Many neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by ubiquitin‐positive protein aggregates or inclusion bodies. Ubiquitin‐conjugated proteins are degraded by the 20/26S proteasome, and reduced proteasome peptidase activities in brain homogenates have been reported in pathologic lesions of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. However, it is unknown whether crude extracts of human brain contain other proteases having peptidase activities. We found a novel protease of molecular weight of approximately 105 kDa in normal human brain, which exhibited trypsin‐like (T‐L) and chymotrypsin‐like (ChT‐L) activities (corresponding to 52% and 21% of the total activities in crude extracts) but not peptidyl glutamyl peptide hydrolase activity. Both T‐L and ChT‐L activities of this protease were partially inhibited by proteasome inhibitors (MG132, lactacystin) and, in contrast to those of the proteasome, also by sodium dodecyl sulfate. A simple method to obtain a brain fraction specific to the 20/26S proteasome was developed. Our human brain data suggest that T‐L and ChT‐L activity levels of the proteasome reported previously may include those of the 105 kDa protease, an enzyme of as yet unknown biological significance, and that it is necessary to separate the proteasome from this protease to evaluate the actual status of the ubiquitin‐proteasome system in neurodegenerative disorders.


The cerebellum is known to be critical for accurate adaptive control and motor learning. It has long been recognized that the cerebellum acts as a supervised learning machine. However, recent evidence shows that cerebellum is integral to reinforcement learning. This paper proposes a biologically plausible cerebellar model with reinforcement learning based on the cerebellar neural circuitry to eliminate the need for explicit teacher signals. The learning capacity of cerebellar reinforcement learning is first demonstrated by constructing a simulated cerebellar neural network agent and a detailed model of the human arm and muscle system in the Emergent virtual environment. Next, the cerebellar model is incorporated in both a simulated arm and a Geomagic Touch device to further verify the effectiveness of the cerebellar model in reaching tasks. Results from these experiments indicate that the cerebellar simulation is capable of driving the "arm plant" to arrive at the target positions accurately. Moreover, by examining the effect of the number of basic units, we find the results are consistent with previous findings that the central nervous system may recruit the muscle synergies to realize motor control. The study described here prompts several hypotheses about the relationship between motor control and learning and may be useful in the development of general-purpose motor learning systems for machines.


Introduction: Due to the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) lockdown implemented by the government, we had to transform our classes into the online sphere. The most commonly used methods of online teaching in Government Medical College, Thrissur were, live online lectures, PowerPoint presentations with narrations, prerecorded videos and assignments. Aim: To assess the logistical aspects, merit and demerits of different online teaching-learning methods among phase-1 medical student in a tertiary care teaching hospital during COVID-19 lockdown Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2020 to September 2020, among phase-1 MBBS students of Government Medical College, Thrissur, Kerala, India. Data was collected from 161 students through a questionnaire consisting of two parts. The first part dealt with logistical aspects, like net connectivity, gadget, expenditure, financial burden, residence and eye strain with online teaching learning methods. The second part dealt with the merits and demerits of each type of teaching learning methods, according to the students. All statistical data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 16. Qualitative data was expressed as a percentage. Results: A total of 97.5% population of students was able to frequently access the online classes. Online learning strained the eyes of 47.8% of students. Mobile phones were used by 92.5% of students for attending online classes internet connectivity was mainly through 4G (71.4%) followed by Wi-Fi (19.9%) connections. Their most preferred method of online learning was online live lectures (35.4%) followed by PowerPoint presentations with narrations (33.5%). Blended learning (online and traditional together) was best preferred method of learning (46.6%). Conclusion: Live online lectures and blended learning were preferred by the majority of students. Thus, the online classes can be continued along with the traditional teaching in future.


An initial program load (IPL) of a logical partition (LPAR) is managed by establishing a logical path to the LPAR from a storage controller.When a notice is received by the storage controller from the LPAR that the IPL has commenced, the LPAR address is stored in a data structure. After the storage controller initiates a pack change state interrupt, the stored address is compared with the addresses in a list of all LPARS to which the interrupt is directed. If the list of addresses includes the stored address, the stored address is removed from the list. Thus, the pack change state interrupt is transmitted only to the addresses in the list, leaving the LPAR to complete the IPL without interruption. After the storage controller receives a notice from the LPAR that the IPL has completed, the address of the LPAR is removed from the data structure.


This study examines how luxury fashion brands and luxury fashion brand hashtags that consumers use in their posts portray women on Instagram. The study was framed by sexual objectification theory (physical presentation, body display, sexually suggestive poses, and feminine touch) and sexism stereotypes (women in traditional roles such as dependent, caretaker, decorative and sexual object). This study examines 700 Instagram posts, 350 from top luxury fashion brands, and 350 from consumers. Young and skinny women's images dominate Instagram posts created by luxury fashion brands, while consumers are older and fit. Unexpected results show that luxury fashion brands feature women less sexually desirable, with less sexually suggestive poses and fewer sexist stereotypes than consumers.


An apparatus has been constructed to subject a film of oil to high transient stresses and rates of shear by applying an impulsive load. The apparatus makes it possible to derive the values of the instantaneous viscosity of the oil through out the duration of the impact and to detect whether the oil exhibits viscoelastic behaviour in these conditions. Typical mineral lubricating oils do not exhibit elastic properties in the apparatus and their behaviour is explicable on the assumption that the viscosity depends on pressure and temperature in the manner observed in the usual types of viscometer. However, when only elementary calculations are made the viscosity appears to be abnormally low. To explain the behaviour adequately, it is necessary to consider the viscosity of the lubricant not only with respect to temperature and pressure but also from place to place and instant to instant through out the impact. When this is done, the theory provides a good description of the behaviour of the system up to the point at which the pressures cause significant deformation of the plates containing the oil film. Two other oils, each having an initial viscosity and pressure coefficient of viscosity well above the range of typical lubricating oils, have been observed to exhibit anomalous behaviour. The evidence is consistent with the supposition that they behave viscoelastically but further work would be required to prove the point.


John Bowlby refers to attachment as the special affect and trust bond that a child establishes with other emotionally significant people, who constitute a source of security and protection. The main figure of attachment during childhood is generally the person who fulfills the maternal function (primary caregiver), although it is also established with the father, brothers/sisters, grandparents, and others. The approaching behavior could be activated by different stimuli which depends on each person and his/her developing stage. This bond is developed according to experiences and relationships in the first years of life - experiences stored in mental representations (internal working models), which influence the individual's psychic organization. Different instruments allow to make evident the different types of attachment bonds and to establish a correlation between parents and children. The Attachment makes up a valid theoretical and methodological model for the investigation, prevention and treatment in mental health.


Seawater flue gas Desulfurization (SFGD) was adopted in many coal-fired power plants of littoral for its low cost and high desulfurization efficiency. Operating Parameters would seriously affect SFGD efficiency, the desulfurization efficiency can be improved by adjusting reasonable parameters. this paper applied Least Square Support Machine (LSSVM) to build the studying model of seawater desulfurization efficiency With a seawater desulfurization system of a 1000MW thermal power plant, through analyzing the influencing factors. The input parameters of the model were sulfur dioxide concentration at flue gas inlet, net flue gas flow & temperature, electric current of water booster pump, seawater flow & temperature of the absorption tower inlet. Seawater flue gas desulfurization efficiency was used as output of the model. Then through using the method of genetic algorithm (GA) to optimize the seawater desulfurization efficiency, the research obtained the optimizing and adjusting tactics, which can be used to guide power plant desulfurization operation adjustment. It was proved in the field, that the desulfurization efficiency had been improved for using the value of adjustment.


Unintentional injuries are one of the leading causes of death worldwide, yet they are predictable and avoidable events. Community-based approaches to injury prevention are those where researchers and/or injury prevention specialists work alongside the target population to identify injury prevention issues and then co-create strategies that are relevant to the population. Community-based strategies differ from other approaches as they strive to conduct research with, rather than on marginalized groups. A community-based approach to social marketing, injury prevention and risk messaging was applied in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada, to examine and address men's boating safety behaviours. Community participants identified the need for northern-based safety resources and a community-wide education campaign. As demonstrated through this example, community-based strategies should be considered for injury prevention, as the involvement of local community members may lead to more effective risk messaging that reflects the needs, culture, and experiences of the target group, while promoting healthy behaviours.


Density stratification is formed in the natural environment such as the lake water system due to the temperature difference of surface water and deep water, leading the damage of lake ecosystem. To dispel the density stratification, several researches in using liquid and gas phase jet to destruct and mix the density stratification was conducted. However, the effect in using gas-liquid two-phase jet to mix the density stratification has not been clarified.
 In this study, we performed the mixing experiments of density stratification with stained water and salt water. Based on the visualization method and the image processing, the density changing during the experiment was obtained in quantitatively and the dimensionless density distribution was built. Furthermore, the influence of air lift pipe in mixing was investigated.
 From the density distribution, we classified the result into three kinds of mixed behavior by analyzing the temporal transition of density stratification. Additionally, the mixing pattern with air lift pipe connected with the distance between the nozzle and the entrance of pipe.


ABSTRACT

       Caliph Omar bin Abdul Aziz acceded a noble position in our Islamic history, which  is only attained by  the best leaders, conquerors, and magnificent imams of knowledge and geniuses of writers and poets. Your wonder increases when you know that he occupied this position with two years and a few months spent as a caliph for the Muslims, while other caliphs and leaders spent tens of years without recording any history, because their years of ruling were empty in the history of their nation, so people did not see any change in their lives, nor did they rise in their state . People did not feel a change in their lives, nor a rise in their state, nor an improvement in their livelihood, nor a sense of security pervading their country. Omar bin Abdul Aziz was one of those who entered history with his great works and fair administration of the state, until renewing hope in the souls that it is possible to return the ruling of the rightly caliphs as a tangible reality, not as stories that are told, no aspirations required, or imagination imagined, but as a fact that people  can witness and enjoy their goodness


We report new and explicit experimental evidence of the differentiation of (1)H-(1)H, (13)C-(1)H, and (13)C-(2)H enantiotopic directions in prochiral molecules with C(s) and C(2v)symmetry dissolved in a chiral liquid-crystalline phase using (13)C and (2)H-[(1)H] NMR spectroscopy at the natural abundance level. The case of endo-bicyclo[2.2.2]oct-5-ene-2,3-dicarboxylic anhydride, bicyclo[2.2.1]hepta-2,5-diene, and ethyl alcohol oriented in organic solutions of poly-gamma-benzyl-L-glutamate (PBLG) or poly-epsilon-carbobenzyloxy-L-lysine (PCBLL) is investigated and discussed. Next, we describe the first NMR differentiation of enantiotopic directions in a C(2v) molecule with no prostereogenic carbon using malononitrile as a model. The various results presented in this work experimentally validate our recent theoretical arguments which predict that NMR spectra of nonplanar C(s) and C(2v) compounds embedded in a chiral oriented solvent should differ from those recorded in nonchiral oriented media, because their effective molecular symmetry point group (interacting molecule) is different from their molecular point group (isolated molecule). In addition, the differentiation of enantiotopic directions in C(2v) molecules exhibiting no prostereogenic tetrahedral center illustrates for the first time an old stereochemical hypothesis which speculates that "for molecules of the type CXXYY. the two X groups as well as the Y groups are equivalent and cannot be distinguished in chiral or achiral circumstances. However, the relationships between X and Y groups are not all equivalent. The four X-Y relationships may be ordered into two enantiotopic sets of two equivalent relationships" (Mislow, K.; Raban, M. Top. Stereochem. 1967, 1, 1) and validate the stereogenicity concepts proposed more recently by Fujita (Fujita, S. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1990, 112, 3390).


Abstract Drawing on the foundational theories of experiential learning, this article explores recent developments in theory and research on experiential learning and addresses how this work can enhance the professional development of museum docents. We introduce theories of adult learning and professional development that emphasize experiential learning as a way to foster workplace learning in museums. We illustrate the use of experiential learning interventions in the preparation of docents, and suggest how experiential learning can be applied to museum staff learning, including engaging docents more fully in experiential learning, introducing the use of portfolios to assess docent learning, and increasing the emphasis on helping docents develop skills to self-regulate their learning.


The aftermath of the 2007/08 financial crisis has resulted in many Central Banks and regulatory authorities examining the appropriateness of macroprudential policy as an effective and efficient policy option in preventing the emergence of future credit bubbles. Specific limits on loan-to-value (LTV) and loan-to-income (LTI) ratios have been assessed and applied in a large number of markets both in developing and developed economies as a means of ensuring greater financial stability. The Irish property and credit market were particularly affected in the crisis as the domestic housing market had, since 1995, experienced sustained price and housing supply increases. Much of the activity in the Irish market was fuelled by a sizeable credit bubble which was greatly facilitated by the growth of international wholesale funding post 2003. After a period of pronounced declines, Irish house prices in late 2013 started to increase significantly. In early 2015, the Irish Central Bank responded by imposing new LTV and LTI limits to curb house price inflation. However, the introduction of these measures comes at a time when housing supply and mortgage lending are at historically low levels. In this paper we use a newly developed structural model of the Irish property and credit market to examine the implications of these measures for house prices and key activity variables in the mortgage market.


The high polymorphism of the HLA system has been used as a powerful genetic tool to single out individuals and populations. By studying characteristic allele frequencies and extended HLA haplotypes in different populations, it is possible to identify ethnic groups and establish the genetic relationships among them. In the present study, HLA-A, -B, -C, -DR and -DQ typing at the serological/antigenic and the DNA level has been used for the first time to assign specific HLA frequencies and haplotypes to Spaniards and Basques and compare them with frequencies in other populations, particularly with North Africans. Allelic frequencies do not significantly differ between Spaniards and Basques. HLA genetic distances and their respective dendrogram together with the results on complete HLA haplotypes place Basques and Spaniards closer to paleo-North African populations than to other Europeans. This goes in favour of the Basques being a relative genetic isolate coming from the primitive Iberian/paleo-North African people. In addition, a tentative assignment of the most common Spanish HLA haplotypes to the different people who populated Iberia according to historical records has been done.


In recent years it becomes more difficult to reach consumers with advertisements, that is why larger budgets are available for new package designs. The package type affects the way consumers will perceive and experience the food items during consumption. Due to package consumers draw inferences about for example attributes and the product as a whole and they may even influence future product experiences. Nowadays, critical points of product evaluation are shape and color. Various brands try to distinguish themselves by shape and/or color. In addition, it can be expected that people will show different sides of their personality in different consumption occasions with different people and prefer various shapes and colors. A special item, action or coupon added to the package makes it more appealing for children. Price can also be influenced by shape, color and consumption occasion; moreover, price influences consumer decision making.

The goal of this research was to investigate how a regular daily children drink package can be design for other occasions than the lunch box situation. The research question was: "In which manners can daily children drink packages be designed so the product will also be used during other occasions than the lunch box situation?" and five hypotheses were created. The visual materials were images of children drink package designs in various shapes and colors.

In this research a pre study and two studies were done concerning children drink package design and consumption occasion. The pre study and Study 1 were quantitative studies with parents with at least one child in the age category 6-12 years old. Parents are the children's role models and the food and beverages that children consume are strongly affected by the parents. Adults and children differ in their shape and color preferences. The colors included in the pre study were black, red, blue and green and the shapes included were bottle, pack, container and pouch. The participant's feelings were measured with elements of the PAD emotions and other questions. In Study 1 (parents) and Study 2 (children) the shapes bottle and pack and colors blue and green were used. The images in Study 1 were a blue bottle, green bottle, blue pack and green pack and the three consumption occasions were normal school day, normal weekend day and special day out. Also questions about price, premiums and volume were included in Study 1.

To conclude, both parents and children prefer the color blue. The package shape and price differ per consumption occasion; moreover, parents and children agree on the package shape per consumption occasion. During a normal school day the preferred package design is a blue pack of 200 ml in the price caterogy 0 – 0.50 euro. During a normal weekend day the preferred package design is a blue bottle of 200 ml in the price category 0.50 – 1.00 euro and during a special day out the preferred package design is a blue bottle of 200 ml in the price category 1.00 – 1.50 euro. Parents are willing to pay more for children drinks during special days and normal weekend days than during school days; the most should be spend on a bottle in all consumption occasions.


Abstract In the Monnikenberg estate, built in the mid-19th century in a Pleistocene coversand area to the south of Hilversum (the Netherlands), a depression with a small man-made mire was found to contain the remains of a complex peaty fill of a larger mire. Microfossil study and radiocarbon dating showed that its development started at the beginning of the third millennium BC through water stagnation on a podzol in combination with a high groundwater level, and about two millennia ago the vegetation had progressed from a mesotrophic mire to an ombrotrophic bog. Such origin, development and age are in conformity with the results for some other recently studied mires in the Het Gooi region (Gijzenveen; Van Geel et al., 2016). In the Monnikenberg mire, a discrepancy was found between the radiocarbon age of the upper part of the peaty fill and its clearly medieval or younger age as evidenced by its microfossil content, notably the occurrence of pollen of buckwheat (Fagopyrum) and cornflower (Centaurea cyanus). These species were first introduced in the Netherlands during the late Middle Ages. From further observations in a large pit in the former border zone of the mire, it is concluded that this discrepancy and the unique sedimentary structures, observed in this pit, result from peat exploitation and contemporary reworking of its sandy overburden during the Late Middle Ages or Early Modern Times. This is the first evidence for local early peat exploitation for such mires in Het Gooi. The results underpin the importance of microfossil analyses for proper interpretation of radiocarbon data, when studying mire fills. Additionally, they provide further proof for the development of podzols and ericaceous vegetation prior to and independent of early prehistoric agriculture in the Dutch Pleistocene coversand areas, and for the early (pre-medieval) start of wind erosion and deposition of drift sands.


In this case report we describe a patient with extravasation injury with norepinephrine given through a peripheral catheter in an emergency setting, awaiting placement of a central venous catheter. Delayed recognition and management of extravasation injury may result in serious consequences. It is important to be familiar with the treatment options to prevent further damage. We describe local treatment using the 'flush-out technique' with good results.


Introduction/Background Rectovaginal and vesico-urethrovaginal fistulas after gynecologic surgical procedures are a major concern and represent a challenge for surgeons. Some decades ago H Martius described an interpositional tissue flap using the bulbocavernosus muscle with fibroadipose tissue from the labia majora for urethrovaginal fistula repair. Subsequently, the technique has been modified developing a less invasive technique. Methodology For a proper technique, the patient is placed in a modified lithotomy position and a temporary transurethral urinary catheter is placed during the surgery. The procedure starts with direct primary anatomical repair: after the identification of the fistulous tract, a Foley catheter is placed through it, this maneuver allows a gentle traction of the fistula. Then, a circumferential incision around the fistula is made in order to separate and mobilize bladder and vaginal walls. Anterior and posterior vaginal wall flaps are developed in healthy tissue using sharp dissection to expose the perivesical fascia. Once the bladder wall is mobilized the defect is closed by suturing. Results A lateral incision on the labia majora to expose the fatty pad is performed. There is a natural tissue plane around the pad for the dissection, it´s important to ensure that the blood supply is maintained. Once posterior dissection is performed, vascularized labial fatty flap is mobilized and transposed into the vagina by a clamp under the vaginal wall, for covering the fistula repair site without tension. Care should be taken to stay lateral to the bulbocavernosus and ischiocavernosus muscles in order to prevent significant bleeding or scar deformity. Flap must be fixed with absorbable suture. Finally, the skin and vaginal incisions are closed with an absorbable synthetic suture. Conclusion In general, the Martius technique and its modifications are used for the repair of complex fistulas in the perineal region, either urogynecological or rectovaginal including recurrent, radiation induced or large fistulas Disclosure Nothing to disclose


I initially hesitated before accepting the kind invitation to contribute to this forum on academic fashion, mainly because of the obvious fact that I'm not exactly renowned for my fashion sense: in my salad days, I continued to wear black shoes with white gym socks long after everyone else had given up that look in sheer disgust. Even now, when I look in my closet, my eye is drawn not to the fancy jackets and sweater vests that I have rare occasions to wear but to the cluster of plaid shirts that rest comfortably on their hangers, some of them predating my undergraduate career. What I've always liked about plaid is that it's never in fashion or out of fashion--it just is. It walks the middle of the road, with its blend of beiges, blues, and browns seeking neither to dazzle nor to offend (unless, of course, when worn with stripes, which I admit to doing once non-ironically). Although I've made the effort to raise the stakes somewhat when teaching or otherwise appearing in public, I'm drawn to plaid to a large extent because it has come to represent the kind of person I want to be--despite having no Scots ancestry whatsoever. I find in it the middle ground between funky and straitlaced, between dressy and casual, between dressing "young" and dressing "old." I always look my age in plaid, no matter what age I happen to be. Meanwhile, my response to pressures to conform more readily to most fashion trends is a paraphrase of past esc readers' forums: "Why Do I Have to Dress Like That?" Conversely, when I think about trends and fashion within the discipline in a less literal way, my mind's eye is drawn to the possibilities of cutting-edge interdisciplinary research currently in vogue within English studies, a field that continues to widen the boundaries of what is worthy of academic study in order to include not just literature but life writing, video games, periodicals, mainstream television, archival and legal documents, online communities, and the cultural production and reception of virtually everything. While these new approaches and expectations joyfully blow the pious conventions of New Criticism out of the water, the widening of these boundaries leads to particular pressures on those who are on the job market during an already bleak time in humanities hiring. If anything, including in a job application teaching and research credits that are provocative, tightly focused, esoteric, or just plain weird has a similar effect to showing up at a formal gathering dressed up to the nines in orange, turquoise, and lime--while such an outfit may display favourably an applicant's individuality, such a statement may not be viewed well when the (unspoken) expectation is to wear black. One search committee in Canadian literature, for instance, will eagerly embrace candidates focusing on the literature of neglected communities or work that incorporates the most thought-provoking theory, whereas another will prefer someone who can cover the two Margarets. Perhaps not surprisingly, some of the pressures pertaining to the job market have little to do with scholarly rigour or the push to pursue hot topics but with bureaucratic shifts in hiring practices and departmental organization. About five years ago, as I was writing my doctoral dissertation, I started keeping an eye out on job ads, reasoning that doing so would help prepare me for the eventuality of job hunting. What I gleaned from reading job ads at this time was that English departments were trying their best to broaden the scope of their offerings within narrowing budgetary constraints. And so, a job would ask for applicants with primary specialization in a traditional category--say, British literature of the long eighteenth century--and then offer a long list of eclectic topics as desirable secondary areas of specialization: everything from children's literature, narrative theory, creative writing, and cultural studies to African American women's writing, Medieval Studies, and the Judeo-Christian Bible. …


Credit allocation in the mainstream bibliometrics is fundamentally flawed and the popular indicators have been misleading science for decades. Originally a simple technical mistake has become an integral part of our culture and is very difficult to correct. Although the problem has been raised in scientific articles, it seems mostly unknown to wider audience.


Spacecraft pose estimation is an essential computer vision application that can improve the autonomy of in-orbit operations. An ESA/Stanford competition brought out solutions that seem hardly compatible with the constraints imposed on spacecraft onboard computers. URSONet is among the best in the competition for its generalization capabilities but at the cost of a tremendous number of parameters and high computational complexity. In this paper, we propose Mobile-URSONet: a spacecraft pose estimation convolutional neural network with 178 times fewer parameters while degrading accuracy by no more than four times compared to URSONet.


Shrinking of deafferented somatosensory regions after neural damage is thought to participate to the emergence of neuropathic pain, and pain-relieving procedures have been reported to induce the normalization of altered cortical maps. While repetitive magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the motor cortex can lessen neuropathic pain, no evidence has been provided that this is concomitant to changes in sensory maps. Here, we assessed in healthy volunteers the ability of 2 modes of motor cortex rTMS commonly used in pain patients to induce changes in pain thresholds and plastic phenomena in the S1 cortex. Twenty minutes of high-frequency (20 Hz) rTMS significantly increased pain thresholds in the contralateral hand, and this was associated with the expansion of the cortical representation of the hand on high-density electroencephalogram source analysis. Neither of these effects were observed after sham rTMS, nor following intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS). The superiority of 20-Hz rTMS over iTBS to induce sensory plasticity may reflect its better match with intrinsic cortical motor frequencies, which oscillate at around 20 Hz. rTMS-induced changes might partly counterbalance the plasticity induced by a nerve lesion, and thus substantiate the use of rTMS to treat human pain. However, a mechanistic relation between S1 plasticity and pain-relieving effects is far from being established.


Mutant presenilins have been found to cause Alzheimer disease. Here, we describe the identification and characterization of HOP-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans presenilin that displays much more lower sequence identity with human presenilins than does the other C. elegans presenilin, SEL-12. Despite considerable divergence, HOP-1 appears to be a bona fide presenilin, because HOP-1 can rescue the egg-laying defect caused by mutations in sel-12 when hop-1 is expressed under the control of sel-12 regulatory sequences. HOP-1 also has the essential topological characteristics of the other presenilins. Reducing hop-1 activity in a sel-12 mutant background causes synthetic lethality and terminal phenotypes associated with reducing the function of the C. elegans lin-12 and glp-1 genes. These observations suggest that hop-1 is functionally redundant with sel-12 and underscore the intimate connection between presenilin activity and LIN-12/Notch activity inferred from genetic studies in C. elegans and mammals.


The cylindrical phased array is synthesized by using the method of weighted least squares. Various radiation patterns corresponding different beam directions in the scan region are considered. An optimized results can be obtained by suitable trade-off on these patterns simultaneously. Some examples are calculated. The method can also be used for other types of conformal phased arrays.


Abstract Increased spatial dependency of economic activities, as well as spatial differentiation of production and consumption, has implications for environmental policy. One of the issues that has gained importance is the responsibility for the emissions from products that cross national boundaries during the environmental policy's lifetime. This paper discusses the different ethical views of environmental responsibility. Furthermore, the policy measures that are associated with the different viewpoints are analyzed in a novel dynamic two-country two-sector dynamic input–output model. A numerical example is modeled to assess taxing schemes that are based on these ethical viewpoints. The results show that a tax on the 'embodied' environmental pressure, which is generally viewed as ethically preferable, is less effective that the current policy of taxing consumers of products. Our discussion however shows that these results are very dependent on the model structure and initial parameters that are used. Nevertheless, the model illustrates that policies that are based on ethically superior standpoints may have detrimental distortionary effects in the dynamic setting.


The 'direct collapse' scenario has emerged as a promising evolutionary track for the formation of supermassive black holes early in the Universe. In an idealized version of such a scenario, a uniformly rotating supermassive star spinning at the mass-shedding (Keplerian) limit collapses gravitationally after it reaches a critical configuration. Under the assumption that the gas is dominated by radiation pressure, this critical configuration is characterized by unique values of the dimensionless parameters J/M2 and Rp/M, where J is the angular momentum, Rp the polar radius, and M the mass. Motivated by a previous perturbative treatment, we adopt a fully non-linear approach to evaluate the effects of gas pressure on these dimensionless parameters for a large range of masses. We find that gas pressure has a significant effect on the critical configuration even for stellar masses as large as $M \simeq 10^6 \, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$. We also calibrate two approximate treatments of the gas pressure perturbation in a comparison with the exact treatment, and find that one commonly used approximation in particular results in increasing deviations from the exact treatment as the mass decreases, and the effects of gas pressure increase. The other approximation, however, proves to be quite robust for all masses $M \gtrsim 10^4 \, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$.


The plant growth regulator abscisic acid induces stomatal closure, which can reduce transpiration rate and extend vase life of cut flowers by maintaining a positive water balance. Analytical-reagent grade abscisic acid is, however, expensive. In this work, the effects of 2 potentially inexpensive synthetic analogues of abscisic acid were studied as to their effects on cut Baccara roses. Abscisic acid and its analogues PBI-365 and PBI-429 reduced transpiration and helped to increase fresh weight during the first few days of vase life. However, the reduction in transpiration rate brought about by abscisic acid and the analogues did not alter vase life. Sucrose in the vase solution at concentrations of 2 and 4% increased vase life of cut Baccara roses. However, the highest sucrose concentration ( 4%) caused leaf crisping, thereby reducing the quality of the flower stems. Abscisic acid and the analogue PBI-365 reduced this phytotoxicity by induction of stomatal closure and reduction of vase solution sucrose flux into the leaves.


The paper discusses the artistic and philosophical comprehension of the nature in Musa Akhmadov's story «Mountain Erection on the Earth». Innovative approach in forms and ways of expression of the author's concept of the personality and culture is shown. Characteristic features of a landscape and a portrait used to depict the hero and his time are emphasized. The conclusion is drawn that the concept of nature is of great importance for creating the psychological characteristic of positive characters of the story.


BACKGROUND
The isothiocyanate sulforaphane (SFN) possesses interesting anticancer activities. However, recent studies reported that SFN promotes the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as well as DNA breakage.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
We investigated whether SFN is able to damage RNA, whose loss of integrity was demonstrated in different chronic diseases. Considering the ability of SFN to protect from genotoxicity, we also examined whether SFN is able to protect from RNA damage induced by different chemicals (doxorubicin, spermine, S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine, H(2)O(2)). We observed that SFN was devoid of either RNA damaging and RNA protective activity in human leukemic cells. It was able to potentiate the RNA damage by doxorubicin and spermine. In the first case, the effect was attributable to its ability of modulating the bioreductive activation of doxorubicin. For spermine, the effects were mainly due to its modulation of ROS levels produced by spermine metabolism. As to the cytotoxic relevance of the RNA damage, we found that the treatment of cells with a mixture of spermine or doxorubicin plus SFN increased their proapoptotic potential. Thus it is conceivable that the presence of RNA damage might concur to the overall toxic response induced by a chemical agent in targeted cells.

CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE
Since RNA is emerging as a potential target for anticancer drugs, its ability to enhance spermine- and doxorubicin-induced RNA damage and cytotoxicity could represent an additional mechanism for the potentiating effects of SFN associated with anticancer drugs.


Existing studies confirm the benefits of employment for chronically ill persons' health, but few studies so far have delved into how they themselves perceive employment in relation to their health. There is also a paucity of information about individual factors influencing the formation of their perceptions. This study sought to determine differences between chronically ill persons with and without jobs regarding their perceptions of the function of employment for the physical, mental and social dimensions of health, as well as how their occupational activity or inactivity moderates the associations between the perception of work as health beneficial or health adverse and selected individual characteristics, such as self-efficacy, acceptance of illness, actualisation of self, and psychosocial problems. The study involved 80 adults with chronic illnesses and was conducted using the following psychological tools: the WH Scale, the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale, the Acceptance of Illness Scale, the Actualization of Self Scale and the Psychosocial Problems of Persons with Chronic Illness Scale. It has been found that the way in which chronically ill persons perceive the function of employment for health is unrelated to whether or not they have a job, and that occupational activity moderates associations between the sense of self-efficacy and the perception of work as benefitting health.


In order to investigate on diversities of existing condition of coalbed methane in same stratum and various moisture content states, raw coking and meager coal have been adopted and a series of experimental equipments for fixed volume adsorption have also been designed. Further dealing with analyses of adsorption velocities, capacities or mechanisms, six different moisture contents of 1# coking and 2# meager cylinder block coal samples have been chosen separately to engage in the typical experiments of coalbed methane adsorption. From the adsorptive experiments, the existing condition of coalbed methane in the real stratum has been illustrated. The results showed that: a) at the same initial gas injection pressure, the adsorption velocities are decreased with the increased of moistures. Gas pressure declines are 22 and 16 times of moisture content 0% than the saturation moistures separately. b) The simulation results of coalbed methane adsorption capacities followed by moistures are linear of 1# and nonlinear of 2# separately. c) At the different moistures, time effect characteristics of adsorption capacity is logarithmic and would not be getting to equilibrium state until undergoing 12 hours or even more. Also simulative constant values are disaffinity in different coal degrees. d) By ways of the analyses in basis of experimental results on adsorptive mechanism between gas and water, the adsorbability of coalbed methane affected by water is related to macro fractures distribution on the surface of coal samples.


This study examined the effect of lexical aspect and phonology on regular past-tense production. Data are presented from a group of 31 children, mean age 33 months, with typical language development. A case study of a 50-month-old child with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) is also presented. Children imitated sentence pairs that included an endpoint (accomplishments, e.g. she crawled into a box) or did not (activity, e.g. she crawled around in circles). Verbs ended in obstruents (e.g. walk) or nonobstruents (e.g. roll). The regular past tense was produced with the lowest accuracy in activities ending in obstruents (e.g., she walked in circles). Assessment and treatment suggestions for children with SLI are provided.


I address the issue of ill-conditioned regressors within generalized estimating equations (GEEs). In such a setting, standard GEE approaches can have problems with: convergence, large coefficient variances, poor prediction, deflated power of tests, and in some extreme cases, e.g. functional regressors, may not even exist. I modify the quasi-likelihood score functions, while presenting a variety of biased estimators that simultaneously address the issues of (severe) ill-conditioning and correlated response variables. To simplify the presentation, I attempt to unite or link these estimators as much as possible. Some properties, as well as some guidelines for choosing the meta or penalty parameters are suggested.


To meet the requirements for the next generation of space missions, a paradigm shift is required from current structures that are static, heavy, and stiff to innovative structures that are adaptive, lightweight, versatile, and intelligent. The largest benefit provided by this new structural concept is in the ability to deliver high precision position stability. The conventional high precision structural design uses two decoupled systems to achieve positional stability. First, a high mass structure delivers the effectively infinite stiffness and thermal stability so that no deformations occur under all operational loading conditions. Second, to meet the morphing and on-orbit positional requirements, supplementary mechanisms provide the nano, micro, and macro displacement control required. This paper proposes the use of a novel morphing structure, the thermally actuated anisogrid morphing boom, to meet the design requirements through actively morphing the primary structure in order to adapt to the on-orbit environment and meet both requirements in a consolidated structure. The proposed concept achieves the morphing control through the use of thermal strain to actuate the individual helical members in the anisogrid structure. Properly controlling the temperatures of multiple helical members can introduce six degree of freedom morphing control. This system couples the use of low coefficient of thermal expansion materials with precise thermal control to provide the high precision morphing capability. This concept has the potential to provide substantial mass reductions relative to current methods and meet the high precision displacement requirements of spacecraft systems. This paper will detail the concept itself, demonstrate the modeling procedure, and investigate the design space to quantify the potential of the thermally morphing anisogrid smart structure.


Illegal distribution and use of software is a big ad hoc problem in software industry today, especially on the growing market of Java software product. Tamper-proofing techniques will disable some or all of the program¿s functionality once they detect any unwanted modifications during run time. This paper presents the attempt to Java software tamper-proofing technology by dynamic monitoring. The Java method¿s control flow graph is described by regular expressions, which can be regarded as a language. Certain stack signature in these control flows is also computed. During program execution, the protected method¿s control flow and stack signature information is verified at runtime by a monitor thread which checking whether the execution trace is accepted by the language, and the signature belongs to the right method. Experimental result shows that this tamper-proofing method is especially suitable for non-computation dense Java applications.


Content-Based Image Retrieval Systems used in forensics related contexts require very good image recognition capabilities. Therefore they often use the SIFT local-feature description scheme as its robustness against a large spectrum of image distortions has been assessed. In contrast, the security of SIFT is still largely unexplored. We show in this paper that it is possible to conceal images from the SIFT-based recognition process by designing very SIFT-specific attacks. The attacks that are successful in deluding the system remove keypoints and simultaneously forge new keypoints in the images to be concealed. This paper details several strategies enforcing image concealment. A copy-detection oriented experimental study using a database of 100,000 real images together with a state-of-art image search system shows these strategies are effective. This is a very serious threat against systems, endangering forensics investigations.


Information on the concentration of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA is useful for patient management, including assessing treatment initiation and treatment response, and monitoring follow-up. Previous studies have reported that poor sample processing and storage conditions might influence the stability of HCV RNA, and hence its detectability. We analyzed 30 patients known to be positive with high/intermediate/low HCV RNA load, and kept their serum samples in storage at 4°C for 0, 1, 2, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. Quantitative detection of HCV RNA was performed by TaqMan real-time PCR. The results showed that no decrease in the concentration of HCV RNA was detected over the 14 days period at 4°C (P > 0.05) for the high and intermediate HCV RNA load groups. However, after 21 and 28 days of storage, the mean viral loads in both groups differed significantly from those at Day 0 (P > 0.005). For the low HCV RNA load group, an important loss of HCV RNA concentration was observed when the serums were stored at 4°C after 14 days, 21 days and 28 days (P < 0.001). These data demonstrated that serum samples with HCV RNA levels up to 104 IU/ml can be stored at 4°C for 14 days, and that lower than 104 IU/ml can be performed for up to only 7 days when the samples are stored at 4°C.


Polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) can generate superoxide anions and nitric oxide (NO), which is not only an important mediator of various cellular activities, but can also react with superoxide anions to produce peroxynitrite anions (ONOO–). Peroxynitrite is a potent and potentially toxic oxidant that damages various types of biomolecules. It preferentially mediates the oxidation of thiolic groups in protein and non-protein molecules, thus altering their functions. The aim of this study was to examine whether, in addition to its ability to reduce the respiratory bursts of human PMNs, the SH metabolite I (Met I) of erdosteine, can interfere with NO and NO-derived peroxynitrite production, thus extending its antioxidant activity. This was done by means of the luminol amplified chemiluminescence (LACL), which has been widely used to detect the production of reactive oxidant species (ROS) by PMNs under various conditions. At 5 and 10 µg/ml, Met I significantly reduced LACL after fMLP and PMA stimulation. When L-Arg was added to the reaction medium, as a NO donor, the chemiluminescence of fMLP increased by up to 67% and that of PMA by up to 132%, but was once again significantly reduced by 5 and 10 µg/ml of Met I. In a cell-free system, the use of linsidomine (SIN-1) makes it possible to investigate the behavior of LACL induced by peroxynitrite release, which was significantly reduced by Met I concentrations ranging from 1.25 to 10 µg/ml. Our findings indicate that Met I, a molecule with a SH group, reacts with ROS, NO and NO-derived peroxynitrite, and has both antioxidant and scavenging activity. This is of interest for the strategy of protecting against damage induced by radical species in the pulmonary cell environment, in which they can induce a phlogogenic loop, and suggests that adding exogenous thiols may be useful in antagonizing the toxic effects of reactive molecules on endogenous thiols.


Considering the high socioeconomic costs related to the increasing number of dementia patients and their poor quality of life and that of their families, it is important to identify the condition early on and provide an appropriate intervention. This study organized a recollection-based occupational therapy program: a nonpharmacological intervention consisting of five categories of activities (physical, horticultural, musical, art, and instrumental activity of daily living; IADL) and applied it to those having a mild stage of Alzheimer's disease. The experimental group participated in a total of 24 sessions––five times per week for one hour per session––while the control group took part in regular activities offered by the existing facilities. The experimental group presented improved cognitive functions, reduced depression, and enhanced quality of life; the two groups showed a statistically significant difference in every category. This study is meaningful in that it made a cognitive stimulation program concerning five different categories, implemented it for people suffering mild dementia, and confirmed positive outcomes. If a systemic version of the program is offered in dementia care facilities, it is expected to make a considerable contribution to the care of dementia patients.


AIM
Low back pain ranks high among the reasons for physician office visits and is costly in terms of medical treatment. A number of studies have shown that low back pain patients have significantly lower trunk strength when compared with healthy controls. The working hypothesis at the beginning of the 1990's was that low back pain patients could be treated effectively using lumbar extension exercise.

METHOD
21 papers and abstracts reporting on lumbar extension training are rated. Validation was performed for each paper according to the internationally accepted system of the American Association of Spine Surgery in types A-E.

RESULTS
1100 cases from 21 publications and abstracts dealing with lumbar extension training were evaluated. We did not find a single type A study in our search. The clinical outcome of the studies was a reduction of pain, improvement of range of motion, improvement of spinal condition and of the lumbar extension strength.

CONCLUSION
Prospective, randomized, controlled studies with long-term results should help to delineate further the role of isolated lumbar extension exercise for the treatment of low back pain and to test the efficacy compared to other methods of care.


The thermal effect on machine tools has become a well-recognized problem in response to the increasing requirement of product quality. The performance of a thermal error compensation system basically depends on the accuracy and robustness of the thermal error model. This paper presents a thermal error model using two mathematic schemes: GM(1, N) model of the grey system theory and the adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). First, the measured temperature and deformation results were analyzed via the GM(1, N) model to obtain the influence ranking of temperature ascent on thermal drift of spindle. Then, using the high-ranking temperature ascents as the input of ANFIS and training these data by hybrid learning rule, the thermal compensation model can be quickly built. The GM(1, N) model is used to effectively reduce the number of temperature sensors putting on the machine structure in prediction, and the ANFIS has the advantages of good accuracy and robustness. Eventually, tests of no-load and real-cutting operations were conducted and the comparison results show that the modeling schemes of ANFIS coupled with the GM(1, N) has good prediction ability


Indian organized retail market is growing at a fast pace due to the boom in the India retail industry. In 2005, the retail industry in India amounted to Rs 10,000 billion accounting for about 10% to the country's GDP. The organized retail market in India out of this total market accounted for Rs 350 billion which is about 3.5% of the total revenues. Traditionally the retail industry in India was largely unorganized, comprising of drug stores, medium, and small grocery stores. Most of the organized retailing in India have started recently and is concentrating mainly in metropolitan cities. The growth in the Indian organized retail market is mainly due to the change in the consumer's behavior. This change has come in the consumer due to increased income, changing lifestyles, and patterns of demography which are favorable. Now the consumer wants to shop at a place where he can get food, entertainment, and shopping all under one roof. This has given Indian organized retail market a major boost. Retail market in the organized sector in India is growing can be seen from the fact that 1500 supermarkets, 325 departmental stores, and 300 new malls are being built. Many Indian companies are entering the Indian retail market which is giving Indian organized retail market a boost. One such company is the Reliance Industries Limited. It plans to invest US$6billionintheIndianretailmarket by opening 1000 hypermarkets and 1500 supermarkets. Pantaloons are another Indian company which plans to increase its retail space to 30 million square feet with an investment of US$ 1 billion. Bharti Telecoms an Indian company is in talks with Tesco a global giant for a £ 750 million joint venture. A number of global retail giants such as Walmart, Carrefour, and Metro AG are also planning to set up shop in India. Indian organized retail market will definitely grow as a result of all this investments. Indian organized retail market is increasing and for this growth to continue the Indian retailers as well as government must make a combined effort. The Indian retail industry has emerged as one of the most dynamic and fast-paced industries due to the entry of several new players. Total consumption expenditure is expected to reach nearly US$ 3,600 billion by 2020 from US$ 1,824 billion in 2017. It accounts for over 10 per cent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and around 8 per cent of the employment. India is the world's fifth-largest global destination in the retail space. India's retail market is expected to increase by 60 per cent to reach US$ 1.1 trillion by 2020, on the back of factors like rising incomes and lifestyle changes by middle class and increased digital connectivity. Online retail sales are forecasted to grow at the rate of 31 per cent year-on-year to reach US$ 32.70 billion in 2018. Indian market has high complexities in terms of a wide geographic spread and distinct consumer preferences varying by each region necessitating a need for localization even within the geographic zones. India has highest number of outlets per person (7 per thousand) Indian retail space per capita at 2 sq ft (0.19 m2)/ person is lowest in the world Indian retail density of 6 percent is highest in the world. 1.8 million Households in India have an annual income of over 4.5 million (US$62,615.70). While India presents a large market opportunity given the number and increasing purchasing power of consumers, there are significant challenges as well given that over90%oftradeisconductedthrough independent local stores. Challenges include: Geographically dispersed population, small ticket sizes, complex distribution network, and little use of IT systems, limitations of mass media and existence of counterfeit goods. India is expected to become the world's fastest growing e-commerce market, driven by robust investment in the sector and rapid increase in the number of internet users. Various agencies have high expectations about growth of Indian e-commerce markets. Luxury market of India is expectedtogrowtoUS$30billionby the end of 2018 from US$ 23.8 billion 2017 supported by growing exposure of international brands amongst Indian youth and higher purchasing power of the upper class in tier 2 and 3 cities, according to Assoc ham. The Indian retail trading has received Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflows totaling US$ 1.42 billion during April 2000–June 2018, according to the Department of Industrial Policies and Promotion (DIPP). With the rising need for consumer goods in different sectors including consumer electronics and home appliances, many companies have invested in the Indian retail space in the past few months. Beckons, a South Korean designer brand is set to enter the Indian market with an investment of about Rs 1.00 billion (US$ 14.25 million) and open 50 stores by June 2019. Wal-Mart Investments Cooperative U.A has invested Rs 2.75 billion (US$ 37.68 million) in Wal-Mart India Pvt Ltd. The Government of India has taken various initiatives to improve the retail industry in India. The Government of India may change the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) rules in food processing, in a bid to permit e-commerce companies and foreign retailers to sell Made in India consumer products. Government of India has allowed 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in online retail of goods and services through the automatic route, thereby providing clarity on the existing businesses of e-commerce companies operating in India. E-commerce is expanding steadily in the country. Customers have the ever increasing choice of products at the lowest rates. E-commerce is probably creating the biggest revolution in the retail industry, and this trend would continue in the years to come. India's e-commerce industry is forecasted to reach US$ 53 billion by 2018. Retailers should leverage the digital retail channels (e-commerce), which would enable them to spend less money on real estate while reaching out to more customers in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. It is projected that by 2021 traditional retail will hold a major share of 75 per cent, organized retail share will reach 18 per cent and e-commerce retail share will reach 7 per cent of the total retail market. Nevertheless, the long- term outlook for the industry is positive, supported by rising incomes, favorable demographics, entry of foreign players, and increasing urbanization.


Purpose. To study the effect of coatings on the resistance of CR-39 industrial plano lenses to ballistic impacts and abrasion from fine particles. Methods. Twelve groups of CR-39 lenses with various scratch-resistant (SR) or combinations of scratch-resistant and antireflective (SR-AR) coatings were mounted in metal industrial spectacle frames. The ZEST protocol was used to determine the mean impact speed for breakage of each lens group using the Canadian Standards Association ballistic test protocol. One pair of lenses from each group was tested for abrasion resistance using the falling sand method. Abrasion resistance was ranked by the degree of haze observed by three independent observers. Results. Uncoated lenses had the best impact resistance and worst abrasion resistance. SR-coated lenses showed mild to moderate reductions in impact resistance, with no correlation between impact and abrasion resistance. SR-AR-coated lenses had very good abrasion resistance, but severely reduced impact resistance. Conclusions. Most SR-coated CR-39 lenses have a high probability of meeting the high-velocity impact resistance requirement of industrial lenses, whereas CR-39 lenses with SR-AR coats are too fragile to be used in industrial spectacles. As a group, the SR-AR coating tended to be more resistant to abrasion by fine particles and less resistant to ballistic impacts, but the abrasion resistance of the SR-coated lenses was more variable, and, thus, overall there was no significant correlation between impact resistance and abrasion resistance.


Four new species of limnoterrestrial rhabdocoels ('Typhloplanidae' Graff, 1905) are described. One of these – Faunulus nielsi Houben, Proesmans & Artois gen. et sp. nov. – could not be unambiguously placed within an existing genus. Faunulus nielsi most closely resembles species of the genus Adenocerca Reisinger, 1924 but can be clearly distinguished by the position of the testes. The three other new species described are Bryoplana belgica Houben, Proesmans & Artois sp. nov., Hoplopera isis Houben, Proesmans & Artois sp. nov., and Protoplanella leiae Houben, Proesmans & Artois sp. nov. All three belong to the subfamily 'Protoplanellinae' Reisinger, 1924 and are distinguished based on a detailed description of the reproductive system. Finally, new data are provided for nine other, known typhloplanids: Adenocerca minima Kolasa, 1981; Chorizogynopora italica Kolasa, 1981; Hoplopera opaca Reisinger, 1924; K. subterranea Reisinger, 1933; Krumbachia virginiana (Kepner & Carter, 1931) Ruebush, 1938; Olisthanellinella rotundula Reisinger, 1924; Prorhynchella minuta Ruebush, 1939; Protoplanella simplex Reisinger, 1924; and Ventrociliella romanae Kolasa, 1977. A detailed comparison of our material of V. romanae to what is described for Bockia deses Reisinger, 1924, leads us to consider the latter a nomen dubium.


I read the recent publication on children contacting with smear positive tuberculosis patients with great interest.[1] Aminzadeh et al . concluded that the 'Strategy of six months of supervised isonicotinylhydrazine (INH) chemoprophylaxis is successful, particularly in children who are at high risk to progress to the disease, following exposure.[1] I agree with the usefulness and effectiveness of such a practice. However, I am concerned about the possible side effects of chemoprophylaxis on the children. A further cost-benefit weighting study is warranted.


Most paddy rice in southern China grows in warm, humid and rainy areas where it is hard to acquire optical remote sensing data. In this study, a semi‐empirical backscattering model was proposed to estimate leaf area index (LAI) of rice in the area using ENVISAT Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) alternating polarization data. Ground measurements of LAI, water content and height of rice in the test site were collected and the model fitted at the same time as the acquisition of ASAR data. LAI estimated from the model was compared with ground measurements to evaluate the accuracy of the model. The results showed that the model provides a promising alternative to optical remote sensing data for predicting LAI of rice in southern China.


The present paper is part of an overview of the discursive manifestations of the U.S. President Trump's sexist attitudes and practices. Drawing upon Mills' model of sexism (2008) and Van Dijk's socio-cognitive framework (2006), the study will analyse a corpus of all the negative Tweets against women tweeted by President Trump since the beginning of his 2016 campaign (July 2015) to February 2019. The study sheds a light on how President Trump's vocabulary perpetuates a male-centric hierarchy. Considering the outcome of the 2016 elections, it can be said that his ideology has had a significant impact, particularly amongst his supporters. His political ascendency speaks to how these ideological beliefs risk to become dangerously ingrained in language and society.


The interaction of spin-labeled lipids with beta-barrel transmembrane proteins has been studied by the electron spin resonance (ESR) methods developed for alpha-helical integral proteins. The outer membrane protein OmpA and the ferrichrome-iron receptor FhuA from the outer membrane of Escherichia coli were reconstituted in bilayers of dimyristoylphosphatidylglycerol. The ESR spectra from phosphatidylglycerol spin labeled on the 14-C atom of the sn-2 chain contain a second component from motionally restricted lipids contacting the intramembranous surface of the beta-barrel, in addition to that from the fluid bilayer lipids. The stoichiometry of motionally restricted lipids, 11 and 32 lipids/monomer for OmpA and FhuA, respectively, is constant irrespective of the total lipid/protein ratio. It is proportional to the number of transmembrane beta-strands, eight for OmpA and 22 for FhuA, and correlates reasonably well with the intramembranous perimeter of the protein. Spin-labeled lipids with different polar headgroups display a differential selectivity of interaction with the two proteins. The more pronounced pattern of lipid selectivity for FhuA than for OmpA correlates with the preponderance of positively charged residues facing the lipids in the extensions of the beta-sheet and shorter interconnecting loops on the extracellular side of FhuA.


Importance Although current guidelines recommend cochlear implantation only for children with profound hearing impairment (HI) (>90 decibel [dB] hearing level [HL]), studies show that children with severe hearing impairment (>70-90 dB HL) could also benefit from cochlear implantation. Objective To perform a systematic review to identify audiologic thresholds (in dB HL) that could serve as an audiologic candidacy criterion for pediatric cochlear implantation using 4 domains of speech and language development as independent outcome measures (speech production, speech perception, receptive language, and auditory performance). Evidence Review PubMed and Embase databases were searched up to June 28, 2017, to identify studies comparing speech and language development between children who were profoundly deaf using cochlear implants and children with severe hearing loss using hearing aids, because no studies are available directly comparing children with severe HI in both groups. If cochlear implant users with profound HI score better on speech and language tests than those with severe HI who use hearing aids, this outcome could support adjusting cochlear implantation candidacy criteria to lower audiologic thresholds. Literature search, screening, and article selection were performed using a predefined strategy. Article screening was executed independently by 4 authors in 2 pairs; consensus on article inclusion was reached by discussion between these 4 authors. This study is reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) statement. Findings Title and abstract screening of 2822 articles resulted in selection of 130 articles for full-text review. Twenty-one studies were selected for critical appraisal, resulting in selection of 10 articles for data extraction. Two studies formulated audiologic thresholds (in dB HLs) at which children could qualify for cochlear implantation: (1) at 4-frequency pure-tone average (PTA) thresholds of 80 dB HL or greater based on speech perception and auditory performance subtests and (2) at PTA thresholds of 88 and 96 dB HL based on a speech perception subtest. In 8 of the 18 outcome measures, children with profound HI using cochlear implants performed similarly to children with severe HI using hearing aids. Better performance of cochlear implant users was shown with a picture-naming test and a speech perception in noise test. Owing to large heterogeneity in study population and selected tests, it was not possible to conduct a meta-analysis. Conclusions and Relevance Studies indicate that lower audiologic thresholds (≥80 dB HL) than are advised in current national and manufacturer guidelines would be appropriate as audiologic candidacy criteria for pediatric cochlear implantation.


Abstract-Four working level measurement methods have been evaluated and optimized from the inherent and statistical error standpoint. Optimization with respect to various sampling and measurement yielded no marked improvement over the existing methods. However, when appropiate approximations are made and evaluated exactly, the two measurement methods can be reduced to simple formulas eliminating a need to use nomograms. These modified methods also have improved inherent error characteristics. A new method-a combination of two existing methods-with improved inherent and statistical error has been suggested.


Previous research in multi-document news summarization has typically concentrated on collating information that all sources agree upon. However, to our knowledge, the summarization of diverse information dispersed across multiple articles about an event has not been previously investigated. The latter imposes a different set of challenges for a summarization model. In this paper, we propose a new task of summarizing diverse information encountered in multiple news articles encompassing the same event. To facilitate this task, we outlined a data collection schema for identifying diverse information and curated a dataset named DiverseSumm. The dataset includes 245 news stories, with each story comprising 10 news articles and paired with a human-validated reference. Moreover, we conducted a comprehensive analysis to pinpoint the position and verbosity biases when utilizing Large Language Model (LLM)-based metrics for evaluating the coverage and faithfulness of the summaries, as well as their correlation with human assessments. We applied our findings to study how LLMs summarize multiple news articles by analyzing which type of diverse information LLMs are capable of identifying. Our analyses suggest that despite the extraordinary capabilities of LLMs in single-document summarization, the proposed task remains a complex challenge for them mainly due to their limited coverage, with GPT-4 only able to cover less than 40% of the diverse information on average.


SUMMARY Surveillance activities for ovine scrapie have expanded in the 21st century, following concerns about the potential for a hidden epidemic of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in European sheep populations. Large-scale surveys have been used to estimate the prevalence of scrapie infection. In this study we analyse data from the surveys in Great Britain between 2002 and 2004. When we estimate genotype-specific prevalences for each of the two screening tests used a difference is observed. One test underestimates the number of positive cases in genotypes classically considered to be at a low relative risk of developing clinical disease (ARR- and AHQ-containing genotypes). By comparison, the other test underestimates the number of positive cases in genotypes classically considered to be at an increased relative risk of developing clinical disease (VRQ-containing genotypes). These findings have implications for surveillance, disease control, and diagnostic test evaluation.


One of the most challenging computer vision problem in plant sciences is the segmentation of root and soil from X-ray tomography. So far, this has been addressed from classical image analysis methods. In this paper, we address this root/soil segmentation problem from X-ray tomography using a new deep learning classification technique. The robustness of this technique, tested for the first time on this plant science problem, is established with root/soil presenting a very low contrast in X-ray tomography. We also demonstrate the possibility to segment efficiently root from soil while learning on purely synthetic soil and root.


ABSTRACT A new processing route has been discovered through which far-from-equilibrium, metastable architectures with unprecedented properties are synthesized. This novel architecture contains many orders of hierarchy with multiple concentration modulation wavelengths. At one length scale, the matrix is comprised of lateral modulations of BCC Mo and pseudomorphic BCC Cu with a wavelength of 10 nm. FCC, Cu-rich islands of approximate 250 nm diameter are woven in-between the Mo-Cu matrix and contain ordered arrays of pseudomorphic, FCC, Mo-rich, coherent precipitates of approximately 1.0 nm diameter spacing. The resulting material exhibits unprecedented mechanical behavior of extensive plastic deformability at room temperature. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT IMPACT STATEMENT Traditional phase separated thin film morphologies are monolithic in architecture with only one concentration wavelength. By carefully manipulating the self-assembly kinetics through the deposition rate, we processed a structure with multiple concentration modulation wavelengths.


The 2020 US elections news coverage was extensive, with new pieces of information generated rapidly. This evolving scenario presented an opportunity to study the performance of search engines in a context in which they had to quickly process information as it was published. We analyze novelty, a measurement of new items that emerge in the top news search results, to compare the coverage and visibility of different topics. Using virtual agents that simulate human web browsing behavior to collect search engine result pages, we conduct a longitudinal study of news results of five search engines collected in short bursts (every 21 minutes) from two regions (Oregon, US and Frankfurt, Germany), starting on election day and lasting until one day after the announcement of Biden as the winner. We find more new items emerging for election related queries ("joe biden," "donald trump," and "us elections") compared to topical (e.g., "coronavirus") or stable (e.g., "holocaust") queries. We demonstrate that our method captures sudden changes in highly covered news topics as well as multiple differences across search engines and regions over time. We highlight novelty imbalances between candidate queries which affect their visibility during electoral periods, and conclude that, when it comes to news, search engines are responsible for such imbalances, either due to their algorithms or the set of news sources that they rely on.


Motivation Human ancient DNA (aDNA) studies have surged in recent years, revolutionizing the study of the human past. Typically, aDNA is preserved poorly, making such data prone to contamination from other human DNA. Therefore, it is important to rule out substantial contamination before proceeding to downstream analysis. As most aDNA samples can only be sequenced to low coverages (<1x average depth), computational methods that can robustly estimate contamination in the low coverage regime are needed. However, the ultra low-coverage regime (0.1x and below) remains a challenging task for existing approaches. Results We present a new method to estimate contamination in aDNA for male individuals. It utilizes a Li&Stephen's haplotype copying model for haploid X chromosomes, with mismatches modelled as genotyping error or contamination. We assessed an implementation of this new approach, hapCon, on simulated and down-sampled empirical aDNA data. Our results demonstrate that hapCon outperforms a commonly used tool for estimating male X contamination (ANGSD), with substantially lower variance and narrower confidence intervals, especially in the low coverage regime. We found that hapCon provides useful contamination estimates for coverages as low as 0.1x for SNP capture data (1240k) and 0.02x for whole genome sequencing data (WGS), substantially extending the coverage limit of previous male X chromosome based contamination estimation methods. Availability and Implementation A implementation of our software (hapCON) using Python and C has been deposited at https://github.com/hyl317/hapROH. We make hapCon available as part of a python package (hapROH), which is available at the Python Package Index (https://pypi.org/project/hapROH) and can be installed via pip. The documentation provides example use cases as blueprints for custom applications (https://haproh.readthedocs.io).


ABSTRACT Objective: This systematised review aims to gain a deeper understanding of the role of relational self-construal on mothers' mental health and wellbeing. Research indicates that the self is an important construct in transition to motherhood. The self-concept, or how a person views themselves, is an individual difference that impacts cognitive, behavioural and emotional responses. Method: Eight scientific databases were searched (PsycINFO, OVID Medline, SAGE, Scopus, Expanded Academic ASAP, ProQuest, Taylor & Francis and Wiley Online Library) using the terms: self-construal, relational self-construal, wellbeing, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and gender (if the terms mother or motherhood were added this eliminated all records). Results: There were 404 records retrieved and, after abstract and full paper review, 25 studies were included in this study. It was found that women are more likely to have a relational self-construal than men. Relational self-construal is not associated with life satisfaction yet is often a moderating variable for wellbeing. A relational self-construal leads to more relationship-enhancing behaviours. Social support is beneficial to those with a highly relational self-construal, especially during times of high stress. Discussion: The hours parents spend parenting has increased, with mothers spending 14 h a week caring for children and fathers seven. The expectations of modern motherhood have the potential to negatively impact maternal mental health. Developing an understanding of mothers' experiences of 'self as mother' may provide insight into future mother-centred interventions. Further research into the relationship between relational self-construal and wellbeing is needed to adequately respond to the mental health needs of mothers.


The carbon dioxide (CO2) separation can be enhanced by using modified materials like a deep eutectic solvent (DES) modified mesoporous silica SBA-15 in polymeric support i.e polysulfone via mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). The pure SBA-15 and DES are potential candidates for the CO2 capturing and their combination has not been reported yet. In this work, a fresh DES was synthesized by combining equal concentrations of Decanoic acid and choline chloride by mass. MMMs were fabricated by DES functionalized SBA-15 (DES-SBA) filler. The DES-SBA-based polymeric MMMs of different compositions, from 5% to 20% with the difference of five each, were developed and subjected to the gas permeation analysis to evaluate relative selectivities and permeabilities of membranes. The DES-SBA-based MMMs were characterized by SEM and FTIR to obtain distribution analysis of filler in the polymer matrix as well as the cross-sectional and surface morphology and the structural analysis of membranes, respectively. The gas permeation evaluations have been utilized to mixed and pure gas samples and the findings of selectivities for CO2/N2 and CO2/CH4 and permeabilities of synthesized MMMs are being reported. The performance of the MMMs has been enhanced via functionalization of SBA-15 by DES as compared to the neat polysulfone (PSF) based simple membrane.


A unique glycoprotein, called endometriosis protein-I (ENDO-I), has previously been shown to be synthesized and secreted by rat and human endometriotic explants. Furthermore, the N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis showed that ENDO-I shares homology with haptoglobin. The present study was designed to determine this sequence of ENDO-I cDNA from human peritoneal endometriotic lesions and to determine the relative expression of the ENDO-I gene in several human tissues. Poly A-enriched RNA was isolated and reverse-transcribed. To determine the sequence of ENDO-I cDNA, a polymerase chain reaction was performed on cDNA from human endometriotic lesions and a gene-specific primer based on the human haptoglobin sequence. A similar procedure was followed to assess the relative expression of the ENDO-I gene in various tissues. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate-dehydrogenase was used as an internal control. ENDO-I gene expression was quantified by densitometry. Sequence analysis of ENDO-I cDNA identified 873 nucleotides that displayed 99.4% homology with the human haptoglobin beta-chain. Relative expression of ENDO-I mRNA by peritoneal endometriotic lesions was 19-fold greater than peritoneum, 28-fold greater than endometrioma and 37-fold greater than eutopic endometrium (P<0.01). Haptoglobin-like ENDO-I may be associated with localized angiogenesis and altered immune response involved with the aetiology/pathophysiology of endometriosis.


ConsultantConsultant psychiatrist Sheffield (b 1944; q Belfast 1969; MRCPsych, Dip Psychother), died from bowel infarction on 2 December 2005.

Figure 1

Barbara Hamilton had remarkable musical ability but chose to study medicine. She completed her psychiatry and psychotherapy training in Aberdeen and became a medical officer for the new Scottish Mental Welfare Commission in 1983. In 1988 she became a consultant psychiatrist in Ayrshire, the first such medical officer so to do. When the family moved to England she became a consultant in Sheffield, where she was a capable, energetic, and pragmatic problem solver in an under-resourced area. She was also adept in balancing the priorities of a career and the needs of her children when recognition of such pressures on aspiring women professionals was scant. She leaves a husband and five children.


Although both men and women become addicted to drugs of abuse, women transition to addiction faster, experience greater difficulties remaining abstinent, and relapse more often than men. In both humans and rodents, hormonal cycles are associated with females' faster progression to addiction. Higher concentrations and fluctuating levels of ovarian hormones in females modulate the mesolimbic reward system and influence reward-directed behavior. For example, in female rodents, estradiol (E2) influences dopamine activity within the mesolimbic reward system such that drug-directed behaviors that are normally rewarding and reinforcing become enhanced when circulating levels of E2 are high. Therefore, neuroendocrine interactions, in part, explain sex differences in behaviors motivated by drug reward. Here, we review sex differences in the physiology and function of the mesolimbic reward system in order to explore the notion that sex differences in response to drugs of abuse, specifically cocaine and opiates, are the result of molecular neuroadaptations that differentially develop depending upon the hormonal state of the animal. We also reconsider the notion that ovarian hormones, specifically estrogen/estradiol, sensitize target neurons thereby increasing responsivity when under the influence of either cocaine or opiates or in response to exposure to drug-associated cues. These adaptations may ultimately serve to guide the motivational behaviors that underlie the factors that cause women to be more vulnerable to cocaine and opiate addiction than men.


I venture to offer a word on the subject of the relation of so-called "ophthalmic" migraine to epilepsy—a subject on which discussion is by no means closed. The "ophthalmic" migraine of Charcot I do not regard as essentially an ophthalmologic subject, but the accompanying, and often quite alarming visual and other sensory disturbances, many of which are naturally referred to the eyes, lead the afflicted to consult an ophthalmologist. This, together with its frequency of occurrence, gives the ophthalmologist a large opportunity to see and study cases of this kind—an opportunity which is unequaled by any other class of practitioners. From the time of Airy's graphic description,1in 1868, and of Liveing,2in 1873, to that of Gowers3of the present day, the symptoms of this affection have been presented to the profession over and over again, and are, or should be, familiar to all. Therefore, I


We resurveyed an elevational transect in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park first sampled in 1947 for chromosomal polymorphisms in populations of Drosophila robusta. Combining these results with those from previous surveys, unpublished data, and long-term meteorological data from this region up to 2003, we found that these chromosomal polymorphisms had continued to shift in frequency consistent with long-term temperature changes, yet had maintained elevational clines. Intensity of linkage disequilibrium for X-chromosome gene arrangements had shifted up and down the transect over the 56-year sampling period, suggesting shifting patterns of adaptation. Chromosomal frequency changes through the 1980s clearly demonstrated concerted directional evolution in response to cooler temperatures, but over the 20 years until 2003, frequency changes in most high-elevation populations reversed for many of the most temperature-sensitive gene arrangements. © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2006, 88, 131–141.


The hyperlipidemia posttransplant has been largely attributed to immunosuppressant agents. In the present work we evaluated the effect of oral administration of cyclosporine (5 mg/kg/day) and/or methyl-prednisone (1 mg/kg/day) on lipid composition and polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis in normal adult male rats. The results obtained showed that both agents produced a delay on the growth together with a significant loss of body weight. In liver microsomal fraction from rats treated with methyl-prednisone, a depression in delta 6 and delta 5 desaturation activities, was observed. This effect was corroborated in the fatty acid pattern through the enhancement of linoleic and dihomo-gamma-linolenic acids, and a depression of arachidonic acid. Similar results were noticed in those rats treated with both drugs when compared to the controls. No changes were observed either in the amount of liver microsomal total lipids or in the fatty acid composition of kidney and testis microsomes, as well as in erythrocyte membranes, among the different groups studied. Cyclosporine alone produced a significant depression in plasma triglycerides and showed no modifications in the other lipid parameters studied compared to the controls. Fluorescence anisotropy measured in the different membranes was not modified by the several treatments used. In view of the aforementioned data, it can be stated that methyl-prednisone would be the responsible for many of the lipid disorders that can be observed in posttransplant patients when they are subjected to the combined immunotherapy with cyclosporine.


Aiming at the data overloading issue in the cellular networks of heterogeneous vehicular networks, an opportunistic mobile data offloading algorithm was proposed based on vehicle movement prediction. In this algorithm, as the complementation of the cellular network, the in-vehicle network was used to assist the data communication of the cellular network. By setting nodes for communication data according to the vehicle movement prediction, data offloading achieved. The simulation result shows that the algorithm has a better performance toward data offloading.


OBJECTIVES
Flexible endoscopic septum division is an established treatment for Zenker's diverticulum (ZD); however, long-term outcome data are lacking. We aimed to evaluate the long-term efficacy of flexible endoscopic septal division (FESD) using the stag beetle knife for ZD and identify predictors of symptom recurrence.

METHODS
Patients undergoing the procedure between 2013 and 2018 were prospectively enrolled. Procedures were performed by a single operator. Symptom severity pre- and postprocedure was recorded using the dysphagia, regurgitation, and complications scale. Symptom recurrence was defined as a total score > 1 after the index procedure. Time-to-event analyses were performed using Kaplan-Meier plots, with multivariable analyses performed using Cox regression models.

RESULTS
Altogether, 65 patients (mean age 74.0 years, 60% male) were included. Previous stapling had been performed in 44.6% of patients. Over the mean posttreatment follow-up period of 19 months, 5.6% of the treatment naïve group and 34.5% of the recurrent group underwent repeated FESD (P = 0.003), with rates of symptom remission and improvement of 75.4% and 92.7%, respectively. Recurrence at 48 months was higher in patients with recurrent ZD (84.7%) than in treatment-naïve patients (10.7%). On multivariable analysis, recurrent disease (hazard ratio [HR] 20.8, P = 0.005) and younger age (HR 0.96/year, P = 0.047) were associated with symptom recurrence.

CONCLUSIONS
In patients with treatment-naïve ZD, flexible endoscopic septal division is safe and provides durable symptom remission. However, in patients with poststapling recurrence, the risk of recurrence is high and time-dependent.


Introduction The goal of this analysis is to validate the 2022 graded prognostic assessment (GPA) for patients with brain metastases from adenocarcinoma of the lung and to discuss its clinical practicability. Methods/material 137 patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung were included in this analysis. The disease specific GPA for NSCLC, Lung-molGPA and the GPA for NSCLC adenocarcinoma were calculated. Overall survival was calculated for each GPA group. Additionally, expected and actual OS in the prognostic groups of the GPA available at the time of the patients' diagnosis was compared. Results Median overall survival (OS) from diagnosis of brain metastases was 15 months (95% confidence interval (CI) 9.7–20.3 months). The median OS in the three individual prognostic groups was 7 months for GPA 0-1, 16 months for GPA 1.5-2, 33 months for GPA 2.5-3 and not reached for GPA 3.5-4 (p<0.001). Median survival times for the individual groups were similar to those published in the original GPA publication. Regarding the expected and actual OS when using the available GPA at the time of diagnosis there was an underestimation of survival of more than 3 months for all except the worst prognosis group. Conclusion We were able to validate the 2022 GPA for NSCLC adenocarcinoma patients with brain metastases in a similar cohort from a non-academic center. However, the practical applicability regarding the expected median OS might be limited due to the constantly evolving treatment landscape and the consecutive improvement in overall survival.


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Robotic nephrectomy with level I-III inferior vena cava (IVC) tumour thrombectomy is feasible and safe in highly experienced surgeons for well-selected patients. Herein, we present the video of a complete minimally-invasive surgery for renal cancer with level IV intracardiac tumour thrombus. METHODS: An 83-year-old woman presented to the Emergency department with flank pain. Laboratory investigations showed haemoglobin concentration of 11g/dl, normal coagulation panel, serum creatinine concentration of 0.98mg/dl. CT-scan showed a 5.8 cm right renal mass with an 8.0 cm IVC tumour thrombus extending 1.5 cm into the right atrium. No metastases and suspect of infiltration of IVC wall at preoperative imaging were identified. Standard surgery (i.e.: laparotomy combined with sternotomy and extracorporeal circulation) was contraindicated since the high mortality risk. A less invasive approach was performed, consisting of a robotic radical nephrectomy and cavo-atrial thrombectomy with SI system combined with AngioVac system. First, cannulas for ECMO were placed into the right jugular and femoral veins and the left femoral artery. Second, the kidney tumour was isolated, the liver was rotated, the right renal artery clipped and the IVC was isolated. Finally, ECMO was started and AngioVac catheter was inserted through the jugular vein under transoesophageal ultrasound guidance. The device was used to aspirate and push the thrombus into the retro-hepatic IVC, while a robotic drop-in ultrasound probe was used to identify the upper end of the thrombus. After clamping the infra-renal IVC, the left renal vein and the retro-hepatic IVC above the thrombus, IVC was opened and the thrombus was entirely removed alongside the kidney. RESULTS: Total operative time and estimated blood loss were respectively 9 hours and 2000 ml. Final pathology showed clear cell RCC pT3cN0. At the end of the surgery, the patient had two cardiac arrests. After a prolonged ICU hospitalization due to pleural effusion and cerebral hypoxia, the patient gradually recovered. Post-operative CT scan found no residual tumour or thrombus. The patient was discharged after 90 days, including rehabilitation. At 6 months of follow up, the patient is alive, disease free and without neurological impairments. CONCLUSIONS: Complete minimally-invasive surgery for renal cancer with level IV intracardiac tumour thrombus is a feasible highlychallenging procedure that requires multidisciplinary cooperation. Future studies are needed to confirm these findings and its extensions to fitter patients.


This discussion paper is about the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) - one of the multilateral agreements that came out of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. UNCCD is based on a conceptualization of international relations that transcends to a large extent the traditional notions of inter-governmental treaties. Such policy concepts are known under the framework of Global Governance as they allocate political action rather to the horizontal level - implying multi-actor-networks and the civil society - than to vertical or top-down processes. The paper first shows that - inspired by the Brundtland Report and the emerging process of globalization - Rio was the peak season for Global Governance concepts that found their way into treaties and triggered structural reform, thus shaping a different reality of multilateral cooperation. In a second step, the paper shows that the Convention to Combat Desertification is the most Global Governance oriented of all of UNCED's outcomes. Its legally binding text contains a number of pertinent elements, ranging from a stringent cross-over of environment and development issues, via the 'bottom-up approach', to a mix of policy tools such as mainstreamed national action programmes and partnership agreements.


—We present code generation from the Giotto model of computation in Ptolemy II to the Precision Timed (PRET) Architecture. Giotto is a time-triggered programming model that provides the user with methods to specify timing at a high level, and PRET is a processor architecture that emphasizes predictable timing. The goal of code generation is to automatically generate code that correctly implements the semantics of the model as the designer has specified. We use the ISA-level timing controls of PRET in the C code we generate to fulfill the timing constraints of the Giotto model. We run the generated code on the cycle-accurate PRET simulator to verify that our designs meet their deadlines.


Objective: To analyze the rate of axillary recurrences and survival in patients operated on for breast cancer who had not undergone an axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) because of a negative sentinel node biopsy. Methods: The study includes 97 patients operated on for breast cancer and selective node biopsy from June 2000 to December 2001 who had a negative sentinel node biopsy and did not undergo ALND. Mean age was 58.2 years (55.9–60.5). Follow-up was done up to 5 years. After surgery all patients underwent clinical examination. Complementary treatment depended on the hospital protocol. Rate of axillary recurrences, presence of distant metastases and survival (Kaplan-Meier method) were studied. Results: After a median follow-up of 4.1 years (2.18–5.25), only 2/95 patients (2.1%) developed distant metastases. Four patients died but only the death of the patient who presented multiple metastases was related to the primary breast cancer (1%). The 5-year overall survival rate was 96%. Conclusions: (1) Only 1/95 patients studied developed nodal extra-axillary recurrence together with distant metastases. (2) The results obtained support the selective sentinel node biopsy as an accurate technique in the axillary stratification of patients with breast cancer, offering in the cases of negative sentinel node biopsy a safe axillary control after a 5-year follow-up.