Although, in most commercial fisheries, fishing crews are remunerated under a share system, the implications of share systems for ITQ markets have received relatively little attention. In this paper we explore the impact of extending crew shares of vessel operating costs to include the cost of quota. We find that efficiency is maintained as long as any share system is adopted across the entire fleet. Making crews pay a share of quota costs, however, simply inflates the quota price at their expense: at market equilibrium the vessel owner's total profit share is unaffected. We also consider the outcome if only net purchasers of quota involve crews in the cost of quota. Here, all vessel owners benefit, while all crews see a reduction in their earnings. These results are illustrated with a simple numerical example. The implications for resource rent capture policies are briefly considered.


A highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), H5N1, was detected for the first time in peafowls in Kirkuk province, Iraq in 2015. Genetic analysis of the Kirkuk H5N1 indicated molecular markers for avian‐type receptors. The Kirkuk H5N1 hemagglutinin gene had an infrequent amino acid cleavage site (SPQREKRRKRGLF), and neuraminidase genes showed sensitive molecular markers for antiviral drugs. Additionally, the phylogenetic analysis found that the Kirkuk H5N1 belonged to subclade 184.108.40.206c. Our results showed that the 2015 H5N1 from the Iraqi city of Kirkuk exhibited new genetic characterization and was different from the 2006 H5N1 isolate from Iraq.


Calorimetric data of primary crystallization is usually interpreted in the framework of the
Kolmogorov Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 1, 355 1937 , Johnson and Mehl Trans. AIME 135, 416
 1939 , and Avrami J. Chem. Phys. 7, 1103 1939 ; 8, 212 1940 ; 9, 177 1941 KJMA theory.
However, while the KJMA theory assumes random nucleation and exhaustion of space by direct
impingement, primary crystallization is usually driven by diffusion-controlled growth with soft
impingement between the growing crystallites. This results in a stop of the growth before the space
is fully crystallized and induces nonrandom nucleation. In this work, phase-field simulations are
used to check the validity of different kinetic models for describing primary crystallization kinetics.
The results show that KJMA theory provides a good approximation to the soft-impingement and
nonrandom nucleation effects. Moreover, these effects are not responsible of the slowing down of
the kinetics found experimentally in the primary crystallization of glasses.


It has been shown that venous congestion both in mother and in foetus affects water and salt content with a tendency to decrease the latter, the effect being more significant in the foetus. Prolonged pregnancy did not affect water and salt metabolism in tissues of adult rats, whereas accumulation of liquid was found in foetuses. Water deprivation did not result in significant changes of water and salt balance in tissues. The role of extraembryonic organs in formation of hydro-ionic balance of the foetus under various conditions of pregnancy was revealed.


This paper analyzes a yes/no referendum in which the outcome is valid only if the voter turnout is greater than a predetermined level. Such a participation quorum is argued to induce the minority group of voters to abstain strategically. Such abstention is intended to adversely affect the outcome by achieving a low voter turnout. We first construct a game-theoretic model to derive a theoretical prediction about the relationship between quorums and voting outcomes. It is shown that there exist multiple equilibria, and that strategic abstention can happen if such a participation quorum is imposed. To examine which type of outcome is more likely to be realized, we then conduct a laboratory experiment. We observe that (i) if the quorum is small, all voters go to the polls, and (ii) if the quorum is large, voters in the ex-ante majority group go to the polls, whereas voters in the ex-ante minority group tend to abstain. As a result, it is less likely that the ex-post minority group wins the referendum. However, when the quorum is large, it frequently happens that the outcome is made invalid because of low voter turnout.


Multicomponent seismology requires recording of seismic data with three‐ and sometimes four‐component receivers. The three components measure displacement of the ground, usually in two horizontal and one vertical directions. The fourth component is a measurement of pressure, which is used in sea‐bottom surveys. Measuring three components of ground displacement enables the recording of compressional (P) and shear (S) waves which represent the full complement of "body" waves in seismology. Earthquake seismologists have been using the full complement for years to interpret the structure of our living planet; however, exploration seismologists have been slow to bring multicomponent seismology to the forefront of their measurement system. This is finally changing. Thanks to new seismic acquisition recording systems, it is now feasible to economically record multicomponent seismic data in both land and marine (sea‐bottom) settings. In the future, all land or sea‐bottom seismic data will be recorded by multicomp...


The article discusses innovation in Polish industry in light of OECD indicators and the authors' own study. The problem of innovation in Polish industry is presented from the point of view of the following topics: adjusting Polish industry's structures to the requirements of knowledge-based global industry; raising the efficiency of some industry sectors as a result of an improved transfer of innovative achievements, the concentration of capital available, especially that obtained from the EU Structural Funds and offset deal, on the investments conducive to the economy's growth by means of implementing innovative solutions. The article presents the results of analyses of the economic indicators in some industry sectors in Poland based on innovative activity. In line with the Classification of Products by Activity in the European Union (CPA), the following sectors have been highlighted: the Sector of Consumer Goods Production, the Sector of Delivery Goods, the Sector of Investment Goods (the main vehicle of technological progress for Polish industry). Based on the results of the analysis, change tendencies have been identified for economic indicators as enabled by innovative potential. Prognostic models for economic indicators have been proposed that help estimate the influence of innovative potential on the growth of Polish industry. An example has been presented for applying the prognostic model using an Artificial Intelligence Method.


Univ. Press, 1995) 1996 Marc Redfield, Claremont Graduate University, for Phantom Formations: Aesthetic Ideology and the Bildungsroman (Cornell Univ. Press, 1996) John Rogers, Yale University, for The Matter of Revolution: Science, Poetry, and Politics in the Age of Milton (Cornell Univ. Press, 1996) 1997 Katie Trumpener, University of Chicago, for Bardic Nationalism: The Romantic Novel and the British Empire (Princeton Univ. Press, 1997) 1998 Deidre Shauna Lynch, State University of New York, Buffalo, for The Economy of Character: Novels, Market Culture, and the Business of Inner Meaning (Univ. of Chicago Press, 1998) 1999 Srinivas Aravamudan, Duke University, for Tropicopolitans: Colonialism and Agency, 1688–1804 (Duke Univ. Press, 1999) Honorable mention: Ian Baucom, Duke University, for Out of Place: Englishness, Empire, and the Locations of Identity (Princeton Univ. Press, 1999), and Yopie Prins, University of Michigan, for Victorian Sappho (Princeton Univ. Press, 1999) 2000 Patricia Crain, University of Minnesota, for The Story of A: The Alphabetization of America from The New England Primer to The Scarlet Letter (Stanford Univ. Press, 2000) Honorable mention: Jennifer Summit, Stanford University, for Lost Property: The Woman Writer and English Literary History, 1380–1589 (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2000) 2001 Bruce W. Holsinger, University of Colorado, Boulder, for Music, Body, and Desire in Medieval Culture: Hildegard of Bingen to Chaucer (Stanford Univ. Press, 2001) 2002 Paul Downes, University of Toronto, for Democracy, Revolution, and Monarchism in Early American Literature (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2002) Priya Joshi, University of California, Berkeley, for In Another Country: Colonialism, Culture, and the English Novel in India (Columbia Univ. Press, 2002) 2003 Paul K. Saint-Amour, Pomona College, for The Copywrights: Intellectual Property and the Literary Imagination (Cornell Univ. Press, 2003) 2004 Elizabeth S. Goodstein, Emory University, for Experience without Qualities: Boredom and Modernity (Stanford Univ. Press, 2004)


Private rangeland lease rates have been used historically as an indication of the price of public grazing lease rates. The ability of these prices to adequately reflect short-term fluctuations in the rancher's ability to pay for forage has been questioned by policy makers and researchers. Multiple regression techniques were used in this study to evaluate how responsive private rangeland lease rates have been to short-term (yearly) fluctuations in market conditions. Independent variables included yearling prices, cattle numbers, hay prices, production cost index, land prices, forage condition index, and the previous year's lease rate. Yearling prices lagged 1 year, hay prices, production cost index lagged 1 year, and lease rates lagged 1 year statistically (P < 0.10) explained lease rates. The previous year's lease rate was the most influential explanatory variable, with more than half of the previous year's lease price reflected in the current year's rate. Statistically significant (P <0.10) differences in lease rates were also found between western regions.


The composition of multimedia presentations is a time- and resource-consuming task if not afforded in a well-defined manner. This is particularly true when people having different roles and following different high-level directives, collaborate in the authoring and assembling of a final product. For this reason we adopt the Select, Assemble, Transform and Present (SATP) approach to coordinate the presentation authoring and a tag cloud-based search engine in order to help users in efficiently retrieving useful assets. In this paper we present MediaPresenter, the framework we developed to support companies in the creation of multimedia communication means, providing an instrument that users can exploit every time new communication channels have to be created.


Southface Energy Institute (Southface) partnered with owners and/or builders with various market constraints and ultimate goals for three projects in different climate zones: Savannah, GA (CZ 2), Clemson, SC (CZ 3), and LaFayette, GA (CZ 4). This report documents the design process, computational energy modeling, construction, envelope performance metrics, long-term monitoring results, and successes and failures of the design and execution of these high performance homes. The three bedroom/two bathroom test home in Savannah Gardens on an elevated slab foundation has a semi-conditioned, encapsulated attic. A neighboring home built to EarthCraft specifications was also monitored as a control for exterior foam insulation and a heat pump water heater (HPWH). For the JMC Patrick Square, a single-story project in Clemson, the small-scale production builder wanted to increase their level of energy efficiency beyond their current green building practices, including bringing ducts into conditioned space. Through a combination of upgrade measures the team met this goal and achieved many Zero Energy Ready Home requirements. LaFayette Housing Authority undertook a development of 30 affordable rental housing units in 15 duplexes in LaFayette, GA. Because they would be long-term owners, their priorities were low utility bills for the residents and durable, maintainable buildings. Themore » team employed BEopt to optimize buildling envelope and systems choices, including 2x6 advanced framed walls, insulated slab, and heat pump water heater in a utility closet which was ducted to/from an encapsulated attic.« less


This essay offers a revision of frontier mythologizing by engaging issues of gender, race, and nation from the perspective of trauma theory. Crucial questions about the relationship between dominant frontier values, on the one hand, and violence against women and non-Anglo groups (particularly Mexicans and Native Americans), on the other, are explored in a close reading of Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove quartet. The analysis focuses upon the ''symbolic economy'' of violence represented by McMurtry's use of the captivity motif and his representation of violent mestizo or mixed-blood characters who symbolize the conservative racial politics of his reappropriation of the western genre. This reading of the contemporary neo-western reveals larger implications for the ways in which we might reread the U S frontier as a national trauma narrative.


Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a neglected parasitic disease caused by the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus. The aim of this study was to assess the epidemiological features of human cystic echinococcosis in patients from Western Romania. We retrospectively investigated the medical records of patients hospitalized with CE between 1 January 2007 and 1 September 2022. A total of 366 patients (range 18–90 years) were recorded. The number of hospitalized individuals was higher in patients aged 50–59 years (83/366, 22.7%), in females (194/366, 53%), and in residents of rural areas (225/366, 61.5%). The liver was the most common localization of the cysts (302/366, 82.5%). Ninety-eight patients (26.8%) presented complications, including biliary fistula, allergies, and infection of the cyst. Patients with complications had a longer mean hospital stay (15.7 ± 8.3 days) compared to patients without complications (11.5 ± 7.3 days) (p < 0.001). The results of this study revealed that patients diagnosed with CE required hospitalization and extended medical care, indicating that this zoonotic disease remains a significant public health problem in Western Romania. Public health authorities should enhance CE surveillance by implementing control programs and mandatory notification of new cases.


Abstract: We developed allometric relationships between tree size parameters (stem diameter at breast height (dbh), at ground surface (D0) and tree height) and leaf, stem, small-root (diameter <5 mm) and total root biomass in various tropical secondary-forest trees in Sarawak, Malaysia. In total, 136 individuals from 23 species were harvested to measure above-ground parts. Root systems of 77 individuals of 16 species were also excavated. The coefficients of correlation for the obtained allometric relationships between tree diameter and plant-part biomass showed high values, ranging from 0.83 to 0.99. In addition, there were few interspecific differences in relationships for all biomass parts, except for leaves. We also found relatively high coefficients of allometric relationships between tree height and plant-part biomass ranging from 0.83 to 0.94. Comparison of above- and below-ground biomass equations for various tropical rainforests implies that our allometric equations differ largely from the equations for tropical primary forests. Thus, choosing both above- and below-ground allometric equations for biomass estimation in tropical secondary forests of South-East Asia requires careful consideration of their suitability.


Gα12/13 have been implicated in numerous cellular processes, however, their roles in vertebrate gastrulation are largely unknown. Here, we show that during zebrafish gastrulation, suppression of both Gα12 and Gα13 signaling by overexpressing dominant negative proteins and application of antisense morpholino-modified oligonucleotide translation interference disrupted convergence and extension without changing embryonic patterning. Analyses of mesodermal cell behaviors revealed that Gα12/13 are required for cell elongation and efficient dorsalward migration during convergence independent of noncanonical Wnt signaling. Furthermore, Gα12/13 function cell-autonomously to mediate mediolateral cell elongation underlying intercalation during notochord extension, likely acting in parallel to noncanonical Wnt signaling. These findings provide the first evidence that Gα12 and Gα13 have overlapping and essential roles in distinct cell behaviors that drive vertebrate gastrulation.


Aim: The objective of the study was to determine the incidence of thyroid malignancy in thyroidectomies done for clinically benign thyroid conditions. Materials and methods: From January 2014 to June 2015, a total of 308 patients who underwent thyroidectomy for presumably benign thyroid disease were included in the study and evaluated for the presence of incidental malignancy. The distribution of malignancy in sex, age, place and clinical diagnosis were studied. Size of the tumour and its correlation with capsular invasion, vascular invasion and multifocality was also evaluated. Results: The incidence of malignancy was 16.9%. Papillary carcinoma was the commonest subtype. The mean age of occurrence of incidental malignancy was 41.9 years. Males showed an incidence of 17.9% and females showed 16.7%. Thrissur district had a higher incidence (20.2%). Mean tumour size was 1.7cm. Occurrence of capsular invasion, vascular invasion and multifocality increases as the mean size of the malignancy increases. Conclusion: The rate of incidental thyroid malignancies are increasing. Papilary carcinoma thyroid contributes to the main pathologic type. Due to the risk of occult malignancy, all the patients with multi-nodular goitre who have been treated conservatively need a close follow up for malignancy. Total/near-total thyroidectomy is the procedure of choice during the initial surgery for all presumably benign nodules.


A major goal of future dCache development will be to allow users to define file Quality of Service (QoS) in a more flexible way than currently available. This will mean implementing what might be called a QoS rule engine responsible for registering and managing time-bound QoS transitions for files or storage units. In anticipation of this extension to existing dCache capabilities, the Resilience service, which maintains on-disk replica state, needs to undergo both structural modification and generalization. This paper describes ongoing work to transform Resilience into the new architecture which will eventually support a more broadly defined file QoS.


Nonlinear optical transmission through periodically nanostructured metal films (surface-plasmon polaritonic crystals) has been studied. The surface polaritonic crystals have been coated with a nonlinear polymer. The optical transmission of such nanostructures has been shown to depend on the control-light illumination conditions. The resonant transmission exhibits bistable behavior with the control-light intensity. The bistability is different at different resonant signal wavelengths and for different wavelengths of the control light. The effect is explained by the strong sensitivity of the surface-plasmon mode resonances at the signal wavelength to the surrounding dielectric environment and the electromagnetic field enhancement due to plasmonic excitations at the controlled light wavelengths.


Modelling and controllability studies of a hovercraft system are undertaken. The system studied is a little more complicated than some in the literature in that the inertial dynamics of the thrust fan are taken into account. The system is shown to be representative of a large class of systems that are controllable only on a set described by the zeros, of a nontrivial analytic function. Results for controllability using vector-valued quadratic forms are useful in arriving at the stated conclusions. As part of the development, two controllability results of independent interest are proved.


This paper focuses on the Current-Voltage concurrent control method devoted to the multiple LED (light-emitting diode) string driver. Isolated DC to DC converter with cascaded chopping switch is proposed for smart lighting system such as light with sensor or back light unit of display, which need to control the current of parallel connected multiple LED stings and regulate DC voltage for micro controller for brightness control. The proposed circuit regulates the current of parallel connected multiple LED strings and additional DC voltage output simultaneously. To verify the performance, experimental results are presented based on the prototype board. 5V, 1A voltage mode electric load and two LED strings with different forward voltages are used for output loads. 23W output power is achieved and measured efficiency is in the range of 85%-87%


OBJECTIVE
Evaluation of the results of laparoscopic fundoplication according to Thal as a treatment for gastro-oesophageal reflux in children.

DESIGN
Prospective, descriptive.

SETTING
Department of paediatric surgery, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

METHODS
Between November 1993 and May 1996, 53 children with reflux and an average age of 6 years underwent laparoscopic fundoplication according to Thal; in 23 of them a gastrostomy was created as well. The most important symptoms were vomiting and lack of growth. There were 18 children with primary reflux and 35 with secondary reflux, 28 of whom had psychomotor retardation. Preoperatively all patients were subjected to 24-hour oesophageal pH-monitoring, upper GI series and oesophagogastroscopy. Pathological reflux was defined as a pH < 4 during 5% or more of the total time measured (24 hours). pH-monitoring was repeated three months postoperatively to evaluate the effect of the fundoplication and esophagogastroscopy was repeated in case of preoperative oesophagitis.

RESULTS
In one patient the laparoscopic approach was converted peroperatively because of bleeding that had stopped on exploration. Enteral feeding could be recommenced on day one in 49 of 53 children. The mean hospitalisation time was 4.4 days. One patient was reoperated for a too tight fundoplication and two patients died of unrelated causes. The mean follow-up period for the other 50 patients was 11 months (1-35). On follow-up, 42 of them (84%) were free of symptoms, while 31 of 41 children (76%) in whom pH-monitoring could be done 3 months postoperatively displayed no recurrence of pathological reflux.

CONCLUSION
Thal fundoplication can be performed laparoscopically in children. Enteral feeding becomes possible again quickly and the period of hospitalisation is short.


CHOMIK is the name of a penetrator constructed for sampling and retrieval of Phobos surface material. It formed an integral part of the Phobos Sample Return Mission. In this paper we present its construc� tion and intended mode of operation, since the concept is still viable for future missions either to Phobos or to other small bodies of similar dimensions. We take Phobos as an example to describe the science case for such an instrument and how it might be utilized to resolve important open issues regarding the origin of the Martian moons. Concerning the latter, we place emphasis on measurement techniques and analysis tools for mapping trace element concentrations in returned sample.


Are walls remnants of ancient and medieval societies, destined to become anachronistic in modern and post-modern times? Or will they persist, shaping as well as adjusting to new conditions? Do walls necessarily constrain and even isolate those who live within them, or can they act as a medium of support and communication for people on both sides? This volume addresses these questions. Authors from seven disciplines--history, art, law, art, medicine, communication, and film--provide multiple perspectives on various kinds of walls: material ones around and within states, cities, and towns, as well as virtual ones regulating the administration of justice, the flow of pathogens, and the transmission of information.


Our work is devoted to ramification theory of n-dimensional schemes with n ≥ 2. We start to develop an approach which is very natural; however, it has not got enough attention, except for [Del] and [Bry83]. The idea is to reduce the situation of an n-dimensional scheme X to a number of 1-dimensional settings, just by restricting to curves C properly crossing the ramification subscheme R ⊂ X . What is new here is that we do not require C to be transversal to R. Consideration of curves tangent to the ramification divisor seems to yield more important information about the "higher-dimensional ramification". In the current paper we restrict the setting as follows: • n = 2; • X is equidimensional, i. e., it can be equipped with a morphism to Spec k, where k is an algebraically closed field of prime characteristic p; • If P is any closed point of X , the local ring OX ,P is a 2-dimensional excellent local ring with the residue field k; • X is regular. In section 2 we state a series of questions related to the behavior of ramification jumps as one varies the curve C. Some of these questions are new and some generalize the questions considered in the above mentioned papers. In the following sections we answer the first of these questions affirmatively. Namely, we prove that the ramification invariants depend only on the jet of C of certain order, and we can bound this order in a certain uniform way. This statement is a step in Deligne's program [Del] describing how to compute EulerPoincaré characteristics of constructible étale sheaves on surfaces. As for the other questions, in the case of Artin-Schreier extensions we can answer affirmatively to the most of them. This will be the subject of another paper [Zhu].


Different aluminum-doped ZnO (AZO)/metal composite thin films, including AZO/Ag/Al, AZO/Ag/nickel—chromium alloy (NiCr), and AZO/Ag/NiCr/Al, are utilized as the back reflectors of p—i—n amorphous silicon germanium thin film solar cells. NiCr is used as diffusion barrier layer between Ag and Al to prevent mutual diffusion, which increases the short circuit current density of solar cell. NiCr and NiCr/Al layers are used as protective layers of Ag layer against oxidation and sulfurization, the higher efficiency of solar cell is achieved. The experimental results show that the performance of a-SiGe solar cell with AZO/Ag/NiCr/Al back reflector is best. The initial conversion efficiency is achieved to be 8.05%.


Worldwide, beginning programming has a success rate of 67.7%, which may be a barrier to success for aspiring computer science majors. This may be particularly problematic for women, since only 18% of U.S. graduates with a bachelor degree in computer science are women. The purpose of this study is to identify conceptual predictors of success so those most likely to struggle can be identified. Specifically the focus is on the relationship of math to learning programming. Are math prerequisites helpful or a barrier to success? Can math achievement be used as a predictor of success, and can it be used to detect discrepancies between the success of men and women learning to program? The method for determining the best measure of math achievement is correlational comparison. The method for determining the effect of learning math is comparison of means. The method for determining predictors of success is linear regression. The results are that the best measure of math achievement is the average of math grades from the year prior to the programming course. Either this average or the grade in the most recent math course can be used to predict whether a student is likely to achieve above a threshold of success. The math average can be used to detect discrepancies between the performance of men and women. For those who have taken a math course in the prior year, the predictor that is most significant is GPA at the time of taking the programming course. For those who start out in precalculus, those who do poorly do not improve their performance by retaking precalculus and doing better. Nor do students who take more math beyond precalculus see significant improvement. But for those who start out in calculus, those who struggle do see improvement when they succeed in learning calculus, and they do benefit from learning more math beyond calculus.


Kreimbaeh in dem Pfalz.—The excavations begun in September last have been carried on, with somewhat similar results ; also the find of iron tools and weapons (mentioned in vol. vii. p. 479) has been thoroughly investigated and classified, the chief result being to show that in many cases they differ but little from those now in use. They appear to belong to the third and fourth centuries after Christ. The excavations brought to light yet more foundations, together with architectural fragments, and more iron tools. An interesting capital of sandstone decorated with a pattern of scales, large bronzes of Constantine, Theodosius, and Honorius, bronze and glass ornaments, may also be mentioned.


ABSTRACT Bartonella henselae is an emerging pathogen causing cat scratch disease, bacillary angiomatosis, and peliosis hepatis. Progress in understanding the pathogenesis of and the immune response to these infections has been limited by the lack of an animal model. Following intraperitoneal infection of C57BL/6 mice withB. henselae, organs were cleared of cultivatable bacteria within 6 days. In contrast, B. henselae DNA could be detected in liver tissue for at least 3 months. Liver tissue showed granulomatous inflammation reaching its highest degree of intensity during the fourth week of infection and resolving within 12 weeks postinfection. This mouse model is applicable to the study of the pathogenesis of B. henselae and the immune response to this pathogen in the immunocompetent host.


CpG islands (CGI) are genomic regions associated with gene promoters and involved in gene expression regulation. Despite their high CpG content and unlike bulk genomic DNA methylation pattern, these regions are usually hypomethylated. So far, the mechanisms controlling the CGI methylation patterning remain unclear. G‐quadruplex (G4) structures can inhibit DNA methyltransferases 1 enzymatic activity, leading to CGI hypomethylation. Our aim was to analyse the association of G4 forming sequences (G4FS) and CGI methylation as well as to determine the intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics of G4FS that may modulate this phenomenon. Using methylation data from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and three hESC‐derived populations, we showed that hypomethylated CpGs located inside CGI (CGI/CpG) tend to be associated with highly stable G4FS (Minimum free energy ≤ −30 kcal·mol−1). The association of highly stable G4FS and hypomethylation tend to be stronger when these structures are located at shorter distances (~ < 150 bp) from GCI/CpGs, when G4FS and CpGs are located within open chromatin and G4FS are inside CGI. Moreover, this association is not strongly influenced by the CpG content of CGI. Conversely, highly methylated CGI/CpG tend to be associated with low stability G4FS. Although CpGs inside CGIs without a G4FS tend to be more methylated, high stability G4FS within CGI neighbourhood were associated with decreased methylation. In summary, our data indicate that G4FS may act as protective cis elements against CGI methylation, and this effect seems to be influenced by the G4FS folding potential, its presence within CGI, CpG distance from G4FS and chromatin accessibility.


By mixing benzoic and adipic acids as the source of proton exchange, wet etched ridge waveguides are fabricated in -cut LiNbO3. Under appropriate adipic–benzoic acid concentration ratios, the joint proton source can suppress the proton diffusion in the lateral directions, and thus, the sidewalls are much more vertical than the usual. The etched depths are also enhanced for more than 30%. And meanwhile, the fabricated ridge waveguides possess smooth surfaces and the scattering losses are lower than that of the conventionally produced samples.


Vaccium meridionale Swartz, commonly Andean Berry, has a high content of several phytochemicals, such as anthocyanins, phenolic acids, and other flavonoids. However, in spite of its antioxidant capacity, there is little information about its anticarcinogenic properties. This study evaluated the antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic activity of Andean Berry Juice (ABJ) on human colon adenocarcinoma SW480 cells. The antiproliferative activity of ABJ was evaluated on SW480 cells using the Sulphorodamine B assay.The effect on cell viability, cytotoxicity and activation of caspase-3 was analyzed using The ApoTox-Glo™ Triplex Assay. Specific apoptotic biomarkers cleaved PARP, total Bcl-2-associated death promote (BAD), phosphorylated BAD, total p53, and phosphorylated p53 were also analyzed. To determine the intracellular redox-state, the Glutathione Assay Kit and 2′-7′-Dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) were used, respectively. The antiproliferative  assay showed  a IC50 value of  8% v/v ABJ, the caspase 3 activity was increased in time-dependent manner in SW480  treated cells, the proapoptotic proteins (cleaved caspase 3, cleaved PARP, P53 and  total BAD) were increased by 1.6 to 2.0 fold. In addition, the ABJ-treated SW480 cells increased significantly the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), parallel with reduction in the intracellular content of glutathione (GSH) and consequently a decrease of GSH/ oxidized glutathione (GSSG) ratio. In conclusion, the ABJ was able to inhibit SW480 cells proliferation involving apoptotic mechanisms through the perturbation of intracellular oxidative state.

 Key words: Vaccinum, colon cancer, anthocyanins, apoptosis, oxidative stress.


This paper explores the possibility of constructing two-terminal mechanical devices (one-ports) which are lossless and adjustable. To be lossless, the device must be passive (i.e., not requiring a power supply) and nondissipative. To be adjustable, a parameter of the device should be freely variable in real time as a control input. For the simplest lossless one-ports, the spring and inerter, the question is whether the stiffness and inertance may be varied freely in a lossless manner. We will show that the typical laws which have been proposed for adjustable springs and inerters are necessarily active, and that it is not straightforward to modify them to achieve losslessness, or indeed, passivity. By means of a physical construction using a lever with moveable fulcrum, we will derive device laws for adjustable springs and inerters which satisfy a formal definition of losslessness. We further provide a construction method which does not require a power supply for physically realizable translational and rotary springs and inerters. The analogous questions for lossless adjustable electrical devices are examined.


Background Catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome (CAPS) is the most severe complication of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) are the reference treatment for preventing relapsing thrombotic complications in patients with APS, but direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), such as rivaroxaban, are nonetheless sometimes used in patients with antiphospholipid antibody profiles or APS. Recent studies showed that DOACs were associated with more arterial thromboses among patients with APS. The potential role of DOACs as a trigger factor of CAPS is not known. Methods We describe two patients who developed a CAPS in the week following the institution of rivaroxaban. Results We report the onset of definite CAPS in the week following introduction of rivaroxaban treatment in two patients, one with APS and the other with antiphospholipid laboratory findings only. Both were triple positive for antiphospholipid antibodies. The affected organs were the heart, kidneys, skin, and liver for Patient 1, and the heart, kidneys, skin, adrenal gland, and central nervous system for Patient 2. The causative role of rivaroxaban is highly probable given that (1) CAPS occurred rapidly after this treatment was started, (2) an alternative trigger factor was found in Patient 1 only (a colonoscopy), and (3) Patient 1 had been clinically stable for 18 years with VKA as anticoagulant treatment, while Patient 2 did not have APS and had had no symptoms for 4 months (rivaroxaban had been introduced because at a scheduled visit, she reported neurological symptoms that occurred four months before and were retrospectively compatible with a brain transient ischemic accident). One similar case was reported in 2017, also following the introduction of rivaroxaban, in a patient with triple positive venous thrombotic APS who was stable for years on warfarin and who developed definite CAPS (involvement of the myocardium and adrenal glands as well as a pulmonary embolism) in the week after rivaroxaban 20 mg daily replaced warfarin to meet the patient's desire for a less burdensome treatment.1 Finally, in the randomized study published by Ordi-Ros et al, one of the patients treated with rivaroxaban developed a CAPS.2 Conclusions These two cases, as well as two previous reported cases, underline the importance of avoiding DOACs in patients with APS, especially those triple positive for antiphospholipid antibodies. VKAs must remain the reference anticoagulation treatment in this setting. References Crowley MP, Cuadrado MJ, Hunt BJ. Catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome on switching from warfarin to rivaroxaban. Thromb Res 2017; 153; 37–9. Ordi-Ros J, Saez-Comet L, Pérez-Conesa M, Vidal X, Riera-Mestre A, Castro-Salomo A, et al. Rivaroxaban versus vitamine K antagonist in antiphospholipid syndrome: a randomized noninferiority trial. doi: 10.7326/M19-0291. [Epub ahead of print]; 2019


Abstract Solo dwellers' housing issues have received little attention in housing studies. This article addresses their domestic spatial needs in the context of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (HMA) where dwelling sizes have decreased rapidly. A critical stance towards the trend of constructing small one-room apartments and related norm deregulation is based on the notion that dwellings should be at least 50 m2 and contain more than one room in order to overcome the shortage of space experienced by solo dwellers (N = 1453). Emphasizing the perspective of housing design, the findings provide insights into floor plan design by focussing on apartment types and sizes in relation to kitchen types and the experienced shortage of space. All in all, the article demonstrates that solo dwellers' domestic spatial needs are more diverse than expected based on their household size and related public discussion on urban housing.


Na0.5Sm0.5Cu3Ti4O12 (NSCTO) ceramics have been prepared by reactive sintering of amorphous powder. Spark plasma sintering (SPS) for 10 min at 1025 °C and conventional sintering (CS) for 10 h at 1090 °C have been employed. X-ray diffraction measurements confirmed the pure CCTO-like phase for SPS and CS NSCTO ceramics. The SPS ceramic showed an average grain size of 500 nm, which is much smaller than that of the CS ( ∼ 5 μ m ) sample. The impedance spectroscopy measurements revealed an electrically inhomogeneous structure in the prepared ceramics. While the resistivities of grains of both ceramic samples were in the same order of magnitude, the resistivity of grain-boundaries of the CS ceramic was three orders of magnitude greater than that of the SPS ceramic. Both of the samples showed giant dielectric constant ( > 10 3 ) over wide ranges of temperatures and frequencies. Nevertheless, the room-temperature dielectric loss of the SPS NSCTO (3.2 at 1.1 kHz) ceramic sample was higher than that of the CS NSCTO (0.08 at 1.1 kHz) ceramic sample due to the reduced grain-boundary resistivity of the former. Two dielectric relaxations were detected for each sample and attributed to the relaxations in grains and grain-boundaries. The dielectric behavior of the SPS and CS NSCTO ceramics could be interpreted in terms of the internal barrier layer capacitor (IBLC) model.


Introduction: Endoscopic techniques in spine surgery continue to gain popularity due to their potential for decreased blood loss and post-operative pain. However, limited studies have evaluated these techniques within the United States. Additionally, given the limited number of practitioners with experience in endoscopy, most current studies are limited by a lack of heterogeneity. Methods: The American College of Surgeons' National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database was queried to evaluate the effect of endoscopic surgery on adverse events. Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes for open discectomy were compared with the relevant CPT codes for endoscopic lumbar discectomy. Baseline patient characteristics and adverse outcomes were then compared. Results: A total of 38,497 single-level lumbar discectomies were identified and included. Of these, 175 patients undergoing endoscopic discectomy were compared with 38,322 patients undergoing open discectomy. Endoscopic discectomy demonstrated a shorter operative time of 88.6 minutes than 92.1 minutes in the open group. However, this was not significant (p=0.08). Patients in the endoscopic group demonstrated a shorter total length of stay of 0.81 days vs 1.15 days (p=0.014). Total adverse events were lower in the endoscopic group at 0.6% vs 3.4% in the open group (p=0.03). Conclusion: Endoscopic discectomy demonstrated a significantly lower rate of adverse events and shorter total length of stay than open discectomy. Further research is necessary over time to evaluate larger patient populations as this technology is more rapidly incorporated.


We survey institutional investors to better understand their role in the corporate governance of firms. Consistent with a number of theories, we document widespread behind-the-scenes intervention as well as governance-motivated exit. These governance mechanisms are viewed as complementary devices, with intervention typically occurring prior to a potential exit. We further find that long-term investors and investors that are less concerned about stock liquidity intervene more intensively. Finally, we find that most investors use proxy advisors and believe that the information provided by such advisors improves their own voting decisions.


The scientific article identifies the peculiarities of appealing the decisions, actions or omissions of public administration subjects on the provision of public services at the stage of initiation and preparation for judicial review of an administrative case. The author substantiates the feasibility of improving the legal regulation of the procedure for holding a preliminary hearing before the court hearing of the case. In particular, it is considered expedient to set the terms of the preparatory meeting from the moment of receipt of the administrative claim, as well as to determine the cases when the parties are not reconciled.It is established that the preliminary stage of the court hearing often ends with the conclusion of the preliminary proceedings and the appointment of the case to trial in the field of public services. This is not against the law. However, it should be borne in mind that in accordance with Art. 121 of the CAS of Ukraine such a decision is delivered by the consequences of preparatory proceedings, not the previous court hearing. Obviously, preparatory proceedings are not limited to, and do not always end at, a previous court hearing. Preparation may continue after a preliminary hearing. Therefore, the decision to close the preliminary proceedings and assign the case to trial after the consequences of the previous court hearing can only be made if the judge has taken all the measures necessary to hear the case. If during a previous court hearing in the field of public services, to which all persons involved in the case have arrived, the issues necessary for its consideration have been resolved, then, with the written consent of these persons, a court hearing may be initiated on the same day. In this case, the termination order is also delivered.


Amongst other modes, Myxococcal cells move in swarms that are flares or columns of cells. It has been argued that this is a strategy allowing a large enough number of them to encounter food bacteria. Then, the combined large amount of extracellular lytic enzymes from the mass of cells can provide adequate nutrient resources from the food bacteria for all the myxococci of the swarm. However, how they move as a coherent column has not been adequately explained. Here based on the idea that a rare cell can experience a special mutation such that it moves only unidirectionally, a proposal to account for this aspect of Myxococcus cell movement is suggested. Although wild type individual organisms of this species engage in forward and back movements, a mutant cell that moves unidirectionally can bias the movement of associated wild type cells and lead to the formation of a column of cells, headed by such a unique mutated cell. The non-mutated cells follow along it is suggested because of the S-motility (or social motility) system. This may link them to this single unidirectionally moving mutant cell to give a coherent movement to the column. This proposed type of mutation back mutates to wild type and the column no longer functions as such and only wild-type cells are present.


Abstract We are concerned with sets of generic points for shift-invariant measures in the countable symbolic space. We measure the sizes of the sets by the Billingsley-Hausdorff dimensions defined by Gibbs measures. It is shown that the dimension of such a set is given by a variational principle involving the convergence exponent of the Gibbs measure and the relative entropy dimension of the Gibbs measure with respect to the invariant measure. This variational principle is different from that of the case of finite symbols, where the convergent exponent is zero and is not involved. An application is given to a class of expanding interval dynamical systems.


People re-identification task has seen enormous improvements in the latest years, mainly due to the development of better image features extraction from deep Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and the availability of large datasets. However, little research has been conducted on animal identification and re-identification, even if this knowledge may be useful in a rich variety of different scenarios. Here, we tackle cattle re-identification exploiting deep CNN and show how this task is poorly related with the human one, presenting unique challenges that makes it far from being solved. We present various baselines, both based on deep architectures or on standard machine learning algorithms, and compared them with our solution. Finally, a rich ablation study has been conducted to further investigate the unique peculiarities of this task.


The article is devoted to the analysis of the problems connected with the law-making function of court practice in family disputes. The history of this function, which is not one of the classic types of judicial activity, has several factors: paticularities of family legal relations, situational nature of the majority of family law norms as a key prerequisite for broad judicial discretion in its various forms — concretization, interpretation, subsidiary application of the legislation, application of analogy, conflict resolution that in some cases can be qualified as legal stances of normative type. As an illustration, the provisions of a number of current rulings of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on family matters are offered. It is noted that the purpose of the rule-making approaches applied in the court practice involve primarily considerations of fairness in relation to expediency. At the same time, firstly, the criteria for choosing situations for the formation of a trend towards a fair resolution of family disputes of a certain category are not quite clear; secondly, the legal approaches under consideration do not exclude a direct conflict with the family law; thirdly, they remain in the status of recommendations for decades instead of being modified within a reasonable time and transformed into an improved family legislation. The author associates himself with the scholars who consider it necessary, if judicial law-making is inevitable, to regulate its grounds, criteria and procedure directly via civil procedural and/or other laws.


Crustal rock strength from outer space The response of crustal rock to stresses is challenging to estimate yet vital for determining risks from events such as earthquakes. Moore et al. take advantage of the recent Mw 7.1 Kumamoto earthquake in Japan to determine the rheology of crustal rocks in the region. The observed inversion of the crustal strain rates demonstrates that certain areas have stiff rock and others (e.g., under the Aso volcanic complex) have much weaker rock. The results match up with expectations, which means that the method can successfully measure rock properties over a wide range of strength and large spatial and temporal scales. Science, this issue p. 163 The combination of GPS and InSAR data after the Kumamoto earthquake in Japan allows for an estimate of regional rock rheology. The deformation of mantle and crustal rocks in response to stress plays a crucial role in the distribution of seismic and volcanic hazards, controlling tectonic processes ranging from continental drift to earthquake triggering. However, the spatial variation of these dynamic properties is poorly understood as they are difficult to measure. We exploited the large stress perturbation incurred by the 2016 earthquake sequence in Kumamoto, Japan, to directly image localized and distributed deformation. The earthquakes illuminated distinct regions of low effective viscosity in the lower crust, notably beneath the Mount Aso and Mount Kuju volcanoes, surrounded by larger-scale variations of viscosity across the back-arc. This study demonstrates a new potential for geodesy to directly probe rock rheology in situ across many spatial and temporal scales.


Transduction is one of the key processes of horizontal transfer of genes in bacteria. It is known that it is involved in distribution of the main factors of pathogenicity among numerous enterobacteria. It is shown that clear mutants and some variants of the temperate bacteriophage ZF40 Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora can perform general transduction of chromosome and plasmid genes of the bacterium E. carotovora. The indicators of chromosome transduction frequencies of the markers--arg+, met+, trp+, ura+ have a broad range of values: 7.10-10(-8) - 1.1-10(-1). The authors have succeeded in increasing the transduction efficiency due to infecting the recipient bacteria on the solid medium LB. Such approach is important for the phages similar to ZF40 in which adsorption is accompanied by re-adsorption of phage particles. The mechanism of transfer of bacterial genes by the type of general transduction is connected with cyclic permutation of phage DNA.


Magnetite Nano spheres was prepared and used to fabricate a modified carbon paste electrode as xanthine biosensor and applied to determine inhibition kinetics of Syzygium polyanthum extract toward xanthine oxidase (XO). The magnetite Nano spheres was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Electrochemical behaviour of xanthine was investigated by immobilizing the XO on the surface of carbon paste electrode (CPE), modified magnetite Nano spheres-CPE (MCPE), and modified 2,3-dimethoxy-5-metil-1,4-benzoquinone (Q0)-CPE (QCPE) employing cyclic voltammetry (CV) technique. The result showed that the MCPE was the best electrode to determine the analytical performance under optimum condition, based on lower limit of detection (0.005 mM), wider linearity range (0.01-1 mM with R2 = 99.24%), and higher sensitivity (5.16 µM-1) than the two other electrodes (CPE and QCPE). The MCPE successfully improve the analytical performance on xanthine biosensor and to be applied for determining inhibition kinetics of S. polyanthum extract. Inhibition kinetics of the extract has caused increase of KM and VMAX (IMAX) constant. Based on the result, the type of inhibition kinetics was a competitive inhibition.


Peer-to-peer structures are becoming more and more popular and an exhilarating new class of groundbreaking, internet-based data management systems. Query load balancing is an important problem for the efficient operation of unstructured P2P networks. The key issue is to identify overloaded peers and reassign their loads to others. This paper proposes a novel mobile agent based two-way load balancing technique for dynamic unstructured P2P networks. In this scheme, target peers are selected based on the result of reinforcement learning. Simulation results indicate that our technique manages the load on peers effectively and increases the search performance significantly.


The introduction of 3D chip architectures is an increasingly attractive integration solution due to the potential performance improvement, power consumption reduction and heterogeneous integration. With another dimension to take into account, the complexity of 3D floorplan algorithms is increased. In this paper we discuss the implementation of such an algorithm and identify parameters that play a role in the solution quality. We then propose the use of a genetic algorithm to discover sets of parameters that guarantee good floorplan quality. The optimized floorplanner rivals existing state of the art tools, proving the efficiency of our method.


PurposeThe aim of this retrospective clinical study is to investigate the pattern of synechial angle closure in a group of Hong Kong Chinese with chronic primary angle-closure glaucoma. MethodsThe anterior angle of the upper, lower, medial, and lateral quadrants of 84 eyes from Hong Kong Chinese patients with chronic primary angle-closure glaucoma were assessed by the same examiner using indentation gonioscopy. ResultsThe incidences of synechial angle closure at the superior, nasal, inferior, and temporal quadrants were 98% (83/84), 77% (65/84), 31% (26/84), and 94% (79/84), respectively. The Fisher exact test showed that the incidence of synechial angle closure at the superior quadrant was significantly higher than the nasal (P = 0.005) and inferior (P < 0.001) quadrants, but not the temporal quadrant (P = 0.07). ConclusionSynechial angle closure is circumferential with asymmetry in these Chinese patients with chronic primary angle-closure glaucoma. The superior and temporal quadrants of the anterior angle may be the earliest sites of the synechial angle closure. The anterior angle may close synechially at the superior and temporal quadrants with gradual extension on the nasal quadrant, until the angle may close at the inferior quadrant.


Incorporating significant editorial changes from earlier editions, the fourth edition of Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations is the definitive en face German-English version of the most important work of 20th-century philosophy The extensively revised English translation incorporates many hundreds of changes to Anscombe's original translation Footnoted remarks in the earlier editions have now been relocated in the text What was previously referred to as 'Part 2' is now republished as Philosophy of Psychology - A Fragment , and all the remarks in it are numbered for ease of reference New detailed editorial endnotes explain decisions of translators and identify references and allusions in Wittgenstein's original text Now features new essays on the history of the Philosophical Investigations , and the problems of translating Wittgenstein's text


Background Liver-derived insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) contributes bone formation. Decreased IGF-1 levels are common in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), but whether IGF-1 is related to sex and differ during the pathogenic progress of JIA is unknown. Objective The aim of this study was to examine IGF-1 levels in boys and girls with newly diagnosed JIA, with established JIA and in controls. Methods The study group included 131 patients from the Estonian population-based prevalence JIA study. Blood samples were obtained from 27 boys and 38 girls with early JIA (≤1 month from the diagnosis), 29 boys and 36 girls with established JIA (mean disease duration 18 months), and from 47 age- and sex-matched controls. Results IGF-1 levels in boys were significantly decreased in early JIA compared to male controls, while IGF-1 levels in girls were comparable between JIA and controls. In early JIA, IGF-1 levels were 12-fold lower in boys relative to girls. In controls, IGF-1 levels correlated with both age and height, while these correlations were lost in boys with early JIA. Conclusion We report a sex-dependent deficiency in serum IGF-1 in boys with early JIA, which argues for sex-related differences in biological mechanisms involved in the disease pathogenesis.


As a perspective to ensure the voltage and frequency electrical network stability, the load shedding constitutes a desirable action to maintain the network service quality and to control its vulnerability. In this paper, we propose a new intelligent load shedding strategy applying fuzzy control algorithms. This strategy is based on the estimate, in real time, of the load quantity to shed. Calculation algorithms containing fuzzy controllers generate command vectors ensuring the load shedding of a pre calculated proportion loads in order to reestablish the power balance and to lead the electrical network to a new stable condition.


Abstract. Activities about turbulence and gravity waves are crucial for the understanding of the dynamical processes in the lower atmosphere. Thus, this study presents the long-term variations of turbulence and their associations with the Richardson number Ri and gravity waves by using a high-resolution radiosonde dataset from Miramar Nas (32.8° N, 117.1° W). Seasonal cycles and lognormal distribution are the two main characteristics of turbulence. The amount of turbulence can be increased where Ri exceeds any critical value, which suggests that the threshold Ri may not be an optimal predictor of the existence of turbulence, whereas a low Ri can lead to large and abundant turbulent energy dissipation rates. In general, dissipation rates from the radiosonde quantitatively agree with results from the neighboring MST radar given by Nastrom and Easton (2005), whereas an encouraging argument is reached in terms of the diffusion rate. The propagating gravity waves in the lower atmosphere, especially in the middle troposphere and the tropopause regions, can reduce Ri. Therefore, enhanced turbulent mixing is expected. Other roles of gravity waves in turbulent flow are that breaking waves and the temporal variations of waves may be occasionally transferred to turbulence and can roughly estimate dissipation rates at different heights.


Our understanding of the Escherichia genus is heavily biased toward pathogenic or commensal isolates from human or animal hosts. Recent studies have recovered Escherichia isolates that persist, and even grow, outside these hosts. Although the environmental isolates are typically phylogenetically distinct, they are highly related to and phenotypically indistinguishable from their human counterparts, including for the coliform test. To gain insights into the genomic diversity of Escherichia isolates from diverse habitats, including freshwater, soil, animal, and human sources, we carried out comparative DNA-DNA hybridizations using a multi-genome E. coli DNA microarray. The microarray was validated based on hybridizations with selected strains whose genome sequences were available and used to assess the frequency of microarray false positive and negative signals. Our results showed that human fecal isolates share two sets of genes (n>90) that are rarely found among environmental isolates, including genes presumably important for evading host immune mechanisms (e.g., a multi-drug transporter for acids and antimicrobials) and adhering to epithelial cells (e.g., hemolysin E and fimbrial-like adhesin protein). These results imply that environmental isolates are characterized by decreased ability to colonize host cells relative to human isolates. Our study also provides gene markers that can distinguish human isolates from those of warm-blooded animal and environmental origins, and thus can be used to more reliably assess fecal contamination in natural ecosystems.


To explore the effects of different coated slow-release calcium peroxide on soil microbial characteristics in gleyed paddy field, we set seven treatments by simulation test in a greenhouse, including CK (none calcium peroxide), calcium peroxide powder, calcium peroxide particle and other four coated slow-release calcium peroxide treatments. Samples were collected in same tillering stage of early season rice. The results showed that all the applications of calcium peroxide could improve the concentrations of active soil organic carbon, soil available nutrients, soil microbial biomass, culturable microorganism population, as well as soil enzyme activity. The coated slow-release calcium peroxide had stronger effects than calcium peroxide particles and calcium peroxide powder. The calcium peroxide coated by ethyl cellulose was the most effective, which enhanced soil active organic carbon, soil microbial biomass carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus by 19.4%, 11.4%, 121.5% and 127.2%, soil alkaline hydrolysis nitrogen and available phosphorus by 4.0% and 45.5%, soil culturable bacteria and culturable microorganism population by 137.3% and 113.7%, fungi and actinomyces number were increased by 33.6% and 44.7%. The enzyme activities of invertase, phosphatase, urease as well as catalase were increased by 92.4%, 91.8%, 112.5% and 17.1%, respectively. The results could provide reference for improving gleyed paddy field with coated calcium peroxide.


There is agreement that French typically reading children use syllable-sized units to segment words. Although the statistical properties of the initial syllables or the clusters within syllable boundaries seem to be crucial for syllable segmentation, little is known about the role of consonant sonority in silent reading. In two experiments that used audio-visual and visual pseudoword recognition tasks with 300 French typically developing children, we showed a progressive increase in the use of syllable segmentation from the first through fifth years of reading instruction. The children were influenced both by an optimal 'sonorant coda–obstruent onset' sonority profile and by the individual position-dependent consonant sonority within syllable boundaries. Orthographic and phonological statistical properties did not clearly modulate the response patterns. We provide innovative data to help further understand the developmental course of the use of syllable segmentation as determined by sonority. We discuss our results in the light of linguistic principles.


Objective To explore the main bioactive compounds and investigate the underlying mechanism of Pollen Typhae (PT) against diabetic retinopathy (DR) by network pharmacology and molecular docking analysis. Methods Bioactive ingredients and the target proteins of PT were obtained from TCMSP, and the related target genes were acquired from the SwissTargetPrediction database. The target genes of DR were obtained from GeneCards, TTD database, DisGeNET database, and DrugBank. The compound-target interaction network was established based on Cytoscape 3.7.2. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed via STRING database and Cytoscape 3.7.2. Gene ontology (GO) analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis were visualized through DAVID database and Bioinformatics. Ingredient-gene-pathway network analysis was conducted to further screen the ingredients, target proteins, and pathways closely related to the biological mechanism on PT for DR, and molecular docking analysis was performed by SYBYL-X 2.1.1 software. Finally, the mechanism and underlying targets of PT in the treatment of DR were predicted. Results A total of 8 compounds and 171 intersection targets were obtained based on the online network database. 7 main compounds were screened from compound-target network, and 53 targets including the top six key targets (PTGS2, AKT1, VEGFA, MAPK3, TNF, and EGFR) were further acquired from PPI analysis. The 53 key targets covered 80 signaling pathways, among which PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, focal adhesion, Rap1 signaling pathway, VEGF signaling pathway, and HIF-1 signaling pathway were closely connected with the biological mechanism involved in the alleviation of DR by PT. Ingredient-gene-pathway network shows that AKTI, EGFR, and VEGFA were core genes, kaempferol and isorhamnetin were pivotal ingredients, and VEGF signaling pathway and Rap1 signaling pathway were closely involved in anti-DR. The docking results indicated that five main compounds (arachidonic acid, isorhamnetin, quercetin, kaempferol, and (2R)-5,7-dihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)chroman-4-one) had good binding activity with EGFR and AKT1 targets. Conclusion The active ingredients in PT may regulate the levels of inflammatory factors, suppress the oxidative stress, and inhibit the proliferation, migration, and invasion of retinal pericytes by acting on PTGS2, AKT1, VEGFA, MAPK3, TNF, and EGFR targets through VEGF signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, Rap1 signaling pathway, and HIF-1 signaling pathway to play a therapeutic role in diabetic retinopathy.


The maize sex determination pathway results in the arrest of stamen in ear spikelets and the abortion of pistils in both the tassel spikelets and in the secondary florets of ear spikelets. Arrested stamen cells showed no signs of DNA fragmentation, an absence of CYCLIN B expression, and an accumulation of the negative cell cycle regulator WEE1 RNA.


The development of advanced piezoelectric α‐quartz microelectromechanical system (MEMS) for sensing and precise frequency control applications requires the nanostructuration and on‐chip integration of this material on silicon material. However, the current quartz manufacturing methods are based on bonding bulk micromachined crystals on silicon, which limits the size, the performance, the integration cost, and the scalability of quartz microdevices. Here, chemical solution deposition, soft‐nanoimprint lithography, and top‐down microfabrication processes are combined to develop the first nanostructured epitaxial (100)α‐quartz/(100)Si piezoelectric cantilevers. The coherent Si/quartz interface and film thinness combined with a controlled nanostructuration on silicon–insulator–silicon technology substrates provide high force and mass sensitivity while preserving the mechanical quality factor of the microelectromechanical systems. This work proves that biocompatible nanostructured epitaxial piezoelectric α‐quartz‐based MEMS on silicon can be engineered at low cost by combining soft‐chemistry and top‐down lithographic techniques.


Pyridine (C 5 H 5 N) is being the simplest six-membered heterocycles, closely resembles its structure to benzene. The "N" in benzene ring has its high electronegativity influence on resonance environment and produces markedly different chemistry from its carbon ana - log. The presence of nitrogen and its lone pair in an aromatic environment makes pyri dine a unique substance in chemistry. The sp 2 lone pair orbital of "N," directed outward the ring skeleton, is well directed to have overlap with vacant metal orbital in producing an σ bonding interaction. This causes pyridine to be a ligand and has been utilized with all transition metals in producing the array of metal complexes. A rich literature of metal complexes is now available with pyridine and its derivatives. Innumerable complexes have been synthesized with academic as well as industrial importance. To shed a light on ligating capability of pyridine, transition metal complexes with pyridine, and its deriva tive is presented in this chapter.


The study assessed farmers' use and preference of extension communication channels in Benue State, Nigeria. A sample of 316 farmers was selected through a stratified random sampling technique and interview schedule was used in eliciting information from them. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analyses. Interpersonal communication channels were generally found to be more available, accessible and used by the farmers than the mass media to obtain information on improved farm technologies. Relatives/friends/neighbours constituted the most regularly available, accessible and used interpersonal channels although extension agents and television were mentioned by the farmers as the most preferred interpersonal channel and mass medium, respectively. Chi-square analysis shows that there is significant relationship between frequency of communication channels use by farmers and their educational level, sex, farm size and farming experience. It is recommended that rural radio booster stations and community rural television stations are established to feature special programmes targeted at rural farmers. To ensure regular availability and accessibility of extension agents (the farmers most preferred channel), efforts should be made to employ more extension agents.


Proposals to the change the Income Tax Act 1976 included amendments to exempt from taxation the distribution of certain capital gains when a company is being wound up. The expected method of the change will be through a redefinition of the term "dividend". The significance of the proposal is best understood in the context assessability of corporate distributions.


Background
One of the key professional standards for therapeutic radiography relates to the integration of theory with practice to ensure the physical and psychosocial well-being of patients with cancer. A recent (National Radiotherapy and Advisory Group (2005) report supports this and presents information from patient advocates stating that patients want improved psychological and emotional support before, during and after radiotherapy treatment.

Final year radiotherapy students at Cardiff University were introduced to concepts and theories related to the physical, social and psychological care of patients and tasked with composing and justifying a series of questions which were put to a panel of cancer survivors.

Outcomes
Student reflections and evaluations reported positive outcomes from the learning activity. All students involved reported that the activity was beneficial to their education in terms of meeting their learning outcomes for this component of the curriculum in relation to acquiring a better understanding of the needs of their patients. Issues raised by cancer survivors were acknowledged, with students stating an intention to change practice as a consequence of this new knowledge. The biggest impact on understanding was seen in relation to the needs of patient carers; 'I never give the carer a thought, In fact, I don't think many radiographers do!'

Ethical Issues
During discussions, some students became visibly upset. The context of the discussion was difficult for these students since all three had recently suffered bereavement or else had a family member who had received treatment for cancer. A trained counsellor (who is also a registered therapeutic radiographer) was involved in the sessions so immediate support was available for the students affected.

Q: Should this type of learning and teaching activity only be undertaken where there is robust access to specialised emotional support services or is access to the usual HEI student support services adequate?

Q: Although students could have chosen not to participate, should specific consent (over and above the usual consent for involvement in teaching activities) to this type of participation have been considered?

The members of the panel were volunteers from a local breast cancer support group and were long term survivors, having completed active treatment for their breast cancer more than 5 years previously. This prompted feedback from students that the panel's views may be outdated, making an assumption that service provision had improved. This issue had, however been discussed with the panel who acknowledged the point but suggested that for individuals who had more recent experience of cancer treatment, the issues may still be 'raw' and could cause distress.

Q: Is it ethical to ask cancer survivors with fewer years' post-treatment experience in order to ensure that issues are seen as relevant and topical by students or should the discussion include addressing the assumption that services have improved for cancer patients?

Conclusion
Higher education institutions are obliged to ensure that graduate therapeutic radiographers are equipped with the skills for autonomous practice, probity and empathy with the psychosocial and emotional needs of the cancer patient. This example illustrates how through the engagement of service users in the academic learning environment, strategies can be developed to provide the future cancer workforce with the skills required for the development of professional practice and improvement of service provision. However, with learning and teaching around such an emotive subject area, the availability for support for students and cancer survivors involved must be carefully considered.


Digital transformation offers tremendous opportunities for emerging economies like Turkey. However, the full potential of digital advancements can only be achieved with the widespread adoption of digital technologies, which depends on the capable delivery of information and communication technologies (ICT) and their effective usability. Despite increased Internet penetration rates in Turkey in recent years, disparities in Internet adoption continue to persist. This study investigates whether and to what extent key demographic and socioeconomic factors are associated with the first-level digital divide in Turkey. The phenomenon is discussed in three aspects: device access, Internet access, and Internet use. The findings demonstrate that the vast majority of people in Turkey have Internet-enabled devices, mainly smartphones. Age, income, and education are significant predictors of Internet access. However, even when access is available, large disparities exist among gender, age, income, education, and employment groups in terms of Internet use. Moreover, our findings reveal significant regional differences in both Internet access and use. The results point to the need for a more coherent vision on ICT policies such that the need for demand-side programs are intended to stimulate broadband adoption widely by those groups. This paper provides useful pointers that can facilitate further academic research and structural decisions among policy-makers, by emphasizing the high-priority target groups.


BACKGROUND
The basis of the treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy is the use of drugs that block the transmission of pain (antineuritics) and a good metabolic control of underlying disease.

AIM
To describe the outcomes of 17 type-2 diabetics with painful neuropathy, treated between 1988 and 2005 with symptomatic therapy plus intensified insulin.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Review of medical records of 17 type-2 diabetic patients, aged 63+/-11 years and a duration of diabetes of 15+/-8 years. All patients received intensified insulin therapy with 0.35 units/kg of NPH insulin (2/3 before breakfast and 1/3 evening meal), plus capillary glucose measurements and regular insulin (with sliding-scale centered in approximately 0.1 units/kg) before the 3 main meals. All patients were also treated with gabapentin, nortriptyline or clomipramine. Pain was assessed using a visual analog score of 10 points.

RESULTS
After 1 year, glycosilated hemoglobin decreased from 10.0+/-1.4% to 7.7+/-1.2% (p approximately =0.003). Pain decreased from 10 to 5.1+/-3.3 at one month, 2.3+/-3.2 at six months, and 3.1+/-3.6 at 1 year (p <0.01). There was a direct statistical correlation between the reduction of HbA1C and pain decline (r =0.736; p =0.037). Pain scores were lower than those reported elsewhere for Pregabalin (n =76; p =0.05), Lamotrigine (n =27; p <0.0005), Topiramate (n =208; p <0.005), and Gabapentin (n =84; p <0.025). The lack of difference to Sodium Valproate (n =21; p =0.07) had borderline significance.

CONCLUSIONS
The addition of intensified insulin therapy to the symptomatic treatment of painful neuropathy in type-2 diabetics, significantly enhanced the reduction of pain. The lowering of glycosilated hemoglobin was a significant predictor of success in pain reduction.


The G-quadruplex is a non-canonical DNA secondary structure formed by four DNA strands containing multiple runs of guanines. G-quadruplexes play important roles in DNA recombination, replication, telomere maintenance, and regulation of transcription. Small molecules that stabilize the G-quadruplexes alter gene expression in cancer cells. Here, we hypothesized that the G-quadruplexes regulate transcription in neurons. We discovered that pyridostatin, a small molecule that specifically stabilizes G-quadruplex DNA complexes, induced neurotoxicity and promoted the formation of DNA double–strand breaks (DSBs) in cultured neurons. We also found that pyridostatin downregulated transcription of the Brca1 gene, a gene that is critical for DSB repair. Importantly, in an in vitro gel shift assay, we discovered that an antibody specific to the G-quadruplex structure binds to a synthetic oligonucleotide, which corresponds to the first putative G-quadruplex in the Brca1 gene promoter. Our results suggest that the G-quadruplex complexes regulate transcription in neurons. Studying the G-quadruplexes could represent a new avenue for neurodegeneration and brain aging research.


PURPOSE
Permanent prostate brachytherapy often uses inert bio-absorbable spacers to achieve the desired geometric distribution of sources within the prostate. Transforming these spacers into implantable nanoplatforms for chemo-radiation therapy (INCeRT) provides a means of providing sustained in-situ release of radiosensitizers in the prostate to enhance the therapeutic ratio of the procedure. Olaparib, a PARP inhibitor, suppresses DNA repair processes present during low dose rate continuous irradiation. This work investigates the radiosensitizing/DNA damage repair inhibition by NanoOlaparib eluting nanospheres.

METHODS
Human cell line PC3 (from ATCC), was maintained in F12-k medium supplemented with fetal bovine serum. Clonogenic assay kit (from Fischer Scientific) was used to fix and stain the cells to determine the long term effects of irradiation. Nanoparticle size and zeta potential of nanospheres were determined using a Zeta particle size analyzer. The incorporation of Olaparib in nanospheres was evaluated by HPLC. Irradiation was performed in a small animal irradiator operating at 220 KeV. The long term effects of radio-sensitization with olaparib and nanoolaparib was determined using the clonogenic assay at 2 Gy and 4 Gy doses. The cells were allowed to grow for around 10 doubling cycles, The colonies were fixed and stained using clonogenic assay kit. The excess stain was washed off using DI water and the images were taken using a digital camera.

RESULTS
Radiosensitization studies were carried out in prostate cancer cell line, PC3 radiation at 0, 2 and 4Gy doses. Strongest dose response was observed with nanoolaparib treated cells compared to untreated cells.

CONCLUSION
A two stage drug release of drug eluting nanospheres from a biodegradable spacer has been suggested for sustained in-situ release of Olaparib to suppress DNA repair processes during prostate brachytherapy. The Olaparib eluting nanospheres had the same in-vitro radiosensitizing effect as free olaparib. DOD 1R21CA16977501, A. David Mazzone Awards Program 2012PD164.


ABSTRACT Halophytes are salt-tolerant plant that grows naturally in saline areas where almost all conventional crops die due to NaCl toxicity. The common ice plant, Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L., an annual halophyte native to South Africa, tolerates high salinity levels and accumulates NaCl in a shoot at a high level. To check the availability of the ice plant for desalinization of soils, we cultured the ice plant in soils collected from 16 sites located along coastal regions in the prefectures of Miyagi and Iwate, where were attacked by the tsunami disaster in the wake of the 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku on 11 March 2011. In the soils obtained from some tsunami affected areas, the growth was better than that in the non-contaminated soil. The factors associated with growth inhibition were suggested to be water ratio (an index of water content) and soil water permeability. The ice plant's estimated biological yield ranged from 0.33 to 14.6 kg m−2, equivalent to 2.3 to 101.7 t ha−1. The sum of Na+ and Cl− was about 9.5 g in the shoot (31.8% on a dry weight basis), and the estimated total amount of these ions removed from salinized soil was 2.38 t ha−1. These results indicated that the common ice plant could be used as a crop under salinity and a tool for ameliorating NaCl from salinized soils. Graphical Abstract


Background and aims: We sought a robust behavioural test that evoked increased anxiety-like behaviour during the late dioestrus phase of the oestrous cycle (similar to the premenstrual period in women) and tested whether this could be prevented by acute low-dose fluoxetine (FLX). Methods: Female Wistar rats in different stages of their cycle were exposed to four different tests of anxiety-like behaviour. Results: No oestrous cycle differences were detected in fear potentiated startle or conditioned freezing to an aversive context. In a light switch-off test where rats move from one compartment of a shuttle-box to the other to turn off an aversive light, females displayed enhanced responding in late dioestrus. During isolation restraint stress females in late dioestrus emitted three times more 22 kHz ultrasound vocalisations (USV) than at other cycle stages. Using the USV test, short-term administration of low-dose FLX (1.75 mg kg−1, i.p.) designed to blunt the sharp fall in brain allopregnanolone concentration during late dioestrus but without affecting 5-HT systems, prevented the increase in isolation stress-evoked USVs. Conclusions: The light switch-off and isolation restraint-induced USV tests evoke unconditioned adverse emotional responses that are ethologically relevant and sensitive to oestrous cycle stage. The USV test fulfils many criteria required of a model for premenstrual syndrome in women. Using the USV test, short-term administration of FLX to increase brain allopregnanolone concentration without affecting 5-HT systems prevented the increased USV responding in late dioestrus. Short-term low-dose FLX treatment may have potential to alleviate development of adverse premenstrual symptoms in women.


ABSTRACT:
 In plants, biomass allocation and rhizome morphological plasticity reflect different strategies of adaptation to the environment. The aims of this study were to explore the patterns of allocation to different components of the belowground system, and to evaluate the effects of environmental factors on the plasticity of biomass allocation and rhizome morphology. We conducted a survey of the clonal plant, Scirpus planiculmis, in the Momoge wetland in northeastern China. Samples were collected at three sites. Site I is the washland of a seasonal lake. Site II is a permanent lake. Site III belongs to the bank of a recessive river. The average number of sampled plants was 686.25±91.61 per site. We determined the biomass of different plant parts (aboveground part, root, tuber, rhizome) and measured parameters of rhizome morphology (specific rhizome length, average rhizome diameter). Edaphic factors (soil moisture content, organic matter, available phosphorus, available potassium, pH, electrical conductivity) were included as environmental variables. Differences in biomass allocation patterns were analyzed and multiple regression analyses were used to construct a model. The results showed that the structure of the belowground system varied significantly among the three sites. (1) The tubers accounted for the largest share of biomass in plants at site I; (2) plants at site III showed significantly longer rhizomes than those of plants at site II, while the plants at site II showed larger rhizome diameter; (3) pH was the crucial factor affecting biomass allocation and rhizome morphology, and was negatively correlated with root biomass of S. planiculmis. Based on these results, we concluded that: (1) greater resource allocation to the storage organ (tuber) reflects a conservative strategy to avoid damage and to maintain the potential for recolonization in a frequently disturbed habitat; (2) the morphological plasticity of the rhizome increases the ability of the clone to acquire resources. Shorter rhizomes enable rapid colonization of the habitat and efficient resource use under strong competition pressure, while longer rhizomes are useful to explore new habitats when local resources are insufficient. Our results suggest that ecological niche of S. planiculmis should be reconsidered. It may be more appropriate to classify S. planiculmis as a facultative salt-alkali plant, although a degree of tolerance to salinity and alkalinity is important for the initial formation of a population.


Vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) is an important design consideration for marine risers in offshore drilling and production. In an effort to better understand the VIVphenomena, we present numerical simulation results for two-dimensional incompressible flow past freely-vibrating multi-cylinder configurations found in offshore engineering. Of interest is the response of the structure for low mass ratio, low damping, and high Reynolds number flow conditions. The governing incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are numerically solved and time-integrated using a local-analytic-based discretization procedure, implemented in conjunction with overset (Chimera) grid capabilities for zonal-based resolution of the flow field.


Fungal species involved in Esca cause the formation of grapevine wood necroses. It results in the deterioration of vascular network transport capacity and the disturbance of the physiological processes, leading to gradual or sudden grapevine death. Herein, for two consecutive growing seasons, a detailed analysis of the structural (wood necrosis and leaf discoloration) and physiological parameters related to the water use of healthy and esca-symptomatic grapevines was conducted. Measurements were carried out on 17-year-old grapevines that expressed, or not, Esca-leaf symptoms in a vineyard of the Bordeaux region (France). Whole-plant transpiration was recorded continuously from pre-veraison to harvest, using noninvasive sap flow sensors. Whole-plant transpiration was systematically about 40–50% lower in Esca-diseased grapevines compared with controls, and this difference can be observed around 2 weeks before the first Esca-foliar symptoms appeared in the vineyard. Unlike grapevine sap flow disruption, structural (e.g., leaf discolorations), functional (e.g., stomatal conductance, photosynthetic activity, phenolic compounds), and genetic (e.g., expression of leaf-targeted genes) plant responses were only significantly impacted by Esca at the onset and during leaf symptoms development. We conclude that sap flow dynamic, which was related to a high level of a white-rot necrosis, provides a useful tool to predict plant disorders due to Esca-grapevine disease.


Recently the authors developed an atmospheric-pressure glow discharge plasma method which can be applied to surface treatment and deposition on insulating surfaces for purposes of large-scale system treatment. However, this method was not able to treat metallic substrates. Consequently, they have improved the upper electrode to enable metal substrates to be treated. Some organic films were polymerised by the atmospheric-pressure method. Comparison of results from the atmospheric-pressure glow plasma method with those obtained by the low-pressure glow plasma method showed no differences in the chemical structures of plasma-polymerised films.


According to QCD the quark structure of the nucleon spin within the \textit{twist-2} approximation is parameterized by eight transverse-momentum-dependent (TMD) parton distribution functions (PDFs). The PDFs describe the distributions of longitudinal and transverse momenta of partons and their correlations with nucleon and quark polarizations and can be accessed through measurement of spin (in)dependent azimuthal asymmetries in semi-inclusive DIS (SIDIS) and Drell-Yan processes.
The COMPASS experiment at CERN, as part of its programme, addresses the exploration of the spin structure of the nucleon by measuring spin (in)dependent azimuthal asymmetries in semi-inclusive DIS and, recently, also in Drell-Yan processes. Between 2002 and 2011 COMPASS performed a series of SIDIS measurements, using a longitudinally polarized muon beam impinging on longitudinally and transversely polarized $^6LiD$ or $NH_3$ targets. Drell-Yan measurements with a $\pi^-$ beam interacting with a transversely polarized $NH_3$ target started with the 2015 run and will be continued in 2018. The measurement of the Sivers and other azimuthal asymmetries at practically the same hard scale in polarized SIDIS and Drell-Yan provides a unique possibility to test predicted in QCD (pseudo-)universal features of transverse-momentum-dependent parton distribution functions.

The main focus of this review is set on the first ever polarized Drell-Yan measurements performed by COMPASS and on the recent results obtained for target longitudinal and transverse spin dependent SIDIS asymmetries.


The effects of dissipation and quantum fluctuations on the onset of superconductivity are discussed. A model for a granular superconductor is considered which consists of a d-dimensional array of resistively shunted Josephson junctions with charging energy incorporating the long-ranged Coulomb interaction. In one dimension the model exhibits a T = 0 dynamical transition into a state with vanishing resistivity at a critical value of the shunt resistance, R/sub S/. Most surprisingly the system is always statically disordered even in the superconducting state. For dgreater than or equal to2 both the dynamical response and static ordering depend sensitively on R/sub S/. Specifically, for R/sub S/ less than a critical value of order the quantum of resistance, h/4e/sup 2/, the dissipation suppresses quantum fluctuations enabling the array to order at T = 0 for arbitrarily weak Josephson coupling. Above this critical resistance and for weak coupling, the order parameter suffers phase slips due to quantum tunneling driving the system normal.


A new methodology using the theory of variable structure systems is developed for accurate tracking control of robotic manipulators. The proposed method, based on a sliding mode controller, produces a discontinuity control input so that the nonlinear interactions and influence caused by unknown parameter variations can be depressed whereas the resulting control law is simple and easy to apply to on-line computer control. The digital simulation results of a three-degree-of-freedom manipulator show the validity of accurate tracking capability and robust performance of the system with the developed control scheme.


This paper discusses about educational communication, particularly in teaching and learning process. Teaching and learning is a dymanic educative interaction process between educators and educatees. Building communication in teaching and learning constitutes an important medium to realize an effective teaching and learning. Effective communication has significant impact on the successful goal achievement. Communication can be said as effective when there is two-way flow of information between communicator and communicant, and this information is equally responded to as expected by both of them. An effective communication is characterized by a good interpersonal relationship. When an effective communication takes place between teachers and educatees during teaching and learning, then it is a successful teaching and learning process. Communication in teaching and learning is highly complex in nature since it involves paedagogical, psychological, and didactical aspects. The paedagogical aspect refers to the fact that teaching and learning take place in an educational environment. Therefore, teachers are demanded to accompany their students to successfully learn and accomplish their competences. The psychological aspect refers to the fact tha students have varied development extents and these require varied materials to be taught, including various varieties in learning, ranging from learning concepts, learning attitudes and learning motoric skills. Finally, the didactic aspect refers to the operational stage of student classroom management in attending the teaching and learning activity. Teaching and learning are said to be effective when the teaching and learning process produces good products, be it the products of instructional effect and nurturant effect. The product of nurturant effect has wider impact as outcome; this nurturant effect is thought as more important as compared to the instructional effect.


Digital technologies and processes have been used to generate architectural form for over two decades. Recent advances in digital technologies have allowed virtual digital environments to be constructed from physical movement. But can a bridge that connects the physical and virtual realms be developed? Can this, currently arbitrary form making be grounded in human activity and subsequently be integrated in to real time, space, and place.
This research asks how space generated from the process of digital morphogenesis can be related to meaning beyond just the creation of form. Existing research asks how new form can be discovered, or what material and structural possibilities can be derived from form, through these morphological processes. The aim of this research project is to complete the loop, physical–virtual–physical, and to connect these digital processes to meaning through human activity. Its aim is to discover the consequences of generated spatial envelopes that are manipulated through digital morphogenesis and related to specific human activity, in the pursuit of possibilities for a digitally generated architecture that is socially engaged. This is not random form finding, wherein architecture tries to imitate biological processes or form, but form finding that is connected to a primary architectural concern, how is the architecture being used by humans.


A list is given of ants known to occur in Florida. Except for widespread species the known distribution by counties is recorded. Species which require further study are listed in an appendix. This list is preliminary to a book which will treat fully the ant fauna of the state.


A detailed analysis is presented of the absorption of energy from a thin-film dielectric waveguide by an absorbing medium that is brought into contact with one wall of the dielectric guide. It is shown that the exponential decay constant for the mode of the guide so obtained can closely approach that obtained for the free wave in the absorbing medium alone. The dependence of the attenuation on the guide parameters is examined and means for overcoming some of the problems imposed by the guidance process are discussed. It is concluded that the techniques can offer greatly enhanced sensitivity over the conventional internal-reflection spectroscopy and yet retain the attractive features of small sample volume and easy sample preparation. The technique also offers the possibility of constructing microscopic probes for the examination of spectra in otherwise inaccessible places.


This study analyzed the writing style of Manuel Arguilla in 'How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife' in order to propose guidelines for describing writing style. The use of structural grammar helped describe the stylistic functions of words; the nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs; sentences; sentence length, structures, patterns, and voice; and local color: nativist diction. These features were identified, counted, and tabulated to describe the writing style of Manuel Arguilla. Hence, the writing styles revealed are vivid, jaunty, direct, smooth-flowing, and precise. The findings of the study and the effects of these linguistic features were the basis to come up with proposed guidelines for analyzing a writing style of an author. Based on the findings the conjunctions, the rhetorical type of sentences, and the other elements of local color are recommended for further analysis of styles.