Abstract Background The family of calcium-activated chloride channels, TMEM16, plays a significant role in contributing to the pathogenesis of airway inflammatory diseases. Targeting these ion channels and aiming to modulate them may provide an interesting new approach to the therapy of these potentially fatal diseases. Methods We tested this hypothesis in both healthy and ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized male Dunkin-Hartley guinea pigs. The ion channel activity was modulated by TMEM16A-nonselective (benzbromarone) and TMEM16A-selective blockers (CaCCinh-A01). In vivo airway reactivity, induced by histamine and methacholine, was expressed as specific airway resistance (sRaw) values. The number of citric acid-induced coughs was counted using a double-chambered body plethysmograph, and the frequency of ciliary beating (CBF) was assessed in vitro by brushing method. For comparison, salbutamol and codeine were tested under the same conditions. Results The results showed significant differences in the responses of unsensitized and sensitized airways to both TMEM16 blockers administered. CaCCinh-A01 and benzbromarone significantly reduced the number of cough efforts in the group of OVA-sensitized guinea pigs. Significant improvement in sRaw values could be observed in OVA-sensitized TMEM16 blocker–treated animals compared to salbutamol when challenged with inhalational histamine, and the outcome was similar to salbutamol when challenged with methacholine. CBF was significantly inhibited in animals sensitized to OVA treated with selective inhibition of TMEM16A. Conclusions The results demonstrated that treatment with blockers of TMEM16 can reduce both cough effort and sRaw, and the difference between TMEM16A-selective and TMEM16A-nonselective blocking is only negligibly in favor of CaCCinh-A01. It is also worthwhile to note the impairment of CBF in OVA-sensitized animals treated with CaCCinh-A01.


The apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAS) is a very common disease that affects 4-6% of men and 2-4% of women in Spain. The treatment chose for OSAS is continuous positive pressure airway (CPAP). Most studies agree that a minimum adequate compliance is between 3 and 4 hours per night. It is not clear that compliance varies accordingly to gender and age. We studied patients with current CPAP treatment belonging to the health region of Barcelona and, as administrative division, corresponding to the OX/08 tender of home respiratory therapy in Catalonia. Compliance was studied in 5.012 patients, accordingly to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 3.773 were men (75.3%) and 1.239 women (24.7%). Men with more than 4 hours of treatment per night accounted for 66.8% of total and women 60.5% (p In both compliance data were better in older subjects. From 55 years old in women (p In conclusion, by gender, men do better than women and according to age, the older, better compliance in both sexes.


This paper surveys the literature of opportunistic offloading. Opportunistic offloading refers to offloading traffic originally transmitted through the cellular network to opportunistic network, or offloading computing tasks originally executed locally to nearby devices with idle computing resources through opportunistic network. This research direction is recently emerged, and the relevant research covers the period from 2009 to date, with an explosive trend over the last four years. We provide a comprehensive review of the research field from a multi-dimensional view based on application goal, realizing approach, offloading direction, etc. In addition, we pinpoint the major classifications of opportunistic offloading, so as to form a hierarchical or graded classification of the existing works. Specifically, we divide opportunistic offloading into two main categories based on application goal: traffic offloading or computation offloading. Each category is further divided into two smaller categories: with and without offloading node selection, which bridges between subscriber node and the cellular network, or plays the role of computing task executor for other nodes. We elaborate, compare, and analyze the literatures in each classification from the perspectives of required information, objective, etc. We present a complete introductory guide to the researches relevant to opportunistic offloading. After summarizing the development of the research direction and offloading strategies of the current state-of-the-art, we further point out the important future research problems and directions.


OBJECTIVE
Our objective was to evaluate the usefulness of intracavitary instillation of urokinase in the treatment of loculated pleural effusion.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS
We analyzed CT and sonographic scans of 31 patients with loculated pleural effusion treated with intracavitary urokinase. When the drainage was less than 100 ml/day, urokinase was instilled through the catheter until the drainage was less than 50 ml/day. Response to the treatment was assessed on follow-up chest radiographs and classified into three groups: completely effective (lung expansion > 80%), partially effective (20-80%), and ineffective (< 20%). The sonographic pattern of pleural fluid was classified as anechoic, linear septated, or honeycomb, and the thickness of the parietal pleura was measured on CT scans.

RESULTS
Of the 16 patients in whom treatment was completely effective, sonography showed an anechoic appearance in 12 and a linear septated appearance in four, and the thickness of the parietal pleura on CT scans was 2 mm in six, 3 mm in seven, and 4 mm in three. Of the nine patients in whom treatment was partially effective, sonography showed an anechoic appearance in six and a linear septated appearance in three, and the thickness of the parietal pleura on CT scans was 3 mm in five and 4 mm in four. Of the six patients in whom treatment was ineffective, sonography showed a linear septated appearance in one and a honeycomb appearance in five, and the thickness of the parietal pleura on CT scans was 3 mm in one, 4 mm in two, 5 mm in one, and 6 mm in two.

CONCLUSION
Urokinase instillation through a percutaneous catheter was effective in the treatment of loculated pleural effusion in most patients but was not effective in patients whose pleural fluid had a honeycomb appearance on sonography or whose parietal pleura had a thickness of more than 5 mm on CT scans.


We present a novel algorithm to segment a 3D surface mesh into visually meaningful regions. Our approach is based on an analysis of the local geometry of vertices. In particular, we begin with a novel characterization of vertices as convex, concave or hyperbolic based upon their discrete local geometry. Hyperbolic and concave vertices are considered potential feature region boundaries. We propose a new region growing technique starting from these boundary vertices leading to a segmentation of the surface that is subsequently simplified by a region-merging method. Experiments indicate that our algorithm segments a broad range of 3D models at a quality comparable to existing algorithms. Its use of methods that belong naturally to discretized surfaces and ease of implementation make it an appealing alternative in various applications.


Strategic interaction between gas and electricity sectors is a major issue in the implementation of competitive energy markets. One relevant aspect of the problem is the potential for input foreclosure between gas and power industries. In this paper, we are concerned with situations where input foreclosure opportunities are associated with the choice of market design. In particular, we study input foreclosure in the case that the short-term capacity allocation mechanism of gas networks raises barriers to cross-border trade. In that situation, one may find gas markets that are isolated only in the short term. We explain players' ability to influence the electricity price using their gas decisions in those isolated markets. We also show that this should be a concern of EU capacity allocation mechanisms, which provide spatial flexibility in the short term to promote liquidity, at the cost of creating barriers to cross-border trade. Therefore, input foreclosure opportunities are additional costs to be taken into account when weighing benefits and drawbacks of European gas market designs.


We consider a variational model for single-image super-resolution based on the assumption that the image gradient of the target image is sparse. To promote jump sparsity, we use an isotropic and anisotropic $\ell^{0}$ inverse Potts gradient regularisation term combined with a quadratic data fidelity, similarly as studied in [1] for general problems in signal recovery. For the numerical realisation of the model, we consider a converging ADMM algorithm. Differently from [1], [2], where approximate graph cuts and dynamic programming techniques were used for solving the non-convex substeps in the case of multivariate data, the proposed splitting allows to compute explicitly their solution by means of hard-thresholding and standard conjugate-gradient solvers. We compare quantitatively our results with several convex, nonconvex and deep-learning-based approaches for several synthetic and real-world data. Our numerical results show that combining super-resolution with gradient sparsity is particularly helpful for object detection and labelling tasks (such as QR scanning and land-cover classification), for which our results are shown to improve the classification precision of standard clustering algorithms and state-of-the art deep architectures [3].


Antiphase domain boundary (APB) tubes have been observed in a slightly deformed Fe–30.5 at. % Al alloy in dark field electron microscope images taken in superlattice reflexions. The image contrast theory has been developed and accounts satisfactorily for the nature of the APB tube contrast observed. The contrast theory is used to estimate the heights of the tubes. The widths of the tubes range from 20 to 50 ņ, and the measured heights are in the range of one to six times the elementary height. Evidence is presented that tubes are generated by the Vidoz & Brown (1962) mechanism and by a mechanism of cross-slip and annihilation of screw superdislocations. The possible effects of tubes on flow stress are discussed.


Low tidal volume (VT) and plateau pressure of the respiratory system (Pplat,rs) have become the cornerstone of protective mechanical ventilation in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients, reducing ventilator-associated lung injury (VALI). However, the key variable in determining pulmonary overdistension is delta transpulmonary pressure (ΔP,L). Since, the importance of VT versus PEEP as VALI determinants remains controversial, we investigated the effects of different ΔP,L generated by the combination of VT and PEEP in experimental ARDS. Wistar rats received Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide intratracheally. After 24h, rats were randomized into groups according to ΔP,L: low (7.5cmH2O), mean (10cmH2O), or high (12cmH2O). Different combinations of VT and PEEP were applied: ΔP,Llow (VT=6ml/kg, PEEP=3cmH2O); ΔP,Lmean (VT=6ml/kg, PEEP=9.5cmH2O or VT=13ml/kg, PEEP=3cmH2O); ΔP,Lhigh (VT=6ml/kg, PEEP=11cmH2O or VT=20ml/kg, PEEP=3cmH2O), during 1h. ΔP,Llow led to alveolar collapse and deterioration in gas exchange. Conversely, ΔP,Lmean with PEEP=9.5 cmH2O yielded alveolar hyperinflation and higher expression of markers related to hyperinflation [Amphiregulin and type III procollagen (PCIII)], inflammation (IL-6) and damage inflicted to type I pneumocyte (RAGE). In the ΔP,Lhigh groups, higher PEEP resulted in alveolar hyperinflation but PCIII, IL-6 and RAGE were lower compared to ΔP,Lmean with PEEP=9.5cmH2O whereas amphiregulin expression remained elevated. In conclusion, our results suggest that the smallest dynamic alveolar inflation preserved the integrity of the barrier reducing VALI.


The Cooperative Research Centre – Construction Innovation (CRC-CI) research project
2001-008-C: 'Project Team Integration: Communication, Coordination and Decision Support',
is supported by a number of Australian industry, government and university based project
partners including: Queensland University of Technology (QUT); Commonwealth Scientific
Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), University of Newcastle; Queensland Department
of Public Works (DPW); and the Queensland Department of Main Roads (DMR).
This 'State of the Art Report into the Use of ICPM in the Construction Industry' has been
prepared for the CRC-CI, as required under the various CRC-CI, QUT and Industry Partner
research agreements. Whilst all due care and attention has been taken to establish the
accuracy of the material published, authors disclaim liability for any loss, which may arise
from any person acting in reliance upon the contents of this document.


Validation of analytical methodologies is an important aspect of their development/utilization and is widely required in support of product registration applications. In this manuscript, definitions, procedures and acceptance criteria which appear in the pharmaceutical literature are summarized for the more commonly encountered validation parameters. Parameters examined include accuracy, precision, specificity, linearity and sensitivity limits.


Digital libraries and services enable users to access large amounts of data on demand. Yet, quality assessment of information encountered on the Internet remains an elusive open issue. For example, Wikipedia, one of the most visited platforms on the Web, hosts thousands of user-generated articles and undergoes 12 million edits/contributions per month. User-generated content is undoubtedly one of the keys to its success but also a hindrance to good quality. Although Wikipedia has established guidelines for the "perfect article," authors find it difficult to assert whether their contributions comply with them and reviewers cannot cope with the ever-growing amount of articles pending review. Great efforts have been invested in algorithmic methods for automatic classification of Wikipedia articles (as featured or non-featured) and for quality flaw detection. Instead, our contribution is an interactive tool that combines automatic classification methods and human interaction in a toolkit, whereby experts can experiment with new quality metrics and share them with authors that need to identify weaknesses to improve a particular article. A design study shows that experts are able to effectively create complex quality metrics in a visual analytics environment. In turn, a user study evidences that regular users can identify flaws, as well as high-quality content based on the inspection of automatic quality scores.


The Mediterranean Basin has been homeland for various societies throughout history since it stands at the connection point of the Old World. Within the modern political structure, the Basin can be divided into the North that represents the European Union and its members and the South consist of Arab countries and Israel with not only their different social structures, but also socio-political and socio-economic orders. Since the abolishment of the colonial rules in the southern Mediterranean, there have been various attempts to establish cooperation based on partnership and the Barcelona Process has become the most significant one, of the last quarter of the 20th century, since it paves the way for a union, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). This study analyzes the Euro-Mediterranean relations within an institutional level starting from the Barcelona Process and the current UfM. The quarter-century long initiative has been focused within the Democratic Peace Theory in order to form a base for both trade-oriented and institutionalized structure of relations alongside border securitization concerns of the European Union. It puts UfM's political effectiveness at the center and provides an analysis regarding the capability of its responsiveness to certain political issues of the Mediterranean Region.


The treatment of cancer with most anticancer drugs is complicated by the risk of numerous severe toxicities, many of which are life-threatening.The toxicities related to anticancer therapies are the most important factors restricting the use of potentially curative doses.This study aimed to assess the most common chemotherapy side effects developed and their treatment in the Khartoum oncology hospital emergency ward. This study was conducted at the Khartoum oncology hospital's emergency ward from March to May 2019.The data were collected from the medical records and individual interviews with the patients using a structured data collection sheet. Total of 100 patients were involved in this study, the most common side effects were nausea and vomiting (40%), abdominal pain (29%) of patients, diarrhea (19%), hypotension, fever, body pain, each experienced by (10%) of patients. Febrile neutropenia and dehydration, experienced by (9%) each. Moreover, the most common management of side effects was IV hydration used among 87% of patients, acid suppressants, and antiemetics used among 45% and 39% of patients, respectively.Antibiotics were used for 30% of patients; corticosteroids were used among 29% of patients.Antispasmodic were used among 27%, and analgesia used for 26 %.The association between the number of chemotherapeutic agents and side effects was significant (P=0.023).The study revealed that the most common side effects of chemotherapy were nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.The management mainly by intravenous hydration, antiemetic, acid suppressants, and antibiotics.


This thesis set out to continue the development of a short-wave infrared (SWIR) optical parametric amplifier (OPA). The system is based on a Yb-ber chirped pulse amplification (CPA) laser delivering 400 fs long pulses, centered around 1030 nm, at 200 kHz repetition rate and 40 W average power. The thesis focuses on pulse characterization, through use of frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG), of the output of a previously implemented noncollinear optical parametric amplification (NOPA) stage, amplifying a white-light source with the second harmonic of the fundamental 1030-nm pulses. The results show significant improvements in the pulse structure of the fundamental pulses as well as the amplified white-light pulses through dispersion management optimization. In addition to the pulse characterization, simulations were made for a difference-frequency generation (DFG) and OPA stage, that will be part of the future setup. Most notably, the simulations highlighted two critical aspects: probable bandwidth limitations for the OPA stage and the importance of a smooth spectral pulse shape. The simulations also demonstrated the feasibility to produce few-cycle pulses. (Less)


Urolithin A (UA) is a naturally occurring compound derived from the metabolism of gut microbiota, which has attracted considerable research attention due to its pharmacological effects and potential implications in muscle health and performance. Recent studies have demonstrated that Urolithin A exhibits diverse biological activities, encompassing anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-tumor, and anti-aging properties. In terms of muscle health, accumulating evidence suggests that Urolithin A may promote muscle protein synthesis and muscle growth through various pathways, offering promise in mitigating muscle atrophy. Moreover, Urolithin A exhibits the potential to enhance muscle health and performance by improving mitochondrial function and regulating autophagy. Nonetheless, further comprehensive investigations are still warranted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of Urolithin A and to assess its feasibility and safety in human subjects, thereby advancing its potential applications in the realms of muscle health and performance.


While research suggests a growing proclivity amongst contemporary fathers towards emotional involvement and child caregiving, studies indicate that most men still experience unrelenting pressure to provide financially for their family. For some fathers, the ability to spend time with their children is contingent on financial provision. Fathering, therefore, can be dependent on employment. The intersection of Blackness, maleness, and a criminal record, however, often results in employer discrimination, which hinders reentering Black men's ability to secure legitimate revenue streams and achieve fathering expectations. In response to these barriers, many men agentically create opportunities for themselves in order to provide for their families. Framed using Sites of Resilience and Posttraumatic Growth, the current study draws from qualitative data and adds to the literature by focusing on the act of hurdling rather than the hurdles faced upon reentry. Findings demonstrate how hustling upon reentry is not a display of persistent criminal character but, rather, reflects a resilient response to systemic racism and blocked opportunities. The discussion on policy implications is led by participant suggestions on how to deter criminal activity while providing opportunities for men with criminal records to support their families.


Hyper-immunoglobulin E syndrome is a rare primary immunodeficiency. We report a 6-year-old girl diagnosed with hyper immunoglobulin E syndrome and dilated cardiomyopathy. She presented with recurrent pneumonia and chronic eczema since infancy; onychomycosis, eosinophilia, high immunoglobulin E levels, previous treatment for severe infections and dilated cardiomyopathy. She was treated with diuretics, afterload reducers, inotropes, aspirin, steroids and antibiotics. Whether the cardiomyopathy is a co-incidental finding or a result of viral myocarditis due to the recurrent chest infections she had was difficult to conclusively determine.


In the noise-free case, the fractionally spaced equalization using constant modulus (FSE-CM) criterion has been studied previously. Its minima were shown to achieve perfect equalization when zero-forcing (ZF) conditions are satisfied and to be able to still achieve fair equalization when there is lack of disparity. However, to our best knowledge, the effect of additive channel noise on the FSE-CM cost-function minima has not been studied. In this paper, we show that the noisy FSE-CM cost function is subject to a smoothing effect with respect to the noise-free cost function, the result of which is a tradeoff between achieving zero forcing and noise enhancement. Furthermore, we give an analytical closed-form expression for the loss of performance due to the noise in terms of input-output mean square error (MSE). Under the ZF conditions, the FSE-CM MSE is shown to be mostly due to output noise enhancement and not to residual intersymbol interference (ISI). When there is lack of disparity, an irreducible amount of ISI appears independently of the algorithm. It is the lower equalizability bound for given channel conditions and equalizer length-the so-called minimum MSE (MMSE). The MMSE lower bound is the sum of the MMSE and of additional MSE mostly due to noise enhancement. Finally, we compare the FSE-CM MSE to this lower bound.


We report the isolation and characterization of the bisfullerene C 121, the first all-carbon molecule to contain a homofullerene (also called a fulleroid) cage. This unsymmetrical isomer of C121 ,along with a symmetrical isomer of C121 and C122, were obtained by thermolysis of a mixture of C60CBr2 and C60 and separated by high performance liquid chromatography. The predominant isomer of C121 has a spiro carbon atom bridge that connects to one of the cages through an open (5.6) ring junction (i.e., between a pentagon and a hexagon) and to the other through a closed (6.6) ring junction. Ab initio calculations indicate that the unsymmetrical structure is more stable than either of the symmetrical alternatives, with the bridging carbon atom attached to both C60 cages through closed (6.6) ring junctions or attached to each cage through open (5.6) ring junctions. Experimental evidence for the unsymmetrical structure comes from the 13 C NMR and UV/vis spectra. Electrochemical reduction of this bisfullerene shows three pairs of distinct, reversible peaks that correspond to each of the first three reductions of the (60)fullerene cages. This is consistent with the presence of a homofullerene unit and shows the similarity of the redox behavior to that of C60. The first reduction potential of C121 is slightly shifted toward more positive values than that of (60)fullerene.


Abstract Oncocytic schneiderian papillomas (OSPs) are uncommon benign neoplasms that arise from the sinonasal schneiderian epithelium. Malignancies arising in OSPs are rare, and, to our knowledge, only 14 such instances have been reported in the medical literature. We report 2 additional cases—a small cell carcinoma and a sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma arising in OSPs and presenting synchronously with the benign neoplasm. The potential for malignant transformation in OSPs is small, but warrants that these papillomas be completely excised to exclude a coexisting carcinoma.


The integration of medical devices into the IT infrastructure of hospitals is still a major challenge. Recent research tries to adapt service oriented concepts to the field of medical devices in order to achieve an easier and better integration. However, no generalized framework for this kind of integration exists. The purpose of this paper is to identify the characteristics (the nature) of medical device services. The results were achieved by conducting a multiple-case study with three cases on two university hospitals. As a result, we identified twelve specific integration issues of medical devices and deduced eight characteristics. This paper contributes to the design of a generalized framework for the service oriented integration of medical devices. The identified characteristics can be interpreted as requirements to such a framework.


To investigate the secretion of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and of interleukin-3 (IL-3) by human keratinocytes in vitro, adult human keratinocytes (aHKc) from 3 different donors and a spontaneously transformed keratinocytic line (HaCaT) were cultured and exposed to various cytokines and to the protein kinase C-activating agent phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA). GM-CSF and IL-3 were measured by highly specific and sensitive immunoassays. Our findings showed that long-term cultured aHKc and HaCaT cells are capable of secreting GM-CSF but not IL-3 upon cytokine and PMA stimulation. Both interleukin-1 and tumor necrosis factor alpha, which are known to be present in human epidermis, particularly during cutaneous inflammatory processes, were found to stimulate GM-CSF release. Therefore, we conclude that increased GM-CSF levels may play an important role in the interactions between epidermal keratinocytes and blood cells in vivo.


A Raman spectroscopic study was performed on igneous sediments dominated by plagioclase, K-feldspar, quartz and pyroxene from the Dry Valleys region of Antarctica. Lakes from this region of Antarctica have been investigated as possible analogues for paleolake environments on early Mars. Gaining Raman spectra of such sediments provides compositional information for missions to Mars, and also the necessary ground truthing for use of Raman spectroscopy for exploration of geology, and perhaps biology, on Mars. Sediments measured in this study were collected from the perennially ice-covered Lake Hoare in the Taylor Valley and include surface sediments, and lakebottom sediments from oxic and anoxic zones of the lake. Micro-Raman spectroscopy provides a unique opportunity for in situ exploration of biogeochemical processes on the micron scale at field sites. For example, in these potential paleolake analogue sediments, ∼5 µm sized sulfide deposits were observed on the surface of quartz grains in one of the anoxic sediments. Small amounts of calcite, organics, clays and iron oxides/hydroxides were also identified. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A new method for studying the action of membranolytic agents by simple measurement of light emitted from cells is described. It is based on the expression of the click beetle (Pyrophorus plagiophthalamus) luciferase gene (lucGR) in Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Spodoptera frugiperda cells in order to make them bioluminescent. The diffusion of the substrate for luciferase enzyme through the cell membranes is very low at physiological pH, and therefore a change in membrane permeability is seen as a change of in-vivo luminescence of cells. The cells used in this study represent different membrane structures, and thus allow a comparison of the reactions of the different membranes towards membranolytic agents in a real-time measurement. The dose-response data correlated well with target cell viable count. In addition, the time course of light emission as a consequence of permeabilizing compound is dose-dependent. The action of the compounds on prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells was found to be highly dependent on the permeabilizer used.


In general, acoustic channels are not Gaussian distributed neither are second-order stationary. Considering them for signal processing methods designed for Gaussian assumptions is inadequate, consequently yielding in poor performance of such methods. This paper presents an analysis for audio signal corrupted by impulsive noise using non-Gaussian models. Audio samples are compared to the Gaussian, α-stable and Gaussian mixture models, evaluating the fitting by graphical and numerical methods. We discuss fitting properties as the window length and the overlap, finally concluding that the α-stable model has the best fit for all tested scenarios.


The study sought to analyse the factors that lead to rising credit risk in the Zimbabwean banking sector. The objective was to ascertain the impact of macroeconomic, industry and bank specific factors on rising credit risk in in Zimbabwe. The study aimed at contributing to credit risk management literature by providing evidence Sub Saharan context. Being anchored on the positivist quantitative research approach, a survey was carried out gather the data that were analysed using descriptive, correlation and regression analyses. The results revealed that the most significant factors leading to credit risk in the Zimbabwean banking sector were macroeconomic and bank specific factors. The industry factors did not show a significant influence on the rising credit risk. The research findings of this study will a valuable addition to the existing knowledge and provide a platform for further research on how the credit risk problems can be dealt with. While credit risk is known as one of the risks inherent to any banking institutions, the alarming levels of credit risk in the Zimbabwe banking sector has motivated this current study to critically analyse the factors that have led to the high credit risk levels.


This paper discusses similar machines of people who are categorized as robots that function as product identifier sales. This research is used as a substitute for shop assistants who sometimes have an emotional attitude when the consumer asks many things. By utilizing this robot, is expected to provide more services to consumers, consumers only need to show the goods that will be desired to the robot by closing the barcode, and the robot will provide information to the product in detail. In the process of this research is made by waterfall method with the necessary changes. From the results of the study concluded that the robot system can provide information services to consumers


NASA/National Space Gant College/Oklahoma Space Grant Consortia /Langston University/ Langston University NASA Advanced Research in Biology Center (LUNAR-BC)/ Langston University (STEM) Science Technology Engineering and Math Langston University STEM Team Langston University STEM team technicians are building a real sounding rocket/biology experiment payload; they will integrate and launch it on a two-stage Terrier-Orion rocket into outer space, and will design and manufacture a clinostat (rotating microgravity machine) and use it as a ground biology comparison experiment. Payload Control Sensor System Project Technician Leaders: Kameron Gibson, CADD. Project Technicians Lily Amber Martin, Bio. Brendon Wilkinson, Elec. Raechel Martin, CADD. Nicholas Grace, CS Moin Muhammad Khalil, Math Geiger Counter 8 GB SD Card Memory, 0-15 PSI Pressure Sensor, and Temperature Sensor, 3-Axis Gyroscope, 3-Axis Accelerometer in Low and Medium Range, 1-Axis Accelerometer in High Range, Humidity Sensor, and shield with all sub system printed circuit boards, Arduino, Code, and Calibration. Plate, Mechanical, Canister, Electrical, and Rocket Integration Payload Biology Experiment Effects of microgravity on the immune system. Human immune cells will be subjected to microgravity environment for six minutes. Payload Biology Experiment Integration (RockSat-C) Ground Biology Comparison Experiment (Clinostat) Project Technician Leaders: Celicia Kinlow, CADD Project Technicians Jordan McClellan, Elec. Micaiah, Tripplett, CADD. Rosalba Z. White, Bio Moin Muhammad Khalil, Math Researchers will simulate microgravity by using a clinostat (rotating microgravity machine) that will keep a constant speed. The clinostat will hold a biological experiment inside a vial, placed at the center of the rings which are suspended in the middle of a media growth liquid and will be spinning on 3-axis points at a particular RPM to negate the effects of gravitational pull. STEM Technicians will design and manufacture the Clinostat for the experiment.


The present study aimes to examining the effect of the ethanolic extract of Melilotus officinalis flowers on bleeding time ,WBC and RBC count .Total number in males and females adult rabbit eighteen, (9 males and 9females ) are randomly divided into three equal groups (3 males and 3females per group). The first (control) is drenched normal saline while the second and third groups are drenched the ethanolic extracted (20 and 50mg/ml/kg of B.W) for 24 hours. The results reveal significant increase in bleeding time in third group followed by the second group compared with the control while RBC and WBC count record no significant differences .On the other hand the gender had no significant effect on the studied parameters.


Modern product design complexity is a problem faced by designers of complex geometric products. It is very difficult for a designer to assimilate the vast amounts of data necessary to produce and understand such complex designs in their totality. Recently, research has been done to better manage design complexity, but little or no work has been done with respect to user interfaces for complexity management tools. In this research, we present a concurrent design views interface to enhance design complexity management. This user interface assists the designer in creation and visualization of complex design frameworks. These design views support different levels of design detail and complexity, and also provide hierarchical design decomposition of complex design frameworks. Concurrency between design views is maintained, thus increasing the overall power of the system. To demonstrate the validity and applicability of this approach in solving complexity management issues, a prototype system implementation of an intuitive user interface built upon an existing complexity management framework is presented.


Where do Asian Americans fit into the U.S. racial order? Are they subordinated comparably to Black people or permitted adjacency to whiteness? The racial reckoning prompted by the police murder of George Floyd and the surge in anti-Asian hate during the COVID-19 pandemic raise these questions with new urgency. Asian Americans in an Anti-Black World is a groundbreaking study that will shake up scholarly and popular thinking on these matters. Theoretically innovative and based on rigorous historical research, this provocative book tells us we must consider both anti-Blackness and white supremacy—and the articulation of the two forces—in order to understand U.S. racial dynamics. The construction of Asian Americans as not-white but above all not-Black has determined their positionality for nearly two centuries. How Asian Americans choose to respond to this status will help to define racial politics in the U.S. in the twenty-first century.


Which can make the rechargeable battery digital device, comprising: consumption current detecting means for detecting the consumption current input to the digital device; control unit; the charging current detection control means for detecting the battery charge when the battery charging current; and a charging control means, adjusted in proportion to the charging current control signal from the control unit and the charging current output from the detection control unit measured battery consumption current flowing to the rechargeable battery.


Abstract Sociolinguistic rules governing choice of pronouns of address are notoriously difficult in French, despite the fact that the number of variants is rather limited: the more formal vous versus the more informal tu. Children with French as L1 learn to use pronouns of address appropriately as part of their socialization process. The learning curve is much steeper for instructed learners of French and many never reach the summit. The present contribution focuses on the effects of situational and sociobiographical variables on the self-reported and actual use of pronouns of address in native and non-native French. Data on self-reported pronoun use in different situations were collected from 125 participants through a written questionnaire. A corpus of conversations between native (n = 9) and non-native (n = 52) speakers of French provided data on the actual use of address pronouns.


Liver transplantation constitutes the most effective and indispensable treatment of end-stage liver disease (ESLD). Major advances in surgical techniques, anesthe-siological management, postoperative care, immunosuppression, and diagnostic approach have led to increased overall survival of patients. Postoperative care poses a great challenge since detrimental occurrences that need prompt treatment may affect the graft or distant organ functionality. Adequate graft function is strongly associated with distant organ restoration and rapid patient recovery. In the ICU setting, the main focal points are hemodynamic stabilization, coagulation and electrolyte disturbances correction, respiratory support, early weaning from mechanical ventilation, and evaluation of graft functionality. It is of paramount importance to facilitate early graft recovery, recognize and promptly treat systematic complications and life-threatening sequelae, and individualize treatment protocols considering graft quality, donor's and recipient's health status, and potential co-morbidities. To achieve those goals, technological advancements in continuous patient monitoring, graft functionality, and its metabolic reserves must be assimilated and implemented in the ICU.


The spectrum of inclusion, diversity, access, and equity among the Infectious Diseases (ID) workforce is ever-growing, ever-evolving, and continuously benefiting from the contributions made by the unique differences among our workforce which make us stronger, smarter, and better prepared to respond to whatever emerging ID challenge we will encounter next.


Identification and analysis of the components of labor productivity based on ACHIEVE model was performed among employees in different parts of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in 2014. This was a descriptive correlational study in which the population consisted of 270 working personnel in different administrative groups (contractual, fixed- term and regular) at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (872 people) that were selected among 872 people through stratified random sampling method based on Krejcie and Morgan sampling table. The survey tool included labor productivity questionnaire of ACHIEVE. Questionnaires were confirmed in terms of content and face validity, and their reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The data were analyzed by SPSS-18 software using descriptive and inferential statistics. The mean scores for labor productivity dimensions of the employees, including environment (environmental fit), evaluation (training and performance feedback), validity (valid and legal exercise of personnel), incentive (motivation or desire), help (organizational support), clarity (role perception or understanding), ability (knowledge and skills) variables and total labor productivity were 4.10±0.630, 3.99±0.568, 3.97±0.607, 3.76±0.701, 3.63±0.746, 3.59±0.777, 3.49±0.882 and 26.54±4.347, respectively. Also, the results indicated that the seven factors of environment, performance assessment, validity, motivation, organizational support, clarity, and ability were effective in increasing labor productivity. The analysis of the current status of university staff in the employees' viewpoint suggested that the two factors of environment and evaluation, which had the greatest impact on labor productivity in the viewpoint of the staff, were in a favorable condition and needed to be further taken into consideration by authorities.


Taking talking therapy outdoors is becoming increasingly popular, especially gaining traction in response to COVID restrictions on what can be done face-to-face indoors, and with increasing awareness of benefits from being outdoors in nature (Ewert & Davidson, 2021). In this paper, we draw on ethics of sustainability from the outdoor activity sector to look for metaphors for therapeutic practice outdoors, especially solution-focused brief therapy. We start with what is currently regarded as good practice for the preservation and conservation of the environments and habitats we frequent. We then develop these tenets of ethics, such as Leave No Trace, as metaphors for deliberate solution-focused therapeutic work outdoors, especially with regard to honoring the voices of our clients. Metaphors are provided to demonstrate why, and how, outdoor therapy practitioners should aim to 'leave no trace' in the lives of those they serve, as they would leave no trace of their presence on the land they travel. We illustrate how our practice can draw on sustainability ethics to enable the decolonization of our solution-focused outdoor work (Mlcek, 2017), and consider how a privilege-aware approach to practice can be used to help 'decolonize' therapeutic practice. We suggest that solution-focused approaches to outdoor therapy require additional work in counseling theory and ethics to supplement outdoor leadership qualifications.


In cases of myocardial hypertrophy myocardial protection may be insufficient. In order to determine the factors responsible for myocardial injury we assessed myocardial injury in 54 patients undergoing isolated aortic valve replacement. In all cases hypothermic cardioplegic arrest was induced. At 13 different times we measured the serum level of creatine-kinase (CK), myocardial bound creatine-kinase (CKmb), lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), alpha-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (alpha-HBDH), glutamic oxaloacetic transferase (GOT) and myoglobin. The mean duration of ischemia was 52.6 +/- 16.2 minutes and the mean time of extracorporeal circulation was 85.85 +/- 20.25 minutes. By performance of a multiple regression analysis a significant correlation between ischemia and LDH and alpha-HBDH was found; CK, GOT, LDH and alpha-HBDH correlated with duration of extracorporeal circulation. In none of the patients was a low cardiac output syndrome observed. From our results we conclude that in our study myocardial protection was sufficient and therefore the detrimental effects of extracorporeal circulation were the determining factors of enzyme release.


Hepatoblastoma deemed surgically unresectable at presentation is fatal unless conversion to resectability is attained. We report a series of six consecutive patients, ranging in age from newborn to 5.75 years with hepatoblastoma unresectable at presentation, either because of size of tumor or its anatomical boundaries, or because of metastatic disease. All were treated with preoperative continuous infusions of cis-platinum and Adriamycin. All achieved resectability, and there was only one operative death. The five surviving patients are alive and free of disease off therapy. Potential benefit may accrue from preoperative chemotherapy in most cases of hepatoblastoma.


For the case of one-electron collisional systems and the straight-line nuclear trajectories, we study the limits of separated and united atoms of dynamical adiabatic states compatible with physical boundary conditions. The limit of separated atoms is similar to the problem of hydrogen atom in crossed, orthogonal electric and magnetic fields, and analytic results are obtained by utilizing the O(4) symmetry of bound states in a Coulomb field. In the united-atom limit the overlapping manifolds of dynamical potential-energy curves are predicted and analyzed.


In this Thesis, we propose a novel method that changes the topological order in superconductor wires. We first consider the case of disorder in one dimensional topological superconductors and show how disorder can destroy or create topological order leading to reentrant topological phases. We then consider the effects of a superlattice potential, a zero-average piecewise continuous weak electrostatic potential, on p-wave and s-wave topological superconductor wires. We call such stacked wires leading to weak periodic potential modulation, meta-topological superconductor wires. Topological superconducting wires in their nontrivial phases exhibit Majorana modes as their edge states. We show that by stacking topologically trivial pieces of superconductors, it is possible to induce a topological phase which feature Majorana states at the edges of the superlattice: the meta-topological superconductor. The presence of an electrostatic superlattice allows us to control the topological phase space via the geometry of the electrostatic superlattice. We consider strictly one dimensional meta-topological superconductor wires as well as their quasi-one dimensional multichannel counterparts and show that reentrant topological phases in multichannel meta-topological superconductors occur. Finally, we consider the analogous case of a meta-topological insulator, a quantum anomalous Hall insulator featuring a weak superlattice of magnetic modulation, and show that the transmission can be topologically controlled as a function of energy. The topological protection leads to binary transmission (either transmit or reflect) through the meta-topological quantum anomalous Hall insulator, details of which can be controlled by tuning the properties of the weak superlattice.


When a feed is displaced from the focus of a reflector, phase distortion results in the effective aperture distribution, which in turn gives rise to secondary beam distortion. In multiple beam or contour beam antennas, the feed normally consists of an array of identical elements located on a triangular lattice. Taking advantage of this arrangement, a "cluster" of feed elements instead of a single element may be used to control each beam. By adjusting the relative excitations of the elements in a cluster, the aperture phase distortion due to the feed displacement may be partially compensated. Two general methods for synthesizing the excitations for a laterally displaced feed cluster are presented. In the first method the excitations are chosen to minimize the weighted phase error in the effective aperture by analytical means. The second method determines the excitations by a gradient optimization algorithm which minimizes the weighted error between an objective and the actual power patterns in the secondary pattern space. The first method is roughly two orders of magnitude more efficient computationally than the gradient optimization algorithm, but not as flexible in application or as precise. Numerical results are presented for cluster feed designs and their application to the synthesis of contour patterns.


A review is presented of recent results in QCD from the H1 and ZEUS experiments at HERA, emphasizing the use of higher order calculations to describe the data.


Highly accelerated tests, while capable of producing in short test durations, can cause significant damage and failure as a result of damage mechanisms and/or material behavior not present in the actual use. This is particularly true for surface mount solder attachments. The results of low-acceleration reliability tests for the solder attachments of ball grid arrays (BGAs) and column grid arrays (CGAs) are reported in this paper. The tests were designed to mimic the thermal conditions of the use environment of the product, including internal power dissipation within the grid array components, as closely as practically possible. The test acceleration comes from two measures taken: (1) controlled reduced dwell times at the cyclic temperature extremes, thus allowing a higher cyclic frequency, and (2) a controlled increased CTE-mismatch between the components and the test circuit board by an increase in the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the test circuit boards relative to the product circuit boards. Control test vehicles with product-like circuit board construction were also utilized. The results from the different test vehicle configurations are correlated and utilized to estimate the reliability of the product in the field.


Through the use of a cadaveric porcine model, forces necessary for manipulation of the abdominal organs were evaluated using an instrumented probe. Additionally, forces for tissue puncture, knot tightening, and suture breakage have been measured in order to determine the requirements placed upon the design of novel robotic surgical tools. The break forces for a variety of suture sizes and types were evaluated including sizes 3-0 through 7-0 polypropylene, size 1 polybutestor, size 4-0 chromic gut, and size 6-0 braided polyester. Tests of the tissue puncture force and knot tightening forces were carried out using the same instrumented probe, while the suture break forces were measured using a tension testing machine. The measured forces were found to compare well against the literature and provide a good basis from which to design robotic surgical tools with the appropriate capabilities.


SUMMARY On a clay loam soil, the cultivar Col 148, planted in spring 1987 at 57560 three-budded setts/ha received 0, 75, 100 and 150 kg N/ha and 0, 10, 20 and 30 t/ha fresh sulphitation press mud either separately or in combined applications, at 80% moisture. Separate applications of up to 150 kg N/ha and up to 30 t press mud/ha increased the cane biomass by 24·6% and 13·2%, respectively, whereas combined application increased it up to 38·1% more than in the control. A N concentration of 1·95–2·12% in the blades of leaves 3·6 from the top of the plant from tillering to the grand growth stage was necessary for maximum dry matter production. Sulphitation press mud enhanced uptake and availability of N and P to the crop and reduced soil pH. Application of 10 t press mud/ha saved 75 kg/ha of fertilizer N.


We studied 7300 singleton births in the highlands and 4881 in coastal Papua New Guinea in order to examine the separate contribution of anaemia or malaria to low birthweight. The highland sample was selected from a non-malarious area (Goroka) and the coastal sample from an area with perennial malaria transmission (Madang). There was an approximately three-fold increased risk of low birthweight (< 2500 g) in live-births in Madang compared to Goroka. The prevalence of anaemia in the two areas was strikingly different, with 29.2% of Goroka and 89.0% of Madang women anaemic. There was a trend towards increased low birthweight with decreasing haemoglobin levels in both areas, but this was significant only for Madang. It was assumed that for a given haemoglobin level the increased low birth weight percentage in Madang compared to Goroka was due to malaria exposure, and on this basis relative risk values were estimated for the effect of malaria exposure on low birthweight. Using this approach separate estimates for anaemia and malaria population-attributable risk for low birth weight in Madang were calculated. These indicated that up to 40% of low birthweight babies born in malarious areas may be attributable to malaria and less than 10% attributable to severe anaemia (Hb < 7.0 g dl-1). The magnitude of the malaria effect estimated in this analysis places a high priority on malaria control in pregnancy as a strategy for improving birthweight and child survival.


ABSTRACT Solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPME-GCMS) was used to show that dimethyl sulfide produced by Burkholderia pseudomallei is responsible for its unusual truffle-like smell and distinguishes the species from Burkholderia thailandensis. SPME-GCMS can be safely used to detect dimethyl sulfide produced by agar-grown B. pseudomallei.


Background: Sleep disorders have a comparatively high prevalence worldwide and create a burden on the health system. Pharmacological agents used for insomnia are associated with considerable side effects. Therefore, searching for safe and effective agents from plant-based natural sources is a worthy effort. Jatamansi (Nardostachys jatamansi DC.) rhizome has been recommended for insomnia and mental conditions in the Indian system of medicine. Aim: This study aimed to determine central nervous system (CNS) depressant activity of Jatamansi (N. jatamansi) rhizome on experimental animals. Materials and methods: Gross behavior study and open field test (locomotor activity) were performed by using Charle's foster albino rats whereas rota-rod test and pentobarbital-induced sleep test in Swiss albino mice. Animals were divided into 3 groups (per model) having six animals in each group. The control group was treated with water, the standard group with diazepam and the test drug with powder of N. Jatamansi rhizome. Results were calculated by one-way ANOVA and post hoc test with P < 0.05 as significant. Results: Data suggested that Jatamansi did not produce a significant effect on the behavior of animals. It reduced the horizontal activity significantly (P < 0.001) in the open field apparatus. The test drug did not show a significant decrease in latency of fall-off time in rota-rod performance in mice. Still, it exerted a significant effect by a reduction in latency of onset of sleep (P < 0.01) and also extended the total duration of sleep (P < 0.05) in albino mice in comparison to the control group. Conclusion: This study shows that Jatamansi rhizome powder possesses CNS depressant activity without affecting gross behavior and muscle coordination in rats.


The object of the study was to determine the relation between cervical conization and preterm birth. All Danish women with singleton pregnancies who gave birth to their first infant in 1982 and second infant in 1982-1987 were included in a register-based cohort study. Information on pregnancy outcome and cervical conization in 1977-1987 was obtained from the Medical Birth Register and the National Register of Hospital Discharges. It was found that in a cohort of 14.233 women, 170 had had cervical conization. Thirty-four had had cervical conization before the first delivery, 62 between the first and the second, and 74 after the second delivery. Women with cervical conization had a significantly higher risk of preterm birth. Also, women with subsequent cervical conization had a higher risk of preterm birth in previous pregnancies. However, the risk of preterm birth was higher in women with previous than with subsequent cervical conization. It is concluded that cervical conization is correlated with preterm birth. Since women with subsequent cervical conization are at increased risk of preterm birth in preceding pregnancies, other factors than the surgical intervention may contribute to the significantly increased risk of preterm birth.


A model independent, transfer Hamiltonian theory of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is presented. The theory is used to determine which surface characteristics are probed by the STM. It is demonstrated that the most useful presentation of the data is the two-dimensional Fourier transform of the tunneling current I(z; k) or, for an ordered sample surface, the coefficients of the two-dimensional Fourier series expansion of the periodic current, I(z; G). In this case, the inversion of the STM data yields the corresponding two-dimensional Fourier transform (or expansion coefficients) of the spectral density. From these, less microscopic or detailed quantities such as the LDOS or its Fourier transform can be determined. It is also demonstrated that approximation schemes to simplify the inversion of the STM data yield less detailed or fundamental characteristics than the exact inversion. The representation of the tip's effect on the tunneling current as an instrument function is explored and used to obtain a semi-empirical procedure for the determination of this function. This obviates the need for a precise model of the tip which is generally required to determine the instrument function. The conditions under which the tunneling current is proportional to the LDOS are found to be restrictive. An extension of the theory to the case when the transfer Hamiltonian is inapplicable is suggested. The application of the theory to elastic or resonant scanning tunneling spectroscopy is also indicated.


OBJECTIVES: Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The American College of Gastroenterology recommends screening for first-degree relatives of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer before the age of 50. A colonoscopy is one of the most commonly recommended exams due to its specificity and the possibility to resect pre-malignant lesions. Nevertheless, the rate of physician adherence to this recommendation is unknown. METHODS: This transversal study was performed at a major cancer center in Brazil with 62 patients, aged 18 to 50, who completed a questionnaire on information received from their physicians regarding screening their first-degree relatives. We used the answers from patients who provided explicit consent. RESULTS: Two hundred and three patients were eligible to participate and 93 (45.8%) agreed to complete the questionnaire. Twenty-three questionnaires (24.73%) were returned and 39 were completed by telephone. Of the patients who answered the questionnaire, 39 (62.9%) had received a colonoscopy recommendation for their first-degree relatives and 23 (37.1%) were not informed of the recommendation. Among the patients who received the recommendations, 20.51% affirmed that all relatives completed the exam and 51.28% stated that no relatives completed the exam. DISCUSSION: The adherence rate of our physicians to the ACG guideline recommendations was 62.9%. Considering that our study was performed at a leading center for cancer treatment in Latin America, we had expected better adherence. The results show that adherence to the colorectal cancer screening recommendations for high-risk patients must be improved.


Effective analysis of health care information is a central component in formulating strategies for improvement initiatives. These initiatives involve the analysis of episodes of care, quality measure comparisons, resource utilization, and investigation of temporal relationships between various factors and outcomes. The ability to efficiently recognize the principal patterns and their variations presents special challenges. This paper describes the design issues and application of the Interactive Visual-Exploratory Data Analysis (IV/EDA) system. IV/EDA is a graphical approach to exploratory analysis of health care information designed to rapidly find and communicate relationships essential to formulating and evaluating strategies that address health care improvement.


We develop and demonstrate a new protocol that allows sensing of magnetic fields in an extra-ordinary regime for atomic magnetometry. Until now, the demonstrated bandwidth for atomic magnetometry has been constrained to be slower than the natural precession of atomic spins in a magnetic field---the Larmor frequency. We demonstrate a new approach that tracks the instantaneous phase of atomic spins to measure arbitrarily modulated magnetic fields with frequencies up to fifty times higher than the Larmor frequency. By accessing this regime, we demonstrate magnetic-field measurements across four decades in frequency up to 400 kHz, over three orders of magnitude wider than conventional atomic magnetometers. Furthermore, we demonstrate that our protocol can linearly detect transient fields 100--fold higher in amplitude than conventional methods. We highlight the bandwidth and dynamic range of the technique by measuring a magnetic field with a broad and dynamical spectrum.


About two decades ago, the field of Qualitative Spatial and Temporal Reasoning (QSTR) emerged as a new area of AI research that set out to grasp human-level understanding and reasoning about spatial and temporal entities, linking formal approaches to cognitive theories. Empowering artificial agents with QSTR capabilities is claimed to facilitate manifold applications, including robot navigation, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), natural language understanding, and computer-aided design. QSTR is an active field of research that has developed many representation and reasoning approaches so far, but only comparatively few applications exist that actually build on these QSTR techniques. This chapter approaches QSTR from an application perspective. Considering the exemplary application domains of robot navigation, GIS, and computer-aided design, the authors conclude that reasoning must be interpreted in a broader sense than the often-considered constraint-based reasoning and that supporting tools must become available. The authors then discuss the newly identified reasoning tasks and how they can be supported by QSTR toolboxes to foster the dissemination of QSTR in applications. Furthermore, the authors explain how they aim to overcome the lack-of-tools dilemma through the development of the QSTR toolbox SparQ.


Introduction GPR99, a member of G-protein coupled receptor family, is expressed in the heart. Previous studies suggested that this receptor can bind to alpha-ketoglutarate, a metabolite that is elevated in the serum of heart failure (HF) patients. However, the functional role of GPR99 in cardiomyocytes is unknown. In this study, we investigated whether GPR99 regulates cardiac hypertrophy, a key process in the development of HF. Results Mice with genetic ablation of GPR99 (GPR99-/-) displayed an increased in hypertrophy following transverse aortic constriction (TAC) as indicated by heart weight/body weight ratio. Furthermore, GPR99-/- mice showed significantly increased interstitial fibrosis and larger cell surface area compared to wildtype controls. The cardiac function as indicated by fractional shorting (FS) is significantly lower in the knockout mice compared to wildtype mice following TAC. To examine the mechanism we performed yeast two hybrid screening analysis and have identified CSN5, a member of the COP9 signalosome complex, as a novel interacting partner of the GPR99 receptor. COP9 is known as a regulator of protein degradation via the ubiquitin proteasome system. Adenoviral mediated overexpression of GPR99 in cardiomyocytes induced the ubiquitination and degradation of a prohypertrophic factor interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5). Consistently, in GPR99-/- mice expression of IRF5 was significantly increased following TAC, which might provide the possible mechanism responsible for the increased hypertrophy in these mice. Conclusion Our findings suggest that the alpha-ketoglutarate receptor GPR99 modulates pathological hypertrophic response by modulating ubiquitination of IRF5. Thus, GPR99 may become the possible target for heart failure treatment.


Development of a mathematical tool to predict the biomechanical damage in the secondary insult phase of a traumatic brain injury constitutes an important step in its prevention and clinical treatment. Secondary injuries are initiated by an accumulation of excess intracellular calcium resulting in the biochemical degradation of essential cell components. This thesis develops a holistic phenomenological model to predict the intraneuronal calcium ion accumulation and its subsequent detrimental effects such as protein dysfunctions resulting in microtubule rupture. We validate our model by comparing our predictions with the available clinical and experimental observations in the literature.


Rabies is one of the most ancient and dangerous diseases that have been introduced in medical texts. This disease has been reported in more than 150 countries around the world except for the South Pole. According to a report by world health organization (WHO) in 2015 about 99% of rabies cases are due to being bitten by a rabid dog and more than 95% of mortalities in humans following rabies have occurred in Asia followed by Africa. Most cases of human deaths due to rabies occur in India. There is little data available regarding Central Asia and Middle East and more studies are needed. Considering the deadly nature of this disease and noting that only 7 individuals have survived this illness until now as well as Iran's geographical location, the importance of paying more attention to this disease is recognized even more. In a case report by Dr. Sadeghi et al. that has been published in Iranian Journal of Emergency Medicine, the furious form of the disease, which is the common type of rabies, has been introduced. In the end, the patient sadly died despite receiving immunoglobulin, being vaccinated after being exposed, and taking necessary treatment measures. What should be noted regarding the mentioned patient in our opinion is evaluating and giving information regarding nursing and burial process of the victim. Theoretically, the disease can be transmitted form one human to another in case of saliva and other secretions of the patient coming into contact with mucosa or open wounds of another, yet a definite and proved case of this has not been reported yet. Considering this point, people who take care of patients with suspected rabies should be vaccinated against the disease. Therefore, educating and training a special medical group for taking care of these patients like influenza and viral hemorrhagic fevers and etc seems necessary. Additionally, exposed individuals should use mask, gloves, gown and glasses throughout the time of exposure. Moreover, considering the deadly nature of the disease, all the individuals exposed to the mucosa, saliva, or other mouth secretions of the rabies patient should receive a complete set of vaccine after exposure if they have not been vaccinated before; especially if they have an open wound or cracks in their hand and foot. The corpse of the patient dying from rabies should not be buried conventionally. The corpse should be disinfected and then wrapped in a thick impenetrable piece of nylon after spraying disinfectant powder and then sanitarily buried as a package. Therefore, if a patient dies of rabies, in addition to taking the aforementioned measures, it is suggested to inform the authorities of cemeteries regarding the burial of these victims.


Objective: Currently, epidemiological data on prognosis of patients with hypertensive crises (HC) are limited. The purpose of our study was to register the prevalence and clinical characteristics of patients with hypertensive urgencies (HU) and emergencies (HE) admitting to the emergency department (ED) and during hospitalization and a 12-month follow-up to record new end points in a Greek tertiary hospital. Design and method: The study population included patients reporting to the ED with acute rise in blood pressure (BP) (systolic BP> or = 180mmHg and/or diastolic BP> or = 120mmHg), categorizing as HE and HU depending on the presence or absence of acute hypertension-mediated target organ damage, respectively. In all patients the demographic and clinical information were registered for 12 consecutive months. In addition, there was a 12-month follow-up for new events. Results: Out of 38,589 patients assessed in the ED during a period of 12 months, 353(0.91%) had HC, out of whom 256(72.5%) had HU and 97(27.5%) had HE. The mean age of the HE patients was 73 ± 12years, 51.5% were males and 86.4% had a history of hypertension. During the study period 3 HE patients did not complete the follow-up. After stratification of HE population by gender, we created two subgroups, males and females, and analyzed the composite end point involving deaths or hospitalizations by cardiovascular causality. Men reported more composite events than women (21 vs 11 events, p = 0.042, HR for males 2.2, 95% CI 1.03–4.6). Cox regression models were adjusted for age, gender, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease and diabetes mellitus. Conclusions: The results indicate male gender as an independent risk factor for deaths or hospitalizations caused by cardiovascular disease in patients with HE. Our registry highlights the commitment for a more intensive follow-up of HE patients, especially for men, and underlines the need for further research in this pathological entity.


OBJECTIVE To explore the relationship between serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE) levels and diabetic neuropathy. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Type 1 or 2 diabetic and healthy control subjects (n = 568) were randomly enrolled in a cross-sectional study. Diabetic neuropathy status was documented by the presence of clinical symptoms or signs, electromyography, quantitative sensory tests, and cardiac autonomic neuropathy tests. The severity of the neuropathy was staged by composite scores. Serum NSE was measured using electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. The demographic and clinical variables were obtained through an interviewer questionnaire. RESULTS Serum NSE levels increased slightly in diabetic subjects compared with normal subjects (9.1 [1.5] vs. 8.7 [1.7], P = 0.037), and the levels increased greatly in diabetic subjects with neuropathy compared with those without (10.8 [2.8] vs. 9.1 [1.5], P = 0.000). The association of NSE with diabetic neuropathy was independent of the hyperglycemic state (fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, duration, and the type of diabetes) and other potential confounders affecting NSE levels (e.g., age, sex, and renal status) (odds ratio 1.48 [1.13–1.74], P = 0.001). In addition, NSE levels increased with and were closely correlated to the stages of neuropathy (r = 0.63 [0.52–0.74], P = 0.000). The optimal cutoff point for serum NSE levels to distinguish patients with diabetic neuropathy from those without was 10.10 μg/L, with a sensitivity of 66.3% and a specificity of 72.5%. CONCLUSIONS Serum NSE levels are closely associated with peripheral neuropathy in patients with diabetes. Future studies are warranted to clarify the relationship.


STUDY OBJECTIVE
Traffic noise disturbs sleep and may impair recuperation. There is limited information on single and combined effects of air, road, and rail traffic noise on sleep and recuperation.

DESIGN
Repeated measures.

SETTING
Polysomnographic laboratory study.

PARTICIPANTS
72 healthy subjects, mean ± standard deviation 40 ± 13 years, range 18-71 years, 32 male.

INTERVENTIONS
Exposure to 40, 80, or 120 rail, road, and/or air traffic noise events.

MEASUREMENT AND RESULTS
Subjects were investigated for 11 consecutive nights, which included 8 noise exposure nights and one noise-free control night. Noise effects on sleep structure and continuity were subtle, even in nights with combined exposure, most likely because of habituation and an increase in arousal thresholds both within and across nights. However, cardiac arousals did not habituate across nights. Noise exposure significantly affected subjective assessments of sleep quality and recuperation, whereas objective performance was unaffected, except for a small increase in mean PVT reaction time (+4 ms, adjusted P < 0.05). Road traffic noise led to the strongest changes in sleep structure and continuity, whereas subjective assessments of sleep were worse after nights with air and rail traffic noise exposure. In contrast to daytime annoyance, cortical arousal probabilities and cardiac responses were significantly lower for air than for road and rail traffic noise (all P < 0.0001). These differences were explained by sound pressure level rise time and high frequency (> 3 kHz) noise event components.

CONCLUSIONS
Road, rail, and air traffic noise differentially affect objective and subjective assessments of sleep. Differences in the degree of noise-induced sleep fragmentation between traffic modes were explained by the specific spectral and temporal composition of noise events, indicating potential targets for active and passive noise control. Field studies are needed to validate our findings in a setting with higher ecologic validity.


The effect of eradication of the Oriental Fruit Fly, Bactrocera dorsalis, on the density of the Melon Fly, Bactrocera cucurbitae, was examined using data for the numbers of flies caught by monitor traps on islands and island groups of the Ryukyu Archipelago. A positive correlation was found between annual mean densities of B. cucurbitae and the number of years after eradication of B. dorsalis in three of four localities. Thus the density of B. cucurbitae seems to increase after eradication of B. dorsalis. This result suggests the possible effect of interspecific competition on islands where the two species coexist, but the effect is considered to be not very great. The density of B. dorsalis after eradication of B. cucurbitae seems to be not so different from the density on other islands where B. cucurbitae still exists. Attempts to eradicate a single species from localities where B. cucurbitae and B. dorsalis coexist can be planned, with careful examination of the density of a different species, as we did in the Ryukyu Archipelago.


Alkylcatechol 2,3-dioxygenase was purified from the cell extract of recombinant Escherichia coli JM109 harboring the alkylcatechol 2,3-dioxygenase gene (bupB) cloned from the butylphenol-degrading bacterium Pseudomonas putida MT4. The purified enzyme (BupB) showed relative meta-cleavage activities for the following catechols: catechol (100%), 4-methylcatechol (572%), 4-n-butylcatechol (185%), 4-n-hexylcatechol (53%), 4-n-heptylcatechol (45%), 4-n-nonylcatechol (10%), 4-tert-butylcatechol (0%), and 3-methylcatechol (33%). The kinetic parameters, namely, K(m) and V(max), for catechol, 4-methylcatechol, and 4-n-butylcatechol, were 23.4, 8.4, and 6.5 microM and 25.8, 76.9, and 18.0 U mg(-1), respectively. These results suggest that BupB has broad substrate specificity for 4-n-alkylcatechols.


Antibiotics have a significant role in dermatology, treating a wide range of diseases, including acne, rosacea, inflammatory skin conditions and skin structure infections, such as cellulitis, folliculitis, carbuncles, and furuncles. Because of their consistent use, utility, and availability, antibiotics are susceptible to overuse within the medical practice, and, specific to this discussion, in the dermatologic setting. The issue of continuously increasing risk of antibiotic resistance remains an important concern to the dermatologist. The scope of this review will be to provide an overview of the common antibiotics used in the dermatologic setting with an emphasis on identifying areas of overuse, reported bacterial resistance, and discussion of clinical management aimed at decreasing antibiotic resistance


Precise leveling surveys and ground and aerial inspections were conducted to determine the nature and practical effects of surface subsidence due to consolidation of reclaimed spoils at the Rosebud Mine, Colstrip, Montana. In spoils 30 to 40 yr old, total surface subsidence occurring since 1968 in reclaimed spoil averages 0.1 m and is of no practical effect. In 30- to 40-yr-old spoils rehandled in 1968 to form smooth fill, subsidence approaches 0.25 m and is due to consolidation in response to saturation. Total differential surface subsidence in areas strip mined and reclaimed since 1971 is as great as 0.6 m in restricted areas subject to ponding from runoff, but apparently is confined to the redistributed topsoil.


ABSTRACT Introduction: To estimate differential accumulation of soil organic carbon (SOC) and its ecological significance is very important to smallholder farmers in the Tanzania's semiarid areas. This study investigated the accumulation of SOC and other important soil nutrients under organic and no-fertilizations, and correlated SOC with crop yields. Using data from long-term experimental study sites of semiarid in Tanzania, we estimated SOC accumulation in different soil treatments and depths where a total of 128 soil samples were collected at the depths of 0–20 cm and 20–40 cm from two villages (sites) with organic fertilization and no-fertilization treatments. Sites under organic fertilization were defined as those which have received manure fertilization for more than 5 years on continuum basis. Outcomes: The accumulation of SOC was significantly greater in soils under organic fertilizations (1.15 and 0.80 MgC ha−1 at soil depth and 20–40 cm) and decreased with increasing soil depths. Similarly, TN and P decreased from 0.40 and 2.40 Mg (0–20 cm) to 0.16 and 2.10 Mg (20–40 cm), respectively. Other important soil nutrients such as calcium (Ca2+), potassium (K+), magnesium (Mg2+), and sodium (Na+) had similar pattern. In addition, soil bulk density was less under organic fertilization (1.1 g/cm3) than under no-fertilization (1.2 g/cm3) and it increased with soil depths. Correspondingly, the crop yields were significantly higher (1.6 tn ha−1) under organic fertilizations than (0.6 tn ha−1) under no-fertilizations indicating that crop yields were significantly affected by SOC. Discussion: Organic fertilization i.e., especially cattle manure in the area has considerable fertility potential. To optimize soil fertility potential, we need to consider such kind of fertilization from household to national level. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that manure application was the best fertilization method for improving soil fertility in most croplands of Tanzania's semiarid areas, especially in this era of climate change scenarios.


Based on the assumptions of the separation of technical supply and demand side, we established of technology supply model of research institutions and enterprise technology selection model. We discussed the number of the best researchers and the best allocation of research resources and the impact of expected profit of new technology. In order to promote technological innovation, government should coordinate the benefit between research institutions and enterprises, reduce the market risk of the new technology to promote new technology's commercial value. We found that the retained profits when companies select the new technology which is greater than the profit of the enterprise. When government provided subsidies to the new technology which higher than that of the existing profit technology but below the retained profits, companies will choose the new technology.?


The cultivation of pecan nuts is one of the most important economic activities in Chihuahua, Mexico. In recent years, the price of the walnut has increased, causing a high profitability of the walnut, this has motivated several producers to establish new orchards, with high densities (204 trees per hectare). However, to date there is no reliable economic information to support that high densities are better than low ones. For this reason, the objective of this research was to economically analyze the production of high and low density walnut orchards. In this study, a quantitative research approach was used. The required information was collected through 66 surveys (three for each year of the 11 years analyzed of low and high density plantations) carried out to walnut producers with high and low density plantations (6 producers per year). From the information from the surveys, the production costs were determined by considering all the activities carried out in the high and low density plantations and the income from harvest sales. The results obtained indicate that production costs in the first four years were higher at low densities than at high densities. The yield per nut per walnut from the eighth year was higher at low densities than at high densities and the yield per hectare was higher at high densities due to the greater number of walnut trees per hectare that were planted at high densities. The cost benefit ratio was higher at low densities than at high densities. To date there is no information on the production of walnut in low and high density, so this study is important for farmers, especially in Mexico.


It has been known for some time that Kestin and his co-workers have reported dilute gas viscosity coefficients which differ from the usually accepted values. Recent work from the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory supplements Kestin's results. We show that there is no evidence for not accepting this different data. We feel that the whole subject of dilute gas viscosity measurements above room temperature should be reexamined both from the experimenter's and correlater's viewpoints. There is evidence that published tables may be incorrect by as much as 10 percent above 600�K.


In present chapter we have reported green and highly efficient method for synthesize novel series of substituted -1H-indazol-3-amine derivative (3a-h) by cyclocondensation reaction of substituted benzonitrile (1a-h) and substituted Hydrazine (2a-h) using ceric (IV) ammonium nitrate (CAN) as a catalyst, EtOH-H2O as a ecofriendly media and reaction was carried out under ultrasound irradiation green method. The structures of newly synthesized indazole derivative (3a-h) were corroborated through spectral investigation such as elemental analysis and spectral studies like IR, C13 NMR, Mass spectra and 1H NMR. The compounds were assessed for their in-vitro antimicrobial activity with pathogenic microbe comprising Gram positive bacterial strains, S. aureus and Gram negative strains E.coli, P.vulgaris, and S. typhi at different concentration. The consequence of bioassay is compared with standard drug Chloramphenicol.


Detection of autoantibodies can provide more important clinical information in assigning patients to clinical subsets, selecting a therapy and predicting prognosis. Muscle biopsy is the principal examination for a diagnosis of myositis; however, autoantibody detection is also useful. Myositis-associated autoantibodies, detected in 30% of myositis patients, can be screened by RNA immunoprecipitation assay. Some case series have revealed that the anti-SRP antibody, detected in 5-8% of polymyositis patients, was generally associated with severe and refractory polymyositis. However, it has been accepted that anti-SRP myopathy should be separated from polymyositis based on histological and clinical features. Some patients with anti-SRP myopathy show chronic progression indistinguishable from muscular dystrophy.


Precipitation is a key part of hydrological circulation and is a sensitive indicator of climate change. The Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission (IMERG) datasets are widely used for global and regional precipitation investigations. However, their local application is limited by the relatively coarse spatial resolution. Therefore, in this paper, an attention mechanism based convolutional network (AMCN) is proposed to downscale GPM IMERG monthly precipitation data from 0.1° to 0.01°. The proposed method is an end-to-end network, which consists of a global cross-attention module, a multi-factor cross-attention module, and a residual convolutional module, comprehensively considering the potential relationships between precipitation and complicated surface characteristics. In addition, a degradation loss function based on low-resolution precipitation is designed to physically constrain the network training, to improve the robustness of the proposed network under different time and scale variations. The experiments demonstrate that the proposed network significantly outperforms three baseline methods. Compared with in-situ measurements, the root-mean-square error is decreased by 5.41–19.82 mm/month in the real-data experiment. Finally, a geographic difference analysis method is introduced to further improve the downscaled results by incorporating in-situ measurements for high-quality and fine-scale precipitation estimation.


ABSTRACT This study investigates whether there exist differences in facial emotion detection accuracy in patients suffering from Vestibular Schwannoma (VS) due to their facial paresis. Forty-four VS patients, half of them with, and half of them without a facial paresis, had to classify pictures of facial expressions as being emotional or non-emotional. The visual information of images was systematically manipulated by adding different levels of visual noise. The study had a mixed design with emotional expression (happy vs. angry) and visual noise level (10% to 80%) as repeated measures and facial paresis (present vs. absent) and degree of facial dysfunction as between subjects' factors. Emotion detection accuracy declined when visual information declined, an effect that was stronger for anger than for happy expressions. Overall, emotion detection accuracy for happy and angry faces did not differ between VS patients with or without a facial paresis, although exploratory analyses suggest that the ability to recognize emotions in angry facial expressions was slightly more impaired in patients with facial paresis. The findings are discussed in the context of the effects of facial paresis on emotion detection, and the role of facial mimicry, in particular, as an important mechanism for facial emotion processing and understanding.


This talk addresses the use of the (m,k)-firm model for providing real-time QoS guarantee in adaptive real-time systems and in Internet. (m,k)-firm model is interesting mainly for two reasons. One is that there exists many real-time applications such as audio/video packet transmission which can "naturally" tolerate some packet losses according to a (m,k)-pattern. Another is that systems dimensioned according to the worst-case for hard real-time guarantee leads to oversized resource requirement. After having pointed out the new research directions for providing systems with (m,k)-firm real-time guarantee, an example called (m,k)-WFQ and its application to video packet transmission is detailed. (m,k)-WFQ extends WFQ to integrate (m,k)-firm constraint. Its delay upper bound and performance are given.


During April and May of 1987, an extensive methane flux data set from Amazonian wetland habitats was collected during the wet season as river water levels were high and rising. This work extends measurements made in the dry season of 1985, when water levels were falling. Comparison of these two data sets allows estimation of the amount of seasonal variability in this globally significant source of tropospheric methane. A total of 284 flux measurements were made in the three primary floodplain environments of open-water lakes and channels, floating grass mats, and flooded forests, along approximately 1500 km of the central floodplain. Emissions (means and standard errors) were 74±14 mg CH4/m2/d (open water), 201±35 mg CH4/m2/d (grass mats), and 126±20 mg CH4/m2/d (flooded forests). These values were not significantly different from the majority of those from 1985, in part due to the high variability in flux seen at both times. Although ebullition was a significant component of methane emissions at both periods, the frequency of bubbling and its contribution to total flux was lower during the period of rising water than during falling water. A prominent diurnal pattern in atmospheric methane concentrations was observed, with minimum levels of about 1.75 ppm at midday and a maximum of 2.12 ppm at about midnight. Given the relatively small seasonal changes observed in flux at the two stages of the river's hydrographic curve, our earlier estimates of regional methane flux remain largely unchanged. Revision of global estimates of wetland methane sources based on these tropical data and recently published figures for northern peatlands indicated that tropical wetlands may be more important than previously suggested, but that wetland sources overall remain at approximately 110 Tg/yr.


Employing a constructive algorithm and the symbolic computation, we obtain a new explicit bi-soliton-like solution of the asymmetric Nizhnik—Novikov—Veselov equation. The solution contains two arbitrary functions which indicates that it can model various bi-soliton-like waves. In particular, specially choosing the arbitrary functions, we find some interesting bi-solitons with special shapes, which possess the traveling property of the traditional bi-solitons. We show the evolution of such bi-solitons by figures.


To clarify the role that the src homology 2-containing inositol phosphatase (SHIP) plays in mast cell degranulation, the gene for SHIP was disrupted by homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells. Bone-marrow-derived mast cells from SHIP+/+, +/-, and -/- F2 littermates were compared. SHIP-/- mast cells were found to be far more prone to degranulation, after the crosslinking of IgE preloaded cells, than SHIP+/- or +/+ cells. Intriguingly, IgE alone also stimulated massive degranulation in SHIP-/- but not in +/+ mast cells. This degranulation with IgE alone, which may be due to low levels of IgE aggregates, correlated with a higher and more sustained intracellular calcium level than that observed with SHIP+/+ cells and was dependent upon the entry of extracellular calcium. Immunoprecipitation studies revealed that the addition of IgE alone to normal mast cells stimulates multiple cascades, which are prevented from progressing to degranulation by SHIP. PI 3-kinase inhibitor studies suggested that IgE-induced activation of PI 3-kinase is upstream of the entry of extracellular calcium and that SHIP restricts this entry by hydrolyzing phosphatidylinositol 3,4, 5-trisphosphate. These results show the critical role that SHIP plays in setting the threshold for degranulation and that SHIP directly modulates a "positive-acting" receptor.


This article presents an exploratory study about the coverage of scientific issues related to health in three major daily newspapers in a Brazilian state called Para: A Provincia do Para (1876-2002), Folha do Norte (1896-1974) and O Liberal (1946-2006). We developed a quantitative and longitudinal study, selecting articles about science that were published in the January and July issues every 10 years for 130 years. We identified 168 texts with these characteristics and we have used  content analysis of the texts, and also we analysed frames. The coverage of health research emphasized the diseases, differently from the World Health Organization broader view of health. The newspapers highlighted the benefits of science to society and gave little space to uncertainties and controversies. There were good contextualisation of facts, presentation of scientific background and explanations of technical terms. Foreign researches were recurrent and scientists were the main sources and voices, emphasizing the legitimacy given to these actors.


Meat carcasses must be chilled to below 7°C before leaving the slaughterhouse. Typically cold air is circulated over the surfaces of the carcasses, which can take many hours to reduce centre temperatures to below 7°C. In vascular perfusion chilling (VPC), a cold fluid is circulated through the intact vascular system, offering significant reductions in cooling time. This paper describes a small feasibility study to evaluate VPC for rapid chilling of lamb carcasses. VPC was found to be capable of rapid initial reduction of carcass temperatures, but uptake of perfusate into the carcasses limited the time for which perfusion treatment could be applied. Samples from carcasses treated with VPC were lighter and more yellow than samples from conventionally chilled carcasses, and had lower shear force values when cooked. This was most probably due to the added water in the meat. Microbial quality of the meat was not significantly affected.


A 60-year-old right-handed man showed dysprosody and agnosia for environmental sounds. His mother tongue was Japanese, and he could not speak foreign languages. He gradually developed difficulty in speaking from the age of 57 years, speaking non-native Japanese. In addition, he often complained of difficulty in hearing sounds, but audiometry showed no abnormalities. At the age of 60 years, the standard language test of aphasia showed no abnormalities in repetition, verbal comprehension, or reading, suggesting the absence of aphasia. However, in speaking, marked abnormality in rhythm, and occasional lack of postpositional particles and syllable-stumblings were observed. Writing was almost accurate, but a few grammatical errors were observed in speaking were observed. There were no cerebellar symptoms, pyramidal signs, pathologic reflexes, or abnormalities in phonation-related organs. Though the recognition of verbal sounds was maintained, impairment in the recognition of non-verbal sounds was observed. An environmental sound perception test showed correct answers only in 8 of 21 non-verbal sound sources (such as a car starting, glass breaking and so on), suggesting agnosia for environmental sounds. He insisted that the difficulty in perception was due to hearing impairment. However, re-examination with an increase in the sound volume showed similar results. He had no inconvenience in daily life and was not aware of agnosia for environmental sounds. He could recognize and differentiate sounds he heard once. His intelligence was normal, and neither apraxia nor frontal lobe symptoms were observed. MRI of the brain revealed slight atrophy of the right temporal lobe. Cerebral blood flow SPECT showed decreased blood flow from the superior temporal gyrus to the area around the arcuate fasciculi in the right temporal lobe. We considered that the lesion responsible for environmental auditory sound agnosia was present in the area around the secondary auditory area of the right temporal lobe and this patient differed from slowly progressive aphasia characterized by decreased blood flow in the left temporal lobe. Although the pathological process occurring in the area of hypoperfusion remained unclear, early stage of some degenerative disorders was more likely than cerebrovascular disease.


A knowledge of perspective is invaluable to any painter working in a realistic style. Systems of perspective can be applied by mechanical techniques or by freehand. Since the best approach for the beginner is to learn basic mechanical drawing methods, the reader is shown how to work out these systems with drafting tools. Once these are understood, they can be applied to freehand work, so that the artist has a great deal of control when representing objects in space. The book demonstrates the essentials of perspective drawing through the use of colour sketches and overlays, accompanied by finished paintings. This system is then applied to actual in-the-field painting situations that cover a broad range of subjects: landscape, still life, interiors, figures, and portraits. Authors Howard Etter and Margit Malmstrom, both working artists, present this often intimidating subject in a non-threatening manner especially geared to the beginning or intermediate artist. Howard Etter is a painter, architectural delineator, and design consultant. He has had extensive experience teaching perspective for both architects and artists. Margit Malmstrom is the author of three Watson-Guptill titles on clay sculpture.


White mold caused by the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is the most yield-limiting disease of common bean in Brazil. To date, there has been no commercial cultivar resistant to this disease. In a greenhouse we evaluated white mold resistance sources (Cornell 605, A195 and G122) against eight isolates of S. sclerotiorum from five Brazilian states. A Brazilian cultivar (BRSMG Madreperola) and a susceptible check (Beryl) were used as control. Treatments were arranged in factorial combinations (5 × 8) in a completely random design with four replicates. Disease severity was assessed on a rating scale of 1-to-9 together with lesion length, which was used to determine an area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC). Polymorphisms detected in ten microsatellite loci were used to assess variability between the isolates. Each isolate was a distinct haplotype; they formed a genetic tree with two clusters. One cluster was formed by three isolates collected from the states of Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo (southeastern); the others, by isolates from Parana, Santa Catarina (southern), Goias (Mid-western), and again, Minas Gerais. Genotype × isolate interaction was significant. In general, Beryl was more susceptible than BRSMG Madreperola. Considering the AUDPC and/or the white mold reaction score, Cornell 605 exhibited more physiological resistance than BRSMG Madreperola to seven isolates, A195 to five isolates, and G122 to two isolates. Our results suggest that Cornell 605 is the best source of resistance to white mold for the southern region, whereas Cornell 605 and A195 are somewhat superior to G122 for the southeastern and mid-western regions.


Chattonella marina var. antiqua and C. marina var. marina (Raphidophyceae) are red tide‐forming, harmful phytoplankton species. We investigated the genetic diversity and genetic relationship among the populations using microsatellite markers to identify putative sources of C. marina var. antiqua and C. marina var. marina in Japanese coastal populations. A positive correlation between genetic divergence and geographical distance (isolation by distance) was recognized for C. marina var. antiqua. The C. marina var. antiqua populations were established throughout a geological time scale, and genetic divergence had progressed in each population with gene flow depending on geographic distances. In contrast, isolation by distance was not observed for C. marina var. marina populations, and the genetic divergence among populations was extremely high. The Tokyo Bay population of C. marina var. marina, which was first recognized in 2008, had many private alleles but was related to the Kagoshima Bay population. The Tokyo Bay population may have been established by several invasions from the Kagoshima Bay population and other regions.