I (M.B-G.) was born in 1928 in Beauvais (France) where my family lived until 1929, but because of the economic depression, my parents moved to Geneva where we were citizens. Both my parents were interested in the scientific aspects of biology, which was certainly important for my education. Living in Geneva was optimal, as we could easily go to high school and the University by tram, although I preferred my bike. As the 1939–45 war affected everybody, I worked during the holidays, first on farms, but I soon noticed that working in a factory was better paid. After the war during school time I gave French lessons to United Nations personnel. At the University, as I had good marks in biochemistry, I was asked to be a teaching assistant at the Botanical Institute. Nevertheless, I was the ugly duckling of the family because since birth, every beat of my heart produced a murmur, which could not be diagnosed then, so that the physicians warned my parents that I would die very young. Nevertheless, when I was 20 years old, the correct diagnosis was made: I had an open ductus Botalli , which could then be operated on. Prof. Max Grob, from the University of Zurich Children's Hospital, performed the operation. Being 22 years old, I was an exception in a children's clinic. A young assistant in surgery, Marcel Bettex, was working there then. This was how we met, and after a time we decided to unite our lives. I nevertheless stubbornly finished my studies in biochemistry, which postponed our marriage for 2 years (1952). In Zurich I found a job as an assistant at the Physiological Institute, the head of which was Prof. F. Leuthardt. The salary was poor but the topic was interesting. After a time Prof. Leuthardt wanted me to prepare the demonstrations for the students. As his lessons began at 08.00 h, I often had to work at night. Once I had to prepare actomyosin from rabbitmuscle, so I learned to handle this protein using the classical method of Szent Gyorgyi [1]. I had to demonstrate the superprecipitation , that is the contraction of the normal precipitate under the influence of ATP. I also made some investigations on the role of biotin in the fixation of carbon dioxide by animal tissues and used these as the basis of my PhD; however, first I had to submit to an examination board. The chairman was Paul Karrer, who had been awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry and had written a thick book on organic chemistry, which I had to learn. So I memorized it, sitting for 3 months at my desk and in the examination was asked to describe the synthesis of morphine: I got the maximum mark (1958). At that time, my husband, who was a very gifted pediatric surgeon, was appointed as head of the Paediatric Surgery Clinic in Berne. As a consequence I wanted to find a job in Berne. Among two opportunities I chose to work with Ernst Luscher, because he offered me a laboratory, a technical assistant (Madeleine Schneider), and a good salary.


Summary We present two unusual cases of tuberculosis of the spine presenting with abdominal symptoms; both patients underwent exploratory laparotomy before the true nature of the diagnosis became known. The diagnosis of spinal tuberculosis was evident on the pre-operative abdominal radiographs but this was overlooked.


Bill Catton died suddenly on January 5th 2015 in Port Chalmers, New Zealand where he was staying with family who had gathered for a family wedding. Bill is survived by Nancy, his wife of 66 years and his sister, Ruth Willard Catton, both of whom were with him when he died. He is also survived by sons Stephen, Philip, Theodore and Jonathan, and by grandchildren Felicity, William, Walter, Eleanor, Benjamin and Eli, and by great-grandsons Sebastian and Alexander.Bill was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 15, 1926. At seventeen years of age he enlisted in the US Navy and served there from 1943 to 1946. He was wounded in Pacific combat aboard USS Ticonderoga and when recovered, served in the official occupation of Japan. En route home from the war he suffered the crushing of his pelvis by equipment failure aboard ship. His injury would prevent him from ever running so that during his convalescence Bill resolved that his lifetime goal for recreation would be wilderness backpacking and camping. These pursuits became legion with him and he generously shared with others this passion. As his children acknowledge, wilderness hiking became significantly defining of both his marriage and his family.After his military service he enrolled at Oberlin College, Ohio where he met Nancy Lewis, his wife to be. They were married while still at Oberlin and soon thereafter moved to what was to be one of the great loves of his life, the United States Pacific Northwest. Bill did his Masters and PhD at the University of Washington where George Lundberg helped lead his doctoral committee.Bill started his professional career as a mainstream sociologist without a special focus on environmental issues. However, in the course of his early research he worked with John Hendee, then a USFS forest ranger who later became Professor of Resource Recreation and Tourism and Director, University of Idaho Wilderness Research Centre at the University of Idaho, Moscow, and Frank Brockman, a National Parks naturalist who became Professor of Forestry at the University of Washington. His association with these men guided his thinking into ecological and environmental concepts that he had not previously considered part of his sociological kitbag. In addition, the 'neo-positivist' influence of Lundberg is clearly evident in his early work. His dissatisfaction with the growing qualitative slant in sociology and his growing concern for the health of environment and the detrimental impacts that over usage had were important factors leading him towards wanting to devise more quantitative understandings of the relationship between people and the natural environment. Within this he was strongly influenced by the work of population ecologists and biologists who saw increasing incompatibility and tensions between growing populations and (more or less) finite resource bases. In short he was severely challenged by the Western view that 'growth is good'.Bill's broad aim to make sociology more scientific, more 'real'-world and objectively based became more specifically an aim to increase in the discipline of sociology the understanding of the biogeochemical processes associated with the environment. His increasing concern with the lack of consideration of environmental factors was already manifest in his published work in the early 1970s but is perhaps best seen as coming to fruition with three publications at the end of the 1970s. Two he published jointly with Riley Dunlap, the first entitled 'Environmental Sociology: A New Paradigm,' (1978), the second, 'Environmental Sociology: A Framework for Analysis,' (1979). His magnum opus on this elaboration of both his broad and specific aims was the publication of what he regarded as his most important work, Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change, (1980). Bill actually started writing Overshoot as early as 1972 and finished it during 1977-78. He had considerable trouble finding a publisher, as those initially approached considered the ecology field saturated. …


Recently, the hologram display has been spotlighting attention as the next generation display technology and research and development are proceeding [1]. Generally, spatial light modulator (SLM) is mainly used for amplitude or phase modulation to generate holograms and it must need additional optical systems, which is applied to eliminate DC or conjugate noise. Therefore, the technique of the SLM for complex modulation has been continuously studied to reduce the volume of the optical system and efficiently generate the hologram. In this paper, we propose a spatial optical modulator source technology with complex modulated single pixel that can modulate amplitude and phase simultaneously using photonic crystal structure with double zero index (DZI) characteristics and effective medium phase delay structure of subwavelength scale [2-3].


BACKGROUND
Serotonin has been linked to neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer disease, mainly agitation/aggression, depression, and psychosis. Neuropsychiatric symptoms have been associated with polymorphisms of the promoter region (5-HTTPR ) and intron 2 of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTVNTR) or the 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptor genes in some but not all studies.

OBJECTIVE
To examine the association of the serotonin promoter, transporter, and receptor genes with neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with Alzheimer disease.

METHODS
The sample included 96 patients with Alzheimer disease from the outpatient clinic of the University of California Los Angeles Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Los Angeles. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory was used to measure neuropsychiatric symptoms, and blood samples were available for genetic analysis. Based on the literature, we hypothesized that the 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptor polymorphisms would be associated with agitation/aggression and psychosis and the 5-HTTPR or 5-HTTVNTR polymorphisms, with agitation/aggression or depression and anxiety. One-way analyses of variance were performed with age, ethnicity, sex, or education as covariates.

RESULTS
The 102T genotype of the 5-HT2A receptor was significantly associated with delusions (P =.045) and agitation/aggression (P =.002). We did not replicate previous associations of the 5-HT2C receptor polymorphism with psychosis or of the 5-HTTPR polymorphism with agitation/aggression, psychosis, or depression. We did not find any associations with the 5-HTTVNTR polymorphism and agitation/aggression, depression, or anxiety.

CONCLUSIONS
The 5-HT2A receptor polymorphism may contribute to the expression of psychosis and agitation/aggression in patients with Alzheimer disease. Absence of other positive associations may be due to the relatively small sample size and/or potentially small effect size of the polymorphisms and requires further study.


Abstract. Hydrothermal alteration is an important content in the study of epithermal deposit, and its deep part is often accompanied by porphyry mineralization. The objective of research is to mapping the alteration minerals for mineral exploration using mixture tuned matched filtering (MTMF) approach based on airborne hyperspectral data CASI and SASI in Wuyi metallogenic belt, China, which has complex geological structure and excellent mineralization conditions and high regional forest coverage rate. Gold mineralization is closely related to the Yanshan period epithermal intrusive rocks, and often exists in external contact zone of allgovite, monzomite porphyrite, granite porphyry, quarz porphyry, et al.. The main mineral alteration types include silicification (quartz), sericitization (sericite, illite), pyritization (pyrite), chloritization (chlorite), and partial calcitization (calcite). The alteration minerals extraction based on integrated CASI_SASI reflectance data were processed by MTMF algorithm with the input imagery which was pre-processed by MNF and the input endmember spectra measured by SVC spectrometer to performs MF and add an infeasibility image. The MTMF results provide an estimate to mineral subpixel fractions leading to the abundances of alteration minerals at each pixel and alteration minerals distribution. The accuracy of alteration mineral extraction refers to the extent which it agrees with a set of reference data measured in the field reconnaissance. So the CASI_SASI airborne hyperspectral image provides the efficient way to map the detailed alteration minerals distribution for mineral exploration in high forest coverage area.


Experts from across the globe have warned of the adverse consequences of COVID-19 lockdown and physical distancing restrictions on violence in the home, with the United Nations describing it as a shadow pandemic. This social innovation narra-tive explores how a public health approach to violence prevention is implemented in Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic by the multi-agency Wales Violence Prevention Unit. The article highlights early trends in monitoring data on the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on violence, including likely increases in domestic and sexual violence and abuse, concerns over the safety of children and young people, both online and in the home, and increased reporting of elder abuse. The article supports the notion of a shadow pandemic, emphasizing the lack of data that routinely measures violence in the home and online that disproportionately affects women, children, and older people, as well as vulnerable and minority populations. This renders these forms of violence much less "visible" to policy-makers in comparison with violence in public spaces, but they are of no less public health significance. Through sharing this narrative and early findings, we call for increased focus on the develop-ment of new data collection methods and violence prevention programs during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the future.


Tuna, known as the 'Chicken of Sea' have red and white flesh in their bodies which taste differently. Red and White meat of Little Tunny (Euthynnus affinis) and Skipjack Tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis), widely available cheap tuna species in the food market were subjected to biochemical analysis to estimate the food value. K.pelamis have more nutritive value than E.affinis, but both species can provide satisfactory amount of nutrients in diet including a reasonable amount of omega-3 fatty acids. Red meat was found out to be equally nutritious as white meat. Red and white meat of both K.pelamis and E.affinis can be recommended in diet as excellent nutrient source.


The variability of gait in human walking and running is not random but shows self-similarity that is dependent on the speed of locomotion. The strength of the long-range correlations for each gait pattern follows a U-shaped function that is centered on the respective preferred speed of locomotion.


BACKGROUND Temporary transvenous pacing through the coronary sinus is a novel approach rarely used in treating unstable bradycardia. This modality could provide cardiac pacing while achieving better ventricular synchrony. We present a case who received cardiac pacing through the coronary sinus and provide a summary of evidence in the current literature. CASE SUMMARY A 55-year-old woman with a history of advanced heart failure was admitted to the rehabilitation ward after a recent stroke. During hospitalization, she had paroxysmal atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response resulting from fluid overload. While atrial fibrillation was spontaneously reversed to sinus rhythm after diuresis, she developed multiple episodes of polymorphic ventricular tachycardia along with sinus bradycardia and prolonged QTc interval. She became hypotensive despite appropriate medical management. Pacing through her implantable cardioverter-defibrillator was attempted but worsened her hypotension. Ventricular dyssynchrony was suspected. Temporary transvenous atrial pacing through the coronary sinus was performed, which stabilized her blood pressure and improved end-organ perfusion. A permanent biventricular pacemaker was later implanted, and she was safely discharged to a nursing home. CONCLUSION Temporary transvenous pacing through the coronary sinus, a novel approach to treat unstable bradycardia, may reduce ventricular dyssynchrony.


Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), the principle end-products produced by the anaerobic gut microbial fermentation of complex carbohydrates (CHO) in the colon perform beneficial roles in metabolic health. Butyrate, acetate and propionate are the main SCFA metabolites, which maintain gut homeostasis and host immune responses, enhance gut barrier integrity and reduce gut inflammation via a range of epigenetic modifications in DNA/histone methylation underlying these effects. The infant gut microbiota composition is characterized by higher abundances of SCFA-producing bacteria. A large number of in vitro/vivo studies have demonstrated the therapeutic implications of SCFA-producing bacteria in infant inflammatory diseases, such as obesity and asthma, but the application of gut microbiota and its metabolite SCFAs to necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), an acute inflammatory necrosis of the distal small intestine/colon affecting premature newborns, is scarce. Indeed, the beneficial health effects attributed to SCFAs and SCFA-producing bacteria in neonatal NEC are still to be understood. Thus, this literature review aims to summarize the available evidence on the therapeutic potential of gut microbiota and its metabolite SCFAs in neonatal NEC using the PubMed/MEDLINE database.


: Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) is a technique to evoke muscle contraction through low-energy electrical signals. FES can animate paralysed limbs. Yet, an open challenge remains on how to apply FES to achieve desired movements. This challenge is accentuated by the complexities of human bodies and the non-stationarities of the muscles' responses. The former causes difficulties in performing inverse dynamics, and the latter causes control performance to degrade over extended periods of use. Here, we engage the challenge via a data-driven approach. Specifically, we learn to control FES through Reinforcement Learning (RL) which can automatically customise the stimulation for the patients. However, RL typically has Markovian assumptions while FES control systems are non-Markovian because of the non-stationarities. To deal with this problem, we use a recurrent neural network to create Markovian state representations. We cast FES controls into RL problems and train RL agents to control FES in different settings in both simulations and the real world. The results show that our RL controllers can maintain control performances over long periods and have better stimulation characteristics than PID controllers.


Bladder pain syndrome (BPS) is an enigmatic condition, which can be debilitating for the patients, affecting their quality of life. Its prevalence is believed to have become markedly higher (100–300/100,000 women) than in previous years. Its etiology and pathogenesis remain unknown, and a number of theories based on clinical and experimental observations have been developed. It is difficult to be diagnosed and treated. There is a worldwide effort to standardize its nomenclature, definition, diagnosis, and treatment algorithm. The aim of this review is to critically appraise the current evidence on the diagnosis and management of BPS.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Compared with BRAF p. V600E wild-type pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma, BRAF p. V600E-mutant pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma showed a higher survival rate. In this study, we focused on finding preoperative MR imaging differences between BRAF p. V600E mutant and wild-type in pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma and anaplastic pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-three patients with pathologically confirmed pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma or anaplastic pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed from January 2015 to December 2020. They were divided into a BRAF p. V600E-mutant group (including 6 pleomorphic xanthoastrocytomas and 5 anaplastic pleomorphic xanthoastrocytomas) and a wild-type group (including 8 pleomorphic xanthoastrocytomas and 4 anaplastic pleomorphic xanthoastrocytomas). The preoperative MR imaging characteristics of these groups were statistically compared. RESULTS: The wild-type pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma group presented with more aggressive conventional and advanced MR imaging features than the mutant pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma group, including greater mean maximum tumor diameter (3.1 [SD, 0.9] cm versus 1.7 [SD, 0.4 ] cm, P < .05), more frequent heterogeneous contrast enhancement of solid portions (100% versus 0%, P < .001), more obvious peritumoral edema (mean, [2.1 SD, 0.7] cm versus 0.6 [SD, 0.2] cm, P < .01), and lower mean minimum relative ADC (896 [SD, 86] versus 988 [SD, 73], P < .05) and mean relative ADC (1060 [SD, 159] versus 1248 [SD, 116], P < .05) on DWI. However, there was no significant difference in either conventional or advanced MR imaging features between the wild-type anaplastic pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma group and the mutant anaplastic pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma group. CONCLUSIONS: Neurosurgeons should carefully interpret MR images before an operation and select appropriate surgical strategies according to genotype prediction.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this experimental study was to evaluate the effects of periosteal stimulation therapy (PST), on bone regeneration in response to expansion of the interpremaxillary suture, in rats.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Sixteen male, 50-60 days old Wistar rats were divided into two equal groups (control and experimental). Both groups were subjected to expansion for 5 days, and 30 cN of force was applied to the maxillary incisors with helical spring. On the 2nd day of the expansion procedure in the experimental group, the periosteum over the interpremaxillary suture was stimulated locally by intraperiosteal penetrations with a hypodermic needle. Bone regeneration in the interpremaxillary suture was evaluated by bone histomorphometry and the new bone area, bone perimeter, feret's diameter and new bone/old bone percentage parameters were evaluated. Mann-Whitney U-test was used for statistical evaluation at p < 0.05 level.

RESULTS
Significant differences were found between groups for all investigated histomorphometric parameters. New bone area (p < 0.01), bone perimeter (p < 0.05), feret's diameter (p < 0.01) and new bone/old bone percentage (p < 0.01) measurements were significantly higher in the experimental group than that in the control. Bone histomorphometric measurements revealed that bone architecture in the PST group was improved.

CONCLUSIONS
Local stimulation of the periosteum of the sutural area during expansion stimulates bone formation and improves healing.


An information processing method, for processing by comprising a reversible compression of the digital image signal converted from the sensing means output is obtained non-compressed digital image data file. The information processing method according to any luminance signal generation through the use of at least a plurality of types of processing methods and / or color signal generating processing method of one of a plurality of types to selectively perform a plurality of types of signal processing to be included in the digital image data file is converted to data having a predetermined format. The method comprising the information contained in the file, selected from a plurality of types of signal processing used for automatic signal processing, and performs processing of the selected signal in order to incorporate the digital image data into a file having a predetermined format The data.


This paper discusses the composition of interface objects, a concept of direct relevance to user interface software architectures and interface design practice. Composition is discussed formally in the framework of the Abstraction-Display-Controller (ADC) interactor model. The ADC model has been defined as a LOTOS specification template tailored for user interface specification. A transformation of the behaviour expressions describing interactor compositions is defined. The transformation, termed synthesis, maintains the generic structure of the ADC interactor while preserving the meaning of the specification. The correctness of the transformation is proved for several types of compositions. The notion of abstract views of interactors is introduced; it is shown how abstract views may themselves be used as components in composition expressions. Example specification extracts are taken from a case study which was developed to test and improve the ADC interactor model


Objective: The relationship between serum adiponectin concentration and hypertension or cardiac hypertrophy is still controversial. We have previously proposed that tissue-bound adiponectin possibly plays an important role against metabolic syndrome. In this study, we investigated the relationship between heart-bound adiponectin and hypertension or cardiac hypertrophy, compared with serum adiponectin in hypertensive rats. Design and Method: Six-, 12-, and 20-week-old Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY); 2 subspecies (strains C and B2, characterized by having lower and higher blood pressure, respectively) of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR); and stroke-prone SHR (SHRSP) were used. Blood pressure, heart/body ratio, serum adiponectin, and heart-bound adiponectin were measured. Histopathological analyses of the heart were also carried out. Results: The heart/body ratio strongly correlated with blood pressure in 12- and 20-week-old rats, as expected. Serum adiponectin concentration, however, was positively correlated with blood pressure in 12- and 20-week-old rats, and the heart/body ratio and heart muscle cross-sectional area in 20-week-old rats, indicating that there is no relationship between serum adiponectin and blood pressure or cardiac hypertrophy in these rats. In contrast, heart-bound adiponectin in SHRSP was significantly decreased than that in other species of all ages. This results from a decrease in T-cadherin expression, which induces adiponectin binding to tissues. Heart-bound adiponectin inversely correlated with the heart muscle cross-sectional area, but not with blood pressure, indicating that heart-bound adiponectin is more closely related with cardiac hypertrophy than serum adiponectin concentration in these rats. Conclusions: Some researches have reported that serum adiponectin concentration is a useful parameter for evaluating the health condition. Some patients, however, showed hypertension and cardiac hypertrophy despite having high adiponectin concentrations in blood. Our results suggest the possibility that such patients would have decreased heart-bound adiponectin mediated by T-cadherin, and a high adiponectin concentration in blood.


Aberrant diurnal rhythms of Blood Pressure (BP) are well known to be associated with hypertension, however, whether rhythmicity of microbiotal composition is associated with salt sensitive hypertension remains unknown. We hypothesized that BP and gut microbiotal composition follow synchronous rhythms in high salt fed Dahl Salt Salt‐Sensitive (S) rats and contribute to the progression of hypertension. To test this hypothesis, we examined groups of Dahl S rats for their diurnal rhythms of both the gut microbiota and blood pressure in low salt (0.3%) and high salt (2%) conditions. In high salt fed animals, Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio significantly changed between the dark (active) and light (rest) phases, which correlated with the diurnal rhythmicity of BP suggesting salt mediated rhythmic regulation of microbiota. Diurnal rhythms of Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria were independently associated with BP and significant in high salt fed animals. Discrete genera were observed to correlate independently or interactively with one or more of the following 3 factors‐1) BP rhythm, 2) dietary salt, 3) amplitude of BP. Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUST) analysis revealed diurnal rhythmicity of microbiotal pathways. During the active phase of the host, microbiota upregulated biosynthetic processes whereas during the resting phase of the host, microbiota upregulated degradation pathways of metabolites. These diurnal changes in microbiota, their functional pathways and BP response were prominently associated with a concerted rhythmicity of renal Lipocalin 2 and Endothelin1. Collectively, these data demonstrated the existence of synchronous diurnal rhythms of BP and renal inflammation with diurnal reshaping of gut microbiota in salt‐sensitive hypertension. Such a concerted rhythmicity with peaks observed at the mid‐active phase suggests that targeting this timepoint to reshape microbiota and/or intervene with medication could benefit hypertensives.


The influence of classic film noir on the style and substance of television in the 1950s and 1960s has persisted to the present day. Its pervasiveness suggests the vitality of the noir depiction of human experience and the importance of TV for transmitting the legacy of film noir and producing new forms of noir. Noir television is also noteworthy for its capacity to raise philosophical questions about the nature of the human condition. Drawing from the fields of philosophy, media studies, and literature, the contributors to "The Philosophy of TV Noir" illuminate the best of noir television, including such shows as Dragnet, The Fugitive, Miami Vice, The X-Files, CSI, and 24.


Home Equity Release Products (ERPs) are innovative fi nancial instruments that enable elderly, retired people to use their unencumbered houses as a source of income/funding while they continue to reside in them, thereby seeking to address the constraints of the life cycle hypothesis. The loan and outstanding amounts are normally settled through the sale of the property, either on death or when the client voluntarily vacates. This research is an exploration of demand and supply issues that aff ect the suppliers of ERPs (both internationally and in South Africa). Interviews were held with established suppliers in Britain (where the market is more advanced), as well as with several fi nancial services companies in South Africa. The ERP industry has grown slowly over the last decade. Factors such as increased life expectancy, decreased savings rates and changing attitudes towards debt are just some of the driving forces of demand. However, the growth of the ERP industry has consistently fallen short of analysts' predictions, highlighting some of the diffi culties facing the market – not least of which is to gain the acceptance of both the market and government as a mainstream option for the elderly, who are often asset-rich but income-poor. A number of impediments to market growth are explored in detail in this research.


Cancer patients with Down syndrome (DS) are susceptible to developing anthracycline-related cardiotoxicity. The pathogenesis of anthracycline-related cardiotoxicity has been linked to the intracardiac synthesis of alcohol metabolites by carbonyl reductase 1 (CBR1). CBR1 is located in the DS critical region (21q22.12). The expression of CBR1 in hearts from individuals with DS has not been characterized. This study documented CBR1 expression in hearts from donors with DS (n = 4) and donors without DS (n = 15). The DS samples showed 1.8-fold higher CBR1 mRNA levels compared to the non-DS samples (levels in DS samples were 3.3-relative fold, and those in non-DS were 1.8-relative fold; p = 0.012). CBR1 protein levels were 1.9-fold higher in DS samples than in non-DS samples (13.5 ± 7.7 versus 7.2 ± 3.9 nmol/g cytosolic protein, respectively; p = 0.029). CBR1 activity for daunorubicin was 1.7-fold higher in DS samples than in non-DS samples (3.8 ± 0.1 versus 2.3 ± 0.2 nmol daunol/min · mg, respectively; p = 0.050). CBR1 1096G>A (rs9024) affects CBR1 activity, and one heart trisomic for the variant A allele (A/A/A) exhibited low enzymatic activity. These findings suggest that increased CBR1 expression in the hearts of individuals with DS may contribute to the risk of anthracycline-related cardiotoxicity.


The solar radiation consists of three types of radiation, visible, infrared and ultraviolet radiation (UVR). There is daily and seasonal variation in the prevalence of ultraviolet radiation. The depth of penetration of solar radiation is directly proportional to its wavelength. Its effects on the skin are UV-induced erythema, UV-induced pigmentation and cellular responses, which include damage to DNA, epidermal hyperplasia and thickening of stratum corneum and cutaneous immunosuppression responsible for various cutaneous cancers in humans. It can also lead to various photo-induced and photo-aggravated dermatoses. Avoiding mid day exposure (between 11-3) to sunlight, use of appropriate clothing including hats, and regular use of sunscreen having SPF of 30 or more, covering both UVA and UVB, may be helpful in preventing hazards of solar radiation.


The clinical evaluation of a patient with dystonia is a stepwise process, beginning with classification of the phenomenology of the movement disorder(s), then formulation of the dystonia syndrome, which, in turn, leads to a targeted etiological differential diagnosis. In recent years, there have been significant advances in our understanding of the etiological basis of dystonia, aided especially by discoveries in imaging and genetics. In this review, we provide an update on the assessment of a patient with dystonia, including the phenomenology of dystonia and highlighting how to integrate clinical, imaging, blood, and neurophysiological investigations in order to formulate a dystonia syndrome. Evolving or emerging dystonia syndromes are reviewed, and potential etiologies of these as well as established dystonia syndromes listed to guide diagnostic testing. © 2013 Movement Disorder Society


A new iterative algorithm for restoring noisy blurred images with unknown point spread function (PSF) is presented. The method initially estimates the PSF and the original image with the Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm. The resulting image estimate is then refined by using the adaptive Row Action Projection (RAP) algorithm which is based on the theory of Projection Onto Convex Sets (POCS). The new implementation of the RAP can be performed efficiently in parallel and facilitates locally adaptive constraints and cycling strategies. Computer simulations illustrate the new method to be very competitive in restoring degrading images from noisy blurred images with unknown PSF.


Background Human skin harbors complex transient and resident microbial communities that show intra- & inter-individual variation due to various environmental and host-associated factors such as skin site, diet, age, gender, genetics, or the type and use of cosmetics. This variation remains largely uncharacterized in the Indian population; hence, the present study aims to characterize the variation in skin microbiota among individuals of Indian origin and quantify associations with age, diet, and geography. Methods Axillary sweat samples from genetically unrelated individuals (N = 58) residing in the three geographical locations of Maharashtra, India, were collected using a sterile cotton swab. Bacterial DNA was extracted using a standard protocol and checked for quality. Variable regions (V3–V4) of the 16S rRNA gene were sequenced using the Illumina platform. We used standard methods from microbiota bioinformatics, including alpha and beta diversity, community typing, and differential abundance, to quantify the association of skin microbiota with age, diet, and geographical location. Results Our study indicated the prevalence of phyla- Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria, consistent with previous reports on skin microbiota composition of the world population level. The alpha diversity (Shannon index) was significantly associated with the age group (Kruskal–Wallis test, p = 0.02), but not with geography (p = 0.62) or diet (p = 0.74). The overall skin microbiota community composition was significantly associated with geographical location based on Community State Types (CST) analysis and PERMANOVA (R2 = 0.07, p = 0.01). Differential abundance analysis at the genus level indicated a distinctively high abundance of Staphylococcus and Corynebacterium among individuals of the Pune district. Pseudomonas and Anaerococcus were abundant in individuals from Ahmednagar whereas, Paenibacillus, Geobacillus, Virgibacillus, Jeotgalicoccus, Pullulanibacillus, Delsulfosporomusa, Citinovibrio, and Calditerricola were abundant in individuals from Nashik district. Conclusion Our work provides one of the first characterizations of skin microbiota variation in different sub-populations in India. The analysis quantifies the level of individuality, as contrasted to the other factors of age, geography, and diet, thus helping to evaluate the applicability of skin microbiota profiles as a potential biomarker to stratify individuals.


The influences of temperature and surface roughness on the forming of the AA3003H111 aluminium alloy sheet material have been investigated by using the finite element method. For this purpose, material cards have been firstly created based on the sheet material behaviour at different deformation temperatures. As a result of the forming analyses performed at different temperature values and surface roughness values, it has been determined that the increase in the surface roughness reduces the amount of thinning while it increases the amount of forming force and the springback. It has also been determined that there is a slight increase in the amount of thinning, while the temperature rise reduces the amount of forming force and the springback. In addition, the influence levels of temperature and surface roughness have been determined by statistical analyses.


Abdominal aortic dissection is a rare pathology. As far as we are concerned, only 59 cases have been reported in the English literature. In the last two years, two cases were treated at our Institution. Both were males, over 70 years of age. They were evaluated with ultrasonography, angiography (1 case) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging which showed localised dissection of the abdominal aorta with aneurysmal dilatation. They underwent surgical treatment with good results. At 1 and 2 years from operation both patients are alive and well. A postoperative ultrasonography didn't show any residual dissection.


Hermaphroditic sexual patterns are widespread among teleosts and are especially characteristic of certain perciform families. Among the most diverse groups of hermaphroditic species are the groupers, hamlets and sea basses of the family Serranidae. Like other groupers, the epinepheline serranid, Epinephelus striatus, the Nassau grouper, has long been assumed to exhibit monandric protogyny (a form of hermaphroditism in which all males derive from adult females by sex change). Histological and demographic data, however, indicate that the sexual pattern of this species is not monandric, and that, unlike other group species, the juveniles pass through a bisexual stage of gonadal development. Sexuality in the Nassau grouper is essentially gonochoristic, with potential for sex change. The combination of bisexuality and gonochorism is previously undescribed in the serranids.


Memory enhancing techniques, or mnemonics, are typically recommended in evidence-based investigative interviewing guidelines. In the current study, the use of a sketch mnemonic and its effect on the responses of truth tellers and liars was examined. Participants (n = 49) watched a mock intelligence operation video. They were instructed to tell the truth or lie about this operation in an interview immediately afterwards, and again after a two-week delay. In both interviews participants were requested to make a sketch of the place of the mock operation, and then to verbally describe the drawing. Results revealed that truth tellers reported more visual, spatial, temporal, and action details than liars in the immediate interview. Truth tellers also reported more spatial, temporal and action details than liars in the delayed interview. Truth tellers experienced a decline in reporting action details after the delay, whereas liars did not show a decline in reporting any details over time. Thus, truth-tellers showed patterns of reporting indicative of genuine memory decay, whereas liars produced patterns reflecting a 'stability bias'. Between-statement consistency was not different across veracity conditions.


Background: It has been hypothesized that post-stroke fatigue (PSF) is associated with reduced physical activity (PA) and impaired physical fitness (fitness). Understanding associations between PSF and PA, and/or fitness could help guide the development of targeted exercise interventions to treat PSF. Aims: Our systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate PSF's associations with PA and fitness. Summary of review: Following a registered protocol, we included studies with cross-sectional or prospective observational designs, published in English or a Scandinavian language, which reported an association of PSF with PA and/or fitness in adult stroke survivors. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, AMED, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ClinicalTrials.gov, and World Health Organization's International Clinical Trials Registry Platform from inception to November 30, 2022. Risk of bias was assessed using Quality in Prognosis Studies. Thirty-two unique studies (total n = 4721 participants, 55% male), and three study protocols were included. We used random-effects meta-analysis to pool data for PA and fitness outcomes, and vote-counting of direction of association to synthesize data that could not be meta-analyzed. We found moderate-certainty evidence of a weak association between higher PSF and impaired fitness (meta r = –0.24; 95% confidence interval (CI) = –0.33, –0.15; n = 905, 7 studies), and very low-certainty evidence of no association between PSF and PA (meta r = –0.09; 95% CI = –0.34, 0.161; n = 430, 3 studies). Vote-counting showed a higher proportion of studies with associations between higher PSF and impaired fitness (pˆ = 0.83; 95% CI = 0.44, 0.97; p = 0.22, n = 298, 6 studies), and with associations between higher PSF and lower PA (pˆ = 0.75; 95% CI = 0.51, 0.90; p = 0.08, n = 2566, 16 studies). Very low- to moderate-certainty evidence reflects small study sample sizes, high risk of bias, and inconsistent results. Conclusions: The meta-analysis showed moderate-certainty evidence of an association between higher PSF and impaired fitness. These results indicate that fitness might protect against PSF. Larger prospective studies and randomized controlled trials evaluating the effect of exercise on PSF are needed to confirm these findings.


SUMMARY Arterial blood Pco 2 and base excess were measured in 155 thoracotomy patients. Pre-, intra- and postoperative samples were analysed. The presence of a mixed respiratory and metabolic acidosis was confirmed. This was related to Pa co2 but not to the use of analgesics or halothane during operation. A comparison was made between the effects of thoracotomy and other forms of surgery. It was concluded that thoracotomy per se results in Pa co2 values above those normally found for abdominal surgery. The use of parenteral analgesics tends to aggravate the build-up of carbon dioxide, even when small doses are used.


Coffee plants ( coffea sp ) is one type of biodiversity in Indonesia.Coffee is one of the most popular drink in the world.The high caffeine content in coffee has bad effect for health.One kind of coffee used in this research was Robusta, because caffeine content in robusta coffee is higher than arabica coffee, otherwise the type of arabica contain more sugar and volatile oil.To improve the quality of coffee then one of the process that need attention is on the process in the past harvest.One technology in the post harvested to fix tastes coffee is by fermentation using lactic acid bacteria ( BAL ).This research aimed to produce coffee with the caffeine levels lower by fermentation using BAL on yoghurt. Parameter this research include caffeine level, ph level, the water level, the ashes level and testing the like parameter of organolepticflavor, aroma, and colour of the coffee. The best experiment resulting from research coffee fermented with isolate yogurt for 48 hours, it had caffeine content of 1,09 % ,Ph of 4.73, water contentof 2.34, ashes content of 3.16, flavor parameter scored of 3.08, aroma parameter scored of 3, and color parameter scored of 2.09.


Axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum) from a research colony presented with multifocal, white chalky to gray skin lesions, a diffuse whitish to blue hue to the integument, and friable gill filaments. Skin scrapings and wet mounts revealed Chilodonella,Ichthyobodo, and a trichodinid species. The average overall burden (that is, all 3 species) per axolotl ranged from 0 to 25 parasites per 40× field (p40f; mean ± 1 SD, 2.6 ± 5.5), with a prevalence of 12%, 60%, and 48%, respectively. Concurrent with husbandry modifications, axolotls were treated with an 8-h static immersion bath that contained 0.025 mL/L 37% formaldehyde.Chilodonella organisms were no longer observed after the initial treatment, and Ichthyobodo decreased from 2.4 ± 5.6 to 0.6 ± 1.8 organisms p40f. However, the average overall burden increased 4-fold to 10.5 ± 9.8 parasites p40f, and the trichodinid organisms increased 13-fold from 0.8 ± 2.3 to 10.4 ± 9.2 organisms p40f. A second treatment consisted of an 8-himmersion bath that contained 0.05 mL/L 37% formaldehyde on 2 consecutive days. A significant change was noted in theaverage overall burden of 0.5 ± 1.1 parasites p40f, a greater than 5- and 21-fold decrease from pretreatment and after the initial treatment, respectively. No significant change between the first and second treatment was observed for Ichthyobodo, with 0.6 ± 1.2 organisms p40f, but this number represented a significant decrease from pretreatment. After the second treatment, the trichodinid organism was detected in only one axolotl, with a low overall burden of 0.2 ± 0.4 organisms p40f and resulting in a significant decrease in the trichodinid count to 0.01 ± 0.04 organisms p40f. Treatment with formalin (37% formaldehyde), in conjunction with husbandry improvements, was effective in significantly reducing ectoparasite burden and eliminating clinical symptoms in axolotls but did not fully eliminate all protozoa.


It has been well known that the treatment time of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) surgery can be reduced by expanding the focal area per sonication. Previously, a dual-concentric transducer using phase-inverted signals was proposed to axially extend the focal area, but it has suffered from the deep notch point between two focal lobes. In this paper, we propose the improved HIFU transducer with dual-concentric aperture driven by phase-inverted multifrequency signals based on an inversion layer technique. The proposed transducer can generate the expanded focal zone with a significantly reduced level of the notch point between two focal lobes in the axial direction. The performance of the proposed transducer was investigated using finite element analysis simulation. The electrical impedance, one-way impulse response, and acoustic field of the transducer were simulated. Subsequently, the lesion volume was investigated by heat transfer simulation. In the proposed method, the level of the notch point was increased above −6 dB due to various phase interactions between the fundamental and harmonic frequency combinations and the inverted and noninverted frequency combinations. The −6-dB depth of field related to the necrotic lesion size was increased by 141% compared with the conventional single element transducer. Thus, the proposed transducer can be a potential way to enlarge coagulated lesion size resulting in a reduced overall treatment time of HIFU surgery.


We experimentally demonstrate the butterfly-shaped chaotic attractor we have proposed before [Int. J. Nonlin. Sci. Numerical Simulation 7 (2006) 187]. Some basic dynamical properties and chaotic behaviour of this new butterfly attractor are studied and they are in agreement with the results of our theoretical analysis. Moreover, the proposed system is experimental demonstrated.


An explanation for the widely-observed phenomenon of home country asset preference is provided by the existence of government debt. Domestic government debt implies future taxes for domestic residents. Since no market exists for the statutory obligation to pay taxes, the present value of future tax payments needed to finance government debt is viewed as a nontraded asset (or liability). Because there is a positive covariation in the return on the domestic bond with the government debt liability, holding the domestic bond reduces the variation in the return on domestic residents' traded plus nontraded, or total wealth. For this reason, risk-averse domestic assetholders are shown to increase the amount of traded wealth they hold in domestic government bonds as domestic government debt increases.


The present paper reports the results of an experimental study of forced convection boiling heat transfer from a 2 cm x 2 cm simulated chip to a fluorocarbon coolant (FX-3250) in a parallel-plate channel. The experimental parameters were the channel height (1 and 5 mm), the surface geometry of the simulated chip (flat and microfinned), and the coolant velocity (0.125-4 m/s). Longitudinal microfins (0.5 mm high x 0.5 mm wide) on the finned chip increased the actual surface area to about twice that of the flat surface. Attention was focused on the data of the 1-mm high channel. When compared with the flat chip data on the footprint area basis, the microfins produced 40% of heat transfer enhancement at coolant velocities less than 1 m/s; however, the enhancement diminishes at higher velocities. The boiling curves of the finned chip, based on the actual area, seem to reflect that there is an effect due to the bypassing of flow through the cross-section over the fins. For both the flat chip and the finned chip...


The elevated levels of ras-related cellular RNA in a series of colorectal carcinomata (n = 12) was correlated with conventional staging criteria (tumour morphology and Dukes' staging) and with clinical outcome with particular reference to the development of metastatic disease. No direct relationship was evident between these parameters suggesting that although abnormal expression of ras oncogenes may be critical in the development of malignancy, variations in the level of their expression do not appear to be directly related to clinically evident phenotypic differences.


We examine the quantum correlations of spin pairs in the cyclic $XX$ spin 1/2 chain in a transverse field, through the analysis of the quantum discord, the geometric discord and the information deficit. It is shown that while these quantities provide the same qualitative information, being non-zero for all temperatures and separations and exhibiting the same type of asymptotic behavior for large temperatures or separations, important differences arise in the minimizing local measurement that defines them. Whereas the quantum discord prefers a spin measurement perpendicular to the transverse field, the geometric discord and information deficit exhibit a perpendicular to parallel transition as the field increases, which subsists at all temperatures and for all separations. Moreover, it is shown that such transition signals the change from a Bell state to an aligned separable state of the dominant eigenstate of the reduced density matrix of the pair. Full exact results for both the thermodynamic limit and the finite chain are provided, through the Jordan-Wigner fermionization.


The impacts of anthropogenic enhancement of the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) on marine organisms remain unclear, especially in Antarctic waters, which are predicted to be amongst the earliest and most severely affected by the consequent changes in ocean chemistry. Marine microbes are the base of the Antarctic food chain, and the nature of their response to elevated pCO2 is important as they are key determinants of the biogeochemical cycles that affect global climate. We studied the response of a natural community of Antarctic marine microbes from near-shore waters off Davis Station, Antarctica, to pCO2 ranging from the concentration in the water column at the time the experiment began (ambient, 84 μatm) to that predicted by the year 2300 (2423 μatm) using 6 gas-tight, environmentally controlled tanks (minicosms; 650 l) to which CO2-saturated seawater was added. The microbial community showed little difference between 84 and 643 μatm CO2 (0.2 to 1.7 times present), indicating that they can tolerate the large seasonal range in pCO2 in Antarctic coastal waters. Concentrations ≥1281 μatm reduced the accumulation rate of chlorophyll and particulate carbon, changed the microbial community, and enhanced the relative abundance of small phytoplankton. If our results are indicative of the future responses of Antarctic marine microbes, elevated CO2 could profoundly affect the structure and function of the Antarctic food web by reducing the availability of food for higher trophic levels and decreasing the efficiency of the biological pump.


Preliminary analysis of near-bottom, high-resolution DSL-120 sidescan and bathymetric data from the median valley in the TAG (Trans-Atlantic Geotraverse) segment near 26°N on the Mid-Atl antic Ridge, and Argo-Il photography from the associated actively venting hydrothermal mound, allows us to evaluate the structural, volcanic, and hydrothermal processes occurring in this area, and to provide baseline constraints on the pre-drilling status of the morphology of the mound and the distribution of venting. These data were collected just 2 months before ODP drilling of the active TAG mound, one of the largest volcanichosted, mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal deposits yet discovered. Sharp discontinuities and strong asymmetry in the morphology and age distribution about the spreading axis suggest a recent episode of preferential accretion of crust to the east. Such episodes have likely contributed to the long-term spreading asymmetry (13 mm/yr to the east, 11 mm/yr to the west) of the TAG segment. The active mound lies within the intersection of a zone of actively developing ridge-parallel (north-northeast) fissures and a series of pre-existing obliquely oriented (east-northeast) faults. The east-northeast faults are not continuous with faults previously described from the upper rift valley walls. This intersecting fault pattern may be important in localizing hydrothermal activity. Contemporaneous tectonic deformation and hydrothermal deposition continue to modify the three-dimensional structure and hydrogeology of the active TAG mound.


Vitellogenesis in tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) on Stephens Island, New Zealand, at the southern (coolest) end of the geographical range of this species involves a prolonged period of about 3 years of the average 4-year reproductive cycle. These studies used a semiquantitative electrophoretic assay for vitellogenin (Vg). In the present study an ELISA was used to measure plasma levels of Vg in 138 female northern tuatara (S.p. punctatus) on 11 islands at the warmest end of the tuatara's range. Blood samples were collected in late summer-early autumn, just prior to the expected time of ovulation in those females that would nest the following spring. Plasma Vg levels ranged from nondetectable to 2.9 mg/ml but were not significantly correlated with plasma estradiol, testosterone, or progesterone levels. There was also no significant correlation among the three sex steroids. Plasma Vg and hormone levels were further examined as to whether females were ovulating. Incipient ovulation was inferred using endocrinological criteria derived from studies of tuatara on Stephens Island (i.e., elevated plasma testosterone). Plasma levels of Vg differed significantly between inferred ovulators and nonovulators when data for all islands were combined, although similar ranges were observed in the two groups of females (inferred ovulators: nondetectable to 2382 micrograms/ml, mean = 505 +/- 75; inferred nonovulators: nondetectable to 2864 micrograms/ml, mean = 460 +/- 63). Plasma levels of estradiol, but not progesterone, differed significantly between inferred ovulators and nonovulators when data for all islands were combined. Mean levels in inferred ovulators were: estradiol, 157 +/- 16 pg/ml (vs. 34 +/- 5 pg/ml in inferred nonovulators); progesterone, 1.1 +/- 0.2 ng/ml (vs. 0.7 +/- 0.1 ng/ml in inferred nonovulators); and testosterone, 5.6 +/- 0.5 ng/ml (vs. 0.2 +/- 0 ng/ml in inferred nonovulators). Only 37% of the females sampled met the minimum hormonal criteria indicative of ovulation. This suggests that, as in S. punctatus on Stephens Island, female S.p. punctatus on northern islands do not ovulate each year.


Background/Aim: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a frequent gastrointestinal disorder, with only limited evidence regarding self-management approaches. This study tested the efficacy of caraway oil poultices (CarO) for treating IBS. Methods: This randomized controlled open-label cross-over trial included three treatment periods with hot CarO and hot olive oil poultice (OlivH) or nonheated poultices (OlivC) with olive oil as control interventions. Patients applied each intervention daily for 3 weeks. The primary outcome was symptom severity (IBS-SSS); secondary outcomes included responder rates (improvement ≥50 IBS-SSS), quality of life (EQ-5D, IBS-QOL), psychological distress (HADS), adequate relief, and safety. Results: 48 patients with IBS were included (40 females, 53.9 ± 14.4 years). A significant difference was found for symptom severity in favor of CarO compared to OlivC (difference -38.4, 95% CI -73.6, -3.1, p = 0.033), but not compared to OlivH (difference -24.3, 95% CI -56.5, 7.9, p = 0.139). Responder rates were highest for CarO compared to OlivH and OlivC (43.9, 20.0, 18.9%, respectively). Within the CarO, 51.8% reported adequate relief compared to 23.5% (OlivH) and 25.8% (OlivC). One adverse event (gastrointestinal infection) was reported during CarO. Conclusion: Hot caraway oil poultices appear effective and safe, although their effects may be a result of the heat application. Patients reported highest levels of subjective benefit from caraway oil poultices, making their use appropriate in the self-management of IBS.


High-throughput experiments and ultrascale computing generate scientific data of growing size and complexity. These trends challenge traditional data analysis environments, most of which are based on scripting languages such as R, MATLAB or IDL, in a number of ways. To address some of these challenges, this research proposes a framework with the overarching goal to enable large-scale high-performance data analytics and collaborative knowledge annotation over the Web.
The proposed framework has three major components, which parallel the three core steps of the knowledge discovery cycle. (1) For the first step, defining the data analysis pipeline, the research designs and implements a Web-enabled interactive and collaborative statistical R-based environment. The component implements a memory management system that minimizes memory requirements thereby enabling multi-user scalability. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first Web-enabled R system that supports interactive remote access to R servers and enables users to share data, results and analysis sessions. (2) For the second step, executing the data analysis pipeline, the research investigates and proposes a transparent and low-overhead means for executing external compiled language parallel codes from within R, thus seamlessly bridging two code development paradigms: efficient, compiled parallel codes and high abstraction and easy-to-use scripting codes. This component contains three elements: a transparent bidirectional translation of data objects between R and compiled languages, such as C/C++/Fortran; seamless integration of external parallel codes; and automatic parallelization of data-parallel computations in hybrid multi-core and multi-node execution environments. (3) For the third step, annotating the predictive knowledge derived from community analysis pipelines, the research explores an environment for semantically rich, structured and queriable annotation of facts, relationships between those facts, and complex events reported in scientific literature. The social networking nature of this component allows the community to improve the predictions as well as generate new, higher-level inferences, thus rolling in the gaps in the communities' understanding of physical phenomena. The environment offers mechanisms for streamlining the annotated and curated knowledge into distributed public databases, thus enabling a feedback loop into the database-publication cycle to allow scientists to make connections between data-driven predictions and published evidence.


Tardigrades, commonly known as water bears, are a type of microscopic animal found across a vast array of moist and aquatic environments. Tardigrades are known for their extensive resilience due to the fact that they are also found in extreme environments such as Antarctica, deep sea vents, and mud volcanoes. They are commonly used as a model organism for scientific research.
Also published on the Featured Creatures website at http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/MISC/tardigrade.html


This paper analyzes the capability of probabilistic Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) front-end to perform various normalizations for robust Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR). We find decision trees to be a useful tool for investigating the normalization of the feature space achieved by various front-ends. We introduce additional questions for different environmental conditions to the training of the phonetic context decision tree, and count the number of splits dedicated to lexical discrimination using context, and to these environmental conditions. We compare (1) BottleNeck (BN) features and (2) standard stacked Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) with LDA. In previous work, we found the BN front-end to be effective in reducing the number of gender questions than MFCC, which may be part of the reason why BN front-ends can achieve significant improvements. In this work, we extend this approach to the analysis of dialect on a large database of Pan-Arabic speech.


Local authorities are key players in carrying out local public policies that meet public needs at the local level.
It is within this framework that the new organic laws relating to local authorities have come to instill a new territorial vision in Morocco based on advanced regionalization accentuating the transfer of skills, the strengthening of financial resources and the limitation of administrative control in order to achieve an integrated and sustainable regional development and in order to contribute to the modernization of the structures of the State and to increase its efficiency and its effectiveness for the services rendered to the citizens.
Thus, local authorities are now responsible for the new expenditure, whether in the fields of education, urban planning, local economic development or, for some of them, social assistance, etc.
To initiate this process and orient it towards results in order to control local public expenditure, and to be part of a performance approach, the introduction of new measures are necessary to ensure effectiveness and efficiency. of local public action, responding at the same time to the imperatives of new public management.
However, these instruments are still poorly understood and accepted, as their application requires a profound administrative revolution affecting the behavior of all the actors involved, hence the permanent challenge launched to the actors of public management in general and local in particular.
This study, through a documentary and qualitative analysis of previous scientific work, proposes a theoretical model resulting from a variety of strategic approaches which are not exclusively financial in order to introduce the culture of performance within long-term territorial public management.


Summary To obtain out-of-season cropping and flowering of the tropical vine cacti Selenicereus megalanthus and Hylocereus undatus, the following agricultural manipulations were tested: photoperiodic light applied for 3, 6 or 9 h after sunset; shading (to produce 80%, 60% or 40% of sunlight); flower thinning (when buds were 2–5 cm, 15–25 cm or at anthesis, or by not pollinating the flowers); or separate application of the following growth regulators [N-(2-chloro-4-pyridinyl)-N-phenylurea (CPPU); gibberellic acid (GA3); a commercial mixture of gibberellins (GA4 and GA7) with benzyladenine (BA) known as Perlan™; paclobutrazol (PBZ); or ethephon (Ethrel™)]. Photoperiod and radiation did not alter the pattern of flowering. Maximum flower yields were obtained under 60% sunlight for H. undatus and under 60% or 40% sunlight for S. megalanthus. Removal of young flower buds delayed flowering and late cropping in H. undatus, but with no loss in total flower yield. In both species, CPPU promoted precocious flowering and, in H. undatus, it increased total flower yield, whereas GA3 delayed flowering and decreased total flower yield. Hence, CPPU can be used to obtain early fruit production, and GA3 or flower thinning (in H. undatus), to delay cropping.


Dr. Todd Zakrajsek began his career as an adjunct professor, teaching at a small private college, a technical school, and distance education classes. Securing a tenure-track position at a small regional college in the Pacific Northwest in the fall of 1994, Todd started a center for teaching and learning in his third year there. For his efforts he received a budget of $50 his first year. The next year it went to $5,000 and a one-course release. In year three, the budget was $20,000 with additional release time. While there, he was promoted to associate professor and tenured, partly for his campus-wide faculty development work. In 2001, Todd resigned tenure to take a position as the founding director of a center for teaching and learning at a research university in the Midwest. With a staff of himself and an office professional, he began to develop resources for a campus with approximately 650 full-time faculty members. In 2003, the faculty development center he was leading was merged with the learning technologies group, and Todd was asked to be the director of the combined office. About this time, he also served as Co-PI on a Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) grant to provide resources to distance and adjunct faculty. In 2008, Todd resigned his job as faculty development director to accept a position as the Executive Director of a large research extensive university in the South. He was successful in assisting with the transformation from a long-standing and successful teaching center into a center providing support in teaching, research, and leadership. There, he was responsible for hiring six positions and managed a budget of $1.2 million. In 2012, Todd began working in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, as an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and also in the Academy of Educators to assist in building resources for faculty in the School of Medicine. Given Todd's extensive experience in faculty development for over 15 years in a variety of types of institutions, regions, and faculty served, we have asked him to write a series on essential issues needed by directors of faculty development efforts. This series is designed to suggest areas for faculty developers to consider along with tips and techniques Todd has found to be helpful along the way. In this issue, Todd focuses on budget and staff concerns. Possible future topics will include how to get and maintain support on campus, what programs to offer, bringing outside experts to campus, assessing/documenting your successes, and strategic planning. If there is a topic you would like to see covered, contact the Editor-in-Chief at firstname.lastname@example.com.


The present investigation focuses on the preparation of LaNi5 intermetallic
 compound by "Metallothermic reduction diffusion process". Experiments were
 carried out using oxides and chlorides of La and Ni metal powders as the raw
 materials with granular Mg powder as the reductant. The thermal reduction
 process was carried out at 900 oC for 9 hrs in Ar atmosphere. After the
 completion of reaction, the contents were purified by treating with dilute
 acetic acid followed by de-ionized water. Thermodynamic feasibility studies
 were carried out to determine the probabilistic nature of formation of the
 desired compound. Thermal analysis was carried out to find the dissociation
 and decomposition temperature of the reactants. The phase purity and the
 elemental composition of the alloy were assessed by XRD and EDX analyses. The
 morphological features of the prepared powders were examined by SEM. From
 this study, it has been concluded that LaNi5 alloy can be prepared with an
 appreciable purity by the Metallothermic reduction diffusion process.


We analyse the thermo-electric-magnetic (TEM) forces both on the liquid metal and immersed solid particles which mimics equiaxed grains. Firstly, we provide a summary of analytical works performed in a previous paper. Then, we present experimental works on in situ and real time visualization of the directional solidification of Al-10wt%Cu alloy by means of synchrotron X-ray radiography during directional solidification under a transverse 0.08 T permanent magnetic field. The experiments bring definite evidence of the existence of various phenomena which could be related to the thermoelectric effect acting directly on equiaxed grains. Comparisons between the predicted and observed horizontal deviations of the particles are in fairly good agreement.


This research aims to determine the effect of variable Level Education, Socialization of SAK ETAP, Business Scale, and Business Age on Understanding and Use of SAK ETAP at Getuk Goreng entrepreneurs in Banyumas Regency. The sample in this study amounted to 54 entrepreneurs of Getuk Goreng in Banyumas Regency by using the census method, which is to take a sample of the population. The Theories used in this research are Human Capital Theory and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). The data collection in this research was taken by distributing questionnaires, which the process by visiting directly the place of Getuk Goreng business and submitting the questionnaire that was compiled. The results obtained from the field will be analyzed using the Validity & Reliability Test, Classic Assumption Test, Multiple Linear Regression Test and this test is processed with SPSS application. The results of research that have been obtained show that the variable Socialization of SAK ETAP and Business Scale have a positive effect on the understanding and use of SAK ETAP while, the other variables are Level Education and Business Age do not affect the understanding and use of SAK ETAP.


ABSTRACT IMPACT: Interventions designed to improve access to healthy food are needed as a mechanism to improve diet quality and ultimately prevent diet-related chronic diseases. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: For people living in food deserts, access to grocery stores is an important consideration toward improving diet quality. The Grocery Access Program (GAP) provided discounted Lyft rides to grocery stores for residents in Baltimore, MD. This study will assess how the GAP impacted access to different food retail stores and healthy food purchases. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: A mixed methods sequential explanatory design will be used. We collected survey data at baseline and mid-pilot on primary grocery shopping store, frequency of purchasing fruits and vegetables, and frequency of using the discounted Lyft rides for 90 program enrollees. The Healthy Food Availability Index (HFAI), a validated, observation-based instrument, will be used to measure healthy food availability at participants' primary grocery shopping stores; HFAI scores range from 0-27. We will also compare frequency of self-reported fruit and vegetable purchases before and after GAP participation. Quantitative data analysis using paired sample t-tests and chi square tests will be followed by in-depth interviews with GAP participants; thematic analysis will be used to analyze qualitative data. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: This research is in progress; survey data collection is complete and store-level HFAI data collection will begin soon. We hypothesize that GAP participants will have shopped at stores with higher HFAI scores than non-participants, and that participants will have purchased healthy foods more frequently than they did prior to GAP participation. If these hypotheses are not supported, our qualitative findings will elucidate potential reasons and mechanisms for improving the program. If our hypotheses are supported, it will provide evidence for the GAP as a convenient, low-cost intervention to improve healthy food access for people in low-income communities. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: Access to healthy foods is an important social determinant of health, and innovative strategies that can facilitate better dietary habits are needed in the area of food access research. Findings from this study could be used to scale up efforts that will foster better food access, healthier diets, and ultimately better health outcomes.


This paper describes the results of simulation experiments performed on a suite of learning algorithms. We focus on games in {\em network contexts}. These are contexts in which (1) agents have very limited information about the game; users do not know their own (or any other agent's) payoff function, they merely observe the outcome of their play. (2) Play can be extremely asynchronous; players update their strategies at very different rates. There are many proposed learning algorithms in the literature. We choose a small sampling of such algorithms and use numerical simulation to explore the nature of asymptotic play. In particular, we explore the extent to which the asymptotic play depends on three factors, namely: limited information, asynchronous play, and the degree of responsiveness of the learning algorithm.


It is with great interest that we have read a recently published article by Yahav-Dovrat et al investigating the diagnostic performance of a large-vessel occlusion (LVO) detection algorithm on CTA. With a sensitivity of 0.81 for detection of LVO, the authors indicate that the algorithm is suboptimal for use as a diagnostic tool. However, they state that the true potential lies in aiding radiologists in early detection of an LVO and accelerating decision-making. With respect to this statement, some methodologic aspects of their study merit further discussion. The algorithm that was evaluated used a deep learning–based convolutional neural network to detect occlusions from the ICA terminus to the Sylvian fissure, which included both M1 and M2 segments of the MCA. In their analysis, the definition of LVO only included ICA terminus and M1, but not M2 occlusion. We argue that this definition does not adequately reflect the spectrum of LVOs that need to be targeted by these algorithms, and that M2 occlusion should also have been considered as an LVO. While current guidelines do not provide clear recommendations regarding endovascular treatment in patients with M2 occlusions, accumulating evidence is showing that these patients also benefit from this treatment. As a result, in routine clinical practice, endovascular treatment is increasingly being performed in these patients. In addition, M2 occlusions occur more commonly than is often thought and they constitute a substantial proportion of the real-world population who have had an acute ischemic stroke due to LVO. Accordingly, in the study of Yahav-Dovrat et al, 75 patients were identified with an ICA terminus or M1 occlusion, and 44 patients had an occlusion in proximal M2 or distal M2–3 segments. As potential candidates for endovascular treatment, it is crucial that the latter occlusions are also identified quickly and accurately. Yet, it has been demonstrated that M2 occlusions are still frequently missed by radiologists at initial CTA evaluation, whereas the diagnostic error for ICA terminus and M1 occlusions is much lower. Furthermore, detection of M2 occlusions by human readers is likely to be more time-consuming because of the smaller caliber, tortuosity, and anatomic variations of these vessels. This indicates a large potential for LVO detection algorithms to accelerate and improve the detection of mainly M2 occlusions and, to a lesser extent, ICA terminus andM1 occlusions. Regrettably, this is where the current algorithm falls short. In 12 of 44 patients with proximal M2 or distal M2–3 occlusions, the algorithm indicated the presence of LVO. Further subdividing these results reveals a detection rate of 38% (8 of 21) for proximal M2 and 17% (4 of 23) for distal M2–3 occlusions. Considering these cases as non-LVOs and counting them as false-positives, as was done by Yahav-Dovrat et al, simply inflates diagnostic performance, and leads to overestimating the potential of the algorithm for early and accurate identification of patients with LVO. Including M2 occlusion in the definition of LVO would have resulted in a considerably lower sensitivity of the algorithm for detection of LVO. However, this would provide a more reliable estimate of diagnostic performance in the population that is targeted for endovascular treatment in routine clinical practice. Therefore, we strongly urge the need to consider M2 occlusion as LVO when evaluating the diagnostic performance of LVO detection algorithms for a more reliable estimation of their performance and true potential in a clinical setting.


Variation of the generally covariant version of Minkowski's Lagrangian of macroscopic Maxwell theory with respect to the metric yields a symmetric tensor Tμν which reproduces the Poynting vector 𝒮i = cT0i, and therefore would seem to favor Abraham's proposal 𝒫Ai = 𝒮i/c2 for the momentum density in a macroscopic electromagnetic wave. However, the T00 component does not reproduce the standard energy density in the rest frame in the flat limit. The difference between the energy density and T00 has the same structure as the difference between the Minkowski momentum density 𝒫Mi = n2𝒮i/c2 and the Abraham momentum density. The result therefore adds further credibility to Minkowski's original energy‐momentum tensor and his proposal for the total momentum density of electromagnetic waves in dielectric materials. We draw attention to the facts that the covariant formulation of macroscopic Maxwell theory of dielectric materials requires a field strength‐velocity coupling term which could only be inferred in a long wavelength limit from quantum electrodynamics, and that the theory is clearly limited to interactions of sub‐UV photons with matter. Therefore, in spite of the fact that macroscopic Maxwell theory can formally be written in generally covariant terms, the theory for n ≠ 1 should be considered as inherently non‐relativistic, with non‐relativistic corrections of order n ‐ 1. The difference 𝒫M ‐ c‐2 𝒮 between Minkowski's momentum density and the rescaled Poynting vector is an example of an order n ‐ 1 correction.


ICES/PICES 6ZPS 2016/ Zooplankton diversity in the oceans by integrative morphological and molecular techniques

Title: Cosmopolitan, bipolar or endemic? – Phylogeography of polar copepod species-groups

Authors: Astrid Cornils, Christoph Held

In marine ecosystems pelagic copepods play an important role in food webs, intermediating between primary producers or the microbial loop, and higher trophic levels. In the past, many copepod species have been considered to be widespread, bipolar or cosmopolitan due to the lack of apparent geographic barriers in the oceans. Increasing evidence of cryptic and pseudocryptic speciation in pelagic copepods has revealed that these large-scale distribution patterns need to be revisited. Also, potential barriers to gene flow have been identified (landmasses or continents, oceanic gyres, frontal systems, temperature or salinity ranges). To study the importance of barriers to the biogeography of polar copepods species we chose abundant polar copepods species-groups with a circumglobal distribution, but with a different vertical distribution (e.g. Oithona similis s.l. (epipelagic), Microcalanus spp. (mesopelagic) Spinocalanus abyssalis/longicornis (meso-bathypelagic)). Specimens were analysed from different climate zones (e.g. Southern Ocean, Arctic Ocean, North Sea, Mediterranean Sea, North Pacific Ocean, tropical eastern Atlantic) and various depths. Phylogeographic analyses were carried out based on various nuclear and mitochondrial markers (e.g. 18S, 28S, ITS1, COI). By performing a non-destructive DNA extraction that preserves the copepod exoskeleton we were able to carry out complementary morphological analyses on the same specimens used for sequencing. Results show that in epi- and mesopelagic species polar endemic cryptic or pseudo-cryptic lineages occur, while meso- and bathypelagic species may have a wider distribution.

Keywords: Species delimitation, Phylogeography, integrative taxonomy, Oithona similis, Microcalanus

Contact author: Astrid Cornils, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum fur Polar- und Meeresforschung, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany


Designing cyber-physical systems is highly challenging due to its manifold interdependent aspects such as composition, timing, synchronization and behavior. Several formal models exist for description and analysis of these aspects, but they focus mainly on a single or only a few system properties. We propose a formal composable framework which tackles these concerns in isolation, while capturing interaction between them as a single layered model. This yields a holistic, fine-grained, hierarchical and structured view of a cyber-physical system. We demonstrate the various benefits for modeling, analysis and synthesis through a typical example.


The Alexanderson alternator was a rotary mechanical generator of radio carrier-waves at frequencies up to 100 kHz and beyond, developed in the early 1900s. In spite of the many technical problems involved in constructing machines of this sort they proved to be very successful, particularly for military work. One fully operational installation still exists today in southern Sweden.


Scientific studies provide evidence that intake of milk and milk products is related to improved bone health and lower risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes. On the other hand, especially in the western societies, humans continue to consume milk beyond infancy, using the milk of other animals as a food product and its growing consumption has raised some concerns. Cow milk (CM) consumption has been indeed recognized the leading cause for allergy and the role played by the intake of saturated fatty acids (from milk and dairy foods) on the development of several human pathologies is still debated.
Benefits of breastfeeding are widely recognized. Human milk (HM) composition provides the standard for human infant nutrition and the beneficial effects produced by its bioactive/immunomodulatory factors (oligosaccharides, lactose, glycosaminoglycans) have been evidenced.
In recent years there was a growing interest in donkey milk (DM). Several studies have clearly indicated that DM, owing to its remarkable nutritional value and probiotic properties coupled to reduced allergenicity and excellent palatability, is one of the best substitutes for allergic newborn if human milk (HM) is not available and cow milk (CM) administration is contraindicated.
In this contest, the present study aims to highlight and to compare the changes in the regulation of energy balance, lipid and glucose metabolism, inflammatory status, antioxidant/detoxifying defences and gut microbiota composition in rats treated with raw HM supplementation as compared to rats treated with an iso-energetic amount of raw CM or DM.
Male Wistar rats, divided into 4 groups, were individually caged in a temperature controlled room at 24°C under a 12-h light/dark cycle with free access to food and water. Three groups were supplemented with iso-energetic amount of raw CM, DM or HM (21, 48 or 22 mL/day, respectively) for 4 weeks. Another group, receiving only standard diet, was used as control. At the end of the treatment, energy balance and body composition were determined. Triglycerides, cholesterol and pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1 and TNF-α) levels and HOMA index were measured in blood serum. At hepatic level, redox status (GSH/GSSG), antioxidant/detoxifying enzymes (glutathione-S transferase, GST; NADH quinone oxidoreductase, NQO1), mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation, energy efficiency and oxidative stress were evaluated. Finally, gut microbiota composition was analyzed by pyrosequencing of DNA extracted from cecal content.
 Metabolisable energy intake was increased by CM, DM and HM treatment and improved animal energy expenditure resulted from HM and DM intake without any measurable effect on body weight gain, as compared to CM-treated or to control rats. Moreover HM treatment significantly increases body protein content. Serum glucose level in HM and DM-treated rats was significantly lower than that measured in other animals; in particular, HM-treated rats showed the lowest insulin concentration whereas the progressive reduction of HOMA index was evidenced in differently treated animals (Controllo>CM>DM>HM).
Significantly lower levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines were found in liver samples of HM and DM-treated rats, associated to decreased body weight, lipid gain and liver lipids. Moreover, the hypolipidemic effect produced by DM or HM intake paralleled with enhanced mitochondrial proton leakage. In addition, the association of decreased energy efficiency with reduced pro-inflammatory signs and the improved redox status or detoxifying enzyme activities in HM or DM-treated animals, indicated that anti-inflammatory effects were attributable, at least in part, to improved cyto-protection. Gut microbiota composition analyses showed, at phyla level, only minor differences among the groups, whereas, 10 genera were identified whose abundance was significantly affected by milk treatments. The maximum difference in genera-wide shift was observed between N and DM-treated groups, while DM and HM promoted similar effect on gut microbiota genera.
 HM and DM administration reduces inflammatory status and mitochondrial efficiency, improves glucose metabolism and increases antioxidant/detoxifying defences and mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation compared to CM.


This article analyzes the sensitivity to systematic credit risk and pricing in fixed income instruments and compares corporate bonds and asset securitizations. The article finds cross-sectional variation of systematic credit risk given the same credit rating and a market premium for the systematic risk embedded in yield spreads. Therefore, credit ratings do not provide comprehensive information on the degree of systematic risk, and investors are compensated for such differences in systematic risk after controlling for credit ratings and other risk characteristics.


Recent advances in reinforcement learning, for partially-observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs), rely on the biologically implausible backpropagation through time algorithm (BPTT) to perform gradient-descent optimisation. In this paper we propose a novel reinforcement learning algorithm that makes use of random feedback local online learning (RFLO), a biologically plausible approximation of realtime recurrent learning (RTRL) to compute the gradients of the parameters of a recurrent neural network in an online manner. By combining it with TD($\lambda$), a variant of temporaldifference reinforcement learning with eligibility traces, we create a biologically plausible, recurrent actor-critic algorithm, capable of solving discrete and continuous control tasks in POMDPs. We compare BPTT, RTRL and RFLO as well as different network architectures, and find that RFLO can perform just as well as RTRL while exceeding even BPTT in terms of complexity. The proposed method, called real-time recurrent reinforcement learning (RTRRL), serves as a model of learning in biological neural networks mimicking reward pathways in the mammalian brain.


3D Finite Integration Technique (FIT), ray tracing and simple empirical model accuracy is compared on a single basis, using a high-detailed environment model. The most accurate FIT Maxwell's equations solver demonstrated very high precision (1.1 – 2.4 dB) when compared with measurements in a complex indoor environment, thus validating the environment model and measurement campaign for ray tracing accuracy estimation. The comparison of methods has been made generally in terms of accuracy of narrowband (field level spatial distributions) and wideband (power delay profiles) channel characteristics prediction as well as required computing resources. Another contribution of current work is the investigation of the prediction accuracy dependence on the spatial detailing of prediction (size of spatial averaging window as an example). It is shown that prediction accuracy increases significantly with the decrease in spatial detailing of prediction, though in some cases the increase in accuracy is not monotonic. The impact of the environment model detail and its spatial size on the accuracy of predictions is also investigated. The environment model included double-framed windows, doors, metallic objects, some meaningful furniture, along with precision geometry.


A cross-sectional study aimed at determining the prevalence and cyst characteristics and estimating the financial loss due to cystic echinococcosis (hydatidosis) in cattle slaughtered at Bako municipal abattoir was conducted from November 2011 to April 2012. Out of 246 cattle examined, 29 (11.88%) were found to harbor visible hydatid cysts. Significantly higher infection was detected in cattle's with poor body conditions (P<0.05) than animals with medium and good body condition score. No significant variation was observed with regard to sex of animals. Regarding organ distribution, infections of the lung, liver, kidney, and spleen and heart were 47.2%, 38.88%, 8.33%, and 2.77% respectively. Of the total 36 hydatid cysts counted, 17(47%), 14 (38.88%), and 5 (13.88%) were found to be small-sized, medium-sized, and large-sized, respectively. Likewise, out of 36 cysts assessed, 18 (50%) were fertile, 4 (11.11%) sterile, and 14 (38.88%) calcified. Of the 29 fertile cysts subjected for viability test, 12 (27.77%) were viable while 8 (22.22%) were nonviable. Moreover, assessment of annual economic loss due to bovine hydatidosis at Bako municipal abattoir from offal condemnation and carcass weight loss was estimated at 180,792 ETB (Ethiopian Birr). Despite the moderate magnitude of infection detected currently, there seems to be an existing socioeconomic situation favorable for hydatidosis, and hence, it remains one of the most important diseases warranting serious attention for prevention and control actions in Bako district. Hence, establishment of well-equipped standardized abattoirs, creation of public awareness, and control of stray dogs are of paramount importance.


ABSTRACT

Himmatunaka. 2010. The Portrait of Romance in The Duchess Film. A final project, English Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Semarang State University. Supervisors: I. Drs. Ahmad Sofwan, Ph.D. and II. Dra. Rahayu Puji H. M. Hum.

Keywords: romance, love, men, women.

This final project is about romance as reflected in Saul Dibb's film entitled The Duchess. The aims of the study are to investigate how the characters in the film portrait their romance. In what way they express their feeling of being in love. And how are the correlations among words, attitudes, actions and setting in a romance.
The object of this study is Saul Dibb's film entitled The Duchess. The data are taken from the script and the video of the film which are relevant to the discussion of the study. The data which taken from the script are in the forms of phrases, sentences, and written dialogues. While the data which taken from the video are in the forms of gestures, actions, pictures, mimics, and settings. The data were collected by watching the film and reading the movie script in several times, identifying, selecting the data from the identified data, and reporting them in separate pages in the appendices. Afterwards, these data were analyzed by descriptive method.
The result of the study is the portrait of romance in the film can be analyzed in several aspects. The characters in the film portrayed their romantic side to the women life in the film. They expressed their romantic side in words, attitudes, actions and setting. Then the correlations among them make sure us if someone has special feeling to us. One to another has a correlation which has to be checked to create our understanding and sensitivity deeply. We can see from the data analysis in chapter 4. From the film we can conclude that characters in the film have their own way in expressing their love based on their behaving.
Based on the results of the analysis which have also the function as conclusions, some suggestions are offered. First, the readers are expected to respect the glory of love. Second, the readers can get more knowledge about romance and the way of expressing love. Third, this study can be one of the references in supporting their data and they are supposed to present a better description about romance and love. And the last, this film can be used as one of alternative subjects in literary class.


Most people believe that the slower we read the better we comprehend. However, a lot of novel rapid reading techniques and methods were developed to increase the reading speed without diminishing the comprehension. In this research an empirical study was performed to investigate if there is a difference in speed reading between males and females. The initial hypothesis in this research was the assumptions that there is NO difference between male and female in reading speed. Ten undergraduate and graduate students participated in achieving this experiment; five females and five males using head mounted eye trackers ASL 6000 series. The experiment results showed that there is a difference in speed reading between males and females. Females spend longer time between consecutive segments than males and they spend longer time on each segment than males in the reading process.. Females might have taken long time to focus and concentrate on understating the topic while males might have read fast without guarantee to comprehend. These results help psychology and computer science researchers to develop adaptive reading materials and devices.


The position of the headman in marriage and household matters is very important. This is because the headman is in direct contact with the bride and groom's life. This article discusses the existence of the prince in minimizing divorce in North Gorontalo District. This research is a field study with a sociological approach to Islamic law. Data were collected by observation, interview and documentation methods which were processed using qualitative descriptive methods. The results of the study showed that the presence of the headman in North Gorontalo District was very large in his role in minimizing the occurrence of divorce. This success is due to an effective communication effort by the prince with the troubled family and the desire of the troubled party to resolve the problem in a family way.


[1] This study presents a detailed description and analysis of a pseudo-breakup, which took place in the field of view (FOV) of the Magnetometers–Ionospheric Radars–All-sky Cameras Large Experiment (MIRACLE) network (IMAGE magnetometers, Scandinavian Twin Auroral Radar Experiment [STARE] radars, and all-sky cameras) on 3 November 1997 at 2212 UT. The activation lasted ∼10 min, occurred during geomagnetically quiet conditions (Dst ≥ −10 nT), and was followed by a global-scale substorm about half an hour later (at 2246 UT). Both the pseudo-breakup and the substorm had onsets at times corresponding to the Wind satellite observations of interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) BZ northward turnings as delayed to the subsolar magnetopause. The auroral display of the pseudo-breakup was a mesoscale spiral with a counterclockwise winding direction. Simultaneously, STARE recorded clockwise plasma flow in the spiral surroundings. Applying the method of characteristics to the MIRACLE observations revealed that the spiral was associated with a localized current wedge (less than a few hours in MLT and about 4° in latitude), tilted in the northeast-southwest direction. The maximum upward current density at the western edge of the wedge was about 6 A/km2, which clearly exceeds the threshold of spiral buildup (2.5 A/km2) suggested by earlier theoretical studies. About an hour before the pseudo-breakup, the energy input from the solar wind to the magnetosphere (quantified by the ϵ parameter) exceeded the substorm threshold and the ionospheric conductivity was high enough to support substorm activity. Two likely reasons for the activation to remain localized were its unfavorable location in the morning side of the Harang discontinuity region and the abrupt decrease of the solar wind energy input at its onset time.


We calculate the S-matrix in the gauge-fixed sigma-model on AdS(5) x S-5 to the leading order in perturbation theory, and analyze how supersymmetry is realized on the scattering states. A mild nonlocality of the supercharges implies that their action on multi-particle states does not follow the Leibniz rule, which is replaced by a nontrivial coproduct. The plane wave symmetry algebra is thus naturally enhanced to a Hopf algebra. This structure mirrors that of the large't Hooft coupling expansion of the S-matrix for the spin chain in the dual super-Yang-Mills theory.