The exhumation mechanism of high‐pressure (HP) and ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) eclogites formed by the subduction of oceanic crust (hereafter referred to as oceanic eclogites) is one of the primary uncertainties associated with the subduction factory. The phase relations and densities of eclogites with MORB compositions are modelled using thermodynamic calculations over a P–T range of 1–4 GPa and 400–800 °C, respectively, in the NCKFMASHTO (Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3) system. Our modelling suggests that the mineral assemblages, mineral proportions and density of oceanic crust subducted along a cold P–T path are quite different from those of crust subducted along a warm P–T path, and that the density of oceanic eclogites is largely controlled by the stability of low‐density hydrous minerals, such as lawsonite, chlorite, glaucophane and talc. Along a cold subduction P–T path with a geotherm of ~6 °C km−1, lawsonite is always present at 1.1 to >4.0 GPa, and chlorite, glaucophane and talc can be stable at pressures of up to 2.3, 2.6 and 3.6 GPa respectively. Along such a P–T path, the density of subducted oceanic crust is always lower than that of the surrounding mantle at depths shallower than 110–120 km (< 3.3–3.6 GPa). However, along a warm subduction P–T path with a geotherm of ~10 °C km−1, the P–T path is outside the stability field of lawsonite, and the hydrous minerals of chlorite, epidote and amphibole break down completely into dry dense minerals at relatively lower pressures of 1.5, 1.85 and 1.9 GPa respectively. Along such a warm subduction P–T path, the subducted oceanic crust becomes denser than the surrounding mantle at depths >60 km (>1.8 GPa). Oceanic eclogites with high H2O content, oxygen fugacity, bulk‐rock XMg [ = MgO/(MgO + FeO)], XAl [ = Al2O3/(Al2O3 + MgO + FeO)] and low XCa [ = CaO/(CaO + MgO + FeO + Na2O)] are likely suitable for exhumation, which is consistent with the bulk‐rock compositions of the natural oceanic eclogites on the Earth's surface. On the basis of natural observations and our calculations, it is suggested that beyond depths around 110–120 km oceanic eclogites are not light enough and/or there are no blueschists to compensate the negative buoyancy of the oceanic crust, therefore explaining the lack of oceanic eclogites returned from ultradeep mantle (>120 km) to the Earth's surface. The exhumed light–cold–hydrous oceanic eclogites may have decoupled from the top part of the sinking slab at shallow depths in the forearc region and are exhumed inside the serpentinized subduction channel, whereas the dense–hot–dry eclogites may be retained in the sinking slab and recycled into deeper mantle.


The objective of our research is to investigate the dose-response relationship of the lethal and mutagenic effects of exposure of cells to radon and its decay products. Dose rate dependence and the nature of the DNA lesion will be studied, using the thymidine kinase and HPRT loci to measure mutation frequency. A deficiency in DNA repair is shown to lead to a greater proportion of mutants with intergenic lesions. The cytotoxic effects of radon and its daughters are similar in human TK6 lymphoblasts and mouse L5178Y lymphoblasts, the cell line used in previous experiments. The results of molecular analysis of four spontaneous and 25 X-radiation induced HPRT{sup {minus}} mutants. Eleven radon-induced HPRT{sup {minus}} mutants have been isolated, and will be analyzed in a similar fashion. 9 figs.


Background Ethiopia is currently implementing an Appointment Spacing Model (ASM) for ART. A study conducted in 6 hospitals that piloted ASM showed that 51% of eligible clients declined ASM. Studies conducted on ASM have focused on its benefits, not factors determining its utilization. This study aimed to identify determinants of ASM non-utilization. Objective To identify determinants of ASM non-utilization among stable ART clients. Methods An unmatched case–control study was conducted among 194 cases and 194 controls: consecutively selected stable clients on anti-retroviral therapy (ART) at four public health facilities in Jimma town. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and observation techniques using semi-structured questionnaire and observation checklist. EpiData version 3.1 and SPSS version 23 were respectively used for data entry and analysis. Descriptive statistics, logistic regression, adjusted odds ratio and 95% CI were used to summarize descriptive data, identify determinants of ASM non-utilization, measure the strength of statistical association, and declare the statistical significance respectively. Results With 100% response rate, predictors of ASM non-utilization were residing in urban areas (AOR=2.61, 95% CI: 1.10–6.18), fear regarding drug safety (AOR=3.19, 95% CI: 1.56–6.54), duration of ART (<5 years) (AOR=2.45, 95% CI: 1.17–5.16), need for frequent checkups (AOR=2.70, 95% CI: 1.29–5.61), poor understanding of ASM (AOR=3.15, 95% CI: 1.54–6.43), high perceived difficulties of engagement in ASM (AOR=10.13, 95% CI: 4.31–23.84), perceived presence of high opportunistic cost (AOR=3.34, 95% CI: 1.64–6.83), low self-efficacy (AOR=7.44, 95% CI: 3.16–17.46), recent history of opportunistic infection (AOR=3.34, 95% CI: 1.64–6.83), absence of competing family activities (AOR=4.39, 95% CI: 2.05–9.44) and stigma (AOR=2.85, 95% CI: 1.39–5.81). Conclusion The majority of factors affecting ASM non-utilization were behavioral and community related, which can be addressed by health education both at client and community level and additionally, by training service providers to address factors connected with the provision of service. Qualitative study and impact assessment on client retention are recommended for further research.


The terms "agglomerate" and "aggregate" are widely used by powder technologists to describe assemblages of particles that are found in dry powders and powders in liquid suspensions. Each term has a specific meaning but, unfortunately, they are frequently interchanged at will and this has resulted in universal confusion. This confusion is perpetuated by conflicting definitions in national and international standards and this presents problems when describing powder properties or communicating results in reports and research papers. This paper reviews the current status of the definitions, with particular emphasis on their use in the pharmaceutical industry. It is proposed that just one term, agglomerate, should be used to describe an assemblage of particles in a powder and that the term aggregate should be confined to pre-nucleation structures.


Modern law firms are professional business organizations in which teamwork and problem solving skills are highly valued. Law graduates as workers in modern law firms need to be able to solve problems on their own but also as part of a team. Law schools need to respond to this reality by integrating teamwork into the syllabus Student Written-Instructor Facilitated (SWIF) case learning is vehicle for team projects that achieves multiple, sophisticated learning outcomes which, when combined with a signatory code (a team contracting device), minimizes the free rider or social loafing problem often found in student group work (Bailey, Sass, Swiercz, Seal, and Kayes, 2005). Originally designed for management education, this paper outlines the UCD experience of adapting the SWIF process for legal education, in conjunction with the signatory code, it supports the teaching of corporate governance to postgraduate students. Research results from the analysis of student reflections on the process speak to the efficacy of this teaching methodology for blending research skills, analytical skills and legal reasoning with a genuine team experience.


Differentiating white adipose tissue from presumptive and developing fat pads of newborn and young rats was fixed in buffered osmium tetroxide, embedded in Vestopal W, and examined in an electron microscope. Pre-adipose cells were found to be fibroblasts characterized by their spindle shape, long tenuous cytoplasmic extensions, and profuse endoplasmic reticulum. The developmental stages traced from fibroblast to mature adipose cell show a gradual change in cell shape, an accumulation of cytoplasm and non-membrane-bounded lipid, a decrease in the endoplasmic reticulum, and a change in shape of mitochondria. Transitory glycogen appears at mid-differentiation. Numerous smooth-membraned vesicles occur in the cytoplasm throughout differentiation. Pinocytosis is constantly evident. Cells of the multilocular stage are shown to differ from brown fat cells, particularly with respect to cytoplasmic membrane systems and mitochondria. No transport of particulate lipid from the lumen of the capillary to, or within, the adipose cell was detected, nor could any cell organelle be demonstrated to be visibly related to lipid synthesis and/or deposition.


Once a decision to induce a postdate pregnancy is reached, the likelihood of achieving a vaginal delivery can be predicted by the Bishop or pelvic score and the willingness or lack thereof to commit to sequential inductions. Cesarean delivery rates will be significantly increased if an amniotomy is performed in the woman with an unfavorable cervix. Accordingly, we advocate sequential induction of the postdate pregnancy in the absence of other maternal or fetal mandates for imminent delivery. A host of oxytocin induction protocols exist and are acceptable, as are guidelines for what constitutes an adequate labor pattern. Although an increasing number of agents are available for cervical ripening, for the foreseeable future dilute intravenous oxytocin will remain the labor induction agent of choice.


Testing is a necessary, but non-value-added operation. Test methods that are internal, and can reduce the capital required to produce a specified level of quality will be critical to reducing the cost of test. As such, methods such as internal scan, boundary scan, and BIST will reduce the requirements for capital intensive external test equipment, and evidence and experience have shown can reduce the cost of testing. It is possible to add value to the test function by either extending its definition and role out to the final customer or to the customer's customers. In this way, test can become part of the design criteria and functional features that are provided to the end customer. System level implementations of boundary scan are some new examples of how this can be achieved. The role of the test engineer must change to facilitate the need for DFM and value added system level implementations. The test engineer needs to become part designer, part customer advocate, part team leader, and part accountant to integrate the role and benefit of all these new technologies.


Asbuton (aspal Buton) is a vast natural asphalt reserve owned by Indonesia and located on the island of Buton. This substance was composed of bitumen and minerals. Bitumen is the major ingredient used as an adhesive in the construction of roads. Because Asbuton bitumen is tightly bonded to the mineral calcite, a suitable diluent is required for the process of releasing the bitumen. The purpose of this research is to compare the recovery percentage of Asbuton bitumen using kerosene or diesel as a diluent. The choice of kerosene and diesel diluents in this investigation was based on Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) analysis, which revealed the proximity of the kerosene and diesel functional groups to Asbuton bitumen. The first stage is to conduct a viscosity analysis by dissolving Asbuton bitumen and diluent in a ratio of 30:70, 40:60, 50:50, 60:40, and 70:30 (%, w/w) at temperatures of 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 °C. According to the results of the experiments, the viscosity of the combination of bitumen Asbuton – diesel oil/kerosene with range 0.5–2 Pas is related to the optimal percentage removal of bitumen in both diluents. This result indicates that the separation process was carried out at a temperature of 50–90 °C, with an Asbuton-diesel oil/kerosene ratio of 50:50 and 40:60 (%, w/w), respectively. The best bitumen separation results were obtained with kerosene as a diluent, with a removal percentage of 76.30% at a temperature of 90 °C and a ratio of 40:60 (%, w/w).


We present laboratory rotational spectroscopy of five isomers of cyanoindene (2-, 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-cyanoindene) using a cavity Fourier transform microwave spectrometer operating between 6 and 40 GHz. Based on these measurements, we report the detection of 2-cyanoindene (1H-indene-2-carbonitrile; 2- C9H7CN ) in GOTHAM line survey observations of the dark molecular cloud TMC-1 using the Green Bank Telescope at centimeter wavelengths. Using a combination of Markov Chain Monte Carlo, spectral stacking, and matched filtering techniques, we find evidence for the presence of this molecule at the 6.3σ level. This provides the first direct observation of the ratio of a cyano-substituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon to its pure hydrocarbon counterpart, in this case indene, in the same source. We discuss the possible formation chemistry of this species, including why we have only detected one of the isomers in TMC-1. We then examine the overall hydrocarbon:CN-substituted ratio across this and other simpler species, as well as compare to those ratios predicted by astrochemical models. We conclude that while astrochemical models are not yet sufficiently accurate to reproduce absolute abundances of these species, they do a good job at predicting the ratios of hydrocarbon:CN-substituted species, further solidifying -CN tagged species as excellent proxies for their fully symmetric counterparts.


Context: Patients with thalassaemia are at risk of infections such as hepatitis C virus (HCV) due to their repeated blood transfusions; meanwhile, the treatment of thalassaemia patients who had developed HCV infection is a controversial issue. Aims: Although the effectiveness of direct-acting antivirals on HCV infection has been confirmed, their side-effects as well as effects on haematological factors due to the resultant need for blood transfusion remain to be further understood. Materials and Methods: In this study, 61 patients with major beta thalassaemia and HCV infection, and who had a history of interferon treatment failure were examined. The patients underwent a 24-week treatment with sofosbuvir (SOF) and daclatasvir (DAC). Sustained virological response 12 was used to assess response to treatment. At the end of the study, the need for blood transfusion and serum ferritin was evaluated. Results: About 98.4% of the patients responded to the treatment, and only one patient with genotype 1b did not respond positively. No significant complications necessitating treatment cessation were observed, and all the patients tolerated the treatment well. The level of liver enzymes showed a significant reduction 12 weeks after the treatment. The need for blood transfusions in patients before treatment was averagely 1.595 ± 0.65 bag per month, in which 1.593 ± 0.64 bags were received after treatment (P = 0.9). This regimen did not affect the amount of anaemia in patients and did not differentiate the need for blood transfusions. The rate of haemoglobin before treatment was 9.5 ± 1.42 g/dl, which reached 9.6 ± 1.6 g/dl after treatment (P = 0.54). Ferritin levels decreased significantly (from 1948.08 ± 1539.54 to 1315.73 ± 1207.67 ng/ml) (P = 0.001) in the patients after the treatment. Conclusion: Combination of SOF and DAC is an effective and tolerable treatment regimen without affect on the amount of anaemia in patients and did not differentiate the need for blood transfusions.


The recent results from Super-Kamiolrande atmospheric and solar neutrino observations opens a new era in neutrino physics and has spa.rlred a considerable interest in the physics possibilities with a Neutrino Factory based on the muon storage ring. We present physics opportunities at a Neutrino Factory, and prospects of Neutrino oscillation experiments. Using the precisely known flavor composition of the beam, one could envision an extensive program to measure the neutrino oscillation mixing matrix, including possible CP violating effects. These and Neutrino Interaction Rates for examples of a Neutrino Factory at BNL (and FNAL) with detectors at Gran Sasso, SLAC and Sudan are also presented.


We report a robust method for the facet-controlled synthesis of nanocrystals with an ultrathin shell made of a nearly equimolar RuRhPdPt quaternary alloy. Our strategy involves the use of well-defined Rh cubic seeds, halide-free precursors, and a method for precisely controlling the reaction kinetics of different precursors. In the setting of dropwise addition, the precursors with different reactivities can be reduced at about the same pace for the generation of an alloy with a uniform and well-controlled composition. The core-shell nanocubes show greatly enhanced activity toward ethanol oxidation when benchmarked against Pd and Pt counterparts. Combining in situ and ex situ electron microscopy studies, we also demonstrate that the core-shell nanocubes possess good thermal and electrochemical stability in terms of both geometrical shape and elemental composition, with their cubic shape and alloy composition retained when annealing at 500 °C or after long-term electrochemical cycling. It is expected that the synthetic approach can be further extended to fabricate multimetallic catalysts with enhanced activities toward a variety of thermal and electrochemical reactions.


Controlled clinical trials indicate that amifostine (WR-2721, Ethyol) confers protection from the cumulative hematologic toxicities associated with alkylating agents and organoplatinums. To determine whether amifostine protects primitive hematopoietic progenitors from the cytotoxicity of functionally diverse antineoplastics, formation of the multipotent hematopoietic progenitors colony-forming units-granulocyte-erythroid, macrophage, megakaryocyte (CFU-GEMM) and erythroid burst-forming units (BFU-E) was evaluated using a clonogenic progenitor inhibition assay. Bone marrow mononuclear cells from normal donors were subjected to a 15-minute exposure of medium, amifostine (500 micromol/L), or WR-1065 (100 micromol/L at concentrations approximating peak plasma levels, washed twice, then treated with the antineoplastic for 1 to 6 hours. Colony growth was scored after 14 days of incubation. Amifostine conferred protection against a broader range of antineoplastics than did WR-1065. Amifostine protected CFU-GEMM against cytotoxicity from daunorubicin, mitoxantrone, and paclitaxel (range, 1.29- to 9.57-fold) (P < .05) but did not afford protection against cisplatin, diaziquone, or thiotepa. Similarly, amifostine protected BFU-E against toxicity from doxorubicin, mitoxantrone, paclitaxel, cisplatin, and diaziquone, yielding 3.4- to 65-fold greater colony recovery compared with controls. The high degree of cytoprotection afforded by amifostine derived largely from stimulation of progenitor growth at sublethal chemotherapy concentrations. In the absence of antineoplastic exposure, preincubation with amifostine or WR-1065 enhanced the colony-forming capacity of bone marrow progenitors from six normal donors, increasing recovery of CFU-GEMM and BFU-E up to sevenfold. We conclude that amifostine protects primitive hematopoietic progenitors from a wide range of antineoplastics. This broad hemoprotective effect derives in part from inherent trophic effects on progenitor growth and survival.


Permanent settlement on the surface of planets like the Moon and Mars is anticipated to be beneficial for long-duration exploration missions. The space agencies have developed several plans, along with other commercial partners, to build operational stations on such planetary bodies, which will be economical and resourceful to execute further missions into deep space. Therefore, the real integration of an advanced manufacturing technique is essentially a matter of further research to design and deliver critical subsystems utilising in-situ resources available on the surface of Mars. The Additive Manufacturing (AM) technique is becoming increasingly promising for developing complex structures by depositing multiple consecutive layers, unlike specific moulds required in the conventional manufacturing process. Therefore, to assess the feasibility of 3D printing with local resources technically, a recently developed artificial Mars soil simulant known as Jining Martian Soil Simulant (JMSS-1) has been processed to formulate clay useful for the extrusion 3D printing process. The developed Martian clay has been fabricated, characterised, and its dielectric properties measured at high frequencies for the first time. A stable aqueous clay has been developed containing less organics (< 10 wt% versus typically 30–40 wt%), which is amenable to resource-efficient 3D printing. A range of solid and porous structures of various shapes and sizes have been fabricated using a custom-developed material extrusion 3D printing system. The 3D printed artificial Martian clay sintered for 2 hours at 1100°C exhibited relative permittivity (εr) = 4.52, dielectric loss (tanδ) = 0.0015, quality factor (Q × f) = 7039 GHz. TCf = −19; and demonstrated similar properties at higher frequencies. This work demonstrates the progress in clay additive manufacturing and illustrates the potential to deliver components with functional properties through a "Powder to Product" holistic approach that can support long-term space exploration by utilising local resources available on Mars.


Gercus Formation is exposed in northern Iraq. When the passive Arabian continental margin collided with the active continental margin of the Turkish and Iranian plates, a part of the source rocks of Gercus red beds were carried out from Iran and Turkey territories and deposited in the molasses trough, parallel to the suture zone of the collision, and the others were driving from the longitudinal paleo-high lying parallel to the trough basin of Gercus Formation. The present study is based on three surface sections, Bekhme, Sarsank and Amadiya areas in Northern Iraq. Generally, the Gercus Formation consists of reddish brown to light grey, well bedded sandstones and mudstones in addition to thin beds of conglomerates. The most of sandstone particles are composed of polycrystalline and monocrystalline quartz (of metamorphic and plutonic origin), K and Na – feldspar (derived from igneous and metamorphic source rocks), and chert grains of sedimentary source. Carbonate and other rock fragments with low ratio of mica group and heavy minerals (magnetite and rutile) are present too. The sandstones of Gercus Formation, generally contain low-moderate quantities of clay as matrix in all sections, therefore, they are texturally immature. On the other hand, the low ratio of quatrz and chert to feldspar and other components indicates to mineralogically immature sandstones. According to McBride classification, it is sublith arenite Lithic arenite sandstone. Petrographic analysis of sandstones in Bekhme section revealed that it consist of variable amount of detritus, represented by the abundance of quartz and chert rock fragments with low content of feldspar, and at Sarsank and Amadiya sections, the Gercus sandstones are characterized by the abundant chert rock fragments with high percentage of metamorphic rock fragments. So they lay in the recycled provenance source of collision orogen.


The electron kinetics is studied in a degenerate conductor heated due to absorption of a high-frequency field localised in the skin layer. The nonlocal heat transfer by electrons is described under conditions when the spatial inhomogeneity scale of the electron distribution is larger than the electron momentum relaxation length, but is smaller than the square root of the product of the electron momentum and energy relaxation lengths.


INTRODUCTION AND AIMS
There has been debate about which type of measurement instrument gives the best alcohol consumption estimates. This study used alcohol consumption data for a simulated population to compare the last drinking occasion (LDO) method against the true alcohol consumption. The LDO method requires respondents to indicate the quantity consumed at the LDO, and this information is used to calculate population estimates.

DESIGN AND METHODS
We simulated three hypothetical distributions of alcohol consumption, each with different underlying drinking patterns and each representing an idealised example of the distribution of alcohol consumption in Norway, Russia and France under specified conditions. We investigated the level of agreement between LDO consumption and the within-person average consumption, and the expected bias that arises when parameters of interest such as means, percentiles, exceedance proportions, differences in group means, correlation and regression coefficients, attributable fractions, and estimated disease risk functions, are calculated from LDO consumption.

RESULTS
Severe bias was found when LDO consumption was used to calculate common parameters of interest in alcohol and health research. The bias is caused by poor agreement between consumption at the LDO and the within-person 'true' or average consumption. The asymptotically expected bias is particularly problematic because it is unpredictable in terms of direction and magnitude, it varies across groups and populations, and it is probably impossible to adjust for.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Future data collections should avoid relying on the LDO method as a measure of typical alcohol consumption, despite its ease of administration. [Østhus S, Brunborg GS. Why the 'last drinking occasion' approach to measuring alcohol consumption should be avoided. Drug Alcohol Rev 2015;34:549-58].


The papers on the Pre-Cambrian Rocks of St. David's which I communicated to the Geological Society in the years 1876, 1878, and 1879, gave the facts concerning those rocks so far as they were then known. Since then I have revisited that district on several occasions, and have been able to obtain very much additional information in regard to them. Most of this has proved highly confirmatory of my previous conclusions, and it has shown that all the main points insisted upon in those papers are correct. Some of the evidence has tended, however, to cause me to adopt minor modifications of the views expressed; but this is only what I was quite prepared to expect, as further researches were being prosecuted in this and other areas. The growth of the question, so fraught with difficulties at first from its novelty and from the want of that special knowledge which time and experience alone can give, has been, I readily confess, "a process of development during a course of years." Of this I am not in the slightest degree ashamed; for as my sole object has been to arrive at the truth concerning these rocks, I have always been anxious to correct errors when made clear, as the result of fuller information, and also when they have been pointed out at any time by those whose special experience enabled them to do so. The additional information now submitted has been gradually accumulated since my last paper was read in 1879;


Protein S is a vitamin K-dependent anticoagulant and has a central role in the regulation of coagulation. The mechanism of action of protein S has been one of the least understood amongst the vitamin K-dependent coagulation proteins. A deficiency of protein S predisposes to recurrent thromboembolism and fetal loss. Here we report a case of protein S deficiency in a 28- year-old pregnant woman, who had a history of complete abortion at 22 of weeks of gestation and her 2nd pregnancy was managed properly with a successful fetal outcome. Birdem Med J 2016; 6(2): 134-135


Schooling matters. The authors' professional pursuits for over twenty-five years have been focused on measuring one key aspect of schooling: the curriculum - what students are expected to study and what they spend their time studying. This documents their conviction that schools and schooling play a vital and defining role in what students know and are able to do with respect to mathematics and science. This research examines seventeen international studies of mathematics and science to provide a nuanced comparative education study. Whilst including multiple measures of students' family and home backgrounds, these studies measure the substance of the curriculum students study which has been shown to have a strong relationship with student performance. Such studies have demonstrated the interrelatedness of student background and curriculum. Student background influences their opportunities to learn and their achievements, yet their schooling can have even greater significance.


PURPOSE
We examined the effects of treadmill-running training on the induction of aberrant crypt foci (ACF), which is the first step of colon cancer induction, in the colonic mucosa of rats injected with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH).

METHODS
Four-week-old F344 rats (N = 38) were randomly assigned to training (19 rats) and control (19 rats) groups. After a week, all rats were given DMH (20 mg.kg(-1) body weight) once a week for 2 wk. Running training was started at age 7 wk (speed: 10 m.min(-1), 0% grade, 120 min.d(-1), 5 d.wk(-1)). After 4 wk of training, the rats were sacrificed and the colon was removed, opened, and counted for ACF with 0.2% methylene blue staining.

RESULTS
Running training resulted in lower body- (P < 0.01) and adipose fat weight (P < 0.05). The numbers of ACF and total AC were significantly lower in the running training group than in the control group (P < 0.05). The occurrences of one, three, and five aberrant crypts per focus were also significantly lower in the running training group than in the control group (P < 0.05). The ratios of total AC/ACF did not significantly differ between the running training and control groups.

CONCLUSIONS
The results of the present investigation suggest that low-intensity running training inhibits the DMH-induced initiation of colon ACF development.


![Figure][1]

Today's intimate and rapid global interconnections mean that uncontrolled infectious diseases in one part of the world threaten animal and public health everywhere. The good news is that animal health sciences are technologically better equipped than ever before for detecting new disease outbreaks almost in real time. The bad news is that despite this, there is a daunting gap in converting these advances into effective actions and policies, particularly in developing countries. What can be done to remedy this lack of cohesion?

Some problems and possible solutions were recently discussed at a conference held in Hinxton, United Kingdom.[*][2] Experts in animal health research and policy-makers from high- and low-income countries reviewed developments and challenges in the field, including vaccine design, the analysis of host responses to infection, and disease transmission from wild and domestic animals to humans. There is much to laud. New approaches underlie recent progress, including genome-based vaccine discovery for treating Anaplasma and post-genomic selection for vaccine response in chickens. We can also predict the size of outbreaks of emerging pathogens on the basis of their reproductive ratio. Even economic losses from livestock deaths may be prevented by a detailed understanding of the cyclical transmission of pathogens (such as African Trypanosoma ) at the livestock/wildlife interface.

![Figure][1]

CREDIT: FRANS LEMMENS/GETTY IMAGES

Nevertheless, the conference revealed a growing divide between knowledge and application. Many strategies to detect and control disease are adequate in industrialized countries but not transferable to developing countries, namely sub-Saharan Africa. These countries often lack trained personnel and infrastructure (such as labs with water and electricity) and thus have no basic diagnostic and surveillance capacity. This includes genome-based surveillance for avian influenza, which is encroaching on the industrialized and developing world. Control strategies cannot be transferred because of insufficient funds to compensate farmers for culled stock. These deficiencies have resulted in the emergence and reemergence of infectious diseases in the developing world.

Could this frustrating gap be bridged through improved public engagement? As discussed at Hinxton, programs such as the National Centre of Competence in Research North-South, which brings together research institutions in Europe, Africa, Asia, and America, indicate that public participation is key for effective interplay among international scientists, local and national authorities, and populations confronted with animal diseases. This program, among others, has shown that by connecting these entities, long-term North-South and South-South partnerships can surpass results achieved by any institution alone. Scientists can also be effective advocates for private and public investment in the control of disease transmission [take the scientists who motivated a private donor to invest in the control of sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis) in Uganda]. But animal health researchers should also consider new ways of knowledge-brokering to promote evidence-based policy-making. The Regional East African Community Health Policy Initiative of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania is one example of how scientists and policy-makers can establish priorities for research and interventions through a cyclical process of negotiation. Moreover, periodic communication of research findings by scientists to local communities leads to a more integrated research process, assuring its validity and social relevance in a given context. Just such a public engagement approach led the Chad government to propose a new policy for providing social services to nomadic pastoralist populations, including education, health, animal health, food security, and water.

Although there is no doubt that progress in animal health research must continue, it must also respond to societal needs and lead to solutions that can be delivered quickly. When science engages more with society, neither time nor resources are sacrificed. We can't afford to lose either.

 [1]: pending:yes
 [2]: #fn-1


Discrete modeling of processes at the atomic-scale affords practical approaches to complex materials of interest commercially and to the US Air Force. Reductions in computation times can be large, suggesting the possibility of real-time modeling of thin film growth and the consequent development of processing routes to achieve specific physical and chemical properties. Formulation of the model to be used is critical in achieving such computational gains. Frameworks for these models such as Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics can be used conceptually, but they cannot be applied in practice because of the high number of required computations per time step. The simplest discrete model involves the Potts model to simulate energies, then to create a partition function of probabilities for various states and configurations, followed by a decision algorithm that determines the state of surface atoms. Although the inclusion of defects, dopants, atom complexes, surface reconstruction and crystal orientations can be included directly in this modeling approach, the resulting collection of behaviors is very entangled with logical and mathematical functions. Hence, the time to exercise the model increases noticeably. It is shown that this problem can be reduced dramatically by employing neuro-computing methods.


Predicting gully initiation at catchment scale was done previously by integrating a geographical information system (GIS) with physically based models, statistical procedures or with knowledge‐based expert systems. However, the reliability and validity of applying these procedures are still questionable. In this work, a data mining (DM) procedure based on decision trees was applied to identify areas of gully initiation risk. Performance was compared with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) expert system and with the commonly used topographic threshold (TT) technique. A spatial database was used to test the models, composed of a target variable (presence or absence of initial points) and ten independent environmental, climatic and human‐induced variables. The following findings emerged: using the same input layers, DM provided better predictive ability of gully initiation points than the application of both AHP and TT. The main difference between DM and TT was the very high overestimation inherent in TT. In addition, the minimum slope observed for soil detachment was 2°, whereas in other studies it is 3°. This could be explained by soil resistance, which is substantially lower in agricultural fields, while most studies test unploughed soil. Finally, rainfall intensity events >62.2 mm h‐1 (for a period of 30 min) were found to have a significant effect on gully initiation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


It is a major concern in the design of power devices to achieve the largest possible SOA. The latter is limited by the failure of the device under specific operating conditions. It is not always clear, however, how the device actually runs into a failure mode and thus, which design and technology parameters influence the SOA. The SOA for DMOS power transistors under normal operation (i.e. ) has been addressed elsewhere [1]. Also, the failure under unclamped inductive switchingconditions (UIS) has been attributed to the switching of the parasitic BJT caused by the rise of the intrinsic base resistance with temperature [2]. As our numerical analysis shows, this explanation is not complete; the failure is temperature-driven indeed, but the increase of the base resistance is only one contribution to the failure mechanism. For the specific device investigated, it can be shown that the increase in intrinsic carrier density with temperature is an important key to understanding the failure under UIS conditions, unless the current is extremely high. Moreover, since the actual device consists of several hundreds DMOST-cells, an uniform current distribution among all cells must be ensured in order to safely dissipate the generated heat. However, there exists an unstable operating point, where a slight deviation from the uniform current distribution leads to current crowding concentrated in the hot spot occurring in one single cell of the chip array. The device consists of an array of several hundred cells. Such a cell is schematically depicted in fig. 1; due to symmetry, only one half of the structure is shown. Several partial current flows are indicated which are needed in the further analysis.


PURPOSE
To compare the linear energy transfer (LET) distributions between passive scattering and pencil beam scanning proton radiation therapy techniques for medulloblastoma patients and study the potential radiobiological implications.

METHODS
A group of medulloblastoma patients, previously treated with passive scattering (PS) proton craniospinal irradiation followed by prosterior fossa or involved field boost, were selected from the patient database of our institution. Using the beam geometry and planning computed tomography (CT) image sets of the original treatment plans, pencil beam scanning (PBS) treatment plans were generated for the cranial treatment for each patient, with average beam spot size of 8mm (sigma in air at isocenter). 3-dimensional dose and LET distributions were calculated by Monte Carlo methods (TOPAS) both for the original passive scattering and new pencil beam scanning treatment plans. LET volume histograms were calculated for the target and OARs and compared for the two delivery methods. Variable RBE weighted dose distributions and volume histograms were also calculated using a variable dose and LET-based model.

RESULTS
Better dose conformity was achieved with PBS planning compared to PS, leading to increased dose coverage for the boost target area and decreased average dose to the structures adjacent to it and critical structures outside the whole brain treatment field. LET values for the target were lower for PBS plans. Elevated LET values for OARs close to the boosted target areas were noticed, due to end of range of proton beams falling inside these structures, resulting in higher RBE weighted dose for these structures compared to the clinical RBE value of 1.1.

CONCLUSION
Transitioning from passive scattering to pencil beam scanning proton radiation treatment can be dosimetrically beneficial for medulloblastoma patients. LET-guided treatment planning could contribute to better decision making for these cases, especially for critical structures at close proximity to the boosted target area.


Introduction Cowden syndrome (CS) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by benign and malignant tumours. One-quarter of patients diagnosed with CS have pathogenic germline PTEN mutations, which increase risks of breast, thyroid, uterine, renal and other cancers. PTEN testing and regular, intensive cancer surveillance allow for early detection and treatment of these cancers for mutation positive patients and their relatives. Individual CS-related features, however, occur commonly in the general population, making it challenging for clinicians to identify CS-like patients to offer PTEN testing. Methods: We calculated the cost per mutation detected and analyzed the cost-effectiveness of performing selected PTEN testing among CS-like patients using a semi-quantitative score [PTEN-Cleveland Clinic (CC) score] compared with existing diagnostic criteria. In our model, first-degree relatives of the patients with detected PTEN mutations are offered PTEN testing. All individuals with detected PTEN mutations receive cancer surveillance. Findings: CC score at a threshold of 15 (CC15) allows costs ranging from $3,720 to 4,573 to detect one PTEN mutation, which is the lowest among different strategies tested. At a cost-effectiveness threshold of $100,000/Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY), CC15 is the optimal strategy for female patients older than 50 years while CC10 is the optimal strategy for female patients younger than 50 years old and male patients of all ages. These results are robust in one-way sensitivity analyses. In probabilistic sensitivity analysis, CC10 and CC15 are the optimal strategies in 73% and 21% of the simulations respectively at a willingness to pay $100,000/QALY. Conclusion: CC score as a clinical risk calculator is a cost-effective pre-screening method to identify CS-like patients for PTEN germline testing. Citation Format: Joanne Ngeow, Chang Liu, Ke Zhou, Kevin Frick, David B. Matchar, Charis Eng. Detecting germline PTEN mutations among at-risk cancer patients: An age and gender-specific cost effectiveness analysis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 3732. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-3732


Objective: The study deals with the evaluation of the in vitro antimalarial activity of three crude extracts (ethanol and 80% methanol) from the leaves of Morinda morindoides (Baker) Milne-Redh. (Rubiaceae), that of their respective soluble fractions and isolated compounds, and that of the dichloromethane extract. It also reports the in vivo antimalarial activity of the three crude extracts and the petroleum ether soluble fraction from the ethanol extract as well as the toxicity of crude extracts in mice. Materials and methods: The ethanol, 80% methanol and dichloromethane extracts were obtained by maceration and percolation of powdered dried M. morindoides leaves. The ethanol extract was dissolved in 100 ml distilled water and extracted with petroleum ether, and then acidified with HCl 2N (pH 2-3) and successively and exhaustively treated with chloroform and isoamylic alcohol. On the other hand the 80% methanol extract was dissolved in 100 ml distilled water and successively and exhaustively extracted with chloroform, ethyl acetate and n-butanol. A series of flavonoids, anthraquinones and iridoids were isolated from the 80% methanol extract. All dried samples were tested for their potential in vitro antiplasmodial activity against Congolese the chloroquine-sensitive or the chloroquine-sensitive NF54/64, clone A19 strains of Plasmodium falciparum according to the case. The three extracts and one soluble fraction were tested in vivo against Plasmodium berghei berghei in a classical 4-suppressive test. Results: The petroleum ether, isoamylic alcohol and chloroform soluble fractions from the partition of ethanol extract showed an in vitro antiplasmodial activity against Congolese the chloroquine-sensitive strain of P. falciparum with IC 50 values of 1.8 ± 0.2, 15.3 ± 3.6 and 8.8 ± 2.5 μg/ml respectively. Only the chloroform soluble fraction from the partition of the 80% methanol exhibited good antiplasmodial activity with IC 50 value of 8.3 ± 1.6 μg/ml against the chloroquinesensitive NF54/64, clone A1A9 strain of P. falciparum . Among isolated compounds, quercetin exhibited good antiplasmodial activity with IC 50 value of 5.5. ± 1.8 μg/ml, alizarin and chrysarin showed a moderate activity with IC 50 ranging from 14 to 26 μg/ml. In vivo test, at a daily oral dose of 200 mg/kg, ethanol, 80% methanol and dichloromethane extracts, and the petroleum ether soluble fraction produced 33%, 54% and 73%, and 75% chemosuppression respectively. Conclusion: These results may partly justify and support the traditional use of Morinda morinoides leaves for the treatment of malaria.


This article presents a case for practical application of the GAMM method, which has been developed and published by the authors. The GAMM method supports decision making in the overall maintenance management, through the visualization and graphical analysis of data. In addition, it allows for the identification of anomalous behavior in the equipment analyzed, whether derived from its own operations, maintenance activities, improper use of equipment or even as a result of design errors in the equipment itself. As a basis for analysis, the GAMM method uses a nonparametric estimator of the reliability function using all historical data or, alternatively, part of the history, allowing it to perform an analysis even with limited available data. In the case study presented, the GAMM method has been used to analyze two existing equipment parts in a sewage treatment plant located in Chile. The equipment analyzed were two progressive cavity pumps (BCP) which are part of the industrial process in the treatment plant. Both pumps are the same make and model and subjected to the same maintenance program, but one had a higher failure rate compared to its counterpart. The application of the GAMM method has identified deficiencies in each of the pumps being studied, thus improving decision‐making and problem‐solving process related to the maintenance of the pumps. RCM methodology was used to draft a new maintenance plan. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

Prostate cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer deaths among American men. Earlier diagnosis increases survival rate in patients. However, treatments for advanced disease are limited to hormone ablation techniques and palliative care. Thus, new methods of treatment are necessary for inhibiting progression of the disease. We have shown previously that microRNA-29b (miR-29b) expression was lower in prostate cancer cells as compared to prostate epithelial cells. Among the prostate cancer cell lines, metastatic prostate cancer cells displayed lowest expression of miR-29b. In this study, we have observed that PC-3M cells that constitutively overexpressed miR-29b failed to colonize the lungs and other organs of SCID mice after intravenous injection, while PC-3M cells expressing a control miRNA formed multiple nodules in the lung. PC-3M cells expressing miR-29b inhibited wound healing and invasiveness of cancer cells. Epithelial cell marker E-cadherin expression was enhanced in prostate cancer cells expressing miR-29b as compared to control cells. On the other hand, N-Cadherin and Snail1 expression were downregulated in PC-3M cells expressing miR-29b. Together these results suggested that miR-29b is an anti-metastatic miRNA in prostate cancer that acts at multiple steps of the metastatic cascade. Therefore, miR-29b could be a potentially new attractive target for therapeutic intervention in prostate cancer.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 130. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-130


Abstract Simulium damnosum (Theobald) sensu lato (s.l.) is a complex of many species of black flies that transmit Onchocerca volvulus (Leuckart) to varying capacities based on their ecological zones in Africa. The presence of three ecological zones in Osun, an onchocerciasis endemic state in Nigeria, is the basis of this study that is aimed at determining the population dynamics of S. damnosum s.l. in the state. Adult S. damnosum s.l. were collected fortnightly in the wet and dry seasons for 2 yr between October 2014 and September 2016 in the Guinea savanna (Iwo), derived savannah (Ede), and rainforest (Obokun) zones. Temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall of the study area were measured. The results showed that in the first year, Ede had 62.8% of the total black fly population while Obokun had the lowest (1.5%). In the second year, Iwo had 94.1% of the total black fly population while Obokun had the least population.The black fly population was significantly higher during the wet season than dry season in Iwo and Ede, but was not significant in Obokun. The results further showed that black fly populations were strongly correlated with ambient temperature and rainfall in Iwo, whereas no relationships were recorded for Ede and Obokun. The results suggest that abundance of black flies during the wet season was due to increased rainfall which in turn created rapids and conditions suitable for development of preimaginal stages into adults.These vector surveillance findings will guide control decisions necessary for endemic communities to meet elimination targets.


In this study, aluminium titanate (AT, Al2TiO5) and mullite (M, 3Al2O3·2SiO2) ceramics were synthesized by reaction sintering from Al2O3, SiO2 and TiO2 powders which consisted of homogenization by wet ball milling followed by sintering AT and M in air at 1550 C for 2 hrs and 1400 C for 2 hrs, respectively. AT and M in different amounts (0 and 20 wt. %) were mixed with Porcelain (P). AT and M reinforced porcelain ceramics were prepared by the powder metallurgy route. After drying, the powders were compressed to preforms of 56x12x10 mm by uniaxial pressing at 200 MPa. The green compacts were sintered at 1100-1200 C for 1-5 hr under air. Investigations were carried out, on the effect of addition of AT and M in terms of physical properties, microstructure, XRD phases, as well as wear and mechanical properties of AT and M-reinforced porcelain ceramic composites. Phase and microstructural characterizations of the sintered materials were carried out by using X-ray diffraction technique (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The Micro Vickers hardness testing was performed using the Shimadzu HMV-MIII hardness tester.


The increasingly important demands of industrialization  for the progress a country have consequences for employers to use effective systems wherever possible. However, industrial disputes between workers and employers are often a problem. Therefore we need a set of laws that can be a separate forum for dealing with dispute matters within a company, is Bipartite Cooperative. The problem raised in this paper is how the effectiveness of the Bipartite Institute and what are the things that hamper in resolving employment issues at PT New Kuta Golf and Ocean View. The research method used is an empirical legal research method through the sociology of law approach. The results obtained, that is about disputes that have occurred in the company namely working conditions, requirements of work, increased work productivity and welfare of workers who impact on the company. The form of settlement is done through Bipartite and termination of employment. The inhibiting factors found were weak mindset, limited information, lack of competent human resources towards understanding Bipartite.


The objective of the study is to examine the assumption that a process of hemolysis plays a role in anemia of acute infection in children. The study was comprised of febrile pediatric patients, who had a positive blood or urine culture. Complete blood count measures were compared between hospitalization and prehospitalization or posthospitalization values. Children admitted to the hospital for elective surgical procedures served as controls. Blood parameters of hemolysis were investigated in some of the patients. Of the 70 patients studied, 49 (70%) were diagnosed with pyelonephritis and 21 (30%) had bacteremia. Mean (±SD) hemoglobin (Hgb) on hospital admission was 10.9±1.27 g/L as compared with 12.1±1.03 g/L of the controls, P<0.0001. Compared with normal-for-age Hgb values as a standard, 42 (60%) cases were identified as anemic. Compared with hospitalization values, Hgb and hematocrit (Hct) were significantly higher in prehospitalization or posthospitalization, whereas WBC values were significantly lower. All parameters of hemolysis, namely reticulocytes, bilirubin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and haptoglobin, were normal. Bacteremia and pyelonephritis are accompanied by a significant drop in Hgb level. There is no evidence of hemolytic anemia in these patients.


Mid‐wave ultraviolet radiation (UVB, 280–320 nm) is highly efficient at inducing erythema, pyrimidine dimers in DNA, oncogene expression and initiation of cutaneous tumors. These UVB‐induced responses of epidermal cells have been correlated with the direct effects of UVB on DNA. However, UVB has also been shown to have biologic effects at the cellular level that appear to mimic some of the membrane‐associated effects produced by phorbol ester tumor promoters such as 12‐O‐tetradecanoyl phorbol‐13‐acetate (TPA). For example, we have previously shown that both UVB irradiation and TPA treatment are followed by release of arachidonic acid and a rapid, dose‐dependent inhibition of epidermal growth factor (EGF) binding. TPA generates cellular responses through activation of a phospholipid‐dependent, calcium‐sensitive protein kinase, protein kinase C (PKC). The primary goal of the studies described here was to compare the cellular effects of TPA with those of UVB with special regard to PKC and keratinocyte growth control, using normal human epidermal keratinocytes. The results obtained showed that both TPA and UVB radiation induced differentiation in normal human keratinocytes. UVB radiation, however, increased both cytosolic and membrane‐associated levels of PKC, in contrast to TPA, which increased PKC primarily in the membrane fraction. PKC is probably not the initial chromophore or target molecule of UVB, but because activation of PKC has been shown to be essential for keratinocyte differentiation, differentiation induced by UVB may be caused by activation of PKC by UVB‐induced release of diacylglycerol or arachidonic acid.


Dental records and client survey reports were compared as sources of data for dental research. Further, two forms of the client survey were completed, a mail survey and telephone interview. A random sample of 271 clients of a dental group practice based within a university health service was selected. The Kappa values indicated a reasonable level of agreement of client survey and dental record with regard to the types of services received but not with regard to actual number of visits. Responses to the mail and the telephone versions of the client survey were compared for service satisfaction, hygiene behavior, and attitude and belief variables. Two potential sources of bias: nonrespondent/respondent bias and other response biases, such as acquiescent responses, were detected. The study illustrates the importance of weighing which source of response bias is more crucial to the general validity of a study based on the research questions to be addressed.


For people with HIV/AIDS (PWHA), partner loss has unique factors that complicate the grieving process and can lead to prolonged bereavement. Empirical evidence has demonstrated the benefits of emotional disclosure through therapeutic writing on physical symptoms, immune responses, and psychological distress. Therapeutic writing is based on the assumption that writing about one's deepest thoughts and feelings allows cognitive, behavioral, and kinesthetic processing of stressful life events and/or traumas. The present case study explores the benefits and challenges of using expressive writing, in addition to cognitive-behavioral therapy, to address partner loss and disenfranchised grief in the context of living with HIV. This article (a) reviews the literature on coping with loss and factors that can make PWHA more vulnerable to disenfranchised grief; (b) describes a former patient whose partner loss was complicated by lack of closure around the termination of his 6-year-long relationship, the death of that partner without the family informing him, and his anger surrounding his partner infecting him with HIV; and (c) discusses how the therapist created a comprehensive treatment plan using therapeutic writing to improve emotional processing. Results suggest that therapeutic writing assisted with symptom alleviation, improvement in psychological well-being, and increased overall quality of life. Although the loss of a partner is a common human experience, therapists need to be aware that PWHA may have additional or different care needs that can put them at risk of heightened or prolonged bereavement. Recommendations for using therapeutic writing are included. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).


The potential therapeutic use of inhibitors of neutrophil elastase (NE) is reviewed with emphasis on diseases of the airway. In addition to its proteolytic properties, NE is a potent secretagogue and may be pro-inflammatory. The properties of natural occurring inhibitors of NE such as alpha-one antitrypsin and secretory leukoprotease inhibitor are reviewed. In addition, recombinant versions of naturally occurring inhibitors and synthetic small molecule inhibitors are potential therapies for respiratory diseases. For recombinant proteins, aerosol administration has been the preferred method of delivery. The inhaled mode of delivery can complicate the determination of dose responsiveness and thus the evaluation of safety and efficacy of these agents. In addition to the aerosolization issue, there remain other significant barriers to the successful deployment of these agents in clinical trials. These include the need for high standards for purification of recombinant proteins, the lack of understanding of interaction with airway secretions, the controversy over role of NE in the pathogenesis of nonhereditary COPD, and asthma, while the need for the safety of new classes of systemically delivered small molecules will need to be established.


Viruses rely upon their hosts for biosynthesis of viral RNA, DNA and protein. This dependency frequently engenders strong selection for virus genome compatibility with potential hosts, appropriate gene regulation and expression necessary for a successful infection. While bioinformatic studies have shown strong correlations between codon usage in viral and host genomes, the selective factors by which this compatibility evolves remain a matter of conjecture. Engineered to include codons with a lesser usage and/or tRNA abundance within the host, three different attenuated strains of the bacterial virus ФX174 were created and propagated via serial transfers. Molecular sequence data indicate that biosynthetic compatibility was recovered rapidly. Extensive computational simulations were performed to assess the role of mutational biases as well as selection for translational efficiency in the engineered phage. Using bacteriophage as a model system, we can begin to unravel the evolutionary processes shaping codon compatibility between viruses and their host. The spread of emergent viral diseases critically depends upon rapid adaptation to novel hosts 1 . Analogous to that observed in natural populations (e.g., ref. 2 ), experimental evolution of viral pathogens has also demonstrated rapid adaptation to new hosts 3 . Nevertheless, the molecular basis of host specificity within viruses remains con-tentious 4–8 . While selection experiments have shown that single nucleotide changes can be sufficient to facilitate a viral host shift (e.g., ref. 9 ), bioinformatic surveys repeatedly show a high degree of genomic correspondence between viral pathogens and their hosts 4,10 . This is most evident within bacteriophage (phage) species 7,11 . For instance, codon usage of coliphages generally reflects the biased usage of their host which itself reflects the most abundant cognate tRNAs available within host cells 12–14 experimental evolution of the codon-based attenuated T7 phage, fitness recovery was observed by evolu- tionary changes in codon use 34 . More rapid rescue has been observed in the passage of codon deoptimized eukaryote-infecting viruses having smaller RNA-based genomes 35,36 . The effects of codon deoptimization on fitness and the recovery of fitness, however, varies from one virus to the next 51 . As prior evidence has shown, synonymous mutations specifically introduced in species having small, compact genomes can have a profound impact on a species' fitness 52–54 . The mechanisms that lead to pathogen-host genome compatibility remain uncertain, leaving the causal factors open questions. We performed long-term experimental evolution to determine how and at what rate virus-host codon usage evolves, using engineered phage genomes. The coding sequence of the bacteriophage Φ X174 was targeted, replac-ing wild-type codons with deoptimized (relative to its host, Escherichia coli C) codons. Three different engineered strains, targeting two different coding regions within the Φ X174 genome, were created. The Φ X174 genome is small and compact, encoding for just 11 genes in the 5386 nucleotide ssDNA, circular genome; furthermore, Φ X174 is known to be sensitive to mutations 54,55 . The combination of engineered sequence changes allows for the simultaneous examination of the role of selection to affect sequence specific adaptation, specifically rates of reversion and translational efficiency within the E. coli host. Complementing our experimental efforts, extensive computational simulations were performed to assess the role of selection for translational efficiency. This multi- disciplinary approach provides insight into how genome compatibility arises. protocol (New England Biolabs). The digested DNA was separated by gel electrophoresis through a 1.2% agarose gel. DNA fragments were excised from the gel and purified using the UltraClean TM 15 DNA Purification kit. Ligation was performed with 7 μ l of the digested DNA, 1 μ l of the synthesized oligo, 1 μ l ligase 10 × buffer, and 1 μ l T4 DNA ligase overnight at 4 °C. The ligation product (5 μ l) was incubated with 400 μ l of E. coli C spheroplast for 20 minutes at 37 °C; PAM medium (3 ml, pre-warmed to 37 °C) was added and the preparation was incubated for 90 min. The phage was released using a 1:10 dilution into water then titered. This process was carried out for each strain. Each phage strain's lysate was then plated as follows: 100 μ l of phage was added to 3 ml 0.5% agar LB and 1 ml of turbid E. coli C culture and then overlaid on a 1.7% agar LB plate. Plates were incubated overnight at 37 °C. Plates were har- vested and suspended in 0.8% saline solution and treated with 50 μ l chloroform. Single plaques were selected for each strain as the initial genotype for the subsequent lines. The genomes of the three engineered strains and the ancestral strain were confirmed by capillary sequencing.


We present !2 , a concise formulation of a proof term calculus for the intuitionistic modal logic S4 that is well-suited for practical applications. We show that, with respect to provability, it is equivalent to other formulations in the literature, sketch a simple type checking algorithm, and prove subject reduction and the existence of canonical forms for well-typed terms. Applications include a new formulation of natural deduction for intuitionistic linear logic, modal logical frameworks, and a logical analysis of staged computation and binding-time analysis for functional languages 6].


Let M be a compact, oriented, irreducible, atoroidal 3-manifold with nonempty boundary. Let CC0(M ) denote the space of convex cocompact Kleinian groups uniformizing M . We show that any Kleinian group in the boundary of CC0(M ) whose limit set is the whole sphere can be approximated by maximal cusps. Density of maximal cusps on the boundary of Schottky space is derived as a corollary. We further show that maximal cusps are dense in the boundary of the quasiconformal deformation space of any geometrically finite hyperbolic 3-manifold with connected conformal boundary.


Computations were performed to study three-dimensional turbulent flow and heat transfer in a rotating rectangular channel with V-shaped ribs. The channel aspect ratio is 4:1, the rib-height-to-hydraulic-diameter ratio e/Dh is 0.078, and the rib-pitch-to-height ratio P/e is 10. A total of eight calculations have been performed with various combinations of rotation number, Reynolds number, coolant-to-wall density ratio, and channel orientation. The rotation number and inlet coolant-to-wall density ratio were varied from 0.0 to 0.28 and from 0.122 to 0.40, respectively, whereas the Reynolds number was varied from 10 4 to 5 × × 10 5 . Three channel orientations (90, − −135, and 135 deg from the rotation direction) were also investigated. A multiblock Reynolds-averaged Navier‐Stokes method was employed in conjunction with a near-wall second-moment turbulence closure for detailed predictions of the mean velocities, mean temperature, turbulent Reynolds stresses, and heat fluxes.


The focus of this study was to: (1) create five contemporary fashion designs reflecting visual art styles (Dondis, 1973) and incorporating colorful traditional Burmese plain fabrics and "Acheik" fabrics as well as Burmese traditional costume and artifacts as inspirations; (2) analyze the consumers' responses to FEA attributes across five different garment styles; and (3) measure the aesthetic appeal of Burmese traditional fabric within fashion designs. Since Burmese textiles were being promoted, Burmese cultural apparel and artifact styles were used as inspiration in creating the range of visual styles articulated by Dondis (1973). The conceptual framework for creating the survey design and analysis was the Functional, Expressive and Aesthetic (FEA) Consumer Needs Model (Lamb & Kallal, 1992). The survey deployed through an Amazon Mechanical Turk online survey was used to a 200 women sample. The purposive sample was 19-40 years of age, mostly white, college educated and from 40 U.S. states.


Aim
To assess and compare the difficulty and structural integrity of bone core harvesting and retrieval prior to implant placement using three different trephine bur systems.

Methods
Bone core samples were harvested from patients scheduled to receive maxillary dental implants following iliac crest bone graft augmentation. Three trephine bur systems were used and comparison was based on the retrieval time, sample integrity, and implant stability.

Results
Differences existed between the systems in terms of difficulty and the retrieved bone cores. The formerly planned implant size could be placed in all cases. More structurally intact cores could be achieved although this came at the expense of reliability.

Conclusions
The Easy Retrieve trephine bur system might be recommended in situations where bone sample structural integrity is paramount. Nevertheless, the potential reliability issue with the smaller bur in this system should be taken into consideration.


In present-day societies, the extent to which young people still participate in civic life is an important matter of concern. The claim of a generational "decline" in civic engagement has been contested, and interchanged with the notion of a "replacement" of traditional engagement by new types of participation, and the emergence of the "monitorial citizen" who participates in more individualized ways. Concurrently, this study explored the assumption of a "pluralization" of involvement, advancing a new concept: the "civic omnivore," characterized by an expanded civic repertoire. Drawing data from a sample of 1,493 Belgian and Dutch university students, we identify five repertoires of participation such as, disengaged students, classical volunteers, humanitarian citizens, monitorial citizens, and civic omnivores. Our findings support the pluralization thesis, by showing that young citizens are not exclusively engaged in new monitorial ways, yet also expand their civic repertoire by combining traditional and new forms in more complex ways.


Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) is a major therapeutic agent licensed in neurological indi- cations such as dystonia and spasticity. In recent years, its use has steadily increased in other neurological areas and new therapeutic areas and also in the aesthetic setting. Paradoxically, BoNT is also the causative agent of the disease botulism and a potential bioterrorism toxin. The BoNT family of toxins comprised more than 40 individual mem- bers, classified into 7 serotypes and are produced by Gram-positive obligate anaerobic bacteria. BoNTs are enzymatic multi-modular proteins with a complex multistep mecha- nism of action. Their target site is at peripheral neurons, particularly the neuromuscular junction, at which they inhibit acetylcholine neurotransmission. Despite intense activ- ity in the BoNT field, today there are still gaps in knowledge both in clinical practice and in basic research. The discovery of the structure-function of BoNT and its domains has allowed rational design of new features using molecular engineering. The diversity of BoNT molecules, both natural and engineered, is an invaluable pool from which to design future new therapeutics with unique pharmacological properties for current and novel indications.


The assumption of the concentration dependence of the energy of formation of vacancy-type defects (VTD) in solids is applied to the procedure of the estimation of the defect interaction parameters. The VTD effective interaction is described by the mixing potential. The sign of this potential characterizes the stability of the VTD-atom "alloy." Employing the example of Nb, we illustrate the ability of the suggested approach to describe the stability of the VTD-atom "alloy." © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


The spatiotemporal and just-in-time mobile multicast routing protocol of Wireless Sensor Network, such as Mobicast, which has the perfect usefulness in monitoring Mobile entities, Communications with higher security requirements. Most of the existing Mobicast routing protocols is focused on the group key distribution and management, but also realized under the conditions of static grouping, which can not meet the real-time monitoring applications. A dynamic clustering secure mobile multicast scheme (DCSMS) based on Mobicast and multi-level μ TESLA protocol of sensornets is presented in this paper. The multicast clusters are dynamically formed according Mobicast in the scheme. To enhance the safety of multicast communication, authentications of data source and group membership, with the secure protocol " multi-level μ TESLA", are inserted before cluster-head node is selected and node joins the group. Thus the cluster-head node participate the multicast communication and make the group moving durably as a temporary base-station. Based on the analysis and simulation results, it is shown that the influence to survival lifetime of network and real-time communication because of energy consumption and latency from authentication is acceptable.


Effective leaders are critical in ensuring the success of organizations. Particularly in crisis situations, employees look to leaders to guide the organization through hardships and achieve success in the face of challenges. I discuss and explore two main types of leadership style: visionary leadership and representative leadership. The present research consists of two experiments that investigate group members' preference for one type of leader over another. Experiment 1 replicated Halevy et al.'s (2011) research exploring general preferences for visionary and representative leaders, comparing Halevy et al.'s (2011) original leader profiles and revised versions of leader profiles that equalize competence across the visionary and representative leaders. Results partially supported the hypothesis, showing that when competence is equalized across leadership styles, there is no significant difference in favorability between a visionary and representative leader. Experiment 2 explored people's preferences for these two types of leaders in both an intragroup crisis and an intergroup crisis, extending the existing research. Results did not support the hypothesis, revealing no significant differences in leader style favorability in either an intragroup crisis or an intergroup crisis. In the control (no crisis) condition, participants significantly preferred a representative leader. However, when crisis condition was collapsed across type of condition, participants significantly preferred a representative leader. This preference was less robust than in a no crisis scenario, indicating a possible openness to a visionary leader in a crisis compared to no crisis.


Our work has been based on X-ray images of suitcases typical of those which can be seen at an airport. Specifically we have been trying to locate components, such as a detonator, wires and (less successfully) plastic explosive, which would constitute a bomb. Standard thresholding techniques to extract lead solder, for example, do not use any spatial information. By using prior knowledge, a number of contextual techniques have been explored. Our first step is to use a deblurring algorithm on the image; it is convolved with a blurred point spread function and then deconvolved with a prior encouraging neighbouring pixels to be alike. The results obtained always seem to improve the visual quality of images.


A practicable method for computing exciting fields is presented. To avoid volume integration and meshing one uses a transformation of Biot-Savarts's law to the coil surface. In doing so, the exciting field strength is represented by a linear combination of single- and double-layer potentials. Both can be evaluated by the fast multipole method. The method is valid for a considerably class of coil geometries including race track and bedstead coils with arbitrary cross section.


The situation with the COVID-19 pandemic has a negative impact on the development of tourism. It imposes restrictions on both tourism supply and tourism demand. Government lockdowns travel businesses and, at the same time, restricts the freedom of movement. Thus, the supply and demand sides have to cope with the exogenous shocks. The first evidence of experience and reactions of travel businesses was presented in early March 2020. Data from bookings describes how visitors start to adapt their travel behavior to the exit strategies. Even rural tourism is affected by the worldwide spread crisis. To highlight the impacts on rural tourism, this research focuses on middle and small-sized entrepreneurs (e.g., farmers, winemakers, local private rural museums, local accommodation providers;local providers of hippotherapy) and on local tourist organizations (e. g. DMO, tourist information centers) involved in rural tourism. The aim of this study is to show how they overcame the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic. In other words, the study describes the changes in visitor behavior from the perspective of rural tourism providers. The research is based on a case study of South Moravia and applies both qualitative (a questionnaire survey) and quantitative (interviews) methods. The research data shows that rural tourism providers manage to cope with the government restrictions and tailor their services to new customers" requirements as well. Besides the loss of incomes, tourism service providers face a decrease in the number of visitors, and thus they suffer a slump in sales. The majority of all rural tourism providers responded that their segment of visitors had changed. More specifically, the absence of foreign visitors was replaced by domestic ones. © 2021. All Rights Reserved.


Under the influence of globalization and mass settlement of cities and urban areas, nostalgia for traditional and rural is increasingly felt. All this supports the development of manifestation and gastronomic tourism and the promotion of autochthonous products and traditions. Serbia is a country where a large number of national minorities lives, each of which has an impact on the gastronomy of some area. The combination of all the cuisines and the diversity of tradition made Serbian dishes unique. There are a large number of events in the tourism offer of Serbia, which themes are gastronomic products. Manifestations, as a kind of promotion of a particular area, are becoming more and more popular. The paper analyses gastronomic manifestations as an important segment of Serbia's tourism offer. The methods applied in the paper are the method of correlation and comparative analysis. The results of the research indicate a positive interdependence between the number of manifestations and tourist traffic during the year, while the existence of an interdependence between the number of manifestations and tourist traffic in the regions was not recorded.


Background: Currently, there is a lack of systematic research on the prognostic variables of metastatic cervical cancer (mCEC) among young and middle-aged females. Therefore, this research is purposed to identify the independent prognostic markers in mCEC patients ( < 50 years of age) and to develop the nomograms applicable to predict their prognosis. Materials and Methods: The data on patients pathologically proven to have cervical cancer between 2004 and 2015 were collected from the American detection, epidemiology, and results (SEER) database. Then, univariate and multivariate cox analyses were conducted to determine independent prognostic variables. On this basis, nomograms were constructed to predict the 12-, 24, and 36-month overall survival (OS) of mCEC patients aged under 50. The model was evaluated for predictive accuracy, discriminant ability, and clinical value through the receiver operating characteristic curve, the calibration curve and the decision-making curve analysis. Additionally, a survival calculator based on nomogram and network was developed. Results: A total of 616 mCEC patients aged under 50 were involved in the research. They were divided into a training set (419) and a validation set (176), at a ratio of 7:3. The independent predictive markers include race, tumour size, T stage, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery. According ot the analysis of the calibration curve, receiver operating characteristic curve, and decision curve plotted for both the training and validation cohorts, the NOMOGRAMS was highly discriminative and applicable clinically. The AUC value at 12, 24, and 36 months was 0.741, 0.739, and 0.731 in the training set, and 0.760, 0.695, and 0.696 in the validation set, respectively. The nomograms proposed in this paper can be accessed via the link: [https://shubei11.shinyapps.io/Youngcervicalnomogram/.](https://shubei11.shinyapps.io/Youngcervicalnomogram/.) In addition, a method novel risk categorization was developed to categorise all patients into three groups depending on their prognosis. Conclusions: In this study, a unique web-based nomogram is developed to estimate the risk of OS among the young and middle-aged mCEC patients ( < 50), which would be beneficial for clinicians to personalise both survival evaluation and therapeutic treatment for patients.


ABSTRACT Store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) is a major Ca2+ influx pathway that is controlled by the ER Ca2+ sensor STIM1. Abnormal activation of STIM1 directly influences Ca2+ influx, resulting in severe diseases such as Stormorken syndrome. The inactivation domain of STIM1 (IDstim) has been identified as being essential for Ca2+-dependent inactivation of STIM1 (CDI) after SOCE occurs. However, it is unknown whether IDstim is involved in keeping STIM1 inactive before CDI. Herein, we show that IDstim helps STIM1 keep inactive through intramolecular binding with the coiled-coil domain. Between IDstim and the coiled-coil domain, we found a short conserved linker whose extension or mutation leads to the constitutive activation of STIM1. We have demonstrated that IDstim needs the coiled-coil domain 1 (CC1) to inhibit the Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ (CRAC) activation domain (CAD) activity and binds to a CC1-CAD fragment. Serial deletion of CC1 revealed that CC1α1 is a co-inhibitory domain of IDstim. CC1α1 deletion or leucine mutation, which abolishes the closed conformation, impaired the inhibitory effect and binding of IDstim. These results suggest that IDstim cooperates with CC1α1 to help STIM1 keep inactive under resting conditions. Summary: The inactivation domain of STIM1 (IDstim) helps STIM1 prevent spontaneous SOCE via binding to the coiled-coil domain retaining hydrophobic interaction between CCα1 and CC3.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether the implanted myoblasts with the soluble carriers can improve the repairing efficiency for the severely-cryodamaged tibialis anterior muscles.

METHODS
The skeletal myoblasts were isolated from the newborn SD rats by the use of the enzyme digestion. They were purified and serially subcultivated; the subcultivated myoblasts of the 3rd generation were marked with BrdU. The severely-cryodamaged tibialis anterior muscle models were established from 84 SD rats aged 5 months. They were randomly divided into 4 groups, including Group A1 (the implanted myoblasts with the carriers-F12 containing 0.1% sodium hyaluronate), Group A2 (the implanted myoblasts, with the carriers-F12 that did not contain 0.1% sodium hyaluronate), Group B1 (the implanted carrier solution containing 0.1% sodium hyaluronate, but with no myoblasts), and Group B2 (with no carrier solution or myoblasts). Six rats were killed at the following time points: at 2, 5 and 9 days, and 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks after operation; the immunohistochemical and the Mallory staining studies were performed for an evaluation on the repairing efficiency for the severely-cryodamaged tibialis anterior muscles. By the imaging analysis, the number of the survived cells in each group was compared at 2 days, and the area ratio of the collagen fiber in each group was also compared at 8 weeks.

RESULTS
The BrdU immunohistochemical staining showed that the number of the remaining implanted cells was significantly greater in Groups A1 than in Group A2, the migrating area of the myoblasts was greater, the distribution of the cells was more uniform, the cell differentiating potential was undestroyed, the repairing efficiency for the severely-cryodamaged tibialis anterior muscles was significantly improved. There was no blue-stained nucleus at each time point in Group B. The Mallory staining showed that the fibrous degeneration in the tissue repairing process was significantly inhibited in Groups A1, A2 and B1; the inhibition was most obvious in Group A1, and next in Group A2. The imaging analysis indicated that at 2 days after operation, the number of the survived cells was significantly greater in Group A1 than in Group A2 (P<0.05). At 8 weeks after operation, the collagen fiber was the least in Group A1, less in Group A2, more in Group B1, and the most in Group B2 (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION
The implanted myoblasts can significantly improve the repairing efficiency for the severely-cryodamaged muscle tissues, and the implanted carrier solution containing 0.1% sodium hyaluronate can improve the implanting efficiency for the myoblasts.


This paper presents the use of the smart city solution for the protection of urban biodiversity. This biodiversity is crucial for human wellbeing and sustainable development. The paper presents first the urban biodiversity, then the risk of its deterioration by urban activity (change in land-use; pollution of air, soil and water; noise pollution; light pollution; alien species; construction, flood). Finally, the paper presents briefly the Smart City solution including data collection, data analysis and reporting and control and how this solution could be used for the protection of biodiversity.


Abstract. Estimates of the gross terrestrial carbon uptake exhibit large uncertainties. Sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) has an apparent near-linear relationship with gross primary production (GPP). This relationship will potentially facilitate the monitoring of photosynthesis
from space. However, the exact mechanistic connection between SIF and GPP is still not clear. To explore the physical and physiological basis for their relationship, we used a unique data set comprising continuous field
measurements of leaf and canopy fluorescence and photosynthesis of corn over a growing season. We found that, at canopy scale, the positive relationship between SIF and GPP was dominated by absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (APAR), which was equally affected by variations in incoming radiation and changes in canopy structure. After statistically controlling these underlying physical effects, the remaining correlation between far-red SIF and GPP due solely to the functional link between fluorescence and photosynthesis at the photochemical level was much weaker ( ρ=0.30 ). Active leaf level fluorescence measurements revealed a moderate positive correlation between the efficiencies of fluorescence emission and photochemistry for sunlit leaves in well-illuminated conditions but a weak negative correlation in the low-light condition, which was negligible for shaded leaves. Differentiating sunlit and shaded leaves in the light use efficiency (LUE) models for SIF and GPP facilitates a better understanding of the SIF–GPP relationship at different environmental and canopy conditions. Leaf level fluorescence measurements also demonstrated that the sustained thermal dissipation efficiency dominated the seasonal energy partitioning, while the reversible heat dissipation dominated the diurnal leaf energy partitioning. These diurnal and seasonal variations in heat dissipation underlie, and are thus responsible for, the observed remote-sensing-based link between far-red SIF and GPP.


Abstract While mitochondria are susceptible to environmental detriments, little is known about potential associations between arsenic metabolites and mitochondria DNA copy number (mtDNAcn). We attempted to examine whether arsenic metabolism in different trimesters was related to cord blood mtDNAcn alteration. We included 819 mother-newborn pairs embedded in an in-progress birth cohort survey performed from April 2014 to October 2016 in Wuhan, China. We determined maternal urinary arsenic species concentrations in different trimesters using HPLC-ICPMS. We decided on cord blood mtDNAcn using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. In covariate-adjusted models, each two-fold increment of dimethylated arsenic (DMA) and total arsenic (TAs) in the 3rd trimester were related to 8.43% (95% CI: 1.13%, 16.26%) and 12.15% (95% CI:4.35%, 20.53%) increases in mtDNAcn, respectively. The dose-response trend with statistical significance was observed across tertiles of DMA and TAs in the 3rd trimester with mtDNAcn. These findings may prove the relationships between arsenic species and mitochondrial dysfunction.


THE POINT OF VIEW OF THREE GENERATIONS OF WOMEN ABOUT MARRIAGE The purpose of this work was to investigate the point of view about marriage of three generations of women in order to understand how they experience this relationship. The clinical qualitative method was used with six women who composed the sample: two teenagers, two adults and two elderly women. An interview was conducted with each participant, followed by the application of four TAT cards. The psychoanalytic framework was used to analyze the results. The conclusion was that women's perspective regarding their own role in society and in marriage is related to personal values acquired through their life history and into their experienced familiar models. Younger women's speech was revolutionary and incoherent with their unconscious manifestations for they still searched for an idealized marital relationship and a familiar constitution based on some traditional and conservatives standards.


Abstract
This study discusses environmental education facilitated by the media and environmental nongovernmental organisations (ENGOs) in Malaysia. A total of 13 respondents from Utusan Malaysia and The Star, and 11 respondents from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia and Malaysia Nature Society (MNS) were interviewed. The results showed that the Malaysian media and ENGOs view their roles in environmental education similarly, which are mainly to raise awareness and disperse knowledge to the public. However, the media is more focused on educating the public about environment through their features and newspaper articles while the ENGOs facilitate environmental education not only via their newsletters but also through environmental programmes like eco-school. The respondents concur that the topics of environmental education are highly technical, hence, call for all stakeholders to carry the educational responsibilities. It is hoped that the result of this study can serve as a guidelinefor both social actors in Malaysia, especially for the organisations' management to find a way to overcome these limitations for a better environmental education in the future.
Keywords: Malaysia, environmental education, media, ENGOs, interview.


Seventeen cases of urinary calculi analyzed by infrared spectrophotometry were found to be composed entirely or nearly entirely of bihydrated calcium hydrophosphate. The observations are summarized here. This type of stone occurs with a frequency of about 1% (0.85% in our experience) of all urinary calculi, predominantly in men (14 of our 17 cases). Diagnosis is based on the physical and chemical analysis of the stone and on infrared spectrophotometry. Most of these stones are pure or nearly pure compounds. The macroscopic aspect of the stones or fragments of stones can guide diagnosis. These stones are cream coloured stones with a smooth regular outer surface. Broken fragments show the same cream colour, sometimes with strips radiating from the centre of the fracture surface. Radiologically, these stones are homogeneously radio-opaque, often oval-shaped with a regular outline. Blood tests can demonstrate suspected or proven hyperparathyroidism (4 out of 10 cases in our 17 observations) with hypercalcemia, hypophosphatemia and hypercalciuria. Complementary examinations may be needed to search for a parathyroid adenoma. With or without hyperparathyroidism, 24-h urinalysis usually shows hypercalciuria up to ro over 500 to 600 mg/24 h. Crystallization usually occurs in the upper urinary tract, in the bladder or in indwelling catheters. These stones are extremely hard and are difficult to break in vitro. To be successful, lithotripsy requires prolonged treatment: up to 3000 to 6000 shockwaves at 22-23 kv with the Dornier apparatus. Despite the notion of hypercalciuria, the pathogenesis of bihydrated calcium hydrophosphate calculi remains to be elucidated.


We have performed wide scale analysis of trends in quality and size of biomacromolecules and their ligands. 70 diverse factors have been considered. Information about structures and their quality have been obtained from the Protein Data Bank, while the state of ligand quality has been sourced by our database ValidatorDB. Existence of some discovered trends was expected (e.g., newer structures have better quality). Other trends surprised us (e.g., ligand quality is stagnant at best, currently utilised structure validation methods do not validate ligands well). Discovered trends are openly available in the ValTrendsDB database.


Chronic treatment with opioid receptor antagonists has been shown to increase the density of micro-, delta- and kappa-opioid receptors in cell culture and in the intact animal. Although opioid receptor antagonist-induced up-regulation is a robust phenomenon, the mechanisms responsible for the increase in receptor density remain unclear. In the present study, changes in a kinase and a GTPase that have been implicated in G-protein-coupled receptor regulation were examined following opioid receptor antagonist treatment. Mice were implanted s.c. with a naltrexone pellet or placebo pellet. On the eighth day following implantation, spinal cord was removed and G-protein receptor kinase-2 (GRK-2) and dynamin-2 abundance were determined using a quantitative immunoblot approach. Changes in micro-opioid receptor density were also determined. Naltrexone treatment produced a significant (145%) increase in micro-opioid receptor density. Naltrexone treatment was associated with a significant 36% decrease in GRK-2 and 30% decrease in dynamin-2 abundance in spinal cord. These data raise the possibility that opioid receptor antagonist-induced micro-opioid receptor up-regulation in the intact animal may be due to a reduction in constitutive internalization of opioid receptors.


Peaches are highly perishable and deteriorate quickly at ambient temperature. Cold storage is commonly used to prevent fruit decay; however, it affects fruit quality causing physiological disorders collectively termed 'chilling injury' (CI). To prevent or ameliorate CI, heat treatment is often applied prior to cold storage. In the present work, metabolic profiling was performed to determine the metabolic dynamics associated with the induction of acquired CI tolerance in response to heat shock. 'Dixiland' peach fruits exposed to 39 °C, cold stored, or after a combined treatment of heat and cold, were compared with fruits ripening at 20 °C. Dramatic changes in the levels of compatible solutes such as galactinol and raffinose were observed, while amino acid precursors of the phenylpropanoid pathway were also modified due to the stress treatments, as was the polyamine putrescine. The observed responses towards temperature stress in peaches are composed of both common and specific response mechanisms to heat and cold, but also of more general adaptive responses that confer strategic advantages in adverse conditions such as biotic stresses. The identification of such key metabolites, which prime the fruit to cope with different stress situations, will likely greatly accelerate the design and the improvement of plant breeding programs.


Reverse electrodialysis (RED) is an electrochemical membrane process that converts the salinity gradient energy between two solutions into electric current, by using ion exchange membranes. A novel multi-physical approach for RED modelling is proposed. 2-D simulations of one cell pair with tertiary current distribution (Nernst–Plank equation and local electroneutrality) were performed. Moreover, the Donnan exclusion theory was implemented for simulating double layer phenomena. Transport phenomena and electrochemical behavior were well described. The influence of membrane/channel configuration, dilute concentration and feeds velocity on the process performance was assessed. For a dilute concentration ≤ 0.01M, stacks with profiled membranes reached lower resistances and higher net powers (up to 4.4 W/m2) with respect to stacks with empty channels, thus suggesting that only in some cases the profiles lead to a performance enhancement.


Abstract The aim of this study was to assess the associations of intake of different types of meat with semen parameters and reproductive hormones in healthy young men. This cross-sectional study included 206 men, 18–23 years, from Southern Spain. All men completed a validated FFQ, underwent a physical examination, and provided blood and semen samples. Multivariable linear regression was used to evaluate the associations between meat intake with semen quality parameters and reproductive hormones. Total meat intake was unrelated to semen quality or reproductive hormone levels. When subgroups of meat were separately considered, however, shellfish intake was positively related to progressive motility. The adjusted percentages of progressively motile spermatozoa for men in increasing quartiles of shellfish intake were 45·2, 42·0, 49·4 and 53·2 % with a significant linear trend across quartiles (P trend≤0·001). In contrast, men who consumed organ meats had significantly lower progressive sperm motility (51·5 v. 42·8 %; P = 0·001) and higher luteinising hormone levels (4·0 v. 4·6 IU/l; P = 0·03) compared with men who did not consume organ meats. Intake of shellfish and organ meats was low in this population, however. Given the scarcity of data on the relation between specific types of meat with semen quality and reproductive hormone levels, additional research is needed to confirm or refute these findings.


The role of women in the Gulf societies has been under the influence of dramatic transformation in economy and social life in the last 30 years. The aim of the study is to examine the changing role of women in economic, political and cultural life in the Gulf societies. In the study three Gulf countries, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are taken as examples. The tiny country of the Gulf, Qatar, has conservative local tradition but at the same time has witnessed a rapid change in its economic, social and political life. The UAE has become the heart of economic activities in the region and is trying to integrate herself in to the global world. Saudi Arabia is the most traditional country in the Gulf and women's rights in Saudi Arabia have been severely restricted. So, it is worth to investigate the transformation of the women's role in these three different Gulf countries. Also in the study, the influence of royal women on the modernization of women in the Gulf is discussed. Findings of the study reveal similarities and differences for the changing roles of women in these countries.