagnostic test has been widely successful, the pathways for POC CD4+ cell count and HIV viral load assay analyzers have been more challenging. We describe significant hurdles for product development, approval, and implementation, which include the business case, technical development, clinical impact, and integrating laboratory and clinical networks. Summary The objective of this review is to highlight the obstacles for developing and implementing appropriate strategies for POC HIV testing assays to improve the clinical services for HIV-infected patients in resource-limited settings.


Purpose: There is a tremendous growth in the production of instructional videos. This study investigates whether popular YouTube instructional videos for declarative knowledge development differ in their physical characteristics from unpopular and average ones.

Method: Sampling followed a three-step procedure. First, 250 YouTube videos aiming for declarative knowledge development were selected. Next, a formula for popularity rating was developed. After distinguishing three classes of popularity, the five most viewed videos for five types of declarative knowledge were selected. This resulted in a sample of 75 videos. After coding and scoring, statistical analyses were performed to discover differences between popularity classes in the physical characteristics of videos.

Results: Popular videos differed significantly from unpopular and/or average videos in the following ways: (1) higher production quality (that is, resolution); (2) more frequent presence of static pictures (both iconic and analytic); (3) more frequent presence of a combination of static and dynamic pictures; (4) more often short on-screen texts; (5) more often subtitling with different languages; (6) more frequent inclusion of background music; (7) less background noise; (8) faster speaking rate (that is, words per minute).

Conclusion: The sampled videos strongly varied in their physical characteristics. There were also many significant differences across popularity classes. The findings can be used to optimize video designs for popularity. In addition, they provide a starting point for further research on how physical characteristics may affect knowledge development.


The 21 century's robotic revolution will have massive effects on human societies. Neuroscientists have experimented with the idea of preserving the brain after death through vitrifixation in the hopes of uploading the minds of individuals into the cloud or cyborgnetic bodies. However, the likelihood of duplicating the 86 billion neurons in the human connectome is remote. Yet neuroscientists have had some success in connecting brain cells to robots, which echoes the philosophical question of "Brains in a Vat." This article addresses the consequences of such a development for Christianity. Since Christianity is predicated on resurrection and life everlasting, the transhumanist vision of connecting the human brain to cyborgnetic bodies, particularly if it becomes popular, poses a serious challenge. This article suggests a way in which Christianity may be able to incorporate that vision into Christian theology, leading to the advent of Christian transhumanism.


Very few patients with a periampullary neoplasm present with resectable disease. Consequently, various operative and non-operative techniques have been developed to palliate patients with unresectable periampullary disease. Laparoscopic biliary (cholecystojejunostomy) and enteric bypass (gastrojejunostomy) are reasonable options as compared to their open counterparts for operative palliation. However, only a limited number of carefully selected patients meet selection criteria for laparoscopic palliation.


Chromitites from the Kytlym and Uktus zoned Uralian–Alaskan type complexes in the northern and central Urals, Russia, contain abundant inclusions of Pt alloys compositionally attributable to one of three main groups: 1) Pt–Fe alloys with an isoferroplatinum-type composition, Pt3Fe; 2) Ni-rich Pt–Fe–Ni–(Cu) alloys with a stoichiometry of the type isoferroplatinum Pt2.5(Fe,Ni,Cu)1.5, tetraferroplatinum Pt(Fe,Ni,Cu), and ferronickelplatinum Pt2FeNi, and 3) Cu-rich Pt–Fe–Cu–(Ni) alloys with a stoichiometry of tulameenite type, Pt2Fe(Cu,Ni). The Pt–Fe and Ni-rich Pt–Fe–Ni–(Cu) alloys occur as primary inclusions in unaltered chromian spinel and are considered to have formed in a high-temperature pre-chromite stage. A sulfide-rich assemblage (erlichmanite, Rh–Ir–Pt thiospinels, cooperite, unknown Rh–Ir-bearing base-metal sulfides, pyrrhotite and pentlandite) accompanies the Pt3Fe alloy, indicating that it was a stable phase under relatively high sulfur fugacity. The Pt–Fe–Ni–(Cu) alloys formed at low sulfur fugacity, as suggested by the absence of sulfides and the exclusive presence of native osmium in the assemblage. The Cu-rich Pt–Fe–Cu–(Ni) alloys of tulameenite type are exclusively located along cracks in contact with secondary ferrian chromite, magnetite and chlorite, or constitute the metasomatic replacement of primary Pt alloys, and are considered to have a low-temperature hydrothermal origin. The secondary assemblage of PGM also includes potarite, prassoite, rhodian pentlandite, Cu–Pd alloys, native osmium, Ir–Fe alloys and oxides. These data strongly suggest that Ural–Alaskan-type chromitites are major contributors of Pt alloys that are encountered associated with nuggets in placer deposits of the Ural Platinum-bearing Belt.


Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) is endemic to southern Africa and the stem pitting syndrome that it causes was a limiting factor in grapefruit production prior to the introduction of cross-protection in the Citrus Improvement Scheme. This disease mitigation strategy, using various field-derived CTV sources, has significantly extended the productive lifespan of grapefruit orchards in South Africa. CTV commonly occurs as a population of various strains, masking the phenotypic effect of individual strains. Likewise, current South African CTV cross-protection sources are strain mixtures, obscuring an understanding of which strains are influencing cross-protection. The severity of various CTV strains has mostly been assessed on sensitive indicator hosts, but their effect on commercial varieties has seldom been investigated. Single-variant CTV isolates were used to investigate the phenotypic expression of CTV strains in commercial grapefruit varieties as well as CTV indicator hosts. They were biologically characterized for their ability to cause stem pitting and their rate of translocation and titer in the different hosts, monitored by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Complete genome sequences for three CTV strain variants were generated. Isolates of CTV strains VT, T68, RB, and HA16-5 did not induce severe stem pitting in four grapefruit hosts in a glasshouse trial. Viral titers of the strains differed in the grapefruit hosts, but the RB isolate reached a higher titer in the grapefruit hosts compared with the VT, T68, and HA16-5 isolates. Additionally, horticultural assessment of two grapefruit varieties inoculated with the RB isolate in two field trials demonstrated that mild stem pitting did not negatively influence the horticultural performance of the grapefruit trees over an eight-year assessment period. 'Star Ruby' trees containing the CTV source GFMS35 showed less stem pitting than trees inoculated with the RB isolate, but had smaller canopy volumes and lower yields than trees containing the RB isolate. This suggests that the influence of CTV sources on tree performance is not limited to the effect of stem pitting.


The growing root tips of Vicia faba L., the broad bean, were subjected to an alternating sine waveform magnetic field at 1.5 mT at one of the following frequencies: 50 Hz; 60 Hz; 75 Hz. The lengths of each stage of the cell cycle were determined by cell counts using Feulgen-stained microscope slides and a video microscope. The length of time taken for each stage of the cell cycle for all of the treatments differed significantly from the controls. In particular, prophase appeared longer for all treatments. The implication of this is that the all of the magnetic field treatments had some affect on chromosome coiling.


New technologies and scientific discoveries are upon modern man, rendering obsolete at a very rapid pace existing technology. In the maelstrom of all these prodigious changes, some groups of people have not felt the impact of modern science on their lives. It is in this line where the ethnoscience of some select indigenous groups in Mindanao were explored, specifically the ethnoscinece among Subanen in Lapuyan Zamboanga del Sur and the Mansaka in Mabini Compostela Valley. Purposive and snowball sampling were used in selecting the participants. Ethnographic techniques were used in this naturalistic and qualitative study. The researcher immersed in each community using questionnaire, interview guide, individual and focus group discussions, observation checklist, field notebook, and other instruments. Results revealed that the Subanen and Mansaka farmers were mostly 61 years old and have low level of educational attainment. Magical, traditional, and factual procedures and techniques figured prominently among the crop farming practices, food gathering and food preparation among Subanen and Mansaka. Their balyan healer used a combination of magical, traditional, and factual techniques in treating diseases. Therefore, these groups of people retained and preserved their unique identity and natural knowledge despite tremendous impact of modern technologies and discoveries in multifarious disciplines. Keywords: Ethnoscience, ethnofarming, ethnomedicine, qualitative research usingethnographic techniques, Philippines


In last decade, classic IT-infrastructures in modern enterprises have been changed sufficiently by cloud computing. However, cloud approach can be used effectively in other applications. In this paper, we explore applicability of cloud paradigm in mobile robotics. First approach is using some classic cloud architectures, such as Infrastructure-as-a-Service, Platform-as-a-Service and Software-as-a-Service, with heterogeneous distributed mobile robotic system - for example, it can be used to offload a time consuming computations from mobile platforms to remote nodes or services. Second approach is using some special "robotic" types of clouds, such as Robot-as-a-Service and Function-as-a-Service to leverage abilities of a single robotics platform in mobile robotic system as services to robotic system's users or other mobile robotic platforms. We explore both approaches and give them some architectural examples.


Abstract Cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV) is a group of whitefly-transmitted Geminiviruses that cause extensive damage to cotton in India and Pakistan. Begomoviruses have a complex association with their whitefly vector. To further understand these relationships, fecundity and life history parameters of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) were compared on 5, 20, 35 d post inoculated (DPI), CLCuV infected and healthy cotton plants to determine the effect of virus on its vector. Cotton leaf curl virus infection increased percent egg viability of B. tabaci. Whiteflies deposited significantly fewer eggs on virus infected plants compared to healthy plants. The development time of whiteflies from egg to adulthood was significantly reduced on CLCuV infected plants with shorter nymphal and pupal duration. Male and female whiteflies had shorter longevity on CLCuV infected plants compared with healthy plants. The egg duration was similar on CLCuV infected and healthy plants regardless of DPI of plants.


We describe five patients with cervical spondylosis and large anterior osteophytes causing pharyngeal compression. All had dysphagia, two had obstructive sleep apnoea and another two had dyspnoea and stridor on inspiration. One, with perforation of the pharynx, required emergency tracheostomy. Only three had pain in the neck or arm. Compression of the retroglottic space was confirmed in all patients by pharyngoscopy and in all the symptoms were relieved by excision of the osteophytes. Three also underwent intervertebral fusion. One had some persistent sleep apnoea.


Background: Liver transplantation (LT) is the only curative therapy for acute and chronic end-stage liver disease in pediatrics. Nevertheless, bacterial infection post-transplant account for one of the most significant causes of mortality which requires attention, along with appropriate antibacterial treatment. Therefor this study was designed to provide a multifaceted overview of bacterial infections during a one-year experience in the biggest pediatrics LT center in Iran.Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, records from all liver transplant pediatrics in Abu-Ali Sina hospital, Shiraz, Fars, Iran from April 2019 to February 2020 were assessed. Demographic, laboratory, and clinical data were extracted along with the administered therapeutic approach for the patient.Results: an incidence of 67.9% bacterial infection rate was observed, in which more than 64.06% of isolated pathogens were Gram-negative and 35.93% were gram-positive. The most isolated pathogens were E. coli sp. and pseudomonas sp. for gram negative, and enterococci and staph sp. for gram positive. Our study demonstrated that Intra-abdominal Surgical Site Infections (24.24%) was the most common site of infections in post LT pediatrics. According to the results of the sensitivity-resistance pattern of isolated pathogens, 24.39% of isolated gram-negative bacteria were Extensively drug resistant (XDR). Also, 30.43% of gram-positive bacteria were Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and 8.69% of them were methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Furthermore, multivariate regression analysis showed that the only risk factor for bacterial infections after LT is the length of stay in the ICU. The mortality rate in our study was 22%, which was significantly higher among the infection group (P = 0.008). Also, it was found that patients receiving colistin had a significantly shorter in length of stay in the ICU and hospital than those who did not receive colistin. There is no any significant difference between piperacillin-tazobactm versus meropenem as empirical treatment regarding clinical outcomes.Conclusion: a high rate of bacterial infection was detected among hospitalized pediatrics in the early period after LT. High antibacterial resistance of bacteria isolated from LT pediatrics is alarming. Furthermore, Replacement of piperacillin-tazobactam instead of carbapenems in empirical treatment should be considered.


The significance of features derived from complex analytic domain representation of speech, for different applications, is investigated. Frequency domain linear prediction (FDLP) coefficients are derived from analytic magnitude and instantaneous frequency (IF) coefficients are derived from analytic phase of speech signals. Minimal pair ABX (MP-ABX) tasks are used to analyse different features and develop insights into the nature of information in them. The performance of the features derived from analytic representation are compared with performance of the Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC). It is noticed that the magnitude based featuresFDLP and MFCC delivered promising PaC, PaT and CaT scores in MP-ABX tasks, demonstrating their phoneme discrimination abilities. Combining FDLP features with MFCC had proven beneficial in phoneme discrimination tasks. The IF features performed well in TaP mode of MP-ABX tasks, emphasizing the existence of speaker specific information in them. The IF significantly outperformed FDLP, MFCC and their combination in speaker discrimination task.


The LOFT initial core load was completed September 23, 1977 using the method of Reference 3 to monitor reactivity. No significant problems were encountered. The Keff indicated throughout core load was approximately 3 to 6% lower than predicted and more than 18% lower than would terminate loading. This was due largely to a primary coolant boron concentration 130 ppM greater than the value used in calculations for the predictions. Keff of the fully loaded core with 3000 ppM boron is estimated to be .8006.


Treatment of severe radiation burns remains a difficult challenge. Conventional surgical treatment (excision, skin grafting, skin or muscle flaps) often fails to prevent unpredictable and uncontrolled extension of the necrotic process. We report two clinical cases in which surgery was combined with mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy. Clinical outcome was good and there was no recurrence of radiation inflammatory waves observed in the first patient after one year. This novel multi-disciplinary therapeutic approach, combining physical techniques, modern plastic surgery and cell therapy should improve the medical management of severe localized radiation burns.


This paper gives an overview of erosion mechanisms in elbows in oil and gas production systems. The nature of the erosion process itself makes it very difficult to develop some definitive methods or models to prevent or predict the erosion in elbows in all conditions. This paper provides a review of the subject which will help petroleum engineers to handle the erosion problems in oil and gas industry. This review is given of different erosion mechanisms connected with sand erosion and the factors that influence them, and then the review goes on to look at particulate erosion in elbows in more details. Conclusions are then drawn based on the above analyses.


The data consists of measurements collected onboard the NASA ER-2 and DC-8 aircraft, ozonesonde soundings from three stations (Angmagssalik and Scoresbysund, Greenland, and Lerwick, U.K.), aerosol and temperature profiles
from the SAM II satellite, global grid point values of Nimbus 7 TOMS ozone, and selected radiosonde soundings from stations in the region of the experiment.

The CD-ROM contains data from the Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Expedition (AASE) which was based in Stavanger, Norway during January and February, 1989. The expedition was designed to study the production and loss mechanisms of ozone in the north polar stratospheric environment, and the effect on ozone distribution of the Arctic polar vortex and of the cold temperatures associated with the formation of Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSC).


Association rules are an important problem in data mining. Massively increasing volume of data in real life databases has motivated researchers to design novel and incremental algorithms for association rules mining. In this paper, we propose an incremental association rules mining algorithm that integrates shocking interestingness criterion during the process of building the model. A new interesting measure called shocking measure is introduced. One of the main features of the proposed approach is to capture the user background knowledge, which is monotonically augmented. The incremental model that reflects the changing data and the user beliefs is attractive in order to make the over all KDD process more effective and efficient. We implemented the proposed approach and experiment it with some public datasets and found the results quite promising.


At The High School Journal, we are commited to maintaining a conversation about relevant issues in education and how they speak to the general purpose of schooling. In our last issue we addressed the paradox associated with groups of stakeholders having different notions of the purpose of schools (e.g., creation of an educated work force, or a vehicle for social justice). As academics, educators, parents, and school reformers, we should answer this question before our work in improving schools begins: What is the purpose of school? This question is multifaceted and has many possible, even conflicting answers, but the purpose of schools is an important part of the conversation surrounding educational reform. Without determining the purpose of our reform, we have no idea if our reform efforts are moving schools in the right direction. In this issue, our portion of this conversation continues, drawing from recent decisions in education made at the state and local level which have become political juggernauts. The recent debates have brought new questions into this discussion such as: Who should teach our students? What should our students be learning? And how do we determine who attends which schools? The Texas School Board Curriculum Revisions The Texas School Board recently updated the standards of Texas's history curriculum. Televised excerpts of the process have shown school board members going through lists of people and topics while discussing as a panel whether or not these items should be included in the Texas history curriculum. Curriculum has always been selective, leaving out certain issues in favor of others, sometimes in an effort to promote the ideology of particular groups. In a study (Romanowsli, 2009), for example, researchers found that textbooks consistently left out important information about the 9/11 attacks in order to legitimize current US policies. Revisions of the Texas curriculum would continue to leave out what some consider important information in favor of a particular groups and mindsets. Such exclusions have led to a contentious debate over what should and should not be part of world and American history. The revisions have supported a Euro-centric version of history. As a result of an increase in the Hispanic population in Texas, certain interest groups have sought to increase the number of historic figures from Latino and South and Central American backgrounds in order to give Hispanic students a sense of their own history and a pride in their own heritage. The school board has denied the addition of these new figures into the curriculum, however, and eliminated some previously-included figures of Latino and African American history, like Cesar Chavez and Harriet Tubman. The revisions also illustrated the dominance of the American democratic and capitalist systems above others. They have also had an arguably conservative slant as they include triumphs of groups like the Republican party and even the NRA. School board members argue that these changes add a conservative ballast to the curriculum. Texas School Board member Dr. Don McLeroy said, "We are adding balance. History has already been skewed. Academia is skewed too far to the left" (McKinley, 2010). The conservative slant on standards has also led to much conversation on topics such as whether or not to include Thomas Jefferson based on his beliefs about separation of church and state and how to handle Darwinism versus Creationism. Some have criticized the partisan stance on curriculum, though. A member of the Texas House of Representatives, Michael Villarreal, spoke out about the revisions saying, "[the school board members] have ignored historians and teachers, allowing ideological activists to push the culture war further into our classrooms. They fail to understand that we don't want liberal textbooks or conservative textbooks. We want excellent textbooks, written by historians instead of activists" (CBS, 2010). …


Pilot studies with bendroflumethiazide, a recently introduced benzothiadiazine diuretic, 1,2 suggested superior antihypertensive qualities. Long-term effects on outpatients were studied and compared to placebo, reserpine, and other benzothiadiazine derivatives. Our observations suggested that bendroflumethiazide, given singly, often proved unusually effective. We postulated a separate group of "diuretic sensitive" patients and a therapy-induced bimodal redistribution of blood pressure was sought. Blood pressure responsiveness was also statistically related to various other clinical parameters including dietary sodium intake. The depressor effect of low-potassium diets, 3 the stimulation of aldosterone by potassium, 4,5 and the results of animal experiments 6,7 made it pertinent to test the blood pressure influence of potassium chloride supplementation. Overproduction of aldosterone, whatever its cause, might contribute to the refractoriness of high blood pressure to diuretic therapy. This prompted a trial of combination therapy of bendroflumethiazide with spironolactone in 17 patients with severe hypertension, inadequately controlled by bendroflumethiazide therapy alone.


Acne is a skin disease caused by Propiniobacterium acne, and Staphylococcus aureus. To treat acne needed anti acne. In this reseacrh using medicinal plants as anti acne. These plants are efficious for anti acne. The genus Carica reported to contain papain enzym compounds. One type of plant has an anti acne activity with papain. Papain leaves (Carica papaya L) obtained from farmers Umbulrejo Umbulsari Jember. The papaya leavesis extracted with etanol 97%. Papaya leavest extract then made a solid soap, with 30% concentration of extract papaya leaves. The active inggredience is extract papaya leaves, NaOH as basa, oleum rosae as corigen odoris, and distilled water as a solvent. In this reseacrh, several physical quality tests of solid soap were carried out. The results of organoleptis test is this soap has a hard shape, the colours is light green, and the scent of soap smell rosae oil. The test results are recorded on the data collection sheet. Average of pH test showed 11, that entered in the range. The results of water content have an average of 8.2%, it shows that the soap meets the demand. The next test is the free fatty acid test results from the test that is 0.87%, the sign the results enter the range.Keywords: Papaya leaves, Solid soap, Physical quality test


Background Pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infections are increasing rapidly in the UK. The commonest pulmonary NTM infection outside the setting of cystic fibrosis lung disease is with the mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), consisting of M. avium and M. intracellulare. Patients with pulmonary MAC infection present with cavitatory lung disease or nodular bronchiectasis. Prolonged treatment is required, frequently not tolerated, and often associated with progressive lung destruction. A large body of evidence suggests the tissue damage that occurs in tuberculous lung disease is driven by host derived matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), in particular MMP-1 and 9. The mechanisms of tissue damage in NTM infection are not understood. We hypothesised that NTM drives MMP secretion and that this drives cavitation and bronchiectasis. Methods Monocytes isolated from healthy human volunteer blood by density centrifugation were stimulated with M. avium clinical isolates for 24 hours. Human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) were generated from monocytes through 5–7 day incubation with GM-CSF before stimulation with four different clinical isolates of M. avium for up to 72 hours. mRNA expression was investigated using qRT-PCR. Protein in cell supernatants was quantified using ELISA and Luminex array techniques. Results Stimulation with M. avium does not increase MMP-9 secretion in monocytes or macrophages. M. avium significantly increases gene expression of MMP-1 and induces MMP-1 secretion by MDMs (Figure 1). Additionally, M. avium drives induction of MMP-7, an elastolytic enzyme (Figure 1), and reduces the secretion of TIMP-1; the major in vivo inhibitor of MMP-1. Conclusions Interestingly, unlike Mycobacterium tuberculosis or other chronic pulmonary pathogens such as Pseudomonas or Haemophilus influenzae, M. avium does not drive secretion of MMP-9 by infected mononuclear cells from healthy donors. Instead it drives functionally unopposed MMP-1, which was previously thought to be an M. tuberculosis-specific response. Data suggest MMP-1 and −7 may drive the destructive pulmonary pathophysiology that characterises M. avium infection. This will be further investigated with patient sputum samples and inflammatory cells. Abstract S38 Figure 1 MMP-1 (left) and MMP-7 (right ) secretion from MDMs at 72 hours post stimulation with 4 different clinical isolates of M. avium


Strategic management of place - managing knowledge spillovers - the role of geographic proximity, D.B. Audretsch Location and organizing strategy - exploring the influence of location on the organization of pharmaceutical research, J.L. Furman from conception to birth - opportunity perception and resource mobilization in entrepreneurship, J.B. Sorensen, O. Sorenson hits and misses - managers' (mis)categorization of competitors in the Manhattan hotel industry, J.A.C. Baum, T.K. Lant strategic management of space: interorganizational learning and the location of manufacturing subsidiaries - is chain migration also a corporate behavior?, P.V. Bastos, H.R. Greve location choices under agglomeration externalities and strategic interaction, F. Flyer, J.M. Shaver geography and marketing strategy in consumer packaged goods, B.J. Bronnenberg, P. Albuquerque organization, evolution and performance in neighborhood-based systems, A. Lomi et al spatial diffusion of social organizing - modeling Trade Union growth in Sweden, 1890-1940, C.R. Edling, F. Liljeros combined perspectives - the diffusion of TQM within a global bank, D. Strang organizing for technological innovation in the US pharmaceutical industry, A.S. Chacar, M.B. Lieberman law firm office location and firm survival in Silicon Valley, 1969 to 1998, J. Jaffee the organizational advantage of nations - an ecological perspective on the evolution of the motorcycle industry in Belgium, Italy and Japan, 1898-1993, F.C. Wezel, A. Lomi.


RA-like and erosive) and fibrosing alveolitis (reviewed in [9]). One feature of the syndrome is said to be 'mechanic's hands' which consists of hyperkeratosis of the fingers associated with cracking and fissuring of the skin overlying the finger pulp. When it was definitively demonstrated that the Jo-1 antigen was histidyl-tRNA synthetase, other tRNA synthetases, including alanyland threonyl-tRNA synthetase, were also described as less common autoantigens in polymyositis-associated overlap syndromes. The clinical features of all of these syndromes are similar so that they are often grouped together as the tRNA synthetase syndromes. Antibodies to PM/Scl are part of a complex of precipitin reactions originally termed PM-1. Although the PM-1 antibody was originally regarded as a marker for polymyositis, anti-PM/Scl was found in ~15% and appeared to-be associated with a polymyositis/ scleroderma overlap syndrome [8]. The clinical features are very similar to those of other myositis-associated overlap syndromes with a high frequency of Raynaud's phenomenon, arthritis, myositis and interstitial lung disease [10]. Every patient studied to date is DR-3 positive. The PM/Scl antigen is nucleolar, and hence serum samples contain anti-nucleolar antibodies by immunofluorescence. The clinical features of the three myositis-associated overlap syndromes are remarkably similar and would challenge the use of the word 'distinct' to describe MCTD. It would be difficult to guess the serology of an individual patient on clinical examination alone. However, there are subtle differences which can be appreciated when larger groups of patients are seen. All three are essentially SLE/scleroderma/polymyositis overlap syndromes with MCTD tending more to the SLE end of the spectrum. The PM/Scl syndrome veers towards scleroderma and the Jo-1 syndrome towards systemic sclerosis with more prominent lung disease and less skin involvement, although it may occasionally present as RA. Of the three, Jo-1 syndrome probably has the worst prognosis and requires the most aggressive treatment, and MCTD the least. Whether or not these syndromes can be classified as 'entities' awaits the demonstration of aetiology. If each antibody were shown to be induced by a different but specific aetiological agent, then the use of antibodies for diagnosis would be justified and the use of the word 'disease' substantiated. Until such time, it is probably best to maintain the term 'overlap syndrome' for all three, including MCTD.


We describe a novel neural network architecture, which can recognize human faces with any view in a certain viewing angle range (from left 30 degrees to right 30 degrees out of plane rotation). View-specific eigenface analysis is used as the front-end of the system to extract features, and the neural network ensemble is used for recognition. Experimental results show that the recognition accuracy of our network ensemble is higher than conventional methods such as using a single neural network to recognize faces of a specific view.


We propose a methodology of speech segmentation in which the LSF feature vector matrix of a segment is reconstructed optimally using a set of parametric/non-parametric functions. We have explored approximations using basis functions or polynomials. We have analyzed the performance of these methods w.r.t. phoneme segmentation (on 100 TIMIT sentences) and reconstruction error based on spectral distortion (SD) measure. We study how amenable these methods are to quantization and their suitability for speech coding. We also estimate the optimum number of segments depending on the reconstruction performance achieved using that many number of segments and the tolerance limit set on the spectral distortion error.


In recent times, we have seen an increased use of text chat for communication on social networks and smartphones. This particularly involves the use of Hindi-English code-mixed text which contains words which are not recognized in English vocabulary. We have worked on detecting emotions in these mixed data and classify the sentences in human emotions which are angry, fear, happy or sad. We have used state of the art natural language processing models and compared their performance on the dataset comprising sentences in this mixed data. The dataset was collected and annotated from sources and then used to train the models.


Purpose: It is widely accepted that oxidative stress plays a major role in cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study is to identify novel biomarkers that are released from cardiomyocytes upon oxidative stress before the onset of necrosis.

Methods and Results: Firstly, isolated mouse hearts were subjected to Langendorff perfusion with 1 mM H2O2 for 15 min to induce maximal oxidative stress in the absence of cell death, as detected by lactate dehydrogenase release. Notably, SDS/PAGE of tissue samples displayed the disappearance of a band migrating at 72 kDa in the H2O2 group as compared to the normoxic control. Analysis by mass spectrometry identified two proteins, namely EHD4 and HSPA8. Concomitantly, these proteins were found in the coronary effluent. We confirmed this result by both Western blot and immunohistochemistry. In particular, H2O2-perfused heart cryosections displayed 77% and 70% decrease in immunofluorescence as compared to normoxic-perfused hearts for EDH4 and HSPA8, respectively. EHD4 belongs to the EHD protein family that are involved in intracellular trafficking, while HSPA8 is a chaperonin.

Then, we evaluated another model of oxidative stress caused by single injection of doxorubicin (15 mg/kg). Mice were sacrificed after 3 days. The EHD4 content was reduced in hearts of doxorubicin-treated mice, as compared to hearts of vehicle-treated animals. To confirm that protein release can occur the absence of cell death, we treated an atriomal murine cell line (HL1) with: H2O2  (10-100 μM), doxorubicin (1-6 μM), or H2O2 (10 μM) + doxorubicin (6 μM). We observed that the intracellular EHD4 content was significantly reduced upon the different treatments, as detected by Western blot and immunocytochemistry in the absence of any loss of cell viability, as detected by Hoecst 22358/Propidium Iodide staining. The release of HSPA8 in the tested protocols was less evident.

Conclusions: EHD4 appears as the most prominent protein released by cardiac myocytes undergoing oxidative stress in the absence of cell death. Therefore, EHD4 release should be exploited as a novel plasma biomarker of early oxidative stress, occurring before the onset of necrosis. Further studies will elucidate the mechanisms underlying protein release in viable cardiac myocytes and the effects of specific protein loss on the susceptibility to cell injury.


The material foundations of computer systems and interactive technology is a topic that gained an increased interest within the HCI community during the last years. In this paper we discuss this topic through the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi, a philosophy that embraces three basic realities of the material world: 'nothing lasts', 'nothing is finished', and 'nothing is perfect'. We use these concepts to reflect on four unique interactive artefacts, which all in different ways embrace aspects of Wabi-Sabi, in terms of their design gestalt, materiality, but also in terms of use practices. Further, we use our analysis to articulate three high-level principles that may help addressing the long-term realities faced in physical interaction design, and for the design of interactive systems in general.


The resistance and inductance of a wire array during an implosion are very important parameters of interest to researchers. A variety of inductances and resistances directly affect the kinetic energy and resistance heat energy coupled from a pulsed-power generator. In this paper, the inductance and resistance of a planar wire array during the Z-pinch process are analyzed. The inductance is calculated from the data obtained by a time-resolved soft X-ray framed camera, while the resistance is calculated through the voltage and the current of the wire array load combined with the variety of the inductance. The results show that the resistance of the load increases with the development of the implosion, and reaches its maximum at 0.29 ± 0.16 Ω near the pinched time.


This work presents CLIPDraw, an algorithm that synthesizes novel drawings based on natural language input. CLIPDraw does not require any training; rather a pre-trained CLIP language-image encoder is used as a metric for maximizing similarity between the given description and a generated drawing. Crucially, CLIPDraw operates over vector strokes rather than pixel images, a constraint that biases drawings towards simpler human-recognizable shapes. Results compare between CLIPDraw and other synthesis-through-optimization methods, as well as highlight various interesting behaviors of CLIPDraw, such as satisfying ambiguous text in multiple ways, reliably producing drawings in diverse artistic styles, and scaling from simple to complex visual representations as stroke count is increased. Code for experimenting with the method is available at: https://colab.research.google.com/github/kvfrans/clipdraw/blob/main/clipdraw.ipynb