Background and importance International guidelines suggest evaluation of clinical signs to guide the dosages of anaesthetic agents in order to achieve the basic goals of anaesthetic management. The use of the bispectral index (BIS) as standard practice might be useful for anaesthesia management by reducing the risk of intraoperative awareness (0.1–0.2% of the surgical population), consumption of anaesthetic agents, recovery time and total cost of anaesthesia. Aim and objectives The objective of the study was to assess the efficacy of BIS guided anaesthesia monitoring for its potential introduction as standard practice. Material and methods The study was conducted from January 2008 to July 2019, using the following databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library, ECRI and NICE. The articles included meta-analyses, randomised control trials, health technology assessment (HTA) reports and guidelines for BIS guided monitoring versus clinical signs as standard practice during general anaesthesia in adult patients. The evaluation was conducted according to the scheme reported in the sub annex G of Lombardy region Resolution XI/1046 which describes methods for the systematic research and critical analysis of the literature sources and the drawing up of an HTA report. Results We reviewed 18 articles to analyse the benefits in terms of more reliable statistical evidence and cost effectiveness. BIS reduced the risk of intraoperative awareness in high risk patients by 80% (OR=0.24, 95% CI 0.12, 0.48). Furthermore, BIS reduced discharge time from postanaesthesia care units by about 23 mins (95% CI −31.01, −13.69; I²=20%), postoperative nausea and vomiting by 12%, risk of postoperative cognitive disorders at 3 months after extubation by 3% (95% CI −0.05, −0.00; I²=52%) and risk of postoperative delirium by 6% (95% CI −0.10, −0.03; I²=11%). Conclusion and relevance BIS guided monitoring reduced the risk of intraoperative awareness in high risk patients under intravenous general anaesthesia. Furthermore, BIS was effective in reducing consumption of anaesthetic agents, time to discharge from postanaesthesia care units and postoperative adverse events. It remains to be clarified whether BIS technology is cost effective, considering the low prevalence of intraoperative awareness, and whether it represents a real benefit in perioperative and postoperative preventable adverse events. The costs of preventable adverse events should be evaluated at a single healthcare facility, considering the long term benefits. References and/or acknowledgements 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24937564 2. https://www.eahp.eu/sites/default/files/abstract_book_-_bar19_-_updated.pdf 3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23962378 No conflict of interest.


Introduction. The urgency of the scientific article is determined by the place of the company's income strategic analysis in the financial management system and by the inadequate degree of justification of its methodological basis. Purpose. The purpose of the article is to develop the methodology of the income strategic analysis in the conditions of uncertainty and risk. The method (methodology). The dialectical method of understanding the economic processes is the theoretical and methodological basis of the investigation. Such methods are used for achieving the purpose and solving the tasks of the article: method of analysis and synthesis, method of induction and deduction, abstract and logical method, method of comparison, method of modeling, methods of economic statistics. Results. The economic essence of the category of "income" considering risk is specified in the accordance to the strategic analysis requirements. The system of methodological elements of strategic analysis of the company's income is substantiated according to the logic and methodology of scientific investigation. It is proved that income is a complex economic category; its research requires the use of a systematic integrated approach. The system of strategic analysis indicators is constructed. The indicators sequence is determined in the accordance to income formation. It is established that the strategic analysis of income which is based on the principles of consistency and comprehensiveness requires to coordinate logically the results of the research obtained by different indicators utilization, to study the dynamics of relations among them, to take into consideration comprehensively the impact of factors on the indicators chosen as key for the performance evaluation. The methodical approach to the estimation of the relations among the profitability of the flour-and-cereals industry's enterprises, their capital structure and the level of financial risk are developed. The obtained results have the practical value because they contribute to systems integration of the strategic financial analysis and the financial management requirements and create conditions for its implementation in practice of domestic enterprises.


Fungal pathogens deploy a barrage of secreted effectors to subvert host immunity, often by evading, disrupting, or altering key components of transcription, defense signaling, and metabolic pathways. However, the underlying mechanisms of effectors and their host targets are largely unexplored in necrotrophic fungal pathogens. Here, we describe the effector protein Ascochyta rabiei PEXEL-like Effector Candidate 25 (ArPEC25), which is secreted by the necrotroph A. rabiei, the causal agent of Ascochyta blight disease in chickpea (Cicer arietinum), and is indispensable for virulence. After entering host cells, ArPEC25 localizes to the nucleus and targets the host LIM transcription factor CaβLIM1a. CaβLIM1a is a transcriptional regulator of CaPAL1, which encodes phenylalanine ammonia lyase, the regulatory, gatekeeping enzyme of the phenylpropanoid pathway. ArPEC25 inhibits the transactivation of CaβLIM1a by interfering with its DNA binding ability, resulting in negative regulation of the phenylpropanoid pathway and decreased levels of intermediates of lignin biosynthesis, thereby suppressing lignin production. Our findings illustrate the role of fungal effectors in enhancing virulence by targeting a key defense pathway that leads to the biosynthesis of various secondary metabolites and antifungal compounds. This study provides a template for the study of less explored necrotrophic effectors and their host target functions.


Never before have food, energy, and climate been so closely linked. Firstly, the world population continues to grow
and will reach 9 billion by 2050. In order to feed the growing population, food production is estimated to have to
increase by 70% (FAO, 2011). Although the exact amount of additional land required to meet the demands for food
is unsure, the FAO estimates it will be around 70 million hectares in 2050. It is also said to be possible. However,
these figures do not yet take into account the need for land necessary to satisfy the growing demand for biomass,
for purposes other than food. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that land requirements for biofuel
production under the IEA Alternative Policy scenario will amount to 52.8 million hectares in 2030 (IEA, 2006). Hence,
competition for the remaining land base increases. Finally, the recent crisis has demonstrated that under certain
conditions (high oil prices, government support) the use of crops for biofuels can expand rapidly. This is particularly
the case where crops can be used for both food and fuel. The most well known crop in this respect is oil palm


Objectives Ovarian cancer accounts for 3% of all female cancers and has a high mortality rate among gynecological malignancies. Early diagnosis carries a high survival rate of 93%. So, this study was carried out to assess the knowledge and awareness of Jordanian women about ovarian cancer symptoms and risk factors. Methods A cross-sectional survey design was used. Women randomly selected to complete the survey, 896 women completed the survey. Results The mean of total symptoms recognized was low at level of 3.2(SD=2.7) out of 10. The three highest known symptoms among women were as follows: extreme fatigue (43.2%), back pain (42.4%), and persistent pain in pelvic area (40.7%). The most commonly known risk factor was smoking (68.4%), followed by having ovarian cyst(s) (59.7%). Conclusions Poor awareness of ovarian cancer risk factors and symptoms were noticed. Awareness need to be raised through education and social media. The absence of an effective screening program, a national awareness campaign is urgently needed to improve the public's understanding of symptoms and risk factors and increasing women's confidence in symptom recognition.


The most commonly employed T2 mapping techniques are 2D and make use of ECG-triggering. This may be a limitation in patients with variable heart rate and complex three-dimensional conditions. To address these limitations, we here propose an isotropic free-running 3D T2 mapping technique that avoids ECG triggering by using Pilot Tone navigation. In three healthy volunteers, our technique produced accurate isotropic T2 maps when compared to 2D T2 prepared bSSFP (T2=41.1±4.8ms vs. 44.9±3.3ms, respectively, p=0.1), and cardiac motion was successfully resolved.


Purpose

This paper aims to discuss the low carbon supply chain practices in China's textile industry. To curb greenhouse gas emissions, the Chinese government has launched restrict regulatory system and imposed the energy consumption constraint in the textile industry to guarantee the achievability of low carbon economy. The authors aim to examine how the energy consumption constraint affects the optimal decisions of the supply chain members and address the supply chain coordination issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conduct two case studies from Chinese textile companies and examine the impact of energy consumption constraints on their production and operations management. Based on the real industrial practices, the authors then develop a simple analytical model for a low carbon supply chain in which it consists of one single retailer and one single manufacturer, and the manufacturer determines the choice of clean technology for energy efficiency improvement and emission reduction.

Findings

From the case studies, the authors find that the textile companies develop clean technologies to reduce carbon emission in production process under the energy consumption enforcement. In this analytical model, the authors derive the optimal decisions of the supply chain members and reveal that supply chain coordination can be achieved if the manufacturer properly sets the reservation wholesale price (WS) despite the production capacity can fulfill partial market demand under a WS (or cost sharing) contract. The authors also find that the cost-sharing contract may induce the manufacturer to increase the investment of clean technology and reduce the optimal WS.

Originality/value

This paper discusses low carbon supply chain practices in China's textile industry and contributes toward green supply chain development. Managerial implications are identified, which are beneficial to the entire textile industry in the developing countries.


The study aimed at finding out how the programme of sports classes, through which some schools in Slovenia offer an enhanced PE syllabus to pupils, influences the physical and motor development of 7to 10-year-old children. A longitudinal four-year study including 328 pupils in the form of a pedagogical experiment was carried out. Data were collected through tests within the framework of a Sports-educational Chart. Differences in transformation effects were analysed by means of the analysis of covariance. It was found that the programme of sports classes does have a positive impact on the development of motor abilities, particularly given that the results regarding the individual motor abilities of children of that age have been falling in Slovenia over the last few decades. After disparities in the initial status were eliminated, statistically significant differences were noted in the motor tasks obstacle course backwards, sit-ups in 30 seconds and 600-metre run. Boys were also significantly different in their body weight. The improvement of pupils from sports classes also points to the better quality of lessons consisting of a wider range of motor skills, a suitable organisation of work and greater exercising. The following recommendations are offered in response to these findings: more frequent co-operation between the PE teacher and the classroom teacher in PE lessons, the organisation of suitable programmes of additional training for teachers, who work with children from 7 to 10 regarding their developmental characteristics, flexible organisation of sports classes due to the changed demands of the school setting and the more systematic planning of lessons for sports classes.


Abstract The Peusangan-XF structure, offshore North Sumatra, is located about 70 kilometers northwest of the giant Arun gas field and about 3 kilometers north of the coastline. The structure is a large carbonate build-up within the Early to Middle Miocene Peutu Formation and is located on a large paleotopographic feature called the Western High which is sparated from the Arun-Cunda High to the east by the Jawa Deep. Structural interpretation of seismic data prior to drilling was based on a high amplitude reflector which was interpreted as being an Early Miocene/Late Oligocene carbonate complex overlying a basement high. The Peusangan-C1 wildcat well tested this structure in late 1986 and encountered 669 feet of the Miocene Peutu limestone at 11,685 feet subsea. The upper 486 feet was very porous reefal limestone while the lower 183 feet was tight and dense dolomitic limestone. Poor to fair hydrocarbon shows were observed in the top 100 feet of the porous limestone but flowed mainly water on test. A post-drilling study of the seismic data has produced interesting results. The high amplitude seismic reflector previously mapped as the top of a carbonate buildup actually corresponds to the lower, tight and dense dolomitic limestone interval while the upper good reservoir quality limestone produces only a very weak reflection. The acoustic impedance contrast between the denser, low velocity shales and the less dense, higher velocity reef is slight. Vertical Seismic Profile data and synthetic seismograms confirm the lack of reflection response at the top of the limestone. The C1 well results were compared to strong seismic definition of reef character at the Arun field. In addition, velocity changes with gas-water saturations for the Arun limestone were examined. In an effort to delineate this good reservoir, modeling and reprocessing of key lines were initiated. Field records were also examined and showed little or no seismic definition of the reef limestone. In carbonate sedimentation areas, reflection seismic may not always define "reef character". Areas of possible occurrence of reefs largely transparent to conventional seismic may be defined by geological interpretation combined with seismic modeling.


A novel 5-fluorouracil salt of 12-silicatungstic acid was synthesized and characterized by means of elemental analysis, IR, 1H NMR and 183W NMR spectra. The antitumor activity and toxicity of the complex have been evaluated both in vitro and in vivo.


We present a general deterministic linear space reduction from priority queues to sorting implying that if we can sort up to n keys in S(n) time per key, then there is a priority queue supporting delete and insert in S(n)+O(1) time and find-min in constant time. Conversely, a priority queue can trivially be used for sorting: first insert all keys to be sorted, then extract them in sorted order by repeatedly deleting the minimum. Hence, asymptotically this settles the complexity of priority queues in terms of that of sorting. Besides nailing down the complexity of priority queues to that of sorting, and vice versa, we translate known sorting results into new results on priority queues for integers and strings in different computational models.


The aim of this study was to develop a disposable, simple, fast, and sensitive sensor for the simultaneous electrochemical detection of doxorubicin (DOX) and simvastatin (SMV), which could be used in preclinical studies for the development of new pharmaceutical formulations for drug delivery. Firstly, the electrochemical behavior of each molecule was analyzed regarding the influence of electrode material, electrolyte solution, and scan rate. After this, the proper electrode material, electrolyte solution, and scan rate for both active substances were chosen, and a linear sweep voltammetry procedure was optimized for simultaneous detection. Two chronoamperometry procedures were tested, one for the detection of DOX in the presence of SMV, and the other one for the detection of DOX and SMV together. Finally, calibration curves for DOX and SMV in the presence of each other were obtained using both electrochemical methods and the results were compared. The use of amperometry allowed for a better limit of detection (DOX: 0.1 μg/mL; SMV: 0.7 μg/mL) than the one obtained in voltammetry (1.5 μg/mL for both drugs). The limits of quantification using amperometry were 0.5 μg/mL for DOX (dynamic range: 0.5–65 μg/mL) and 2 μg/mL for SMV (dynamic range: 2–65 μg/mL), while using voltammetry 1 μg/mL was obtained for DOX (dynamic range: 1–100 μg/mL) and 5 μg/mL for SMV (dynamic range: 5–100 μg/mL). This detection strategy represents a promising tool for the analysis of new pharmaceutical formulations for targeted drug delivery containing both drugs, whose association was proven to bring benefits in the treatment of cancer.


This correspondence extends previous work on direct-sequence code-division multiple access (DS-CDMA) to give a single-user characterization of multicarrier (MC) CDMA systems. Results on the error performance and information rate of a family of multiuser detectors for MC-CDMA are obtained using the replica method, which was originally developed in statistical physics. The central result is the "decoupling principle", namely, an MC-CDMA channel with frequency-selective fading followed by a generic multiuser detection front end can be decoupled into a bank of single-user fading channels in the large-system limit. Thus, conditioned on one's fading coefficients, each user essentially experiences an equivalent single-user Gaussian channel with a degradation in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in lieu of multiaccess interference. A set of joint equations is identified, which determines the degradation for each user, known as the multiuser efficiency. The spectral efficiencies under both optimal joint decoding and separate single-user decoding following multiuser detection are obtained analytically. The result applies to arbitrary input distribution and SNRs, and to optimal multiuser detection as well as various suboptimal schemes


We propose a new kind of invariant of multi-party stabilizer states with respect to local Clifford equivalence. These homological invariants are discrete entities defined in terms of the entanglement a state enjoys with respect to arbitrary groupings of the parties, and they may be thought of as reflecting entanglement in a qualitative way. We investigate basic properties of the invariants and link them with known results on the extraction of GHZ states.


Some search problems are most directly specified by boolean combinations of pseudo-boolean constraints. We study a logic PL(PB) whose formulas are of this form, and design local-search methods to compute models of PL(PB)- theories. In our approach we view a PL(PB)-theory T as a data structure -- a concise representation of a certain propositional CNF theory cl(T) logically equivalent to T. We show that parameters needed by local-search algorithms for CNF theories, such as walksat, can be estimated on the basis of T, without the need to compute cl(T) explicitly. Since cl(T) is often much larger than T, running search based on T promises performance gains. Our experimental results confirm this expectation.


Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic immune inflammatory disease that is an oral potentially malignant disorder (OPMD), occurs in the oral mucosa and affects approximately 0.5% to 4% of the general population. There are usually five types of OLP: reticular/papular, plaque-like, atrophic/erythematous, erosive/ulcerative, and bullous. Furthermore, the chance of causing oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is 1.4%. Although the etiology of OLP is still unknown, accumulating evidence supports that immune dysregulation may play a vital role in the pathogenesis of OLP, especially the massive production of various inflammatory cells and inflammatory mediators. In this review, we focus on the relationship between OLP and its immune microenvironment. We summarize current developments in the immunology of OLP, summarizing functional cell types and crucial cytokines in the OLP immune microenvironment and the underlying mechanisms of key signaling pathways in the OLP immune microenvironment. We highlight the application potential of targeted immune microenvironment therapy for OLP.


: Food safety is a crucial issue; all countries have struggled against pesticides for years. In this study, Polypyrrole (PPy)- and Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based non-enzymatic electrochemical sensors were investigated to detect the pesticide propamocarb (PM) in food samples. Under the experimental conditions, the proposed strategy exhibited a high selectivity of the disposable PPy-based and PAN-based sensors for the determination of propamocarb pesticide in the concentration of 1 μM with a rapid detection within 1 min at pH 7.4 and 25 °C. We demonstrated the detection of PM residues on cucumber and tomato samples with good electrochemical performances towards the real-time usability on real food samples. PAN-based non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor has good sensitivity, higher selectivity, and stability than PPy-based non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor. The prepared PAN-based non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor is a potential candidate to be used in devices which perform food safety in agricultural products.


Anger - Hostility - Aggression Syndrome: Mechanisms of Coping in Patients Who have Suffered a Cardiovascular Event Introduction: An association has been found between the anger - hostility - aggression syndrome and cardiovascular disease. Coping strategies for the syndrome have been identified as key components in the cardiac rehabilitation process. The aim of this study was to analyze the anger - hostility - syndrome and associated coping strategies in patients with cardiac disease. Materials and Methods: This study evaluated 19 phase two patients participating in the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program at the Sport Science School of the National University of Heredia, Costa Rica. Spanish versions of the Aggression Questionnaire and the Cope questionnaire were used in order to identify the anger - hostility - aggression components and the associated coping strategies. The questionnaires were applied in two steps: one was administered retrospectively and the other one week later. Results: In the retrospective assessment report, average values ranged from 1.84 to 2.51 and values were higher for the following dimensions: hostility (2.51) and verbal aggression (2.49). In the assessment of current values (non retrospective), the averages ranged from 1.73 to 3.0, with higher values noted for the dimensions of hostility (2.28) and anger (3.01). The only significant difference was found in the anger dimension which in the assessment of current values was higher than the retrospective values (p <0.05). The most used coping mechanisms were: religion, social support relationships, social acceptance, planning, active problem assessment and positive reinterpretation. Conclusion: This study showed that phase two cardiac patients have a specific profile of emotional reaction and coping. These problems require psychological support during the cardiac rehabilitation process.


In this paper, the technology of MBE-based materials growth for high cutoff frequency (f/sub T/) SiGe HBTs was described. To grow a high-performance SiGe/Si hetero-junction multiple-structure, technologies such as the doping of secondary implantation (DSI), low-temperature doping, and antimony (Sb) surface pre-deposition, have been presented in the course of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The cutoff frequency of a mesa SiGe HBT, which was developed by using a SiGe/Si hetero-junction multi-structure, reached 105 GHz. In addition, key technologies such as the wafer surface pre-treatment before epitaxial growth, the temperature control of SiGe layer growth, etc., were introduced in detail.


This paper presents a dynamic general equilibrium model of R&D-based trade between two structurally identical countries in which both innovation and skill acquisition rates are endogenously determined. Trade liberalization increases R&D investment and the rate of technological change. It also reduces the relative wage of unskilled workers and results in skill upgrading within each industry when R&D is the skilled-labor intensive activity relative to manufacturing of final products. Time-series evidence from the United States and simulation analysis support the empirical relevance of the model, which offers a North-North trade explanation for increasing wage inequality.


In this paper, we propose a cross-layer scheduling algorithm that achieves a throughput " ε-close" to the optimal throughput in multihop wireless networks with a tradeoff of O([1/(ε)]) in average end-to-end delay guarantees. The algorithm guarantees finite buffer sizes and aims to solve a joint congestion control, routing, and scheduling problem in a multihop wireless network while satisfying per-flow average end-to-end delay constraints and minimum data rate requirements. This problem has been solved for both backlogged as well as arbitrary arrival rate systems. Moreover, we discuss the design of a class of low-complexity suboptimal algorithms, effects of delayed feedback on the optimal algorithm, and extensions of the proposed algorithm to different interference models with arbitrary link capacities.


The perception of 3D scene with stereovision is the capability of human vision but it is a challenge to computer systems. The challenge is to obtain 3D geometric shape information from planar images. This is termed as 3D reconstruction. It is usually done in a piece-wise fashion by identifying various planes of the scene and from those planes constructing a representation of the whole. The image is captured from a calibrated camera. The captured image is prospectively distorted. These distortions are removed by corner point estimation. The selected points give the true dimensions in the input image using view metrology. Then a 3D geometrical model is constructed in VRML according to true dimensions from metrology. In rendering, a texture map is created to each corresponding surface of a polygon in VRML model. VRML supports for walkthrough to a rendered model, through which different views are generated.


OBJECTIVE
The goal of this study was to determine the genes required for head and neck cancer development.

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING
Differential mRNA display analysis was performed using human papillomavirus Type-16 infected immortalized human oral keratinocytes (HOK-16B) and its benzo(a)pyrene-exposed tumorigenic derivative (HOK-16B-BaP-T).

RESULTS
Twenty-one differentially expressed cDNA clones were identified between the 2 cell lines. Clone 4 with no known homology showed lower expression in tumorigenic cells compared with either normal or immortalized oral keratinocytes. Clone 6 expression was elevated in several head and neck cancer cells, in addition to Burkitt's lymphoma Raji harboring latent Epstein-Barr virus.

CONCLUSION
These findings suggested that clone 6 may be involved in the oncogenic transformation whereas clone 4 may potentially function as a tumor suppressor gene.

SIGNIFICANCE
Differential mRNA analysis using the in vitro oral carcinogenesis model may help to identify important genetic markers for the early detection and progression of head and neck cancer.


Background Active surveillance of the antimicrobial susceptibility (AS) of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Ng) isolates was carried out by the Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Program (GASP) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) during the 1990s. A retrospective analysis of surveillance activities undertaken during the 2000s was conducted to describe trends in Ng AS and to re-initiate the GASP network. Methods Ng isolates were collected and tested for AS to penicillin (Pen), tetracycline (Tet), ciprofloxacin (Cip), ceftriaxone (Cef), azithromycin (Azi) and spectinomycin (Spe) in 11 countries between 2000 and 2009. Agar dilution, disc diffusion and Etest methods were used as described by CLSI and previously established in the GASP-LAC network. Trends in AS were retrospectively analysed in each country and aggregated at the GASP-LAC Co-ordinating Centre. Results 6 countries collected data over the entire study period and five countries tested for AS sporadically. In total, 9026 Ng isolates were tested. Cip resistance first appeared in 2000 with 2%, (19/784) and resistant per cent increased to 30% (297/975) in 2009. Cip resistance was observed in 10 countries. Azi resistance per cent increased from 6% (41/646) in 2000 to 27% (224/842) in 2009; one country reported no resistance. Pen resistance per cents ranged between 29% (299/1035) in 2000 and 33% (256/772) in 2006. Tet resistance percents declined from 61% (633/1041) in 2000 to 35% (323/931) in 2009. The majority of Ng isolates were susceptible to Cef and Spe. However, 7/110 isolates showed decreased susceptibility to Cef in one country in 2007 and 2/25 isolates showed intermediate susceptible to Spe in another country in 2009. Conclusions Cip for primary treatment of uncomplicated gonococcal infections is currently recommended in 10 of the 11 countries, 1 country recommended Cef in 2007. The emergence and spread of resistance to Cip and Azi, indicate that current treatment guidelines be reviewed using respective national antimicrobial surveillance data. The emergence of a few strains with reduced susceptibility to third-generation cephalosporins indicates that on-going GASP surveillance is warranted.


Most clinicians consider duodenum ulcer as a psychosomatic disease. Objective: To show the interdependence of this condition and mental disorders and their relation to disturbances of melatonin production . Materials and Methods: 15 patients with seasonal DU and 15 healthy subjects of the control group were examined during 3 years using laboratory, endoscopic, and standard psychodiagnostic methods. Results. It was found that all patients with exacerbation of DU experienced enhanced anxiety, reduced background mood, and impaired quality of life based on general health and mental health scoring scales. The circadian rhythm of melatonin production was markedly distorted throughout the observation period but especially during exacerbations of the disease. Conclusions. The results indicate a high degree of correlation between DU and mental disorders caused by impaired production of melatonin. It suggests common etiological mechanisms of DU and psychosomatic symptom complex.


Background This cross-sectional study sought to explore the possible risk factors assessed with magnetic resonance (MR) vessel wall imaging for hemodynamic instability (HI) during carotid artery stenting (CAS). Methods Patients with carotid stenosis who were referred for CAS from January 2017 to December 2019 were recruited and underwent carotid MR vessel wall imaging. The vulnerable plaque features, including lipid-rich necrotic core (LRNC), intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH), fibrous cap rupture, and plaque morphology, were evaluated. The HI was defined as a drop of systolic blood pressure (SBP) of ≥30 mmHg or the lowest SBP measurement of <90 mmHg after stent implantation. The carotid plaque characteristics were compared between the HI and non-HI groups. The association between carotid plaque characteristics and HI was analyzed. Results A total of 56 participants (mean age 68.7±8.3 years; 44 males) were recruited. Patients in the HI group (n=26, 46%) had a significantly greater wall area [median 43.2 (IQR, 34.9–50.5) vs. 35.9 (IQR, 32.3–39.4) mm2; P=0.008], total vessel area (79.7±17.2 vs. 69.9±17.3 mm2; P=0.03), prevalence of IPH (62% vs. 30%; P=0.02), prevalence of vulnerable plaque (77% vs. 43%; P=0.01), and volume of LRNC [median 344.7 (IQR, 155.1–665.7) vs. 103.1 (IQR, 53.9–162.9) mm3; P=0.001] in carotid plaque compared to those in non-HI group (n=30, 54%). Carotid LRNC volume (OR =1.005, 95% CI: 1.001–1.009; P=0.01) and presence of vulnerable plaque (OR =4.038, 95% CI: 0.955–17.070; P=0.06) were significantly and marginally associated with HI, respectively. Conclusions Carotid plaque burden and vulnerable plaque features, particularly a larger LRNC, might be effective predictors for HI during the CAS procedure.


Optimization of resources is very important in all construction projects. Project managers have to face problems regarding management of cost, time and available resources for single projects. This is more challenging when managing multiple projects. Most of the recent studies focused on optimization of resources for a single project, or a single resource. This paper presents a numerical model of multiple resources optimization for multiple projects using Genetic Algorithm. Most of the companies in the construction industry optimize the resources for single projects only. However, with the presence of several mega projects in several developing countries running at the same time, there is a need for a model to enhance the efficiency of available resources, and decreases the fluctuation as much as possible and try to maximize the use of the available pool of resources. The proposed model is user friendly, and it can optimize up to nine resources in three different projects running at the same time. The model is used on the identified critical resources. It calculates the cost of each resource, minimize the cost of extra resources as much as possible and generate the schedule of each project within a selected overall program.


Social animals live in complex and variable socio-ecological environments where individuals adapt their behavior to local conditions. Recently, there have been calls for studies of animal social networks to take account of temporal dynamics in social relationships as these have implications for the spread of information and disease, group cohesion, and the drivers of sociality, and there is evidence that maintaining stable social relationships has fitness benefits. It has recently been recognized that male elephants form strong social bonds with other males. The nature of these relationships, and thus network structure, may vary over time in response to varying environmental conditions and as individuals age. Using social network analysis, we examine the stability of relationships and network centrality in a population of male African elephants. Our results suggest that males may maintain stable social relationships with others over time. Older males show greater stability in network centrality than younger males, suggesting younger males face uncertainty in transitioning to adult society. For elephants, where older individuals function as social repositories of knowledge, maintaining a social network underpinned by older males could be of particular importance.


Form, increasing the income of fishermen and internationally competitive high value-added seafood merchandising consumers for the purpose of improving the reliability of the food as do Tongyeong Gyeongsangnam-piping of the high quality marine products traceability system for farm businesses. Real-time traceability of the seafood supply chain to manage RFID technologies and related IT technology was introduced in progress. In this study, real-time traceability of fish introduced to the features of RFID technology and to recognize its effects. And efficient distribution system of fish suggests ways to improve and execute simulation about supply chain.


Sanitation infrastructure is one of the basic needs of society and has a strategic role in improving the health and welfare of the community. The Indonesian government has built centralized domestic waste water infrastructure in 13 cities until 2014. According to USAID (2006) and AusAID (2013), idle capacity and cost recovery in the centralized domestic waste water system is still a major problem. Therefore, it needs to be done assessment management criteria of centralized domestic waste water management. This research is done by three-stage, that is construction models of a relationship of interdependence between management criteria; assessment of model suitability that has been constructed using SEM method; and calculate the weight of each management criteria using ANP method. The management criteria used on this study consist of: performance management, technical, institutional, regulatory, financing, and public participation. The weight of each criteria using models that have been assessment for their suitability, are: performance management (75.37%), financing (8.83%), public participation (8.39%), technical (3.56%), regulatory (2.36%) and institutional (1:49%). The global weight of sub criteria with most critical weight and should be a priority concern are sustainability (48.20%), public acceptance (14.90% 0, reliability (9.30%), willingness to pay (5.20%), and cost recovery (4.62%).


Herbicides are an important part of modern agriculture as they control weeds that would otherwise reduce yields by competing for water and nutrients. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated that 226,000 metric tons of herbicides were used in the U.S, alone during 2007, which accounts for 25% of the globally usage in 2007 (USEPA, 2011). Additionally, during 2007, 89% of the herbicide usage in the U.S. was for agriculture (USEPA, 2011). Since it has been proposed that increasing agricultural food and fiber production will be necessary to maintain political and social stability in developing countries (Tilman et al., 2002), herbicide use will become increasingly important to meet these global needs, especially as marginal lands are converted to agriculture (Helling, 1993). Although critical to production, herbicides can be toxic to humans and other organisms, even at low concentrations (Jin-Clark et al., 2002; USEPA, 2008). To maintain productive and sustainable agricultural systems there is an immediate need to understand field-scale processes governing herbicide use and off-site transport. During the past three decades several national surveys in the U.S. have shed light on the prevalence of herbicides in the environment. One of the first national surveys was conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA, 1990) which determined that about 10% of community water system wells contained detectable amounts of at least one herbicide. From 1993 to 1995, the National Water-Quality Assessment program monitored 20 major basins in the U.S. and found herbicides in over 50% of the sites sampled (Koplin et al., 1998). Furthermore, the U.S. Geological Survey observed that 97 percent of all streams sampled from agricultural and urban areas contain detectable concentrations of at least one herbicide, while 65 percent of the streams in undeveloped areas contained observable levels of herbicide (Gillion et al., 2006). Clearly, herbicide occurrence in streams, groundwater aquifers, and community wells are well documented, but determining the relative importance of major off-site transports processes at the field and watershed scales is still in its infancy. As summarized in Figure 1, herbicide off-site transport occurs primarily through surface runoff (Wauchope, 1978; Shipitalo and Owens, 2006), groundwater leaching (Isensee et al., 1990; Gaynor et al., 2001; Hansen et al., 2001), and/or volatilization (Taylor and Spencer, 1990; Gish et al., 2011). Precipitation events are especially crucial for determining which loss pathways are most critical in governing herbicide off-site transport. For example, if a


Recently, we reported that membrane androgen receptors (mARs) are expressed in colon tumors triggering strong apoptotic responses. In the present study, we analyzed mAR-induced downstream effectors controlling cell survival and migration of Caco2 colon cancer cells. We show that long-term activation of mAR downregulated the activity of PI-3K and Akt and induced dephosphorylation/activation of the proapoptotic Bad (p-Bad). Moreover, treatment of APCMin/+ mice, which spontaneously develop intestinal tumors, with mAR-activating testosterone conjugates reduced the tumor incidence by 80% and significantly decreased the expression of p-Akt and p-Bad levels in tumor tissue. Furthermore, mAR activation strongly inhibited Caco2 cell migration. In accordance with these findings, vinculin, a protein controlling cell adhesion and actin reorganization, was effectively phosphorylated upon mAR activation. Phosphorylation inhibitors genistein and PP2 inhibited actin reorganization and restored motility. Moreover, silencing vinculin by appropriate siRNA's, or blocking actin reorganization by cytochalasin B, restored the migration potential. From these results we conclude that mAR activation inhibits the prosurvival signals Akt/Bad in vitro and in vivo and blocks migration of colon cancer cells via regulation of vinculin signaling and actin reorganization, supporting the powerful tumoristatic effect of those receptors.


Although the field of automatic speaker recognition (ASR) has been the subject of extensive research over the past decades, the lack of robustness against background noise has remained a major challenge. This paper describes a noise-robust speaker recognition system that combines missing data (MD) recognition with the adaptation of speaker models using a universal background model (UBM). For MD recognition, the identification of reliable and unreliable feature components is required. For this purpose, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) based mask estimation performance of various state-of-the art noise estimation techniques and noise reduction schemes is compared. Speaker recognition experiments show that the usage of a UBM in combination with missing data recognition yields substantial improvements in recognition performance, especially in the presence of highly non-stationary background noise at low SNRs.


Steep declines in the uninsured population under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will depend on high enrollment among newly Medicaid-eligible adults. We use the 2009 American Community Survey to model pre-ACA eligibility for comprehensive Medicaid coverage among nonelderly adults. We identify 4.5 million eligible but uninsured adults. We find a Medicaid participation rate of 67% for adults; the rate is 17 percentage points lower than the national Medicaid participation rate for children, and it varies substantially across socioeconomic and demographic subgroups and across states. Achieving substantial increases in coverage under the ACA will require sharp increases in Medicaid participation among adults in some states.


To help programmers write programs that follow Saltzer and Schroeder's Principle of Least Privilege, modern operating systems divide the power of the administrative user into separate privileges which applications can enable on demand and permanently discard when no longer needed. However, using such privileges requires tedious temporal reasoning of program behavior. This paper describes a compiler, named AutoPriv, that helps programmers use privileges more easily. AutoPriv uses wholeprogram analysis during link-time optimization to determine where programs use privileges; it then transforms programs to remove unnecessary privileges during their execution. We tested AutoPriv on several privileged open-source programs that typically run as root. Our results show that AutoPriv increases optimization time by 19% on average but that transformed programs exhibit practically no overhead.


Ubiquitin fold modifier 1 (Ufm1) is a ubiquitin-like protein (UBL) found in eukaryotic organisms which plays a crucial role in ER stress management and signal transduction. The crystal structure of UFM1 and its E1 (Uba5) in complex shows that Ufm1 binds to the adenylation domain of UBA5 and interacts with a separate Ufm1-interacting sequence (UIS) in the C-terminus of UBA5. The UIS interacts with Ufm1 on the opposite side of Ufm1 protein from the adenylation domain of Uba5 and the reason for this second interaction site is unclear. We analyzed Ufm1 bound to the UIS sequence through molecular dynamics simulations in order to identify additional functions for this interaction. We found that the residues in the adenylation interaction site of Ufm1 have less movement when the UIS peptide was bound to Ufm1 and formed a structure that aligns well with Ufm1 bound to the Uba5 adenylation domain. We further identified an amino acid that connects the UIS to the adenylation domain interacting site. Mutation of this amino acid decreases charging activity and shifts the Ufm1 conformation population toward the unlocked configuration even in the presence of the UIS peptide. These data suggest a role for the Uba5 UIS in stimulating activation of Ufm1.


Activation of the STAT3 signaling pathway is now well established as an important factor in cancer progression and as a promising molecular target for cancer therapy. Persistent STAT3 activation in tumor cells prevents apoptosis and promotes cell proliferation. In the tumor microenvironment, STAT3 activation enhances angiogenesis and suppresses anti-tumor immune responses. Communication between tumor cells and stromal cells in the tumor microenvironment, by inflammatory cytokines like interleukin (IL)-6, results in a feed-forward loop that enhances cancer progression and confers resistance to therapy. Recently, we have uncovered another critical role for STAT3 in cancer progression and resistance to therapy. We now show that activation of STAT3 signaling promotes a stem-like cell phenotype in prostate cancer, concomitant with loss of androgen receptor (AR) expression. AR is important for prostate cancer progression, and androgen deprivation often leads to drug resistance and eventual cancer recurrence. We demonstrate that loss of AR expression as a consequence of androgen ablation results in STAT3 activation in prostate cancer cells. This STAT3 activation in turn leads to development of prostate cancer stem-like cells. AR downregulation-induced STAT3 activation is mediated through increased IL-6 expression in the tumor microenvironment. Elevated stem-like cell markers in human prostate tumor specimens coincides with high STAT3 activity and low AR expression. Treatment of mice with soluble IL-6 receptor or silencing STAT3 in tumor cells suppresses prostate tumor growth and inhibits development of stem-like cancer cells. In sum, our results demonstrate that blockade of AR mediates activation of STAT3 signaling through up-regulation of IL-6, which is associated with development of a stem-like cancer cell phenotype. Conversely, inhibition of the IL-6/STAT3 pathway diminishes the stem-like cancer cell population, and results in reduced tumor growth. Our findings provide new mechanistic insights into the role of STAT3 activation upon AR blockade on prostate cancer relapse and drug resistance. We further propose inhibition of STAT3 signaling in combination with anti-androgens as a potential strategy to prevent emergence of drug-resistant recurrent prostate cancer. Citation Format: Richard Jove. Revisiting the STATs of cancer: Emergence of stem-like cancer cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr SY06-02. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-SY06-02


Layered oxides intercalated with Eu3+ ions were prepared by self-assembly deposition method based on the electrostatic interaction between negative charged oxide nanosheets and Eu3+ ions. The layered oxides were composed of two-dimensional host nanosheet layer with guest Eu3+ ions and gave Eu3+ emission based on an energy transfer from bandgap excitation of the host oxide nanosheets to the Eu3+ ions. The photoluminescence properties of the Eu3+ ions were influenced by the type of nanosheet and the intercalated water molecules. Relatively-strong emission of Eu3+ was observed from Eu3+-intercalated titanate layered oxide. The intensity of Eu3+ emission increased with increasing the amount of intercalated water molecules. This indicates that the energy transfer from TiO2−δ nanosheet to Eu3+ is promoted by the intercalated water molecules. In addition, the intensity of Eu3+ emission was stronger at high pH than at low pH. This emission change is presumably due to two phenomena. One is a fine hydration state change of Eu3+ in the interlayer, and the other is a change in energy transfer from the TiO2−δ nanosheet to Eu3+.


Nepal is predominantly an agricultural country. More than 35% of its GDP depends on agriculture. About 65% of Nepalese people rely agriculture for their livelihood. Agricultural credit plays a major role in agricultural development. Different sources are available in the agricultural credit market in Nepal. Formal sources include agricultural development bank, farmers' cooperatives, and other financial institutions while informal sources include borrowing from farmers group, women group, and money lender individual (mostly relatives). Several factors might play a role in selecting different credit sources : types of agricultural commodities, buying different operating inputs (machinery, seeds, and fertilizers), buying fixed inputs (machinery and equipment), interest rate, and reimbursement plan. In this paper, we want to determine which source is the most popular among the farmers of Nepal and explain why that particular source is a choice for farmers. We use Nepalese agricultural census data for the fiscal year 2011/12 and multinomial logit model for this analysis. The result of this study will explain the factors affecting the choice of agricultural credit and most popular credit sources in Nepal and come up with some policy recommendations. This would enrich literature in explaining the choice of agricultural credit sources in other developing countries like Nepal.


The sex of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in relation to the sex, number, and relationship of affected relatives indicates an interaction between sex and autosomal genes in determining susceptibility to MS in some persons. This conclusion is confirmed by the observation that the proportion of laterally-related affected female pairs (siblings or cousins) who share the maximum possible number of HLA haplotypes is greater than that proportion in corresponding unlike-sex pairs.


Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) is one of the most important factors for bone tissue formation. A number of BMP-2 related small molecule bioactive peptides have been designed and shown to be equally effective in osteogenic activity. In this report, we synthesized a novel BMP-2-related peptide (designated P28) and designed a delivery system to regulate the controlled release of P28 from true bone ceramics (TBC) combined with an enlarged pore hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNs) composite scaffold. An in vitro release showed that the release of P28 from the TBC/HMSN scaffold was slower than that from the TBC scaffold. An in vitro cell experiment of the TBC/HMSN/P28 scaffold was tested with MC3T3-E1 cells in comparison to TBC, TBC/HMSN, and TBC/P28 scaffolds. Our results demonstrated that the TBC/HMSN/P28 scaffold had better effects on promoting proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells than TBC, TBC/HMSN, and TBC/P28 scaffolds. After four kinds of scaffolds were implanted into a rabbit radius critical bone defect for 6 and 12 weeks, the radiographic and histological examination indicated that this osteogenic delivery system TBC/HMSN/P28 scaffold effectively induced bone regeneration in vivo. Therefore, the TBC/HMSN/P28 scaffold can promote proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells in vitro and new bone tissue generation in vivo. This study provides a promising scaffold for bone tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.


A common pathology in Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is brain edema that develops within hours of impact. It causes increased intracranial pressure (ICP), and nerve damage. It was shown that Walnut kernel (WK) has a large amount of phenolic compounds with beneficial effects on human health due to antioxidant and anti- inflammatory properties. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of WK feeding on brain edema, neurological score and neuronal degeneration in male rat after traumatic brain injury.
The diffuse TBI was induced in adult male rats using Marmarou's method. Sixty days prior to the injury, WK was added to ordinary food (6% percent of daily food). Experimental groups are included sham (no TBI and no WK), control (TBI and no WK) and treatment (TBI and WK). Brain edema and neuronal injury were measured 72 h after TBI. Veterinary Coma Scale (VCS) and ICP were assessed at -1, 4, 24, 48 and 72 h after TBI.
Brain water content and ICP in treatment group decreased as compared to the control. Besides, VCS at 24, 48 and 72 h after TBI showed a significant increase in treatment group in comparison with control.
Based on our data, WK pre-treatment may reduce pathological parameters after TBI in male rats.


Most of our understanding of the pathogenesis of the unconventional slow infections comes from studies of experimental scrapie in mice and hamsters. After injection by non-neural peripheral routes, pathogenesis necessarily involves the lymphoreticular system (LRS) before the central nervous system (CNS). Available evidence indicates haematogenous spread from the site of injection to the scrapie replication sites in the LRS; later, infection spreads along visceral autonomic nerves from the LRS to the thoracic spinal cord, and thence to brain. The cells in the LRS which are important to scrapie pathogenesis are long lived. Neuroinvasion and spread of infection within the CNS probably involve neuronal pathways. We suggest that disease develops after infection has reached certain clinical target areas in the CNS but only when scrapie replication there has caused sufficient functional damage. Restriction of the replication process in both LRS and CNS is indicated by the occurrence of plateau concentrations of infectivity, especially in some long incubation scrapie models. A remarkable feature of these is that both neuroinvasion and clinical disease occur long after infectivity plateaux have been reached in the LRS and CNS, respectively. We propose that the slowness of scrapie is related to (1) limitations of cell-to-cell spread of infection from LRS to CNS, and (2) limitations on spread between neurons, coupled with restrictions on replication in brain.


2020. ABSTRACT In our current study, we are aiming to explore data management methods in Smart City systems. In data management, Artificial Intelligence can be used as well. Solutions for the usage of Artificial Intelligence and integration into Smart City concept will be researched as well. Main motivation of the study is to draw attention to one of the most important element of Smart Cities, to the flow of data. Our study provides a possible solution for managing data and keep data up-to-date in such systems with the usage of newest technology possibilities. While explaining the solution, we will give all the necessary details about the data flow model between the Artificial Intelligence based system and humans who are using the Smart City. For managing the dataflow, we would like to use Big Data methods extended with other required methods. We are using the term of Big Data as a technology maximizing computation power and algorithmic accuracy to gather, analyse, link, and compare large data sets [1] connecting with Artificial Intelligence


The present study contributes to the limited literature on the interlinkage between household non-farm diversification, agricultural feminization and female autonomy in farming. The study uses unit level data from the India Human Development Survey for the years 2004-05 and 2011-12. The paper employs Instrumental Variable regression methods to study such interlinkages. The results show household non-farm diversification to be a significant factor contributing to the feminization of agriculture. Further, greater participation of women in agriculture significantly contributes to female autonomy in farm decision-making. The results are robust to the use of alternative indicators of agricultural feminization. Further robustness checks support the overall conclusions of the paper. The study concludes with some policy suggestions.


While motor cortex is crucial for learning precise and reliable movements, whether and how astrocytes contribute to its plasticity and function during motor learning is unknown. Here we report that primary motor cortex (M1) astrocytes in mice show in vivo plasticity during learning of a lever push task, as revealed by transcriptomic and functional modifications. In particular, we observe changes in expression of glutamate transporter genes and increased coincidence of intracellular calcium events. Astrocyte-specific manipulations of M1 are sufficient to alter motor learning and execution, and neuronal population coding, in the same task. Mice expressing decreased levels of the astrocyte glutamate transporter GLT1 show impaired and variable movement trajectories. Mice with increased astrocyte Gq signaling show decreased performance rates, delayed response times and impaired trajectories, along with abnormally high levels of GLT1. In both groups of mice, M1 neurons have altered inter-neuronal correlations and impaired population representations of task parameters, including response time and movement trajectories. Thus, astrocytes have a specific role in coordinating M1 neuronal activity during motor learning, and control learned movement execution and dexterity through mechanisms that importantly include fine regulation of glutamate transport.


WITHIN the limits of this review, one can do no better than to use the words of Julian Huxley, who writes seventeen pages of introduction to this exciting book. "The Phenomenon of Man is a very remarkable work by a very remarkable human being. Père Teilhard de Chardin was at the same time a Jesuit Father and a distinguished palaeontologist. In the Phenomenon of Man he has effected a threefold synthesis— of the material and physical world with the world of mind and spirit; of the past with the future; and of variety with unity, the many with the one. He achieves this by examining every fact and every subject of his investigation sub specie evolutionis, with reference to its development in time and to its evolutionary position. Conversely, he is able to envisage the whole of knowable reality not as a static mechanism but as a process. In consequence, he is driven to search for human significance in relation to the trends of that enduring and comprehensive process; the measure of his stature is that he so largely succeeded in the search" (p. 11). Père Teilhard's important book was first published under the title, Le Phénomène Humain, in 1955, t n e Y a r of his death. A biologist and palaeontologist, whose major works were forbidden publication during his lifetime, he made significant contributions to our knowledge of paleolithic cultures in China and neighboring areas. In its scope and vision, the present book reminds us of Bergson's Creative Evolution. It is exceedingly well written. A short appendix on the place of evil in a world in evolution closes with the words, "In one manner or the other it still remains true that, even in the view of the mere biologist, the human epic resembles nothing so much as a way of the Cross" (p. 311). There is an index of six pages.


We reanalyze the constraints on light gluinos (m9 ~ 5 GeV jc 2 ) from the hadronic Z decays into four jets. We find that the published OPAL data from the 1991 and 1992 runs exclude a light gluino with mass ;S 1.5 Ge V j c2 at more than 90% confidence level. This limitdepends little on assumptions about the gluino fragmentation and the definition of the gluino mass. The exclusion confidence level is shown as a function of the mass. A future projection is briefly discussed. We also discuss quantitatively how the distributions in the BengtssonZerwas and the modified Nachtmann-Reiter angles change due to the finite bottom quark or gluino mass. * AdG was supported by CNPq (Brazil). HM was supported in part by the Director, Office of Energy Research, Office of High Energy and Nuclear Physics, Division of High Energy Physics of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC03-76SF00098 and in part by the National Science Foundation under grant PHY-95-14797. Supersymmetry is one of the primary targets of extensive searches at various collider experiments, most importantly at CERN e+ ecollider LEP and Fermilab pp collider Tevatron [1). Negative searches at these and previous colliders have already put significant constraints on the parameter space of low-energy supersymmetry. However, a light gluino below the few GeV mass range has surprisingly weak experimental constraints as emphasized recently by various authors [2, 3, 4) (see, however, an opposing view [5]). It is an extremely important task to verify or exclude a gluino in this light window experimentally. While the Tevatron Run II is expected to extend the reach of heavy gluinos up to a few hundred GeV, little effort is devoted to definitively exclude or verify the light gluino window. On the other hand, a careful reexamination of the existent data may reveal an overlooked constraint on a light gluino; this is our motivation to study the existent data in detail. We reanalyzed published data on Z decays into four jets [6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11), and find that they already exclude a gluino lighter than 1.5 Ge V / c at more than 90% confidence level. Since the published results use only 1991 and 1992 data, it is conceivable that the currently available data, if analyzed properly, could put a much more significant constraint on a light gluino. We hope our result urges the experimental groups to analyze the whole data set including a possible light gluino. Let us briefly review the existent constraints on a light gluino (see [3, 12) for more details). The negative searches at beam dump experiments have excluded a light gluino which decays inside the detector into photino, which in turn interacts with the neutrino detector. However, a gluino tends to leave the detector without decaying if the squark mass is above a few hundred GeV jc2 [13, 14). Even if the gluino decays, the photino interacts very weakly in this case and cannot be detected. If the gluino does not decay, it forms bound states such as gluinoball gg, glueballino gg or baryon-like states, especially udsg [15). Other states are likely to decay into these neutral bound states, and searches for exotic charged hadrons may not apply unless a charged gluino bound state decays only weakly. One the other hand, the mass region above 1.5 GeV jc2 and below 4 GeV fc2 is excluded from quarkonium decay Y -t 'Y'TJ§, where 'T/g is the pseudo-scalar gluinoball, independent of the gluino lifetime [16, 3). Whether the bound extends to lower masses is controversial because of the applicability of perturbative QCD calculations [16). The mass range above 4 GeV /c2 is expected to give a shorter lifetime and is excluded by a negative search for events with missing energy at UA1


Thirty-eight national and international laboratories, participated in an inter-laboratory comparison trial (ring test) organized by the German National Reference Laboratory for BVD/MD. Identical sets of 29 coded samples (23 sera, 4 ear not ches and 2 cryosections) were provided with a request for the laboratories for testing using antigen, antibody or genome detection methods as diagnostic techniques. The results indicated the high standard of BVD laboratory diagnosis, and the quality of the commercial test kits. However, it was evident, that >> classical << virological methods such as virus isolation and neutralization assays need to be practiced


Over the centuries, craftsmen have applied their creativity and technical skills to exploit the generous resources of Nature to marvelous effect. In this case they have employed seeds, leaves, flowers and fibers from the plant world, along with feathers, plain or iridescent shells, teeth, and fur from the animal kingdom to fashion objects of astonishing beauty, enhanced with the addition of elements in iron, copper, silver, and gold. Down through time such materials have always provided the basis for magnificent headdresses of all variety, including hats, caps, crowns, and headbands. In time, as the conditions of trade and pilgrimage routes improved, rare materials and manufactured products spread all over the globe, as well as new knowledge, techniques, and methods of fabrication. Each class of individual sported a distinct type of headdress: initiates and adults, hunters and warriors, religious dignitaries and healers, rulers and notables; unmarried girls, married women, and young mothers. In each case the author explains their opulence and symbolism to the reader.


A channel bank speech synthesizer for reconstructing speech from externally-generated acoustic feature information without using externally-generated voicing or pitch information is disclosed. An N-channel pitch-excited channel bank synthesizer (340) is provided having a first low-frequency group of channel gain values (1 to M) and a second high-frequency group of channel gain values (+1 to N). The first group controls a first group of amplitude modulators (950) excited by a periodic pitch pulse source (920), and the second group controls amplitude modulators excited by a noise source (930). Both groups of modulated excitation signals are applied to the bandpass filters (960) to reconstruct the speech channels, and then combined at the summation network (970) to form a reconstructed synthesized speech signal. Additionally, the pitch pulse source (920) varies the pitch pulse period such that the pitch pulse rate decreases over the length of the word.


BACKGROUND
Mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BRCA1/2), components of the homologous recombination DNA repair (HRR) pathway, are associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors are selectively cytotoxic to animal cells with defective HRR, but results in human cancer cells have been contradictory. We undertook, to our knowledge, the first comprehensive in vitro and in vivo investigations of the antitumor activity of the PARP inhibitor AG014699 in human cancer cells carrying mutated or epigenetically silenced BRCA1/2.

METHODS
We used nine human cell lines, four with nonmutated BRCA1/2 (MCF7, MDA-MB-231, and HCC1937-BRCA1 [breast cancer] and OSEC-2 [ovarian surface epithelial]), two with mutated BRCA1 (MDA-MB-436 and HCC1937 [breast cancer]), one with mutated BRCA2 (CAPAN-1 [pancreatic cancer]), one that was heterozygous for BRCA2 (OSEC-1 [ovarian surface epithelial]), and one with epigenetically silenced BRCA1 (UACC3199 [breast cancer]), and two Chinese hamster ovary cell lines, parental AA8 and XRCC3 mutated IRS 1SF. We assessed cytotoxicity, DNA damage, and HRR function. Antitumor activity of AG014699 was determined by growth of xenograft tumors (five mice per treatment group). Long-term safety of AG014699 was assessed.

RESULTS
AG014699 (≤10 μM) was cytotoxic to cells with mutated BRCA1/2 or XRCC3 and to UACC3199 cells with epigenetically silenced BRCA1 but not to cells without BRCA1/2 or XRCC3 mutations or that were heterozygous for BRCA2 mutation. AG014699 induced DNA double-strand breaks in all nine cell lines studied. HRR was observed only in cells with functional BRCA1/2 proteins. Growth of xenograft tumors with BRCA1/2 mutations or with epigenetically silenced BRCA1 was reduced by AG014699 treatment, and combination treatment with AG014699 plus carboplatin was more effective than either drug alone. AG014699 was not toxic in mice with nonmutated or heterozygous BRCA2.

CONCLUSION
Human cancer cells or xenograft tumors with mutated or epigenetically silenced BRCA1/2 were sensitive to AG014699 monotherapy, indicating a potential role for PARP inhibitors in sporadic human cancers.


Throughout the world and over the centuries, societies have welcomed frightened, weary foreigners, the victims of persecution and violence in their place of habitual residence. Basically every State has the responsibility of protecting refugees and asylum seekers within its teritory. Protection of refugees and asylum seekers is a classical issue in International Law. Nowadays more than 140 States have adopted International Instruments of Refugee Law. Eventhough the right to seek asylum has been enshrined in the Indonesian Consitution and the Human Rights Act ; up to nowadays Indonesia has not adopted any International Instrument of Refugee Law and has no national operative legislation dealing with the protection of refugee and asylum seeker. The objective of this paper was to discuss the urgency and the stumbling blocks of incorporating International Instruments of Refugee Law into the Indonesian Law. It should be born in mind that a national legislation concerning the protection of refugees and asylum seekers indicate commitment of a State to the protection of refugees and asylum seekers indicate commitement of a State to the protection and promotion of Human Rights in general. An incorporation of refugee law into the Indonesian Legal System would fill the gap concerning the unavailability of operational legal instrument dealing with refugee and asylum seeker in Indonesia.


This paper introduces a preliminary effort to develop an automatic image analysis method using artificial immune systems for clinical dental diagnosis. To diagnose dental deformity, especially malocclusion, manual measurement of certain geometry on the X-ray images is traditionally used, which relies on subjective judgment to determine the reference points. This paper proposes a feature extraction method that is based on the brightness distribution of the image instead of the anatomical parts. A negative selection algorithm is then applied to the data represented as real-valued vectors to detect the cases of severe malocclusion. Using the same data representation, one-class SVM was also tried to compare the detection capability with the negative selection algorithm. The results show that the negative selection algorithm appears more suitable for this problem.


As the number of flights in the United States continues to rise steadily, an equally amplified need for reliability and safety has come to the forefront of aviation research. One of the most alarming trends is the number of general aviation (GA) accidents during severe weather events that occur yearly, with fatalities occurring in more than half of these cases. This study focuses on identifying factors influencing weather dissemination of Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) to GA pilots. Ten factors affecting controllers' performance during severe weather events were identified through an in-depth literature review including controller mental workload, situation awareness, weather information format and accuracy, weather information needs, weather tool limitations, inaccurate assumption and bias, controller training and expereince, regulatory factor, supervisory factors, and pilot-controller relationship. Recommendation can be developed to address each factors so that aviation safety could be enhanced in severe weather situations.


HYPOTHESIS
Long-term quality of life (QOL) in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) incurring bile duct injury (BDI) and repair is comparable to that of patients undergoing uncomplicated LC.

DESIGN
Case comparison study.

SETTING
Secondary and tertiary care centers.

PATIENTS
Eighty-six patients incurring BDI during LC between January 1, 1991, and July 31, 2003, were surveyed. Comparison subjects underwent uncomplicated LC during the same period.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Health-related QOL as assessed by the Karnofsky Performance Scale, Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale.

RESULTS
Fifty patients with BDI (39 [78%] female; mean +/- SEM age, 55 +/- 2 years) and 74 patients with uncomplicated LC (51 [69%] female, mean +/- SEM age, 52 +/- 2 years) responded. Of the 50 BDI patients, 48 (96%) had no stricture and normal liver function at QOL assessment. The mean +/- SEM follow-up period to QOL assessment for the BDI and uncomplicated LC groups was 62 +/- 6 and 47 +/- 3 months, respectively. The mean +/- SD Karnofsky Performance Scale scores were 77 +/- 9 vs 93 +/- 8 for the 2 groups, respectively (P <.001). The mean +/- SD SF-36 physical component scale scores after BDI vs uncomplicated LC were 36 +/- 11 vs 47 +/- 12, respectively (P <.001), compared with 50 +/- 10 for the normal population (P <.001). The mean +/- SD SF-36 mental component scale scores were 43 +/- 14 vs 49 +/- 11 for the 2 groups, respectively (P =.02), compared with 50 +/- 10 for the normal population (P =.01). Patients with BDI scored poorer on the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale health care orientation and domestic environment scales (P=.01).

CONCLUSION
After BDI and repair, there are long-term detrimental effects of BDI on health-related QOL.


In this work, we propose a random balls model on $\mathbb{C}$ generated by a determinantal point process. We use a Ginibre point process to generate the centers of the balls and thus we introduce repulsion phenomena between the balls. Studying the model at a macroscopic level allows us to extend the results obtained for random balls models generated by a Poisson point process. Indeed, we obtain three different limit fields : the first one is a Gaussian integral, the second one is a stable integral and the last one is a Poissonian integral that bridges between the two previous ones.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to explore the moderating effect of maladaptive perfectionism on the relationship between cultural sensitivity and counselors-in-training attitudes toward non-dominant sexual identities. A total of 209 counseling graduate students participated in the study. Results showed that cultural sensitivity predicted attitudes toward individuals who identify with a non-dominant sexual identity after controlling for age. Also, a regression analysis demonstrated that maladaptive perfectionism is a moderator in the relationship between cultural sensitivity and attitudes toward individuals who identify with a non-dominant sexual identity among counselors-in-trainings. Implications in the counseling and education field and suggestions for future research are discussed.


This paper examines the variability of workers' earnings in Canada over the 1982-to-2000 period by a graphical descriptive approach using the Longitudinal Administrative Data base file. Following Gottschalk and Moffitt (1994), we decompose the total variance of workers' earnings into a 'permanent' or long-run component between workers and a 'transitory' or year-to-year earnings instability component over time for given workers. The decomposition is applied to a five-year moving window. Several results are found. First, the general rise in total earnings variance over the period reflects quite different patterns of change for its separate components. Long-run earnings inequality has generally increased over the period, while year-to-year earnings instability has pretty steadily decreased. Changes in the total earnings variability have been driven primarily by changes in long-run earnings inequality. Second, the patterns of change in the two variance components showed substantial differences between men and women. Since the early 1990s, long-run earnings inequality continued to rise for men, but it markedly decreased for women. Since the late 1980s, earnings instability fell quite steadily for women, but it showed a more cyclical pattern for men. Third, the patterns across ages of the two variance components are almost opposite. Long-run earnings inequality generally rises with age, so it is markedly highest among older-age workers. Earnings instability, in contrast, generally declines with age, so it is markedly highest among entry-age workers.


Background Obesity is defined as a chronic, low-grade inflammatory disease that can cause obesity-associated disorders, such as cancer. Obesity has traditionally been thought to be a risk factor for ovarian cancer. Few reports have focused on the specific pathogenesis of obesity-related ovarian cancer. When considering the correlation between obesity and the relative risk of death from ovarian cancer, we investigated whether obesity promotes tumor immune escape in ovarian cancer. Results In the present study, obese mice were found to have higher rates of tumor growth and tumor infiltration than mice of normal weight. Obesity increased the proportion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in peripheral blood compared with mice of normal weight. In addition, the levels of CCL25, CD40L, GM-CSF, IL-5, IGFBP2, IL-6, MMP3, and MMP9 in the peripheral blood, bone marrow, and ovarian tissue of obese mice were higher than in mice of normal weight. Moreover, IL-5 and IL-6 significantly enhanced the expression levels of S100A8 and S100A9 in MDSCs. When compared with the levels in mice of normal weight, the expression levels of S100A8 and S100A9 in the MDSCs of OB/OB mice were also higher within the tumor microenvironment. The infiltration of MDSCs in ovarian cancer was found to be positively correlated with the expression levels of IL-6. The IL-6 expression levels in ovarian cancer tissue are positively correlated with the expression levels of S100A8 and S100A9, which is consistent with the results of previous animal experiments. Finally, we found that LMT28 can suppress the tumor growth by inhibiting IL-6. Conclusion Obesity promotes the expression of the MDSC-related immunosuppressive genes S100A8 and S100A9 by upregulating IL-6, thus promoting tumor immune evasion and metastasis in ovarian cancer.


Robotic-assisted adrenalectomy (RA) was established since 2001 as an alternative to open and laparoscopic adrenalectomy, although re-operative RA after upper pole partial nephrectomy is uncommon. Here, we describe RA for presumed renal cell carcinoma (RCC) recurrence after ipsilateral upper pole robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy (RPN), using the da Vinci Xi. A 43-year-old male underwent left RPN in November 2017 for a 3.3 cm upper pole enhancing solid renal mass. Pathology revealed clear cell, RCC, FG 2, pT1a, negative margins. Seven months later, routine surveillance CT scan demonstrated a 2.09 cm enhancing left adrenal nodule, suspicious for recurrent RCC. MRI was performed and confirmed the presence of enhancing adrenal nodularity suspicious for tumor recurrence. Percutaneous biopsy of the adrenal lesion was performed and it was inconclusive. The multidisciplinary tumor board recommended excision, and a robotic approach was selected. The RA was performed using three 8 mm robotic Xi trocars, one midline 12 mm blunt tip Hasson trocar, and one 5 mm AirSeal trocar for assistant ports. The 8 mm robotic Xi instruments (fenestrated bipolar forceps, monopolar curved scissors and permanent cautery hook) were used during the procedure. Total operation time was 249 minutes. Total console time was 134 minutes. Blood loss was 250 mL and there were no complications. He was discharged on post-operative day one. Pathology showed adrenal gland without significant histopathological changes. The gland measured 8.3 cm × 7.6 cm × 2.8 cm and weighed 63.2 grams. The final pathology report showed that there was no evidence of involvement by RCC. The post-operative course was unremarkable. The da Vinci Xi RA is a safe and feasible procedure for adrenal masses after ipsilateral RPN. Surgeons attempting the procedure should be comfortable with the inflammation and adhesions encountered in re-operative surgery and should work with an experienced team to avoid damage to surrounding organs (such as the spleen, pancreas, colon and stomach) and major vessels (such as the aorta, renal artery and vein). For masses of unclear etiology proceeding with adrenal mass biopsy prior to re-operative surgery should be considered as false-positive imaging results are possible.


The potentials of laser ablation used as an analytical tool for glasses and soils were studied by optical emission spectroscopy with inductively coupled plasma and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. Glass samples were ablated by laser radiation at 266 nm. For ablation of soils, the 1064 nm laser radiation was used. Calibration curves were constructed for Si, Na, Mg and K in glass materials and for V and Cu in soils.


Practitioners and politicians have long debated the wisdom of pushing countries to hold elections, with some arguing for its necessity and others warning of its futility and even danger. Yet, research on how varying types of international activities affect the conduct and structure of elections still has a long way to go to be able to inform this debate. This article discusses the myriad international forms of engagement with elections and reviews the research on their ability to improve election quality. It also explores the more nefarious international activities, which are even less well understood than the efforts to improve elections. Given the mixed outcomes and findings, much work remains to be done, especially in specifying the conditions under which various effects occur. Such work has both practical and theoretical merits and can shed light on broader scholarly inquiries about the international dimensions of democratization.


Postulates and Presumptions are the basis for human sciences. Theorists often assume that these are universal. So they try to extract some theories from these postulates. Conventional economic methodology does not explicitly answer the question about how we choose the propositions. The main question of this paper is what the source of ideas which are the basis for economic theories. In this study we found that there are three point of view in conventional economic theory for this question: pre-empirical, empirical and instrumentalist's approaches. We also provide some critics for these points of view and offer a new alternative Islamic approach. This approach is based on two fundamental principles: human arbitrary and reality of revelation expressions. Based on these two principles we offer a two-layered methodological approach that extracts the universal law of phenomenon from revelation expressions and partial relationships from Lived experiences of theorist. The revelation expressions are in the first layer as the primary postulates and Presumptions and the lived experiences of theorist are in the layer two as the secondary postulates.


This article looks at the use of letterings and typefaces in the linguistic landscape through a comparison of hippie and punk concert posters. After a general introduction, some definitions and an overview on the hippie and punk movements and the posters they produced, the article introduces the methodology employed, which consisted of both an analysis of the lettering used in hippie and punk posters and a survey carried out among a sample of students at Universiti Malaya (Kuala Lumpur). This is followed by an analysis and a discussion of the data, which have led to two main findings: not only were the antithetical ideas behind these two youth movements portrayed through the specific lettering and fonts used, but the latter feature specific traits that may be linked to our mental processes and possibly our limbic system, the most primordial part of our brain.


The FetchIt! Mobile Manipulation Challenge, held at the IEEE International Conference on Robots and Automation (ICRA) in May 2019, offered an environment with complex and integrated task sets, irregular objects, confined space, and machining, introducing new challenges in the mobile manipulation domain. Here we describe our efforts to address these challenges by demonstrating the assembly of a kit of mechanical parts in a caddy. In addition to implementation details, we examine the issues in this task set extensively, and we discuss our software architecture in the hope of providing a base for other researchers. To evaluate performance and consistency, we conducted 20 full runs, then examined failure cases with possible solutions. We conclude by identifying future research directions to address the open challenges.


Java Island, the most populated island of Indonesia, is prone to landslide disasters. Their occurrence and impact have increased mainly as the result of natural factors, aggravated by human imprint. This paper is intended to analyse: (1) the spatiotemporal variation of landslides in Java during short-term and long-term periods, and (2) their causative factors such as rainfall, topography, geology, earthquakes, and landuse. The evaluation spatially and temporally of historical landslides and consequences were based on the landslide database covering the period of 1981 – 2007 in the GIS environment. The database showed that landslides distributed unevenly between West Java (67%), Central Java (29%) and East Java (4%). Slope failures were most abundant on the very intensively weathered zone of old volcanic materials on slope angles of 30° – 40°. Rainfall threshold analysis showed that shallow landslides and deep-seated landslides were triggered by rainfall events of 300 – 600 mm and > 600 mm respectively of antecedent rainfall during 30 consecutive days, and many cases showed that the landslides were not always initiated by intense rainfall during the landslide day. Human interference plays an important role in landslide occurrence through land conversion from natural forest to dryland agriculture which was the host of most of landslides in Java. These results and methods can be used as valuable information on the spatiotemporal characteristics of landslides in Java and their relationship with causative factors, thereby providing a sound basis for landslide investigation in more detail.


In a preceding work we have reported experiments showing that an hydroalcoholic exctract of Agaricus blazei is able to exert purinergic effects in the isolated perfused rat liver when it is infused into the portal vein in monovascular perfusion (entry: portal vein; exit: hepatic vein). In the present communication we are presenting and discussing experiments done with the bivascularly perfused rat liver (entry: portal vein + hepatic artery; exit: hepatic vein) in order to verify if the hemodynamic effects also occur in the arterial bed. It was found that the A. blazei extract is also active when infused into the hepatic arterial bed, with differences in both sensitivity and nature of the effects on either perfusion pressure or oxygen consumption. Constriction of the arterial bed required much higher concentrations of the extract than the portal bed. The kinetics of the response was also different, with a biphasic instead of a monophasic response. These results provide a promising starting point for future studies aiming to bring to light more mechanistic details about these and possibly other effects.


A secondary reference material for lipoprotein(a) is required to standardize the measurement of lipoprotein(a) in clinical laboratories worldwide. Towards this aim, the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry Working Group for the Standardization of Lipoprotein(a) Assays has initiated a standardization project involving a total of 33 diagnostic company and clinical chemistry laboratories from 12 countries. In Phase 1, the analytical performance of 40 lipoprotein(a) assay systems was evaluated by testing sera and manufactured lipoprotein(a) calibrator materials for precision, linearity, and parallelism. Twenty test systems were nonoptimized according to the results for a pooled serum, which tested nonlinear in 16 systems and imprecise in 4. Acceptable analytical properties and harmonization of lipoprotein(a) values were shown by some commercial calibrators, suggesting their possible use as reference materials. This study highlights the problems that currently occur for lipoprotein(a) measurement in existing assay systems.


A piezoelectric optical fiber stretcher has been introduced for working point controlling and low-frequency noise suppression of a fiber-optic atmospheric turbulence sensor. It is actuated by a piezoelectric ceramic stack. The rational structure allows the fiber to extend only along the axial direction, which minimizes the nonlinear birefringence effects for the optical phase shift. What is believed to be a novel method has been proposed to measure its phase-shift coefficient. With the use of this device, the fiber-optic atmospheric turbulence sensor has been tested for the air refractive index measurement.


BACKGROUND
The prevalence of alcohol use during adolescence is concerning given that early age of alcohol initiation is correlated with the development of alcohol-related problems later in life. The purpose of this series of studies was to assess whether voluntary ethanol (EtOH) exposure during adolescence would influence EtOH drinking behavior in adulthood using an animal model.

METHODS
Pair-housed Sprague-Dawley adolescent (postnatal day [P] 28 to 42) rats of both sexes were given single bottle access to 1 of 3 solutions in their home cages-10% EtOH in "supersac" (0.125% saccharin and 3% sucrose) (EtOH/SS), supersac without EtOH (SS), or water-for 30 minutes every other day for a total of 8 drinking days or were left nonmanipulated (NM). Animals were NM thereafter until adulthood (P70) at which time they were given 1-bottle, 30 minute limited access tests with 20% EtOH every other day (Exp 1), 10% EtOH in SS (Exp 2), or SS without EtOH (Exp 3).

RESULTS
Adolescent EtOH/SS exposure increased adulthood consumption of EtOH/SS (Exp 2), but not 20% unsweetened EtOH (Exp 1) or SS (Exp 3), with this increase most pronounced at the beginning of the 8 intake day procedure. Access to SS (without EtOH) during adolescence produced an analogous effect, with increased adult SS consumption during the first 2 intake days, but no increases in either of the EtOH test solutions.

CONCLUSIONS
Solution-specific increases in adulthood intake after adolescent exposure are most likely associated with solution acceptance due to familiarity. This is an important consideration for future intake studies assessing the influence of EtOH exposure during adolescence on intake of EtOH in adulthood.


A particle system is a heavily used tool in every effects animation department in the world. In this paper, we re-explore this well understood, and relatively ancient technique. We present our design of Rapid, a modern, and easy to use particle dynamics framework that seamlessly fits into procedural node graphs. We discuss schemes for minimizing sub-frame evaluation of the dataflow graph, including an improved collision model and simple methods for generating smooth and continuous particle emissions. These techniques combined with improved workflow tools enable artists to build production setups faster, and simulate them quicker. The Rapid framework has been used on hundreds of shots at the studio to produce effects like water, magic, debris, spray, dirt, embers, and sparks.


Theoretically Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is considered as a growth accelerating component that has attained significant heed in the development of the country in the past decade. Pakistan has been selected due to its geostrategic location, which is a major attraction for developed economies to invest in for lucrative returns. This study objective is to trace the long as well short run analysis among FDI, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross National Income (GNI) and Imports (IMP) of Pakistan from year 1987 to 2017 by using the ADF Unit Root Test, Johansan co-integration approach, VECM and Granger causality methods. The results reveal that the two-way causality between FDI and growth in Pakistan is not highly significant. Pakistan's economic growth indeed attracts FDI influx, which supports the market-size hypothesis; while the FDI influx stimulates the economic growth of Pakistan to some degree, the result is not significant. In light of the results achieved, this study suggests future recommendations to policy makers for an effective strategic plan to welcome foreign investments in Pakistan.

 Key words: Foreign direct investment (FDI), economic growth, vector error correction model (VECM), unit root test, co-integration analysis.


Three experiments investigated word frequency and age of acquisition (AoA) effects in recognition and recall. Experiments 1 and 2 used the "remember-know" procedure developed by J. M. Gardiner (1988). In Experiment 1, recognition performance was higher for low-frequency words than for high-frequency words and higher for late-acquired words than for early-acquired words, but only in "remember" responses. Experiment 2 replicated the AoA effect by using a different set of early- and late-acquired words. Experiment 3 found advantages for low-frequency and late-acquired words in recall, but only when words were presented in mixed lists. The frequency effect was reversed, and the AoA effect was eliminated, when participants studied pure lists. Findings were attributed to the more distinctive encoding of low-frequency and late-acquired words. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)


In response to injury, adult Schwann cells (SCs) re-enter the cell cycle, change their expression profile, and exert repair functions important for wound healing and the re-growth of axons. While this phenotypical instability of SCs is essential for nerve regeneration, it has also been implicated in cancer progression and de-myelinating neuropathies. Thus, SCs became an important research tool to study the molecular mechanisms involved in repair and disease and to identify targets for therapeutic intervention. A high purity of isolated SC cultures used for experimentation must be demonstrated to exclude that novel findings are derived from a contaminating fibroblasts population. In addition, information about the SC proliferation status is an important parameter to be determined in response to different treatments. The evaluation of SC purity and proliferation, however, usually depends on the time consuming, manual assessment of immunofluorescence stainings or comes with the sacrifice of a large amount of SCs for flow cytometry analysis. We here show that rat SC culture derived cytospins stained for SC marker SOX10, proliferation marker EdU, intermediate filament vimentin and DAPI allowed the determination of SC identity and proliferation by requiring only a small number of cells. Furthermore, the CellProfiler software was used to develop an automated image analysis pipeline that quantified SCs and proliferating SCs from the obtained immunofluorescence images. By comparing the results of total cell count, SC purity and SC proliferation rate between manual counting and the CellProfiler output, we demonstrated applicability and reliability of the established pipeline. In conclusion, we here combined the cytospin technique, a multi-colour immunofluorescence staining panel, and an automated image analysis pipeline to enable the quantification of SC purity and SC proliferation from small cell aliquots. This procedure represents a solid read-out to simplify and standardize the quantification of primary SC culture purity and proliferation.


ABSTRACT This paper contributes to scholarship on the origins of the US environmental justice movement (EJM) through exploration of the early EJM in California. The national EJM is often seen as having grown out of the intersection of environmentalism and the Black civil rights movement in the 1982 protests in Warren County, North Carolina. This paper adds weight to alternate narratives that depict the EJM as drawing on a variety of racialized social movement infrastructures that vary regionally. These infrastructures, as they were built in California, are analyzed as regional racial projects responding to histories of white supremacy that are connected through social movement spillover. This conceptual framework illuminates the place-based ways in which racial oppression and racial justice responses create social movement infrastructure that persists across multiple movement formations, both across contemporary groups and through time. The paper draws on data gathered from existing case studies and oral histories, in-depth interviews, participant observation, and archival documents to offer a capacious view of the EJM's origins.


Hysteria as a cause of failure to recover consciousness following general anaesthesia is a rare event. This case report describes such an instance in a young, healthy 22-year-old female suffering severe dental phobia who was undergoing dental conservation. The literature is reviewed and a summary of the possible physiological mechanisms involved is given.


Any error of network parameters affects the value of the measurement residuals calculated in state estimation. Explicit mathematical expressions relating the residuals to the parameter errors are derived. A two-step approach is proposed for parameter error estimation. The first step is to estimate a bias vector which combines the effects of parameter errors and the state of the system. A least-square approach using the measurement residuals calculated in each state estimation run is proposed for the first step. After several state estimation runs, a sequence of such bias vectors is obtained. The second step is to estimate the parameter errors from the sequence of bias vectors. A recursive least-square estimation method is proposed for this step. Theoretical and computational issues of the proposed method are addressed. Test results are presented. >