We attempted to determine whether a diuretic-induced increase in renin secretion results in angiotensin II-mediated vasoconstriction which counteracts the antihypertensive action of diuretics. The angiotensui antagonist saralasin was administered to nine normal renin and five low renin essential hypertensives prior to and during stimulation of the renin-angiotendn system by 6 weeks of chronic diuretic therapy alone. Initial responses to saralasin infusion in all subjects on placebo varied, but were pressor overall. Following chronic polythiazide therapy, saralasin induced depressor responses of variable magnitude in seven of nine normal renin subjects. The combination of the diuretic and saralasin normalized blood pressure in four subjects. However, four normal renin subjects maintained a diastolic Mood pressure greater than 95 mm Hg despite simultaneous volume depletion and angiotensin blockade. One had a maximum antihypertensive effect with diuretic therapy alone. Pressor responses to saralasin persisted in four of five low renin subjects despite diuretic therapy. In general, the magnitude of the change hi plasma renin activity induced by diuretic therapy correlated with the difference in Mood pressure responses to saralasin. However, individual Mood pressure responses and absolute renin levels after diuretic therapy failed to predict consistently the ensuing responses to saralasin. Hence, in eight subjects (seven normal and one low renin), the compensatory increase in renin secretion hi response to diuretic-induced volume depletion limited diuretic antihypertensive efficacy. Yet diuretic-induced angiotensin dependency was not the sole mechanism supporting residual hypertension hi all subjects refractory to diuretic therapy.


A 18-year-old female with a history of precordial pain was admitted. There was a mass (3.5 x 2.5 cm) in the right inframammary region which was suspected to be chest wall tumor on the basis of CT scan and Ga scintigraphy findings. Exploratory surgery, consisting of total resection of the tumor without removing the ribs, was performed and revealed an abscess. Culture of pus from the abscess grew Salmonella newport (0 antigen 8, H antigen eh; 1.2). Focal infection with Salmonellosis is discussed. Surgical treatment is necessary in addition to chemotherapy.


High-quality Sb2Te3 films are obtained by molecular beam epitaxy on a graphene substrate and investigated by in situ scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. Intrinsic defects responsible for the natural p-type conductivity of Sb2Te3 are identified to be the Sb vacancies and Sb(Te) antisites in agreement with first-principles calculations. By minimizing defect densities, coupled with a transfer doping by the graphene substrate, the Fermi level of Sb2Te3 thin films can be tuned over the entire range of the bulk band gap. This establishes the necessary condition to explore topological insulator behaviors near the Dirac point.


The purpose of this study tried to identify what muscles show the most effective muscle activity through activity differences in each muscle and Kettlebell swing known to be efficient for strengthening the lower limb leg by measuring and comparing muscle activities of lower limb muscles, including hip muscles, while performing Kettlebell swing. A total of 24 healthy boy students were selected as subjects of this study, who had no pain nor surgical history of the knee or hip. Then, they were asked to perform Kettlebell swing, 3 sets of 5 times at 50% of 1RM. The results of this study showed that the average muscle activity and the maximum muscle activity of Biceps femoris, gluteus maximus, and gluteus medius made a statistically significant difference during Kettlebell swing (p<.001). These results are thought to be provided as basic materials for the development of programs for effectively strengthening low limb muscles.


The cytokine IFN-beta 2/IL-6 has emerged as an important means of communication between cells--both within the immune system as well as outside it. In exploring the link between the endocrine and the immune systems, we have studied the secretion of IFN-beta 2/IL-6 by freshly explanted human endometrial stromal cells and its modulation by estrogens. Endometrial stromal cells produced IFN-beta 2/IL-6 in response to other inflammation-associated cytokines such as IL-1 alpha or beta, TNF, and IFN-gamma. This secretion was strongly inhibited by estradiol-17 beta at concentrations as low as 10(-9) M. Multiple species of stromal cell IFN-beta 2/IL-6 in the size range 23 to 30 kDa were detected using immunoprecipitation or immunoblotting procedures. The endometrial stromal cell IFN-beta 2/IL-6 species were phosphorylated and differentially glycosylated in a manner comparable to IFN-beta 2/IL-6 secreted by induced human peripheral blood monocytes or foreskin fibroblasts. However, in contrast to peripheral blood monocytes and fibroblasts, bacterial LPS did not induce IFN-beta 2/IL-6 production in endometrial stromal cells. Additionally, the IFN-beta 2/IL-6 identified in medium from IL-1 alpha-induced stromal cells is biologically active on hepatocytes. These observations, taken together with the observation that IFN-beta 2/IL-6 strongly inhibits the proliferation of human epithelial cells, suggest the possibility that stromal cell secreted IFN-beta 2/IL-6 may affect the physiology of the overlying epithelium in an hormonally modulated manner. Estrogen-regulated production of endometrial IFN-beta 2/IL-6 may participate in gender-specific systemic immunomodulation.


This research's title is the role of Anambas Archipelago Regency Government in strengthening discipline of civil servants in Health Service of Anambas Archipelago Regency, Riau Province. The purposes of this study are: (1) to know how Anambas Archipelago Regency Government strengthens discipline of civil servants in Health Service of Anambas Archipelago; (2) to know factors preventing Anambas Archipelago Regency Government in strengthening discipline of civil servants in Health Service of Anambas Archipelago Regency, Riau Province. This study is law research, an empirical law research. The main data used in this study was primary data gathered from respondents. This study
also used supporting data including primary law material, secondary law material, and tertiary law material. Analytical methods used were qualitative analysis and inductive thinking method for building conclusion from particular materials to solve a general case. The result of this study showed that the role of government in strengthen discipline of civil servants in Health Service of Anambas Archipelago Regency has not been carried out effectively. Factors preventing in strengthening discipline of civil servants in Health Service of Anambas Archipelago Regency are unfavorable workplace environment condition and nature condition and lacking transportation.The effort conducted to solve the problem was only discussion and it has not been implemented optimally.


European cities increasingly face problems caused by transport and traffic. A key factor for all transport operators is the quality of the passenger experience as this particularly, affects the uptake of the service. A comprehensive study (METPEX FP7 EU project - www.metpex.eu) developed by a consortium of 16 European partners has analysed the quality of the whole journey (door-to-door) passenger experience, including private or individual forms transport and attending to specific need of users' groups. For this purpose, a tool with a technological basis was used to collect data from 8 trial cities: Bucharest (Romania), Coventry (United Kingdom), Dublin (Ireland), Grevena (Greece), Rome (Italy), Stockholm (Sweden), Valencia (Spain) and Vilnius (Lithuania); and five FIA motorist networks countries. For a correct evaluation of quality experience, it was deployed a subset of key variables derived from the comprehensive set of potential satisfaction factors that were studied for each pilot city. In this paper, results of the travel experience are showed, including analysis of variables affecting behavior and feelings of passengers. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/CIT2016.2016.4083


Regression to the mean is a pervasive statistical phenomenon that invites causal explanations for random fluctuations. A notorious economic example of this fallacy was exposed more than 80 years ago, yet regression to the mean continues to be overlooked or misinterpreted by economists, even Nobel laureates.


A quantitative study has been made of the effectiveness of different dosage regimes of penicillin G against a fulminating pneumococcal infection in the white rat. The results of this study have shown that with treatment of brief duration (eight hours or less) two doses of sodium penicillin G administered two or four hours apart were significantly more effective than a single dose or two doses separated by an 8-hour interval. Likewise, when treatment was of moderate duration (96 hours or the equivalent), divided doses of sodium penicillin G administered at 2-, 4-, or 8-hour intervals were far more effective than divided doses at 12- or 24-hour intervals. It was also found that procaine penicillin G administered at 24-hour intervals was significantly more effective than sodium penicillin G given at these times, but not as effective as the sodium salt administered at 2-, 4-, or 8-hour intervals.

Measurements were also made of the concentrations of "penicillin" present in plasma after administration of equally effective doses of sodium or procaine penicillin G on the various dosage regimes. These measurements show that these equally effective doses maintained inhibitory concentrations of "penicillin" in plasma for only a small fraction of the dosage interval.

Although the above findings show that the effectiveness of penicillin therapy is related to the frequency of treatment, they offer no support for the general assumption that the effectiveness of therapy is dependent upon continued maintenance of inhibitory concentrations of the drug in body fluids. Rather they indicate that optimum therapeutic results, even in fulminating infections, may be achieved by administration of water-soluble penicillin salts at fairly widely spaced intervals.


The balanced chromosomal translocation t(10;11)(p13;q14) results in the CALM/AF10 fusion gene. This translocation is found in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) and malignant lymphoma. The CALM/AF10 fusion gene has recently been shown to cause an aggressive biphenotypic leukemia in a murine bone marrow transplant model. The CALM (Clathrin Assembly Lymphoid Myeloid leukemia gene) gene product is a clathrin assembly protein which plays a role in clathrin mediated endocytosis and trans Golgi network trafficking. AF10 is a putative transcription factor most likely involved in processes related to chromatin organization and has polycomb group gene like properties.

To learn more about the function of the CALM/AF10 fusion protein, we searched for protein interaction partners of CALM. In a yeast two hybrid screen the four and a half LIM domain protein FHL2 was identified as putative CALM interacting partner. The CALM FHL2 interaction was confirmed by co-transformation assay in yeast and by GST-pulldown experiments. The FHL2 interaction domain of CALM was mapped to amino acids 294 to 335 of CALM using the yeast two hybrid assay. In co-localization studies with transiently expressed fluorescent protein tagged CALM and FHL2, both proteins showed cytoplasmatic localization. Expression analysis (Affymetrix based) in different AML subtypes showed a significantly higher expression of FHL2 in AML with complex aberrant karyotypes compared to AML with normal karyotypes or balanced chromosomal translocations like the t(8;21), inv(16) or t(15;17).

FHL2, which is also known as DRAL (downregulated in rhabdomyosarcoma LIM protein), is a TP53 responsive gene known to interact with numerous proteins in both the nucleus and the cytoplasm and can function as a transcriptional cofactor. Known FHL2 interactors include TP53, BRCA1, PLZF (promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger protein), the proto-oncogene SKI1 and beta-catenin. High expression of FHL2 in breast cancer has recently been shown to be associated with an adverse prognosis. CALM has been shown to shuttle between the nucleus and the cytoplasm because inhibition of CREM-mediated nuclear export by leptomycin B leads to the accumulation of CALM in the nucleus. Reporter gene assays using a GAL4-DNA binding domain CALM fusion protein and a GAL4 responsive luciferase reporter were able to demonstrate a transcriptional activation function of CALM. We are currently investigation the effect of FHL2 co-expression on this aspect of the CALM function.

It is thus conceivable that FHL2 is playing an important role in CALM/AF10-mediated leukemogenesis by tethering the CALM/AF10 fusion protein to various nuclear transcription factor complexes.


Cataract, the major cause of blindness world-wide, is associated with conformational changes and unfolding of proteins in the lens, which can arise directly as a result of post-translational modifications, induced by the Maillard reaction. In the lens, the stress protein alpha-crystallin, which is related to small heat-shock proteins and forms GroEL-like functional aggregates, can act as a chaperone-like protein to maintain transparency, sequestering unfolded protein, and inhibiting subsequent aggregation and insolubilisation. There are a number of criteria which enable the classification of cataract as a conformational disease, including not only the protein conformational change itself, resulting in aggregation and tissue deposition, but also the mechanisms for preventing such unfolding and aggregation. Post-translational modification of alphabeta-crystallin results in loss of chaperone-like activity, and aspirin, ibuprofen and paracetamol can inhibit in vitro cross-linking events responsible for the loss of this activity. Of the many avenues available to block protein aggregation, common analgesics--and vitamin C--may provide a cost-effective route to explore further in the treatment of a range of conformational diseases.


The 6th Haemophilia Global Summit was held in Prague, Czech Republic, in September 2015. The programme was designed by an independent Scientific Steering Committee of haemophilia experts and aimed to share optimal management strategies for haemophilia at all life stages, explore recent potential advances in the management of haemophilia A and B and discuss challenges in haemophilia care. In this supplement from the meeting, Dan Hart reviews the lessons that can be learnt from cost‐constrained environments with regard to improving care for people with haemophilia globally. Sébastien Lobet discusses the importance of physical activity for optimising care and Roseline d'Oiron and Jan Blatný consider the role of real‐world data in understanding the effect of treatment in a clinical setting over the long term and the true impact of treatment on the day‐to‐day life of the patient. Gili Kenet addresses the current challenges relating to the optimal management of prophylaxis, and Gerry Dolan and Cedric Hermans discuss the value of pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters in informing treatment decisions. Cedric Hermans and Valérie Libotte explore the importance of considering social and occupational development factors as an integral part of haemophilia care, and Jan Astermark reviews key strategies to predict and prevent inhibitor development.


The covariance ordering, for discrete and continuous time Markov chains, is defined and studied. This partial ordering gives a necessary and sufficient condi- tion for MCMC estimators to have small asymptotic variance. Connections between this ordering, eigenvalues, and suprema of the spectrum of the Markov transition kernel, are provided. A representation of the asymptotic variance of MCMC es- timators in terms of eigenvalues and eigenvectors is extended to continuous time. This representation is used to establish convergence of the asymptotic variance of MCMC estimators derived from the discretization of a continuous time Markov chain.


A model of a vane-loaded helical slow-wave structure (SWS), in which an infinite number of vanes (INV) of infinitesimal thickness is considered, is improved. The modified INV (MINV) model takes into account the effect of the finite number and angular thickness of the vanes. This is done by suitably modifying the radial vane dimension on the basis of the interpretation of the data on the penetration of the axial electric field beyond the tips of the vanes into the intervane region as a function of the SWS parameters, including the number and angular extent of vanes. The theoretical dispersion characteristics obtained from both the INV and MINV models are compared to theoretical and experimental results published elsewhere. The INV model is found to be suitable for a structure with a relatively larger number of vanes. The study shows the superiority of the MINV over INV model in practical situations, wherein relatively fewer vanes of finite angular thickness are used. Methods to estimate the characteristic as well as interaction impedance of the structure, under the INV model approximations, are indicated. >


Abstract. Two key ideas stand out as crucial to understanding atmosphere-ocean dynamics, and the dynamics of other planets including the gas giants. The first key idea is the invertibility principle for potential vorticity (PV). Without it, one can hardly give a coherent account of even so important and elementary a process as Rossby-wave propagation, going beyond the simplest textbook cases. Still less can one fully understand nonlinear processes like the self-sharpening or narrowing of jets – the once-mysterious "negative viscosity" phenomenon. The second key idea, also crucial to understanding jets, might be summarized in the phrase "there is no such thing as turbulence without waves", meaning Rossby waves especially. Without this idea one cannot begin to make sense of, for instance, momentum budgets and eddy momentum transports in complex large-scale flows. Like the invertibility principle the idea has long been recognized, or at least adumbrated. However, it is worth articulating explicitly if only because it can be forgotten when, in the usual way, we speak of "turbulence" and "turbulence theory" as if they were autonomous concepts. In many cases of interest, such as the well-studied terrestrial stratosphere, reality is more accurately described as a highly inhomogeneous "wave-turbulence jigsaw puzzle" in which wavelike and turbulent regions fit together and crucially affect each other's evolution. This modifies, for instance, formulae for the Rhines scale interpreted as indicating the comparable importance of wavelike and turbulent dynamics. Also, weakly inhomogeneous turbulence theory is altogether inapplicable. For instance there is no scale separation. Eddy scales are not much smaller than the sizes of the individual turbulent regions in the jigsaw. Here I review some recent progress in clarifying these ideas and their implications.


As we approached another incarnation we made pacts that we would return to the spirit world at the first opportunity... Those of us who made such vows were known among the Living as abiku, spirit-children. Not all people recognised us. We were the ones who kept coming and going, unwilling to come to terms with life. We had the ability to will our deaths. Our pacts were binding. Those who broke their pacts were assailed by hallucinations and haunted by their companions. They would only find consolation when they returned to the world of the Unborn, the place of fountains, where their loved ones would be waiting for them silently. Those of us who lingered in the world, seduced by the annunciation of wonderful events, went through life with beautiful and fated eyes, carrying within us the music of a lovely and tragic mythology. Our mouths utter obscure prophesies. Our minds are invaded by images of the future. We are the strange ones, with half of our beings always in the spirit world. We were often recognised and our flesh marked with razor incisions. When we were born again to the same parents the marks, lingering on our new flesh, branded our souls in advance. Then the world would spin a web of fate around our lives. Those of us who died while still children tried to erase these marks, by making beautiful spots or interesting discolorations of them. If we didn't succeed, and were recognised, we were greeted with howls of dread, and the weeping of mothers.


Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is one of the neoplasms associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and CD4 cell depletion. In Mexico there are few research studies on these lesions. KS related to HIV/AIDS is the early finding and useful marker of progression of immunodeficiency, in advanced cases it is associated with skin lesions. KS in the oral cavity, hard palate has proven to be the main site of localization of these lesions, followed by the soft palate, gums and tonsils, its clinical presentation is varied. Prevalence of KS has declined trough Highly Effective Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART).


Introduction Trends towards early hospital discharge mean that complications such as venous thromboembolism (VTE) may increasingly occur in the primary care setting. Guidelines recommend thromboprophylaxis after hospital discharge in patients undergoing gastrointestinal cancer resection. However factors other than the presence of malignancy may prolong VTE risk. Previous studies have shown increased VTE risk with reoperation. The combined effect of VTE and reoperation on mortality has not been reported. Method Thirty-day reoperation, 90-day VTE and 90-day mortality was measured using linked Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES), Office of National Statistics (ONS) and National Cancer Intelligence Network databases. The effect of different types of reoperation on VTE risk adjusted for length of hospital stay and other short-term complications was evaluated in adults undergoing one of seven gastrointestinal surgical procedures. The combined effect of VTE and reoperation on mortality was evaluated in benign and cancer patients separately. Results 76334 procedures over fifteen years were evaluated. Thirty-day reoperation was recorded in 3.18% (2426/76334) of procedures. There were 721/76334 (0.94%) VTE events recorded after 90 days of surgery (0.51% - 294/58036 in procedures for benign disease, 2.33% - 427/18298 in procedures for cancer). Over half (57.7%, 416/721) of VTE were recorded after hospital discharge. Reoperation was an independent predictor of 90-day VTE in benign (OR=1.88, p < 0.05) but not in cancer (OR=1.17) patients. Reoperation for bleeding (OR=1.20 in benign, OR=1.55 in cancer), peritoneal drainage (OR=1.75 in benign, OR=1.45 in cancer) and organ resection (OR=2.01 in benign, OR=1.22 in cancer) were associated with greater odds of VTE in both groups. Cox regression analysis revealed that VTE together with reoperation was a stronger predictor of poor survival (OR=2.70) than reoperation (OR=2.44) or VTE (OR=2.22) alone in patients undergoing surgery for cancer. These synergistic effects of VTE and reoperation on mortality were not observed in patients undergoing surgery for benign disease.Abstract PWE-148 Figure 1 Conclusion Reoperation increased VTE risk in patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery for benign conditions, while reoperation and VTE acted synergistically to increase mortality in patients undergoing surgery for cancer. Reoperation was therefore associated with significant harm from VTE extending into the out-patient setting, which may infer the need for additional thromboprophylaxis in some patients. Disclosure of interest None Declared.


The flow field and the sand flow field constitutive equations are analyzed at first, then the different desert highway numerical models are established by considering the crossroad and by changing the road surface height and air stream flow field, then three kinds of different models with different complex air flow fields are made for simulating the sand ripple formation process by weak coupling of air and sand flow field, and finally the numerical simulations of these models are conducted and the affect process of sand morphology under complex air flow fields are discussed. The results show that under the uniform airflow field, the straight parallel ripple formed and the flared ripple formed in the middle region of the crossroad, and the wavelength of the ripples on the desert highway is bigger than that of the ripples around the road when the road height is higher than that of the sand surface height. Under the nonuniform complex airflow field, the complex curved ripples are formed, and some of the local area, where the whirlwind exits, no ripples are formed.


Smoking is much higher among patients suffering from schizophrenia compared to the general population. These patients inhale the smoke more deeply and extract a significant amount of nicotine from the cigarette. They are highly addicted to tobacco and their attempts to stop smoking are more frequently marked by failures. The continuation of consumption exposes them particularly to the risk of diseases and mortality related to smoking. Various hypotheses are advanced to explain the association between schizophrenia and tobacco smoking. Tobacco smoke and/or nicotine appear to compensate for certain cognitive deficits due to the disease or to correct adverse events of anti-psychotics. Furthermore, genetic factors, personality traits and socio-cultural factors appear to be jointly implicated in mental illness and smoking. Smoking cessation, which does not aggravate schizophrenia, combines psycho-social approaches and medication treatments; it can be helped by the use of the electronic cigarette and the practice of physical exercise. Professionals must ensure long-term personalized follow-up.


In automatic reconstruction of 3D objects from single line drawings, existing systems are all single-track, containing one general solution for all drawings. This paper proposes a method in which an input drawing is first classified based on dominant features which exist in the drawing, including symmetry, orthogonality and parallelism. The reconstruction is then performed by experts to deal with each class specifically. Drawing classification is done using the technique of support vector machine classification. A specific set of features are selected to form an optimal regularity set for each class, and used in the formulation of the objective function for effective reconstruction. Experimental results show that the proposed system can improve the reconstruction accuracy and efficiency than that of a single-track general 3D reconstruction system.


The aim of this note is twofold: (1) summarize emerging challenges and opportunities for the water sector in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries; and (2) suggest ways to respond to these challenges where the World Bank's Water Global Practice can provide support. Following a description of the GCC's water resources and water service delivery challenges, two sets of recommendations and related actions are discussed. The first set relates to managing a diverse set of conventional and nonconventional water resources for security and sustainability. The second set of recommendations is linked to delivering better water services with accountability and financial sustainability.


In recent literature concerning fixed point theory for self-mappings in metric spaces , there are some new concepts which can be mutually related so that the inherent properties of each one might be combined for such self-mappings. Self-mappings can be referred to, for instance, as Kannan-mappings, reasonable expansive mappings, and Picard -stable mappings. Some relations between such concepts subject either to sufficient, necessary, or necessary and sufficient conditions are obtained so that in certain self-mappings can exhibit combined properties being inherent to each of its various characterizations.


Nowadays Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) have been receiving considerable attentions worldwide for potential advantages of an excellent flexibility for siting, low capital investment, and advanced safety. In Korea, a new research project has launched for the development of a conceptual design of a further advanced SMR which aims for a naturally-safe and autonomous operation, so called Autonomous Transportable On-demand reactor Module (ATOM). Major design objectives of the ATOM system are focused on the soluble boron-free (SBF) primary coolant system which enables the SMR to operate automatically in a load following mode. For the secondary system, the SCO2 power conversion cycle with air-cooling system as a final heat sink is being considered. The air-cooling system is expected to show flexible response even to extreme environmental conditions, such as a desert where utilization of cooling water is limited.
 The objective of this study is a feasibility assessment for applying the air-cooling system as a final heat sink of the ATOM by means of experimental work. As a 1st phase of the ATOM development, we first conducted the experiments using a typically considered primary coolant, water-steam, to verify that air flow has enough cooling capability to remove developed heat which the coolant carries. An Integrated Condensation Loop with Air-cooling System (ICLASS) experimental facility with three pressure boundaries (Steam, coolant, and air) was established. The cooling capability of the air-cooling system was evaluated by varying steam mass flow rate, coolant flow rate, and air environment temperature as experiment variables. Overall heat transfer rate by condensation was compared with numerical simulations of a 1D thermal-hydraulics analysis code, using the MARS model of the ICLASS facility.


We study the solvability complexity index (SCI) for unbounded selfadjoint operators on separable Hilbert spaces and perturbations thereof. In particular, we show that if the extended essential spectrum of a selfadjoint operator is convex, then the SCI for computing its spectrum is equal to 1. This result is then extended to relatively compact perturbations of such operators and applied to Schrodinger operators with compactly supported (complex valued) potentials to obtain SCI=1 in this case, as well.


Words indicate concepts, which have various adicities. But words do not, in general, inherit the adicities of the indicated concepts. Lots of evidence suggests that when a concept is lexicalized, it is linked to an analytically related monadic concept that can be conjoined with others. For example, the dyadic concept CHASE(_,_) might be linked to CHASE(_), a concept that applies to certain events. Drawing on a wide range of extant work, and familiar facts, I argue that the (open class) lexical items of a natural spoken language include neither names nor polyadic predicates. The paper ends with some speculations about the value of a language faculty that would impose uniform monadic analyses on all concepts, including the singular and relational concepts that we share with other animals.


An overview of the research projects in the Chemical Research group will be given. The work involves actinide waste and processing chemistry, separations chemistry, radiation studies, and calorimetry and thermodynamics. Details will be given of the actinide separations research, including work with macroreticular anion exchangers and bidentate organophosphorus extractants.


Background In developing countries, intimate partner violence is increasing alarmingly, though attention to this issue is rarely given. It has devastating effects on the general wellbeing of women, pregnancy outcomes, and the long-term health of children, and this needs to be addressed. Hence, this study was designed to assess intimate partner violence and associated factors in northwest Ethiopia. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from July 1st to August 30th, 2021, among 858 postpartum women in Gondar city. A cluster sampling technique was employed to select the study participants. EPI DATA version 4.6 and SPSS 25 were used for data entry, cleaning and analysis, respectively. A bivariable and multivariable logistic regression model was fitted to identify factors associated with intimate partner violence. The level of significant association was declared using the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95 % confidence interval (CI) and a p-value of ≤ 0.05. Results In this study, 48.6% of women indicated having experienced intimate partner violence during pregnancy (95% CI: 45.3, 51.7). The odds of intimate partner violence during pregnancy were significantly higher among women who were not able to read and write (AOR = 4.96; 95% CI: 2.15, 11.41), were private workers (AOR = 1.78; 95% CI: 1.05, 3.02), and had low decision-making power (AOR = 1.43; 95% CI: 1.06, 1.95), a poor social support (AOR = 1.99; 95% CI: 1.32, 3.02), and unsupported pregnancy by family (AOR = 2.32; 95% CI: 1.26, 4.24). Whereas a family size of ≥ 5 (AOR = 0.73; 95% CI: 0.54, 0.98) appeared to be a protective factor for intimate partner violence. Conclusion The magnitude of intimate partner violence was unacceptably high in the study area and connected to poor women's empowerment and social determinants of health. Thus, it is important to focus on interventions that improve women's access to social support and allow them to participate in all aspects of household decision-making through community-based structures and networks. It is also important to encourage women to improve their educational status and arrange risk-free employment opportunities.


Abstract We describe an ongoing, large-scale, photometric and spectroscopic survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) periphery. This survey uses Washington M, T2 + DDO51 photometry to identify distant LMC red giant branch (RGB) star candidates; multi-object spectroscopy is used to confirm the stellar surface gravities of these RGB stars and their association with the LMC (e.g., through radial velocities). The survey now encompasses hundreds of fields ranging from the LMC center with full azimuthal coverage around the LMC and out to 23° from the LMC center. We have confirmed the existence of RGB stars with (the unusual) Magellanic velocities out to the radial limit of this survey coverage. From data in a subsample of these fields, we show that this extended population of stars makes up a diffuse structure enveloping the LMC with a two-dimensional distribution resembling a classical halo with a shallow de Vaucouleurs profile and a broad metallicity spread around a typical mean value of [Fe/H] ~ −1.0.


In this study, we introduce a simple multi-directional rubbing method to generate various periodic patterns of toric focal conic domains (TFCDs), a typical smectic (Sm) LC defect by using the commonly used Sm LC materials, 4′-n-octyl-4-cyano-biphenyl (8CB). We have successfully obtained a variety of spatially arranged TFCD arrays such as parallelogrammic, hexagonal and square arrays by changing the rubbing angle (Ω) between two different rubbing directions. Our experimental results demonstrate that frustration and distortion of nematic LC molecules at the intersections act as effective seeds to help positioning of TFCDs. Furthermore, the existence of nematic–Smectic A (SmA) phase transition is quite important in controlling the arrangement of TFCDs as the alignment of the nematic director strongly influences the arrangement of TFCDs formed in the SmA phase.


The design of radio links as much lands as satellites involves such quantity of entry variables (datas and designs criterions), steps (equations for the calculation of differents parameters) and starting variables (results), that necessarily obligate to designer to do use of some automatic tool of design, still more if by to obtain the finale design we require to evaluate differents alternatives.


My interest in protein breakdown as a research problem began in 1955. In 1963, when we relocated from Yale to the Institute for Cancer Research of Fox Chase, Philadelphia, nothing new was being reported. Here, I review how we get the ubiquitin proteasome system all together.


In this paper, we give a comprehensive review of a num- ber of practical problems associated with the use of static priority scheduling. We first present a new approach to stabilize the rate -monotonic algorithm in the presence of Abstract In this paper, we give a comprehensive review of a num ber of practical problems associated with the use of static priority scheduling. We first present a new approach to stabilize the rate-monotonic algorithm in the presence of transient processor overloads. We also present a new class of algorithms to handle aperiodic tasks which im prove the response times to aperiodic tasks while guaranteeing the deadlines of periodic tasks. We then study the problem of integrated processor and data I/O scheduling. Finally we review the problem of scheduling of messages over a bus with insufficient priority levels but with multiple buffers.


INTRODUCTION
We assessed the characteristics of adolescents and young adults who received tobacco direct mail materials and the association of receiving these materials with subsequent smoking behaviors.

METHODS
Adolescents from the upper Midwest region of the United States were sampled through clustered random sampling in 2000 and surveyed every 6 months. Participants (n = 3546) were asked at baseline (October 2006-March 2007) whether they had received direct mail materials from tobacco companies during the previous 6 months. Smoking behaviors were assessed 6 months later (April-September 2007). We assessed associations between demographics and receiving tobacco direct mail materials at baseline and the association of receiving these materials with smoking behaviors at follow-up, stratified by baseline smoking status.

RESULTS
Overall, 5.2% of nonsmokers and 23.9% of current smokers in our sample received tobacco direct mail materials during the past 6 months (2.6% and 17.1% among nonsmokers and smokers <18 years old, respectively; p < .05). Participants who were older and living with smokers were more likely to receive these materials (p < .05). Baseline nonsmokers who received these materials smoked more cigarettes during the previous 30 days at follow-up (p < .05); baseline current smokers who received these materials were less likely than those who did not to reduce the number of cigarettes smoked during the past 30 days at follow up (p < .05).

CONCLUSIONS
Those younger than 18 years old (particularly smokers) in addition to older individuals in our regional sample were exposed to tobacco direct mail marketing. Exposure to this market strategy is associated with faster escalation of cigarette consumption among nonsmokers and lower likelihood of smoking reduction among smokers in this adolescent and young adult sample.


ABSTRACT Cohesion and integration agendas in Britain can be characterised by localisation of 'race relations' responsibilities and the importance of local institutions in shaping neighbourhoods has been acknowledged. However, little is understood about the roles of housing providers in integration initiatives. Indeed, research on housing and race has experienced a lull in the 2000s. Thus, this paper aims to examine how social housing providers negotiate their positions and are complicit in constructing a certain vision of community. It draws on interviews from the ESRC Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE)'s work in the ethnically diverse neighbourhoods of Cheetham Hill (Manchester), Newham (London), Butetown (Cardiff) and Pollokshields and Govanhill (Glasgow). The paper makes three arguments: first, that race and ethnicity as facets of 'integration' have been subsumed into broader agendas, yet remain implicit in community building; second, that housing organisation practices are often detached from local meanings of community and prioritise exclusionary activities focusing on behaviour change and, third, that the roles of housing organisations in constructing 'integrated' communities are highly variable and localised, influenced by the history and contemporary dynamics of place.


EXTENDED ABSTRACT:On January 19th 2012 Apple launched iBooks®2 for iPad® - a new application for downloading digital content to the iPad - and the new software (iBooks Author®) which allows creating and publishing digital content using the .iba digital format and all-new iTunes® application offering access to a variety of digitised educational content. Our aim was to test the attractiveness of the new Apple releases and the effect of a relatively easy access to the world market of digital content on the promotion of Slovenian cultural heritage. We added three books to the iTunes digital collection which might be of interest to the general public: a re-edition of a scientific monograph by Andrej Pleterski: Mythical Reality of the Carintian Dukes' Stones (Mitska stvarnost knežjega kamna) in Slovenian and German version and a non-fiction iBook by Benjamin Štular: Ljubljana in the Middle Ages. Archaeological Research (Srednjeveška Ljubljana. Arheološke raziskave). The digital version of the Andrej Pleterski's book was chosen for the actuality of the topic in Slovenia and Austria. People and politicians in Carinthia were annoyed by the book contents as it was published by the Regional Museum in Klagenfurt in December 2011. While the science in this book is sound it has been abused to meet the current needs of some of the Carinthian politicians. The incident was polemically reflected in the main Slovenian newspapers, too. The non-fiction iBook was selected because of the attractiveness of the theme, besides a lot of multimedia content had already been created and could be easily published to Apple's iBookstore. All three iBooks were posted to iTunes® less than three weeks after the release of the iBooks Author application to create digital content. We wish to present our experience with the applicability of the new medium, users' feedback and access statistics. Guidelines for Apple licenses are presented. The applicability of the new medium and its impact on the popularisation of the Slovenian cultural heritage was evaluated on the basis of the usage statistics in the first two months.


In a recent paper Shaw and Thomas (1979) suggest that to an external observer learning may appear to be the achievement of certain behavioural objectives. However, for the learner, learning is the revision of his or her own cognitive structure, that is a shift in the way he or she perceives and construes events and behaves in situations. This view of learning implies that an appreciation of the student's view of the world, and the student's meanings for words, needs to be fully appreciated if teaching is to be successful. Physics teachers need to be aware of the various concept understandings that pupils bring to physics classrooms and thereby appreciate the difficulties pupils may have with understanding physics concepts. It is our view that the information gained using an interview-about-instances method can contribute to this teacher awareness and in doing so can contribute to the improvement of physics teaching.


A case of arthroscopic identification and removal of a shotgun pellet from the elbow joint is presented. The pellet had entered the soft tissues over the dorsum of the joint and had migrated to an intra-articular position, causing interference with movement of the elbow. Arthroscopy of the joint was performed using standard portals. The pellet was discovered anterior to the coronoid process of the ulna in the anterior recess of the joint and was removed using forceps. At follow-up, the patient reported a symptom-free elbow with full range of movement.


A recent study has introduced a procedure to quantify the survivability of a team of armoured fighting vehicles when it is subjected to a single missile attack. In particular this study investigated the concept of collaborative active protection systems, focusing on the case where vehicle defence is provided by high power radio frequency directed energy weapons. The purpose of the current paper is to demonstrate how this analysis can be extended to account for more than one missile threat. This is achieved by introducing a jump stochastic process whose states represent the number of missiles defeated at a given time instant. Analysis proceeds through consideration of the sojourn times of this stochastic process, and it is shown how consideration of these jump times can be related to transition probabilities of the auxiliary stochastic process. The latter probabilities are then related to the probabilities of detection and disruption of missile threats. The sum of these sojourn times can then be used to quantify the survivability of the team at any given time instant. Due to the fact that there is much interest in the application of high energy lasers in the context of this paper, the numerical examples will thus focus on such directed energy weapons for armoured fighting vehicle team defence.


Background: Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is the best measure of renal function. However, the ideal exogenous markers are not routinely used to estimate GFR in clinical settings. Outside Africa, GFR estimates for neonates have been calculated from formulae using creatinine as well as cystatin C. There is a paucity of data on estimated GFR in neonates in Africa. This study was conducted to estimate GFR in healthy term African neonates using cystatin C-based equations. Methods: One hundred and thirteen apparently healthy term babies with normal Apgar scores were recruited at birth. Cystatin C was measured in cord blood at birth and in venous samples from neonates on the third day of life. GFR was estimated using the Filler and Lepage as well as the Zappitelli et al. cystatin C-based equations. These estimates were compared with a reference GFR estimate of 41 ± 15 mL/min/1.73 m 2 . Results: The median (interquartile range) estimated GFR values based on cord blood and day 3 venous samples using the Filler and Lepage equation were 44.67 (36.35–72.44) and 51.29 (38.90–72.44) mL/min/1.73 m 2 , respectively. When the Zappitelli equation was applied, the estimates were 38.18 (31.84–61.34) and 43.82 (33.75–61.34) mL/min/1.73 m 2 , respectively. The GFR estimates derived from both equations did not differ in respect of the gestational age, sex and postnatal ages of the babies. Conclusions: GFR estimates using the Zappitelli equation had values that were closely related to reference GFR measures for neonates whereas the GFR estimates using the Filler and Lepage equation had higher values.


Despite numerous applications of two-dimensional plasmons for electromagnetic energy manipulation at the nanoscale, their quantitative refraction and reflection laws (analogs of Fresnel formulas in optics) have not yet been established. This fact can be traced down to the strong non-locality of equations governing the 2d plasmon propagation. Here, we tackle this difficulty by direct solution of plasmon scattering problem with Wiener-Hopf technique. We obtain the reflection and transmission coefficients for 2d plasmons at the discontinuity of 2d conductivity at arbitrary incidence angle, for both gated and non-gated 2d systems. At a certain incidence angle, the absolute reflectivity has a pronounced dip reaching zero for gated plasmons. The dip is associated with wave passage causing no dynamic charge accumulation at the boundary. For all incidence angles, the reflection has a non-trivial phase different from zero and $\pi$.


Inguinal lymph node metastasis from adenocarcinoma arising at a colostomy site is extremely rare, and the significance of surgical resection for metastatic inguinal lymph nodes has not been established. An 82-year-old woman who had undergone abdominoperineal resection 27 years earlier was admitted to our hospital complaining of bleeding from a colostomy. Physical examination revealed that a tumor at the colostomy site directly invaded into the peristomal skin, and that a left inguinal lymph node was firm and swollen. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography scan demonstrated accumulation of (18)F-fluorodeoxy glucose into both the colostomy tumor and the left swollen inguinal lymph node, while there was no evidence of metastasis to liver or lungs. She underwent open left hemicolectomy with wide local resection of the colostomy, and dissection of left inguinal lymph nodes. Histological diagnosis was a moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma that directly invaded into the surrounding skin and metastasized to the left inguinal lymph node. The patient has been followed up for >5 years without any sign of recurrence. In general, inguinal lymph node metastasis from colorectal cancers is regarded as a systemic disease with a poor prognosis, and so systemic chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but not surgical lymph node dissection, are recommended. Considering the lymphatic drainage route in the present case, inguinal lymph node metastasis does not represent a systemic disease but rather a sentinel nodal metastasis from adenocarcinoma at a colostomy site. Surgical dissection of metastatic inguinal lymph nodes should be considered to enable a favorable prognosis in the absence of distant metastasis to other organs.


Three cases are reported to demonstrate the range of possible lesions and wide variation in lethal mechanisms that may be found in cases of unexpected death subsequently shown to be due to bacterial endocarditis. Case 1: A 36-year-old man was found dead on his bedroom floor surrounded by drug paraphernalia. At autopsy, acute myocardial ischemia was present caused by coronary artery ostial occlusion complicating acute bacterial endocarditis of the aortic valve. Case 2: A 54-year-old man with chronic renal failure was found dead in bed at home. At autopsy, a left middle cerebral artery territory cerebral infarct was present due to septic embolization from bacterial endocarditis involving the aortic valve. Case 3: A 23-year-old man was found collapsed in a pool of blood. At autopsy, upper airway hemorrhage from an arteriobronchial fistula was present caused by septic pulmonary infarction from previous endocarditis of a congenital ventricular septal defect. This report demonstrates that bacterial endocarditis may still be a cause of sudden and unexpected death presenting to forensic mortuaries and that the underlying mechanisms may involve complex sequences of pathological changes that compromise vascular function.


Assembly of bacterial short-read whole genome sequencing (WGS) data frequently results in hundreds of contigs for which the origin, plasmid or chromosome, is unclear. Long-read sequencing has emerged as a solution to resolve plasmid structures and to obtain complete genomes for most bacterial species. This information can be used to generate and label datasets from short-read based contigs as plasmid- or chromosome-derived. We investigated the use of several popular machine learning methods to classify short-read contigs with known plasmid- or chromosome-origin from Enterococcus faecium, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli using pentamer frequencies. Based on resulting F1-scores we selected support-vector machine (SVM) models as best classifier for all three bacterial species (F1-score E. faecium = 0.94, F1-score K. pneumoniae = 0.90, F1-score E. coli = 0.76), which outperformed other existing plasmid tools using an independent set of isolates (precision E. faecium = 0.92, precision K. pneumoniae = 0.86, precision E. coli = 0.82). We demonstrated the scalability of our model by accurately predicting the plasmidome of a large collection of 1,644 E. faecium isolates with only short-read WGS available using a standard laptop with a single core. A low number of false positive predicted sequences suggests that the assignment of a particular gene of interest as plasmid- or chromosome-encoded by the models is plausible. The SVM classifiers are publicly available as a new R package called 'mlplasmids' at https://gitlab.com/sirarredondo/mlplasmids under the GNU General Public License v3.0. We additionally developed a graphical-user interface using the Shiny package which can be accessed at https://sarredondo.shinyapps.io/mlplasmids/. Single genomes can easily be predicted by uploading genome assemblies. We anticipate that this tool may significantly facilitate research on the dissemination of plasmids encoding antibiotic resistance and/or contributing to host adaptation.


Copper particles with a desert rose morphology and high surface area were obtained via decomposition of a copper hydride whose particles possesses a similar shape. Copper hydride was synthesized by the reaction between copper sulfate and hypophosphorous acid at 50 °C. The different reaction steps of the copper hydride formation were monitored by two time-dependent techniques: in situ photon cross-correlation spectroscopy and ex -situ transmission electron microscopy. At the initial stage of the reaction, emulsion droplets of a particular size were formed, followed by the growth and agglomeration of copper hydride crystallites in the confinement of these droplets. The final structure consists of rose-like shaped particles with an average size of about 217 ± 53 nm arranged into chains. The surface area of these particles was estimated to be 41 ± 8 m2/g. The nucleation and growth of the copper hydride occur via a nonclassical crystallization pathway.


The majority of recently demonstrated Deep-Learning Side-Channel Attacks (DLSCAs) use neural networks trained on a segment of traces containing operations only related to the target subkey. However, when the number of training traces are restricted such as in this paper only 5 K power traces, deep-learning models always suffer from underfitting since the insufficient training data. One data-level solution is called data augmentation, which is to use the additional synthetically modified traces to act as a regularizer to provide a better generalization capacity for deep-learning models. In this paper, we propose a cross-subkey training approach which acts as a trace augmentation. We train deep-learning models not only on a segment of traces containing the SBox operation of the target subkey of AES-128, but also on segments for other 15 subkeys. Experimental results show that the accuracy of the subkey combination training model is 28 . 20% higher than that of the individual subkey training model on trajectories captured in the microcontroller implementation of the STM32F3 with AES-128. At the same time, the number of traces that need to be captured when the model is trained is greatly reduced, demonstrating the effectiveness and practicality of the method.


Knowledgeable FAQ chatbots are a valuable resource to any organization. Unlike traditional call centers or FAQ web pages, they provide instant responses and are always available. Our experience running a COVID19 chatbot revealed the lack of resources available for FAQ answering in non-English languages. While powerful and efficient retrievalbased models exist for English, it is rarely the case for other languages which do not have the same amount of training data available. In this work, we propose a novel pretaining procedure to adapt ConveRT, an English SOTA conversational agent, to other languages with less training data available. We apply it for the first time to the task of Dutch FAQ answering related to the COVID19 vaccine. We show it performs better than an open-source alternative in a lowdata regime and high-data regime.


Consideration of affective dimensions beyond arousal may be useful for a more precise understanding of the effects of emotional events on episodic memory. As highlighted by Kensinger (2009), the valence of an event may differentially impact the accuracy of its recall. Paralleling work on attention, we propose that the relevance of an event or stimulus for survival may also importantly modulate memory accuracy. However, few memory studies to date have accounted for motivational relevance, and the stimuli employed in most studies are not matched on this dimension.


Cobalt (Co) affords both beneficial as well as toxic effects to plants. The present study was performed with an aim to find out the varietal differences among five tomato cultivars against the Co induced changes in growth, photosynthesis, nitrate reductase (E.C.18.104.22.168), carbonic anhydrase (E.C.188.8.131.52), antioxidative enzymes i.e. peroxidase (E.C.18.104.22.168), catalase (E.C.22.214.171.124), superoxide dismutase (E.C.126.96.36.199) and that of proline content. Seeds of tomato (varieties, K-25, NTS-9, NBR-Uday, Sarvodya, and Malti) were soaked in 0, 100, 200 or 300 µM CoCl2 for 0, 4, 8, 12 h (shotgun approach) and sampled at 30 days after sowing. All the varieties showed significantly different response to different treatment combinations. Despite substantial varietal difference, increased Co concentration caused concomitant decrease in growth, photosynthesis and the activity of nitrate reductase and carbonic anhydrase. However, the activity of antioxidant enzymes and that of proline content increased with the increased concentration of Co as well as duration of soaking in all the varieties. Out of the varieties, K-25 possessed maximum antioxidative enzyme and proline content that represent its most resistant nature against the toxic effect of Co. The order of susceptibility/sensitivity was K-25 > NTS-9 > NBR-Uday > Sarvodya > Malti.


In malignant hyperthermia (MH) susceptible individuals volatile anaesthetics and the depolarizing muscle relaxant succinylcholine may induce a potentially lethal hypermetabolic syndrome of skeletal muscle due to an uncontrolled sarcoplasmic calcium release. Immediate discontinuation of triggering agents, oxygenation, correction of acidosis and electrolyte abnormalities and dantrolene application are essential for MH treatment. This article reviews the clinical symptoms of MH, the diagnostic criteria and the actual guidelines for treatment and management of anaesthesia in susceptible individuals.


Land use/land cover change (LULCC) studies are gaining prominence among environmentalist and land use planners. This is due to the effects of LULCCs on natural ecosystems and livelihoods. In the coastal landscape of south-western Ghana, there exist knowledge gaps in the variations in size and intensities in LULCCs and the degree of change among land cover types in LULCC studies. Such studies are important for identifying periods of rapid land cover transitions and their implications on the landscape. Using change detection, intensity analysis and informal stakeholder conversations, the land use system dynamics of the study landscape was analyzed over a 34-year period to assess the variations in size and intensities in LULC transitions and its implications. The results showed a dynamic landscape driven primarily by rubber and settlement expansions. Rubber and settlement increased threefold (172.65%) and fourfold (449.93%) in the 34-year period mainly due to rubber outgrower scheme and onshore infrastructural developments, respectively. Gains in rubber and settlement targeted arable lands. The LULCC implies local food insecurity issues, declines in ecosystem services and compromised livelihoods, hence, the enforcement of the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act (2016) is recommended in land use planning in the coastal landscapes of south-western Ghana.


Flexible learning ENVIRONMENT - a pedagogic model for student success Karin Orving, Mid Sweden University, Britt Englund, Mid Sweden University & Ulla Andersson, Mid Sweden University, Sweden Summary The policy of Distance Education (DE) at Mid Sweden University is to provide flexibility in lecturing and learning. One of the university's biggest challenges is to improve the number of students in the region who enter higher education courses. An important strategy to reach students is Distance Education (DE), which is one of the reasons the university has a plan for systematically developing DE. The aim is to point out the importance of several perspectives in the pedagogical work. This presentation summarizes the use of the university's pedagogical development plan as the basis for a learning model with four perspectives. The figure below shows the pedagogical model for learning with four perspectives. ©Britt Englund The plan for pedagogical development is built upon a pedagogical idea that takes four perspectives, all of great importance. The purpose is to create a framework in which lectures and students work is facilitated and to make the work easier, take away same disturbances, increase the quality and give the students the best possible chances of being successful. The plan includes support to teachers as well as to students and it includes support from the whole organisation. The situation is obvious: heterogeneous student groups with different preferences as to the distribution form (campus, distance and net). The university has refined the idea of flexible learning and e-learning to the idea of flexible environment for learning and the development work continues step by step. The university makes sure that the lecturers have the necessary qualifications by presenting a competence profile for Mid Sweden University (Miun-Lecturer-Profile) and that students have the necessary qualifications by presenting a Mid Sweden Student Profile (Miun-Student-Profile). Both lecturers and students have to know what to do and how to become successful in studies. The university has to take the necessary steps to stimulate and to facilitate the work and to guarantee that it can be done within a normal day-to-day-work. There are still many questions to discuss. A lot of decisions remain to be made and staff development to be carried out. E-mail: email@example.com firstname.lastname@example.com email@example.com


Corporate and public interest in the relationship between individual well-being and organizational performance has been on the rise in recent years. One topic that has received significant attention with regard to performance decrements is productivity loss that occurs either through absenteeism (i.e., a failure to attend work) or presenteeism (i.e., when employees show up to work but, due to either physical- or mental-health factors, are not able to perform at full capacity). Although researchers and practitioners acknowledge that productivity loss can result from either physical- or mental-health decrements, most research, especially research in the presenteeism context, either focuses on physical-health decrements or confounds the 2. In 2 studies we examine the potential differences in productivity loss that occur due to mental-health, as opposed physical-health, decrements. While a moderate relationship exists between them, both factors contributed uniquely to the explanation of other key well-being constructs (i.e., satisfaction with work-life balance, emotional exhaustion, work engagement, depression, life satisfaction, and turnover intentions). Productivity loss due to mental-health decrements appears to be more associated with cognitive/emotional work-related outcomes, while productivity loss due to physical-health decrements demonstrates little to no relationship with those outcomes. However, both may manifest themselves psychologically in the form of depression, which subsequently links them to other well-being outcomes.


Dental organs of incisors from normal, dwarf and growth hormone-treated dwarf rats were analysed histochemically using a panel of lectins. A distinctive pattern of differential staining was obtained with Helix pomatia agglutinin, a lectin specific for N-acetylgalactosamine. In Bouin's perfused and paraffin-embedded undecalcified tissues from normal rats, reaction product for N-acetylgalactosamine was visible in the odontogenic cells and some extracellular matrices. In the growth hormone-deficient dwarf rats, the N-acetylgalactosamine reaction was consistently minimal in the odontoblasts, predentin, cementoblasts, cementoid, osteoblasts and osteoid matrices, although the staining of ameloblasts and osteoclasts was similar to normal. Administration of growth hormone to dwarf rats for six days (66 micrograms/100 g rat b.i.d.) restored the reaction for N-acetylgalactosamine in the affected matrices. Thus, an N-acetylgalactosamine rich matric component is differentially expressed during odontogensis. Growth hormone may regulate this component in these matrices, which may be a proteoglycan or a glycoprotein, essential for normal growth of the teeth.


IMA for VTE? Ischaemia-modified albumin (IMA) once excited interest as an early marker of myocardial infarction, due to apparently high early sensitivity. But the sensitivity of a quantitative test is a function of the diagnostic threshold, and apparently high sensitivity can be achieved by using a low diagnostic threshold and sacrificing specificity. The diagnostic performance of a quantitative test is more appropriately examined by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve. This is the approach to analysis used by Hogg and colleagues in their evaluation of IMA for diagnosis of venous thromboembolism (VTE). By avoiding the jiggerypokery associated with sensitivity and specificity, they produce meaningful but disappointing findings that IMA has little diagnostic value for VTE. I wonder what would happen if we analysed D-dimer for VTE in the same way? (see page 455).


BACKGROUND
Informed consent forms are universally used by hospitals throughout the United States before surgery or invasive procedures. This survey was undertaken to determine the content of these forms and their ability to be understood by individuals with differing reading comprehension levels.

METHODS
Ten percent of all U.S. hospitals were requested to forward a copy of their current surgical/procedural informed consent form. The forms received were digitized and computer assessed for readability. In addition, each form was evaluated for a variety of items with respect to content.

RESULTS
Of the 2194 requests mailed, 681 responses were received including 616 with surgical/procedural consent forms. The mean grade level required to understand these consent forms was 12.6 (+/- 3.1). There was no variability in readability scores on the basis of hospital bed size. Of the 616 consent forms reviewed, 29, 146, 347, and 461 forms could be understood by individuals reading at a grade level of less than 8 and at least 8, 10, and 12 years of education, respectively. Although most required the name of the patient, physician, and procedure, the majority did not describe or provide a full-in blank for the specific benefits, risks, and alternatives to the procedure.

CONCLUSIONS
The majority of surgical/procedural informed consent forms currently used by U.S. hospitals are complex and are not easily understood by the average patient. In addition, the majority of reviewed consent forms do not list specific benefits or potential complications of the planned surgery/procedure.


Time series classification (TSC) is home to a number of algorithm groups that utilise different kinds of discriminatory patterns. One of these groups describes classifiers that predict using phase dependant intervals. The time series forest (TSF) classifier is one of the most well known interval methods, and has demonstrated strong performance as well as relative speed in training and predictions. However, recent advances in other approaches have left TSF behind. TSF originally summarises intervals using three simple summary statistics. The 'catch22' feature set of 22 time series features was recently proposed to aid time series analysis through a concise set of diverse and informative descriptive characteristics. We propose combining TSF and catch22 to form a new classifier, the Canonical Interval Forest (CIF). We outline additional enhancements to the training procedure, and extend the classifier to include multivariate classification capabilities. We demonstrate a large and significant improvement in accuracy over both TSF and catch22, and show it to be on par with top performers from other algorithmic classes. By upgrading the interval-based component from TSF to CIF, we also demonstrate a significant improvement in the hierarchical vote collective of transformation-based ensembles (HIVE-COTE) that combines different time series representations. HIVE-COTE using CIF is significantly more accurate on the UCR archive than any other classifier we are aware of and represents a new state of the art for TSC.


We have successfully fabricated YBCO Josephson junctions and SQUIDs with variable thickness bridges. The variable-thickness bridges of YBCO thin film were fabricated by photolithography and Focused ion beam mill. The Josephson effects of variable thickness bridges were obtained in a 80 nm-thick-film of high-Tc YBa2Cu3Oy. The Shapiro steps were observed in single junction in the gigahertz range from 3.02 to 14.64 GHz. The voltage-current and voltage-field characteristics were measured in SQUID magnetometer. The SQUID shows a peak-to-peak voltage swing of 1.5 μV at 70 K. The properties of one junction and SQUID magnetometer have been investigated.


In the article the research results of occurring defects in railroad wheels, the systematization and attempt of explaining the causes of occurring them are presented.


Supernova remnants (SNRs) are widely believed to be the principal source of Galactic cosmic rays, produced by diffusive shock acceleration in the environs of the remnant's expanding blast wave. Such energetic particles can produce gamma rays and lower energy photons via interactions with the ambient plasma. The recently reported observation of TeV gamma rays from SN 1006 by the Collaboration of Australia and Nippon for a Gamma-Ray Observatory in the Outback (CANGAROO), combined with the fact that several unidentified EGRET sources have been associated with known radio/optical/X-ray-emitting remnants, provides powerful motivation for studying gamma-ray emission from SNRs. In this paper, we present results from a Monte Carlo simulation of nonlinear shock structure and acceleration coupled with photon emission in shelllike SNRs. These nonlinearities are a by-product of the dynamical influence of the accelerated cosmic rays on the shocked plasma and result in distributions of cosmic rays that deviate from pure power laws. Such deviations are crucial to acceleration efficiency considerations and impact photon intensities and spectral shapes at all energies, producing GeV/TeV intensity ratios that are quite different from test particle predictions. The Sedov scaling solution for SNR expansions is used to estimate important shock parameters for input into the Monte Carlo simulation. We calculate ion (proton and helium) and electron distributions that spawn neutral pion decay, bremsstrahlung, inverse Compton, and synchrotron emission, yielding complete photon spectra from radio frequencies to gamma-ray energies. The cessation of acceleration caused by the spatial and temporal limitations of the expanding SNR shell in moderately dense interstellar regions can yield spectral cutoffs in the TeV energy range that are consistent with Whipple's TeV upper limits on those EGRET unidentified sources that have SNR associations. Supernova remnants in lower density environments generate higher energy cosmic rays that produce predominantly inverse Compton emission observable at super-TeV energies, consistent with the SN 1006 detection. In general, sources in such low-density regions will be gamma-ray-dim at GeV energies.


Laryngeal hemiplegia was induced in 4 ponies via a left recurrent laryngeal neurectomy. Reinnervation of the denervated left cricoarytenoideus dorsalis muscle was then attempted using a muscle pedicle graft from the right cricoarytenoideus dorsalis muscle. In 3 ponies there was no return of abductor function and failure of graft survival. In the fourth pony there was return of abductor function along with survival of the muscle bridge, however, there was evidence of reinnervation across the neurectomy site. Muscle-to-muscle neurotization of the paralyzed equine larynx, utilizing the cricoarytenoideus dorsalis muscle, does not appear to be a clinically useful technique.


We study relaxation in two-dimensional Coulomb glasses up to macroscopic times. We use a kinetic Monte Carlo algorithm especially designed to escape efficiently from deep valleys around metastable states. We find that, during the relaxation process, the site occupancy follows a Fermi-Dirac distribution with an effective temperature much higher than the real temperature T. Long electron-hole excitations are characterized by T(eff), while short ones are thermalized at T. We argue that the density of states at the Fermi level is proportional to T(eff) and is a good thermometer to measure it. T(eff) decreases extremely slowly, roughly as the inverse of the logarithm of time, and it should affect hopping conductance in many experimental circumstances.


Background: Epigenetic gene silencing plays a critical role in tumorigenesis. HPP1, a putative tumor suppressor gene is downregulated in a number of tumor types including colon cancer. As a mechanism of suppression, promoter hypermethylation of HPP1 is known to be important, however the contributions and mechanisms of histone deacetylation have not been described. Additionally, the c-myc oncogene also contributes to the suppression of HPP1 via promoter binding to a cognate E-box site. We sought to elucidate the role of histone deacetylation and the potential interplay with c-myc in the transcriptional regulation of HPP1. Methods: The HPP1 non-expressing cell lines, HCT-116 and DLD-1, were treated with the DNA methylation inhibitor, 5-aza-2′-deoxycitidine (5-Aza-DC) and/or histone deacetylation (HDAC) inhibitors, including sodium butyrate (SB), Vorinostat (SAHA), trichostatin A (TSA) and valproic acid (VPA). Knockdowns of c-Myc and HDAC-1, 2, 3 and 4 were performed using siRNA. Protein and mRNA expression of HPP1 were determined by Western Blot and RT-PCR respectively. Furthermore, Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and ChIP-re-ChIP experiments were used to demonstrate the binding of c-Myc and HDACs to the HPP1 promoter. Co-IP assays were used to test the physical interaction between c-Myc and HDAC3. After knockdown of HDAC3 using siRNA in HCT116, ChIP was also used to test the activity of acetylated histone 4 (AcH4). Results: 5-Aza-DC as well as HDAC inhibitors, including SB, TSA, SAHA and VPA, resulted in the re-expression of HPP1 in HCT-116 and DLD-1 cells. Individual HDAC inhibitors administered in combination with 5-Aza-DC resulted in a synergistic effect on HPP1 re-expression. Concordantly, knockdown of HDAC2 and HDAC3 in HCT116 cells, and HDAC1 and HDAC3 in DLD-1 cells by siRNA significantly enhanced HPP1 expression. Co-IP, ChIP and double ChIP experiments confirmed binding of c-myc to the HPP1 promoter as a complex with dominant recruitment of HDAC3. By ChIP assay, the levels of AcH4 increased significantly in HCT116 after knockdown of HDAC3. Conclusions: We have demonstrated that HDAC-1, -2 and -3 contribute to the epigenetic regulation of HPP1. Moreover, c-myc binds to the HPP1 promoter and mediates epigenetic suppression via the dominant recruitment of HDAC3 with subsequent enhancement of histone deacetylation. Our findings may lead to a greater biologic understanding for the application of the targeted use of HDAC inhibitors for anti-cancer therapy. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3136. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-3136


Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a virus of the human Herpes viridae class, has a particular importance in renal transplantation because of its complex interaction with the immune system. Indeed, it causes both infectious mononucleosis (IM), immunopathological responses of the host, and at the extreme a malignant tumor, when the responses are altered. The lymphoproliferative syndromes induced by the EBV infection are lymphoid proliferations resulting from the loss of an EBV-specific cytotoxic T-cell response. About 10% of B-type lymphoproliferative syndromes including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma are EBV-positive. We report the case of a 23-year-old man who developed a tumor in the nasal cavity 6 months after renal transplantation. His nephropathy was membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. The induction therapy indicated was antithymoglobulin (ATG) and solumedrol. In maintenance therapy, mycofenolate mofetil (MMF) and tacrolimus were used. Nasal biopsy has proved CD20-positive B-cell lymphoma. No other site of the disease has been identified. The immunosuppressive agents were modulated with a switch of tacrolimus by an m-TOR inhibitor and a progressive reduction of MMF. After three cycles of R CHOP followed by radiotherapy, he achieved complete remission with a stable graft function. World J Nephrol Urol. 2018;7(2):56-59 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/wjnu352w


Transition zone (TZ) refers to a certain height above the Free Water Level (FWL) where both hydrocarbon and water could potentially flow together. The two phases flow is not the definite situation based on the actual fields' performance observation and it is an ongoing common misunderstanding with broad level of subjectivities for years. Lack of relevant experimental data and the insufficient physical understanding of the characteristics of the transition zone makes the modeling of both 3D static and dynamics to be challenging, subjective and finally uncertain when it comes to predictive capability.
 The recent studies by the team and this paper aim to illustrate that in the transition zone due to the relatively lower capillary force, oil has usually occupied the bigger pores compared to the intervals above the transition zone and hence the oil is more prone to move. Also, under enough drawdown and differential pressure level where it could be sensed by aquifer, water could also be fed by aquifer through the established water film by capillary. However, the water saturation in the transition zone will not be reduced through production compared to the initial water saturation. Hence, the relative permeability curves should be cautiously developed to represent the flow condition in the transition zone.
 Three oil rim developments in Malaysia with established transition zone and enough production & relevant surveillance history have been selected for this study. There is evidence from actual production data on dry oil recovery from transition zone between one to two years after those wells were put into production. Depending on the standoff of bottom perforated interval with oil water contact (OWC), water production onset may vary with time. Some of the fields have been placed with several horizontal wells in tapping the oil within transition zone to maximize recovery.
 This paper will discuss an integrated multi-disciplinary views on understanding the flow characteristics and dry oil production from transition zone. Understanding the capillary pressure, depletion and drawdown strategy together with well completion design as well as location in respect with height above Free Water Level (FWL) is crucial in successful monetization of the transition zone.


Close examination of published measurements of absolute configuration in inorganic crystals has revealed many mistakes, and only a small number of published correlations between optical rotation and chirality of crystal structure can be trusted. The sense of rotation of light is here traced to the hand of specific helices of atoms, provided that the latter are correctly chosen. Four principles are given for choosing the helices. The crystals described are: low-quartz, α-AlPO4, α-HgS, Ca2Sr(C2H5COO)6, Bi12SiO20, NaClO3, NaBrO3 and α-LiIO3. The principles suggest that the published absolute configuration of α-LiIO3 must be incorrect {subsequently proved experimentally by Stadnicka, Glazer & Moxon [J. Appl. Cryst. (1985), 18, 237–240]}.


Abstract:In dermatopathology, no standard protocol exists for processing small biopsy specimens. In our original protocol, 2 routine initial slides per biopsy were prepared. For 1003 biopsies, we noted how often the second slide helped in diagnosis or eliminated the need for additional deeper sections. After obtaining these data, we switched to processing only 1 initial slide (new protocol) and again evaluated 1003 biopsies. During the original protocol, the second slide never helped to make a diagnosis that was not apparent on the first slide. When deeper sections were ordered (10.4% of cases), they helped in the diagnosis 34.6% of the time. In the new protocol, deeper sections were ordered in 15.9% of cases and helped in the diagnosis 32.7% of the time when ordered. Comparing rates of deeper sections ordered showed no significant difference for benign, inflammatory/reactive, and premalignant/malignant groups (P > 0.1). However, there was a significant increase in deeper sections ordered for melanocytic lesions from 16.9% to 32.3% (P < 0.05). Also, a significantly greater percentage of punch biopsies (31.5% and 42.0% in the respective protocols) required deeper sections than shave biopsies (7.4% and 12.6% in the respective protocols). Switching protocols, the estimated annual cost savings is $2890. The majority of cases at our institution are properly diagnosed using only 1 slide. From our study findings, we conclude that 1 slide preparation for small biopsies is the best practice for our institution and one that does not affect diagnostic accuracy, reduces costs, and helps in effective time management.


Abstract Objective: To determine the association between fibromyalgia syndrome [FMS] and primary dysmenorrhea [PD]. Methods: Patients with PD formed the PD group and age-matched healthy normal controls were included in the HNC group. The new American College of Rheumatology FMS criteria were used in all patients and depression was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory [BDI]. Results: There were 45 patients in the PD group and 45 patients in the HNC group. We found FMS in 15.6% of the PD patients and 0.0% of the HNCs. The mean sum of the somatic symptoms was higher in the PD patients with FMS than without FMS. The mean sore of BDI was higher in the PD group than the HNC group, but the mean depression score of the PD patients with FMS was not significantly higher than PD patients without FMS. Conclusions: The frequency of FMS was increased in PD patients, especially in the PD patients who exhibited many somatic symptoms.


We report three clinical cases of idiopathic intracranial hypertension with favorable evolution. The treatment of this poorly-understood affection is still only symptomatic. Through the literature, we review the different physiopathological hypotheses proposed, among which the faultly resorption of C S F predominates. By analogy with the physiopathogenesis of primary open-angle glaucoma, we have treated these patients with beta-blocking agents.


Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL

Background and objective: The aromatic berries of the Jamaican plant Pimenta dioica called Allspice are used in many cuisines for their delectable flavor and as folk remedies for variety of ailments. Despite a rich source of antioxidants the use of Allspice as cancer preventive or anticancer agent has not been reported. Potential anti-cancer activity of an Aqueous Allspice extract (AAE) was tested on prostate cancer (CaP) cells and on tumor models.

Methods: AAE was prepared from dried, unripe berries of P. dioica (Certified Organic, Oregon Spices, OR) in water and the extract was lyophilized before testing for biological activity. We tested AAE on growth, survival; response to androgen on human androgen sensitive (AR+) CaP cells (LNCaP, LAPC-4) and in LNCaP xenograft tumors in athymic-nude mice. We used colorimetric MTT-cell survival assay, colony-forming assays, bioluminescence reporter assays, Q-PCR and western blotting to delineate the molecular mechanism of tumor suppressive action of AAE.

Results: AAE inhibited tumor cell proliferation (IC50∼100ug/ml) and clonogenic growth (IC50∼40ug/ml) of AR+ CaP cells. AAE was selectively toxic to tumor cells and less toxic to non-tumorigenic cells. AAE blocked cell cycle progression from G1 to S by decreasing cyclin D1, phosphorylated Rb, CDK4 and increased P21 and P27 in AR+ CaP cells. AAE induced apoptosis in LNCaP cells was mediated by intrinsic apoptotic pathway via depolarization of mitochondria, activation of caspase 9, caspase 3/7, cleaved PARP levels, increase in pro-apoptotic protein Bax, decrease in anti-apoptotic protein BID and release of cytochrome C from mitochondria. Importantly, AAE treated AR+ CaP cells showed significant decrease in AR protein level (IC50 50µg/ml) and the proteosome inhibitor MG132 did not rescue the AR protein level decrease by AAE. Transcriptional analysis of androgen receptor (AR) in AR+ CaP cells showed rapid decrease in AR and PSA expression by AAE. Moreover, treatment of LNCaP tumor bearing mice with AAE (100mg/kg, IP, 2x/w) significantly delayed the tumor growth (58%), prolonged the survival period with no systemic toxicity. Ex vivo analyses of LNCaP tumor tissue showed increased apoptosis (70%) in AAE treated mice compared to tissue from vehicle control, with 44% decrease in IGF-1 levels in serum of treated animals. A chemical analysis showed that the major component present on AAE was polyphenol (37% w/v) and devoid of alkaloids and other bioactive compounds.

Conclusion: We identified an anticancer product from a New World plant commonly used in cuisines world-over. This extract suppressed the androgen receptor activity in AR+ CaP cells. These studies demonstrate potential use of AAE as a chemotherapeutic or chemopreventive agent against prostate cancer (Funds: NIH1R01 AT 003544 and VA MERIT Grant # 5312.01)

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5572. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-5572


NR3C1, the gene encoding the glucocorticoid receptor, is polymorphic presenting numerous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) some of which are emerging as leading cause in the variability of manifestation and/or response to glucocorticoids in human diseases. Since 60–80% of patients with Diamond Blackfan anemia (DBA), an inherited pure red cell aplasia induced by mutations in ribosomal protein genes became transfusion independent upon treatment with glucocorticoids, we investigated whether clinically relevant NR3C1 SNPs are associated with disease manifestation in DBA. The eight SNPs rs10482605, rs10482616, rs7701443, rs6189/rs6190, rs860457, rs6198, rs6196, and rs33388/rs33389 were investigated in a cohort of 91 European DBA patients. Results were compared with those observed in healthy volunteers (n=37) or present in public genome databases of Italian and European populations. Although, cases vs. control analyses suggest that the frequency of some of the minor alleles is significantly altered in DBA patients with respect to healthy controls or to the Italian or other European registries, lack of consistency among the associations across different sets suggests that overall the frequency of these SNPs in DBA is not different from that of the general population. Demographic data (47 females and 31 males) and driver mutations (44 S and 29 L genes and eight no-known mutation) are known for 81 patients while glucocorticoid response is known, respectively, for 81 (36 responsive and 45 non-responsive) and age of disease onsets for 79 (55 before and 24 after 4months of age) patients. Neither gender nor leading mutations were associated with the minor alleles or with disease manifestation. In addition, none of the SNPs met the threshold in the response vs. non-responsive groups. However, two SNPs (rs6196 and rs860457) were enriched in patients manifesting the disease before 4months of age. Although the exact biomechanistical consequences of these SNPs are unknown, the fact that their configuration is consistent with that of regulatory regions suggests that they regulate changes in glucocorticoid response during ontogeny. This hypothesis was supported by phosphoproteomic profiling of erythroid cells expanded ex vivo indicating that glucocorticoids activate a ribosomal signature in cells from cord blood but not in those from adult blood, possibly providing a compensatory mechanism to the driving mutations observed in DBA before birth.


Story generators typically adopt a pipelined model of generation wherein fabula structure is decided independently and prior to discourse structure. In this paper, we propose a novel story generator, PlotShot, capable of reasoning over discourse materials during fabula generation such that these materials meaningfully constrain the development of a causally and intentionally coherent story. PlotShot incorporates user-supplied photographs as optional story states through an oversubscription planning paradigm. Further, to leverage existing work on planning-based models of generation, we present a technique to compile the photo story planning problem to classical narrative planning. Our system attempts to maximize quality of an illustrated story by analyzing the affinity between a photo and the action it is meant to depict. An evaluation of generated artifacts shows advantage over heuristic baseline techniques.


Genome sequencing of a diverse array of arthropod genomes is already underway and these genomes will be used to study human health, agriculture, biodiversity and ecology. These new genomes are intended to serve as community resources and provide the foundational information that is required to apply 'omics technologies to a more diverse set of species. However, biologists require genome annotation to use these genomes and derive a better understanding of complex biological systems. Genome annotation incorporates two related but distinct processes: demarcating genes and other elements present in genome sequences (structural annotation); and associating function with genetic elements (functional annotation). While there are well established and freely available workflows for structural annotation of gene identification in newly assembled genomes, workflows for providing the functional annotation required to support functional genomics studies are less well understood. Genome-scale functional annotation is required for functional modeling (enrichment, networks, etc.) and a first-pass genome-wide functional annotation effort can rapidly identify under-represented gene sets for focused community annotation efforts. We present an open source, open access and containerized pipeline for genome-scale functional annotation of insect proteomes and apply it to a diverse range of arthropod species. We show that the performance of the predictions is consistent across a set of arthropod genomes with varying assembly and annotation quality.Complete instructions for running each component of the functional annotation pipeline on the command line, a high performance computing cluster and the CyVerse Discovery Environment can be found at the readthedocs site (https://agbase-docs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/agbase/workflow.html). Simple summary Genomic technologies are accumulating information about genes at a faster rate than ever before, and sequencing initiatives like the Earth Biogenome Project, i5k and Ag100Pest are expected to increase this rate of acquisition. However, if genomic sequencing is to be used for improvement of human health, agriculture and our understanding of biological systems, it is necessary to identify genes and understand how they contribute to biological outcomes. While there are several well-established workflows for assembling genomic sequences and identifying genes, understanding gene function is essential to create actionable knowledge. Moreover this functional annotation process must be easily accessible and provide information at a genomic scale to keep up with new sequence data. We report a well defined workflow for rapid functional annotation of whole proteomes to produce Gene Ontology and pathways information. We test this workflow on a diverse set of arthropod genomes and compare it to common arthropod reference genomes. The workflow we described is freely and publicly available via a web interface on CyVerse or as biocontainers that can be deployed scalably on local computing systems.


Epoxy resin has a wide variety of engineering applications, including within the aerospace industry. Moisture absorption has been shown to have a number of negative effects on the properties of epoxy and, although significant research has been conducted on moisture absorption into the cured product, little work has been carried out on absorption into the uncured resin. This is considered for both the resin and the hardener in three parts here; the rate of moisture absorption, the effect on the temperature profile of the resin/hardener reaction and the volumetric expansion of the product, and the effect of moisture absorption on the mechanical properties of the cured resin. Significant moisture absorption was observed in the hardening agent as well as the epoxy resin, although the absorption rate and maximum saturation of the hardener was much higher. The absorbed moisture was shown to cause substantial volumetric expansion during reaction and a notable loss in tensile, compressive and shear strength. Small but distinguishable effects on the temperature profile were also observed. These findings represent a useful basis for future research and the compilation of practical guidelines for the storage and use of epoxy in industry.


The development and application of predictive models for organic electronic devices with a complex layer structure, such as white organic light-emitting diodes, require the availability of an accurate and fast method for extracting the materials parameters, which determine the mobility in each of the layers from a set of experimental data. The absence of such a generally used method may be regarded as one of the reasons why so far relatively little consensus has been obtained concerning the most appropriate transport model, the shape of the density of states (DOS), and the underlying microscopic parameters, such as the width of the DOS and the density of hopping sites. In this paper, we present a time-efficient Gauss-Newton method for extracting these parameters from current-voltage curves for single-carrier devices, obtained for various layer thicknesses and temperatures. The method takes the experimental uncertainties into account and provides the correlated uncertainty margins of the parameters studied. We focus on materials with a Gaussian DOS with random and spatially correlated disorder. Making use of artificially generated as well as experimental data sets, we demonstrate the accuracy and limitations, and show that it is possible to deduce the type of disorder from the analysis. The presence of an exponential trap DOS, as is often observed for the case of electron transport, is found to significantly reduce the accuracy of the transport parameters obtained.


In a bid to enhance the search performance, this paper presents an improved version of reduced candidate mechanism (RCM), an algebraic codebook search conducted on an algebraic code-excited linear-prediction (ACELP) speech coder. This improvement is made on the basis of two findings in our prior work. The first finding is that a pulse with a high contribution in the associated track is more likely to serve as the optimal pulse in the optimal codevector; the second is that the speech quality can be well maintained at a search accuracy above 50% approximately. Subsequently, a new finding in this study is that there is a 0.8321 probability that the No. 1 ranked pulse in a global sorting by pulse contribution is indeed one of the optimal pulses. Hence, the No. 1 pulse in the global sorting is labeled as one of the optimal pulses, following which a sequence of search tasks is fulfilled through RCM. This proposed complexity reduction algorithm, implemented on a G.729A speech codec, takes as few as eight searches, a search load amounting to 2.5% of G.729A, 12.5% of global pulse replacement method (iteration = 2), 16.7% of iteration-free pulse replacement method, and 50% of RCM (N = 2). This proposal is thus found to successfully reduce the required computational complexity to a great extent as intended. © 2014 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.