First we state the almost sure convergence for the $k$-power second order increments of the fractional Brownian motion (fBm). Then we give the rate of that convergence, that is convergence in law for the $k$-power variation and more generally for a $g$ functional variation of the fBm, function $g$ being general but centered, including the absolute $k$-power variation. This allows us to propose several estimators of the Hurst parameter $H$ for the fBm, through the observation of one trajectory on a regular grid of points, using classical linear regression. The first one, $\widehat{H}_{k}$, is built using function $g_{k}(x)=\vert {x} \vert ^{k}- E\vert N \vert^{k}$, and the second one, $\widehat{H}_{\log}$, using function $g_{\log}(x) =\log\vert x\vert-E \log \vert N \vert$, leading to unbiased consistent estimators. A Central Limit Theorem (CLT) is also proposed for both estimators. The estimators $\widehat{H}_{k}$ and $\widehat{H}_{\log}$ are linked. That is, if $k(n)$ is a sequence of positive numbers converging to zero with $n$, and if $\widehat{H}_{k(n)}$ denotes the corresponding estimator of the $H$ parameter, we set out that the asymptotic behavior of $\widehat{H}_{k(n)}$ and of $\widehat{H}_{\log}$ are the same. The technics used before lead us to provide simultaneous estimators of parameter $H$ and of the local variance $\sigma$, in four particular simple models all driven by a fBm. As before, a regression model can be written and least square estimators of $H$ and of $\sigma$ are defined. These estimators are still built on the second order increments of the stochastic process solution of the stochastic differential equation. We still enunciate their consistency and a CLT is given for both of them. Furthermore, we consider testing the hypothesis $\sigma_{n}=\sigma$ against an alternative in the four previous models. An evaluation of the asymptotic power of the test is made. Finally simulations of the previous results are proposed.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the effect of three caries preventive interventions provided by Thailand's Ministry of Public Health (MOPH): supervised toothbrushing (STB), fluoride varnish (FV), and combined STB+FV from 0 to 5 years old to the base case using the System Dynamics Model (SDM).

METHODS
The SDM was developed to compare the intervention scenarios: STB, FV, and combined STB+FV with the base case scenario. Meta-analyses determined the effective rates of the interventions included in the model.

RESULTS
The model indicated that the population with no caries in deciduous teeth increased by 7.5%, 5.7%, and 4.2% at three years of age, and 12.8%, 9.9%, and 5.9% at five years of age, under STB+FV, STB, and FV respectively when compared to the base case. At three years old, the population with untreated caries in deciduous teeth decreased by 12.9% in STB+FV, 9.8% in STB, and 7.3% in FV, and by 10.9% in STB+FV, 8.5% in STB, and 4.9% in FV, at five years old. The increase in the population without caries is considered clinically significant compared to baseline.

CONCLUSION
The model determined that an effective combination of STB and FV should be administered between 0 and 5 years of age to reduce caries in the primary dentition. The SDM could be applied as a "what-if" analysis in order to determine the most beneficial intervention or policy by comparing them.


Research in high speed switching systems is in greater demand as the internet traffic gets rapid increase. Designing an efficient scheduling algorithm with high throughput and low delay is an open challenge. Most of the algorithms achieve 100% throughput in uniform traffics but failed to attain the same performance under non-uniform traffics. Moreover these algorithms are also suffers from starvation leads to extended waiting time of VOQ. In this paper, Prioritized Queue with Round Robin Scheduler (PQRS) is proposed for Buffered Crossbar Switches. We proved that our proposed scheduler can achieve 85% throughput under any non-uniform traffic without starvation.


Unlike traditional information technology products mainly used in business, many new information and communication technology (ICT) products have demonstrated attributes of consumer commodities. Therefore, existing technology acceptance models (TAM) may not be sufficient to predict the usage and purchase intention of these products. To address this gap, we aim to investigate how consumer lifestyle affects consumer adoption of new ICT products. We developed a lifestyle-oriented new ICT product adoption model for consumers, to reveal how lifestyle impacts consumer evaluation of product attributes and consequently impacts their usage intention and purchase intention of new ICT products. To test our research model and hypotheses, we conducted a questionnaire survey and used structural equation modelling based on data collected from 414 respondents. Results from the empirical investigation show that consumer lifestyle affects consumer adoption of new ICT products, partially through the value preferences they form towards new ICT products along a variety of product attributes including functional attributes, symbolic attributes and cost attributes. The present study contributes to the literature regarding adoption of ICT products by fostering an understanding of the effect of consumer lifestyle on consumer adoption of new ICT products.


Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of tylvalosin (Aivlosin Water Soluble Granules, ECO Animal Health) in drinking water for control of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M hyo) on a farm with chronic enzootic pneumonia (EP) problems and high prevalence of mycoplasma-like lesions at slaughter. Design On a 4000-sow farm in the southeast of Spain, 1500 animals of same age were randomly divided into two groups: 900 pigs in the treated group (TG) and 600 pigs in the non-treated control group (CG). TG was medicated for seven days with tylvalosin in drinking water (2.5 mg tylvalosin/kg bodyweight (BW)) at weaning (from 21st to 28th day of life) and a second treatment when moved to finisher barn (from 63rd to 70th day of life). Results In the TG, there was a significant reduction in the severity (P<0.001) and number of animals with lung lesions (P<0.001) compared with CG. TG had an increased average daily gain and decreased average number of days in finishing. TG had a lower average carcase weight, but improved homogeneity. M hyo was not detected by q-PCR in samples, taken from lungs with characteristic EP lesions in the TG (0/9), in contrast to the CG (8/9 positive). Conclusions A strategic medication with Aivlosin at 2.5 mg tylvalosin/kg BW in drinking water for seven days at weaning and when moved to finisher barn significantly reduces mycoplasma-like lung lesions and improves productivity parameters.


Low back pain is one of the discomfort which often occurred during pregnancy. Lowback pain is a condition experienced by many pregnant women throughout pregnancy period to the post-delivery period. One of the solutions to address this issue is by doing exercise for pregnancy women.The study was conducted to find out the effect of pregnancy exercisesto reduce low back pain issue. The data source is pregnant women on their third quarter of pregnancy period in Fatmawati's private clinic during 28th February 2015 until 31 March 2015. This is aquantitative analysis study. The number of samples are 89 pregnant women and 47 out of them are choosen by accidental sampling technique. Primary data in this study has been analyzed using chi square statistical test. The result of this study showed that p value = 0.000; which is p value which is smaller than α ( 0.05 ). It indicated that there is a significant effect of pregnancy exercises to reduce low back pain issue. Statistical test result showed that the OR (Odds Ratio) value = 2.600, which mean that pregnant women who did not take pregnancy exercises have likelihood to suffer from low back pain 3 times higher than pregnant women who took it. In brief, it can be seen that pregnancy exercise can be a solution to solve the low back pain issue during pregnancy period.


Defective CFTR biogenesis and activity in cystic fibrosis airways leads to airway dehydration and impaired mucociliary clearance, resulting in chronic airway infection and inflammation. Most cystic fibrosis patients have at least one copy of the F508del CFTR mutation, which results in a protein retained in the endoplasmic reticulum and degraded by the proteosomal pathway. CFTR modulators, e.g., correctors, promote the transfer of F508del to the apical membrane, while potentiators increase CFTR activity. Corrector and potentiator double therapies modestly improve lung function, whereas triple therapies with two correctors and one potentiator indicate improved outcomes. Enhanced F508del rescue by CFTR modulators is achieved by exposing F508del/F508del primary cultures of human bronchial epithelia to relevant inflammatory stimuli, i.e., supernatant from mucopurulent material or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from human cystic fibrosis airways. Inflammation enhances the biochemical and functional rescue of F508del by double or triple CFTR modulator therapy and overcomes abrogation of CFTR correction by chronic VX-770 treatment in vitro. Furthermore, the impact of inflammation on clinical outcomes linked to CFTR rescue has been recently suggested. This review discusses these data and possible mechanisms for airway inflammation-enhanced F508del rescue. Expanding the understanding of how airway inflammation improves CFTR rescue may benefit cystic fibrosis patients.


The Focused Research Initiative (FRI) Group from Purdue University, the University of Illinois, the University of Michigan, Magnavox, and Hughes Network Systems (HNS) began work in July of 1995 on a five year program. The FRI Group is uniquely integrating several Department of Defense programs and the research and educational programs at three major universities, while achieving the benefits of collaboration with industry and the military. The concept of the digital battlefield requires digitization of all the information on the battlefield needed for the conduct of battle and mission accomplishment. Software is used to extract the information needed by a tactical commander, logistics commander, or individual soldier from the databases and to reformat, filter, and fuse the data to forms usable for each particular function reducing information overload. Functions include command and control, target detection and recognition, planning, analysis maps and overlays, intelligence, logistics, personnel, and position location. Wireless, distributed communications networks are required to acquire information from sources and to transmit it between databases and battlefield entities. Technology for distributed multimedia communications networks must be found to support the multimedia transmission of speech, video, high resolution maps and overlays, and other digital data in a highly mobile military environment requiring low probability of intercept and jamming resistance.


textabstractThe international community is under increased pressure to show results from the money invested through aid agencies. While support for international development has been large, there has also been a forceful critique. This paper argues that much of the public debate tends to be counter-productive, as it takes insufficient account of the diversity of aid motives, agencies, modalities, and problems addressed. Critical to the debate on aid, in my view, is to focus on the accountability towards both the funders and recipients of aid, and the international community needs to ensure strengthened accountability -- rather than producing "results" -- enables increased space for the development of developmental social contracts.


Recent increases in nitrate concentrations in the Suwannee River and associated springs in northern Florida have raised concerns over the contributions of non-point sources. The Middle Suwannee River Basin (MSRB) is of special concern because of prevalent karst topography, unconfined aquifers and sandy soils which increase vulnerability of the ground water contamination from agricultural operations- a billion dollar industry in this region. Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) production poses a challenge in the area due to the shallow root system of potato plants, and low water and nutrient holding capacity of the sandy soils. A four-year monitoring study for potato production on sandy soil was conducted on a commercial farm located in the MSRB to identify major nitrogen (N) loss pathways and determine their contribution to the total environmental N load, using a partial N budget approach and the potato model SUBSTOR. Model simulated environmental N loading rates were found to lie within one standard deviation of the observed values and identified leaching loss of N as the major sink representing 25 to 38% (or 85 to 138 kg ha-1 N) of the total input N (310 to 349 kg ha-1 N). The crop residues left in the field after tuber harvest represented a significant amount of N (64 to 110 kg ha-1N) and posed potential for indirect leaching loss of N upon their mineralization and the absence of subsequent cover crops. Typically, two months of fallow period exits between harvest of tubers and planting of the fall row crop (silage corn). The fallow period is characterized by summer rains which pose a threat to N released from rapidly mineralizing potato vines. Strategies to reduce N loading into the groundwater from potato production must focus on development and adoption of best management practices aimed on reducing direct as well as indirect N leaching losses.


Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076 Aalto www.aalto.fi Author Mika Marttunen Name of the doctoral dissertation Interactive multi-criteria decision analysis in the collaborative management of watercourses Publisher Aalto University Unit School of Science, Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis Series Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS 75/2011 Field of research Systems and operations research, Environmental decision making Manuscript submitted 16 August 2011 Manuscript revised 16 August 2011 Date of the defence 28 October 2011 Language English Monograph Article dissertation (summary + original articles) Abstract This thesis develops new approaches based on multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to improve the quality of multi-stakeholder processes in large watercourse development projects. The main methodological result is the decision analysis interview (DAI) approach developed and applied in five watercourse management projects. The DAI approach refers to an MCDA process at the core of which are personal interviews with a multi-criteria model. The research questions are: 1) in which ways does MCDA support collaborative planning and joint problem solution, 2) what are the key challenges in multi-stakeholder MCDA processes, and 3) how does the DAI approach meet them? The results of these projects and more than 130 personal DAIs are described in the six appended articles. In the four regulation development projects studied, an agreement on the policy recommendations was achieved. MCDA greatly supported the collaborative planning processes. It provided a structured framework for the whole project and efficient tools to gather, analyse, and present research results as well as stakeholders' knowledge and preferences. MCDA helped to create planning processes that participants find efficient, interesting, and meaningful. There are three features that I found to be crucial in the use of MCDA in collaborative processes. First, MCDA has to be introduced to the planning process in the early phase, because processes that actively engage stakeholders and aim at enhanced learning take time. Second, MCDA tools should be used in intensive interaction between the facilitator and the participants. This improves the quality of the MCDA process and promotes gaining of the potential benefits of the MCDA approach. One major advantage of the interactive weight elicitation is that it reduces the risk of behavioural biases and human mistakes. Third, the decision analyst must understand well the method and its potential problematic elements as well as the decision situation at hand.This thesis develops new approaches based on multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to improve the quality of multi-stakeholder processes in large watercourse development projects. The main methodological result is the decision analysis interview (DAI) approach developed and applied in five watercourse management projects. The DAI approach refers to an MCDA process at the core of which are personal interviews with a multi-criteria model. The research questions are: 1) in which ways does MCDA support collaborative planning and joint problem solution, 2) what are the key challenges in multi-stakeholder MCDA processes, and 3) how does the DAI approach meet them? The results of these projects and more than 130 personal DAIs are described in the six appended articles. In the four regulation development projects studied, an agreement on the policy recommendations was achieved. MCDA greatly supported the collaborative planning processes. It provided a structured framework for the whole project and efficient tools to gather, analyse, and present research results as well as stakeholders' knowledge and preferences. MCDA helped to create planning processes that participants find efficient, interesting, and meaningful. There are three features that I found to be crucial in the use of MCDA in collaborative processes. First, MCDA has to be introduced to the planning process in the early phase, because processes that actively engage stakeholders and aim at enhanced learning take time. Second, MCDA tools should be used in intensive interaction between the facilitator and the participants. This improves the quality of the MCDA process and promotes gaining of the potential benefits of the MCDA approach. One major advantage of the interactive weight elicitation is that it reduces the risk of behavioural biases and human mistakes. Third, the decision analyst must understand well the method and its potential problematic elements as well as the decision situation at hand.


Abstract. Only two months after a huge forest fire occurred in the upper part of a
valley located in central Portugal, several debris flows were triggered by
intense rainfall. The event caused infrastructural and economic damage,
although no lives were lost. The present research aims to simulate the run-out
of two debris flows that occurred during the event as well as to calculate
via back-analysis the rheological parameters and the excess rain involved. Thus,
a dynamic model was used, which integrates surface runoff, concentrated
erosion along the channels, propagation and deposition of flow material.
Afterwards, the model was validated using 32 debris flows triggered during
the same event that were not considered for calibration. The rheological and
entrainment parameters obtained for the most accurate simulation were then
used to perform three scenarios of debris flow run-out on the basin scale.
The results were confronted with the existing buildings exposed in the
study area and the worst-case scenario showed a potential inundation that may
affect 345 buildings. In addition, six streams where debris flow occurred in
the past and caused material damage and loss of lives were identified.


The purpose of this research was to focus on alcohol addicts turning points of their own experiences. The result of the research shows that the alcohol abuse in Swedish society is increasing despite treatments and interventions from various quarters. The chosen method for this report was a qualitative narrative method. The empirical data in this report consists of six autobiographies written by writers who emerged from an alcohol addiction. The conclusions was that alcohol addicts has not been given the right help. It turned out that the sober alcoholics we used in our empirical data had different experiences to emerge from an alcohol addiction. They eventually managed to reach its turning point by getting the right individual aid. Keywords: alcohol addicts, turning point, alcohol, abuse (Less)


Multiple sequence alignment is the base of a growing number of Bioinformatics applications. This does not mean that the accuracy of the existing methods corresponds to biologically faultless alignments. Searching for the optimal alignment for a set of sequences is often hindered by the size and complexity of the search space. Parallel Genetic Algorithms are a class of stochastic algorithms which can increase the speed up of the algorithms. They also enhance the efficiency of the search and the robustness of the solutions by delivering results that are better than those provided by the sum of several sequential Genetic Algorithms. AlineaGA is an evolutionary method for solving protein multiple sequence alignment. It uses a Genetic Algorithm on which some of its genetic operators embed a simple local search optimization. We have implemented its parallel version which we now present. Comparing with its sequential version we have observed an improvement in the search for the best solution. We have also compared its performance with ClustalW2 and T-Coffee, observing that Parallel AlineaGA can lead the search for better solutions for the majority of the datasets in study.


This work presents an application of iterative learning control technique to the position tracking of a piezoelectric system. An identification of the closed-loop piezoelectric system was undertaken first, and then an iterative learning control methodology based on the identified ARX model was implemented for tracking the control of the actuator. The methodology differs from the traditional iterative learning method in that it takes into account the difference of predictive input between two successive iterations. The results of the experiment prove the excellence of this technique for delicate tracking control of the piezoelectric actuator.


The effect of experimental diets with fermented soybean (natto) containing soybean extract (nijiru) on ovariectomy (OVX)-induced bone loss was investigated. Experimental diets containing either natto (46%), natto with 3.8% nijiru supplementation or natto with 9.8% nijiru were freely given to sham-operated rats or OVX rats for 3 months. Nijiru contained saponin (660μg/g of dry nijiru) and isoflavone including daidzin (770μg/g) and genistin (580μg/g) of comparatively higher concentration. OVX caused a significant reduction in the dry weight, mineral density and mineral content of the femur. The calcium content in the femoral-metaphyseal tissues was significantly reduced by OVX and these reductions were largely prevented by the feeding of natto diets with nijiru (9.8%) supplementation. This study demonstrates that the intake of natto diets supplemented with nijiru containing isoflavone and saponin has a preventive effect on OVX-induced bone loss, suggesting that it may have a role in the prevention of osteoporosis.


An explanation is given for the recently observed anomaly in the dependence of the spin-orbit relaxation time on electron diffusivity in a metallic glass. The basis is the Dy'akonov-Perel' mechanism for scattering in materials without inversion symmetry which evidently operates in metallic glass.


Rapid urbanization has significant effects on China's CO 2 emissions and contributes to climate change. It is of great theoretical and practical significance to explore the influencing factors of carbon emissions. Both the demographic composition and residential consumption of urban-rural residents were included in the expanding vector form of Kaya identity. This study employed the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index method (LMDI) to investigate the impact of urbanization on CO 2 emissions from the perspective of residential consumption in China during 1980-2020. Six effects were included population size, urbanization, residential consumption, consumption restraint, energy intensity and emission coefficient. The results showed that residential consumption contributed far more to carbon emissions than the other five effects. The impact of urbanization on carbon emission had been greater than that of population size since the middle 1990s. The decline of residential consumption rate imposed stimulation rather than restraint on carbon emissions due to the synchronous growth of shares of higher carbon investment and export in the economy. The continuous decline of energy intensity has an obvious effect on carbon emission reduction. The research results are expected to give inspiration to guide the direction how to optimize resident consumption and to achieve green and low-carbon urbanization development.


Sensor integration is widely demanded in many applications. For sensor fabrications, a cross-point structure is beneficial because of its low cost, while the readout interface circuit suffers from sneak currents, which can lead to enormous readout error. In this study, the developing electric olfaction system which integrates over 1,000 gas sensors was introduced. Compared to previous works, the array size tends to become large, and resistance values can be widely distributed. We employed the conventional voltage feedback method for the interface circuit because it can measure a wide range of resistance. However, since it constitutes the voltage divider circuit with the selected resistor and the reference resistance by an op-amp unity gain feedback, the readout accuracy is affected by its large load sensor resistance. Therefore, a calibration technique for the voltage feedback method was proposed. The feedback error caused by the load resistance and op-amp nonidealities was analyzed with a simplified circuit, in which circuit parameters such as an array scale, a reference resistance, and an op-amp output impedance were variable. The sneak currents were estimated in the calibration by utilizing the op-amp input difference, and their effects were eliminated. The simulation results showed that the readout error of $32\times 32$ resistive array with 10% distributed resistance could be decreased from around 3% to less than 0.005%. The dependency of the readout accuracy on an op-amp's gain input offset voltage was evaluated systematically to apply the calibration to a practical system.


An optical apparatus was built to measure the thermal strain which manifests itself in the tilt of the actuator. Undergoing a heating-cooling, the actuator exhibits a hysterisis in the thermally-induced tilt. There are four regimes in the evolution of the thermal field in either the heating or the cooling phases. Hysteresis in tilt is caused by a reversal of the tilt direction as the actuator changes its thermal regimes. Analyses of a thermal model for actuator find that the first two regimes are dominated by heat transmission from coil to its immediate, contacting components. In contrast, it is the air conduction from coil to its adjacent components that plays a major role in the latter two regimes.<<ETX>>


We study the first occurrence of a cuspidal representation $\pi$ of $\mathrm{Sp}_{2n}(\mathbb{A})$ in the tower of split orthogonal groups under symplectic-orthogonal theta lift. We give upper and lower bounds for the first occurrence in terms of the wave front of $\pi$. Besides we describe a class of small cuspidal representations whose first occurrence is the maximal possible.


An overview is given of previously-proposed measurement-based connection admission control (CAC) methods. First we address requirements for CAC methods, and then provide a taxonomy for CAC methods. Measurement-based CAC methods are discussed in detail, classified according to the taxonomy, and compared against each other with respect to the requirements. We conclude that measurement-based CAC methods based on effective bandwidth and bufferless models are promising because they do not require complex hardware and are less dependent on assumptions regarding traffic than methods in which the effect of buffer is considered.


John Tingle discusses a report from the Alzheimer's Society that presents new evidence about experiences of and views on people with dementia living in care homes


Wheat is the major crop of Rabi season. Weeds are considered as one of the major constraints in wheat cultivation. Most of the increase in production will have to manage from integrated use of resources, as the land area under wheat is not expected to expand further and the productivity of wheat is going very low might be due to adoption of cereal-cereal (Rice-Wheat) cropping system, late sowing, poor weed management and imbalance fertilization, etc. Among these causes of low productivity, reduction in wheat yield has been very substantial due to the infestation of weeds. The prominent weeds noted in wheat fields are Phalaris minor, Chenopodium album, Anagallis arvensis, Avena fatua, Convolvulus arvensis, Lathyrus aphaca, Cyperus rotundus and Cynodon dactylon etc. which alone cause 33 per cent reduction in wheat yield. Considering the above facts in view, this book will serve as an educational tool and provides solid background information for the readers who have interest in agronomic field crops and how to manage weeds and to control weeds for the wheat crop through different herbicides.


Bluetooth is an enabling technology for Personal Area Networks. A scatternet is an ad hoc network created by interconnecting several Bluetooth piconets, each with at most eight devices. Each piconet uses a different radio channel constituted by a frequency hopping code. The way the devices are grouped in different piconets and the way the piconets are interconnected greatly affect the performance of the scatternet in terms of capacity, data transfer delay, and energy consumption. There is a need to develop distributed scatternet formation algorithms, which guarantee full connectivity of the devices, reconfigure the network due to mobility and failure of devices, and interconnect them such a way to create an optimal topology to achieve gainful performance. The contribution of this paper is to provide an integrated approach for scatternet formation and quality-of-service support (called SHAPER-OPT). To this aim, two main procedures are proposed. First, a new scatternet formation algorithm called self-healing algorithm producing multihop Bluetooth scatternets (SHAPER) is developed which forms tree-shaped scatternets. A procedure that produces a meshed topology applying a distributed scatternet optimization algorithm (DSOA) on the network built by SHAPER is then defined. Performance evaluation of the proposed algorithms, and of the accordingly created scatternets, is carried out by using ns2 simulation. Devices are shown to be able to join or leave the scatternet at any time, without compromising the long term connectivity. Delay for network setup and reconfiguration in dynamic environments is shown to be within acceptable bounds. DSOA is also shown to be easy to implement and to improve the overall network performance.


Real-time quantitative imaging is becoming highly desirable to study nondestructively the biological behavior of 3-D cell culture systems. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of quantitative imaging/monitoring of 3-D cell culture processes via electrical impedance tomography (EIT), which is capable of generating conductivity images in a non-destructive manner with high temporal resolution. To this end, a planar miniature EIT sensor amenable to standard cell culture format is designed, and a 3-D forward model for the sensor is developed for 3-D imaging. Furthermore, a novel 3-D-Laplacian and sparsity joint regularization algorithm is proposed for enhanced 3-D image reconstruction. Simulation phantoms with spheres at various vertical and horizontal positions were imaged for 3-D performance evaluation. In addition, experiments on human breast cancer cell spheroid and a triangular breast cancer cell pellet were carried out for experimental verification. The results have shown that the stable measurement on high conductive cell culture medium and the significant improvement of image quality based on the proposed regularization method are achieved. It demonstrates the feasibility of using the miniature EIT sensor and 3-D image reconstruction algorithm to visualize 3-D cell cultures, such as spheroids or artificial tissues and organs. The established work would expedite real-time quantitative imaging of 3-D cell culture for assessment of cellular dynamics.


Environmental assessment of buildings typically focuses on operational energy consumption in an attempt to minimise building energy consumption. Whilst the operation of Australian buildings accounts for around 20% of total energy consumption nationally, the energy embodied in these buildings represents up to 20 times their annual operational energy. Many previous studies, now shown to be incomplete in system boundary or unreliable, have provided much lower values for the embodied energy of buildings and their products. Many of these studies have used traditional embodied energy analysis methods, such as process analysis and input-output (1-0) analysis. More recently, hybrid embodied energy analysis methods have been developed, combining these two traditional methods. These hybrid methods need to be compared and validated, as these too have been considered to have several limitations. This paper aims to evaluate a recently developed hybrid method for the embodied energy analysis of the Australian construction industry, relative to traditional methods. Recent improvements to this hybrid method include the use of more recent 1-0 data and th.fl inclusion of capital energy data. These significant systemic changes mean that a previous assessment of the methods needs to be reviewed. It was found that the incompleteness associated with process analysis has increased from 49% to 87%. These findings suggest that current best-practice methods of embodied energy analysis are sufficiently accurate for most typical applications. This finding is strengthened by recent improvements to the 1-0 model.


Using gene frequency data of ten blood group and protein loci (A1A2BO, MNSs, Rh, P, Lu, Fy, Hp, Tf, Hb beta and Gm) the genetic relationships of three tribes, namely, the Toda, Irula, Kurumba in south India and one tribe, namely, the Veddah in Sri Lanka with the Aboriginals in Malay, New Guinea and Australia were studied by genetic distance analysis. The tribes in south India and Sri Lanka are genetically closer to one another than to the Aboriginals in southeast Asia and Oceania. Despite their morphological similarity there is no genetic evidence to suggest that the Indian tribes and Australian Aboriginals are biologically related.


Readily available processing hardware and "off-the-shelf" (OTS) simulation software has made "high fidelity" first principles models of both steady and transient states, for both axial and centrifugal industrial compressors, relatively easy to construct. These high-fidelity models are finding their way into "real-time. digital twin" performance monitors, front-end engineering design, and post-design – pre-construction compressor performance evaluation. The compressor models are useful for reliably demonstrating the compressor and – to some degree, based on the complexity of the model – process response to various operating conditions. Once the model is constructed, it is trivial to run a "what-if" analysis of compressor performance to answer questions related to (a) recommendations or validation of the recycle/vent valve size and actuation speed, (b) general piping layout and sizing around the compressor, (c) and hot gas bypass requirements, to name a few. This paper takes a practical approach in discussing the compressor and process parameters necessary for building these dynamic "high-fidelity" industrial-compressor models. We identify compressor inputs and compressor responses that are faithfully modeled by first-principle equations available in the simulation software and those that typically require a compromise between an "ab initio" and data-fitting approximation. We discuss the simulation's tendency to overstate pressure excursions during surge events and understate the compressor operation in the "stonewall" region. We also discuss using the simulator software's compressor-stage enthalpy calculations to predict and quantify the compressor train reverse rotation. We use our broad experience and understanding of the compressor operation and simulation and our experience with the AVEVA™ Dynamic-Simulation "OTS" simulation software as the basis for this discussion.


The proposal of new engineering subjects will lead the engineering education of schools into a whole new stage, and schools have joined the ranks of consciously exploring the research and practice of new engineering subjects. The new engineering department is committed to creating engineering talents that adapt to emerging industries and new economic models. Under this background, schools should actively explore new models of school-enterprise cooperation. As a joint co-constructed laboratory for routine projects of school-enterprise cooperation, it has a deeper function in the context of new engineering. This article first discusses the proposal of the new engineering and the new functions of the school-enterprise joint laboratory under this background. Taking the construction practice of the research of the Network Security Offense and Defense Laboratory Cooperated by Schools and Enterprises as example,this article describes the local universities and enterprises jointly build the content and development vision of the innovation laboratory.


Thirty-four patients with acute gastroduodenal hemorrhage were treated with intravenous Cimetidine. Preliminary endoscopy was done at the onset of bleeding to determine the source of bleeding and to rule out the presence of a brisk arterial bleeding site that would require immediate operation for control. Sixteen of the patients had primary peptic ulcer disease and 18 patients had "stress ulcer" syndrome. The bleeding stopped following Cimetidine administration in 14 of the 16 peptic ulcer patients (88%) and in 13 of 18 stress ulcer patients (72%). There was no subsequent rebleeding. The data suggest that Cimetidine is of value in the immediate nonoperative management of acute gastroduodenal hemorrhage. Further, the availability of Cimetidine for postoperative use may modify the surgical approach to stress ulcer bleeding.


Abstract. In formerly glaciated permafrost regions, extensive areas are
still underlain by a considerable amount of glacier ice buried by glacigenic
sediments. It is expected that large parts of glacier ice buried in the
permafrost will melt in the near future, although the intensity and timing
will depend on local terrain conditions and the magnitude and rate of future
climate trends in different Arctic regions. The impact of these ice bodies
on landscape evolution remains uncertain since the extent and volume of
undisturbed relict glacier ice are unknown. These remnants of glacier ice
buried and preserved in the permafrost contribute to the high spatial
variability in ground ice condition of these landscapes, leading to the
formation of lakes with diverse origins and morphometric and limnological
properties. This study focuses on thermokarst lake initiation and
development in response to varying ground ice conditions in a glacial
valley on Bylot Island (Nunavut). We studied a lake-rich area using
lake sediment cores, detailed bathymetric data, remotely sensed data and
observations of buried glacier ice exposures. Our results suggest that
initiation of thermokarst lakes in the valley was triggered from the
melting of either buried glacier ice or intrasedimental ice and ice wedges. Over
time, all lakes enlarged through thermal and mechanical shoreline erosion,
as well as vertically through thaw consolidation and subsidence. Some of
them coalesced with neighbouring water bodies to develop larger lakes. These
glacial thermokarst lakes formed in buried glacier ice now evolve as
"classic" thermokarst lakes that expand in area and volume as a result of
the melting of intrasedimental ground ice in the surrounding material and
the underlying glaciofluvial and till material. It is expected that the
deepening of thaw bulbs (taliks) and the enlargement of Arctic lakes in
response to global warming will reach undisturbed buried glacier ice where
it is still present, which in turn will substantially alter lake bathymetry,
geochemistry and greenhouse gas emissions from Arctic lowlands.


Dysregulation of microRNA (miRNA) is associated with malignant transformation, while elucidating the roles remains an ongoing process. In this study, we characterize miR-196 functions in head and neck cancer (HNC). We found that neither miR-196a or miR-196b has an effect on cell growth, only miR-196a plays a role in protection cells from radiation damage, while both miR-196a and miR-196b actively promotes cell migration (1.7- to 2.7-fold) and invasion (2.1- to 2.3-fold), which were supported by the altered expressions of fibronectin and N-cadherin. Mechanistically, miR-196 achieves these functions by targeting and inhibiting the anti-metastatic family member NME4, which is further elucidated as a tumor suppressor to repress JNK protein phosphorylation, leading to TIMP1 inhibition and MMP1/9 activation. Furthermore, both miR-196a and miR-196b was significantly over-expressed in the cancer tissues compared to the normal counterparts, with approximately 60 and 10 fold elevations respectively in average. Over-expression of miR-196 was correlated to lymph node metastasis and poor survival. In summary, our findings define miR-196 as a crucial oncomir in HNC which acts at least in part, through NME4-pJNK-TIMP-MMP signaling pathway to promote cell invasion and cellular transformation. Citation Format: Ann-Joy Cheng, Ya-Ching Lu, Joseph T. Chang. Oncogenic function of miR-196s promote cell invasion through suppression of NME4 to regulate JNK-TIMP1-MMP signaling pathway in head and neck cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4163. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4163


Abstract : In this thesis I examine the problem of white supremacist extremism in the Army. I begin by analyzing the phenomenon in general. First, I define extremism in general, and then give a summary history of white racial extremism in the United States, to include focusing on such hate groups as the Ku Klux Klan and the more modem phenomenon of "skinheads." I then discuss the history of white supremacist extremism in the Army, culminating in the December, 1995 murders of two black civilians by soldiers assigned to the 82d Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. I compare and contrast the old and new Army policies on extremism. I defend the new policy as constitutional, based upon a reading of Supreme Court case law, and I analyze the justifications for the Supreme Court's deference to the military in determining its policies. I also look at the potential problems of the extremist policy being overly broad and a form of viewpoint-based discrimination. I propose a methodology to create local policies that will withstand constitutional scrutiny along these lines and lastly give three scenarios utilizing that methodology.


We have measured the in-plane optical anisotropy (IPOA) of (112̄0) ZnO (a-plane) on (101̄2) sapphire (r-plane) by reflectance difference spectroscopy (RDS) at room temperature. Giant IPOA has been observed between the light polarized direction parallel and perpendicular to the c axis of ZnO, since the symmetry of a-plane is C2v. A sharp resonance has been observed near the fundamental band gap, which is induced by the polarization-depend band gap shift. The sharp line shape is attributed to the exciton transition. The spectra fitting and differential spectra indicate the polarization-depend band energies. The giant IPOA is possible enhanced by anisotropy strain along and perpendicular to the c axis in the a-plane.


Anthropogenic climate change driven by increased carbon emissions is leading to more severe fire seasons and increasing the frequency of mega-fires in the Amazon. This has the potential to convert Amazon forests from net carbon sinks to net carbon sources. Although modern human influence over the Earth is substantial, debate remains over when humans began to dominate Earth's natural systems. To date, little is known about the history of human land use in key regions like the Amazon. Here, we examine the history of human occupation from a ~8,500 year-old sediment core record from Lake Carana (LC) in the eastern Amazon. The onset of pre-Columbian activity at LC (~4,500 cal yr B.P.) is associated with the beginning of fire management and crop cultivation, later followed by the formation of Amazonian Dark Earth soils (ADEs) ~2,000 cal yr B.P. Selective forest enrichment of edible plants and low-severity fire activity altered the composition and structure of forests growing on ADEs (ADE forests) making them more drought susceptible and fire-prone. Following European colonization (1661 A.D.), the Amazon rubber boom (mid-1800s to 1920 A.D.) is associated with record-low fire activity despite drier regional climate, indicating fire exclusion. The formation of FLONA Reserve in 1974 A.D. is accompanied by the relocation of traditional populations and a fire suppression policy. Despite suppression efforts, biomass burning and fire severity in the past decade is higher than any other period in the record. This is attributed to combined climate and human factors which create optimal conditions for mega-fires in ADE forests and threatens to transform the Amazon from a net carbon sink to a net carbon source. To help mitigate the occurrence of mega-fires, a fire management policy reducing fire-use and careful fire management for farming may help to reduce fuel loads and the occurrence of mega-fires in fire-prone ADE forests. As both natural and anthropogenic pressures are projected to increase in the Amazon, this study provides valuable insights into the legacy of past human land use on modern ADE forest composition, structure, and flammability that can inform ecological benchmarks and future management efforts in the eastern Amazon.


Cysteamine (CA) is a high performance drug with a radiation protection effect on guanine (GA) and adenine (AD). Therefore, we focus on the preparation of a highly sensitive electrochemical sensor for determination of CA in the presence of GA and AD in biological samples. For this goal, a carbon paste electrode modified with magnesium oxide nanoparticles (MgO/NPs) and N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-3,5-dinitrobenzamide (N-4-HP-DNBA) was fabricated. The efficiency of the proposed sensor was investigated for the electrocatalytic oxidation of CA in the presence of GA and AD for the first time. The mediated oxidation of CA at the N-4-HP-DNBA/MgO/NPs/CPE was investigated using an electrochemical approach. The electro-oxidation peak currents for CA, GA and AD were found to vary linearly with their concentrations in the range of 0.03–600 μM; 0.8–400 μM and 5.0–500 μM with detection limits of 0.009 μM, 0.4 μM and 1.0 μM, respectively. The N-4-HP-DNBA/MgO/NPs/CPE was used for the determination of CA, GA, and AD in capsule and pharmaceutical serum samples.


Twenty barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) landraces from Greece were tested for resistance to powdery mildew (Erysiphe graminis f. sp. hordei). Landraces originated from a collection of Polish Gene Bank, IHAR Radzikow, Poland. Thirteen landraces (65%) expressed resistance reactions and from those 37 single-plant lines were selected. These lines were tested at the seedling stage with 23 differential isolates of powdery mildew. The isolates were chosen according to their virulence spectra as observed on the 'Pallas' isoline differential set and on 8 additional differential cultivars. Fiveteen lines originating from five landraces (4917, 4919, 4926, 4928 and 4935) expressed resistance to all isolates used. In 31 tested lines it was impossible to determine which specific allele or alleles for resistance are present. However, expression of infection types 0, 1 and 2 for the isolates tested indicated that 26 from these lines may have several alleles for resistance. Three different resistance alleles (Mlat and Mla6+ Mla14) were postulated to be present in the lines either alone or in combination with other unidentified genes. Allele Mlat was postulated to be present in 4 and alleles Mla6 + Mla14 were postulated to be present in 2 of the tested lines. The value of landraces for diversification of powdery mildew resistance genes available to barley breeders was discussed.;


Loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta use a wide variety of foraging strategies, and some populations forage in sub-optimal habitats. Different foraging strategies may not be equivalent in terms of fitness and may result in differences in adult body size and clutch size among populations. Accordingly, we tested whether differences in clutch size among rookeries in the Mediterranean Sea are related to differential use of foraging grounds of contrasting productivity. Stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen of turtle hatchlings from 8 Mediterranean rookeries were used to characterise the foraging grounds of their mothers. Clutch size was also studied in each rookery to assess reproductive output linked to foraging ground productivity. According to stable isotope ratios, most of the females nesting in the considered rookeries foraged in the southern Ionian Sea. The highly productive Adriatic/northern Ionian Sea region was mainly used by females nesting in western Greece. The explanation for these patterns might be linked to water circulation patterns and drifting trajectories followed during developmental migrations, which might determine individual knowledge on the location of productive foraging patches. Average clutch size in each rookery was positively correlated to the proportion of females accessing highly productive areas such as the Adriatic/northern Ionian Sea. This has a strong influence on reproductive output, and hence females using the most productive foraging grounds had the largest clutch sizes.


This study uses molecular dynamics simulation to analyze the homogeneous nucleation process in superheated water. The temperature and pressure of the system are controlled with Langevin dynamics method while the system volume is variable. In this way, the expanding process of the liquid system into vapor system is studied phenomenologically. In metastable liquid system with higher superheating degree, there can be seen large quantities of regions with no liquid moleculer inside: i.e., the vapor embryos. These vapor embryos are unstable in nature and are deforming with time. By analyzing the attraction and repulsion between molecules, we find the mechanisms that govern the merging, formation and dying out of vapor embryos. Vapor embryo violates some predictions of classical bubble dynamics theory, it indicates that formation of vapor embryo may have a more microcopic nature than the formation of bubble. We compared systems under different temperatures to study the effects of superheating degree. The spinodal temperature of water at atmospheric pressure determined under our simulation condition is about 535 K, within the scope of available experimental results.


This paper focuses on the first iteration of Thrasymachus' claim as reported in Book I of Plato's Republic that 'justice is the interest of the stronger', namely, a 'political' interpretation, according to which 'justice is the interest of the stronger party in each polis as established in the law'. The author contends that this argument is logically and rhetorically distinct from Thrasymachus' subsequent restatements of his position in Republic I. The 'political' version of the Thrasymachean position enjoyed currency after the composition of the Republic — and in a way that was not entirely negative. The current paper examines two cases of this reception: the first, in Plato's own late work, the Laws, where he reengages with the Thrasymachean doctrine; the second, in the De republica Anglorum of Sir Thomas Smith, an early modern theorist who self-consciously defended Thrasymachus' theory of justice. The paper's immediate purpose is to suggest that Thrasymachus' conception of 'political' justice, in particular, has far more coherence and power than the supposed 'refutation' of it in the Republic might leads us to believe.


High-dimensional data sets are commonly collected in many contemporary applications arising in various fields of scientific research. We present two views of finite samples in high dimensions: a probabilistic one and a nonprobabilistic one. With the probabilistic view, we establish the concentration property and robust spark bound for large random design matrix generated from elliptical distributions, with the former related to the sure screening property and the latter related to sparse model identifiability. An interesting concentration phenomenon in high dimensions is revealed. With the nonprobabilistic view, we derive general bounds on dimensionality with some distance constraint on sparse models. These results provide new insights into the impacts of high dimensionality in finite samples.


Banyuwangi Regency is located the easternmost of Java Island and is directly adjacent to Situbondo Regency in the north, the Bali Strait in the east, the Indian Ocean in the south and Jember Regency and Bondowoso Regency in the west. The development of the tourism sector is closely related and dependent on the available infrastructure development. However, the infrastructure related to tourism is inadequate. One of the infrastructures that is still not evenly developed is air transportation. Good transportation will increase visits to tourist areas, and attractive tourist objects will also increase the number of trips. Banyuwangi Regency is known for its domination of tourist destinations in each sub-district consisting of natural tourist destinations or mass tourism. Ijen Tourism Destinations which is one of the leading attractions in Banyuwangi included into (Triangle of Gold) and the Festival international scale contained in Ijen tourist destinations. The fact is that the availability of supporting infrastructure for tourism activities is still minimal in Ijen tourism in Licin District. The purpose of this study examines the strategies to optimize air transport infrastructure in sustainable tourism. The research method is quantitative analysis to calculate airport capacity requirements for the projection of the next 20 years, Qualitative analysis to identify the feasibility of both land and air facilities, as well as airport connectivity analysis which describes the spatial conditions of public transport serving Blimbingsari Airport. This study is expected to help the government or stakeholders in optimizing infrastructure, especially air transportation to support tourism mobility.
Keyword: air transport infrastructure, sustainable tourism, tourism mobility


This project aims to determine the solar Mg abundance with two infrared spectral lines: Mg I λ10811 and λ10965. Downloaded line data from VALD are updated with modern values for the oscillator strengths and van der Waals damping parameters, the latter obtained through ABO theory. Utilizing SME, the Mg abundances of synthetic spectra are fitted with respect to a solar atlas. The derived abundance for varied turbulence configurations is found to be between log AMg + 12 = 7.40–7.52, which is slightly lower than meteoric and 3D-modeled values. Suggested improvements would be to consider the effects of NLTE and line blending.


An ecological consequence of climate change is the alteration of food-web structures. Species with ontogenetic (age-dependent) diet variation, such as Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), may exhibit an age-dependent response to food-web perturbations, which may subsequently influence the demographic structure. We previously showed that age at maturity in Atlantic salmon is primarily influenced by few genomic regions (vgll3 and six6), but whether these regions are linked to diet is unknown. We hypothesized that genetic variation in these life history genomic regions govern age-dependent resource utilization efficiency, which would subsequently influence age at maturity. To test this, we first performed stomach content analysis of Atlantic salmon sampled at sea on their return migration to fresh water, followed by targeted genotyping by sequencing. Here, we first showed that Atlantic salmon change their feeding strategies along their ontogeny. Consistent with the so-called feast and famine strategy, older age groups retained a heavier stomach content, which however came at the expense of running on empty more often. Next, we presented evidence that stomach fullness in Atlantic salmon is associated with six6, a gene previously shown to be potentially under divergent selection and correlated with age at maturity among populations. There was no association with vgll3, a gene with a large effect on sea age at maturity. Prey composition was marginally linked to both six6 and vgll3. Our results suggest that Atlantic salmon individuals are not as generalist as previously thought and that genetic variation partly underlies resource utilization variation among individuals. Given that feeding strategies differ ontogenetically, and a spatially divergent genomic region is associated with diet acquisition variation, we predict populations with diverse maturation age will have diverse evolutionary responses to future changes in marine food-web structures.


Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is widely used in all areas of genetic research, such as for genetic disease diagnosis and breeding, and it can produce massive amounts of data. The identification of sequence variants is an important step when processing large NGS datasets; however, currently, the process is complicated, repetitive, and requires concentration, which can be taxing on the researcher. Therefore, to support researchers who are not familiar with bioinformatics in identifying sequence variations regularly from large datasets, we have developed a fully automated desktop software, NGSpop. NGSpop includes functionalities for all the variant calling and visualization procedures used when processing NGS data, such as quality control, mapping, filtering details, and variant calling. In the variant calling step, the user can select the GATK or DeepVariant algorithm for variant calling. These algorithms can be executed using pre-set pipelines and options or customized with the user-specified options. NGSpop is implemented using JavaFX (version 1.8) and can thus be run on Unix like operating systems such as Ubuntu Linux (version 16.04, 18.0.4). Although there are several pipelines and visualization tools available for NGS data analysis, most integrated environments do not support batch processes; thus, variant detection cannot be automated for population-level studies. The NGSpop software, developed in this study, has an easy-to-use interface and helps in rapid analysis of multiple NGS data from population studies.


This paper is critically engaged in the elaboration of the securitization and stigmatization of migration and Islam in the West, which is believed to be leading to the rise of Islamophobic sentiments and to the backlash of both multiculturalism and republicanism. Migration has been framed as a source of fear and instability for the nation-states in the West in a way that constructs 'communities of fear'. It will be claimed that both securitization and Islamophobia have recently been employed by the neo-liberal states as a form of governmentality in order to control the masses in ethno-culturally and religiously diverse societies at the expense of deepening the already existing cleavages between majority and minorities with Muslim background.


The nitrogen (N) excreted at intensive livestock operations is vulnerable to volatilisation, and, subsequently, may form a source of indirect nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. The present study simultaneously investigated volatilisation and deposition of N at a beef feedlot, semi-continuously over a 129-day period. These data were examined relative to pen manure parameters, management statistics and emission-inventory calculation protocols. Volatilisation measurements were conducted using a single, heated air-sampling inlet, centrally located in a feedlot pen area, with real time concentration analysis via cavity ring-down spectroscopy and backward Lagrangian stochastic (bLS) modelling. Net deposited mineral-N was determined via two transects of soil-deposition traps, with samples collected and re-deployed every 2 weeks. Total volatilised ammonia amounted to 210 tonnes of NH3-N (127 g/animal.day), suggesting that the inventory volatilisation factor probably underestimated volatilisation in this case (inventory, 30% of excreted N; 65 g N volatilised/animal.day; a value of ~60% of excreted N is indicated). Temperature contrast between the manure and air was observed to play a significant role in the rate of emission (R2 = 0.38; 0.46 Kendall's tau; P < 0.05). Net deposition within 600 m of the pen boundary represented only 1.7% to 3% of volatilised NH4+-N, between 3.6 and 6.7 tonnes N. Beyond this distance, deposition approached background rates (~0.4 kg N/ha.year).


Objective: The role of angiogenesis in cancer growth has stimulated research aimed at non-invasive cancer detection by blood perfusion imaging. Recently, contrast ultrasound dispersion imaging was proposed as an alternative method for angiogenesis imaging. After the intravenous injection of an ultrasound-contrast-agent bolus, dispersion can be indirectly estimated from the local similarity between neighboring time-intensity curves (TICs) measured by ultrasound imaging. Up until now, only linear similarity measures have been investigated. Motivated by the promising results of this approach in prostate cancer (PCa), we developed a novel dispersion estimation method based on mutual information, thus including nonlinear similarity, to further improve its ability to localize PCa. Methods: First, a simulation study was performed to establish the theoretical link between dispersion and mutual information. Next, the method's ability to localize PCa was validated in vivo in 23 patients (58 datasets) referred for radical prostatectomy by comparison with histology. Results: A monotonic relationship between dispersion and mutual information was demonstrated. The in-vivo study resulted in a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve area equal to 0.77, which was superior (p=0.21-0.24) to that obtained by linear similarity measures (0.74-0.75) and (p<0.05) to that by conventional perfusion parameters (≤0.70). Conclusion: Mutual information between neighboring TICs can be used to indirectly estimate contrast dispersion and can lead to more accurate PCa localization. Significance: An improved PCa localization method can possibly lead to better grading and staging of tumors, and support focal-treatment guidance. Moreover, future employment of the method in other types of angiogenic cancer can be considered.


Core scan is the instrument used for core spectrum and pictures detection that has been developed in recent years. Cores' data can be digitized with this equipment, then automatic core catalog can be achieved, which provides basis for geological research, mineral deposit study and peripheral deposit prospecting. Meanwhile, an online database of cores can be established by the means of core digitalization to solve the cost problem caused by core preservation and share resources. Quality of core data measurement directly affects the mineral identification, reliability of parameter inversion results. Therefore it's very important to quasi-manage the assessment of data quality with the instrument before cores' spectrum testing services. Combined with the independent R&D of CSD350A type core scan, and on the basis of spectroscopy basic theory, spectrum analysis methods, core spectrum analysis requirements, key issues such as data quality assessment methods, evaluation criteria and target parameters has been discussed in depth, and comprehensive assessment of independent R&D of core scan has been conducted, which indicates the reliability and validity of spectrum measurements of the instrument. Experimental tests show that the methods including test parameters and items can perfectly response the measurements of reflectance spectrum, wavelength accuracy, repeatability and signal to noise ratio with the instrument. Thus the quality of core scan data can be evaluated correctly, and the foundation of data quality for commercial services can be provided. In the case of the current lack of relevant assessment criteria, the method this study proposes for the assessment has great value in the work of core spectrum measurements.


Rapid endoportal injections of glucagon in a dose (1 μg.) which does not elevate thearterial glucagon concentration beyond the physiologic range caused a prompt rise in both mean arterial glucose and pancreaticoduodenal insulin concentration to a peak six minutes later. Hyperglycemia of similar magnitude produced by intravenous glucose infusion failed to elicit, as great a rise in insulin release. With smaller doses of glucagon a more variable response was observed; however, in some dogs doses of glucagon which were too small to cause a significant change in arterial glucagon concentration did cause a rise in both glucose and insulin levels. It is concluded that glucagon administered in physiologic doses via-the portarvenous system elicits a greater rise in insulin release than can be attributed to the concomitant hyperglycemia and, as suggested by others, does possess the qualifications of a potentiator of insulin secretion.


Skin effect, where macroscopically many bulk states are aggregated toward the system boundary, is one of the most important and distinguishing phenomena in non-Hermitian quantum systems. We discuss a new aspect of this effect whereby, despite its topological origin, applying a magnetic field can largely suppress it. Skin states are pushed back into the bulk, and the skin topological area, which we define, is sharply reduced. As seen from exact solutions of representative models, this is fundamentally rooted in the fact that the applied magnetic field restores the validity of the low-energy description that is rendered inapplicable in the presence of non-Bloch skin states. We further study this phenomenon using rational gauge fluxes, which reveals a unique irrelevance of the generalized Brillouin zone in the standard non-Bloch band theory of non-Hermitian systems.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the Family-Involved SelfDetermination Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) on academic engagement and goal attainment of middle school students with disabilities who exhibit problem behavior. Intervention was provided to the experimental group (12 students with their families and special educators) in Korean language classes for seven months while no treatment was provided to the control group (12 students). As a result, academic engagement in the experimental group, measured by behavior rating and direct observation, increased at a significantly higher rate than that of the control group. Also, the goal attainment of Korean language in the experimental group improved significantly compared to the control group. Finally, discussions of the results, limitations of the study, and suggestions for future studies are presented.


Ninety-nine strains of ballistospore-forming yeasts were isolated from 43 samples of dead leaves and stems of the Japanese rice plant (Oryza sativa L.), and identified as belonging to the genera Bullera, Sporobolomyces, and Tilletiopsis. Thirty-one strains out of 55 of Bullera were assigned to B. alba (15 strains), B. crocea (13 strains), and B. piricola (3 strains). The remaining 24 strains of this genus were divided into 6 groups (species) which could not be assigned to any hitherto known species. Thirty-nine strains out of 41 of Sporobolomyces were assigned to S. roseus (35 strains) and S. shibatanus (4 strains). The remaining 2 strains of this genus were divided into 2 groups (species) which could not be assigned to any hitherto described species. Three strains of Tilletiopsis were assigned to T. lilacina. Of the 8 undescribed species, two were described respectively as the new species, B. oryzae and S. subbrunneus. Strains JCM 5281 and JCM 5278 respectively were designated as the types of the two species. Further study of the remaining 6 undescribed species is required before we determine their taxonomic position. The frequency of isolation of ballistospore- forming yeasts from Oryza sativa L. was 86%. Sporobolomyces roseus was found in the highest frequency, 72%, followed by Bullera sp. 1 (35%), B. crocea (30%), and B. alba (28%). The remaining species were found in relatively low frequencies below 9%.


Introduction: Pneumonia is the highest killer of children worldwide.  Nigeria is one of the high burden pneumonia countries. Studies have  observed seasonal variations in the prevalence of pneumonia.Objective: To identify the prevalence and bio-demographics of childhood pneumonia, as well as its epidemiological pattern, seasonal variation, co-morbidities, complications and outcomes in the paediatric ward of a tertiary hospital in Southern NigeriaMethods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study. Information on all patients admitted into the paediatric medical ward with pneumonia from January 2013 to December 2017 were extracted from the ward register. Data were analysed using Stata version 12.Results: The prevalence of Pneumonia was 18% (590 out of 3276). Three hundred (50.9%) of the 590 children with pneumonia belonged to the 0-11 months age group. Pneumonia was commoner in males (57.8%). Five hundred and seventy three (97.3%) children had bronchopneumonia. The mortality rate for pneumonia was 1.2% The median duration of admission for all children with pneumonia was five days with a discharge rate of 96.9%. The commonest complication observed was congestive cardiac failure in 23 out of 29 (79.3%). The three most common co- morbidities with pneumonia were malaria, sepsis and congenital heart disease (27.8%, 10.7% and 8.8% respectively) pneumonia prevalence was higher in the rainyseason with a double peak in March and October.Conclusion: Childhood community acquired Pneumonia prevalence is still high in Nigeria especially in the rainy season. Intensified efforts should be made in the prevention and early treatment of pneumonia so as to prevent prolonged morbidity and mortality.
Key words: Pneumonia, childhood, Nigeria, seasonal variation


The aim of this study is to evaluate the functional properties of Angelica jam, a traditional food produced in Bursa, by revealing its bioactive components. In this context, the effect of different extraction methods on total antioxidant capacity, total phenolic and total flavonoid contents and bioavailability of those bioactive components with the in vitro digestion model were also investigated. For this purposes, Angelica jam produced according to its traditional method was extracted with three different solvents including 75% methanol containing 0.1% formic acid, 70% acetone containing 0.5% acetic acid, and 70% ethanol. According to the analytical results, the antioxidant capacity of the jams changed with extraction methods and the samples extracted by methanolic solvent showed more antioxidant capacity using DPPH, CUPRAC and ABTS methods, as 21.77±3.38 mg TE/100 g DM, 69.97 ±10.85 mg trolox equivalent (TE)/100 g dry matter (DM), and 111.97±9.17 mg TE/100 g DM, respectively. Moreover, the highest amount of phenolic and flavonoid contents were obtained from acetone-based extracts as 12.10±0.55 mg gallic acid equivalent/100 g DM and 10.48±0.63 mg rutin equivalent/100 g DM, respectively. Increased total phenol content and total antioxidant levels (by DPPH method) were observed as a result of intestinal digestion of the jam.


Body: INTRODUCTION: Nebulized pentamidine is used in the prevention of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in immunosuppressed patients. A specific nebulizer with characteristics to ensure deep lung deposition is required. It must include a circuit with expiratory filter preventing the dissemination of droplets into the environment. The reference nebulizer for pentamidine delivery is the Respirgard II®. All nebulizers with comparable properties could be used for the nebulization. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this work was to evaluate and to compare the inhaled dose between the Respirgard II® and the Isoneb®. METHODS: The nebulizers were connected to a dual chamber lung model (5600i Dual Adult Training/Test Lung®,Michigan Instrument Inc.) simulating usual breathing pattern of an adult patient. A solution of pentamidine (300mg/6mL sterile water) was nebulized during 20 minutes. We measured in triplicate the inhaled dose by weighting the filter positioned between the nebulizer and the test lung. We measured also the residual solution by weighting the cup of nebulizers before and directly after nebulization. The residual dose was obtained by subtracting the inhaled dose from the nominal dose. RESULTS: There is no significant difference in the inhaled dose (p = 0.611). The residual solution in the nebulizer cup is greater with Respirgard II® (p= 0.0363) but we find no significant difference in residual dose (p= 0.611). CONCLUSION: We observed that the inhaled dose is similar with the two nebulizers


Background: Numerous experimental studies have proven the effectiveness of endobronchial administration of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in different types of lung pathology. In transition to the clinical researches inhalation is one of the major ways of MSC delivery in lower respiratory tract. There is currently no data on the efficacy of different ways of nebulization on cell viability. Aim: To determine the viability of MSC after nebulization via jet nebulizer and ultrasonic nebulizer. Methods: In the study diluted 1:10 culture of human MSCs (1.1x10 6 cells in 1 ml) was used. Staining with nigrosine followed by counting the amount of non-viable (stained) cells in the count chamber under a light microscope was used to assess the viability of cells. It9s known that non-viable cells are stained with nigrosine, unlike the viable MSCs.The cells were administered via inhalation with jet nebulizer OMRON NE-C24 and ultrasonic nebulizer OMRON V-17. Duration of nebulization was 5 and 10 minutes respectively. Results: are presented in Table 1 and Table 2. Table 1 Table 2 Conclusion: 1. Nebulization of MSCs via jet nebulizer leads to retaining of most of the MSCs in a state of vitality. 2. Nebulization via ultrasonic nebulizer causes damage of the main mass of MSC.


Abstract : This paper discusses the necessary functional characteristics for the design of a test stand to measure the vertical thrust of a remotely piloted model helicopter as a functions of power output, in different degrees of ground effect. A number of potential design choices are presented along with possible instrumentation schemes to obtain both the power output and the lifting force generated by the Heli-Star model helicopter equipped with a Gold Cup HP.61 engine. Included are the results of preliminary validation testing of the test stand design chosen and a discussion of the methods used to eliminate or control vibrations which hampered the utility of the test stand. Recommendations for possible future modifications are also included.


Sugar palm [Arenga pinnata (Wurmb.) Merr] fiber reinforced unsaturated polyester resin composites with 0°, 45°, and 90° fiber different orientations were prepared and tested. The composites were characterized for tensile, flexural, impact and compression properties using ASTM D3039, ASTM D790, ASTM D250, and ASTM D3410 standards, respectively. For the thermal characterization, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) was conducted to characterize the on storage modulus (E'), loss modulus (E'') and damping behavior (tan δ) of the composites. The highest mechanical performance of composites was achieved at 0° of fiber orientation composites followed by 45° and 90° fiber orientations. The fiber loading was insignificant for the 90° fiber orientation as the properties were inconsistent. The theoretical value of modulus from the tensile test was calculated using rules of mixture (ROM) and compared with the experimental values for all composites specimens. This research showed that the optimum properties occurred at 30 wt % fiber loading as reflected by the superior tensile and flexural strengths. The optimum properties of compression, impact, storage modulus and better damping properties were achieved at 40 wt % fiber loading.


Mind Frame is a web-application designed in proposed work that gives recommendations of music and movies to users based on their current mood. The proposed system identifies moods of the user such as happy, sad, peaceful and gives music and movie recommendations to the user based on mood identified. The OpenCV library of Python is used to extract the features from the facial expressions. Neural network is trained with labelled images of different emotional moods of the user, this trained model is then used to predict the mood of the user. Finally, the user is recommended the playlists of music or movies from the library created containing over hundred thousand music and movies. For storing and viewing the data and user details and also for processing requests from each user, Django is used as the web framework along with Python for front end and back-end.


In this work, we analyze the efficiency of the modification of the implant surface. This modification was reached by the formation of a two-level relief hierarchy by means of a sol-gel approach that included dip coating with subsequent shock drying. Using this method, we fabricated a nanoporous layer with micron-sized defects on the nanotitanium surface. The present work continues an earlier study by our group, wherein the effect of osteoblast-like cell adhesion acceleration was found. In the present paper, we give the results of more detailed evaluation of coating efficiency. Specifically, cytological analysis was performed that included the study of the marker levels of osteoblast-like cell differentiation. We found a significant increase in the activity of alkaline phosphatase at the initial incubation stage. This is very important for implantation, since such an effect assists the decrease in the induction time of implant engraftment. Moreover, osteopontin expression remains high for long expositions. This indicates a prolonged osteogenic effect in the coating. The results suggest the acceleration of the pre-implant area mineralization and, correspondingly, the potential use of the developed coatings for bone implantation.


Is e-mail obsolete? As a matter of fact, we tend to gather more and more information in our inboxes: personal and professional communications, but also marketing and commercial ads, alerts and notifications from websites or social networks, search engines results, agendas, ... The current use also tends to widen: e-mail is not only used to fulfill inter-personal communication but also to exchange files, to gather RSS feeds or to pick up a date for a meeting. Many people rely on their inboxes to retrieve important information and to organize their daily work.


Teaching models are traditionally based on passive learning processes. This can be a risk, because people are living in the "information-everywhere society", where they are bombed by information after a simple Googling-click and could be more influenced by media, whatever they are. In this changeable society, education cannot be merely technocratic, but it should encompass ethical goals, built upon individual and social needs, in order to shape the learning process on personalized frames. An investment just on technologies, like tablets or other electronic tools, doesn't seem adequate to develop 21 st century skills, such as critical thinking, original evaluation, horizontal connections, longitudinal deepening, dividing views and news, communicating knowledge, principles and interpretations. Innovation in education occurs when a technological revolution endorses the increase of human capital. This should be considered as the main goal for educational institutions, whatever the technology and the historical moment. Technological progress raises the demand for skills, but poor human capital investments slake that demand. n the modern period economic growth requires educated workers, managers, entrepreneurs, and citizens, so that modern technology must not only be put in place, but maintained, innovated and invented. Certain types of human capitals are particularly useful when combined with the most advanced technologies to create productive uses of new technologies. The contribution of human capital to growth crucially depends on the set of tasks in use, if they reciprocally interact. In order to empower intangible human capital, learning doesn't derive only from a formal, traditional way of teaching, but also from the outside world, in informal and not formal way. This paper will enlarge the perspectives of education which are on the way to enter in the modern system. This analysis is applied to the "sovraformal" way of teaching and learning. It is a modality permitted by a rich knowledge technology, but also by expertise and available tools in specialized labs where the greatest and impending phenomena are studied. With new tools and perspectives, scholars and pupils can find the sublimation of the didactic experience. This generates a new function for education: to build a personal awareness which can give sense to the experiences. In times of pressured public budgets, several countries face challenges to maintain or improve the quality of learning with few resources. For this reason, funds must be allocated to teacher training, in order to obtain the maximum through intangible assets, embedding older learning traditions in current highly-connected environments. Schools must accept the responsibility to grant inclusion and to promote a cognitive selfdevelopment or cognitive flexibility. This empowers intangible human capital.


A diversity antenna system with antennas embedded in rear view mirrors of a vehicle is proposed for satellite digital audio radio system. Antenna diversity is needed because hidden antennas exhibit limited capability and composite body vehicles have poor reception due to no ground plane availability. Pattern gain diversity achieved with the proposed system is proven with on-vehicle antenna simulations and gain measurements. Selection combining diversity receiver architecture is also proposed and the system is tested in real time under two fading scenarios: weak satellite signal in dense foliage and multipath terrestrial environment with frequent satellite blockages. In both cases, the diversity system outperformed the reference antenna system with less mutes times (0.6% versus 0.8% in multipath, 0.1% versus 0.25% in dense foliage) and Reed-Solomon block errors (1.75% versus 2.18% in multipath, 0.87% versus 1.18% in dense foliage). The proposed rear-view mirror location is ideal for minimum signal degradation compared to windshield, backlite, and dashboard antenna installations.


Between the Fall of 1991 and Spring of 1992, a new fishing pier was constructed in Deerfield Beach, Florida, to replace a badly deteriorated pier that was demolished. The precast, prestressed concrete piles used in the construction of the new pier contained a water-based organic corrosion inhibitor consisting of amines and fatty acid esters. This inhibitor offers corrosion protection by reducing chloride ingress and by forming a protective film at the surface of embedded steel. In the Fall of 1993, a preliminary corrosion investigation of the piles was performed to assess the performance of the concrete used in the construction of the pier and to establish baseline values for future investigations. The techniques used included visual and half-cell potential surveys, and determination of chloride ion contents. Chloride ion contents at the reinforcing steel level were found to be well below that which would induce corrosion. Other types of testing and analytical techniques that may be used in future investigations to assess the performance of the piles and to predict their useful service life are also discussed.


In Computer Science Text Mining has become an important research area. The process of getting valuable information from unstructured text is known as Text mining. Text mining [1] is similar to data mining, except that data mining tools are designed to handle structured data from databases, but text mining can work with unstructured or semi-structured data sets such as emails, full-text documents and HTML files etc. In this paper I discuss Text mining a very useful technique and analysis of different text mining techniques.


This thesis aimed to search for epidemiological evidence supporting the associations of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with cancer and autoimmune diseases (ADs) by analysing several Swedish national registries. T2DM shares risk factors with cancer, such as obesity, diet, stress, and physical inactivity. However, it is unclear whether the associations with several types of cancers are due to shared risk factors, shared genes or metabolic disturbances of the underlying disease. Immunological data show that T2DM has autoimmune features, including the presence of autoantibodies against pancreatic β-cells and self-reactive T-cells. This doctoral project consists of four epidemiological cohort studies conducted using several population-based nationwide Swedish databases, which collectively contain information on socioeconomic status, comorbidities and demographics. We found that the risks of 24 cancers were increased in patients with T2DM, and that the highest risks were for liver cancer and pancreatic cancer. The cancer risks in siblings and spouses of individuals with T2DM were not increased. In addition, cancer patients with a previous T2DM diagnosis had a worse prognosis than those without T2DM, and the observed high cause-specific mortality in cancer patients with T2DM may be independent of age at cancer diagnosis and tumour stage. Prior diagnosis of T2DM in cancer patients was associated with an increased risk of dying from myocardial infarction, "other bacterial disease", urinary system disease, hypertensive disease, and arterial disease. T2DM risk was increased after diagnosis of any one of 27 ADs, and the highest standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were for chorea minor, lupoid hepatitis, and Addison's disease. In conclusion, this project showed that pre-existing T2DM increased the subsequent risk of a range of site-/type-specific cancers, an effect that is potentially mediated by metabolic changes. Also, the mortality was increased in cancer patients with T2DM. In addition, the risk of T2DM was increased after many ADs suggesting that chronic inflammation-driven autoimmune activation may be a shared initiation mechanism for T2D and many ADs. (Less)


The incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) after a standard anaesthetic technique consisting of inhalational anaesthetics and opioids and no PONV prophylaxis is up to 30%. Being one of the most common complaints following surgery under general anaesthesia, it is not surprising that PONV is a considerable cause of dissatisfaction with recovery from anaesthesia and remains one of the most commonly used items in surveys assessing patient satisfaction with the perioperative period and in scoring systems for the quality of recovery following anaesthesia. The weakest link in the chain from research to patient benefit is the implementation of well proven strategies. Rather than simply following existing consensus guidelines, anaesthesiologists should critically assess whether the algorithms introduced produce the desired effect. Risk-adapted strategies may work, but recent implementation studies suggest that compliance with these algorithms may be poor and that high-risk patients often do not receive appropriate antiemetic prophylaxis. Multimodal prevention may represent a more simple approach and, thus, a more reliable strategy to reduce the incidence of PONV. Such an approach would circumvent the inherent weaknesses of the need to undertake a risk assessment for each individual patient. Anaesthesiologists need to know about the new agents available to manage PONV, such as the NK1-antagonists or the newer 5-HT3 antagonists, but should not forget the traditional and well established antiemetics that are valuable components in the current portfolio. The low cost of most of the currently available antiemetics and the low incidence of side-effects suggests that a liberal antiemetic prophylaxis regimen is a meaningful option in order to eliminate or substantially reduce the 'big little problem'.


This study aims to identify the characterization of the two main characters in Trolls and how the film portrays the meaning of happiness through its scenes. The process of analyzing characterization is done using direct and indirect characterization along with non-verbal channels of expressions. To analyze the meaning of happiness, the PERMA model and the theory of acculturation are employed. This is a descriptive qualitative study with the writer herself as the instrument. Based on the analysis, Poppy is optimistic, brave, fair, sincere, warm-hearted, cheerful, trustworthy, and confident. Branch is normative, boring, overly-cautious, and detached. These two characters have different perspective on life, but by the end of the film, they succeed in uniting their mind. Based on the characterization analysis, meaning of happiness can be drawn in two distinct classifications, personal and social happiness. Personal happiness is achieved by fulfilling the five elements of PERMA while social happiness refers to the relationship between trolls and bergens. For them, happiness can be achieved without cutting throat, by being frank, by increasing tolerance, and by helping each other.


In this research, the fracture behavior of brittle specimens weakened by V-shaped notches with end holes (VO-notches) is studied. First, an experimental investigation is conducted to evaluate the effect of VO-notches on fracture behavior. To this end, VO-notched samples of PMMA are made and exposed to pure opening mode loading, pure tearing mode loading, and some combinations of these two loading types. As part of this study, samples with end-hole radii of 1, 2, and 4 mm are prepared to determine the effect of the notch end-hole size on the fracture resistance. Second, two well-known stress-based criteria, namely the maximum tangential stress (MTS) criterion and the mean stress (MS) criterion, are developed for VO-shaped notches subjected to mixed-mode I/III loading, also determining the associated fracture limit curves. A comparison between the theoretical and the experimental critical conditions indicates that the resulting VO-MTS and VO-MS criteria predict the fracture resistance of VO-notched samples with about 92% and 90% accuracy, respectively, confirming their capacity to estimate fracture conditions.


N-terminal fragments of titin in urine have been proposed as a noninvasive marker of muscle damage, but there are no data on its time course after 96 h. The aims of this study were to investigate the time course of urinary titin N-terminal fragment (UTF) following eccentric exercise and the subsequent correlations between UTF and other muscle damage indices. Seventeen healthy young men performed 30 maximal isokinetic eccentric exercises at the elbow flexors. Muscle soreness (SOR), range of motion (ROM), maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), creatine kinase (CK), and UTF were sampled before, immediately after, and 24–144 h after exercise. The changes and correlations were analyzed with one-way ANOVA and Spearman's rank correlation analysis. All the measured parameters showed significant differences from their pre-exercise values at 24 h or later after exercise (P < 0.05). UTF showed significant correlation with MVIC (r ≤ –0.485) at 24 h and later, with SOR (r ≥ 0.549) at 48 h and later, with ROM (r ≤ –0.485) at 48 h and later, and with CK (r ≥ 0.647) at all time points. UTF reached peak value at 96 h after the exercise and had not recovered completely at 144 h. Because UTF was highly correlated with the other muscle damage indices, especially CK, throughout the measurement period, it may be as useful an indicator of muscle damage as CK obtained from blood.


Desmoplastic small-round-cell tumors are rare aggressive malignancies that belong to the "small round blue cell" tumor family. They predominantly affect the abdomen in adolescent and young adult males. Computed tomography is currently the modality of choice both for diagnosis and follow-up assessment. In this review, the authors provide a concise yet comprehensive discussion of this condition with emphasis on the imaging findings. Pathologic correlation, differential diagnostic considerations, and treatment will also be presented.


In wind turbine blade, most of the losses occurs due to aerodynamic losses in the post stall operating condition. Adoption of the blade leading edge tubercles improves the post stall aerodynamic performance. Nevertheless the geometric parameters of the protuberance play a vital role in influencing the aerodynamic performance, it is possible that shape of the protuberance may also have aerodynamic significance. In this paper different types of tubercle shapes are adopted on the blade leading edge to study the improvement in the aerodynamic performance. Each of the shape is studied for different AOA operating at Reynolds number of 3 × 105. The results revealed that the shape of the tubercles also influence the flow which affects the performances.


Universities do not simply arise from nowhere. Throughout history civic leaders have supported the establishment and growth of universities for a variety of social, political, economic and other strategic reasons. This is a study of a group of contemporary Australian civic leaders and their role in the establishment and growth of their local university. The book firstly details the historical and contemporary record that civic leaders have played in the foundation and growth of universities. It then examines the perspectives of a group of regional politicians from Australia concerning their local universities, specifically the University of Ballarat and La Trobe University, Bendigo. The discussion is framed in terms of notions of the self, identity and leadership in the network and informational society.


In clinical practice, it is fundamental to compare the results of hormonal examinations obtained in the laboratory with reliable reference values. This is particularly difficult when faced with rare conditions, such as disorders of sex development, where not routinely assayed peptide hormones as well as intermediate steroid metabolites are often needed and local reliable reference values are not available. There are considerable differences among techniques and assays used in clinical and research laboratories. In fact, laboratory hormonology is undergoing a critical transition between techniques for quantitative determination: established immunoassays and mass spectrometry. Harmonizing results from different laboratories is a major challenge along the path leading to the establishment of consensus reference intervals for steroid hormones. Most of the efforts are being concentrated on testosterone, with very encouraging results being provided by the harmonization of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry results. However, this goal is still far from being achieved for the other steroid and small-molecule hormones, and a much more challenging perspective is foreseeable for protein hormones. In addition to technical issues, the importance of the definition and of the characterization of the reference population as well as sampling and processing methodology should not be underestimated, as these aspects may impact on hormonal axis and compound stability. The aim of the present review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the circulating reference values in basal condition of the hormones and proteins involved in sex development reported to date in the peer-reviewed literature. We present a series of tables where we have collected the reference intervals for each specific hormone and protein.


Objective To investigate the effect and mechanism of SB525334 on self-renewal, migration and invasion of ovarian cancer stem cells. Methods ALDHhigh-expressing cancer stem cells (CSCs) were isolated from human ovarian cancer cell line SKOV-3 by flow cytometry and treated with 2μg/mL SB525334 for 6h. The sphere forming assay was used to detect the ability of self-renewal of CSCs and the colony formation assay was used to detect the tumorigenicity in vitro. Transwell migration and invasion assay were used to detect the migration and invasion ability of CSCs. To further explore the mechanism, real-time quantitative PCR and flow cytometry were used to detect the mRNA and protein expression of TGF-β, Smad2, Smad3, phosphorylated Smad2, phosphorylated Smad3 and Smad4, respectively. Expressions of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related genes E-cadherin, Snail, Vimentin were also assessed. Results The self-renewal ability, tumorigenicity in vitro, migration and invasion ability of CSCs were significantly attenuated after SB525334 treatment. The expressions of TGF-β, phosphorylated Smad2, phosphorylated Smad3, Snail, and Vimentin were decreased, while Smad4 and E-cadherin expressions were increased. Conclusion SB525334 may inhibit the self-renewal, invasion and migration of ovarian CSCs by blocking the TGF-β/Smad/EMT pathway.