This dissertation argues that there are notable intersections between African American and Native American literary traditions. These intersections are part of a mutually constitutive dialogue that represents a deliberate venture on the part of African American and Native American authors to invoke a long buried understanding of the cultural exchange that created and continues to fashion both the American literary tradition and American identity.

The dissertation begins with an exploration of moments of intertextuality between African American and Native American literary traditions, both in the literature and---where applicable---in the criticism in order to theorize these intersections as creating an alternative historical record to the one articulated in Eurocentric histories. One of the primary pairs of texts that I examine in Chapter One is Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux (1932), a collaborative text dictated by Black Elk to John G. Neihardt, and Meridian (1976) by Alice Walker.

"Real Africans, Real Natives: Whoever They Might Be: Refiguring the 'Mixed Race' Concept," argues that the mixed race concept must be redefined. Though the notion of race as biological is a difficult construct to escape, a more complicated understanding of race, one that is more reflective of the ways that race is constructed in the literature, is necessary. The second part of my argument in this chapter is that redefining "mixed race" broadens the canon of "mixed race literature" and allows for more holistic understandings of mixed race identities and experiences. Specifically, I contemplate Pauline Hopkins' Winona (1902) as a text that would become a part of the mixed race canon within the new parameters.

Chapter Three suggests ways that emancipation and sovereignty, the two central paradigms for reading African American and Native American literature respectively, are not disparate discourses---as most critical models construct them---but related to and, indeed, reliant upon each other. Linking both emancipation and sovereignty to voice, I demonstrate that linguistic emancipation and linguistic sovereign, rather than being entirely disparate goals with divergent paths, are different points on the same journey. Paradise, by Toni Morrison, and Solar Storms, by Linda Hogan, are the primary focus of this chapter.

To conclude, "This Isn't My Guitar...but I Am Going to Change the World With It:" Restructuring the Discourse on American Literary Production', demonstrates that comparative readings of the literatures of these perpetually marginalized groups can motivate American scholars to reevaluate existing narratives about American literary history and American literary production.


Past studies regarding the success and/or failure of conflict management activities have brought about a wide range of results. In this paper we attempt to gain more definitive conclusions about effectiveness by accomplishing two tasks. First, using a basic theoretical framework we identify expectations of efficacy as they relate to differences between states, coalitions, and IGOs. Second, we also examine the utility of different conflict management techniques in an effort to place in greater perspective the effectiveness of mediation, the most utilized technique of third party intermediaries. Using a new dataset on third-party intermediary behavior in militarized disputes from 1946 to 2000, we find that while all conflict managers are useful in assisting belligerents in reaching a negotiated settlement, IGOs are the most effective. Additionally, while mediation is an effective technique to produce settlements, military intermediary actions, such as peacekeeping, are much more useful.


The majority of the 20,000 glaciers found in the Himalaya are in a state of negative mass balance, and have been for decades. Broad spatial trends in ice mass loss have been identified by large scale geodetic mass balance studies, but regional averaging of mass loss data has masked catchment or glacier scale variability. This thesis has the broad aim of examining the catchment scale variability of ice mass loss, in order to identify factors that might promote, or inhibit, more substantial ice mass loss from the region in the future.
Ice mass loss rates from Everest region glaciers were calculated using the geodetic approach, over the period 2000-2015, and compared depending on glacier terminus type. Lake-terminating glaciers were found to have lost 32% more ice mass than land-terminating glaciers, and maximum surface lowering rates of lake-terminating glaciers peaked at more than twice the rate of land-terminating counterparts. Glacier hypsometry was found to be contrasting at the catchment scale, and predicted accumulation area ratio (AARs) change in response to different RCP warming scenarios emphasises the importance of considering glacier area-altitude distribution in future ice loss estimates.
A more detailed assessment of the evolving geometry, dynamics and ice loss rates of nine lake-terminating glaciers suggested two phases of glacier-lake interaction may exist. A phase of dynamic lake-terminating glacier retreat was evident where terminus proximal surface lowering rates were high (up to 3 m a-1), ice front retreat rates were steady or accelerating, and surface velocities increased (by up to 10 m a-1, between 1999 and 2015). Alternatively, a phase of retreat typified by surface lowering rates akin to land-terminating glaciers (~1 m a-1), where ice front retreat rates were steady or diminishing, and where surface velocity reduction occurred. The dynamic phase of ice loss observed on lake-terminating glaciers in the Everest region is not of the same magnitude as larger waterter-minating glaciers found in other glacierised regions, probably because of the topographic confinement of host glaciers and the dominance of resistive stresses, but the now populous nature of glacial lakes in the region means the potential for amplified future ice loss exists.
The impact of long-term ice loss on the topographic characteristics of debris covered glacier surfaces was also examined. Ice cliff and supraglacial pond expansion was identified as the main driver of topographic change on slow flowing, land-terminating glaciers. A more pitted surface topography of greater relief developed on most glaciers, which has implications for the energy balance at the glacier surface, and for supraglacial hydrology. Overall, the results of this thesis emphasise the need to incorporate a range of glacier dynamics scenarios and melt processes into simulations of future ice loss in the Himalaya.


Accumulation of particles in a high concentration on a microchannel wall is a common phenomenon in a colloidal fluid. Gradual accumulation/deposition of particles can eventually obstruct the fluid flow and lead to clogging, which seriously affects the accuracy and reliability of nozzle-based printing and causes damage to the nozzle. Particle accumulation in a 100 μm microchannel was investigated by light microscopy, and its area growth in an exponential format was used to quantify this phenomenon. The effects of the constriction angle and alginate concentration on particle accumulation were also studied. In order to reduce the clogging problem, an acoustic method was proposed and evaluated here. Numerical simulation was first conducted to predict the acoustic radiation force on the particles in the fluid with different viscosities. Interdigital transducers (IDTs) were fabricated on the LiNbO3 wafer to produce standing surface acoustic waves (SSAW) in the microchannel. It was found that the actuation of SSAW can reduce the accumulation area in the microchannel by 2 to 3.7-fold. In summary, the particle accumulation becomes significant with the increase of the constriction angle and fluid viscosity. The SSAW can effectively reduce the particle accumulation and postpone clogging.


Thermal energy storage (TES) is considered as a vital component for concentrated solar power (CSP) technology, which leads to cost-effective dispatchable electricity production. The commercial TES technology in CSP plants is based on a two-tank solution of molten nitrate salts. The binary inorganic salt which consists of a mixture of 60 wt% of NaNO3 and 40 wt% of KNO3, so-called ?Solar salt?, is used due to its suitable operating temperature range, high density, low vapor pressure, and relatively high heat capacity. While, its poor thermal conductivity is considered as the main drawback that requires a complicated heat exchanger design for a better heat transfer efficiency during the charge and discharge processes. Thus, it contributes to the increment of the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) in CSP plants. However, for further reduction of the CSP costs, the efficiency of the whole system can be improved by enhancing the thermophysical properties of the molten salt as the specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity.Recently, the development of nanofluids based on molten salt with anomalous enhancements of those properties was identified as a promising approach. Even some enhancements were already reported in the literature, a big discrepancy of the results was observed due to several factors such as the enhancement mechanisms are still unknown, the complexity of the nanofluid preparation method, the determination of those properties, the initial state of the nanoparticles dispersion and its evolution with time.In this work, we present an optimized simple dry method for the preparation of nanofluids to obtain a homogeneous dispersion of nanoparticles within the molten salt. In addition, to reveal the mechanisms of thermophysical properties and improve the dispersion stability, different type, shape, size and composition of the nanoparticles were used. For that purpose, monodispersed SiO2 and SiO2@Al2O3 core-shellnanoparticles were developed for the first time to prepare the molten salt-based nanofluids with improved stability compared to the commercial nanoparticles based nanofluids.Finally, the effect of adding nanoparticles in the molten salt on its corrosivity with the tank material is still needed to be explored. In the present work, we discovered new corrosion mechanisms related to the addition of the nanoparticles in the molten salts. In addition, a simple graphitization method was proposed as an anticorrosion method for molten binary nitrate salt with carbon steel.


The Arctic, overall, has the classic lines of a desert landscape: spare, balanced, extended, and quiet... The apparent monotony of the land is relieved, however, by the weather systems moving through, and by the activities of animals, particularly of birds and caribou. And because so much of the country stands revealed, and because sunlight passing through the dustless air renders its edges with such unusual sharpness, animals linger before the eye. And their presence is vivid.


Due to the challenges associated with measuring some of the key variables of chemical processes, state estimators are often used to overcome this problem. This paper deals with the problem of state estimation of a chemical process model representing a continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) using the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), Particle Filter (PF), and recently developed Variational Bayesian Filter (VBF). The VBF has been recently proposed to solve the nonlinear estimation problem because it can be applied to large parameter spaces, has better convergence properties and relatively easy to implement. Here, a comparative study is conducted to compare the estimation performances of these three estimation techniques in estimating the two states (the concentration and temperature) of the CSTR process model. Simulation results show that the VBF has improved state estimation performance over both EKF and PF, and the PF shows improved state estimation performance over EKF.


A facile one-step catalyst free methodology has been developed for the regioselective functionalization of 4,6-diphenylpyrimidin-2(1H)-ones under mild conditions. Selectivity towards the O-regioisomer was achieved by using Cs2CO3 in DMF without use of any coupling reagents. A total of 14 regioselective O-alkylated 4,6-diphenylpyrimidines were synthesized in 81–91% yield. In the DFT studies it was observed that the transition state for the formation of the O-regioisomer is more favourable with Cs2CO3 as compared to K2CO3. Furthermore, this methodology was extended to increase the O/N ratio for the alkylation of 2-phenylquinazolin-4(3H)-one derivatives.


PURPOSE
Proponents of carotid angioplasty and stenting suggest that "high risk" patients, defined as patients excluded from the North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial (NASCET) and Asymptomatic Carotid Atherosclerosis Study (ACAS), may have a significantly higher risk of stroke with carotid endarterectomy (CEA). However, this selected patient cohort has been poorly studied.

METHODS
A retrospective review of patients who underwent CEA during a 2-year period at a tertiary referral institution was performed. Each patient was evaluated and categorized, according to the exclusion criteria, by NASCET and ACAS standards. Statistical analysis using chi(2) and Fisher exact tests was performed.

RESULTS
There were 366 CEAs performed on 348 patients, including 32 (8.7%) for recurrent stenosis. A subgroup of 169 (46.2%) patients were trial ineligible. Focal ipsilateral symptoms were present in 148 (40.4%) of the patients. There were 9 (2.5%) strokes and 1 (0.3%) death, secondary to a major stroke, for an overall stroke and death rate of 2.5%. Trial-eligible patients had a stroke/death rate of 1.5% (3/197) while trial-ineligible patients had a 3.6% (6/169) stroke/death rate (P = .17).

CONCLUSION
Patients who were considered high risk for CEA as defined by trial ineligibility were common, comprising approximately half of our patients. Although trial-ineligible patients had a nonsignificant trend toward higher neurologic morbidity when compared with the eligible group, the risks were still comparable with NASCET/ACAS results. CEA was a safe procedure even in this "high risk" group. As such, ineligibility for a randomized carotid intervention trial should not be employed as a "de novo" indication for carotid stenting.


An ontology of electrical engineering curriculum is proposed. Preliminary discussions commence with a study of the learning outcome domains requirement by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA). The proposed ontology presents a common vocabulary that facilitates electrical engineering curriculum development. This forms the first step in examining the potential of creating an online presence for the larger EE community that include educators, students and industry. The immediate benefit would be a current and relevant curriculum designed by and for the EE community.


In the Communication featured on the Inside Cover, the authors use the unsuspected presence of nanodroplets (∼100 nm) in water/THF mixtures to template the formation of hybrid nanocapsules, "hybridosomes", with a shell consisting of a crosslinked network of particles and polymers. Magnetic hybridosomes prepared from iron oxide nanoparticles enhance MRI contrast, enabling the imaging of tumor areas at low dose. This universal process can be applied to various types of inorganic nanoparticles (metallic, semi-conducting, etc.) and to mixtures, opening the way to highly multifunctional nanocapsules. More information can be found in the Communication by M. L. Kahn, F. Gauffre et al. on page 796 in Issue 8, 2016 (DOI: 10.1002/cnma.201600155).


Chronic low back pain is a common, disabling and costly health problem. The treatment of chronic low back is difficult and is often ineffective. For treatment to be effective the cause of the pain has to be established but unfortunately in 80% to 95% of the patients the cause cannot be determined despite the existence of modern imaging techniques. A pathoanatomical diagnosis which fits into a classical disease model where successful treatment can be carried out, can only be made in 5% to 7% of the patients. The back pain in the rest of the patients where no pathoanatomical diagnosis can be made is often labelled, unscientifically, as chronic low back pain. Despite the existence of sophisticated imaging techniques and a plethora of diagnostic test the source of pain in patients with nonspecific back pain cannot be established. There exist no causal relationship between imaging findings of degenerated disc, lumbar facet arthritis, spondylosis, spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis, to the pain in these patients. Surgical treatment of non-specific back pain where no pathoanatomical diagnosis has been established is bound to fail. Therefore the outcome of spinal fusion in these patients can be no better than nonsurgical treatment. Spinal fusion is a major surgery which can be associated with significant morbidity and occasionally with mortality. Yet there is rapid rise in the rates of spinal fusion. There is a growing tension between ethics and conflicts of interest for surgeons. The spine, unfortunately, has been labelled as a profit centre and there are allegations of conflicts of interest in the relationship of doctors with the multi-billion dollar spinal devices industry. The devices industry has a significant influence on not only research publications in peer review journals but also on decisions made by doctors which can have a detrimental effect on the welfare of the patient.


In this paper, an efficient and practical hybrid model has been proposed for congestion management analysis for both real and reactive power transaction under deregulated fuzzy environment of power system. The proposed hybrid model determines the optimal bilateral or multilateral transaction and their corresponding load curtailment in two stages. In the first stage classical gradient descent optimal power flow algorithm has been used to determine the set of feasible curtailment strategies for different amount of real and reactive power transactions. Whereas in the second stage fuzzy decision opinion matrix has been used to select the optimal transaction strategy considering increase in private power transaction, reduction in percentage curtailment, and its corresponding change in per unit generation cost and hence profit as fuzzy variables. The performance of the proposed algorithm has been tested using modified IEEE 30 bus test system. The solutions so obtained are found to be quite encouraging and reliable refer to both utility and customers.


The kacapi zither is a significant instrument of West Java (Sunda). I elaborate on the relationship between player and instrument, described as a 'marriage', by looking at the way the instrument is described and played by Sundanese informants, and its associations as reflected in myth, ritual and poetry. The marriage metaphor emphasises the correct and harmonious relationship between the sexes—lawful union instead of incest—and between a ruler and his realm. I also expand on earlier formulated ideas that the Sundanese arts represent female aspects of human communication. I argue that gender issues cannot be reduced to fixed male-female dichotomies. This becomes clear if we look at gender-reversal issues like male performers performing female roles and vice versa, a common phenomenon in Indonesia. Similarly, musical instruments are not just 'male' or 'female', but may be classified as such by their relationship with players. Structuralists say that the element of structure is not a thing, but a relation. S...


ACCORDING to most of the large textbooks of anatomy (e. g., those of Cunningham, Gray, and Spalteholz), the internal carotid artery arises from the common carotid at the level of the upper edge of the thyroid cartilage and then passes almost vertically to the carotid foramen, lateral to and behind the pharynx. It is mentioned that the artery may follow a slightly tortuous course, but actual ectopy has only been mentioned in the clinical literature, most frequently in the form of single case histories. An abnormal course of the cervical part of the internal carotid artery may be present to a varying degree, either in the form of a faint pulsation of the posterior palatine arch or in the form of a prominent and pulsating vessel in the middle of the posterior pharyngeal wall. It is important to be aware of this vascular anomaly owing to the fatal consequences following


Aim
Reinstating large, native herbivores is an essential component of ecological restoration efforts, as these taxa can be important drivers of ecological processes. However, many herbivore species have gone globally or regionally extinct during the last 50,000 years, leaving simplified herbivore assemblages and trophically downgraded ecosystems. Here, we discuss to what extent trophic rewilding can undo these changes by reinstating native herbivores.

Location
Global.

Time period
We report functional trait changes from the Late Pleistocene to the present, and estimated trait changes under future scenarios.

Major taxa studied
Wild, large (≥ 10 kg), terrestrial, mammalian herbivores.

Methods
We use a functional trait dataset containing all late Quaternary large herbivores ≥ 10 kg to look at changes in the body mass and diet composition of herbivore assemblages, a proxy for species' ecological effects. First, we assess how these traits have changed from the Late Pleistocene to the present. Next, we quantify how the current body mass and diet composition would change if all extant, wild herbivores were restored to their native ranges (and if no functional replacements were used), exploring scenarios with different baselines.

Results
Defaunation has primarily removed large and grazing herbivores. Reinstating extant herbivores across their native ranges would reverse these changes, especially when reinstating them to their prehistoric distributions. It would partially restore herbivore body mass and diet composition to pre‐anthropogenic conditions. However, in the absence of complementary interventions (e.g., introducing functional replacements), many herbivore assemblages would remain down‐sized and browser dominated, relative to pre‐anthropogenic conditions.

Main conclusions
Many terrestrial herbivore assemblages—and hence ecosystems—would remain trophically downgraded, even after bringing back all extant, native herbivores. Therefore, complementary interventions would be required to achieve complete functional restoration. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that reintroducing the remaining native herbivores would diversify the herbivory and disturbances of herbivore assemblages.


Diplozoids are fish ectoparasites with direct life-cycle. Their
eggs hatch into a free-swimming larva called oncomiracidium
that invades a fish host and changes into a post-oncomiracidial
larval stage – diporpa. Later on, two diporpae fuse into
another larval stage – juvenile and live as a pair in their
adult life. In present study, an experiment observation was
performed to study life cycle of Paradiplozoon homoion on its
fish host, gudgeon (Gobio gobio L.). Experiment was carried out
at a constant temperature 20 C. A total of 35 gudgeons
parasitized by diplozoids were collected from natural
environment of the Vlara River, Czech Republic, and 40
non-parasitized gudgeons reared in laboratory environment were
used. Both populations were kept together in one tank during
the experiment. In total, 86 adult specimens of P. homoion were
collected from gudgeons from the Vlara River and a new parasite
generation was observed on fish reared in laboratory
environment. First appearance of eggs was recorded 11th day of
experiment and first diporpae were observed after 18 days.
First juveniles were also observed in the same day as the first
diporpae. Mainly diporpae with one or two pairs of clamps were
recorded. Development of P. homoion from egg to adult stage
took 43 days at constant temperature 20 C. Behavior of
free-swimming oncomiracidium was studied under experimental
conditions. In the environment without host fish they lived for
22 hours. When oncomiracidia transfered into 1.5 l tank with
gudgeons, after 2 hours diporpae were found attached to fish
gill apparatus.


Skeletal muscle glucose transport is regulated via the canonical insulin-signaling cascade as well as by energy-sensing signals. 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) has been implicated in the energy status regulation of glucose transport. We determined the role of the AMPKgamma3 isoform in hypoxia-mediated energy status signaling and glucose transport in fast-twitch glycolytic extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle from AMPKgamma3-knockout (KO) mice and wild-type mice. Although hypoxia increased glucose transport (P < 0.001) in wild-type mice, this effect was attenuated in AMPKgamma3-KO mice (45% reduction, P < 0.01). The role of Ca(2+)-mediated signaling was tested using the Ca(2+)/calmodulin competitive inhibitor KN-93. KN-93 exposure reduced hypoxia-mediated glucose transport in AMPKgamma3-KO and wild-type mice (P < 0.05). To further explore the underlying signaling mechanisms, phosphorylation of CaMKII, AMPK, ACC, and TBC1D1/D4 as well as isoform-specific AMPK activity was determined. Basal and hypoxia-mediated phosphorylation of CaMKII, AMPK, and ACC as well as alpha1- and alpha2-associated AMPK activity was comparable between AMPKgamma3-KO and wild-type mice. KN-93 reduced hypoxia-mediated CaMKII phosphorylation in AMPKgamma3-KO and wild-type mice (P < 0.05), whereas phosphorylation of AMPK and ACC as well as alpha1- and alpha2-associated AMPK activity was unaltered. Hypoxia increased TBC1D1/D4 phosphorylation in AMPKgamma3-KO and wild-type mice (P < 0.001). KN-93 exposure prevented this effect in AMPKgamma3-KO, but not in wild-type mice. Taken together, we provide direct evidence for a role of the AMPKgamma3 isoform in hypoxia-mediated glucose transport in glycolytic muscle. Moreover, hypoxia-mediated TBC1D1/D4 phosphorylation was uncoupled from glucose transport in AMPKgamma3-KO mice, indicating that TBC1D1/D4-independent mechanisms contribute to glucose transport in skeletal muscle.


During the second wave of covid 19[SARS- Co V-] pandemic, there is a sudden increase in number of mucormycosis infection cases in India. The present study is an attempt to understand the presentation, course and outcome of rhinoorbital mucormycosis in a group of patients who reported to Ophtalmology and Otorhinolaryngology department of our Govt. District Hospital (secondary referral centre) for enhancing measures for prevention and management. Patients who reported to our Government district hospital with signs or symptoms suggestive of rhino orbital mucormycosis during May-June 2021 were included in the study with consent of ethical committee, patients and patient's relatives. Total 17 cases were reported and followed. Clinical examination was done for all the patients. History of the presenting complaints and underlying illness with COVID -19 was elicited. Underlying comorbid status was recorded. Patients were followed as all of them were referred to higher centre for further management as per the guidelines issued by directorate medical and health services, rajasthan, Jaipur.13(76.4%) patients were from rural and 4 (23.5%) were from urban area. 11(64.7%) patients had RT-PCR +ve, 6 had RT-PCR _ve, 2 did not have RT-PCR report. 15(88.7%) patients had high blood sugar at presentation mean being 315.7mg%. 9 (52.9%) developed mucormycosis during their treatment for COVID in hospital. 8(47.05%) presented in OPD. 9 patients had treatment with inhalational Owhile 8 patients did not have treatment with O Death rate was high (70.5%) among our patients. Patients who survived (29.4%) had only initial symptoms and signs at presentation therefore could be managed earlier. None of our patient had vaccination for COVID. Our study was done at secondary referral centre, all the previous studies were done at tertiary referral centres; therefore it shows the course of disease mainly among rural population ; most of them presented very late and had poor outcomes. It shows the need of more awareness about COVID and mucormycosis among people especially in rural areas. High blood sugar either due to treatment with steroids or pre existing is a major risk factor for Rhino orbital mucormycosis. Being RT- PCR negative for COVID 19 does not rule out the associated possible complication of Rhino orbital mucormycosis. Early diagnosis and management remains the key factor for managing Rhino orbital mucormycosis.


The study presented here is a follow-up study to Rowland and Torres (2004), who used a panel data framework together with data from 16 emerging market issuers to identify the determinants of the spread and the creditworthiness. Since many new issuers of emerging market sovereign debt have emerged recently, we can by using data from one single point in time, end of July 2003, expand our country set to 29 for the analysis of the spread and around 50 for the analysis of the credit ratings and the creditworthiness. We will use an OLS regression framework for the empirical analysis. The study identifies some seven variables that play a role in determining ratings, creditworthiness and spreads. These include the GDP per capita, the economic growth rate, the inflation rate, external-debt ratios, debt-service ratios, the level of international reserves, and the openness of the economy. Emerging market policy makers and investors should pay extra attention to these variables when defining economic policies and evaluating bond issues.


The Australian system of mandatory detention of asylum–seekers has become increasingly controversial. Insofar as commentary on detention has been framed historically, critics have pointed to Australia's race–based exclusionary laws and policies over the twentieth century. In this article, we suggest that exclusion and detention are not equivalent practices, even if they are often related. Here we present an alternative genealogy of mandatory detention and protests against it. Quarantine–detention and the internment of "enemy aliens" in wartime are historic precedents for the current detention of asylum–seekers. Importantly, in both carceral practices, non–criminal and often non–citizen populations were held in custody en masse and without trial. Quarantine, internment and incarceration of asylum–seekers are substantively connected over the twentieth century, as questions of territory, security and citizenship have been played out in Australia's histories of detention.


Replicative senescence occurs in normal cells, in contrast to their malignant counterparts which are generally immortal in vitro. We now show that induction of melanogenesis in subconfluent B16 melanoma cells deprived of growth factors can lead to irreversible growth arrest but continued cell viability, concurrent with the expression of specific glycosylated high molecular weight tyrosinases. These tyrosinase activities identify withdrawal from the cell cycle since they were not detected in reversibly arrested quiescent melanocytes, serum-deprived melanoma, or apoptotic melanoma. Our data suggest that different tyrosinases can distinguish cycling and noncycling cells of melanocytic origin and also imply that replicative senescence can be restored in some tumor cells when induced to terminal differentiation in the absence of growth-promoting agents.


Background Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis is a relatively newly identified autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder that predominantly affects children and young adults. Although psychiatric symptoms are highly prevalent and frequently severe, it has mainly been reported in neurological, but not psychiatric, literature. Understanding this form of encephalitis, its quick diagnosis and which treatment to provide are of utmost importance for consultation-liaison (C-L) psychiatrists. The aim of this paper was to describe a case of anti-NMDAR encephalitis with severe psychiatric manifestations, who showed impressive recovery but required intensive involvement of the C-L psychiatry team. We emphasise the behavioural aspects, psychiatric symptoms and challenges faced by the CL consultant across the different phases of the treatment. Methods We report the different treatment phases for a young woman with anti-NMDAR encephalitis who developed severe neuropsychiatric symptoms, with a focus on the role and challenges faced by the C-L psychiatrist. The literature is reviewed for each of these challenges. Results This case illustrated that even extremely severely affected patients may show impressive recovery, but require long lasting psychiatric care. C-L psychiatrists are faced with numerous challenges where only little literature is available. Conclusion C-L psychiatrists play a pivotal role throughout the multidisciplinary care of patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis and should be informed about this entity.


Abstract:This article explores the dynamics of the mission field in the nineteenth-century British colony of Natal in southern Africa. By "mission field" I mean the broader bundle of concepts, aspirations, and activities that surrounded the work of Christian conversion in Natal. The term denotes both a material process—proselytization, primarily within the physical spaces of missionary stations—and a discursive one—reliance upon the articulation of difference to justify both settler occupation and imperial attempts to reshape indigenous life. For colonial actors, the "civilizing mission" within Christianity required revolutions in clothing, which were viewed as material manifestations of divine transformation. The mission field operated as more than a side theater of colonialism; rather, it represented the stakes of settlement—that bodies and souls both indigenous and settler would be transformed into industrious and moral paragons, albeit unequally and with respect to the inherent raced and gendered hierarchies embedded within Natal.


Dataflow matrix machines are self-referential generalized recurrent neural nets. The self-referential mechanism is provided via a stream of matrices defining the connectivity and weights of the network in question. A natural question is: what should play the role of untyped lambda-calculus for this programming architecture? The proposed answer is a discipline of programming with only one kind of streams, namely the streams of appropriately shaped matrices. This yields Pure Dataflow Matrix Machines which are networks of transformers of streams of matrices capable of defining a pure dataflow matrix machine.


The clinical presentation and management of 28 popliteal artery injuries following penetrating and blunt trauma during a 6 year period is reviewed. Clinical and Doppler evaluation identified an arterial injury in 24 (85 per cent) patients. In eight (29 per cent) patients with arteriovenous fistulae or false aneurysms, pedal pulses were palpable during initial assessment. Three (10·7 per cent) patients had limb amputation attributable to delayed vascular repair, crush injury and sepsis. End‐to‐end arterial repair following blunt trauma resulted in early failure with thrombosis in two patients. Autogenous vein grafting was used in 12 patients and is advocated in all blunt popliteal arterial injuries. Routine repair of associated venous injuries and liberal criteria for early fasciotomy were used. Exoskeletal fixation or skeletal traction for compound and comminuted fractures is recommended for simplicity of application and wound management. The significant functional orthopaedic disability following blunt arterial trauma at the knee is emphasized.


Paralleled operation of dc-dc converters is widely used in today's distributed power systems. Special control circuitry is usually necessary to ensure current sharing among the paralleled modules. The average-current-sharing control method is very popular due to its simple implementation and good performance. Although the analysis and design of the average-current-sharing control were presented in the past, a loop gain measurement technique has not been published. This paper presents a practical loop gain measurement technique that uses two excitation sources. Measured and theoretical data are compared to verify the proposed technique.


In this study, the concepts of decision theory have been applied to a clinical obstetric controversy--the management of the selected mature breech presentation. We have reviewed in detail the literature published since 1974 and estimated the probabilities of various outcomes after different treatment strategies. We conclude that a policy of selected vaginal delivery will result in four perinatal deaths for every 1000 patients delivered. A similar probability of neurologic handicap, at least until discharge from hospital, can also be attributed to this method of delivery. These unfavorable outcomes were reported less frequently in more recent reports covering the years since 1974. In these cases, the probability of fetal death due to a trial of vaginal delivery is approximately two in 1000. Cesarean section rates have risen, however, and 18-40% of trials of labor for breech presentation now result in "emergency" cesarean section. Decision analysis has demonstrated that a policy of elective cesarean section for all cases would not necessarily increase maternal mortality and morbidity. Thus the greater dangers of emergency compared with nonelective surgery may abolish the advantages of attempting a vaginal delivery. Depending on the relative dangers of elective and emergency cesarean section, planned delivery becomes the safer option when 16-30% of trials of vaginal breech delivery are unsuccessful. The strength and limitations of this probabilistic approach to the breech presentation are discussed in detail.


In this paper we present a distributed algorithm for detecting cycles in large-scale directed graphs, along with its correctness proof and analysis. The algorithm is then extended to find strong components in directed graphs. We indicate an application to detecting cycles in number theoretic functions such as the proper divisor function. Our prototype implementation of the cycle detection algorithm, when applied to the proper divisor function, detects all sociable groups of numbers (cycles in the proper divisor function) up to 107.


In this paper we present a turbomachinery density-based CFD solver optimized for CPUs as well as GPUs, which accounts for complex thermodynamics including non-equilibrium condensation and two-phase flow, making extensive use of tabulation techniques. The two-phase flow is treated by means of the mono-dispersed Source-Term Euler-Euler model. The non-equilibrium wet-steam model is validated in classical nozzle test cases and its application in turbomachinery configuration is demonstrated in a well-documented steam turbine cascade in the context of classic RANS modeling. Finally, the LES-solver performance and scalability, together with its accuracy, are assessed and discussed on the basis of the well-known and theoretically relevant experiment by Comte-Bellot and Corrsin. For both, standard RANS computations, where an upwind schemes has been adopted, as well as for the LES computations, where a central scheme in skew-symmetric form has been employed, the solver shows remarkable computational speed and accuracy for non-ideal gas applications, rendering it suitable for more complex LES computations in steam turbine flows.


Codes of Conduct or private standards by transnational enterprises on the compliance of social minimum standards in production have a legal character, although they are usually not meant to be legally binding. Their legal character derives from their integration into private contracts on the one hand, and from the legal context of competition and consumer law on the other. We can realize this when we, for example, take a closer look at the German legal context. Legal theory should accept these private standards as a way of broadening the public debate over regulation of economic activity into a public discourse on legal standards. Legislation could also help by establishing a more specific and outspoken legal framework.


Insect immunity comprises a complex of several distinct systems, both haemocytic and humoral in nature, that cooperate together in a more or less coordinated way to provide protection of the body cavity from invading microorganisms. Insects can respond to infections by a selective synthesis of haemolymph immune proteins that are responsible for antibacterial immunity. Antibacterial activity of insect blood is attributable to innate compounds such as lysozome, and to induced polypeptides or small basic proteins absent in non-immunized insects. The cecropins and attacins in Lepidoptera, and diptericins in Diptera are the inducible antibacterial immune proteins well defined biochemically. Bacterial pathogens and some parasites of insects, preferably entomogenous rhabditid nematodes, have developed the mechanism by which they may counteract insect immunity. This phenomenon is realized either by escaping immune reactions or by degrading antimicrobial factors of haemolymph in an active process. Passive resistance of parasites to insect immunity is a result of a strong evolutionary pressure on parasites to develop mechanisms to escape insect immune reactions or to minimize their effectiveness through changes in the parasite itself. Active resistance to the insect non-self response system involves a partial or total destruction of immune proteins by extracellular proteinases released during parasitism.


With treatment to remission as the gold standard for depression treatment, there is considerable reassessment of treatment approaches with the view to finding and employing agents capable of rapidly eliminating all symptoms and returning patients to normalcy. The mechanisms of action intrinsic to different classes of antidepressants are at the center of this review. The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the most commonly prescribed antidepressants, have a single-action mechanism involved in modulating the reuptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin. The selectivity of the SSRIs renders them safer and more tolerable than the earlier multi-acting monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and the tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). However, because serotonin is not the only neurotransmitter implicated in the pathophysiology of depression, the selectivity that bestows safety to SSRIs may limit somewhat the antidepressant effect in some patients. A newer class of dual-action antidepressants acts by inhibiting the reuptake of both serotonin and norepinephrine. These serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) have improved side effect profiles compared with the earlier multi-action antidepressants, compare favorably with the SSRIs on safety and tolerability, and reduce depression and its associated symptoms with greater rapidity. This review compares the neurobiology of single- and dual-action mechanisms.


Pattern mining over data streams is critical to a variety of applications such as understanding and predicting weather phenomena or outdoor surveillance. Most of the current techniques attempt to discover relationships between time-point events but are not practical for discovering dependencies over interval-based events. In this work, we present a new approach to mine dependencies between streams of interval-based
events that links two events if they occur in a similar manner, one being often followed by the other one after a certain time interval in the
data. The proposed method is robust to temporal variability of events and determines the most appropriate time intervals whose validity is assessed by a Chi2 test. As several intervals may redundantly describe the same dependency, the approach retrieves only the most speci c intervals with respect to a dominance relationship over temporal dependencies, and thus avoids the classical problem of pattern flooding in data mining. The TEDDY algorithm, TEmporal Dependency DiscoverY, prunes the search space while guaranteeing the discovery of all valid and signifi cant temporal dependencies. We present empirical results on simulated and real-life data to show the scalability and the robustness of our approach. The
dependency relationships defi ne a graph that supports intelligent analysis as illustrated by two case studies: Outdoor surveillance of a building via
video camera and motion sensors, and assistance for road deicing operations based on the humidity and temperature measurements at the urban
scale. These applications demonstrate the eficiency and the efectiveness of our approach.


While assessment practices are very important into the students' learning and development, the processes of assessment may follow a logical progression from the selection and development of classroom assessment to the communication of the assessment results. Teachers may have similar assessment practices but they vary on the processes in conducting the assessment. Through Delphi Technique, evaluation experts assessed the extent to which mathematics assessment practices satisfy meta-evaluation criteria of utility, feasibility, propriety, accuracy and accountability employed by Mathematics Educators of pre-professional mathematics teachers in some select State Universities in the Philippines. The assessment practices of the  Mathematics Educators were meta-evaluated with high ratings on utility,  feasibility, propriety, and accuracy, while only moderate in accountability. Assessments performed in the largest state university have better overall utility, accuracy and accountability with overall feasibility and propriety about the same level across the four state universities. Hence, the respondents should develop assessment strategies for students with different learning abilites, continuesly improve their technqiue in assessing students' learning and have sound judgement not only through the students' quantitative scores but the impact of feedback about their performance for future use.


This article focuses on the quality of data mining algorithms in terms of the accuracy ratio and time consumption. So, in order to figure out the best algorithm among the classification and clustering algorithms, the WEKA program will be testing all algorithms using a real dataset from the size effect on defect proneness for open source software. The Mozilla product is adopted as an example of open source software. The dataset that is used in this paper represents the output of the study of the size effect on defect proneness in the open source software. The study of Mozilla product shows a significant relationship between the size of software and the number of defect proneness in software. The Mozilla product study produced a dataset to be as inputs of the WEKA program in order to compare the data mining tools (algorithms). We use the Naive Bayes, Decision Trees J48, Expectation-maximization for classifying and K-Star and Simple KMeans for clustering methods. The findings demonstrate the difference between the algorithms according to the accuracy, and the time consuming to reach the result in each algorithm. Furthermore, the effect of the software size is significant on defect proneness. Finally, the experiments are conducted in WEKA with the aim of this research is finding out the best algorithm in terms of accuracy and timeconsuming. At the end, the paper will be figuring out the best algorithm in order to choose and depending on it in the tests of classification and clustering.


Background and Purpose: Invasive fungal infections (IFI) are life-threatening and can be seen in immuno-compromised patients with malignancy, those who undergo chemotherapy, or transplant recipients. The Candida and Aspergillus species are the most common IFI agents; however, infections can also be caused by rare fungal species. This case report is about a bloodstream infection due to Saprochaete clavata (formerly known as Geotrichum clavatum) in a woman with multiple myeloma. Case report: A 59-years-old woman suffered from fever, widespread rashes, and diarrhea after an autologous bone marrow transplantation. Peripheral blood cultures were taken from the patient and sent to the microbiology laboratory. Cultures grew white to cream-colored cottony colonies. Moreover, septate and branched hyphae and arthroconidia were seen under a microscope by lactophenol blue staining. The fungi colonies were identified by Maldi Biotyper 3. 1. (manufactured by Bruker Daltonics, USA) as S. clavata (G. clavatum) with a reliable score. Antifungal susceptibility test was carried out by the concentration gradient strip Etest method. Minimal inhibitory concentrations of Amphotericin B, fluconazole, voriconazole, posaconazole, and anidulafungin were determined as 4, 3, 0.125, 0.125, and > 32 mg/dL, respectively. Despite amphotericin B treatment, the patient died three days after the identification of the fungi. Conclusion: The IFIs are serious conditions that have high mortality rates. In the current case report, we aimed to draw attention to S. clavata which is a rare fungal agent.


Although the skilful body has been ever-present in research accounts of consumption experiences, no sustained attention has been given to the acquisition of skills necessary for successful engagement with those experiences. In the present study, we report an empirical investigation of the acquisition and diffusion of embodied competencies amongst high-speed motorcyclists. In doing so, we mobilise the concept of reflexive body techniques in order to unpack the social, physical and mindful aspects of skilled embodiment. We demonstrate that skill acquisition is a necessary precursor to successful immersion into certain kinds of consumption experiences offered by the marketplace. Further, we underline the role of skill acquisition in subject formation.


A robust residual-based a posteriori error estimator is proposed for a weak Galerkin finite element method for the Stokes problem in two and three dimensions. The estimator consists of two terms, where the first term characterises the difference between the L2-projection of the velocity approximation on the element interfaces and the corresponding numerical trace, and the second is related to the jump of the velocity approximation between the adjacent elements. We show that the estimator is reliable and efficient through two estimates of global upper and global lower bounds, up to two data oscillation terms caused by the source term and the nonhomogeneous Dirichlet boundary condition. The estimator is also robust in the sense that the constant factors in the upper and lower bounds are independent of the viscosity coefficient. Numerical results are provided to verify the theoretical results. AMS subject classifications: 65N15, 65N30, 76D07


Abstract Background Pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) most commonly results from weakened or injured muscles and ligaments whose purpose is to support the pelvic floor. Many studies have placed vaginal delivery and prolonged second stage of labor (SSL) as major risk factors for PFD, supposedly through generating enhanced pressure in the pelvic area. Although many studies describe the effects of vaginal delivery and labor on structure and function of the pelvic floor, not much is known regarding PFD deriving from pregnancy and its prevalence and severity in the postpartum. We aimed to evaluate whether a correlation exists between PFD symptoms during pregnancy and the duration of the SSL. Methods We conducted a cross sectional study of 200 women who gave birth at Soroka University Medical Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel. Those who had consented completed the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory-20 (PFDI-20), a condition specific questionnaire developed to measure quality-of-life and the extent of injury to the pelvic floor in women with all forms of PFD. The duration of the SSL and clinical and obstetrical characteristics were retrieved from the participants' medical records. We assessed correlations using Spearman's correlation coefficient. Results PFD during pregnancy was found to be correlated to the duration of the SSL (R = −0.183, p = .021). When evaluating each component of the PFDI-20 separately, CRAD was significantly correlated with the duration of the SSL (R = −0.195, p = .014). Conclusions There is a correlation between PFD symptoms during pregnancy, specifically symptoms of CRAD and the duration of the SSL.


Background: Tuberculosis treatment outcome monitoring was introduced in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2002 based on cases reported in 2001. Objective: To estimate the proportion of treatment success and to identify predictors of non-completion for cases reported in 2001. Method: At 12 months after the start of treatment, outcome was assessed according to a protocol based on standardised European recommendations. Results: The proportion of cases completing treatment by 12 months was 79% if calculated for cases in whom outcome information was reported, and 62% of all cases regardless of whether information on outcome was reported or not. Of the new smear-positive pulmonary cases for whom information on outcome was reported, 77% completed treatment. Non-completion of treatment was associated with male sex, age ⩾65 years, recent entry into UK for those born abroad, residence outside London, pulmonary disease and drug resistance. Conclusions: Despite the resources of an industrialised country with a low incidence of tuberculosis, the World Health Organization treatment success target of 85% was not achieved. This was partly due to the number of deaths in the elderly, and partly due to missing outcome information for 21% of the cases. As in other low-incidence countries, additional outcome measures such as the proportion of those aged <65 years completing treatment would provide a more comparable indicator for assessment of treatment success. This first year of data collection has shown the importance of increasing the proportion of cases for whom outcome is ascertained, and of ensuring the validity of information provided.


This presentation seeks to address some of the issues and explore the benefits associated with teaching tertiary-level studies in religion in Second Life. This popular virtual world provides an unparalleled opportunity for people to interact with each other and their environment in unfamiliar and innovative ways. Though originally applied to the acquisition of language skills, immersive learning has been found to be equally useful in other disciplines. For students of studies in religion, successful role identification would enable them to view a variety of belief systems through fresh eyes, helping them to acquire desirable graduate attributes. These would include the acquisition of knowledge about other cultures and times, or the fostering of intercultural communication and an appreciation of cultural diversity, historical consciousness and a global perspective.

A number of elaborately and carefully designed religious spaces already exist within Second Life, their creators encouraging participation in rituals and worship. Every Sunday on Epiphany Island an avatar can take communion and hear the sermon delivered by Anglican minister Arkin Ariantho. But just as Second Life enables followers of many faiths to worship and engage with their religious communities, it also provides the opportunity for students to fully participate in a ritual or role-play in a way that is not feasible in real life for legal, financial and ethical reasons, even if appropriate spaces did exist within their geographical location. The possibilities for using these already extant spaces and the creation of purpose-built 'religious spaces' to creative immersive learning opportunities for use in the studies in religion curriculum will be discussed.


The risk of infection spread in dentistry has to be a major concern within the framework of technical
and medical parameters under permanent change. The European dental education requires the
specialists in this field to have a high level of medical training, the standards for clinical skills and
abilities including knowledge on the control of "cross infection" and the prevention of physical,
chemical, and microbial contamination. This paper deals with the preventive assessment of the present
requirements on infection transmission: sources of infection, impact of some severe viral diseases
(HIV, HBV, HCV, SARS), environment, routes of transmission, devices, techniques, protocols, modern
materials used in infection control.


This essay extends an interpersonal model to rabbinic interpretation of biblical foreign policy. Specifically, a wall-boundary analysis is made of ancient Israel's relation to four categories of nations: (a) Amalek and the Canaanites, (b) Ammon and Moab, (c) Edom and Egypt, and (d) the other nations. King Saul's counternormative behavior is discussed toward (a) King Agag of Amalek and (b) the Hebrew priests of God at Nob. Wall permeability becomes normative with an unassaulted inner boundary. When the boundary is under assault, however, wall permeability is ex pressly forbidden.


This research strives to enrich criminological and educational literature by providing a better understanding of relationships among school performance and achievement, attendance, and demographic information based upon the number of exclusionary disciplinary actions within public high schools. Using data on 409 traditional high schools from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, this quantitative study uses path analysis to examine the relationships between school factors, including demographics and achievement measures, and exclusionary discipline. The findings indicated a direct relationship between a schools' drop-out rate, AP courses, and standardized test scores and the schools' total number of exclusionary disciplinary actions. In addition, socioeconomic status and attendance rates indirectly impacted exclusionary disciplinary actions. The study also determined a correlation between the number of minority students within a school and the total number of disciplinary actions. These findings have a number of implications for school systems that hope to eliminate the school-to-prison pipeline.


Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L. Lam), the second most important root tuber and the seventh most important food crop of the world, although categorized as "poor man's food" or "famine crop", has tremendous potential to contribute to a food based approach to promote food security, to alleviate poverty and to supplement as an alternative staple food for the resource poor farmers, because of its diverse range of positive attributes like high yield with limited inputs, short duration, high nutritional value and tolerance to various production stresses. Orange-fleshed sweet potato is now emerging as an important member of the tropical tuber crops having great possibility for being adopted as regular diet of the consumer food chain to tackle the problem of vitamin A deficiency. Apart from cheap source of energy, the tubers are rich in starch, sugars, minerals and vitamin A in the form of β-carotene. Thus, the poor people having only limited access to the expensive vitamin A rich animal foods like fish oil, egg, milk and butter, can meet the daily requirement of vitamin A along with some other essential nutrients through increased consumption of these tubers. Being rich in β-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are now considered as an important biofortified crop in many developing countries in alleviating Vitamin A malnutrition. The focus of this paper is on identification of potential cultivars of orange-fleshed sweet potato having high β-carotene and higher percentage of its retention after cooking. The cultivars with high β-carotene had consistently orange flesh and those with low to very low in β-carotene content had light orange or yellow-fleshed tubers. Results of this study suggest that increased consumption of orange-fleshed sweet potato in either fresh or cooked form can contribute considerably in alleviating dietary deficiency of Vitamin A and thereby combating night blindness, a major public health concern in rural areas.


Today's information technology (IT) organizations are under pressure to meet or improve IT service levels for critical business functions. Various industry standards, such as the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and the Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT) standard, have gained wide acceptance as comprehensive methodologies for improving the effectiveness of IT management. The role of IT operations management is subsequently changing from a component orientation (such as networks, systems, storage, database, and applications) to managing business-oriented, end-to-end IT services. This article presents a detailed analysis of available literature in order to identify the most appropriate competencies and necessary skill sets that will be needed by an operation manager for strategic business alignment.


Background: To investigate the possible association between serum 25(OH) vitamin D3 concentration and the severity of disease in Iranian patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and to compare this concentration with a matched control group. Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study performed at Jondishapour Neurology Clinic in Tehran, Iran. Patients with relapsing–remitting MS were categorized by disease severity: mild [0≤ Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) ≤3], moderate (3.5≤EDSS≤5.5), and severe (6≤EDSS). Serum concentrations of 25(OH) vitamin D3, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and parathyroid hormone were measured in 98 MS patients and 17 healthy age- and sex-matched controls. Fisher's exact, Kruskal–Wallis, Mann–Whitney U test, and independent t and Spearman rank correlation tests were used. Results: Serum 25(OH) vitamin D3 concentration was significantly lower in patients with MS, especially in the severe MS subgroup, compared with healthy controls (P=0.047). There was a statistically significant inverse correlation between 25(OH) vitamin D3 concentration and EDSS score (P=0.049, R=−0.168 by Spearman rank correlation test), which was observed in women only (P=0.044, R=−0.199). Conclusions: Our findings not only further disclose the lower level of vitamin D in MS patients in comparison with healthy controls, but also support the association between vitamin D and disease severity in MS.


This paper derives and estimates a unified and tractable model of comparative advantage due to differences in both factor abundance and relative productivity differences across industries. It derives conditions under which ignoring one force for comparative advantage biases empirical tests of the other. I emphasize two empirical results: First, factor abundance- and relative productivity-based models each possesses explanatory power when nesting the other as an alternate hypothesis. Second, productivity differences across industries do not bias tests of the HO model in my sample. However, I find weak and mixed evidence that Heckscher-Ohlin forces can potentially bias tests of the Ricardian model.


Obstacle avoidance is one of the essential and indispensable functions for autonomous mobile robots. Most of the existing solutions are typically based on single condition constraint and cannot incorporate sensor data in a real-time manner, which often fail to respond to unexpected moving obstacles in dynamic unknown environments. In this paper, a novel real-time multi-constraints obstacle avoidance method using Light Detection and Ranging(LiDAR) is proposed, which is able to, based on the latest estimation of the robot pose and environment, find the sub-goal defined by a multi-constraints function within the explored region and plan a corresponding optimal trajectory at each time step iteratively, so that the robot approaches the goal over time. Meanwhile, at each time step, the improved Ant Colony Optimization(ACO) algorithm is also used to re-plan optimal paths from the latest robot pose to the latest defined sub-goal position. While ensuring convergence, planning in this method is done by repeated local optimizations, so that the latest sensor data from LiDAR and derived environment information can be fully utilized at each step until the robot reaches the desired position. This method facilitates real-time performance, also has little requirement on memory space or computational power due to its nature, thus our method has huge potentials to benefit small low-cost autonomous platforms. The method is evaluated against several existing technologies in both simulation and real-world experiments.


The LO-DL (Learning Objects Digital Library) Project is being developed at PUC-Rio in the Database Tecnology Lab (TECBD). This Project aims at integrating LOs repositories through their metadata in a uniform catalog or Digital Libray (DL), making it transparent to the users their locations and characteristics. The process of digital library development includes issues such as the integration of several databases. Moreover, access to the DL (Digital Library) must be assisted by the use of content hierarchies that guide the user in the discovery and filtering of information of his/her interest. In this work we propose a new approach for developing Digital Libraries of Learning Objects using a Data Warehousing Architecture, which is a method that addresses both issues mentioned above. We make comparisons between the components and services of both the Data Warehousing and the "Digital Librarying" Architectures. Furthermore, we suggest the use of Data Mining Techniques in some steps of the building and utilization of the DL. In particular we will detail the users profiles ́ analysis process which uses the library access log and a data mining tool for the library automatic refresh. We propose the use of association rules for the detection of the users needs so that the system can then search and make the new LOs available in the next loading (refresh) of the library. The supporting database which contains the Ontology (in our case a Taxonomy) of the LOs of interest is also described in the paper. Key-Words: – digital library, data warehousing, data mining, learning objects, e-learning..


One hundred and five chicken egg samples were taken from seven geographical locations in Kenya and analyzed for organochlorine pesticide residues using gas-liquid chromatography. Nine organochlorine compounds were detected: alpha- and gamma-HCH/BHC (hexachlorocyclohexane/benzene hexachloride), aldrin, dieldrin, p,p'-DDE [1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene], p,p'-DDD (TDE) [2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1-dichloroethane] (tetrachlorodiphenylethane), o,p'-DDD [2-(o-chlorophenyl)-2-(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1-dichloroethane], o,p'-DDT [2-(o-chlorophenyl)-2-(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1-trichloroethane], and p,p'-DDT. Eighteen of the samples contained DDT levels exceeding the practical residue limit (0.5 ppm). The mean DDT residue content was 0.68 ppm, a result influenced greatly by the high contamination in the 18 samples. Both individual and mean residue levels for other organochlorine pesticides detected were well within the respective practical residue limits.


Comprehensive experiments were designed to evaluate the function of acid-shock (pH 3; orthophosphoric acid; 24 h) and alkaline-shock (pH 11; NaOH; 24 h) pretreatment methods for the selective enrichment of an acidogenic culture to enhance H2 production efficiency of mixed anaerobic consortia. Long term (520 days) operation in suspended-batch mode bioreactors illustrated the relative efficiency and feasibility of redox pretreated cultures against an untreated parent culture in enhancing H2 production. Relatively higher H2 production was observed with an acid pretreated mixed culture (15.78 mol kg−1 CODR) over alkaline pretreated (9.8 mol kg−1 CODR) and untreated mixed cultures (3.31 mol kg−1 CODR). On the contrary, substrate degradation was higher with untreated culture (ξCOD, 62.86%; substrate degradation rate (SDR), 1.10 kg CODR/m3-day) and alkaline-shock pretreated mixed culture (ξCOD, 59.93%; SDR, 1.22 kg CODR/m3-day) compared to the acid-shock culture (ξCOD, 53.4%; SDR, 0.705 kg CODR/m3-day). Synergetics of microbial inventory, dehydrogenase activity and bio-electro kinetics in association with H2 production and substrate degradation were also evaluated in detail throughout the operation. Acid pretreatment of the parent culture has resulted in a shift in the fermentation pathway towards acetic acid production, while alkaline pretreatment showed a mixed type fermentation (acetic, butyric, propnoic acids) similar to an untreated parent mixed culture. Dehydrogenase activity of the biocatalyst showed a significant improvement after applying acid pretreatment indicating the increased redox inter-conversion reactions leading to the higher proton gradient in the cell that resulted in higher H2 production. The redox catalytic currents observed from the cyclic voltammograms (CV) and the output from the Tafel analysis also strongly supported the increased biocatalyst performance after pretreatment, especially at acid-shock. The shift in oxidative and reductive Tafel slopes towards a lower value after applying acid-shock treatment supports the redox inter-conversion reactions required for proton conservation. Microbial profiling revealed that the pretreatment method in the long term operation substantially affected the species composition of microbial communities. Dominance of Clostridia and Bacilli classes were observed in the pretreated culture and indicates their positive role in the H2 production process. This study shows the feasibility of controlling microbial metabolic functions by repeated application of the pretreatment to the reactor native microflora (in situ) during operation whenever required to regain or modify the process performances.


THE problem of the restoration of full vision in the squinting eye in uniocular squints is one which obtrudes itself in every phase of the treatment of strabismus. There is, of course, nothing new in the recognition of the importance of the treatment of amblyopia in squint. Occlusion of the fixing eye in cases of squint has been a recognized procedure since the middle of the 18th century, and there is undoubted evidence that this is an effective line of treatment in the majority of such cases. On the other hand, in a certain number of cases, occlusion, even when properly applied, proves to be ineffective and it would appear that most of the unsuccessful cases are those in which there is an early age of onset of the squint and particularly when there is an eccentric type of fixation of the squinting eye. It is with cases of eccentric fixation that this paper is primarily concerned, and with a re-assessment of the widely recognized concept that in cases of amblyopia it may be possible to restore vision only to the functional level which existed at the time of onset of the amblyopia.


Aqueous solutions of putrescine and putrescine dichloride were sprayed on flowers and fruit of self-incompatible olive (Olea europaea L.) 'Leccino' and Tendolino'. Both diamine formulas increased fruit-set and yield when applied on flowers before anthesis ('Pendolino') and at full bloom ('Leccino'), but they slightly decreased fresh fruit weight. Putrescine dichloride was more effective than putrescine base, stimulating fruit-set with 5 × 10 –2 m solution compared to 5 × 10–1 m to 1 m of putrescine base.


This paper presents an experimental study of the effect of geometry variations of the rotor entry cavity on shrouded steam turbine performance. A series of experiments was carried out where different configurations of the geometry of the entry cavity were tested. Blade geometry and tip clearance remained unaltered for all cases examined. Interactions between cavity and main flow are carefully investigated and their consequences on shrouded steam turbine stage efficiency are examined. Geometry variations of the entry cavity were installed in a pre-existing 'baseline' case of high efficiency. Five different test cases were examined. For the first two of these cases a ring having a constant width of 2mm and 4mm in radial direction is used. The next two cases employ a non-uniform, wavy insert and for the last case a backwards slanted insert is used that covers most of the inlet to cavity area, maintaining a safety distance of 2mm from the downstream rotor. The cases are divided into two groups, based on the same inlet cavity volume. The first group of three cases has a cavity volume reduction of 14% compared to the baseline case, whereas in the second group two cases are examined which maintain a 28% cavity volume reduction compared to the baseline case. Stage performance and flow field data were acquired and analyzed. Strong interactions between cavity and main flow are observed for all cases, not only at the location where the variations were installed. An observed effect can also be seen downstream of the rotor affecting the stage performance. Measurements were performed with the use of miniature probes ensuring minimum blockage effects especially within the cavity, both at rotor inlet as well as downstream of the second rotor. The use of a uniform geometry variation for the inlet rotor cavity in both groups proved to be the best in terms of stage efficiency. Although more complex and non-uniform variations were also used, the simple design of uniform geometry caused the least disturbance in the flow downstream of the 2nd rotor, having at the same time a moderate positive influence at the exit of the 2nd stator. The use of a constant width insert ring (thickness = 2mm) showed an efficiency gain of at least 0.3% from cases with 14% cavity volume reduction, whereas in the cases with 28% cavity volume reduction the use of a uniform ring of 4mm width produced a marginal efficiency gain of 0.1% at the operational point.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


It is known that 30–40 % of patients with peritoneal endometriosis suffer from infertility. Half of the patients with endometriosis are identified point mutation in NAT2 – gene, which plays an important role in the acetylation of aromatic and heterocyclic amines, in the accumulation of endotoxins, activation of free radical oxidation, impaired microcirculation. These factors involve the use of methods of gemapheresis which have detoxification, the blood rheology corrective and immune corrective effects. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of therapeutic plasma exchange in treatment of patients with peritoneal form of endometriosis, infertility and point mutations in the gene NAT2. The study included 140 patients with infertility, peritoneal form of endometriosis and point mutations in the gene NAT2. All patients are performed laparoscopy, coagulation foci of endometriosis. In the following 93 (66.4 %) patients were treated with a the course of therapeutic plasmapheresis using the apparatus «PCS-2» with the removal of 20–25 % the volume of circulating plasma with replacement plasma of crystalloid and colloid solutions. Before treatment were shown the signs of endotoxemia, activation of oxidative stress. After treatment with the use of plasmapheresis was revealed the significant reduction of endogenous intoxication parameters and oxidative stress. Also is noted the increase in the pregnancy rate, both independently and in IVF programs, especially during the first 3 months after treatment. The findings suggest that the efficiency of the proposed comprehensive treatment techniques (laparoscopy and subsequent course of therapeutic plasmapheresis) of patients with peritoneal endometriosis and infertility and with point mutations in the gene NAT2. The use of plasmapheresis is pathogenetically justified in patients of the studied group.


A study was conducted in a large Head Start organization that serves large numbers of Latino children in order to empirically describe the nature and quality of the classroom language learning environment. By observing 147 literacy-based lessons in 6 classrooms and surveying 167 teachers throughout the organization, we investigated the amount of teachers' use of extended discourse during literacy-based lessons, and when and how Spanish and/or English was used as the medium of communication. Research Findings: Only 22% of the 147 literacy-based lessons observed fostered extended discourse; the most commonly implemented lesson was characterized by a routine format of the teacher talking and the children listening. English was regarded as the language of instruction, whereas Spanish was used mostly to regulate behavior and emotions. By fitting multilevel models to the data, we found that teaching practice was relatively stable across the classrooms. Practice or Policy: More emphasis should be placed on professional training focused on supporting classroom language interactions that foster literacy development and on the use of language that best fosters and facilitates such extended discourse.


We analyzed lumbosacral and cortical somatosensory evoked potentials in three spinal cord injury patients undergoing evaluation of intrathecal baclofen infusion for management of spasticity. The cauda equina propagating root wave (R wave) and conus medullaris postsynaptic responses (S and P waves) were analyzed before and during baclofen infusion. Baclofen abolished the concomitantly recorded H-reflex and markedly suppressed the P wave amplitude and area. The S wave amplitude and area were suppressed to a lesser degree. In contrast, there were no significant changes in cortical somatosensory evoked potentials.


Virtual memory is an abstraction that assigns references, or names, to data objects and instructions. Typically, instructions have exactly one name: a uniquely-identifiable virtual address. This mapping can be leveraged by adversaries to deterministically construct exploit payloads. In this work, we investigate how virtual memory should be redesigned to eliminate the need for this one-to-one mapping, effectively increasing system security. Our solution, Name Confusion, provides multiple names (i.e.,virtual addresses) for an instruction. This allows us to define a security protocol, namely Phantom Name System (PNS), in which the order of names used during execution can be randomized. It works as follows: during instruction fetch, the address (name) used to fetch an instruction is randomly chosen, and from that point on, any PC-relative addresses use the name obtained during the fetch. PNS can be used to mitigate a class of attacks known as code-reuse attacks by significantly reducing the success probability of an exploit payload. If an attacker causes any of the PC-relative addresses to be different from the one chosen during the fetch, the program will crash. PNS provides a new security feature that requires minor microarchitectural adjustments, and can be combined with other security features to enhance their strength. Lastly, we show that our performance is better than commercially-available state-of-the-art hardware primitives, e.g., cryptographic CFI, by a significant margin.


Congressman Richard A. Gephardt (D-MO) came to AGU's spring meeting in Baltimore, Md., to talk about global warming and public policy. He stressed global unity to combat the problems of increasing temperatures. His remarks were part of the Union session Earth: A Changing Planet on May 10. Gephardt emphasized the U.S. need to cooperate with Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, and other countries where scientists are working to decrease emissions of greenhouse gases.


WHEREAS Article 75 of the Charter of the United Nations provides for the establishment of an international trusteeship system for the administration and supervision of such territories as may be placed thereunder by subsequent agreements; and WHEREAS under Article 77 of the said Charter the trusteeship system may be applied to territories now held under mandate; and WHEREAS on 17 December 1920 the Council of the League of Nations confirmed a mandate for the former German islands north of the equator to Japan, to be administered in accordance with Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations; and WHEREAS Japan, as a result of the Second World War, has ceased to exercise any authority in these islands; NOW, THEREFORE, the Security Council of the United Nations, having satisfied itself that the relevant articles of the Charter have been complied with, hereby resolves to approve the following terms of trusteeship for the Pacific Islands formerly under mandate to Japan.


The development of cyberspace is not only facilitate people's lives. It should also be in line with security awareness related to personal and enterprise systems. Estimates of the number of new malware in 2013 reached 600 million, and has grown rapidly in recent years. Malware can attack a wide variety of computing devices and mobile devices are no exception. The number of malware attacks this execution on a large scale. This is a big challenge for malware detector. There are several ways of classification that are used to verify the accuracy of the research. Most classifiers have too many combinations that are difficult to assess, change often (optimal) and should get a brief training period. This study is aimed at reducing high-dimensional vector space to a lower dimension, thus reducing the problem of lack of accuracy of results. This study used a new approach, namely the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). PCA will make a classification so that the process can be done automatically and efficiently. PCA can reduce the number of dimensions of space by extracting features that describe the data set so that data sets can be confirmed precisely as if the entire data set together. The purpose of this study to investigate the malware will be selected, reducing the dimensions of the model that will be used to detect
malware and to validate the models to find a minimum set of data to detect malware data. In order to find the right combination of features and options classification, two different sets of selection criteria used by two machine learning classifier. Result classification was assessed using the True Positive Rate (TPR), the false negative rate (FNR) and the accuracy of the feature selection approaching or exceeding 95% accuracy.


Fabricating future materials by self-assembly of nano-building blocks programmed to generate specific lattices is among the most challenging goals of nanotechnology and has led to the recent concept of patchy particles. We report here a simple strategy to fabricate polystyrene nanoparticles with several silica patches based on the solvent-induced self-assembly of silica/polystyrene monopods. The latter are obtained with morphological yields as high as 99% by seed-growth emulsion polymerization of styrene in the presence of 100 nm silica seeds previously modified with an optimal surface density of methacryloxymethyl groups. In addition, we fabricate "magnetic" silica seeds by silica encapsulation of preformed maghemite supraparticles. The polystyrene pod, i.e., surface nodule, serves as a sticky point when the monopods are incubated in a bad/good solvent mixture for polystyrene, e.g., ethanol/tetrahydrofuran mixtures. After self-assembly, mixtures of particles with two, three, four silica or magnetic silica patches are mainly obtained. The influence of experimental parameters such as the ethanol/tetrahydrofuran volume ratio, monopod concentration and incubation time is studied. Further developments would consist of obtaining pure batches by centrifugal sorting and optimizing the relative position of the patches in conventional repulsion figures.


In this paper, we study unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) assisted mobile edge computing (MEC) with the objective to optimize computation offloading with minimum UAV energy consumption. In the considered scenario, a UAV plays the role of an aerial cloudlet to collect and process the computation tasks offloaded by ground users. Given the service requirements of users, we aim to maximize UAV energy efficiency by jointly optimizing the UAV trajectory, the user transmit power, and computation load allocation. The resulting optimization problem corresponds to nonconvex fractional programming, and the Dinkelbach algorithm and the successive convex approximation (SCA) technique are adopted to solve it. Furthermore, we decompose the problem into multiple subproblems for distributed and parallel problem solving. To cope with the case when the knowledge of user mobility is limited, we adopt a spatial distribution estimation technique to predict the location of ground users so that the proposed approach can still be applied. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach for maximizing the energy efficiency of UAV.


Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic disease with involvement of small and large joints. Treat-to-target strategy aims to improve the outcome and rapidly reduce disease activity by using properly and aggressively all the therapeutic options. Objectives To estimate the safety of bDMARDs in RA patients, when administered according to international recommendations, compared to delayed initiation of bDMARDs in usual care. Methods All adverse events (AEs) and their severity were recorded. Cox proportional-hazards models were performed examining the association of treatment groups, with the risk of 1st AE. A separate analysis was performed for new cases of cancer during administration of bDMARDs. Results There were 250 patients in usual care and 113 patients in T2T group (Table 1). Delayed bDMARD administration was accompanied by more frequent and severe AEs, compared to T2T strategy (Table 2). In the 1st group 155 patients were recorded with at least one AE (56 patients with serious), of which 80 patients had at least one infection (30 a serious one). In T2T group, there were 47, 9, 11 and 2 patients with at least one AE, serious AE, infection and serious infection respectively. The IRR for the T2T group was 0.78 for the 1st AE, 0.56 for the 1st serious AE, 0.41 for the 1st infection and 0.23 for the 1st serious infection. Table 3 illustrates the AEs (irrespective of AEs per person) in both groups. A greater incidence of cancer was noticed in patients of usual care group. There were 15 new cases of cancer (non-melanoma skin=2 lung=2 lymphoma=5 breast=2 urinary tract=3 blood=1) compared with only one (urinary tract) in T2T group. The IR of the 1st group was 1.99/100PY compared to 0.4/100PY of the 2nd group (p=0.027). Nine of 16 cases had no risk factors for cancer. Mean duration of sDMARDs, before bDMARDs, was 113 months and mean duration of bDMARDs 41 months. The risk of 1st infection (irrespective of severity) was significantly higher for the usual care group compared to T2T group (p=0.002 for 1st infection, p=0.03 for 1st serious infection, Figure 1). The risk for 1st AE and serious AE was marginally non-significant (p=0.069 and 0.077 respectively) in usual care group. After controlling for potential confounders, the risk for a serious AE remained significantly higher for usual care group (HR=0.42, p=0.041) (Table 4). Patients in T2T group were more likely to have a reduced risk for infection (HR=0.49 for 1st infection, HR=0.24 for serious one), although the findings were marginally non-significant (p=0.052 and 0.065 respectively). Extra-articular manifestations increased the risk for any AE (irrespective of severity), progression of age was important for the 1st AE (mild or serious) and 1st serious infection, whereas patients with ESR >40mm/h were more vulnerable to infections. Conclusions Frequency and severity of AEs, especially infections, were substantially reduced in T2T group. A greater incidence of cancer was noticed in patients with delayed administration of bDMARDs. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a severe motor neuron disease that is the leading genetic cause for infant mortality. This disease arises from mutations in the Survival of Motor Neuron (SMN) gene that are implicated in reducing the overall expression of SMN. Drug development in the SMA field has focused on discovering therapeutic agents that counter these mutations by increasing the expression of SMN. Valproic acid (VPA), a Histone Deacetylase inhibitor, was identified to increase SMN expression in cell culture. However, a recent clinical trial suggested that VPA has no effect on motor function in ambulant adult SMA patients. The interpretation of this result depends upon proof that VPA had the desired effect within cellular nuclei in these patients. In this study, blood samples collected during the course of the clinical trial were analyzed to determine the effect of VPA on molecular biomarkers. Using mass spectrometry, ELISA and immunoassay, we measured histone acetylation and the expression of both SMN protein and mRNA. Systematic analyses showed that while the administration of VPA increased histone acetylation and mRNA, it did not increase the expression of SMN protein. Hence we conclude VPA would not be an efficient drug against SMA and the increase in histone acetylation level does not improve motor functions in SMN patients. VPA fails to improve SMN proteins in vivo. However, due to the potential for SMA biomarker tests, the systematic methods used for the study of SMN protein expressions may still be used for future SMA clinical trial design and biological analysis.


0. Introduction. A C∞-manifold M is endowed with a Poisson pair if two linearly independent smooth bivectors c1, c2 are defined on M and cλ = λ1c1 + λ2c2 is a Poisson bivector for any λ = (λ1, λ2) ∈ R. A bihamiltonian structure J = {cλ} is the whole 2-dimensional family of bivectors. The structure J is degenerate if rank cλ < dimM , λ ∈ R. An intensive study of such objects was done by I. M. Gelfand and I. S. Zakharevich ([10], [11], [12]) in a particular case of bihamiltonian structures in general position on an odd-dimensional M (the corresponding Poisson pairs are necessarily degenerate: rank cλ = 2n, λ ∈ R \ {0}, if dimM = 2n + 1). In [11] there was introduced a notion of a Veronese web, i.e. a 1-parameter family of 1-codimensional foliations such that the corresponding family of annihilators is represented by the Veronese curve in the cotangent space at each point. It turns out that Veronese webs form a complete system of local invariants for bihamiltonian structures of general position. More precisely, it was shown in [11] that any such structure J = {cλ} in R admits a local reduction to a Veronese web WJ on a (n + 1)-dimensional manifold and that for any Veronese web W one can locally construct a bihamiltonian structure J(W) of general position in R with the reduction equal to W. In the real analytic case J and J(WJ) are isomorphic. The aim of this paper is to introduce a wider class of degenerate bihamiltonian structures that possess many features of the general position case and to generalize the notion


We report 2 rare cases of lower bile duct recurrence resected by pancreatoduodenectomy after hepatectomy for hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Case 1: A 74-year-old man underwent extended right hepatectomy for hilar cholangiocarcinoma (JSBS classification: pT1N0M0, fStage I, fCur A, negative cut end). The serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 level was elevated 18 months after hepatectomy, but abdominal computed tomography showed no signs of recurrence. However, lower bile duct recurrence was revealed by subsequent magnetic resonance imaging, positron-emission tomography, and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. Twenty months after hepatectomy, pancreatoduodenectomy was performed, and the pathological findings showed lower bile duct carcinoma(JSBS classification: pT3N0M0, fStage III, fCur A). The patient survived without recurrence 12 months after a secondary operation. Case 2: A 68-year-old woman underwent extended right hepatectomy for hilar cholangiocarcinoma(JSBS classification: pT3N2M0, fStage IVa, fCur B, negative cut end). Twelve months after hepatectomy, dilatation of the remaining lower bile duct was observed by abdominal computed tomography. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography revealed lower bile duct stenosis with suspected malignancy, and positron-emission tomography scan detected increased fluorodeoxyglucose uptake at the stenosis. Fourteen months after the hepatectomy, pancreatoduodenectomy was performed and the pathological findings showed lower bile duct carcinoma(JSBS classification: pT4N2M0, fStage IVb, fCur B). The patient died of local recurrence 6 months after the secondary operation.


UNLABELLED
The investigation aims at analysing in healthy and glaucoma subjects the effects of an angiotensin conversion enzyme inhibitor (Captopril) on intraocular pressure, local tolerance, influence on systemic circulation and to ascertain (or suggest) the mechanisms inducing this pressure lowering. The study is prospective, masked, in acute test (10 days) and includes a series of 14 healthy subjects and 18 patients with open angle primitive glaucoma. Following numerous experimental and clinical tests, Captopril isotonic solution 2.5% administered in ocular instillation 4 times/day proved to be the most appropriate.

RESULTS
Captopril solution 2.5% lowers intraocular pressure both in the normal subjects (average relief of 6.5 mm Hg) and in the glaucoma patients (8.9 mm Hg); hypotonic effects lasts for 6-8 hours; local tolerance is good; has no influence on systemic arterial pressure; tonography with constant Pt shows a 12% increase of C (insufficient to explain such a relief in intraocular pressure). The hypotesis that pressure lowering occurs (partially) by the stimulation of prostaglandin activity and consequently by improved uveoscleral drainage is suggested.

CONCLUSIONS
Captopril solution 2.5% administered topically lowers intraocular pressure without adversely influencing systemic and local circulation; local tolerance is good; the mechanisms of ocular hypotonizing effect are unknown.


BACKGROUND/AIMS
To explore the risk factors of gene-resistant mutations during nucleotide treatment.

METHODOLOGY
A total of 320 patients with CHB were randomly divided into lamivudine (LAM, 107 cases), adefovir (ADV, 106 cases) and entecavir (ETV, 107 cases) groups, and P gene mutations of HBV were regularly detected. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analysis were performed.

RESULTS
There was no statistical significance in baseline data between the three groups. The gene-resistant mutation rates were 20.0%, 0.0% and 0.0% one year later, 37.1%, 3.8% and 0.0% two years later, 42.8%, 9.5% and 0.9% three years later, and 64.7%, 25.7% and 0.9% four years later in LAM, ADV and ETV groups, respectively. In LAM group, rtL180M combined with rtM204V mutations accounted for 32.7% and in ADV group, rtN236T mutation accounted for 12.3%. The gene-resistant mutation rate was the most strong in LAM group.

CONCLUSIONS
With an extension of time, gene-resistant mutation rates are increased, but it is the highest in LAM group and the lowest in ETV group. Family history, the negative conversion time of HBV DNA and different nucleosides are independent risk factors of gene-resistant mutations.


Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades serve as unified signaling modules in plant development and defense response. Previous reports demonstrated an essential role of Arabidopsis GLIP1, a member of the GDSL-like-motif lipase family, in both local and systemic resistance. GLIP1 expression is highly induced by pathogen attack. However, the one or more signaling pathways involved are unknown. Here, we report that two pathogen-responsive MAPKs, MPK3 and MPK6, are implicated in regulating gene expression of GLIP1 as well as GLIP3 and GLIP4. After gain-of-function activation, MPK3 and MPK6 can strongly induce the expression of GLIP1, GLIP3, and GLIP4. Both GLIP1 and GLIP3 contribute to the plant resistance to Botrytis cinerea. WRKY33, a MPK3/MPK6 substrate, is essential for the MPK3/MPK6-dependent GLIP1 induction. In addition, WRKY2 and WRKY34, two close homologs of WRKY33, have a minor effect in MPK3/MPK6-regulated GLIP1 expression in B. cinerea-infected plants. Chromatin immunoprecipitation-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis demonstrated that the GLIP1 gene is a direct target of WRKY33. In addition, we demonstrated that MPK3/MPK6-induced GLIP1 expression is independent of ethylene and jasmonic acid, two important hormones in plant defense. Our results provide insights into the regulation of the GLIP family at the transcriptional level in plant immunity.


The incidence of childhood-onset Basedow's (Graves') disease is approximately 5% of all cases. Herein, we report a teenage female patient diagnosed with childhood-onset Graves' disease immediately following general anesthesia. Her signs and symptoms included tachycardia immediately prior to general anesthesia, delirium upon emerging from anesthesia, persistent postoperative tachycardia and anxiety, and prolonged nausea and vomiting.


Slavery in America began when Africans were brought in as slaves to the North American Colony of Jamestown Virginia around 1619. Slavery in America lasted for almost four hundred years though the trade was legally abolished by Britain in March 1807 (Walvin 163). Although the trade ended, slavery itself continued to survive. Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) is considered the first prominent Black writer in the United States to publish a book of imaginative writing. She is also the first to start the African-American literary tradition, as well as the African- American women literary tradition. Her work, which was derivative, was published in the collection, Poems on Various Subjects (1773) and in various magazines. Her choice of words was mostly biblical where it helped to camouflage her view on slavery. This paper intends to show that all of Wheatley's poems actually carried the theme of freedom. She has intelligently used this theme to articulate her desires in a subtle manner. On the surface, the poems are all preaching the greatness of Christianity to the readers and urging them to find solace through religion. She shows her racial awareness and resistance through various themes of the poems that she wrote. This paper highlights Wheatley's disapproval of slavery through her praise for religion, political commentaries, supporting elegies and death and finally through her escapism into an imaginary world.