The present study deepens investigations of microbial expansin-related proteins and their applied significance by (i) reporting a detailed comparison of diverse loosenins encoded by the same organism, (ii) considering both cellulosic and chitin-containing materials as targeted substrates, and (iii) investigating the impact of the C-terminal carbohydrate binding module (CBM) present in other expansin-related proteins on loosenin function. By revealing the potential of fungal loosenins to impact both cellulose and chitin-containing networks, our study reveals a possible biological and applied role of loosenins in fungal cell wall processing. ABSTRACT Microbial expansin-related proteins are ubiquitous across bacterial and fungal organisms and reportedly play a role in the modification and deconstruction of cell wall polysaccharides, including lignocellulose. So far, very few microbial expansin-related proteins, including loosenins and loosenin-like (LOOL) proteins, have been functionally characterized. Herein, four LOOLs encoded by Phanerochaete carnosa and belonging to different subfamilies (i.e., PcaLOOL7 and PcaLOOL9 from subfamily A and PcaLOOL2 and PcaLOOL12 from subfamily B) were recombinantly produced and the purified proteins were characterized using diverse cellulose and chitin substrates. The purified PcaLOOLs weakened cellulose filter paper and cellulose nanofibril networks (CNF); however, none significantly boosted cellulase activity on the selected cellulose substrates (Avicel and Whatman paper). Although fusing the family 63 carbohydrate-binding module (CBM63) of BsEXLX1 encoded by Bacillus subtilis to PcaLOOLs increased their binding to cellulose, the CBM63 fusion appeared to reduce the cellulose filter paper weakening observed using wild-type proteins. Binding of PcaLOOLs to alpha-chitin was considerably higher than that to cellulose (Avicel) and was pH dependent, with the highest binding at pH 5.0. Amendment of certain PcaLOOLs in fungal liquid cultivations also impacted the density of the cultivated mycelia. The present study reveals the potential of fungal expansin-related proteins to impact both cellulose and chitin networks and points to a possible biological role in fungal cell wall processing. IMPORTANCE The present study deepens investigations of microbial expansin-related proteins and their applied significance by (i) reporting a detailed comparison of diverse loosenins encoded by the same organism, (ii) considering both cellulosic and chitin-containing materials as targeted substrates, and (iii) investigating the impact of the C-terminal carbohydrate binding module (CBM) present in other expansin-related proteins on loosenin function. By revealing the potential of fungal loosenins to impact both cellulose and chitin-containing networks, our study reveals a possible biological and applied role of loosenins in fungal cell wall processing.


This paper presents an overview of a novel concept in IT network design and power control focused on matching building integrated renewable power generation with local demands. It describes how this is achieved through combination of energy demand reduction and dynamic utilisation of embedded energy storage in a robust, efficient and cost effective manner. A brief overview of the main features of the design is given in terms of its intended benefits as an integrated system. The load components and distribution topology are described for this experimental system within the limits set by the capacity, capabilities and desired function of the network. Power supply to the network is described as including a back-up source to the photovoltaic (PV) source to add functionality and stability with no requirements for undesirable exporting of excess PV generation. The necessary configuration of the renewable array integrating with the network is also highlighted with an example compatible solar module device. A trial of the technology and demand management control in a high profile office building is described. This trial in a live working environment is providing invaluable real world data to compare against modelling and network simulation results.


Active plate boundaries in the Caribbean form a complex tectonic environment that includes transform and subduction zones. The Caribbean-North American plate boundary is one such active margin, where subduction transitions from arc- to oblique-type off the northeast coast of Puerto Rico. Understanding mantle flow in this region will not only help determine the nature of tectonic activity and mantle dynamics that control these margins, but will also aid our understanding of the fate of subducting lithosphere.

The existence of tears, windows, and gaps in subducting slabs has been proposed at various locations around the world but few have been confirmed. Since mantle flow and crustal deformation are believed to produce seismic anisotropy in the asthenosphere and lithosphere, searching for changes in, for example, SKS splitting parameters can help identify locations at which subducting slabs have been disrupted.

Several lines of evidence support the notion of a slab tear within the subducting North American plate at this transition zone, including the counter-clockwise rotation of the Puerto Rico microplate over the past ~10 Ma, clusters of small seismic events, and trench collapse initiating ~3.3 m.y. Here we present results from a detailed investigation of seismic anisotropy from 28 stations across six networks in the Northeast Caribbean that support the hypothesis of a significant slab gap in the vicinity of the U.S. and British Virgin islands.

A regional synthesis of our results reveals fast shear wave polarizations that are generally oriented parallel to the plate boundary with intermediate to high SH-SV delay times. For example, polarization directions are oriented roughly NE-SW along the bulk of the Lesser Antilles, E-W along the Puerto Rico trench and the northern Lesser Antilles, and NW-SE beneath Hispaniola. Beneath the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, however, the fast polarization direction differs markedly from the regional pattern, becoming almost perpendicular to the plate boundary. Stations on Anegada, British Virgin islands and St. Croix, U.S. Virgin islands show a fast polarization direction that is oriented nearly NNE-SSW and smaller delay times than surrounding stations. These results suggest that mantle flow is redirected NE-SW at this location through a gap in the subducted lithosphere of the North American plate.


Data on substitution reactions at boron atoms in 10–12-vertex metallacarboranes, which are of fundamental and applied significance, are generalised. The possible mechanisms of substitution reactions and the influence of the metal fragment on substitution positions in the polyhedron are discussed.


Among IT industries in Japan, the productivity of the software industry is reputed to be lower than that of the hardware industry. This could be attributable to the relatively high proportion of labor-intensive, custom-made software it produces and to the preponderance of SMEs and the consequent impact of the stratified subcontracting structure. In this paper we use microdata from the 28th Survey on Operating Conditions in the Information Processing Industry, conducted by the Information-Technology Promotion Agency (IPA) in August 2006, to carry out an empirical analysis of the determinants of the productivity of the software industry. We classify software companies either as prime contractors, intermediate subcontractors, or final subcontractors, and compare their levels of productivity, finding that the level of intermediate subcontractors is the lowest and that there is no statistically significant difference between the levels of prime contractors and final subcontractors. However, we also find that among intermediate subcontractors there are higher productivity levels in companies with high-quality human resources, as measured by a test for qualifying information processing skills. Intermediate subcontractors require project management capabilities in the sphere of software development, but lag behind prime contractors in terms of human resource development and thus constitute a factor that drags down the level of productivity of the software industry as a whole.


Deterioration of metals and alloys during service due to corrosion and wear phenomena shortens materials' life span and structural integrity particularly in aggressive environ‐ ments such as coastal and marine. This degradation also limits the use of these materials in most industrial applications. Therefore, the improvement of the quality of these mate‐ rials in order to combat these challenges in industry remains critical. Surface modification techniques are employed to enhance materials' properties to enable better performance and to extend their applications in demanding environments. Electrodeposition has been a useful method developed to improve the corrosion and mechanical properties of mate‐ rials. In the present contribution, ample knowledge about electrodeposition of Zn compo‐ site/nanocomposite coatings and their characteristics are reviewed to address coastal and marine degradation of metals and alloys.


Background: The parachute device is made to isolate of the aneurysm to exclude the dysfunctional myocardium might be a promising concept to improve clinical prognosis. However, the clinical practice revealed the device might result in death and worsen heart failure (HF). Case presentation: Herein, we report a male subject who received parachute device implantation after the ventricular aneurysm development caused by myocardial infarction. Even with standard treatment, the patient was still hospitalized for six times because of heart failure in the next 19 months and passed away before the transplantation was scheduled. This is a very rare case that a HF subject received parachute device implantation with early death.Conclusions: The progressive maladaptive remodeling would delay the reendothelialization of the device. The subsequent device displacement may enhance the mitral regurgitation and result in poor clinical outcome.Clinical Trial Registration: PARACHUTE China Approval Trial, NCT02240940, Registered September 16, 2014, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02240940


The practice of dentistry necessitates the administration of numerous drugs by the oral route or by injection. This paper presents a case report in which a patient experienced an acute allergic reaction following mandibular block with articaine hydrochloride for dental extraction. It also reviews the pathophysiology of allergy and the office protocol required to successfully manage such a potentially life-threatening reaction.


A dielectric barrier discharge in neon at atmospheric pressure is investigated with electrical measurement and fast photography. It is found that a stable diffuse discharge can be easily generated in a gap with a gap space of 0.5–6 mm and is identified with a glow discharge. The first breakdown voltage of the gap is considerably higher than that of the same gap working in a stable diffuse discharge mode, which indicates that Penning ionization of neon metastables from the previous discharge with inevitable gas impurities plays an important role in the decrease in the breakdown voltage. Discharge patterns are observed in a gap shorter than 1 mm. From the experiments with a wedge-like gap, it is found that the discharge patterns are formed in the area with a higher applied electric field, which suggests that a higher applied electric field may cause a transition from a diffuse glow to discharge patterns.


Calcite-induced precipitation methods (CIPMs) have recently become potential techniques in geotechnical engineering for improving the shear strength of sandy soil. One of the most promising methods among them is enzyme-induced calcite precipitation (EICP). In this technique, a mixed solution composed of reagents and the urease enzyme, which produces calcite, is utilized as the grouting material. The precipitated calcite in granular soil provides ties among the grains of soil and limits their mobility, thus promoting an improvement in strength and stifness and also a reduction in the hydraulic conductivity of sandy soil. This paper discusses the potential increase in the strength and stifness of the soil, the additional materials for grouting, the efect of these materials on the treatment process, and the engineering properties of the soil. The possible sources of the urease enzyme and the applicability of the EICP method to other soil types are also discussed in this paper. The environmental and economic impacts of the application of EICP are also presented. The envisioned plans for application, potential advantages, and limitations of EICP for soil stabilization are discussed. Finally, the primary challenges and opportunities for development in future research are briefly addressed.


A survey for fish-borne zoonotic trematode (FZT) metacercariae in fish from the Northern Mountain Region of Vietnam was conducted from May to August 2014. The major objective was to evaluate the impact of water body types on the prevalence of FZT. A total of 846 fish (31 species) were collected from three water body types, including aquaculture ponds, rivers, and reservoirs. A pepsin digestion method was used for the recovery of metacercariae from fish. Overall, 29 of the 31 fish species were infected with FZTs. Prevalence was 56.8% in river fish, 46.7% in pond fish, and 29.3% in reservoir fish. The prevalence of Clonorchis sinensis metacercariae was 10.6% in reservoir fish, and 2.6% in river fish; fish from ponds were uninfected. The infection intensity of C. sinensis was 29.7 metacercariae/reservoir fish and 2.1 metacercariae/river fish. The prevalence of C. sinensis was highest (25.9%) in Toxabramis houdemeri. The intestinal flukes Haplorchis pumilio, Haplorchis taichui, Haplorchis yokogawai, Centrocestus formosanus and Procerovum varium were recovered from 29 fish species, with an overall prevalence of 46.8% and a mean infection intensity of 23.6 metacercariae. The results indicate that a C. sinensis sylvatic cycle involving wild fish species is important in the epidemiology of liver fluke and that consumption of raw or inadequately prepared wild-caught fish is a the major risk factor for human Clonorchiasis in this region. Both wild-caught and cultured fish present a high risk for infection with intestinal flukes. The habitat requirements of the snail host may be the important determining factor in favoring a sylvatic cycle of C. sinensis. This information is relevant to the development of effective prevention and control strategies, and emphasizes the priority that must be given to education of the local communities on the risks of consuming raw or improperly prepared fish dishes.


Seven (2.31%) circus workers of two circus companies visiting Amritsar were detected to be suffering from leprosy. Whether or not they acquired the disease during their stay in circus is not so important, but it is necessary to detect and treat these itinerant persons. Our experience clearly underlines the necessity for undertaking surveys of various workers living in crowded conditions (like circus), because of their occupation.


Absolute thresholds from 125 Hz to 52 kHz are determined for six guinea pigs trained by a positive reinforcement method. Four to five hundred trials were conducted during daily testing sessions and little between- or within-subject variability was found. Two of the six animals were subsequently treated with kanamycin and the development of a hearing loss for the high frequencies was followed. Loss of outer and to a lesser extent inner hair cells was well correlated with the threshold shift observed. Contrary to the experience of previous investigators, this operant training procedure has proved as efficient as that for other species of experimental animals, such as the monkey and the chinchilla. It holds excellent promise for future auditory behavioral work with the guinea pig.


A Korean child aged six months with congenital syphilis and malnutrition developed pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. He recovered after treatment with trimethoprin/sulphamethoxazole with assisted ventilation. There was no evidence of immune deficiency. The role of congenital syphilis and malnutrition predisposing the baby to this infection is discussed.


Green's relations and generalized Green's relations play a fundamental role in the study of semigroups.GV-semigroups are the generalizations of completely regular semigroups in the range of π-regular semigroups.In this paper,Green's relations and generalized Green's relations on GV-semigroups are considered by the structure of GV-semigroups.D=j and D C D* on GV-semigroups will be proved.


The aim of this work was to study the use of advanced oxidation technologies for micropollutant (atrazine, ATZ) removal in secondary effluents (SE). Experiments were carried out, for comparison purposes, in deionized water and in municipal SE. ATZ concentration, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC) were recorded along the reaction time and used to evaluate the system efficiency. Results demonstrate that the presence of effluent organic matter (EfOM) can reduce the effectiveness of the methods to remove ATZ due to the competition of EfOM components to react with OH radicals and/or molecular ozone. ATZ was more easily removed by hydroxyl radicals, however the presence of EfOM promoted higher inhibition of its removal by hydroxyl radicals than by ozone. The addition of Fe as catalyst in the UV/H2O2 system also increased the ATZ removal rate in SE. In addition, direct ATZ photolysis promoted by UV alone must be considered in the assessment of its degradation by UV-based methods.


The heat resistance of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and Listeria monocytogenes that were in stationary phase, had been exposed to high osmotic pressure, or were acid adapted was evaluated in white grape juice concentrate (58 degrees Brix, pH 3.3). The most heat-resistant cells of all three pathogens were those exposed to high osmotic pressure or in stationary phase. Unlike in single-strength juices, in concentrate the acid-adapted cells for all three pathogens were less heat resistant than were cells in the other physiological states. E. coli O157:H7 had the highest heat resistance for all temperatures tested (e.g., D62 degrees C = 1.8 +/- 0.3 min, with a z-value of 9.9 +/- 0.6 degrees C). L. monocytogenes exposed to high osmotic pressure had the highest z-value (12.3 +/- 1.2 degrees C), although its D-values for all temperatures tested were lower (e.g., D62 degrees C = 0.93 +/- 0.1 min) than those for E. coli O157:H7. Salmonella was the most sensitive of the pathogens under all conditions. Based on the results obtained in this study, one example of a heat treatment that will inactivate 5 log units of all three pathogens in white grape juice concentrate was calculated as 1.5 min at 71.1 degrees C (z = 10.3 degrees C). Validation studies confirmed the predicted D71 degrees C for E. coli O157:H7 exposed to high osmotic pressure.


Abstract Family members are critical to dementia care and the U.S. long-term services system. Yet, little is known about how to support the quality of care provided by family members, who often receive little training. We hypothesize that on days when caregivers feel more appreciated, they report providing a higher quality of care. To test this hypothesis, we asked spousal dementia caregivers (N=21) to complete 14 daily surveys that asked about their daily caregiving experiences. Our measure for "quality of care" was based on the Exemplary Caregiving Scale, and included 3-items pertaining to provision of care (e.g., "You considered your spouse's wishes and opinions when providing assistance"). Response options included "Most of the time," "Some of the time," and "Never"; scores were summed (range 0 to 6). Caregivers were also asked to what extent their spouse appreciated the care provided ("Not at all," "Some," or "A lot"). We applied multi-level mixed models to the data, and controlled for age, gender, Hispanic ethnicity, number of behavioral symptoms of dementia each day and months since diagnosis. In adjusted models, we found that on days when caregivers believed care recipients appreciated care provided "Some" or "A lot," they reported providing higher quality care (B=0.52, p=0.010 and B=0.79, p<0.001, respectively) compared with days when caregivers believed care recipients appreciated care provided "Not at all". Preliminary results may inform programs to support caregivers' ability to provide high quality care (e.g., by helping caregivers to perceive rewards) and to identify caregivers at risk of providing low-quality care.


Although breastfeeding is known to enhance nutritional wellbeing and overall health it is recognized that a tradeoff exists between benefits and costs when mothers decide to maintain breastfeeding. This study examined whether the financial cost of not breastfeeding can be used as a powerful argument to promote breastfeeding. The prices of fresh milk, powdered milk and commercial formula were collected from popular supermarkets across four parishes in Jamaica. These prices were used to calculate the cost of replacement feeding for mothers who were partially and not breastfeeding during the first six months. Results show that households were spending between J$10,500 and J$73,000 on breast milk substitutes. For low income families this utilizes 14% to 65% of their salaries. The paper discusses the educational, workplace policy and food security implications and concludes that the financial benefits are profound.


Purpose: Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors mediate AKT activation through a type 1 insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-1R)–dependent mechanism. Combining the mTOR inhibitor temsirolimus with cixutumumab, a fully human immunoglobulin G1 monoclonal antibody directed against IGF-1R, was expected to enhance mTOR-targeted anticancer activity by modulating resistance to mTOR inhibition. The objectives of this phase I study were to evaluate the tolerability and activity of temsirolimus and cixutumumab. Experimental Design: Patients in sequential cohorts ("3 + 3" design) received escalating doses of temsirolimus with cixutumumab weekly for 28 days. At the maximum tolerated dose (MTD), 21 patients were randomized into three separate drug sequence treatment groups for serial blood draws and 2[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography combined with X-ray computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) scans for pharmacodynamic analyses (PD). Results: Forty-two patients with advanced cancer (19 male/23 female, median age = 53, median number of prior therapies = 4) were enrolled. MTD was reached at cixutumumab, 6 mg/kg IV and temsirolimus, 25 mg IV. Dose-limiting toxicities included grade 3 mucositis, febrile neutropenia, and grade 4 thrombocytopenia. The most frequent toxicities were hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, hyperglycemia, thrombocytopenia, and mucositis. Tumor reduction was observed in 2 of 3 patients with Ewing's sarcoma and in 4 of 10 patients with adrenocortical carcinoma. PD data suggest that cixutumumab alone or combined with temsirolimus increased plasma IGF-1 and IGF binding protein 3. FDG-PET/CT showed the odds of achieving stable disease decreased by 58% (P = 0.1213) with a one-unit increase in absolute change of standard uptake value from baseline to day 3. Conclusions: Temsirolimus combined with cixutumumab was well tolerated. We are currently enrolling expansion cohorts at the MTD for Ewing's sarcoma and adrenocortical carcinoma. Clin Cancer Res; 17(18); 6052–60. ©2011 AACR.


The purpose of research is theoretical basis and an example of computer modeling load parameters for identifying hazardous sections in the design of the supporting levers. When designing new machines or upgrading their suspension, and also in the event of breakage of the chassis components have any questions related to designing services and strength calculations of elements of the chassis. A particular difficulty is the identification of the causes of failures of structural elements in the presence of the device lifting frame body (hopper) due to the rotation of the support levers move the wheels relative to the frame of the tank (body). The article is built the design scheme of static loading of the supports of the wheel mobile unit with adjustable height (hopper) and define expressions to determine the reaction of experiencing a fulcrum lever with different geometrical parameters with the angle of its location. Carried out theoretical researches have allowed to draw up the scheme of loading, to establish the analytical dependence of the internal forces and reactions of supports, which may of numerical modeling to optimize the design of the lever supports for the concrete governmental dimensions of their elements and profile rolled arm wheel support. The analysis of internal power factors shows that the most dangerous section in bending is the section in the vicinity of the cylinder mounts to the lever. In view of the availability of torque and its significant quantity threat the second section of the lever is the connection to the axle mount on the frame


Igwebuike is at the heart of African philosophy, and in fact, the inner or underlying principle of African philosophy. It is the manner of being in African ontology. Its nearest equivalents in English include complementarity, harmony, communality, etc., however, the preferred concept is complementarity. This paper responds to the question of the sources of Igwebuike philosophy, that is, the raw materials from which Igwebuike philosophy is gotten. Being an African philosophy, there would be no better place to look for its sources except from the African socio-cultural background. It discovered that the sources of Igwebuike philosophy include the works of professional African philosophers, African proverbs, African folktales, African myths, African symbols, African songs, African names. This piece, therefore, studied these sources to see how much they uniquely contribute towards the development of Igwebuike philosophy. In the course of this research, the phenomenological and hermeneutical methods of inquiry were employed. The paper submits that Igwebuike philosophy is based on the Igbo socio-cultural foundation.Keywords: Igwebuike, Philosophy, African, Socio-Cultural, Foundation


Low and high consistent pro-socials and pro-selfs were primed with neutral, morality, or might concepts in mixed-motive situations. The authors expected participants' social value orientation to influence cooperative behavior among (a) high consistent individuals in all prime conditions and (b) low consistent individuals in the neutral prime condition only. The authors also expected the primes to influence cooperative behavior more among low than high consistent individuals. Four experiments using supra-liminal (Experiments 1, 2, and 4) or subliminal (Experiment 3) priming and 2-person (Experiments 1-3) or N-person (Experiment 4) social dilemmas partially supported these initial predictions. One intriguing exception was that morality primes reduced cooperation among high consistent pro-selfs. Experiments 2-4 allowed testing for the potential role of expectations in shaping participants' cooperative behavior.


Mass cytometry (MC) is a bioanalytical technique that uses metal-tagged antibodies (Abs) for high-dimensional single-cell immunoassays. Currently, this technology can measure over 40 parameters simultaneously on individual cells using metal-chelating polymer (MCP) based reagents. However, MC can in principle detect up to 135 parameters with the development of new elemental mass tags. Here we report the development of a tantalum oxide nanoparticle (NP)-based mass tag for MC immunoassays. Uniform-sized amine-functionalized tantalum oxide NPs (d ∼ 5.7 nm) were synthesized via a one-pot two-step reverse microemulsion method. These amine-functionalized NPs were further modified with azide groups by reacting with azide-PEG2k succinimidyl carboxymethyl ester (NHS-PEG2k-N3) cross-linkers. The Ab-NP conjugates were prepared by reacting azide-functionalized NPs with dibenzocyclooctyne (DBCO)-functionalized primary or secondary Abs (DBCO-Ab) followed by fast protein size exclusion liquid chromatography (FPLC) purification. Three Ab-NP conjugates (TaO2-PEG2k-goat antimouse, TaO2-PEG2k-CD25, TaO2-PEG2k-CD196) were fabricated and tested in MC immunoassays. For the TaO2-PEG2k-goat antimouse conjugate, we showed that it can effectively detect abundant CD20 biomarkers on Ramos cells. For TaO2-PEG2k-CD25 and TaO2-PEG2k-CD196 conjugates, we demonstrated that these Ab-NP conjugates could be integrated into the commercial Ab staining panels for high-dimensional single-cell immune profiling of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.


SUMMARY This study explores the role of polygonal shapes as geometrical models in teaching mathematics by eliciting and interpreting young children's geometric conceptions and understanding about shapes, through their responses while being involved in relevant activities. More specifically, we examined the cases of polygons or "polytopes" of dimensions 0, 1 and 2 (0-polytopes are points, 1-polytopes are line segments and 2-polytopes are (convex) polygons), by asking children of 4–7 years of age to draw a stairway of figures (triangles, squares and rectangles) with each shape being bigger than its preceding one. Our ultimate aim was to investigate the implications the findings have for advancing children's geometric thinking and understanding, and thus for teaching geometry more efficiently, in early childhood. For the analysis of the collected data, Gras's Implicative Statistical Model was used. Results showed that children were mainly using two strategies while solving the problems: (a) conservation of shape, by increasing both dimensions of the figure and (b), increasing one dimension of the figure. Each strategy seems to reflect a different way of reasoning and understanding, possibly corresponding to a different level of development, as far as geometric thinking, is concerned. Also, children appear to work relatively more flexibly with tasks using rectangles than tasks using squares. This finding suggests that geometry instruction needs to introduce geometric shapes in a mathematically correct manner by using accurate definitions and explanations of relative properties and characteristics, hierarchical commonalities and differences among shapes.


The article analyzes data from surveys of 2005 and 2012 involving two generations of Tolyattians: high school students and their parents. It examines the dynamic of patriotic values. The social conditions of life are postulated as essential indicators accounting for generational differences in the views of Tolyattians.


Recent studies, including structural mapping, stratigraphic and sedimentologic studies, geothermochronology,
and geodetic measurements, have improved our understanding of the kinematics of Miocene to Recent deformation
in the central Basin and Range. Based on reconstructions of rocks in the extensionally dismembered
foreland and leading edge of the Sevier thrust belt, offset along the Las Vegas Valley shear zone, and on the provenance
of a unique clast assemblage in proximal channel fades deposits at Frenchman Mountain, the southern and
northern Lake Mead extensional domains have extended ~94 km and ~46 km, respectively. A compilation of >70
cooling ages from the Gold Butte crystalline block indicates that onset of this extension occurred at ~20 Ma, with
rapid, large-magnitude extension beginning at ~15 Ma. In the Death Valley extended domain, studies of the provenance,
depositional environment, and age of the Eagle Mountain Formation show that middle Miocene siliciclastic
strata occurring in a northwest-trending belt from Chicago Valley to the Cottonwood Mountains were all
deposited in an environment proximal to the Hunter Mountain batholith of the Cottonwood Mountains. This requires
~100 km of roughly southeast-northwest extensional and strike-slip displacement since ~11 Ma. Identification
of extensionally dismembered Cenozoic structures, correlative with structures in the Cottonwood Mountains,
Panamint Range, Bare Mountain, the CP Hills, and the Funeral Mountains, are also consistent with ~100 km of
west-northwest extension across the Death Valley region.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a color-texture classification approach which uses color sensor information and texture features jointly. High accuracy, low noise sensitivity and low computational complexity are specified aims for this proposed approach.

Design/methodology/approach

One of the efficient texture analysis operations is local binary patterns (LBP). The proposed approach includes two steps. First, a noise resistant version of color LBP is proposed to decrease its sensitivity to noise. This step is evaluated based on combination of color sensor information using AND operation. In a second step, a significant points selection algorithm is proposed to select significant LBPs. This phase decreases final computational complexity along with increasing accuracy rate.

Findings

The proposed approach is evaluated using Vistex, Outex and KTH-TIPS-2a data sets. This approach has been compared with some state-of-the-art methods. It is experimentally demonstrated that the proposed approach achieves the highest accuracy. In two other experiments, results show low noise sensitivity and low computational complexity of the proposed approach in comparison with previous versions of LBP. Rotation invariant, multi-resolution and general usability are other advantages of our proposed approach.

Originality/value

In the present paper, a new version of LBP is proposed originally, which is called hybrid color local binary patterns (HCLBP). HCLBP can be used in many image processing applications to extract color/texture features jointly. Also, a significant point selection algorithm is proposed for the first time to select key points of images.


Climate change or global warming is a global threat to both human communities and natural systems. In recent years, there is an increasingly public debate on the existence of climate change or global warming, but data describing such discussions are difficult to access. Social media provide a new data source to survey public perceptions and attitudes toward such topics. However, enabling computers to automatically determine users' attitudes towards climate change based on social media contents is still challenging. Taking Twitter data as an example, this study analyzed public discussions about climate change and global warming in year 2016. The objectives are: (1) to develop an optimized Deep Neural Network (DNN) classifier to identify users who are climate change deniers based on tweet contents; (2) to examine the temporal patterns of climate change discussions on Twitter and its driving factors. Results demonstrate that the developed DNN model successfully identified climate change deniers based on tweet contents with an overall accuracy of 88%. There are more climate change discussions during September to December 2016, whereas the percentages of climate change deniers were lower in the same period. Public interests and attitudes on climate change were driven by extreme weather events and environmental policy changes. The developed methodology will shed lights on the utility of deep learning in natural language processing, while the results provide improved understanding of factors affecting public attitudes on climate change.


Objectives To evaluate the feasibility and imaging quality of double prospectively ECG-triggered high-pitch spiral acquisition mode (double flash mode) for coronary computed tomography angiography (CTCA) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods 47 patients (11 women, 36 men; mean age 64.5 ± 12.1 years) were enrolled for CTCA examinations using a dual-source CT with 2×128 × 0.6 mm collimation, 0.28 s rotation time and a pitch of 3.4. Double flash mode was prospectively triggered first at 60% and later at 30% of the R-R interval within two cardiac cycles. Image quality was evaluated using a four-point scale (1 = excellent, 4 = non-assessable). Results From 672 coronary artery segments, 77.5% (521/672) was rated as score of 1, 20.8% (140/672) as score of 2, 1.2% (8/672) as score of 3 and 0.4% (3/672) was rated as 'non-assessable'. The average image quality score was 1.25 ± 0.38 on a per segment basis. Mean dose-length product (DLP) for CTCA was 92.6 ± 28.2 mGy·cm, the effective dose was 1.30 ± 0.39 mSv (0.64-1.97 mSv). Conclusions In patients with AF, double prospectively ECG-triggered high-pitch spiral acquisition mode could be a feasible and valuable scan mode for CTCA with a consistent dose below 2 mSv as well as diagnostic imaging quality.


On the construct validity of the Iranian Ministry of Health Language Exam (MHLE) Abstract Considering validity as a unitary concept, this study investigated the construct validity of the Iranian Ministry of Health Language Exam (MHLE). To meet this objective, we, first, conducted Item analysis, reliability analysis, KR20-if-item-deleted indices on the scores of 987 MHLE test takers before running factor analysis. Though the test was found to enjoy a high level of reliability, it suffered from 28 problematic items flagged through item analysis and KR20-if-item-deleted indices. Next, we ran factor analysis on the data, screened through item analysis, by implementing Horn's parallel analysis and Velicer's minimum average partial (MAP) tests. Parallel analysis resulted in overfactoring. The MAP test, however, produced results with two to seven factors. Though the 4-factor result of the MAP test seemed to be more logical at first glance, the overall results were rather disappointing. Nineteen items did not load significantly on any factor and a clear pattern of item loading was not found for many items. These findings can be viewed as evidence detracting from the validity of MHLE. Keywords: language assessment, language testing, proficiency test, item analysis, reliability analysis, factor analysis, MHLE


One of the physical transformations during the time of British Administration of Palestine occurred demographically, as a land that was once inhabited by a majority of Arabs was completely transferred into a Jewish dominated region in the space of only three decades and which had made possible the formation of the state of Israel. This paper will discuss different official records that provide information on the population of Palestine during the British Mandate and several matters pertaining to the sources of the selected data. This article will mostly be expository and focused on the historical records, while the related events warranted a more lengthy discussion and thus is beyond its scope. The method applied in this study is the historical method. The findings highlight some of the issues that exist within the scope of Palestine demographic study, particularly from the historical perspective. Keywords: History of Palestine; British administration; Palestine demography


The authors used a sol-gel method to deposit Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films on Si substrates and a hydrothermal method to grow ZnO crystals on the as-prepared AZO seed layers. Though the crystallinity of the seed layers was enhanced by Al doping, for Al doping up to 3 at.%, the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the ZnO (002) diffraction peak increased, resulting in a decrease in the average grain size. The intensity of the ZnO (002) diffraction peak of ZnO crystals grown on AZO seed layers increased as the Al doping concentration was increased to 1.0 at.%. The narrowest FWHM in the photoluminescence spectrum, 132 meV was obtained at an Al doping concentration of 1.0 at.%. These results indicate that the structural and the optical properties of ZnO crystals grown on seed layers can be enhanced by introducing a small amount of an Al dopant into the seed layers.


Large-scale and uniform copper(I) sulfide (Cu2S) nanowires have been successfully synthesized via a cheap, fast, easily handled, and environmentally friendly approach. In addition to the reductive properties of the biomolecule-assisted method, they also have a strong shape- or size-directing functionality in the reaction process. The field-emission properties of the Cu2S nanowires in a vacuum were studied by the Folwer–Nordheim (F–N) theory. The Cu2S nanowires have a low turn-on field at 1.19 V/μm and a high enhancement factor (β) of 19,381. The photocatalytic degradation of Cu2S nanowires was investigated by the change in the concentrations of rhodamine B (RhB) under UV illumination. These outstanding results of Cu2S nanowires indicate that they will be developed as good candidates as electron field emitters and chemical photocatalysts in future nanoelectronic devices.


One of the most important discussion in philosophy and laws is human domination/lack of domination on himself/herself. In other words, does/doesn't human enjoy the right of intervening his/her organs in any way? If such right exists, what is the basis of such interference? There are two main insights in this regard. Those ones who have accepted human domination on himself in an absolute manner since their insight is based on material worldview and consider human reality by his/her vegetative and animal facets and do not consider human's spiritual aspect. In contrary, those ones who have not absolutely accepted human domination on himself/herself and believe that in addition to material aspect, human has a spiritual facet and human's reality is related to his/her humanity rather than his/her body and, on this basis, Islamic laws obtained from revelation are forged. If suicide is haram (forbidden), it is due its contradiction to humanity and human benevolence.


The US prison boom has resulted in the mass incarceration of parents in the United States. We review recent scholarship on the relationship between parental incarceration and child inequality and social exclusion over the life course. We develop a multilevel social exclusion framework to stimulate future research on the effects of paternal and maternal incarceration. This framework is intergenerational in its focus on incarcerated parents and their children, interinstitutional in its attention to state and school regimes, and intersectional in its consideration of the role of gender and race and ethnic contingencies. It is also systemic in its focus on multiple chosen and overlapping institutional policy domains of exclusion. We address both mediators and moderators of the effects of parental incarceration on child outcomes. We emphasize the underresearched importance of meso-level (e.g., school) and macro-level (e.g., state and cross-national) exclusionary and inclusionary regimes in understanding the ef...


Background: The current treatments of wrist ganglion have considerable recurrence rate, we developed a new treatment for ganglion cysts in our clinical practice, which combined acupotomy with crisscross thread method, so we now to compare the clinical effectiveness of Chinese acupotomy and crisscross thread with aspiration followed by injection of steroid and open excision for ganglion cysts treatment. Methods: Recruited patients with wrist ganglion were divided into three groups according to the treatments. Among them, 27 patients who were treated by a new combined treatment of Chinese acupotomy and crisscross thread method in group A, 30 patients who were treated by aspiration followed by steroid injection in group B, and 28 patients who were treated by open excision in group C. The data of age, gender, weight, size of ganglion cysts, visual analogue scale (VAS) , cost were recorded and compared by One-way analysis of variance, followed by an LSD (Least Significant Difference)test. The recurrence rates were recorded were analysed by chi-square test.Results: At the first day and one week after treatment, VAS score of group A was similar to group B with no statistic difference. VAS score of group C was higher than group A and B with statistic difference. Six months later, there was no statistic difference among the three groups about VAS. The recurrence rate was 3.7% in group A and 36.7% in group B and 10.7% in group C. No patient infected in three groups. The cost of group A was more than group B with no statistic difference. The cost of group A was much less than group C with statistic difference.Conclusions: The combination of Chinese acupotomy and crisscross thread method was a simple, economical and effective procedure for wrist ganglion cysts.


In this letter, we propose a method for period estimation in light curves from periodic variable stars using correntropy. Light curves are astronomical time series of stellar brightness over time, and are characterized as being noisy and unevenly sampled. We propose to use slotted time lags in order to estimate correntropy directly from irregularly sampled time series. A new information theoretic metric is proposed for discriminating among the peaks of the correntropy spectral density. The slotted correntropy method outperformed slotted correlation, string length, VarTools (Lomb-Scargle periodogram and Analysis of Variance), and SigSpec applications on a set of light curves drawn from the MACHO survey.


Human inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are associated with significant alterations in intestinal blood flow, the direction and magnitude of which change with disease progression. The objectives of this study were to determine the time course of changes in colonic blood perfusion that occur during the development of dextran-sodium-sulfate (DSS)-induced colonic inflammation and to address the mechanisms that may underlie these changes in blood flow. Intravital microscopy was used to quantify blood flow (from measurements of vessel diameter and red blood cell velocity) in different-sized submucosal arterioles of control and inflamed colons in wild-type (WT) mice. A significant (18-30%) reduction in blood flow was noted in the smallest arterioles (<40 microm diameter) on days 4-6 of DSS colitis. The arteriolar responses to bradykinin in control and DSS-treated WT mice revealed an impaired endothelium-dependent, but not endothelium-independent, vasodilation in the inflamed colon. However, this impaired vasodilatory response to bradykinin after DSS treatment was not evident in mutant mice that overexpress Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase. Rescue of the bradykinin-induced vasodilation during DSS colitis was also observed in mice that are genetically deficient in the NAD(P)H oxidase subunit gp91(phox). These findings indicate that the decline in blood flow during experimental colitis may result from a diminished capacity of colonic arterioles to respond to endogenous endothelium-dependent vasodilators like bradykinin and that NAD(P)H oxidase-derived superoxide plays a major role in the induction of the inflammation-induced endothelium-dependent arteriolar dysfunction.


The aim of this article developed Moderation-Based Modules as Teaching Materials for Khulafa al-Rashidin and implemented Moderation-Based Modules as Teaching Materials for Khulafa al-Rashidin at SMP. LABSCHOOL PULPEN. This type of research used qualitative research. The subjects of this study were Islamic education teachers and seventh grade students of SMP LABSCHOOL PULPEN. The data collection techniques used participant observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation. Data analysis was carried out in three stages, namely data reduction, data presentation, and verification or drawing conclusions. The results showed that the implementation of the moderation-based module was going well; it can be seen in the interactions that built between teachers and students. The development of teaching materials was carried out in four stages, namely at the planning stage the teacher digs up information regarding the exemplary Khulafa al-Rasyidin. In building a tolerant society. In the second stage, the information was poured into a column to ponder and pay attention. The third stage, the teacher reviews and revises the information that has been presented to test whether the information in accordance with the learning objectives. The last stage was finalization which was the stage of improvement, supporting and inhibiting factors for the development of moderation-based module teaching materials, including internal factors related to individual interactions and external factors related to economic, social, and political education. Keywords : Islamic Education, Teaching Material Development, Islamic Moderation


Back-arc extension in the Aegean Sea has been accommodated by several large-scale detachments such as the West Cycladic Detachment System (WCDS) in the Oligocene and Miocene. The WCDS is associated on Serifos island (Cyclades) with a synkinematic granodioritic intrusion. Serifos is also well known for its skarn deposit and a rich mineralogy as well as colder Fe-Ba ore deposits that were exploited until 1963. The geometrical and kinematic relations between the detachments and ore bodies have so far been little studied. Different types of skarn can be observed (1) massive garnet endoskarns, (2) garnet-pyroxene endoskarns in the granodiorite, (3) garnet-pyroxene cracks exoskarns, (4) brecciated pyroxene +/- ilvaite skarn within the Meghalo Livadhi and Kavos Kiklopas detachments.
Fields observations show that the formation of the skarn is intimately associated with the detachments and the deformation of the intrusion in the footwall. Endo and exo-skarn deposits formed before, during and after the ductile and brittle structures resulting from the activity of the WCDS. They are represented by echelon veins, veins with antithetic shear and boudinaged veins wrapped within sheath folds, with a shearing movement top SSW or SW compatible with the regional tectonics, deformation in host-rock and the emplacement of the syn-tectonic granodioritic intrusion. Skarnified breccias formed within the two main detachments attesting for the intense circulation of fluids at a certain distance from the main intrusion. These skarn parageneses were deposited by hydrothermal fluids associated with the intrusion, mixed with meteoric or oceanic fluids forming at the regional level of pyroxene. The two detachments acted as preferential crustal-scale drains during footwall exhumation. This example illustrates the potential of detachments to channelize large amount of fluids in the crust during extension.


Leader-follower consensus tracking problem in multi-agent systems in the presence of some types of faults named actuator faults are considered in this paper. Distributed control theory has been used to develop control strategy and main challenge of this paper is to design fault tolerant control (FTC) system based on fault estimation to minimize the effects of the actuator faults. For this issue, an appropriate luenberger type fault detection filter is used to detect the occurance of the fault. Fault estimations are obtained by recursive least square (RLS) method and using virtual actuator technique, the effects of faults are minimized and it is shown that the tracking error of each agent converges to zero in fault-free case and the tracking error remains bounded in faulty case. The effectiveness of our method has been verified through simulations.


A series of novel hyperbranched conjugated luminescent polymers with different length of alkyloxy substitution were designed, synthesized, and characterized by FT-IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Their special photophysical properties can be attributed to their hollowed and twisted structure. Their electrochemical and electroluminescent properties were investigated. The maximum quantum efficiency of light emitting device (LED) made from C1-HPV is 0.02% at 15 V. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The role of reactive oxidizing species (ROS) is proved within numerous physiological processes, including aging, signal transduction and some kind of immune functions. Nowadays ROS and oxidative stress gain increasing attention in connection with a wide spectrum of diseases. In case of Asian people, the enzyme taking part in the ethanol metabolism, the aldehyde dehydrogenase is absent or mutated, that can result in liver tissue damage upon extensive alcohol consumption. Most of the ROS species are electrochemically active therefore the applications of electrochemical methods are the most promising for in situ or in vivo monitoring or quantification of them. In our work development and improvements of selective and sensitive method for electrochemical detection of these molecules and radicals are attempted. We prepared ultra thin size-exclusion layer by electropolymerization of m-phenylenediamine monomer on the surface of the Pt working electrode to ensure its selectivity. We have worked out the optimal circumstances for the selective layer preparation and tested its stability and function. In order to enhance the sensitivity of ROS detection a new amperometric method, the periodically interrupted amperometry (PIA) was developed and applied. With this approach we succeeded selective and sensitive detection of H2O2 in vitro.


A cross sectional study was conducted during May-June 2010 among woman of reproductive age group (15-45 years) in the urban and the rural areas of Bareilly District to asses the level of awareness regarding RTIs/STDs. The two stage cluster sampling technique was adopted. A structured questionnaire was used to interview the study participants during the house to house surveys. Each woman of reproductive age of selected household was interviewed in private about her reproductive history, current knowledge, source of information and modes of transmission of RTIs/STDs. Statistical analysis was done with Epi Info computer software. Standard Normal Variate (SNV) Test for comparison of two groups' proportion was done; z and p were calculated to know the significance of the proportions of two groups for comparison. Most of the women were aware of RTIs/STDs (80.32%) in urban areas whereas only 27.41% in rural areas were aware of these diseases. The television and radio was the main source of information in both rural (41.17% & 32.94%) and urban areas (TV-90.36%, Radio-48.19%).


The prediction of fine cohesive sediment erosion is important information for civil engineers. However, to calculate an actual amount of erosion, the necessity for considering the effect by biofilm formed on the bed mud surface has been caused. Biofilm formed on the bed mud has a major influence on the erosion phenomenon in estuaries. Therefore, many researchers are grappling from various angles with this problem. Experiments were carried out in an annular flume at the Water and Environmental System Laboratory of Fukuoka University. Results of an experimental study on the effect of biofilm for fine cohesive sediment erosion in the annular flume are described. The relation between biofilm on the bed mud and the initial rate of erosion were conducted under the condition to adjust the amount of light and water temperature. The thickness of biofilm reached about 2mm in the maximum and 0.5mm in the minimum. In this study, it has aimed to clarify how the amount of bed mud erosion changes by the biofilm experimentally


Analysis of B cell development in three strains of gamma 2b transgenic mice shows that the gamma 2b H chain can replace the microH chain in promoting B cell differentiation. The 348C line produces 90% gamma 2b-only B cells and 10% B cells; which co-express gamma 2b and endogenous sIgM and sIgD. These IgG2b+ B cells develop into mature, recirculating CD23+ B cells. The 343-1 and gamma 2b-T15 transgenic mice produce sIgMhigh:sIgDlow:CD23- B cells that generally co-express the gamma 2b transgene-encoded H chain. Such B cells are either developmentally arrested immature B cells or arise from B-1 (CD5) progenitors. The gamma 2b-T15 mice can produce gamma 2b-only CD23+ B cells following inactivation of the endogenous mu locus, whereas 343-1 mice fail to develop B cells. Thus, gamma 2b H chains: 1) can act alone to promote the development of mature B cells, 2) synergize with microH chains for allelic exclusion, and 3) vary in their influence on B cell development in different transgenic mouse strains.


Despite the proliferation of home health agencies and increased numbers of nurses working in these settings, little is known about home health nurses or how they might differ from their public health and hospital counterparts. The authors discuss differences in monetary compensation and skill usage, as well as the relationship between compensation and retention, among hospital, home health, and public health staff nurses. The results show that these nurses receive different intrinsic and extrinsic rewards and that their reasons for remaining with their employers are similar, yet unique. Implications for nurse administrators and educators are discussed, along with recommendations for further research.


Machine learning (ML) is a subset of artificial intelligence (AI). It is based on teaching computers how to learn from data and how to improve with experience. This valuable technique has been increasingly supporting different spheres of life. This includes ML application in enhancement and optimisation of many ecological and environmental engineering solutions, such as wastewater treatment systems (WWTS). Complexity of processes triggers challenges in ensuring good effluent quality by adequate response to dynamic process conditions. That is why techniques such as ML which, after being trained, have strong prediction ability, have been applied in WWTS. ML facilitates understanding of correlation between input features and output targets through a data-driven approach. Different ML models have been used for this purpose. Some of the commonly used were artificial neural network (ANN) or deep neural network (DNN) model, support vector machine (SVM) and its variation support vector regression (SVR) model, random forest (RF) model and many others. More often authors apply a few different models in order to obtain the one that most appropriately works for specific problem. In wastewater management those problems are various, and could include modelling of WWT processes, prediction of certain technology performance, optimisation of technology working parameters, optimisation of the production of the materials there are being used in WWT technology etc. For instance, there are several articles which describes ML power in optimisation of material synthesis (e.g., biochar production). Application of ML led to reduction in number of runs which were necessary for obtaining the best results by applied production procedure, which saved time and was also cost-beneficial. Indeed, ML incorporation in solving or avoiding potential problems within WWTS is a promising approach which has gained more attention in recent years due to the exponential technology development and progress in artificial intelligence application.


An apparatus is devised for measuring the real and imaginary components of the piezoelectric strain constant d = d′ − id″ for polymer films with a d.c. bias field. Electric fieldinduced piezoelectricity is observed for films of several types of polymer. The ratio of the piezoelectric constant to the d.c. bias field gives (ϵ + κ)/G where ϵ is the dielectric constant, κ is the electrostriction constant, and G is the elastic constant. The temperature dependence of the field-induced piezoelectricity gives, therefore, combined information of dielectric and elastic properties of polymers. After heating to about 95°C followed by cooling to room temperature, maintaining a constant d.c. basis on a poly(vinyl chloride) film, piezoelectricity is observed at null d.c. field, which suggests the introduction of a residual polarization in the films.


Bile acids are increasingly used as test substances for the estimation of liver function and it has been postulated that radioactive labeled bile acids have advantages over indocyanine green (ICG) for measurement of hepatic blood flow. Therefore, the hepatic extractions of 14C-taurocholate and ICG were compared in 23 patients with liver disease and correlated with various parameters of hepatic function. The hepatic extractions of 14C-taurocholate (mean: 42 +/- SD 17%) and ICG (mean: 35 +/- SD 18%) were similar. The correlations with galactose elimination capacity and BSP plasma disappearance were closer for ICG than for 14C-taurocholate extraction. Hepatic blood flow measured with 14C-taurocholate (mean: 1.45 +/- SD 0.51 l/min) correlated well (r = 0.81) with the respective values obtained with ICG (mean: 1.17 +/- SD 0.49 l/min), but was about 22% larger. This study does not provide evidence that 14C-taurocholate is superior to ICG as an intravenous test substance for measurement of hepatic function or blood flow.


Using UK online news articles and below the line comments, this thesis assesses the construction of claims of scientific authority, credibility and trust, together with the contestation and disputation of these claims in connection with online news coverage and audience reception of the genetically modified (GM) food debate.

The sample includes 73 online news articles and 9,279 below the line comments from 5 UK news organisations, commencing 1 January 2015 until 31 October 2015. A qualitative data analysis is conducted, combining two approaches. Firstly, a grounded theory approach as advocated by Charmaz (2014), employing the techniques of coding and memo writing. Secondly, a sociological discourse analysis drawing on theoretical concerns including expertise (Dewey, 2016; Giddens, 1991; Lippmann, 2008; Nichols, 2017), journalism (Schudson, 2008b), and risk (Beck, 1992, 1995; Douglas, 1992) to connect the findings of this study to those of theoretical relevance.

Analysis of the articles reveals the contested place of scientific knowledge in the GM food debate within and between the state, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), citizens and consumers. Narratives in the articles surrounding the development of GM crops and use of science in decision making processes, illustrate the legitimacy of science. Where there is uncertainty surrounding the science of genetic modification, calls are made for further research. This is often to ascertain whose science is legitimate, e.g. the state (funded by Research Councils) or NGOs, and demonstrates the pluralistic nature of science. Below the line comments contest scientific expertise in respect of GM foods, and dispute its status as a scientific issue. Here, emphasis is on the different types of knowledges that are used rather than solely a scientific rubric. Commenters draw upon their knowledge gained from previous food scares, e.g. the BSE crisis and Horsemeat Scandal, notably how the state and food industry acknowledged and managed these incidents.


AIM
Controversy continues over management of left sided colorectal emergencies. Historically, management was by a three-staged procedure but more recently a two-staged procedure (Hartmann's) was adopted. Since Dudley's description of the safety of peroperative antegrade colonic irrigation and primary anastomosis (PA) in the 1980s, some surgeons have adopted this one staged procedure. Studies have reported good outcomes. However, uptake of a one-staged approach is by no means universal. The aim of this study was to establish the operative choices of surgeons for emergency left sided colonic pathologies. We also compared the operative choices of colorectal surgeons, with non-colorectal surgeons.

METHODS
A paper questionnaire was sent out to 300 consultant surgeons, equally to colorectal and non-colorectal surgeons practising in UK. They were asked to state their specialist surgical interest and which operation they would perform for: obstructed sigmoid carcinoma; obstructed sigmoid colon due to diverticular stricture; perforated sigmoid carcinoma; diverticulitis and purulent peritonitis; perforated diverticulitis with faecal peritonitis.

RESULTS
Of the 300 questionnaires sent out 145 (48%) were returned. Of these 72 (50%) were colorectal surgeons, 58 (40%) were non colorectal surgeons. For obstructed sigmoid carcinoma, obstruction due to diverticular stricture and purulent diverticulitis, colorectal surgeons were statistically more likely to perform PA than non-colorectal surgeons.

CONCLUSION
Our study indicates that colorectal surgeons are more likely to perform a single stage operation for all scenarios examined. It also shows that the attitude of surgeons in UK is changing and more are accepting the concept of specialistic management in complex colonic pathologies.


Adverse drug reaction reporting schemes, or pharmacovigilance schemes as they are frequently known, are useful in monitoring patient safety for both human and veterinary drugs. Virtually all veterinary pharmacovigilance schemes require the reporting of adverse reactions in humans exposed to veterinary medicinal products. This chapter examines the functioning and output of two of these schemes, one in a European Union member state, the United Kingdom, and the other in the United States.


To explore the potential application of static magnetic field (SMF) treatment in marine fish preservation, the sea bass (Lateolabrax japonicus) was exposed to SMF (5 mT) and its quality changes during cold storage were evaluated by total viable counts, water holding capacity, pH, color, and textural properties. Characteristics of the protein in the presence of SMF were investigated by measuring total sulfhydryl (SH) content, Ca2+-ATPase activity, secondary structure, and muscle microstructure. SMF treatment exhibited positive effects on fish quality, showing favorable performance on the most quality indicators, especially a significant reduction in the Microbial Counts. Furthermore, higher total SH content and Ca2+-ATPase activity were observed in SMF-treated samples, demonstrating that the oxidation and denaturation of myofibrillar protein (MP) were delayed due to SMF treatment. The transformation of α-helix to random coil was prevented in SMF-treated samples, indicating that the secondary structure of MP was stabilized by SMF treatment. The above changes in protein structures were accompanied by changes in muscle microstructure. More intact and compact structures were observed in SMF-treated samples, characterized by well-defined boundaries between myofibers. Therefore, our findings suggest that under the conditions of this article, SMF treatment could maintain the quality of fish mainly by inhibiting the growth of microorganisms and enhancing the stability of protein structures, and could be a promising auxiliary technology for preservation of aquatic products.


Fe substitution for Co leads to the increase of the Curie temperatures of both HoCo4_xFexAl and YCo4_xFexA1 and of the spin-reorientation temperature of HoCo4_xFexA1. In contrary, the anisotropy field of YCo4_xFexAI decreases quickly with increasing Fe content. The results are explained in terms of the individual site anisotropy model. RCOs_xAlx (x < 2) compounds with CaCu 5 structure have recently been studied. RCo4A1 has been stressed in order to compare the magnetic properties with those of RCo4B [1,2]. A1 substitution for Co strongly diminishes the Curie temperature, the Co atomic moment and the magnetocrystalline anisotropy (MCA) of both R and 3d sublattices. To further study the magnetic properties of the 3d sublattice of RCo4A1, in this paper the effects of Fe substitution on the magnetic properties of RCO4_xFexA1 (R = Y and Ho) have been studied. The ingots of RCO4_xFexA1 (x = 0.0-4.0) were prepared by arc melting the constituent elements of high purity (at least 99.9%) and then annealed at 900°C for about 50-70 h. The magnetically aligned samples were prepared by solidifying the mixture of sample powders and epoxy resin in a magnetic field of 1.1 T at room temperature. X-ray diffraction and magnetic measurements were carried out on the bulk, powdered and aligned samples. It turns out that the samples with x < 1.8 for YCOa_xFexA1 and x < 1.5 for HoCo4_xFexA1 are generally single phase with the CaCu 5 structure. The YCo2FezA1 and YCOl.sFez.2A1 samples contain a small amount of a second phase, while the samples with higher Fe content are found to be multiphase and are not considered in the following part of this paper. Pulsed magnetic fields up to 3.5 T have been used to measure the aligned samples at 77 and 300 K. Values for the anisotropy field H a of the samples with uniaxial anisotropy were approximately estimated by extrapolating the magnetization curves measured along the easy and hard magnetization directions to their intersection. * Corresponding author. Fax: +31-20-525 5788. The composition dependences of the obtained magnetic parameters of HoCo 4 xFexAl and of the Curie temperature of YCO4_xFexAl are shown in Fig. 1 and in the inset of Fig. 1, respectively. It can be seen that with increasing Fe content, the Curie temperature T c increases for both systems and tends to reach a constant value at about x = 1.4. This effect of Fe substitution on the Curie temperature of RCo4A1 is in good accordance with those obtained for the Co-rare-earth intermetallics RC% and RCoaB [4]. In contrast, the ratio T k / T c (T k is the compensation temperature) decreases when the Fe content increases. This result can be explained by taking into account the larger magnetic moment of Fe compared to that of Co, which leads to an increase of the 3d-sublattice moment [4]. In a low magnetic field (0.1 T), an anomalous temperature dependence of the magnetization can be observed for the HoCo4_xFexAl samples with x < 1.5, which is considered to be associated with the spin-reorientation transition as also confirmed by ac susceptibility measurements and by the temperature dependence of the magnetization of aligned samples (not shown here). In addition, an enhancement of the 002 and 001 peaks can be observed from the diffraction patterns of the aligned samples, which confirms the uniaxial anisotropy along the c-axis of the samples with x < 1 at room temperature. Thus, the observed spinreorientation transition is from planar to uniaxial anisotropy with increasing temperature. It is found that the spin-reorientation temperature increases with increasing Fe content (see Fig. 1). In Fig. 2, the composition dependence of H a for YCo4_xFexAl at 77 and 300 K is presented. The data for YCo4AI were quoted from Ref. [2]. It can be seen that with increasing Fe content, H a decreases quickly and tends to change its sign at about x = 2.0. In combination with X-ray diffraction patterns of the aligned samples (not 0304-8853/95/$09.50 © 1995 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved SSDI 0304-8853(94)00760-8 936 C. V. Thang et el./Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials" 140-144 (1995) 935-936


This cross-sectional study evaluated the relationship between primary and secondary oral health care in Brazil. For this purpose, data from the National Program for Improving Access and Quality of Primary Care were used. Dentists from 12,403 oral health teams (OHTs) answered a structured questionnaire in 2012. The data were analyzed descriptively and by cluster analysis. Of the 12,387 (99.9%) OHTs that answered all the questions, 62.2% reported the existence of Dental Specialties Centers (DSCs) to which they could refer patients. The specialties with the highest frequencies were endodontics (68.4%), minor oral surgery (65.8%), periodontics (63.0%), radiology (46.8%), oral medicine (40.2%), orthodontics (20.5%) and implantology (6.2%). In all percentiles, the shortest wait time for secondary care was for radiology, followed by oral medicine and the other specialties. In the 50th percentile, the wait for endodontics, periodontics, minor oral surgery and orthodontics was 30 days, while for implantology, the wait was 60 days. Finally, in the 75th percentile, the wait for endodontics, orthodontics and implantology was 90 days or more. Two clusters, with different frequencies of OHT access to specialties, were identified. Cluster 1 (n = 7,913) included the OHTs with lower frequencies in all specialties except orthodontics and implantology compared with Cluster 2 (n = 4,474). Of the Brazilian regions, the South and Southeast regions had the highest frequencies for Cluster 2, with better rates for the relationship between primary and secondary care. This study suggests certain difficulties in the relationship between primary and secondary care in specific specialties in oral health, with a great number of OHTs with limited access to DSCs, in addition to different performance in terms of OHT access to DSCs across Brazilian regions.


ZnO is identified as a potentially attractive n‐type oxide thermoelectric material due to its abundance, nontoxicity, and a high degree of stability. However, working with ZnO is challenging due to its high thermal conductivity from its strong ionic bonds and low electrical conductivity due to its low charge concentrations. Here, it is demonstrated that the electrical and thermal transport properties of ZnO can be simultaneously improved via the successful doping of Al and ZnS coating. The ZnS coating in Al‐doped ZnO is observed and analyzed through microstructure and spectroscopic studies. The power factor for 1% ZnS‐coated Zn0.98Al0.02O is increased to ≈0.75 mW m−1 K−2 at 1073 K, 161% higher than pure ZnO. This enhancement in the power factor can be explained by the aliovalent Al3+ doping and modifications in intrinsic defects, leading to an increased carrier concentration. Interestingly, ZnS coating significantly reduces lattice thermal conductivity to ≈2.31 W m−1 K−1 at 1073 K for 2% ZnS‐coated Zn0.98Al0.02O, a 62% decrease over pure ZnO. This large reduction in lattice thermal conductivity can be elucidated based on coherent phonon scattering via Callaway's model. Overall, the figure of merit, zT, increases to 0.2 in 2% ZnS‐coated Zn0.98Al0.02O, which is 272% higher than pure ZnO at 1073 K.


Psilocybin, a serotonergic agonist, was granted a "breakthrough therapy" status by the Food and Drug Administration for clinical trials involving major depressive disorder and treatment-resistant depression. The direct phosphorylation of psilocin to psilocybin that uses a fast crystallization associated with a kinetically controlled process resulted in a smaller particle size distribution. Herein, the measurement of the metastable zone width (MSZW) and nucleation induction enabled a thermodynamically controlled crystallization process, which leads to the formation of a crystal structure with stronger interactions, controlled particle size distribution (PSD), and improved impurity profile. Employing a high-resolution inline microscopy viewer allowed the real-time monitoring of the crystallization process and the measurement of the particle size. We also present a comprehensive study of the formation of polymorph B (trihydrate), polymorph A (anhydrate), and polymorph H (anhydrate) using water recrystallization, which indicates that the formation of polymorph B (trihydrate) is independent of the crystallization method. However, polymorphs A and H are dependent on the mode of drying: drying at room temperature under vacuum gives rise to mainly polymorph A, and when heated even at relatively low temperatures, a mixture of polymorphs A and H beings to form.


The study estimated and compared some drying parameters of bitter leaf ( Vernonia amagdalina ) and black pepper ( Piper guinenses ) using solar dryer and open- air sun drying methods. Two hundred grams (200g) of each sample were dried under the two different conditions. Their respective weight losses were used to determine the reduction in moisture contents. Drying was assumed to have taken place in the falling- rate period, which enabled the use of only one drying rate constant, K. Graphs of ln(M 0 -M) versus time were plotted in each case and used to obtain the drying rate constants, K for the two drying conditions. The drying rate constants for the solar dryer and open- air sun dried bitter leaf were 0.8 and 0.7, respectively. Similarly, the values for black pepper were 0 2 and 0.3, respectively. Free moisture versus time graphs of both samples were also plotted which showed that the assumption of one falling- rate period is justifiable. The above information would be very critical to farmers as well as to industrial applications because specified levels of moisture content could be linked with a specified time in the process equation. The solar dryer was more efficient but also more expensive and so would be more appropriate to industrial application, whereas open-air sun drying would be more suited for village scale drying of these vegetables. Both the nutritional and sensory qualities of the dried products were enhanced by the process. The adoption of the drying techniques would ensure steady availability of these vegetables all the year round as well as reduce carbon emissions from the conventional drying methods and hence mitigate global warming. KEYWORDS: Solar drying, open- air sun drying, drying rate constant, falling rate, climate change, food ingredients.


Neonatal gastric perforation (NGP) is an uncommon disease. Historical reports regard the aetiology as spontaneous while the mortality remains high. We present the report of the cases of neonatal gastric perforations who presented to our facility, its diverse aetiology and a review of the literature. Their clinical data including age, sex, weight, maternal complications, aetiology, location of perforation and the operation performed are summarized. NGP was complicated by anaemia, leukocytosis and thrombocytopaenia in all cases. The overall mortality rate was 66.7% and this was attributed to late presentation. We recommend early recognition and prompt surgical intervention as a way to salvage the condition. Also, passing a nasogastric tube and ensuring free drainage of gastric air and fluid should form part of neonatal resuscitation procedures as a way to prevent gastric over distension and subsequent perforation.


In this study, an amorphous nickel-phosphide (Ni-P) thin film was produced by electroplating, and its possible use as the anode material of a secondary lithium battery was explored. First, by changing the electroplating conditions, we created uniform and flat Ni-P thin films that contained 16–28 at% phosphorus. An evaluation of the manufactured thin film as anode material showed that a thin film with more phosphorus content had a higher specific discharge capacity. In particular, the initial gravimetric capacity of the electrode with the highest phosphorus content (28 at%) was comparable to that of graphite, but it had three times the initial volumetric capacity. The cycling stability improved with a higher phosphorus content. It was suggested that the adhesive strength between the substrate and thin film had a greater impact on the cycling stability than the physical damage caused by the volume changes during charging and discharging. To improve the specific capacity, we formed globular electrodeposits on the surface of the thin film. As a result, a discharge capacity comparable to the theoretical capacity of Ni-P was obtained, and the rate performance was additionally improved, without reduction in the life cycle.


Listeria monocytogenes infection has been observed in 13 patients, of a group of more than 700 renal transplants, treated during the past 13 1/2 years. The infection usually was manifested as bacteremia or meningitis. Twelve of the 13 patients survived the infection; one died of brain-stem herniation due to increased intracranial pressure. The recommended treatment is intravenously given ampicillin sodium.


This exploratory paper suggests some emerging arenas of public debate across the personal life‐from 'test-tube babies' to 'lesbian and gay families'‐which when taken together may be captured by the term 'intimate citizenship'. This suggests a plurality of public discourses developing about how to live the personal and intimate life in a late modern and global world where we are often confronted by an escalating series of choices and difficulties around intimacies. A framework of four key issues is suggested for fuller examination. This entails the changing nature of the public sphere; the growth of culture wars and the need for dialogue; the narrativisation process and grounded moralities; and the links to global intimacies.


X-ray projection imaging, introduced in the early 20th century, was for a long time the only and still is a major routine diagnostic procedure that can be performed on the intact human body. With the advent of Computed Tomography in 1973, for the first time, a true 3D imaging of anatomical structures became feasible. Besides, digital recording and processing allowed further developments such as subtraction angiography in real-time or direct x-ray imaging without wet photographic methods.


Insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) are used as switching devices for inverters of hybrid electric vehicles. IGBTs require very high reliability against device destruction. The strong dependence of short-circuit capability on temperature was theoretically investigated for the first time using a heat conduction equation. The model showed that the temperature-dependent factor for short-circuit capability was consistent with the empirical evidence.


The present study investigated the protective potential of the polyphenols in pome granate juice against the detrimental effects of lead exposure on the hem atological system and antioxidant parameters of rat red blood cells. Forty adult male Sprague Dawley rats weighin about 300 g were allocated randomly to four group s: a control group that received normal food and water; a positive control group that received a daily dose f 2000 ppm lead (as lead acetate) in their drinking water for 5 weeks; a low treatment group that received a daily dose of 2000 ppm lead together with 30μl pomegranate jui ce (PJ; equivalent to 1050 μmol total polyphenols) by gavages for 5 weeks; and a high treatment group that r eceived 2000 ppm lead and 60μl PJ (equivalent to 21 00 μmol total polyphenols) daily for 5 weeks. The plasma le ad level was significantly (p<0.001) decreased as t he plasma copper and zinc levels were significantly increased (p<0.001) in rats received PJ. Significant increase s (p<0.001) in red blood cell (RBC) and white blood c ell (WBC) counts, and haemoglobin (Hb) and packet c ell volume (PCV) were found in both PJ groups compared to the rats exposed to lead alone. Rats that receiv d PJ in addition to lead showed erythrocyte glutathione and plasma ceruloplasmin levels and erythrocyte supero xide dismutase and catalase activities that were almost close to the control values. These observati ons ndicated that treatment of rats with polyphenols might have produ ced amelioration in hematological system of rats ex posed to lead, protecting the level of copper, zinc and anti oxidants by against lead induced damage in blood ce lls.


Background Smoking has been associated with an increased risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), more severe disease and poor response to disease modifying drugs (DMARD). Motivation is the most important aspect of giving up smoking and also awareness of its ill-effects, self-confidence and support. Objectives We have looked at the immediate effect on patient motivation to stop smoking by creating awareness of its ill-effects. Methods We surveyed Rheumatology outpatients with an anonymous questionnaire including demographics, smoking status, education status, employment status and awareness of the ill-effects of smoking. Motivation to stop smoking was assessed by 10cm Visual analogue scale (VAS) before and after receiving information on adverse effects of smoking on RA. The information provided was about increased risk of RA, severe disease and poor response to DMARD. Results 100 unselected patients completed the questionnaire: 74% female; 46% RA; 22% current smokers; 37% never smokers; 41% ex-smokers. 68% of patients in all categories had attended secondary school. A higher proportion of never smokers had attended University compared with current smokers [20% (8/37) vs. 5% (1/22)]. A higher proportion of current smokers were unemployed as compared with never smokers [32% (7/22) vs. 8% (3/37)]. 50% of patients stated that they had never asked about smoking during consultations. When asked how important smoking is in arthritis, 55% of all patients scored >8/10 on a VAS (0=not bad /10=very bad). There was no significant difference in understanding the importance of smoking on arthritis between current smokers (VAS mean; SD 7.06; 2.35) and never smokers (VAS mean; SD 7.37; 2.15) (p=0.115) and between current smokers and ex-smokers (Mean; SD 7.74; 1.87) (p=0.23). 73% (16/22) of current smokers motivation to give up smoking score increased after they were given information on adverse effects of smoking on RA (mean VAS 4.43 before; 5.79 after) (p=0.03). 27% (6/22) did not change, none decreased. 50% (11/22) of patients felt lack of support and help prevented them stopping smoking. Preferred methods for smoking cessation help were: leaflets 41%; verbal advice 9%; GP review 18%. 54% (22/41) of ex-smokers were happy to speak to the current smokers to provide tips on stopping smoking. Conclusions This small study suggests that brief educational intervention may help motivate patients to give up smoking. Lack of support is a common difficulty patients perceive when they try to give up smoking. As RA outcomes are worsened by smoking, clinicians need to be more proactive about promoting smoking cessation. Outpatient appointments provide a good opportunity for this. Disclosure of Interest None declared


A system containing specific electrodes for inorganic constituents (Na+, K+, H+, Cl-)in blood has been developed which is automated with respect to sampling, calibration, and data acquisition and processing. The hardware that was built for the system included glass capillary electrodes, silver capillary electrode, special reference electrode, rotary valve, thermostatting and electrically shielding container, and probe selector-amplifier. Suitable standard solutions for the automatic calibration cycle were formulated and have been compared against primary standards. The computer programs for processing the data are briefly described. Data on the performance of the system (precision, speed, volume of specimen) are given.


Hepatic endoplasmic reticulum (ER) integral cytochromes P450 (P450s) are monooxygenases engaged in the biotransformation and elimination of endo‐ as well as xenobiotics. Of the human liver P450s, CYP3A4 is the major and most dominant catalyst responsible for the biotransformation of over 50% of clinically prescribed drugs. CYP2E1 metabolizes smaller molecular weight compounds (EtOH), carcinogens, environmental toxins, and endobiotics, and is justly implicated in various toxigenic/pathogenic mechanisms of human disease. Both P450s are notorious for their potential to generate pathogenic reactive oxygen species (ROS) during futile oxidative cycling and/or oxidative uncoupling. Such ROS not only oxidatively damage the P450 catalytic cage, but on their escape into the cytosol, also the P450 outer surface and any surrounding cell organelles. Given their ER‐monotopic topology coupled with this high potential to acquire oxidative lesions in their cytosolic (C) domain, not surprisingly these P450 proteins exhibit shorter lifespans and are excellent prototype substrates of ER‐associated degradation ("ERAD‐C") pathway. Indeed, we have shown that both CYP3A4 and CYP2E1 incur ERAD‐C, during which they are first phosphorylated by protein kinases A and C, which greatly enhance/accelerate their ubiquitination by UBC7/gp78 and UbcH5a/CHIP/Hsp70/Hsp40 E2/E3 ubiquitin ligase complexes. Such P450 phosphorylation occurs on Ser/Thr residues within linear sequences as well as spatially clustered acidic (Asp/Glu) residues. We propose that such S/T phosphorylation within these clusters creates negatively charged patches or conformational phosphodegrons for interaction with positively charged E2/E3 domains. Such P450 S/T phosphorylation we posit serves as a molecular switch to turn on its ubiquitination and ERAD‐C. © 2014 IUBMB Life, 66(2):78–88, 2014


Two experiments were undertaken to investigate the combined influence of the age of embryo at infection and the temperature and duration of incubation on the replication and yield of the Beaudette strain of IB virus lin allantoic fluid and the chorio allantoic membrane. In general a higher titre of virus was found in the allantoic fluid and chorioallantoic membrane of living embryos than of dead ones and with continued incubation of dead embryos the titre of virus fell still further. For embryos of the same age at infection peak titres were similar for those incubated at 32 degrees C and 37 degrees C but were greater than for the corresponding embryos at 42 degrees C. The range of titres for embryos of all ages associated with duration of incubation was narrower for those incubated at 32 degrees C than at 37 degrees C and 42 degrees C and a longer survival period was observed for embryos incubated at 32 degrees C. Peak titres of virus for all age groups were observed after 24 h at 32 degrees C and after 12 h at 37 degrees C and 42 degrees C and then declined. The highest titre for virus in allantoic fluid, in both experiments, was in the 10 d old embryos at 32 degrees C harvested after 24 h. For the chorioallantoic membrane the highest titre in the first experiment was in 12 d old embryos at 32 degrees C, harvested after 24 h, while in the second it was also in 12 d old embryos but at 37 degrees C and harvested after 12 h. The lowest titre of all was in 10 d old embryos incubated at 42 degrees C. It is considered that the maximum total yield of virus from the allantoic fluid and chorio allantoic membrane of the same embryo will be in those infected at 10 - 12 d of age incubated at 32 degrees C to 37 degrees C.


At least six waterspouts occurred at a large alpine lake in the western United States over several hours during 26 September 1998. Photographs showing the conditions as well as representative examples of this extremely rare event are presented. Some mechanisms are discussed that may explain the persistence of the convection and the low-level vorticity that gave rise to the waterspouts.


The quickly increasing of airport flow without suitable support resources is the major cause for congestions and delays. In order to take better use of airport capacity, the air traffic flow management model with dynamic capacity has been developed in this paper based on MAGHP (multi-airport ground holding problem), and a new algorithm, co-evolutionary genetic algorithm (co-GA) is proposed for this model. The airport capacity is considered to be determinate in the original model; and the airborne holding can be transformed to the ground completely. But actually the relationship between the departure and arrival capacity can be presented by curves according to different runway configurations, weather conditions and so on. Besides, airborne holding can not be avoided in certain congested airports sometimes. So the departure and arrival capacities are considered to be variables according to the demands in this paper, and in order to minimize the cost of both airborne and ground holding we assign controlled slot to the flight based on the best allocation of arrivals and departures by the co-GA. The model and co-GA was validated by practical data from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou ATC Centers of the Civil Aviation Administration of China.


Introduction Asbestos is the main risk factor for development of both peritoneal (PEM) and pleural (PLM) mesothelioma, but characteristics of this two diseases and their association with asbestos show some differences. We examined characteristics of PEM and PLM in Lombardy, Italy, the most populated (currently, 10 million residents) and industrialised Italian region. Methods The RML, established in 2000, is a population-based registry which records all cases of mesothelioma among Lombardy residents. It is part of a national network of mesothelioma registries (ReNaM). Notification of mesothelioma cases is compulsory by law. Additional sources of mesothelioma cases include hospital admission, mortality, occupational diseases, and pathology databases. Verified mesothelioma cases are interviewed about past asbestos exposure using a standardised questionnaire. For this study, from the RML database we selected PEM and PLM cases diagnosed in 2000–2014. We investigated asbestos exposure, presence of asbestosis or pleural plaques, and past employment in economical sectors. Results We identified 300 PEM and 5,011 PLM cases. Incidence rates (per 1.000.000 person-years, world standardised) of PEM were 2.4 (men) and 1.7 (women), compared with 52.4 and 19.9 for PLM. Asbestosis (both genders) and pleural plaques (men) were more frequent among PEM cases. Occupational asbestos exposure was similar in PEM and PLM cases. We found higher proportions of PEM employed in the asbestos cement production. Conclusion The higher frequency of pleural plaques in PEM cases and the similar frequency of past occupational asbestos exposure confirm the association between asbestos exposure and peritoneal mesothelioma. The higher proportions of asbestosis and of past employment in the asbestos-cement sector among PEM cases suggest a possible role of high exposures to asbestos in the peritoneal mesothelioma genesis.


Financial inclusion is one of the most important objectives of socio-economic development policymaking. Microfinance institutions (MFIs) have become a major role in promoting a wide range of financial inclusion which benefits low-income societies. However, outreach in rural areas, where poverty is more widespread, is considered low. Many things are often associated with slower growth of financial inclusion in rural areas such as the character of the borrowers and also difficult accesses to the poor. These obstacles lead to assumptions that MFIs in rural areas face more difficult challenges to maintain their sustainability than in urban areas. In this study, data collected during 10 years period, between 2009 to 2019, from 942 MFIs that reported their data to the MIX Market, 7560 observational data were being used. Using Panel Data model, this study investigated whether rural outreach will hinder the sustainability of the MFIs. Our baseline regression test informed that outreach in rural borrowers positively affected sustainability. In General, this study indicated that MFIs can consider penetrating more rural borrowers to continue carrying out one of their social missions in providing financial access to poor people in rural areas.
Keywords: Microfinance Institutions (MFIs); Sustainability; Rural Borrowers; Depth of Outreach; Operational self-sufficiency (OSS)


Immunosuppressive treatment increases the risk of infection and malignancy in organ transplant recipients. We report on a 42-year-old male renal transplant recipient who lost his first graft after reduction of immunosuppressive treatment due to Kaposi sarcoma and who successfully underwent a second renal transplant 10 years later. The patient's current treatment consists of low-dose prednisone, and the two antiproliferative immunosuppressants mycophenolate mofetil and rapamycin. 4.5 years after his second transplant, the serum creatinine is 1 mg/dl and the patient has no signs of recurrent disease.


We captured, weighed, tagged, and monitored polar bear (Ursus maritimus) cubs and yearlings in western Hudson Bay to examine survival rates and correlates with survival. Cub survival between spring and autumn increased with cub mass and maternal mass, but was not related to maternal age or maternal condition. Cub survival between spring and autumn varied annually between 39.0 and 100.0% and averaged 53.2%. Whole-litter loss between spring and autumn was 30.8%, and only 38.0% of the females did not lose any cubs. Survival of spring twins was similar regardless of size, but in triplet litters, survival between spring and autumn varied according to cub size. Minimum cub survival from one autumn to the next was 34.7% and was related to cub mass, maternal mass, and maternal condition. Cub survival during autumn was estimated at 83.0%. Survival during the first year of life was no more than 44.0% but we could not estimate an annual survival rate because of the sampling regime. Possibly because harvesting was the major mortality factor for yearlings (19.4% of the yearlings were removed from the population per year), no factors examined correlated with survival of yearlings. We found no sex-related differences in survival of cubs or yearlings in any period. Relationships between survival in polar bear cubs and their condition suggest that lack of food availability, sometimes due to low maternal fat stores for lactation, leads to starvation and may be the main cause of mortality.


For many purposes the natural-synthetic fiber-blend fabrics are more suitable than pure natural or synthetic products. It is often possible to obtain a maximum in clothing and textile technical properties by compensating the defects of one fiber by using an other totally different fiber. Many problems, however, have arisen in the production of flame-retardent fabrics because the use of synthetic fibers often makes the fire retardancy less effective. In our 2-year research project different fire-retardant (FR) viscose–polyesters fabrics were prapared at first in the laboratory scale. The natural type raw materials were Modal Prima viscose and normal FR–viscose cotton type staple fibers. The synthetic raw materials were FR–polyesters of the same type with two different flame retardants. Test fabrics were knitted in the laboratory by using seven blended yarns in the ratios 100/0, 80/20, 65/35, and 50/50 and vice versa. Cotton type PVC–fiber was also used in some experiments. All these test fabrics were also finished chemically by using normal crease-resistant (DMU, DMEU, DMDHEU, and TMM) and flameretardant (N,-methylolphosphonopropionamide and THPC) finishing chemicals. The textile and fire-retardant properties of the original and finished fabrics were estimated by using addon, tensile strength, LOI-value, and vertical flame test determinations. The mechanism of flame retardancy was also studied with DSC technique, P- and N-analysis and char investigations. The test results of viscose/polyester studies were compared with the results of cotton/polyester studies. After laboratory studies the best methods for FR–viscose/polyester fabric production were chosen, and the fabrics were manufactured. The fabrics were home-washed 20–50 times, and the textile and FR-properties were determined after each 10 washings. These results were again compared with results of cotton/polyester fabrics.