Features of modern network communications make it necessary to use in the organization of the hidden channel communication of steganographic algorithms that are resistant to loss compression, and leaving the tasks of developing new effective steganographic methods are relevant. The paper develops a new block steganographic method, which is resistant to attacks against the built-in message, including strong attacks. This method preserves the reliability of the perception of the formed quilting due to the mathematical basis used. It is based on a general approach to the analysis of the state and technology of information systems functioning, matrix analysis, perturbation theory. A digital image is treated as a container. The bandwidth of a hidden link that is built using the developed method is equal to n-2 bpp, n×n is the size of the blocks of the container that are obtained by the standard breakdown of its matrix. Such bandwidth is achieved with any algorithmic implementation of the method. Additional information is a binary sequence, it is the result of pre-coding of the information that is hidden. The embedding of additional information is done by using formal container matrix parameters that are insensitive to perturbation. These are singular values of its small blocks (n≤8). Increasing the maximum singular value of the block, which occurs when embedding additional information, leads to the stability of the method to the perturbing action and to ensure the reliability of the perception of the hip. The magnitude of the increase in the maximum singular value is determined using the values obtained by raising the singular values of the block to a natural degree k. Algorithmic implementation of the method requires additional studies to determine the parameter k.

 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/ISTS.2020.1.16-22


In this paper, we present analytical results of the analysis of the queueing system that models signalling hop-by-hop load control mechanism for SIP server. The so-called hop-by-hop overload control, known from recent IETF drafts and RFCs, is based on hysteretic load control with two thresholds for reducing potential oscillations between the control-on and control-off states under certain loading conditions. Adjustment of thresholds values makes possible the load control of signalling traffic and therefore meeting blocking requirements. New approach that allows fast computation of joint stationary probability distribution of finite M2|M|1|R queue with bi-level hysteretic input load control is proposed. Illustrative numerical example is given to demonstrate some optimization issues.


This study was designed to investigate how many Finnish drivers with new cars have ADAS in their vehicles, and how frequently and in which context they use those systems, ACC and Lane Keeping (LKA) in particular. In addition, the impacts of these systems were to be assessed. Moreover, limitations of the current systems, willingness to have the systems in the future, and willingness to pay for such systems or higher automation levels were of interest. The data was collected with an online survey of 1,005 drivers who drive regularly and have purchased their vehicle in 2016 or later. The selection of driver sample seemed to be successful and allowed collecting versatile quantitative data of the usage of the systems in various contexts and self-reported benefits of the systems. This paper concentrates into the results concerning longitudinal support systems, cruise control and adaptive cruise control.


We have developed an automatic composition system for contemporary dance by using 3D motion clips. Our goal is to develop some useful tools in dance education such as creation-support system for teachers and self-study system for students. Our approach is not creating natural connection but creating conceptual sequences using basic motions of contemporary dance. We present an experiment to assess whether sequences randomly selected would be appropriate for contemporary dance training and to determine some effective elements to integrate into the algorithm. As a result of the experiment, our proposed system was found to be useful and helpful for dance training.


The article analyses some aspects of lexicographic activity of L. V. Scherba: it examines his contribution into the development of the theory of lexicography, gives a survey of the dictionaries compiled with his participation in the 1920s–30s of the XX century, introduces to the scientific community some little-known facts of his lexicographic activity of the period. In addition to a general scientific overview of special literature and the analysis of his «Dictionary of the Russian Language», the article presents facts of the archival documents from Saint Petersburg branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The article deals with such unknown or little-known facts as L. V. Schera's personal participation in the 1920s–30s in a number of lexicographic projects in Moscow and Leningrad: he took part in the compilation of «Lenin's» dictionary of the Russian language, made in Moscow, A. S. Griboyedov's «Woe from Wit» dictionary. A special page in the history of L. V. Scherba's lexicographic activity became his work as a member of the Dictionary commission of the Academy of Sciences, his being an editor of a number of issues of the «Dictionary of the Russian Language» under the general edition of A. A. Shahmatov, and also compilation of the IX volume of the «Dictionary of the Russian Language» edited by N. S. Derzhavin. The article gives a brief analysis of the materials of the only published first issue («И – Идеализироваться») of this volume. The article summarizes important and topical for the theory of lexicography L. V. Sherba's observations and statements resulting from his considerable practical dictionary making work. The article gives a brief account of concrete lexicographic material testifying for a very high level of the scientist's lexicographic work.


The association of dicationic polycyclic ligands, namely, four diazoniapentaphene derivatives, three diazoniaanthra[1,2-a]anthracenes, diazoniahexaphene, and a partly saturated hydroxy-substituted diazoniapentaphene with double-stranded and triple-helical DNA, was investigated by spectrophotometric and viscosimetric titrations, CD and LD spectroscopy, DNA melting experiments, and molecular modeling studies. All experimental and theoretical data reveal an intercalative DNA-binding mode of the diazoniapentaphenes and diazoniaanthra[1,2-a]anthracenes; the latter have approximately 10-fold higher affinity for the DNA duplex. CD spectroscopic investigations and molecular modeling studies show that only one azonianaphthalene part of the ligand is intercalated between the DNA base pairs, whereas the remaining part of the ligand points outside the intercalation pocket. In contrast, the diazoniahexaphene is a DNA groove binder, which binds selectively to [poly(dAdT)]2. At low ligand-to-DNA ratios (r < 0.15), the diazoniahexaphene also behaves as an intercalator; however, all spectroscopic and viscosimetric data are consistent with significant groove binding of this ligand at r > 0.2. Studies of the interaction of diazoniapolycyclic ions with triplex DNA reveal a preferential binding of both diazoniapentaphenes and diazoniaanthra[1,2-a]anthracenes to the triplex and stabilization thereof. These properties are more pronounced in the case of the hexacyclic diazoniaanthra[1,2-a]anthracenes; however, the diazoniahexaphene shows no preferential binding to the triplex. The DNA binding properties of the diazoniapentaphene derivatives remain essentially the same upon variation of the positions of nitrogen atoms or substitution with methyl groups. In contrast, the interactions of the diazoniaanthra[1,2-a]anthracence isomers with triplex DNA are slightly different. Notably, the 14a,16a-diazoniaanthra[1,2-a]anthracene is among the most efficient triplex stabilizers, with a 9-fold larger binding affinity for the triplex than for the DNA duplex. Moreover, the diazoniapentaphene and diazoniaanthra[1,2-a]anthracene derivatives represent the first examples of triplex-DNA binders that do not require additional aminoalkyl side chains for efficient triplex stabilization.


Methylation of cytosines at CpG dinucleotides is essential for mammalian development. MeCP2, MBD1, MBD2, MBD3, and MBD4 comprise a family of proteins that contain a methyl-CpG binding domain (MBD). Except for MBD4, these proteins are involved in gene silencing imposed by methylated DNA. We have identified a human gene that codes for a protein that is 42% identical to MBD3 and 38% identical to MBD2 but lacks the methyl-CpG binding domain. The recombinant protein does not bind to methylated DNA in vitro. The corresponding mouse Mbd3L1 gene was also cloned. The MBD3L1 gene is expressed specifically in testis. During spermatogenesis, expression of MBD3L1 is observed only in round spermatids, suggesting a role for the gene product in the postmeiotic stages of male germ cell development. The MBD3L1 protein is localized to discrete areas in the nucleus and contains an N-terminal transcriptional repression domain. This repression is independent of histone deacetylase inhibition. A homologue of MBD3L1, MBD3L2, was also identified and cloned. Expression of MBD3L2 was found in germ cell tumors and some somatic tissues. These novel proteins may function as counterparts of MBD2 and/or MBD3 in developmental stage-specific transcriptional repression.


Despite advances in chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), the outcome of children with relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has not significantly improved over the last 2 decades. About 50% of children with relapsed leukemia still die from their disease and ALL is still the first cause of death by cancer in children. A new hope of cure for patients with chemo-resistant cancers has emerged with the development of cancer immunotherapy. However, the major risk of post-transplant immunotherapy is the exacerbation of life-threatening Graft-versus-Host Disease (GvHD) mediated by donor-derived T cells. We therefore explored the avenue of innate immune stimulation. Several reports have demonstrated that activated Natural Killer (NK) cells can control acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in transplanted patients, whereas ALL is deemed to be resistant to NK cell killing. We recently challenged this paradigm and demonstrated that the stimulation of NK cells with third-party activated plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) killed most ALL cell lines and patient-derived ALL blasts. We further demonstrated the efficacy of pDC adoptive transfers to cure ALL in a humanized mouse model of HSCT. Collectively, these results uncovered for the first time the unique therapeutic potential of activated pDC as immunotherapeutic tools to stimulate NK cell anti-leukemic activity early after HSCT. The next step toward the clinical translation of pDC-based post-transplant immunotherapy is to verify that adoptive transfers of pDC do not stimulate T cells nor exacerbate GvHD in the presence of mature T cells.
 We designed a GMP-compliant method for in vitro expansion and differentiation of cord blood progenitors giving rise to sufficient numbers of pDC for adoptive transfers in patients. We showed that after Toll-like receptor (TLR) stimulation, these in vitro differentiated pDC displayed a phenotype of interferon producing cells (CD80neg PDL-1+) but not of antigen presenting cells (CD80+PDL-1neg). Accordingly, in vitro mixed lymphocyte reactions with purified allogeneic T cells demonstrated that TLR-activated pDC induced very low allogeneic T cell proliferation as compared with bona fide antigen presenting cells such as myeloid dendritic cells (mDC - CD11c+) or monocyte-derived dendritic cells (mo-DC) (Figure 1A). To test whether activated pDC could exacerbate GvHD in the presence of mature T cells, we used a xenoGvHD model in which human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were injected in immune-deficient mice (Nod/Scid/gRc-/-, NSG). We monitored GvHD 3-times a week according to a GvHD-assessment scale as previously described. Overt GvHD was characterized by cutaneous and intestinal lesions, weight loss and high numbers of human CD3+ cells in peripheral blood. Mice were sacrificed when endpoints were reached and GvHD was confirmed by immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry. Five weekly injections of TLR-activated in vitro differentiated pDC did not accelerate the GvHD onset and the severity of the lesions were not increased. We did not either observe any difference in survival between control and pDC-treated groups (Figure 1B).
 Collectively, our results indicate that TLR-activated pDC do not stimulate allogeneic T cells and do not increase the risk of acute GvHD in a mouse model of xenoGvHD. We therefore expect this novel pDC-based immunotherapy to be safe for transplanted patients. These data open the way for the next step: a Phase I clinical trial of in vitro differentiated pDC after transplantation for leukemia.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Immanuel Kant's philosophical system is one of the most difficult and improved in history of philosophy. The thinker placed a special attention to problems of legal philosophy and philosophy of history, first of all, philosophy of history of law and state. Kant considered the process of legal history on natural law theory positions. He raised the question of the necessity of the searching of the regularities in the developing of law and state and the applying of events of history of law and state. The thinker determined the providing of human freedom and social freedom as the direction of historic and legal process. The establishment of legal civil society is a legal form of the achieving this.


This paper presents our latest numerical simulations of accretion disks that are misaligned with respect to the rotation axis of a Kerr black hole. In this work, we use a new, fully conservative version of the Cosmos++ general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) code, coupled with an ad hoc cooling function designed to control the thickness of the disk. Together these allow us to simulate the thinnest tilted accretion disks ever using a GRMHD code. In this way, we are able to probe the regime where the dimensionless stress and scale height of the disk become comparable. We present results for both prograde and retrograde cases. The simulated prograde tilted disk shows no sign of Bardeen–Petterson alignment even in the innermost parts of the disk. The simulated retrograde tilted disk, however, does show modest alignment. The implication of these results is that the parameter space associated with Bardeen–Petterson alignment for prograde disks may be rather small, only including very thin disks. Unlike our previous work, we find no evidence for standing shocks in our simulated tilted disks. We ascribe this to the black hole spin, tilt angle, and disk scale height all being small in these simulations. We also add to the growing body of literature pointing out that the turbulence driven by the magnetorotational instability in global simulations of accretion disks is not isotropic. Finally, we provide a comparison between our moderately thin, untilted reference simulation and other numerical simulations of thin disks in the literature.


Environmental crisis must be faced with new forms of social regulation. In this regard, the principle of reciprocity could be useful. There are different kinds of reciprocal exchange. One of these, called "open chain reciprocity", is conceptually similar to the process of sustainable development. The problem is to discover how to start cycles of reciprocity on environmental goods. The paper explores some reasons why people could be engaged on reciprocal exchanges where the stake is the environment protection. According to this criteria, the paper analyses literature in three fields: environmental policies, the so-called third sector organizations and individual motivations to pro-environment actions. The analysis shows that the concept of reciprocity is present, but not in an explicit manner. Concepts as trust, moral obligation, responsability are often used. New research must be done, not forgetting the processual and interactive nature of reciprocity.


In this paper presents a literature survey on improvement of power factor and reduction of harmonics in three phase induction motor by Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) techniques. Also presents the current status of the improvement of power factor and reduction of harmonics in three phase induction motor by PWM techniques. Authors strongly believe that this survey article will be very much useful to the researchers for finding out the relevant references in the field of improvement of power factor and reduction of harmonics in three phase induction motor by PWM-techniques.


We demonstrate a broadband Silicon Photonic directional coupler that is entirely suspended in air. The device has been fabricated in a simplified Silicon Photonics process based on the standard IMEC ISIPP 50G platform, combined with custom post-processing including an HF vapor release step. The coupler exhibits a 1 dB bandwidth of35 nm at $\lambda=1550nm,$ and an insertion loss of 0.5 dB at 1560 nm, confirmed experimentally. With an extinction ratio of 25 dB at 1550 nm and a compact footprint of $\sim 30\times 20\mu m^{2}$, the coupler can serve as basis for a new generation of compact standard Silicon Photonic MEMS library components.


Despite the dedication of the management team and board to a company's success, an often  overlooked component is the dynamics of the segment in which the company operates. In an effort to demonstrate the importance of the external view and how segment dynamics are likely to significantly impact the reality of companies, we analyzed recent data in the three-year period between 2015 and 2017 pertaining to financing events, M&A transactions and initial public offerings (IPO) in three separate sectors: therapeutic devices, oncology therapeutics and antibiotics. The analysis presented will provide management with a good estimation as to the required capital to achieve value-add milestones as well as the anticipated return on investment. These examples demonstrate the fundamentally different dynamics of three sectors, which will impact the most probable path to liquidity of companies in those sectors. Therapeutic devices have to often get regulatory approval prior to an exit where exits happen earlier in clinical development for the oncology therapeutics sector. Despite the high unmet need, there have been limited exits in the antibiotics sector. In all cases, return on investment is greater when the company's exit included being acquired versus an IPO. This data demonstrates that exit opportunities are largely sector-dependent and suggests substituting external formal thinking, market-driven evaluation and analysis for inward-looking and biased judgment will being beneficial crafting a mature business case as well increasing the probability of success.


Abstract Background In this study, we examined the relationship between polygenic liability for depression and number of stressful life events (SLEs) as risk factors for early-onset depression treated in inpatient, outpatient or emergency room settings at psychiatric hospitals in Denmark. Methods Data were drawn from the iPSYCH2012 case-cohort sample, a population-based sample of individuals born in Denmark between 1981 and 2005. The sample included 18 532 individuals who were diagnosed with depression by a psychiatrist by age 31 years, and a comparison group of 20 184 individuals. Information on SLEs was obtained from nationwide registers and operationalized as a time-varying count variable. Hazard ratios and cumulative incidence rates were estimated using Cox regressions. Results Risk for depression increased by 35% with each standard deviation increase in polygenic liability (p < 0.0001), and 36% (p < 0.0001) with each additional SLE. There was a small interaction between polygenic liability and SLEs (β = −0.04, p = 0.0009). The probability of being diagnosed with depression in a hospital-based setting between ages 15 and 31 years ranged from 1.5% among males in the lowest quartile of polygenic liability with 0 events by age 15, to 18.8% among females in the highest quartile of polygenic liability with 4+ events by age 15. Conclusions These findings suggest that although there is minimal interaction between polygenic liability and SLEs as risk factors for hospital-treated depression, combining information on these two important risk factors could potentially be useful for identifying high-risk individuals.


The industry selection effect arising from the impact of environmental regulation on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in China is heterogeneous. Based on an extension of the principal-agent Game Theory, this paper constructs a system of simultaneous equations to study the dynamic effect of environmental regulation on Chinese FDI in terms of industry selection decisions, by utilizing panel data from 2005 to 2014 in China. Results of this study show that environmental regulation promotes the technological innovation within the Chinese industry and attract greater foreign capital investment. While the influx of capital will furthermore boost technological progress, a benign interaction effect may be observed between technological innovation and foreign capital. The implementation of the new environmental policy will intensify game strategies between managers and enterprises. Enhanced co-ordination activity within industrial organizations will generate more effective organizational and technological innovation, thereby attracting a large flow of FDI, Phase analysis suggests that the policy of market borrowing technologies is more effective. In addition, industry sample results highlight a compensation effect of technological innovation in the raw materials and manufacturing industry, though environmental regulation of high-tech industries will generate an offset effect with respect to technological innovation. Industries that show the strongest technological and innovative prospects will prove the most attractive for foreign capital investment.


This study examined the correlates of arthritis disorder in a sample of black elderly people in Nashville, Tennessee. More specifically, both the presence of arthritis and its severity were examined with regard to level of depression and life satisfaction, particularly in the areas of family life, social support, and leisure activities. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with 600 black elderly people residing in the community. The sample had more females (70 percent) than males (30 percent) and majorities who were not married (75 percent) and who were living alone (56 percent). The authors' analyses indicated significant differences between arthritic and nonarthritic black elderly people in that arthritic elderly people were more depressed and experienced lower levels of life satisfaction. Further, levels of depression and life dissatisfaction were higher among those experiencing disability associated with the illness and those who were currently in treatment.


A chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) is an encapsulated collection of blood and fluid on the surface of the brain. It is a common condition, especially in elderly patients, with an incidence of 58 cases per 100,000 people per year in patients over 65 years of age, a mortality rate of about 2%, and a recurrence rate ranging from 11.7% to 28% despite surgical and medical treatments. Due to the high incidence of CSDH, a vast amount of literature exists on the various medical and surgical aspects. Moreover, the literature contained meta-analyses analyzing different techniques, medical therapies, and factors associated with prognoses. Herein, the available literature and meta-analyses on different aspects of CSDH are reviewed in order to provide a rapid review of the best evidence regarding this condition. Twelve meta-analyses comparing the effects of different surgical and/or medical treatments on various different clinical outcomes were analyzed. Strong evidence was found that: 1) burr-hole craniostomy and twist-drill craniostomy are both efficacious in treating CSDH; 2) drainage placement is associated with better clinical outcomes and significantly lower recurrence rates; 3) antithrombotic drugs are significantly associated with a higher recurrence rate; and 4) in case of need of reoperation, open craniotomy is associated with better outcomes compared with minimally invasive procedures. Further studies are needed to clarify the role of corticosteroids and the best timing of the resumption of antithrombotic drugs after CSDH evacuation.


Regression models for counts could be applied to the earth sciences, for instance when studying trends of extremes of climatological quantities. Hurdle models are modified count models which can be regarded as mixtures of distributions. In this paper, hurdle models are applied to model the sums of lengths of periods of high temperatures. A modification to the common versions presented in the literature is presented, as left truncation as well as a particular treatment of zeros is needed for the problem. The outcome of the model is compared to those of simpler count models.


Cultivated plant varieties are constantly being improved by selecting progeny for quality and disease resistance traits. Based on the knowledge that DNA sequence variations can cause phenotypic differences, technologies amenable to automation and multiplexing were developed to identify and select progeny carrying superior alleles of economically important genes.

A cost-effective DNA extraction method was developed to facilitate the implementation of molecular markers. The method enabled extraction of DNA suitable for PCR from 96 samples simultaneously and was used for routine selection of plant progeny carrying specific traits of interest, including barley yellow dwarf virus resistance (Yd2) and p-amylase activity in barley and stem rust resistance in wheat. PCR assays were multiplexed and robotic equipment was used to increase throughput further.

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) are the most frequent mutations encountered in most genomes. To demonstrate the suitability of SNPs as molecular markers for plant breeding, a high-throughput method was developed to enable their validation and routine implementation. Single and multi-nucleotide primer extension assays enabling co-dominant SNP genotyping from small quantities of plant tissue were developed. In the Single Nucleotide Primer Extension (SNuPE) assay, a genotyping primer with its 3' end directly flanking a SNP was annealed to target sequence and extended by a single dideoxynucleotide triphosphate (ddNTP) complementary to the polymorphic base. In the multi-nucleotide primer extension assay, designed to facilitate genotyping of heterozygous progeny, the genotyping primer with its 3' end flanking the SNP was extended by either one or two nucleotides, depending on the allele encountered. Extension products were analysed using Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-ToF MS) and, making use of the molecular weight difference between DNA bases, the incorporated nucleotides were identified by the increase in mass of the extended primers.

In barley, mutation-induced recessive alleles (mlo) of the Mlo locus provide broadspectrum resistance to an important fungal pathogen, powdery mildew. The Mlo gene of susceptible and resistant varieties were sequenced and aligned to identify mutations linked to the resistance. A SNP identified and confirmed from a resistant variety, Alexis (mlo-9), was used to develop single and multiple primer extension assays. Two DH populations were characterised for their response to powdery mildew and used for validation of the molecular marker. The assay enabled accurate co-dominant selection of plants carrying the mlo-9 allele providing ra/o-mediated powdery mildew resistance.

MALDI-ToF MS is a platform amenable to multiplexing and automation. An investigation of its use for the analysis of microsatellites, another common form of mutation, resulted in the development of a novel genotyping technique. Following amplification of the target sequence, a primer with its 3' end directly flanking the microsatellite was extended for its length by the deoxynucleotide triphosphates (dNTPs) complementary to the repeat motif. The extension was interrupted by a single ddNTP complementary to the nucleotide following the repeated region. Extension products were analysed using MALDI-ToF MS and differences in the molecular weights of the products enabled identification of the microsatellite alleles. The technique enabled identification of heterozygous progeny in which alleles differed by a single tri-nucleotide repeat. The method is illustrated by genotyping a polymorphic microsatellite identified in an intron of the barley Mlo gene.

A novel strategy was designed to develop a perfectly linked marker. In the malting process, P-amylase is a key enzyme involved in the degradation of starch. Four allelic forms of the enzyme are found in barley and each exhibits a different rate of thermal inactivation, or thermostability. The level of thermostability influences starch degradation, which determines the yield of fermentable sugars for alcohol production during brewing. Alignment of the cDNA sequences encoding the four enzyme forms revealed six SNPs (cSNPs). The four alleles could be unambiguously identified by co-dominantly genotyping two of the cSNPs using a duplex SNuPE assay. A Cleaved Amplified Polymorphic Sequence (CAPS) assay enabling broader classification of the alleles was also developed to facilitate the transfer of this marker to other laboratories. These markers were used to select plants carrying alternative P-amylase alleles for barley breeding.


RGS proteins constitute a newly appreciated group of negative regulators of G protein signaling. Discovered by genetic screens in yeast, worms, and other organisms, two mammalian RGS proteins, RGS4 and GAIP, act as GTPase-activating proteins for members of the Gi family of G protein α subunits. We have purified recombinant RGS4 to homogeneity and demonstrate that it acts catalytically to stimulate GTP hydrolysis by Gi proteins. Furthermore, RGS4 stabilizes the transition state for GTP hydrolysis, as evidenced by its high affinity for the GDP-AlF4−-bound forms of Goα and Giα and its relatively low affinity for the GTPγS- and GDP-bound forms of these proteins. Consequently, RGS4 is most likely not a downstream effector for activated Gα subunits. All members of the Gi subfamily of proteins tested are substrates for RGS4 (including Gtα and Gzα); the protein has lower affinity for Gqα, and it does not stimulate the GTPase activity of Gsα or G12α.


The author develops a theoretically robust and computationally efficient distributed state estimator to solve the weighted least square state estimation problem by using distributed computation. This distributed state estimator is used in decentralized control and executes in a data communication network that is assumed to be topologically the same as and physically in parallel with the power network. Several attractive satellite functions can be obtained which include: (1) reduction of the time-skew problem; (2) freedom from the power network topological error; (3) easy identification of the unobservable states; and (4) bad data detection and identification. The computational complexity of this distributed state estimator was analyzed. This state estimator was simulated on several cases of the IEEE 30-bus system. The numerical accuracy of the simulation results is satisfactory, and the estimated computation time including the communication delay demonstrates the excellent computational performance of the distributed state estimator. >


The steroid hormones have influenced modern therapeutic methods during the past five years to a greater extent than any other modality, with the possible exception of the broad spectrum antibiotics. Corticotropin (ACTH), cortisone, and hydrocortisone have found some use in almost every branch of medicine. Corticotropin and cortisone were found to be ineffective when applied locally to the skin but, when administered systemically, play a considerable role in the control of allergic and nonallergic inflammatory dermatoses. Hydrocortisone, applied locally in the form of lotions or ointments in concentrations as low as 0.5%, produces a beneficial response in many dermatological conditions. Fried and Sabo, while attempting to synthesize hydrocortisone from 11-epi-17α-hydroxycorticosterone, found that the 9α-halo derivatives of 17α-hydroxycorticosterone, which were intermediate products of the synthesis, were highly active in the rat liver glycogen assay for 11-oxygenated corticoids. They further noted that the activity was inversely proportional to the size of the


Using fixed point methods, we prove the generalized Hyers--Ulam--Rassias stability of ternary homomorphisms, and ternary multipliers in ternary Banach algebras for the Jensen--type functional equation $$f(\frac{x+y+z}{3})+f(\frac{x-2y+z}{3})+f(\frac{x+y-2z}{3})= f(x).$$


In this paper we define and study generalized Atiyah classes for quasi coherent sheaves relative to arbitrary morphisms of schemes. We use derivations and quasi coherent sheaves of left and right O-modules to define a generalized first order jet bundle J(E) and a generalized Atiyah sequence for E. The generalized jet bundle J(E) is a left and right module over a sheaf J of associative rings on X. The sheaf J is an extension of O with a sheaf I of two sided ideals of square zero. The Atiyah sequence gives rise to a generalized Atiyah class c(E) with the property that c(E)=0 if and only if the left structure on J(E) is O-isomorphic to the right structure on J(E). We give examples where c(E)=0 and c(E)\neq 0 hence the class c(E) is a non trivial characteristic class.


Concerns for social justice in and commitments to globalizing universities are rarely part of the same portfolio among academic managers, or even among students, but these articulations of transformation in higher education increasingly intersect in both decolonizing theory and practice. Following an elaboration of various meanings of solidarity, diversity, and globalizing knowledge, we consider various connotations of the decolonizing mobilization in universities. We then consider in more detail the challenge of linking struggles over diversity to the practices of globalizing knowledge in the usa, especially at Brown University. We conclude by considering particular forms of transformational solidarity in direct and categorical associations, in contests defining equivalent oppressions, and in efforts to deepen awareness of racisms beyond more familiar contests in societies and global extensions most associated with US power.


Clarity is very important in legislative drafting to allow the drafter to eliminate ambiguity and vagueness in the law, which may affect the rights of citizens. Ambiguity occurs when in the law words can be interpreted in more than one way and vagueness occurs when there is doubt to where the words' boundaries are or when the word has an open textured meaning. It is difficult to attain clarity due to the fact that in legislation ambiguity and vagueness may be caused by insufficient drafting instructions, and it is incumbent on the drafter to seek further clarifications. In pursuing clarity, some tools are needed such as the use of plain language which makes legislation clear and understandable for a lay person, gender-neutral language and the proper structuring or layout of the legislative intent to enhance clarity.


An improved high-order continuum model is developed based on hyperbolic conservation laws with relaxation, linearized stability analysis, and more realistic considerations of traffic flow. The improved high-order model allows smooth traveling wave solutions as well as contact shocks (different densities moving at the same speed), is able to describe the amplification of small disturbances on heavy traffic, and allows fluctuations of speed around the equilibrium values. Furthermore, unlike existing high-order models, it does not result in negative speeds at the tail of congested regions and disturbance propagation speeds greater than the traffic flow velocity because the improved model has a zero characteristic speed and a nonnegative characteristic speed that is equal to the traffic flow velocity. The relaxation time is a function of density and, in the equilibrium limit, the improved high-order model is consistent with the simple continuum model. The improved high-order model is compared with the simple continuum model. Exemplary test results suggest that the improved high-order model is intuitively correct. Comparison of numerical results with field data suggests that the improved high-order model yields lower error levels than the simple continuum model.


Objective: To determine prognostic factors for remission in early rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: 191 patients with rheumatoid arthritis whose disease duration was less than one year were followed up prospectively for five years. Remission, defined by a disease activity score (DAS) of <1.6, was used as the outcome measure. Baseline clinical, laboratory, genetic, and radiographic data (with radiographic scores determined by Sharp's method, modified by van der Heijde) were obtained. Results: 48 patients (25.1%) fulfilled the remission criteria at the three year follow up visit, and 30 (15.7%) at three and five years. On univariate analysis by Fisher's exact test, remission at three years and persistent remission at five years were closely correlated with baseline DAS values, C reactive protein level, Ritchie score, health assessment questionnaire score, duration of morning stiffness, and to a lesser extent baseline total radiological scores and rheumatoid factor negativity. No significant correlation was found with sex, age, extra-articular manifestations, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, anti-cyclic citrullinated protein antibodies, anti-keratin antibodies, anti-HSP 90, anticalpastatin antibodies, antinuclear antibodies, or HLA-DRB1* genotypes. Logistic regression analysis showed that the baseline independent variables predictive of remission were low DAS, Ritchie score, morning stiffness duration, and total radiographic score. Conclusions: Baseline prognostic factors for remission in early rheumatoid arthritis were mainly clinical markers of disease activity and radiological scores.


Background and Objectives Occurrence of new infectious agents threatens access to zero risk in blood transfusion and enhancement of blood safety. Although sensitive methods are available for diagnosis of hepatitis, yet some hepatitis cases do not have a known etiology. In 1997, the novel DNA virus was isolated from post-transfusion serum samples of patients affected by non-A-G hepatitis. Nowadays this novel virus is known as transfusion-transmitted virus. This circular single stranded unenveloped and virucidally resistant virus is the first human circovirus and has universal distribution. It is believed that TTV may cause hepatitis and aplastic anemia. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of TTV in healthy blood donors in Ahwaz and set up N22 PCR for subsequent first-time viral studies in south region in Iran. Materials and Methods In 2003, We studied the presence of TTV DNA by using Okamoto primers with PCR in plasma of blood donors in whom serologic tests for hepatitis A-C and HIV-Ab were negative. Results Our study showed that the virus prevalence in blood donors was 23.7% (60/253) and there was not any significant differences between prevalence of TTV and background variables. Conclusions Our findings showed the same prevalence rate as in neighboring countries; however, in comparison with thalassemic patients that were studied in parallel with the present research, the difference was significant (143/250; 57.3%). It shows the importance of blood transfuison in transmission of the virus.


Time-stretch dispersive Fourier transform (TS-DFT) technique opens a fascinating pathway to explore the ultrafast non-repetitive events, which has been widely employed to study the build-up dynamics of mode-locked lasers [1] and the evolution of femtosecond soliton molecules [2]. However, the self-starting process of mode-locked lasers is quite sensitive to the environmental perturbation, which causes the transient behaviors of lasers to deviate from the true build-up process of solitons. Recently, we have optimized the laser system to suppress the Q-switched lasing and experimentally demonstrated the entire build-up dynamics of soliton molecules [3]. We have discovered the that the evolution of pulses in the raised relaxation oscillation (RO) stage follows a law that only the strongest one can ultimately survive and, meanwhile, the pulses periodically appear at the same temporal positions for all lasing spikes during the same RO stage (named as memory ability) but they lose such ability between different RO stages.


INTRODUCTION
sessile serrated adenoma (SSA) is a recently described lesion that may be related to the development of up to 15% of colorectal cancers (CRCs).

OBJECTIVE
to determine the accuracy of morphological criteria for the diagnosis of SSA by assessing concordance between pathologists.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
concordance between two pathologists in the diagnosis of serrated lesions of the colon was studied for 195 lesions (187 hyperplastic polyps and 7 serrated adenomas). Size, location, morphology, and sampling method were collected of each lesion. Both pathologists were unaware of the previous diagnosis, macroscopic characteristics, and location of lesions. Possible diagnoses were: SSA, traditional serrated adenoma (TSA), hyperplastic polyp (HP), serrated polyp, tubular adenoma, or mixed lesions. Diagnostic doubts had to be described. Concordance between both observers was assessed using the kappa index (ê). The influence of collected variables on concordance degree was also evaluated.

RESULTS
overall agreement on the histological diagnosis was poor (ê = 0.14), and so was agreement on the diagnosis of SSA (ê = 0.23). Concordance in the diagnosis of SSA improved with size > 5 mm (ê = 0.64) and proximal location (ê = 0.43).

CONCLUSION
in a real clinical setting, the existing morphological criteria for SSA identification may be difficult to use.


In Turkey there are approximately 8.5 million (% 12.3) disabled people. While the ratio of orthopedic, visual, auditory, speech, and talking disabilities and mental disability is 2.6%, the ratio of the people who have chronic diseases is 9.7% In our country, by the beginning of 1982 Constitution, there have been a lot of legal regulations. If the services for disabled persons considered as social security-related legislation for care, healthcare, education, employment and practices; the legal regulation on the year 2005 (The Disability Law no. 5378 ) has covered many blankness and also evolved the services to the disabled people. However, despite these recent legal regulation it is questionable that if the services for the disabled are adequate or not. In this review, the services, which offered to the disabled people, are evaluated as the topics mentioned above.


Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the common micro-vascular complication of diabetes mellitus (DM). It is the main cause of blindness among young adults worldwide. Poor glycemic control in addition to longer diabetic duration is the main risk factors for diabetic retinopathy. Many genes have been postulated as candidates for diabetic retinopathy. Little is known about anti-oxidative enzyme gene polymorphism and its association with diabetic retinopathy, mainly for catalase enzyme and manganese superoxide dismutase and glutathione genes. The study aims to assess the role of manganese superoxide dismutase MnSOD (rs4880) gene polymorphism in diabetic retinopathy Sudanese patients and its relation with MnSOD level. In addition to determine the association of Fasting Blood Glucose (FBS), HbA1c and Lipid in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy.
Methodology: The number of subject involved were 130 which, were classified into (n 60) clinically diagnosed as diabetic retinopathy and (n 70) diabetes mellitus without retinopathy as control group, age ranged from (22 – 80) years old, from Makkah Eye Complex. DNA was extracted and PCR product for MnSOD, gene segment was digested by NgoM enzymes, moreover gene polymorphisms were determined. Serum MnSOD, activity and FBS, TG, CHOL and HbA1c level were analyzed using Cobas Int 400 using absorption photometer and immunoassay methods respectively.
Results: The results revealed that retinopathy is more common in female than male by approximately 2 fold =1.9:1. Type II is more common in our population that type 1. The majority of the patients had type II diabetes (128, 98.5%) and only 2(1.5%) patients were type I diabetes mellitus. The activity of MnSOD, was significantly higher in DNR when compared with DR (p= 0.003). Mean HbA1c and FBG concentration were significantly higher among DR than DNR p=0.001 and p=0.001 respectively. In contrast, mean serum CHOL and TG level revealed insignificant differences when compared DR with Diabetic without retinopathy (DNR).The genotyping for MnSOD-47C/T showed that the frequency of genotype CC was significantly lower in cases compared with control. Theses Associations for SNPs CCs, MnSOD-47C/T SNP rs4880, decreased risk after correction for multiple testing (OR = 0.088, 95% CI = 0.034-0.224 p= 0.001), While the frequency of the CT heterozygote genotype was significantly higher in cases group compare with control, the OR= 3.76(1.41-10.5), P=0.006. While frequency of the TT genotype was significantly higher in cases than controls. Theses Associations for MnSOD 47C/T SNP rs4880, increased risk after correction for multiple testing (OR = 5.31, 95% CI = 1.91-14.75, p= 0.001). The C allele is observed in 47% of the cases while the T allele – risky allele- observed in 73% of the cases, OR= 0.150(0.079-0.285), P=0.001 (Table 6).
Conclusion: The study concludes that there is a significant association between MnSOD-47C/T        (rs 4880) gene polymorphism and the occurrence of diabetic retinopathy in Sudanese population. There is a significant decrease in MnSOD levels and glycemic control in patients with the mutant allele T.


BACKGROUND
Execution of experiments to introduce dried blood spot (DBS) sampling for preclinical GLP studies and subsequent clinical studies.

RESULTS
Bridging data showed high concordance with DBS:plasma ratios of 0.9 in rats and 1.1 in dogs, demonstrating no preferential uptake or association with cellular components of the blood. The DBS methodology was fully validated incorporating additional experiments pertinent to DBS sampling, storage and analysis. Individual hematocrit (Hct) values in the test animals (rats and dogs) were within the validated Hct range. DBS concentration data and the resulting TK profiles were not impacted by an Hct bias. Incurred sample reanalysis showed high correlation in dogs (97%) and rats (100%) meeting acceptance criteria.

CONCLUSION
Successfully validated and adopted DBS for preclinical GLP studies.


We report a case study using a wiki tool, Confluence, including a brief history, current status, and motivations for using Confluence. We describe how we created two spaces on Confluence for two consecutive classes, 2006 and 2007, in a health information management baccalaureate online course, Record Documentation Systems. The 2006 class contained 12 groups consisting of 52 students. The 2007 class contained six groups consisting of 30 students. We describe how two collaborative pages for each of the groups are created and used by the groups for the group project. Survey results illustrated that 44 percent of the students in 2006 and 50 percent in 2007 agree Confluence is a tool for facilitating learning; 58 percent in 2006 and 50 percent in 2007 agree it is a tool for student activities; 52 percent in 2006 and 36 percent in 2007 agree it is a medium for reflective group interaction; and 38 percent in 2006 and 36 percent in 2007 want to see its application in other courses.


Peptide vaccines derived from CD8+ T-cell epitopes have shown variable efficacy in cancer patients. Thus, some peptide vaccines are capable of activating CD8+ T-cell responses, even in the absence of CD4+ T-cell epitopes or dendritic cell (DC)-activating adjuvants. However, the mechanisms underlying the clinical activity of these potent peptides are poorly understood. Using CT26 and ovalbumin-expressing B16 murine allograft tumor models, we found that the antitumor effect of helper cell-independent CD8 T-cell peptide vaccines is inhibited by the blockade of CD40 ligand (CD40L) in vivo. Furthermore, in vitro stimulation with antigenic peptides of cells derived from immunized mice induced the expression of CD40L on the surface of CD8+ T cells and fostered DC maturation, an effect that was partially inhibited by CD40L-blocking antibodies. Interestingly, CD40L blockade also inhibited CD8+ T-cell responses, even in the presence of fully mature DCs, suggesting a role for CD40L not only in promoting DC maturation but also in mediating CD8+ T-cell co-stimulation. Importantly, these potent peptides share features with bona fide CD4 epitopes, since they foster responses against less immunogenic CD8+ T-cell epitopes in a CD40L-dependent manner. The analysis of peptides used for the vaccination of cancer patients in clinical trials showed that these peptides also induce the expression of CD40L on the surface of CD8+ T cells. Taken together, these results suggest that CD40L expression induced by potent CD8+ T-cell epitopes can activate antitumor CD8+ T-cell responses, potentially amplifying the immunological responses to less immunogenic CD8+ T-cell epitopes and bypassing the requirement for CD4+ helper T cells in vaccination protocols.


Summary The effect of strenuous exercise on the fibrinolytic and coagulation mechanisms was examined in six healthy male subjects. Five min bicycle exercise at a work-rate of 800 to 1200 kpm. min−1 produced an abrupt increase in plasma plasminogen activator levels which disappeared after 90 min. However, there was no change in early or late fibrin degradation products nor was there a change in fibrinopeptide A levels or βthromboglobulin levels after exercise although activated partial thromboplastin times were significantly shortened. It is concluded that strenuous exercise does not produce any real increase in fibrinogen-fibrin conversion nor any real increase in the breakdown of these proteins. The role of exercise-induced release of plasminogen activator remains unclear, but probably helps to maintain plasma levels in a discontinuous manner concurrently with the continuous low-level secretion from the vascular wall. The shortening of partial thromboplastin time may be due to the raised levels of plasminogen activator changing the activation state of other coagulation factors.


Herein, we describe a novel copper-catalyzed epoxide opening reaction with gem-diborylmethane. Aliphatic, aromatic epoxides as well as aziridines are converted to the corresponding γ-pinacolboronate alcohols or amines in moderate to excellent yields. This new reaction provides beneficial applications for classic epoxide substrates as well as interesting gem-diborylalkane reagents.


Forensic examination of handwritten signatures is an important task that has been used to resolve conflicts for centuries. The incorporation of new technologies into the process of signing documents has created new challenges for this task. In particular, the use of electronic capture devices may compromise the capabilities of forensic examination. However, the forensic examination may not be challenged and may even be improved if, in addition to the signature graph, the temporal signals that are generated during the process of signing are captured. In biometric terms, the acquisition and processing of such temporal signals are referred to as dynamic signature biometric recognition. Unfortunately, the data are captured in a format that a forensic examiner is unable to understand. Therefore, there is a need of adapting this information to allow a forensic examiner to manipulate it and obtain the required measurements. This paper explains this need using the design and development of a desktop application as the guiding thread. After covering this need, a forensic examiner can extract the relevant graphometric features that are necessary for applying graphonomics to signatures and determining the authenticity of a questioned signature compared with a certain signature.


The essential aspects that need to be analysed in the process of pricing in the Russian housing market are: regional characteristics and the specifics of macroeconomic risks' impact.
Along with Russia the article analyzes the international markets (with the different economic conditions: Belarus, Australia, Thailand) to identify the relationships between cost per square meter of housing and the different macroeconomic indicators for the period of last ten years.
It was concluded that the influence of such factors as inflation, the oil price, the degree of domestic crediting, the consumer price index, GDP and changes in the exchange rate have mixed effect on the economy of the investigated countries In addition, if it is possible to allocate some common impacts of the mentioned above factors on the markets of Belarus and Australia, such countries as Thailand and Russia have their own trends. Moreover, Russia demonstrates stronger effects of selected factors in crisis periods.
Presented data indicate that the minimum impact on the cost of housing have such factors as exchange rates volatility (especially in the post-crisis periods, but with the exception of Russia) and inflation (with the exception of Belarus).


In sensor networks, en route aggregation decision regarding where and when aggregation shall be performed along the routes has been explicitly or implicitly studied extensively. However, existing solutions have omitted one key dimension in the optimization space, namely, the aggregation cost. In this paper, focusing on optimizing over both transmission and aggregation costs, we develop an online algorithm capable of dynamically adjusting the route structure when sensor nodes join or leave the network. Furthermore, by only performing such reconstructions locally and maximally preserving existing routing structure, we show that the online algorithm can be readily implemented in real networks in a distributed manner requiring only localized information. Analytically and experimentally, we show that the online algorithm promises extremely small performance deviation from the offline version, which has already been shown to outperform other routing schemes with static aggregation decision.


Osteoarthritis is the most common degenerative joint condition, leading to articular cartilage (AC) degradation, chronic pain and immobility. The lack of appropriate therapies that provide tissue restoration combined with the limited lifespan of joint-replacement implants indicate the need for alternative AC regeneration strategies. Differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into AC progenitors may provide a long-term regenerative solution but are still limited due to the continued reliance upon growth factors to recapitulate developmental signalling processes. Recently, TTNPB, a small molecule activator of retinoic acid receptors (RARs), has been shown to be sufficient to guide mesodermal specification and early chondrogenesis of hPSCs. Here, we modified our previous differentiation protocol, by supplementing cells with TTNPB and administering BMP2 at specific times to enhance early development. Transcriptomic analyses indicated that activation of RAR signalling significantly upregulated genes related to limb and embryonic skeletal development in the early stages of the protocol and upregulated genes related to AC development in later stages. Chondroprogenitors obtained from RAPID-E could generate cartilaginous pellets that expressed AC-related matrix proteins such as Lubricin, Aggrecan, and Collagen II. This protocol could lay the foundations for cell therapy strategies for osteoarthritis and improve the understanding of AC development in humans.


The function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis was examined in 20 male patients with acute renal failure. During the oliguric phase of the disease, the serum concentrations of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and total and unbound testosterone were markedly reduced, those of prolactin were elevated while those of luteinizing hormone (LH) were normal. The serum concentrations of sex hormone binding globulin were normal. During the diuretic phase of the illness, the serum levels of FSH and testosterone remained low but those of prolactin fell towards normal. After recovery of renal function, the abnormalities in the serum concentrations of these hormones were reversed. The responses of LH and FSH to gonadotropin releasing hormone and of prolactin to thyrotropin releasing hormone were abnormal and became normal after recovery of renal function. The results demonstrate that: (1) abnormalities in HPG axis occur early in the course of acute renal failure; (2) many features of these derangements are similar to those seen in chronic renal failure, and (3) the alterations in the function of the HPG axis are reversible when renal function is restored. The data suggest that loss of renal function, uremia per se and/or a metabolic consequence of uremia such as secondary hyperparathyroidism are responsible for these derangements.


Terrestrial ecosystems play an important role in Earth systems processes, yet we still do not fully understand the feedbacks between these ecosystems and Earth's climate. These ecosystem processes operate at multiple timescales; fast processes occur at sub-annual timescales, and slow processes, driven by changes in forest composition and structure, occur over decadal and longer timescales. Slow processes are rarely directly observed from instrumental data, yet are critical to understanding the stability of the terrestrial biosphere over the coming decades. Networks of paleoecological data, particularly sedimentary pollen data, offer our strongest observational constraint on long-term vegetation dynamics and underlying processes and feedbacks.
We reconstruct land-cover for the Holocene for the Northern Hemisphere. To do this, we use: (i) networks of fossil pollen records - the most reliable paleoecological proxy for land-cover; (ii) estimates of pollen productivity and fall speed, and (iii) a model of pollen-vegetation relationships, REVEALS (Sugita, 2007). For the Northern Hemisphere, we estimate the fraction of summergreen trees, evergreen trees, and open land.
To determine the differences between these pollen-based reconstructions and land-use scenarios that are more commonly used land-use models, we compare the fraction of open land with estimates of deforestation from the anthropogenic land-cover change (ALCC) scenarios generated by KK10 (Kaplan et al., 2009). Identifying cause to these differences provides an opportunity for improvement in ALCCs used to inform both global earth system and dynamic vegetation models.
This work results in improved understanding of the history of Holocene land-use change over a large spatial extent and slow ecosystem processes, the biogeochemical and physical forcings from past anthropogenic land-cover change on climate, and the long-term carbon dioxide budget. It is a contribution to PAGES LandCover6k.


Today, with the technological developments, the use of internet connected devices is increasing. It is a fact that life has become easier with the "Internet of Things (IoT), which contributes to the simultaneous operation of these devices with each other. IoT is a technology that designs and does the things people need to do - within a program - and increases the comfort of the user. All the advantages of IoT devices are valid as long as they work correctly and securely. However, when these devices do not work properly and securely or are abused by someone, their advantages as well as disadvantages emerge. The best example of this is the IoT-based Botnet attacks in 2016. Machine learning methods are used to prevent IoT-based attacks and planned attacks. The aim of this study is to detect the normal network traffic and attack traffic with high accuracy by using machine learning methods. The data set used is the N-BaIoT Provision 737E security camera data set, which includes normal network traffic and attack network traffic, and has been used in the literature. Machine learning has been carried out using this data set. The study was carried out in two ways, with and without supervision. EM (Expectation Maximization) algorithm was used while performing unsupervised learning and 76.73% success was achieved. In the application performed with supervised learning, the decision tree (J48) algorithm was used and 99.95% success was achieved. The application was carried out with the Weka 3.8 program.


Intracellular deposition of aggregated and ubiquitinated proteins is a prominent cytopathological feature of most neurodegenerative disorders frequently correlated with neural cell death. To elucidate mechanisms in neural cell death and degeneration, we characterized the Drosophila ortholog of Sec61α (DSec61α), a component of the translocon that is involved in both protein import and endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation. Loss-of-function experiments for DSec61α revealed that the translocon contributes to expanded polyglutamine-mediated neuronal toxicity, likely resulting from proteasome inhibition and leading to accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins. Taken together, proteasome inhibition by expanded polyglutamine tracts may lead to the accumulation of toxic undegraded proteins normally transported by the Sec61α translocon.


An approach to multidisciplinary optimization is presented which combines the Global Sensitivity Equation method, parametric optimization, and analytic technology models. The result is a powerful yet simple procedure for identifying key design issues. It can be used both to investigate technology integration issues very early in the design cycle, and to establish the information flow framework between disciplines for use in multidisciplinary optimization projects using much more computational intense representations of each technology. To illustrate the approach, an examination of the optimization of a short takeoff heavy transport aircraft is presented for numerous combinations of performance and technology constraints.


Utilizing genomic signatures from diagnostic tumor samples to forecast clinical behavior and response to therapy has long been a goal, and we are now poised to further refine how we can identify the relatively rare patients with aggressive neuroblastoma masquerading as patients with a more benign form of the disease. Clin Cancer Res; 21(8); 1782–5. ©2014 AACR. See related article by Oberthuer et al., p. 1904


One major component of promoting self-regulated learning (SRL) is to have students track and record their language learning activities. However, most tracking systems are primarily used for one particular skill or program, and there is often no place for students to comment and reflect on their own learning. Thus, it can be difficult to get an overall picture of how and what students are studying on a regular basis. This study looked at how university language students spent their time studying during one semester. The results were assessed in three ways: first, using Zimmerman's cyclical model of SRL (2003) to evaluate student responses to pre- and post-study questionnaires, which in turn were largely influenced by Pintrich's conceptual framework for assessing motivation and SRL (2004). Second, the trackers from the students were examined to determine what, where, and how long they were studying. The third part evaluated the information received from the students, in both pre- and post-survey interviews, as well as their written reflections from their trackers. The researcher will present the results and discuss how they can impact students and teachers, especially in regards to promoting SRL both in and out of the classroom.


The risk of stroke is directly proportional to the occurrence of hypertension and the simultaneous occurrence of other risk factors. The main goal was to find out which age group was most at risk of having a stroke. The study was performed among 138 people randomly chosen from Michałowo borough in the Białystok county.The examined were divided into the following 5 age group. The following measurements were performed: arterial blood pressure, blood glucose level, total cholesterol and its fractions level, triglycerides level, sodium and potassium level, prothrombine time, activity. Additionally, a patient's history was taken and an author's survey questionnaire was completed. Due to the small number of men surveyed (13 persons), statistically significant analysis of data within this group cannot be carried out. An analysis was made, broken down by age, of data obtained after examining 125 women. People in age group III are most at risk of developing stroke. People in the IV and V age groups are those who are at risk of having a stroke or who have had a stroke. People in groups 1 and 2 are at moderate risk of stroke. In the III age group people are the most at risk of having a stroke.


A good performance of robot control requires the consideration of efficient dynamic models and sophisticated control approaches. Traditionally, control law is designed based on a good understanding of system model and parameters. Thus, a detailed and correct model of a robot manipulator is needed for this approach [1, 2]. A two-link planar nonlinear robotic system is a well-used robotic system, e.g., for welding in manufacturing and so on. Generally, a dynamic model can be derived from the general Lagrange equation method. The modeling of a two-link planar nonlinear robotic system with assumption of only masses in the two joints can be found in the literature, e.g., [3, 4]. Here, the authors revise centrifugal and Coriolis force matrix in the literature [3, 4] as pointed out in the next section. Furthermore, in practice, the robot arms have their mass distributed along their arms, not only masses in the joints as assumed. Thus, it is desired to develop a detailed model for two-link planar robotic systems with the mass distributed along the arms. Distributed mass along robot arms was discussed by inertia in SCARA robot [5]. Here, we present a new detailed consideration of any mass distributions along robot arms in addition to the joint mass. Moreover, it is also necessary to consider numerous uncertainties in parameters and modeling. Thus, robust control, robust adaptive control and learning control become important when knowledge of the system is limited. We need robust stabilization of uncertain robotic systems and furthermore robust performance of these uncertain robotic systems. Robust stabilization problem of uncertain robotic control systems has been discussed in [1-3, 5-6] and many others. Also, adaptive control methods have been discussed in [1, 7] and many others. Because the closed-loop control system pole locations determine internal stability and dominate system performance, such as time responses for initial conditions, papers [6, 8] consider a robust pole clustering in vertical strip on the left half splane to consider robust stability degree and degree of coupling effects of a slow subsystem (dominant model) and the other fast subsystem (non-dominant model) in a two-time-scale system. A control design method to place the system poles robustly within a vertical strip has been discussed in [6, 8-10], especially [6] for robotic systems. However, as mentioned 27


The incorporation of panel-based germline genetic testing for assessment of pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants associated with increased risk of breast, ovarian, prostatic and pancreatic cancer in NCCN guidelines and wide adoption of cell-free circulating DNA sequencing (liquid biopsy) for patients with advanced solid tumors has increased the identification of pathogenic TP53 variants in blood of patients with solid tumors. The variant allelic frequency (VAF) of the pathogenic variant is often used to help infer the compartment of origin (germline vs somatic) with near heterozygous (~50%) VAF favoring germline; however, when VAF is low (sub heterozygous) potential considerations include mosaic Li Fraumeni syndrome, clonal hematopoiesis, or incidental myeloid neoplasms, and determining the origin of the TP53 mutation can be a challenge with important surveillance and treatment implications. We describe a cohort of patients with solid tumors or hematologic malignancies in whom pathogenic or likely pathogenic TP53 variants of uncertain origin were identified by clinical genetic testing of peripheral blood, next generation sequencing (NGS) using an 81 gene hematologic malignancy-based panel, or cell-free DNA sequencing/liquid biopsy. In a subset of patients for whom solid tumor, adjacent normal tissue and/or bone marrow (BM) was available, immunohistochemistry for p53 protein was performed. Patients (n= 17) included 11 (61%) women and 7 (39%) men with a median age of 54 years (range 8-7) at initial cancer diagnosis, with 17 unique TP53 variants with a median VAF of 16% (range, 2-50%). The most common indication for referral for additional investigation of the TP53 origin was sub-heterozygous VAF on germline testing of blood (8/47%) or saliva (1/6%); TP53 variant identified in plasma when the concurrent solid tumor was TP53 wild-type (3/18%) followed by presence of a pathogenic TP53 variant in remission BM of patients with history of hematologic malignancies (4/24%). Additional germline testing of skin fibroblasts and/or BM examination was performed in in 9 (53%) and 8 (47%) patients, respectively. p53 IHC was performed on 3 BM biopsies and 2 solid tumor tissues. A multimodality/multidisciplinary interpretation of these results allowed appropriate classification of the TP53 variants in 12/18 patients (67%). These included Li Fraumeni syndrome (5/12; 42%); clonal hematopoiesis (5/12; 42%); donor-derived clonal hematopoiesis (1/12;8%) and therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome (1/12; 8%) patients. Appropriate awareness and distinction of clonal hematopoiesis and potential myeloid neoplasms from mosaic germline TP53 in the setting of subheterozygous VAF identified on peripheral blood or bone marrow analyses can be challenging. Multimodality testing and a multidisciplinary approach for accurate interpretation is required. Immunohistochemical staining for p53 can be useful in making this distinction in a subset of patients.
 Citation Format: Sanam Loghavi, Yoheved Gerstein, Mark J Routbort, Keyur P Patel, Koichi Takahashi, Molly Daniels, Julie Moskowitz, Danielle E Hammond, Kelly Chien, L. Jeffrey Medeiros, Farhad Ravandi, Hagop M Kantarjian, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Banu Arun, Joseph D Khoury, Courtney D DiNardo. Distinguishing Mosaic Li Fraumeni Syndrome, Clonal Hematopoiesis and Incidental Myeloid Neoplasms in Patients with Solid Tumors with Pathogenic TP53 Mutations Identified by Germline Testing or Cell-Free Circulating DNA Sequencing [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Myelodysplastic Syndrome; 2023 Jan 23-25; Austin, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Blood Cancer Discov 2023;4(3_Suppl):Abstract nr A50.


Wood/methylolurea composite was prepared with the in-situ polymerization. The green timber with high moisture content was impregnated by a pulse-dipping machine and then was dried in a hot-press drying kiln. The cross-linking reaction was taken under the heat treatment between the wood modifier and the wood composition, including cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin. The chemical composition was analyzed according to the Chinese standard, including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDXA). The changes in chemical composition of modified wood and carbon and nitrogen element were disused in the research The results showed that the content of water extraction and benzene alcohol extraction increased 187.43% and 230.87% respectively compared with the natural wood, while the lignin and holocellulose decreased 26.55% and 26.39% respectively. XPS showed that the concentrations of O and C atoms increased 9.4% and N element content increased 137.2%. 13C-NMR analysis showed that chemical reaction of the hydroxyl methyl urea with the hydroxyl in timber structure took place, with the reduction of hydroxyl content and increase in ether bond content. EDXA showed that the processing method can get impregnated modification wood and nitrogen element is evenly distributed in wood cell walls and intercellular space.


Research on vision-based navigation of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) has been in focus in the recent years, both in military and civilian application domains. Vision-based navigation uses features as cues to match successive images and compute the location of the UAV. The method proposed in this paper is an extension to the existing work to automatically compute scale weights of dual-tree complex wavelet transform (DTCWT) coefficients to improve the performance in terms of detection of features as against discrete wavelets or its Fourier counterparts. Existing DTCWT coefficients give improved time-shifted sensitivity, better directional selectivity with local phase information and limited redundancy. However, the drawback of this method is that the results depend on appropriate selection of scale weights α and β, which are different for different scenes. The existing technique incorporates a rule of thumb-based recommended values of α and β, irrespective of the scene which generates too many key-points, making the registration process computationally intensive. As a real-time application, the need of the problem is to extract less number of strong features. Thus, an algorithmic approach to compute optimal values of scale weights considering precision and accuracy is proposed. The method is tested on various synthetic, simulated, and aerial images having different transformations and in the presence of noise between successive images. It is observed that DTCWT descriptor performs the best and gives better results than scale invariant feature transform and Speeded up robust features. Science Journal, Vol. 64, No. 6, November 2014, pp.549-556, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.64.7785


Many studies have indicated that oxidative stress induces apoptosis in cardiomyocytes, but its mechanism remains unknown. We examined whether tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is involved in oxidative stress-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Pretreatment with anti-TNF-alpha antibody significantly decreased the number of H(2)O(2)-induced TUNEL-positive cardiomyocytes. Expression of TNF-alpha gene was upregulated by H(2)O(2), and H(2)O(2) mildly but significantly increased the concentration of TNF-alpha in the culture medium. Although neither low dose of H(2)O(2) nor TNF-alpha induced apoptosis, stimulation with H(2)O(2) and TNF-alpha synergistically increased apoptosis. These results suggest that oxidative stress induces apoptosis of cardiac myocytes partly through TNF-alpha.


Every visitor to the English Lakes, who has travelled by coach from Windermere to Keswick, must know the Dunmail Raise, that deep-cut wind-gap through the mountains which forms, if properly understood, one of the most remarkable natural features that it has been my lot to see one of the most difficult of satisfactory explantion, and one which has not by any means attracted the attention that it deserves. Cut down to a height of 782 feet above sea-level, the gap lies between the masses of Helvellyn (3118 feet) on the one hand, and High Raise (1500 feet) and the Sea Fell Pikes (3210 feet) on the other; it forms a typical instance of the lückenpass of Richthofen, or wind-gap of the Americans, but differs from the majority of such in one important point which will be brought out in the sequel. Approaching the pass from the north, there is seen a deep-cut valley, broad and open at the bottom, from which the sides rise steeply in, what Mr. Marr has named, the curve of erosion; it is; in fact, a typical stream-valley, and a valley properly belonging to a volume of water to which the term river is applicable; yet when this gradual ascent is traversed the road, after a short steep rise over a moraine, crosses an insignificant little streamlet, the Birkside Gill, which is utterly out of proportion to the valley down which it now flows, and is a very glaring instance of what Prof. W. M. Davis


Background: Attempts have been made to reduce or eliminate the pain associated with labor since ancient time. Obstetrics analgesia reached a new phase with lumbar epidural analgesia. We carried out a randomized study to evaluate and compare the analgesic efficacy of ropivacaine and bupivacaine with fentanyl on mother, on fetus and on the course of labor.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate and compare the analgesic efficacy of ropivacaine (0.125%) and bupivacaine (0.125%) with fentanyl on mother, fetus and on the course of labor, incidence of instrumental delivery, and the rate of cesarean section.

Materials and Methods: Study was conducted in 60 term, primi or second gravida parturients with active phase of labor, with cervical dilatation 3-5 cm, with single fetus, vertex presentation belonging to American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) Class I or II. The patients were randomly divided into two groups. After negative test dose, loading dose of 10 ml of 0.125% ropivacaine in Group R and 0.125% of bupivacaine in Group B with 2.5 μg/ml fentanyl in both groups was given as an initial dose for analgesia. Top up dose with 5 ml of 0.125% of ropivacaine in Group R and 0.125% bupivacaine in Group B were given when visual analog scale (VAS ≥3). For the second stage of labor 8 ml of 0.125% of ropivacaine in Group R and 0.125% of bupivacaine in Group B with 1.25 μg/ml fentanyl in both groups were given in sitting position to allow perineal analgesia.

Results: In this study, we observed that maximum number of patients have developed sensory block up to T8, 50% in Group B and 53.3% in Group R, only 2 patients (6.7%) in Group B developed T6 level, and no patients in Group R. There was no significant difference in mean total dose of bupivacaine and ropivacaine (P > 0.05). In Group R total 22 patients and 3 in Group B developed Grade 0 motor blocked, which was statistically very significant. In Group B, 14 and 2 patients developed Grade 2 and Grade 3 motor blocked, respectively, compared to none of the patients in Group R which was statistically very significant. There was no significant difference in Apgar score and VAS scores between the groups at any time during the first and second stage of labor.

Conclusions: Ropivacaine group patients required less number of top-up doses and developed significantly less motor block than bupivacaine group patients. We thus conclude that the combinations of 0.125% of ropivacaine with fentanyl and 0.125% bupivacaine with fentanyl is equally effective in producing excellent labor analgesia ensuring the safety of the mother and fetus.


Fresh fruit and vegetable juices rich in health, nutritional and minerals of benefits are consumed by all age groups in Kampala, Uganda. However, exposure to microbiological contamination, light and temperature effects may occur before and/or during processing thereby exposing consumers to potential health hazards. Therefore, this study sought to establish microbiological quality of fresh fruit and vegetable juices and their processing environment. It further sought to assess physicochemical parameters of juices stored in dark colored and clear bottles at room (24°C) and refrigerated (4°C) temperatures. Bacteriological counts of 385 samples of which 90 were solely fresh passion fruit juices were assessed for aerobic mesophiles and selected pathogens including Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli and Salmonella using standard plate counts. Physicochemical parameters were conducted to establish storage stability of the juices. Results showed that most preferred passion fruit juices contained 30% Staphylococcus aureus, 16.7% Listeria monocytogenes, and no Escherichia coli nor Salmonella spp. The pH ranged between 3 and 5 and Total Soluble Solids (° Brix) ranged between 1.4 and 5.2. Pineapple juices stored in dark colored bottles differed (p<0.05) from those kept in clear bottles. Mango juices stored in dark colored bottles at refrigerated temperatures had the lowest titratable acidity (%) of 1.65 while pineapple juice kept at room temperature in clear bottles had the highest titratable acidity (%) of 6.75. Juices stored at room temperatures differed significantly (p<0.05) in titratable acidity from those kept at refrigerated temperatures. Ascorbic acid content was lowest in pineapple juice (4.71 -5.97 mg/100 ml) and highest in passion fruit (53.2–61mg/ 100 ml) above the daily recommended nutrient intake levels of 45mg/100 ml. It is concluded that passion fruit juice in Kampala is a good source of ascorbic acid however stringent measures to ensure juice safety are needed.


In this project, medical expert systems were designed to aid technicians, students and scientists in identifying various species of malarial parasite from blood smears. The rule based system was found to intelligently ask pertinent questions to accurately and efficiently identify the species of malarial parasite. The probabilistic system provided quantitative feedback as to the likelihood of a diagnosis of a species of malaria. Medical expert systems can potentially streamline the process of malarial species identification, and can aid in training new technicians and scientists in this important skill.


Mechanical harvesting often causes visible injuries that can include shedding of leaves, flowers, and young fruit, breaking of branches, scuffing of bark, and exposure of root systems. To assess the impacts of mechanical harvesting on the health status of citrus trees, we measured removal of ma- ture fruit, leaves, and shoots, mid-day drought stress and leaf photosynthesis of mature 'Hamlin' and 'Valencia' orange ( Cit- rus sinensis (L.) Osb.) trees under restricted or normal irriga- tion regimes. Trees were either harvested by hand or with a linear-type trunk shaker operating at 4 Hz with 70.8 kg weight, and a 13 cm trunk displacement for various shaking durations. Shaking treatments removed >90% mature fruit without bark damage. Compared to harvesting by hand, trunk shaking re- moved 10% more leaf area and twigs, and occasionally caused some root exposure. Trees in dry soil developed drought stress symptoms after prolonged trunk shaking. However, no significant impairment of physiological responses by mechan- ical harvesting was found when trees were properly irrigated before and after harvest. Return bloom, growth, and yield of 'Hamlin' were not affected. Trunk shaking at full bloom did not affect 'Valencia' fruit set, but trunk shaking after mid-May can reduce next year's crop due to removal of immature green fruit.


Aneurinibacillus sp. H1 is a promising, moderately thermophilic, novel Gram-positive bacterium capable of the biosynthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) with tunable monomer composition. In particular, the strain is able to synthesize copolymers of 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB), 4-hydroxybutyrate (4HB) and 3-hydroxyvalerate (3HV) with remarkably high 4HB and 3HV fractions. In this study we performed an in-depth material analysis of PHA polymers produced by Aneurinibacillus sp. H1 in order to describe how the monomer composition affects fundamental structural and physicochemical parameters of the materials in the form of solvent-casted films. Results of infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry and thermal analysis clearly show that controlling the monomer composition enables optimization of PHA crystallinity both qualitatively (the type of the crystalline lattice) and quantitatively (the overall degree of crystallinity). Furthermore, resistance of the films against thermal and/or enzymatic degradation can also be manipulated by the monomer composition. Results of this study hence confirm Aneurinibacillus sp. H1 as an auspicious candidate for thermophilic production of PHA polymers with material properties that can be tuned together with their chemical composition by the corresponding adjustment of the cultivation process.


The sites of specific binding of 3H-L-dihydroalprenolol (3H-DHA) were identified on the surface of ascites sarcoma 37 cells, using competitive displacement and binding of the beta-adrenergic antagonists, 3H-DHA and L-propranolol. These binding sites possessed the properties of beta-adrenergic receptors coupled with adenylate cyclase. Analysis of 3H-DHA binding by the Scatchard method revealed the presence of beta-adrenergic receptors of two types, i. e., with a high (Kd = 0.9-1.0 nM) and low (Kd = 15-20 nM) affinity for 3H-DHA. The number of high affinity receptors was (5.0-7.5) X 10(3); that of low affinity receptors was (20-30) X 10(3) on a per cell basis. Sarcolysine at concentrations of 1-10 microM displaced receptor-bound 3H-DHA, competed with the ligand for the common binding sites and caused, similar to isoproterenol, a short-term elevation of the intracellular cAMP content. Sarcolysine within the same concentration range (2.5-25 microM) caused non-competitive inhibition of the cAMP phosphodiesterase (PDE2) activity of plasma membranes isolated from ascites sarcoma 37 cells. The data obtained point to the functional coupling between beta-adrenergic receptors, adenylate cyclase and membraneous PDE2 of tumour cells as well as to its possible role in the antitumour effect of sarcolysine.


This article examines the business–government relations during the policy and decision-making processes that preceded the 1938 corporate tax reform in Sweden. This reform involved creating a new tax system under the turbulent economic conditions of the interwar period. But while literature on tax history has found that such circumstances often disable actors from agreeing on tax policies, a constructive outcome was still reached in the Swedish case. In this regard, it is demonstrated that one crucial factor behind the creation of the 1938 corporate tax reform was the formation of a coalition between the Social Democratic party and the business peak associations around a number of areas where their taxation interests coincided. Here, the Social Democrats agreed to shelter profits from corporations as long as they were managed according to the intentions of their countercyclical economic policy that encouraged industrial investments and employment expansion.


The performance of distributed applications (such as file transfer, remote login, tele-conferencing, full-motion video, and scientific visualization) is influenced by several factors that interact in complex ways. In particular, application performance is significantly affected both by communication infrastructure factors and computing infrastructure factors. Several communication infrastructure factors include channel speed, bit-error rate, and congestion at intermediate switching nodes. Computing infrastructure factors include (among other things) both protocol processing activities (such asconnection management, flow control, error detection, and retransmission) and general operating system factors (such as memory latency, CPU speed, interrupt and context switching overhead, process architecture, and message buffering). Due to a several orders of magnitude increase in network channel speed and an increase in application diversity, performance bottlenecks are shifting from the network factors to the transport system factors. This paper defines an abstraction called an "Operating System Transport System Architecture" (OSTSA) that is used to classify the major components and services in the computing infrastructure. End-to-end network protocols such as TCP, TP4, VMTP, XTP, and Delta-t typically run on generalpurpose computers, where they utilize various operating system resources such as processors, virtual memory, and network controllers. The OSTSA provides services that integrate these resources to support distributed applications running on local and wide area networks. A taxonomy is presented to evaluate OSTSAs in terms of their support for protocol processing activities. vVe use this taxonomy to compare and contrast five general-purpose commercial and experimental operating systems including System V UNIX, BSD UNIX, the x-kernel, Choices, and Xinu.


By incorporating flexible bis(imidazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene (bix) co-ligands, four new racemic cobalt phosphonates with formulae Co3(3-ppap)2(1,4-bix)2(H2O)4·4H2O (1), Co3(3-ppap)2(1,3-bix)2(H2O)4·5H2O (2), Co3(3-ppap)2(1,2-bix)2(H2O)4·4H2O (3) and Co3(ppa)2(1,2-bix)2·4H2O (4) are isolated, where 3-ppapH3 represents 3-phenyl-3-((phosphonomethyl)amino)propanoic acid and ppaH3 is 2-phenyl-2-(phosphonomethylamino)acetic acid. Compounds 1-3 crystallize in the monoclinic space group P21/c and show two-dimensional structures in which the Co3(3-ppap)2 chains are bridged by 1,4-bix, 1,3-bix and 1,2-bix ligands in trans-modes, respectively. Within the chain, a racemic dimer of Co2(3-ppap)2(2-) is found, where the Co atoms are doubly bridged by O-P-O units from the (S)- and (R)-3-ppap(3-) ligands. The dimers are connected by another crystallographically independent Co atom through O-P-O linkages to form an infinite racemic chain. The packing modes of the layers in 1-3 are quite different, however, which are ABAB in the cases of 1 and 3 while ABCDABCD in the case of 2, attributed to the positional isomerism of the bix co-ligands. Compound 4 displays a chain structure in which the 1,2-bix bridges the Co atoms in cis-mode within the chain. Magnetic properties are investigated for all compounds.


Proceedings of an International Symposium jointly organized by the 'Societe Francaise pour L'Energie Nucleaire' SFEN and 'L'Institut National des Techs. de la Mer' INTECHMER - CNAM at Cherbourg, France, 1-5 June 1987.


Objective: To explore the clinical features of hepatocerebral mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome (MDS). Methods: The clinical data of 6 hepatocerebral MDS patients diagnosed in the Jinshan Hospital of Fudan University from January 2012 to December 2019 were retrospectively collected and analyzed. Related literature published before January 2020 were searched with the key words of "DGUOK""MPV17""POLG""C10orf2" in PubMed, China national knowledge infrastructure (CNKI) and Wanfang database. Results: All the 6 hepatocerebral MDS cases were male. The age of onset ranged from 3 days to 8 months. The most common initial symptoms were cholestasis and developmental retrogression. The main clinical manifestations included hepatomegaly (4 cases), hypotonia (3 cases), growth retardation (4 cases), cholestasis (5 cases), coagulopathy (5 cases), hypoalbuminemia (3 cases), hypoglycemia (4 cases), hyperlactacidemia (5 cases), and abnormal blood metabolism screening (6 cases). The isotope hepatobiliary imaging revealed no gallbladder and intestinal tract development within 24 hours in 2 patients. Regarding the cranial imaging examination, the head CT found widening of the extracranial space in 1 case, the brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) found ventricular enlargement in 2 cases, and the brain ultrasound found peripheral white matter injury in 1 case. Two cases were lost to follow-up, one died of liver failure, and three died of multiple organ failure due to aggravated infection. Among the 6 cases, there were 3 with MPV17 variation (c.182T>C and c.279G>C were novel), 1 with POLG variation (c.2993G>A was novel), 1 with DGUOK variation (c.679G>A homozygous mutation, parthenogenetic diploid of chromosome 2) and 1 with C10orf2 variation (c.1186C>T and c.1504C>T were novel). The literature review found that 129, 100, 51 and 12 cases of hepatocerebral MDS were caused by DGUOK, MPV17, POLG and C10orf2 gene variations, respectively. And the most common clinical manifestations were liver dysfunction presented with cholestasis and elevated transaminase, metabolic disorders including hypoglycemia and hyperlactacidemia, and diverse neurologic symptoms including developmental retardation, hypotonia, epilepsy and peripheral neuropathy. Besides, 1/3 of the patients with C10orf2 variation developed renal tubular injury. Conclusions: Hepatocerebral MDS mainly present with liver dysfunction, metabolic disorder and neuromuscular impairment. Different genotypes show specific clinical manifestations.


The use of the UHF RFID system in a warehouse that contains steel coils is a challenge for the technology itself since there are countless reflections of the radio frequency waves in the environment causing the multipath effect, which represents one of the most complex problems for wireless communication. Thus, this effect must be managed with the hardware, such as the antenna radiation diagram, and with the software, in the middleware, the software developed for the application. In this chapter, an application of RFID in metallic items will be discussed, tracking them since the product's hot rolling, controlling the receiving process, shipping, and inventory, working together with equipment such as overhead crane.


Cities in Pakistan, because of rapid pace of urbanization, are unable to provide adequate housing supply to cater to the needs of the people. Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, has a population of two million with a growth rate of six percent. Construction of apartment buildings, as one of the alternatives to fulfil the housing needs, is on the rise. However, apartments are being designed without considering the needs of the residents. This research focuses on assessment of socio-economic profile and satisfaction of residents of single unit houses vis-à-vis of those living in apartments. Fried and Gleicher's approach was used in this research. This study analysed the socioeconomic characteristics, level of satisfaction of residents; drivers and barriers that influence the residential satisfaction of residents in two types of residential units in Islamabad. This study finds that residents of both housing types were equally satisfied with housing attributes and surrounding neighborhood while the residents of single unit houses were more satisfied with facilities, maintenance and culture. This study suggests that more focus should be given to factors like open space, basic amenities, privacy while designing an apartment building.


We investigated Ang1, Ang2 and Tie2 expressions including balance and intratumoral vessels in the role of angiogenesis of endometrial adenocarcinoma. Immunohistochemical staining was performed on 133 patients with endometrial (endometrioid) adenocarcinoma, including 73 with G1, 34 with G2, and 26 with G3. The levels of Ang1, Ang2 and Tie2 expressions were expressed as staining score. Total vessel count (TVC), microvessel count (MVC) and mean vessel diameter (VD) in the CD34-stained tissues were measured in five hot spot areas at x 200 magnification by image cytometry. These results were compared with high and low vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expressions. Ang1, Ang2, Tie2 and CD34 were expressed in the cytoplasm of tumor cells. A significant correlation was found among Ang1, Ang2 and Tie2 expressions. In high VEGF cases, Ang1 expression was correlated negatively with TVC and MVC, but positively with VD, and the Angl < Ang2 group was significantly higher in TVC and MVC and tended to be smaller in VD than the Ang1 > Ang2 group. VD was significantly larger in G3 than in G1. The Ang1 < Ang2 balance may be one of the key factors for angiogenesis of endometrial carcinoma in the presence of high VEGF expression.


Collaborative filtering (CF) has become a popular method for developing recommender systems (RS) where ratings of a user for new items is predicted based on her past preferences and available preference information of other users. Despite the popularity of CF-based methods, their performance is often greatly limited by the sparsity of observed entries. In this study, we explore the data augmentation and refinement aspects of Maximum Margin Matrix Factorization (MMMF), a widely accepted CF technique for the rating predictions, which have not been investigated before. We exploit the inherent characteristics of CF algorithms to assess the confidence level of individual ratings and propose a semi-supervised approach for rating augmentation based on self-training. We hypothesize that any CF algorithm's predictions with low confidence are due to some deficiency in the training data and hence, the performance of the algorithm can be improved by adopting a systematic data augmentation strategy. We iteratively use some of the ratings predicted with high confidence to augment the training data and remove low-confidence entries through a refinement process. By repeating this process, the system learns to improve prediction accuracy. Our method is experimentally evaluated on several state-of-the-art CF algorithms and leads to informative rating augmentation, improving the performance of the baseline approaches.


In this paper, we focus on the stabilization problem for a class of second-order uncertain nonlinear systems via the sampled-data output feedback, where the systems may contain strong nonlinearities. A characteristic model is developed by virtue of some constructive modeling method, and then the golden-section adaptive control based on this characteristic model is given. Also, the closed-loop characteristic model is shown to be stable. Our results improve upon the findings of previous works in removing the globally Lipschitz condition of the controlled plant, expanding the application scope of the golden-section adaptive control to some extend.