The transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling pathway is a tumor-suppressor pathway that is commonly inactivated in colon cancer. TGF-β is a secreted ligand that mediates its effects through a transmembrane heteromeric receptor complex, which consists of type I (TGFBR1) and type II subunits (TGFBR2). Approximately 30% of colon cancers carry TGFBR2 mutations, demonstrating that it is a common target for mutational inactivation in this cancer. To assess the functional role of TGFBR2 inactivation in the multistep progression sequence of colon cancer, we generated a mouse model that recapitulates two common genetic events observed in human colon cancer by mating Apc 1638N/wt mice with mice that are null for Tgfbr2 in the intestinal epithelium, Villin- Cre; Tgfbr2 E2flx/E2flx mice. In this model, we observed a dramatic increase in the number of intestinal adenocarcinomas in the Apc 1638N/wt ;Villin -Cre ;Tgfbr2 E2flx/E2flx mice (called Apc 1638N/wt ;Tgfbr2 IEKO ) compared with those mice with intact Tgfbr2 ( Apc 1638N/wt ;Tgfbr2 E2flx/E2flx ). Additionally, in vitro analyses of epithelial tumor cells derived from the Apc 1638N/wt ;Tgfbr2 IEKO mice showed enhanced expression and activity of matrix metalloproteinase MMP-2 and MMP-9, as well as increased TGF-β1 secretion in the conditioned medium. Similarly, primary tumor tissues from the Apc 1638N/wt ;Tgfbr2 IEKO mice also showed elevated amounts of TGF-β1 as well as higher MMP-2 activity in comparison with Apc 1638N/wt ;Tgfbr2 E2fl x/ E2fl x –derived tumors. Thus, loss of TGFBR2 in intestinal epithelial cells promotes the invasion and malignant transformation of tumors initiated by Apc mutation, providing evidence that Wnt signaling deregulation and TGF-β signaling inactivation cooperate to drive the initiation and progression, respectively, of intestinal cancers in vivo . (Cancer Res 2006; 66(20): 9837-44)


This paper presents a liveness analysis method for sequential automated manufacturing systems (AMSs), which can be modeled by a class of Petri nets named systems of sequential systems with shared resources (S4PR). We show that deadlocks in S4PR can be characterized by the saturation of its structural object named a perfect activity circuit (PA-circuits). Thus, S4PR is live if and only if no PA-circuits in it is saturated at all reachable states. A PA-circuits of an S4PR may not be saturated at any state; hence, we propose an integer linear program (ILP) to determine whether a PA-circuits can be saturated or not. Then an algorithm is proposed to compute the set of PA-circuits that may be saturated. This presented method nontrivially generalizes deadlock characterization and liveness condition of ordinary Petri nets to a broader class of nonordinary ones.Note to Practitioners—In the context of AMS, liveness is the most important property since it implies that there is no partial deadlock during the system evolution, and hence, all part types can be produced smoothly. We study the problem of liveness for AMS with the most general resource allocation and flexible routing, which can be modeled by S4PRs or disjunctive/conjunctive (D/C) resource allocation systems (RASs). Given such a complex AMS, based on its Petri net model, this paper presents a sufficient and necessary liveness condition by utilizing the structural properties, and develops an algorithm to identify all the structural objects that may lead the systems to deadlocks. This paper is significant in liveness-enforcing supervisor design for S4PR.


— In this work, we have used arrays of micromechanical piezoresistive cantilever with different geometries to detect carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), which is known as an important biomarker associated with various cancers such as colorectal, lung, breast, pancreatic, and bladder cancer. The sensing principle is based on the surface stress changes induced by antigen–antibody interaction on the microcantilevers surfaces. Different concentrations of CEA in a human serum albumin (HSA) solution were detected as a function of deflection of the beams. According to the experiments, it was revealed that microcantilevers have surface stress sensitivities in the order of 8 (mJ/m). This matter allows them to detect CEA concentrations as low as 3 ng/mL or 18 pM. This indicates the fact that the self-sensing microcantilevers approach is beneficial for pathological tests.


BACKGROUND
Numerous studies suggest that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs reduce cancer cell proliferation, progression, angiogenesis, apoptosis, and invasiveness.

OBJECTIVE
The current study focuses on the evaluation of novel mefenamic acid derivatives for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

METHODS
Derivatives were subjected to molecular modelling for prediction of pharmacological activity using software, followed by synthesis and in vitro assay. In in vivo study, disease was induced with N-Nitrosodiethylamine followed by 2-acetylaminofluorene orally for 2 weeks. After 12 weeks of induction, treatment was given for the period of one week. At the end of treatment determination of liver weight, a number of nodules, biochemical parameters, immunohistochemistry, histopathology, and gene expression studies were carried out.

RESULTS
Based on molecular docking score for PDGF-α (platelet-derived growth factor) and IC50 values in HepG2 cell line study JS-PFA was selected for the in vivo study where JS-PFA showed a statistically significant reduction in a number of nodules and liver weight. Protective role of JS-PFA has been observed in tumor specific markers like α-fetoprotein, Carcinoembryonic antigen, and lactate dehydrogenase levels. The JS-PFA has shown a significant reduction in PDGF-α levels as well as liver markers and total bilirubin levels. Histopathological analysis also showed protective effect. The results of immunohistochemical analysis of P53 and down-regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor and matrix metalloproteinases-9 genes suggest that derivative inhibits PDGF mediated tumor growth and leads to apoptosis, inhibition of angiogenesis and metastasis.

CONCLUSION
The effectiveness of JS-PFA in our studies suggests targeting PDGF by COX 2 inhibitor can serve as a novel treatment strategy for the treatment of HCC.


BACKGROUND
Hirayama disease is a juvenile muscular atrophy of the distal upper extremities and affects mainly young males. The present study aimed to investigate the neuroelectrophysiological characteristics of Hirayama disease.

METHODS
We retrospectively analyzed the neural conduction velocity (NCV) parameters and needle-electrode electromyograms (EMG) of 14 patients with Hirayama disease. According to the clinical features of the patients, NCV was performed on affected upper-limb including median nerves and ulnar nerves, while EMG was selectively performed on upper and lower extremities, sternocleidomast and thoracic paraspinal muscles.

RESULTS
The median nerves of all affected upper limbs of patients with Hirayama disease had normal conduction velocities and compound motor action potentials (CMAPs). The ulnar nerves of all affected upper limbs also had normal conduction velocities. Of the 16 measured ulnar nerves of the affected upper limbs, eight had normal CMAPS, while the other eight showed CMAPs below the normal value by < 20%. All patients had neurogenic injury on the affected side in muscles innervated by anterior horn cells at the lower cervical region (C7-8, T1). Four patients had unilateral upper-limb muscle neurogenic injury on the affected side. Seven patients had bilateral upper-limb muscle neurogenic injury, while only two patients experienced bilateral upper-limb muscle atrophy/weakness. The other three patients showed extensive neurogenic injury (unilateral upper-limb muscle atrophy/weakness in one patient, bilateral symptoms in the other two patients).

CONCLUSIONS
Electromyographic examination showed that the majority of Hirayama disease patients exhibited characteristic segmental injury in the anterior horn of the lower cervical region, while a few patients exhibited extensive neurogenic injury. These data suggest that the actual influence of Hirayama disease may be more extensive than indicated by the clinical presentations.


African Americans have the highest colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality of any racial/ethnic group. Citing the higher age-specific rate of CRC compared to whites that begins after age 45, several medical societies have recommended early age of screening initiation for African Americans at age 40 or 45 years. However, there are several reasons why early screening initiation may be a suboptimal strategy for improving CRC outcomes among African Americans. First, evidence to support effectiveness of early screening initiation for improving CRC outcomes is limited. The highest excess rates of CRC among African Americans occur after age 60, and the most rigorous studies suggest that there are not substantial differences in rates of polyps between African Americans and other groups younger than age 50, making the effectiveness of early initiation uncertain. Second, there are substantial logistical challenges to implementing early age of screening initiation for African Americans, but not other groups. Third, many alternate strategies have been proven to improve CRC screening; if implemented widely these strategies might be more effective than lowering the age of screening initiation. In taking the "Con" position against lowering the screening age, the author will highlight these issues, and make the case that lowering the screening age may not be the optimal strategy for improving CRC outcomes among African Americans. Citation Format: Samir Gupta. Colorectal cancer screening for African Americans: Should we be screening at an earlier age? Con. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Sixth AACR Conference: The Science of Cancer Health Disparities; Dec 6–9, 2013; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2014;23(11 Suppl):Abstract nr PC01-02. doi:10.1158/1538-7755.DISP13-PC01-02


Background
 Children are not blank slates when they begin school; they bring prior conceptions about the everyday world with them. These conceptions usually do not comply with accepted scientific views and have to be changed within the process of education. However, to do this effectively more needs to be known about the relationship between the everyday world and children's knowledge of scientific principles. Purpose This study sought answers to the question of which object variables children use when reasoning, and how these variables are associated with outcomes. The reported study addresses these issues in relation to object motion. Sample, design and methods UK primary school children (n = 144) aged 5–11 years were assessed on their predictions of motion along a horizontal, in fall and down an incline using a range of everyday objects by responding to questions where they needed to compare potential motion patterns of the objects. Results Round shape and smooth texture of objects were consistently associated with faster motion across age groups as well as across motion dimensions. However, faster horizontal motion was associated with lighter and smaller objects across all ages, whereas faster fall was associated with heavier objects. While younger children predicted faster incline motion for lighter and smaller objects, there was a shift in conceptions with age, with older children predicting faster motion for heavier and bigger objects. Conclusions The overall findings are used to support the development of commonsense theories of motion previously identified, and suggestions for educational practice are made. Specifically, it is suggested that these findings may need to be taken into consideration in the development of teacher training programmes.


The Network-on-Chip (NoC) provides a viable solution to bus-contention problems in classical Multi/Many core architectures. However, NoC complex design requires particular attention to support the execution of real-time workloads. In fact, it is necessary to take into account task-to-core allocation and inter-task communication, so that all timing constraints are respected. The problem is more complex when considering task-to-main-memory communication, as the main memory is off-chip and usually connected to the network edges, within the 2D-Mesh topology, which generates a particular additional pattern of traffic. In this paper, we tackle these problems by considering the allocation of tasks and inter-taskcommunications, and memory-to-task communications (modeled using Directed Acyclic Graphs DAGs) at the same time, rather than separating them, as it has been addressed in the literature of real-time systems. This problem is highly combinatorial, therefore our approach transforms it at each step, to a simpler problem until reaching the classical single-core scheduling problem. The goal is to find a trade-off between the problem combinatorial explosion and the loss of generality when simplifying the problem. We study the effectiveness of the proposed approaches using a large set of synthetic experiments.


Ground strata failure is a major hazard for open pit mines as it has the potential to cause damage to property and can result in multiple fatalities. Slope stability radar (SSR) systems are used to continuously monitor pit walls and they can detect slope deformation to sub-millimetre scales. However, geotechnical engineers may have limited prior data to set the required trigger action response plan (TARP) thresholds. As a result, arbitrary values or data from other sites are often used to signify dangerous deformation rates which can ineffectively trigger alarms.
Therefore, the primary aim of this investigation was to identify the failure indicator factors which best inform TARP thresholds at a particular mine site. Data from eight open pit failures from the same mine were analysed and then compared with data from other published failures. A secondary aim was to a develop a database of combined failure events that could be used as a reference to set meaningful TARP threshold levels at other mine sites with similar mining conditions.
The study site failure events ranged in size from 200 to 200,000 tonnes, with most failures occurring in the upper part of the slopes within highly to completely weathered rock. Geological and geotechnical characteristics of the rock mass for the observed failure modes were also included in the analysis. Multiple peak acceleration and peak velocity plots were used to determine clustering for the different characteristics investigated. It was shown that as the failure size increased so did the peak velocity, suggesting that larger failures can accommodate higher displacement rates. Analysis of the combined dataset showed a clear positive relationship between failure size and failure mode up to approximately 3,000 t. However, failure events greater than 3,000 t do not appear to have clear grouping by failure size, suggesting that other factors may control the peak acceleration and velocity rates. This suggests that the TARP should consider different trigger thresholds based on the expected failure mode and size. However, the accurate recording of all failure data across sites with additional characteristics such as, Rock Mass Rating (RMR89), GSI, weathering and lithology would enable improved analysis of velocity trends to provide further insights into factors influencing potential failure.
It is concluded, that back-analysis of slope instability events using log-acceleration and log-velocity plots can refine thresholds used in TARPs for specific sites with the study site TARP presented. However, the consistent collection, processing and filtering of failure data across sites is required to improve analysis and implementation of findings.


Background: To determine the prevalence of sickle cell disease among children aged 1-15 years at Luwero Hospital in the Luwero district. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of sickle cell disease among children aged 1-15 years at Luwero Hospital in the Luwero district, to determine the average haemoglobin concentration among sicklers aged 1-15 years at Luwero Hospital, and to find out the effectiveness of health supervision and management of sicklers aged 1-15 years by their guardians in Luwero district. Study design: The researcher conducted a cross-section study to obtain data among children aged 1-15 years attending the sickle cell clinic. Results: The age of children ranged from 1-to 15 years with a mean age of6.9 years. The majority of the children were girls 66(68.75%). The majority of their parents/guardians were female 70(72.9%), divorced 57(59.4%), practicing farmers 43(44.8%) residing in rural areas 68(70.9%). Of the 96 children, 11 tested positive for SCD giving a prevalence of 11.5%. For haemoglobin concentration, the minimum Hb was 3.1 g/dl and the maximum Hb was 12.9g/dl with a mode of 5.6 g/dl for the blood samples that were analyzed with the CBC machine. Conclusion: The prevalence of SCD was high as revealed to be 11.5% during the study period and the average Hb level was 6.8 g/dl with the modal Hb 5.6 g/dl and many children were heading to the severe form of SCA. Recommendation: The government through the MOH should set aside funds to facilitate awareness projects encouraging premarital testing of couples for sickle cell trait and make it mandatory to curb the increasing prevalence of SCD and provide enough funds for much stock of medication for the sicklers to prevent early mortality and for better management and supervision.


Usability evaluation tools in the form of heuristic lists can be very helpful in software development. In the field of video game design, researchers are continuously developing new heuristic tools aimed specifically at video game productions. However, through previous studies, the authors have found that even though these tools are frequent and common, design issues regularly appear in video games. This study examines whether video game heuristics are able to capture and evaluate softer values of video game interaction, based on the challenges, flow and immersion of gameplay. By conducting a heuristic evaluation on low scoring and high scoring games the authors manage to show which kind of design issues are most frequent in both high and low scoring games. As a further result of the study, two new heuristics are presented.


This article is concerned with the study of the Borel summability of divergent power series solutions for singular rst-order linear partial dieren tial equations of nilpotent type. In order to assure the Borel summability of divergent solutions, global analytic continuation properties for coecien ts are required despite the fact that the domain of the Borel sum is local.


This paper provides a unified framework for quantifying the cross-country and cross-sector interactions among trade, innovation, and knowledge diffusion. This framework is used to study the effect of trade liberalization in an endogenous growth model in which comparative advantage and the stock of knowledge are determined by innovation and diffusion. The model is calibrated to match observed cross-country and cross-sector heterogeneity in production, innovation efficiency, and knowledge spillovers. The counterfactual analysis shows that a reduction in trade costs induces a reallocation of R&D and comparative advantage across sectors. Heterogeneous knowledge diffusion amplifies the specialization effects of trade-induced R&D reallocation, becoming an important source of welfare. (JEL F12, F14, O33, O34, O41)


An assessment of T-lymphocyte proliferation and lymph node weight is proposed as a predictive test for contact sensitizers of industrial origin. Data are presented showing increased T-lymphocyte proliferation following epicutaneous application of a variety of industrially important acrylate-like chemicals which appear to correlate well with their ability to sensitize in the guinea pig. These data were compared with those obtained after application of 2,4-dinitro-1-fluorobenzene (DNFB) a strong sensitizer, and 2,4-dinitrothiocyanatebenzene (DNTB) a nonsensitizer when given epicutaneously. It is suggested that this quantitative approach, in parallel with a simple one-dose immunization, may provide a better picture of sensitization potential than the longer multidose immunizations currently in use.


This paper presents the design and performance of a readout system for gaseous and silicon detectors built for the Minos nuclear physics experiment. A major constraint was to provide a multi-thousand channel, high performance readout system with low manpower effort and tight cost. This was achieved by the re-use of some earlier ASIC and front-end card (FEC) developments, the design of a new digital readout card, called the Feminos, and the use of commercial off-the-shelf components. The proposed system fully exploits the capability of the existing 72-channel AFTER chip designed for the T2K experiment and allows seamless migration to the 64-channel AGET chip, a pin-compatible evolution under production by the GET collaboration. The Feminos is a low complexity card designed to read out a FEC equipped with four AFTER chips (T2K model) or a newly assembled FEC populated with four AGET chips. The trigger clock module (TCM) is a synchronization board that allows system scaling up to 6912 channels with 24 Feminos and FECs, a commercial Gigabit Ethernet switch, and a data acquisition PC. The design of the Feminos hardware, firmware and embedded software are detailed and it is explained how high performance, rapid development and low cost were reached. System operation and data acquisition throughput scaling with multiple Feminos are investigated.


Anecdotal evidence from tutors delivering accredited programmes, including general o ffending behaviour programmes, has suggested that offenders with literacy problems may s t ruggle with programmes and that some demanded a high level of literacy (Hollin et al., 2002). The key findings summarised here are from a study which aimed to provide evidence about the literacy demands of three accredited general offending behaviour pro g r a m m e s d e l i v e red in six probation areas: Think First, Enhanced Thinking Skills and Reasoning and Rehabilitation. The skill levels re q u i red for these programmes were assessed and compare d with the literacy skills of the offenders re q u i red to attend them, to determine whether any mismatch exists.


The article compares the following two texts: the latest dairy fragments of Alfonsas Nyka-Niliūnas (2014) and the essay book "Levels of Life" by Julian Barnes. Both writers aim to reveal personal experiences through cultural texts: the relationship with the Other enables us to identify ourselves and helps to describe our inner world. The article focuses on how the memory is created and what is the most important in culture for both writers. Several meaningful aspects are emphasized by both writers: they both raise existential questions, search for possible answers in culture, as well as search for links with a particular place and focus on art. The study has revealed that that culture, especially classic European culture, is an essential support that allows us to reflect our being. Special attention is paid to French culture, which could be perceived as a benchmark for the European mentality. Although the books refer to different cultural sources, they both focus on a great respect of the art of the word as capable of preserving memory.


– The purpose of the research was to test whether the widely known interaction between procedural and distributive justice influences cooperation, but only when employees' identification with the organization is strong., – A survey study was conducted in a company, including scales assessing distributive justice, procedural justice, employees' sense of organizational identification and willingness to cooperate., – The results showed that this interaction effect was only found among those with a strong sense of organizational identification. However, the pattern of this interaction was different from the pattern found in previous studies, that is, both high procedural and distributive justice was required to best predict cooperation., – These findings identify yet another important moderator of the interaction between distributive justice and procedural justice, but also show that because of the cognitive content of the measure of organizational identification, the shape of the interaction is different than the one predicted by prior research.


NOTES 1. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1964. Lawler corrected the works of Maurice Emmanuel, Essai surl'orchestique grecque: Etude de ses mouvements d'aprks les monuments figures (Paris: Hachette, 1895) and Louis Se"chan, La Danse grecque antique (Paris: Boccard, 1930). 2. Anya P. Royce, The Anthropology of Dance (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1977); and Paul Spencer, ed., Society and the Dance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985) represent the sources Lonsdale uses in dance anthropology. 3. Lonsdale cites Athenaeus as a source for the pyrrhic dance (pp. 138, 140; pp. 300-01, notes 6, 10, 12). 4. See T.B.L. Webster, The Greek Chorus (London: Methuen, 1970); Elizabeth Smigel, "Redefinitions of the FifthCentury Greek Chorus Using a Methodology Applied to Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae,"M.RA. thesis, York University, 1982.


Nowadays, companies are competing to satisfy their customers. It is important for business to have a service system that gives them prestige. An important strategy for maintaining a company's competitiveness is «Customer Relationship Manager» which aims to help business get to know their existing or potential customers and build steady customer relationships for the present and future. Customer data is collected from various departments of the company merged into a central database system and with the assistance of technology is analyzed and distributed to specific sections within the business.The structure of this paper consists of two main parts. The first is referred to the theoretical approach of the subject and the second to the research. The theoretical part reviews the Greek and international literature on the subject. Furthermore, after we have completed the theoretical approach followsthe research methodology, which analyzes the CRM Zoho and Siebel Information systems. In addition in this essay the tasks of the specific information systems are analyzed. Through the analysis we can end up to remarkable results about the importance of these systems for the company and its users and which of the two is more suitable for the company and the user.Concluding, I would liketo say that Siebel and Zoho are quite important for the company and their users.


IAHS Information, written in Chinese, is published four times per year. It was first published in 1989 with the support of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) and other related organizations. The magazine aims to be a bridge between IAHS and Chinese hydrologists. Between 1,300 and 1,500 copies of each issue are distributed.

This year will mark the magazine's 10th anniversary. In the 35 issues from 1989 to 1998 the magazine introduced approximately 172 papers and 1,447 abstracts, which were extracted both from IAHS's Proceedings and Reports and Hydrological Sciences Journal. These papers and abstracts discussed various hydrological specialities, such as surface water, groundwater, and sediment. The magazine also published 83 articles about meeting news and 91 book reviews.


Introduction Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO) is a rare auto-inflamatory bone disease, primarily affecting children and adolescents. Objective To determine the clinical features and functional outcomes of children with CRMO treated between 1995 and 2013 in a tertiary paediatric hospital. Methods We retrospectively reviewed clinical features of children with CRMO. Outcomes were obtained through telephonic interview. The Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) disability índex and the Quick Dash questionnaire were applied. Upper limb disability of patients with clavicular involvement was compared with a control group of children who had a previous forearm fracture. Results Nine patients were assessed (6 males and 3 females). Mean age at onset was 8 years; mean age at diagnosis 10,3 years. Mean number of bony lesions were 3 at onset and 3,4 over the disease course. The more frequently affected site was clavicle (55,6%). Pain was the most frequent clinical sign of the disease (88,9%) associated with swelling (77,8%). Patients were treated with steroids (88,9%), methotrexate (44,4%), pamidronate (22,2%) and NSAID (100%). Five patients presented residual bone deformity (including two with inactive disease). All patients reported no physical disability as judged by the HAQ 0–1. However, patients with clavicular involvement (5) scored significantly worst on Quick Dash when compared to the control group (p = 0,015). Conclusions Although the clinical outcome of children with CRMO is generally considered good, using an upper-extremity outcome measure (Quick DASH) allows us to understand that these patients experience upper limb difficulties in their daily lives.


The problems of synthesis and analysis of multidimensional controlled models of population dynamics are of both theoretical and applied interest. The need to solve numerical optimization problems for such a class of models is associated with the expansion of ecosystem control requirements. The need to solve the problem of stochastization is associated with the emergence of new problems in the study of ecological systems properties under the influence of random factors. The aim of the work is to develop a new approach to studying the properties of population dynamics systems using methods of numerical optimization, stochastization and machine learning. The synthesis problems of nonlinear three-dimensional models of interconnected species number dynamics, taking into account trophic chains and competition in prey populations, are studied. Theorems on the asymptotic stability of equilibrium states are proved. A qualitative and numerical study of the models is carried out. Using computational experiments, the results of an analytical stability and permanent coexistence study are verified. The search for equilibrium states belonging to the stability and permanent coexistence region is made using the developed intelligent algorithm and evolutionary calculations. The transition is made from the model specified by the vector ordinary differential equation to the corresponding stochastic model. A comparative analysis of deterministic and stochastic models with competition and trophic chains is carried out. New effects are revealed that are characteristic of three-dimensional models, taking into account the competition in populations of prey. The formulation of the optimal control problem for a model with competition and trophic chains is proposed. To find optimal trajectories, new generalized algorithms for numerical optimization are developed. A methods for the synthesis of controllers based on the use of artificial neural networks and machine learning are developed. The results on the search for optimal trajectories and generation of control functions are presented.The obtained results can be used in modeling problems of ecological, demographic, socio-economic and chemical kinetics systems.


Objectives: To determine the outcome and various complications in the management of comminuted intra articular fractures of distal radius in adults treated with closed reduction associated with Percutaneous Pinning. Study Design: Observational study. Setting: Department of Orthopaedic PUMHS, Nawabshah. Period: January 2017 to December 2018. Material and Methods: 45 consecutive cases of closed comminuted intra articular fractures of distal radius matching the inclusion criteria, all patients were adult aged between 23 – 38 years having Gartland and Werly type II and III fractures of 6 to 7 days duration. After initial resuscitation, thorough clinical examination done and all base line laboratory investigations and x-rays were obtained. The demographic and clinical data was recorded on a proforma. The patients were informed about the study and surgery and a written consent was taken and all of the patients were gone for closed reduction with percutaneous K – wiring. Functional outcome like union, healing and any complication were assessed. Patients were also checked for the range of movements. After 6 weeks, the K – wires and cast were removed and the procedure of physiotherapy started. After six weeks all the patients were advised for follow up at an interval of 3 months and 6 months. The data collected was statistically analysed and the results were tabulated. Results: 45 cases of closed intra articular fractures of distal radius were assessed, out of these 20 cases have Gartland type II and 25 cases have Gartland type III fractures. The age of patient was ranged between 23 – 38 years (mean 34+ 4.63), majority (55.6%) of patients were male. The left side of fractures were present in 66.3% of cases. All the patients checked for complications and that were seen in only 07 cases consisting of pin tract infection, reduced grip strength and finger stiffness. At the end of study period the range of movements in different directed were checked and evaluation was done according to modified Demerit scoring system. Conclusion: Closed reduction of distal radius with percutaneous pinning in comminuted intra articular fractures gives promising excellent results, it is a simple and minimal procedure providing anatomic reduction, fixation of fracture and maintenance of reduction with an suitable technique of immobilization.


Background: Tobacco farmers became very vulnerable with the symptoms of GTS (Green Tobacco Sickness) are diseases that can be caused by the absorption of nicotine through the skin when farmers work in wet tobacco leaves. Based on the results of the research in the first stage about the risk factors of tobacco Farmers on the GTS mentions that there were 66% tobacco farmers are experiencing symptoms of GTS. This is confirmed by research which mentions that most tobacco farmers (54,7%) have low status of health quality. Objective: This research aim to analyze health seeking bihaviour green tobacco sickness (GTS) on tobacco farmer at Jember Regency. Methods: This research used cross sectional approach to analyze GTS healing behavior on tobacco farmers who have suffered symptoms of GTS. Results: Health seeking behavior of GTS symptoms of the tobacco farmers in large part with the description of the frequency is always done in sequence from the biggest percentage are: chemical drugs use by purchasing drugs in pharmacies or drug stores by 60%, then the second sequence is treating itself as done by ancestors of 38.3%, third place is to go to the doctor or midwife by 35%, the fourth was going to the hospital (26.7 percent), and the last treated with traditional medicines (3.3 percent). GTS Symptoms prevention is needed a socialization on tobacco farmers through farmer group meetings available in each village or district of tobacco production centers, by agricultural extension agents from Plantation Office of Jember. In addition, it is necessary the procurement of PPE such as gloves and long shirt made from waterproof material to tobacco farmers in order to prevent the occurrence of GTS symptoms. The most important is the improvement of health care facilities for tobacco farmers in overcoming the symptoms of GTS namely by providing doctor or midwife on standby at the health center or assistant health center in each village.


An approach to conflict resolution in rule-based expert systems that incorporates a behaviorally relevant generalization of multiattri-bute utility theory is proposed. The intent of this approach is to take into account preferential knowledge, specific to the user and/or situation, in rule selection. This knowledge will enhance the user's perception of the system's capability and hence the system's acceptability.


Rectangularization of human survival curves is associated with decreasing variability in the distribution of ages at death. This variability, as measured by the interquartile range of life table ages at death, has decreased from about 65 years to 15 years since 1751 in Sweden. Most of this decline occurred between the 1870s and the 1950s. Since then, variability in age at death has been nearly constant in Sweden, Japan, and the United States, defying predictions of a continuing rectangularization. The United States is characterized by a relatively high degree of variability, compared with both Sweden and Japan. We suggest that the historical compression of mortality may have had significant psychological and behavioral impacts.


Large Language Models (LLMs) are progressively being utilized as machine learning services and interface tools for various applications. However, the security implications of LLMs, particularly in relation to adversarial and Trojan attacks, remain insufficiently examined. In this paper, we propose TrojLLM, an automatic and black-box framework to effectively generate universal and stealthy triggers. When these triggers are incorporated into the input data, the LLMs' outputs can be maliciously manipulated. Moreover, the framework also supports embedding Trojans within discrete prompts, enhancing the overall effectiveness and precision of the triggers' attacks. Specifically, we propose a trigger discovery algorithm for generating universal triggers for various inputs by querying victim LLM-based APIs using few-shot data samples. Furthermore, we introduce a novel progressive Trojan poisoning algorithm designed to generate poisoned prompts that retain efficacy and transferability across a diverse range of models. Our experiments and results demonstrate TrojLLM's capacity to effectively insert Trojans into text prompts in real-world black-box LLM APIs including GPT-3.5 and GPT-4, while maintaining exceptional performance on clean test sets. Our work sheds light on the potential security risks in current models and offers a potential defensive approach. The source code of TrojLLM is available at https://github.com/UCF-ML-Research/TrojLLM.


s 16th World Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine slO5 Methods: An aircraft crash in proximity to the AIA was simulated in order to assess the required procedures and cooperation and coordination of all agencies involved. The Airport Medical Services assessed the emergency response plan, coordination with involved agencies, transition of command, medical response operations (triage, treatment, and transport), response performance, communications, data recording, role assignment, psychosocial support, equipment efficacy, etc. Evaluation forms of all previous exercises were reviewed and gaps and pitfalls were taken into consideration. Results: Following the observations from previous exercises, improvements were seen in all aspects listed. Issues that can be improved further concerned communications, data recording, and equipment. These have been marked and will be addressed. Better cooperation with other involved agencies and better coordination of all medical personnel was achieved because of enhanced knowledge of the emergency plan, common training, and specific role assignment. Conclusions: Emergency field exercises organized by the AIA and reviewed led to the identification and improvement of weaknesses and limitations of planning, maximizing performance, and improving the efficiency of the services provided.


Evidence accumulated during two years9 work and experience in photoperiodicity in ferrets suggests the following conclusions: 1. Oestrus or anoestrus may be induced by influencing the activity of the pituitary gland; this is effected through a contrast-sensitive mechanism which is stimulated by light: dark sequences. The total daily quantity of light is not the controlling factor. 2. In order to obtain the long-light: short-dark ratio necessary for an oestrus-activating sequence, the ratio should be in the proportion of two parts or more of light to one part darkness and reversed if it is desired to induce a state of anoestrus. 3. Slowly increasing or decreasing planes of light are not an essential part of an oestrus-activating sequence. 4. Because ferrets can be brought into anoestrus quicker than they can be brought into oestrus it is considered that the sexual season curve is more acute when entering anoestrus than when entering oestrus. 5. Doubling the number of light-dark contrast stimuli from one every 24-hour period to two every 24-hour period produced no acceleration of the onset of oestrus nor any indication of a 'tetanus effect'.


This work consists of the study of the extraction of solvent (toluene) from a polymeric (neoprene) substrate during a leaching process. Total organic carbon (TOC) is the main contaminant parameter in the leaching of these systems due to the solution of the toluene and the dispersion of the polymer. The toxicity of the extracts was measured with a Microtox equipment, using Photobacteria phosphoreum, deducing that the toxicity of the extracts is low due to the low solubility of toluene but that the toxicity of toluene is high. On the basis of the experimental results, the amount of toluene diffused vs time in plane sheet systems was studied. A kinetic model has been developed considering two stages: In the first stage, the toluene diffuses into the system across the neoprene chains at a constant rate, not depending on the initial toluene concentration. This fact is explained by considering that there is a constant difference of the toluene concentration between the interface with the water and the inner part of the sample. In the second stage, the dispersion of the polymer with the corresponding amount of toluene takes place. The diffusion of toluene in the leaching process is compared and analyzed considering the diffusion of toluene in a desorption process in air so that the difference of toluene concentration between the interface and the interior can be estimated. A mathematical model is also proposed for considering the leaching process in other operating conditions.


A study has been carried out to investigate the binding and disintegrating properties of starch isolated from rhizomes of Nelumbo nucifera (Nelumbo starch) along with the dissolution rate profiles. For this study the tablets of Paracetamol (500 mg), metronidazole (400 mg) and ibuprofen (400 mg) were prepared using maize, nelumbo and potato starch, each in batches of 200. All the products met the requirement of in vitro parameters such as uniformity of weight, assay, friability and hardness as per Pharmacopoeial requirements. These products also conform the dissolution specification of USP. The amounts of Nelumbostarch required as binding and disintegrating agent was half of the amount of maize and potato starch. Therefore Nelumbo starch can be effectively used in tablet technology.


Abstract: The purpose of this report is to demonstrate the expression of very recently identified surface antigens on CD34+ and AC133+ bone marrow (BM) cells. Coexpression analysis of AC133 and defined antigens on CD34+ BM cells revealed that the majority of the CD164+, CD135+, CD117+, CD38low, CD33+, and CD71+ cells resides in the AC133+ population. In contrast, most of the CD10+ and CD19+ B cell progenitors and a fraction of the CD71high population are AC133−, indicating that CD34+AC133+ cells are enriched in primitive and myeloid progenitor cells, whereas CD34+AC133− cells mainly consist of B cell and late erythroid progenitors. This corresponds to the highly reduced percentage of CD10+ B cells and the absence of CD71high erythroid progenitors on AC133+ selected BM cells. A portion of 0.2‐0.7% of the AC133+ selected cells do not coexpress CD34. These cells are very small and define a uniform CD71−, CD117−, CD10−, CD38low, CD135+, HLA‐DRhigh, CD45+ population with unknown delineation. Four color analysis on CD34+CD38− BM cells revealed that virtually all of these primitive cells express AC133. Using an improved liposome‐enhanced labeling technique for the staining of weakly expressed antigens, subsets of this population could be identified which express the angiopoietin receptors TIE (67.6%) and TEK (36.8%), the vascular endothelial growth factor receptors FLT1 (7%), FLT4 (3.2%), and KDR (10.4%), or the receptor tyrosine kinases HER‐2 (15.4%) and FLT3 (CD135; 77.6%). Our results suggest that the CD34+CD38− population is heterogeneous with respect to the expression of the analyzed receptor tyrosine kinases.


The determination of the most appropriate serological criterion related to the blood slide examination in malaria surveys was carried out in western Thailand, an area of low persistent malaria transmission. Six different serological criteria were assessed against the blood slide results among 5001 paired blood samples of one-month interval. The indices used in the analysis were sensitivity, specificity and kappa coefficient and the blood slide examination was used as the reference test. It was apparent that a titre of greater than or equal to 1:1024 was the most appropriate serological criterion related to the blood slide results. This serological criterion can be used to indicate the high or low malaria exposure group, particularly in an area of low transmission.


Abstract A qualitative understanding of the particles in dust and their sources helps to identify ways to reduce the accumulation of dust within historic houses. Knowing the possible sources of dust helps to suggest preventive steps. Simple low-technology methods enable rapid identification of dust deposits and require little specialist equipment. Dust samples can be collected on sticky surfaces for examination with a hand lens or microscope. The size of particles and fibres, and amount of surface coverage, can be estimated roughly using a graticule or coverage chart. An atlas of common dust components aids identification of soil dust, soot, insects, plant fragments, hair, skin, paint/plaster, clothing fibres, paper, food and mould. A mixture of fine dust is resolvable into a range of particle and fibre types. Long exposures of sticky samplers, with an estimate of the area covered by dust, indicate the rate of deposition and suggest the cleaning frequency necessary to prevent negative visitor reactions. T...


Of 124 staphylococcal strains isolated from sheep milk, 78 produced enterotoxin A, B, C, or D when evaluated by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Enterotoxins A and D, elaborated by 44 and 43 strains, respectively, showed the highest incidence. Enterotoxin production by coagulase-negative strains (one Staphylococcus cohnii, three S. epidermidis, five S. haemolyticus, and four S. xylosus) was detected. Linear and logarithmic-logarithmic regressions of optical density on enterotoxin concentration yielded the best-fitting equations for enterotoxin quantitation. A significantly higher incidence of enterotoxin producers and significantly higher levels of enterotoxins produced were recorded for coagulase-positive, thermostable nuclease-positive, hemolysis-positive, or mannitol-positive strains. Mannitol utilization was the best test for discriminating between enterotoxigenic and nonenterotoxigenic staphylococci.


e-GP Access model is the biggest milestone in the history of public procurement. e-GP Access is a globally accepted procurement model introduced by World Bank which has been implemented in different countries to establish more clarity in public procurement. Unbiased consensus decision is a mandatory prerequisite of a free and fair decision making in a public procurement with the presence of all the parties and entities involved in practicing procurement. In this work, a Decision Engine has been incorporated in eGP Access to make this model rather engineered than policy framed. Four subsystems of Decision Engine – Risk Identifier, Bidder Selector, Procurement Maturity Identifier and Anti Spam wire with Security mechanism are outlined grabbed from various scientific works. This model has been turned into an eMarketplace based model from G2B type.


The heme oxygenase (HO) system was identified in the early 1970s as a distinct microsomal enzyme system that catalyzes formation of bile pigments (Maines and Kappas, 1974). Up to the early 1990s the system was considered only as a "molecular wrecking ball" (Lane, 1998) for degradation of the heme molecule and production of toxic waste products, CO and bile pigments. For those years, the HO system remained relatively unknown to the research community. In a rather short span of the past 10 years following the discovery of high levels of a second form of the enzyme, HO-2, in the brain, suggesting that "heme oxygenase in the brain has functions aside from heme degradation" (Sun et al., 1990); concomitant with finding that another toxic gas, NO, is a signal molecule for generation of cGMP (Ignarro et al., 1982), the system was propelled into main stream research. This propulsion was fueled by the realization of the multiple and diverse functions of heme degradation products. Heme oxygenase has now found relevance in all kinds of human pathophysiology ranging from stroke, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and malaria to transplantation and immune response. As it turns out, its potential benefits are mesmerizing investigators in diverse fields (Lane, 1998). The most recent findings with HO-2 being a hemoprotein and potentially an intracellular "sink" for NO (McCoubrey et al., 1997a; Ding et al., 1999), together with the discovery of the third form of the enzyme, HO-3 (McCoubrey et al., 1997b), are likely to insure the widespread interest in the enzyme system in the coming years. The present review is intended to highlight molecular properties of HO isozymes and their likely functions in the brain. Extended reviews of the system are found in Maines (1992, 1997).


As irreplaceable energy sources of minimally invasive treatment, light and sound have, separately, laid solid foundations in their clinic applications. Constrained by the relatively shallow penetration depth of light, photodynamic therapy (PDT) typically involves involves superficial targets such as shallow seated skin conditions, head and neck cancers, eye disorders, early-stage cancer of esophagus, etc. For ultrasound-driven sonodynamic therapy (SDT), however, to various organs is facilitated by the superior... transmission and focusing ability of ultrasound in biological tissues, enabling multiple therapeutic applications including treating glioma, breast cancer, hematologic tumor and opening blood-brain-barrier (BBB). Considering the emergence of theranostics and precision therapy, these two classic energy sources and corresponding sensitizers are worth reevaluating. In this review, three typical therapies using light and sound as a trigger, PDT, SDT, and combined PDT and SDT are introduced. The therapeutic dynamics and current designs of pharmacological sensitizers involved in these therapies are presented. By introducing both the history of the field and the most up-to-date design strategies, this review provides a systemic summary on the development of PDT and SDT and fosters inspiration for researchers working on 'multi-modal' therapies involving light and sound.


The study aims to determine the creativity of teaching students PPL II PGMI FTK UIN Antasari Year 2015/2016 and the factors that influence it. This type of research is field research (field research) with qualitative approach. The design used in this research is descriptive research. Objects in this research is the creativity of teaching students PPL II Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training Program PGMI Antasari Banjarmasin Year Ajisi 2015/2016. Subjects in this study were Students PPL II force 2012 Department of PGMI Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training UIN Antasari Banjarmasin located in MI Al Istiqamah, amounting to ten people. Techniques of data collection using observation, interviews, and documentation. Data analysis technique used is descriptive qualitative. The result of the research shows that the creativity of teaching students of PPL II UIN can be seen from the variation of active learning strategy and the variation of media used. While for the source of learning, PPL II students are still many who only use learning resources in the form of textbooks. Factors that affect the creativity of teaching students PPL II, including teacher candidate factors consisting of educational background and learning experience, facilities and learning resources, as well as conductive environmental conditions.


Dynamic properties of spreading infection through a heterogeneous population are studied numerically and analytically using a dynamic variant of Watts and Strogatz Small World Network-based stochastic Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Removed (SEIR) epidemic model. This model includes the main realistic parameters usually characterizing transmissible diseases, such as the force of infection, latency and infection times. As far as the latency time remains smaller than that of infection, the proportion of infected individuals increases exponentially with time, otherwise an oscillatory behavior appears. This may explain the periodic behaviors in time observed by the health prevention services. It is also shown that periodic epidemiological surveys overestimate or underestimate the dynamics of infection if the survey periods do not exactly correspond to the characteristic times of the infection. Further discussion is provided on the diffusion and relaxation processes involved in this model, and their relation to the infection characteristic time.


Employing airplanes for Mars exploration will lead to novel scientific discoveries. Airplanes can fly over several hundreds to thousands of kilometers and obtain high-resolution data, which is impossible for rovers and satellites to achieve. Such airplanes would require deployment mechanisms to be compact and produce enough lift force to fly in the thin Martian atmosphere. However, existing conceptual design methods do not consider deployment mechanisms. This paper provides the conceptual design method of an airplane intended for Mars exploration that includes a basic estimation of the specifications related to the aerial deployment mechanisms. This conceptual design method deals with two types of deployment mechanisms: a folding type and an inflatable type. The specifications of the airplanes with different deployment mechanisms are compared. The design results quantitatively show that an inflatable type wing is lighter for short wingspan design and a folding type wing is lighter for long wingspan design. The mass of the inflatable wing increases in long wingspan conditions since the required inflation pressure increases owing to the small spar radius and large bending moment. Finally, feasible specifications of the Mars airplane with deployable wings are proposed as a result of the constructed method.


Numerous derivatives of BODIPY (4,4-difluoro-4-borata-3a-azonia-4a-aza-s-indacene) are frequently used as fluorescent probes in modern protein and lipid research. Present studies of purpose-synthesised molecules show that the BODIPY chromophore can form two different ground state dimers, denoted DI and DII. In practise DI exhibits negligible fluorescence emission, but a strong absorption band {e(477 nm) = 102 000 mol−1 dm3 cm−1}, while DII is fluorescent with the radiative lifetime 20 ns, and red-shifted absorption {e
(577 nm)} = 26 000 mol−1 dm3 cm−1} relative to that of the monomer. Energy transfer is demonstrated from monomeric BODIPY to DI, as well as to DII. Donor–donor energy migration is also shown to occur between excited and ground state DII. Both DI and DII are of potential interest in examining structure-function of proteins and lipid membrane systems.


Soilless system exhibited higher yield (total and marketable), growth, nutrient accumulation compared with those grown in soil. Among soilless system jute fiber led to higher yield and good fruit quality compare to other substrates. The highest marketable fresh weight was observed in jute fiber, followed by coco fiber while the lowest yield was recorded in soil with a reduction of 22% compared to sales treatments. In soilless culture fruit ascorbic acid and protein content were high with 31 and 71% respectively compared to soil treatment. The concentration of glucose, fructose and sucrose were significantly higher by 25, 32,114% respectively in soilless treatments than in soil. The concentration of N and Mg in leaves, stem, fruits, and flowers were significantly higher in soilless compared to soil. Flowers, leaves, fruit and stem of plants under jute fiber treatments shows highest concentration of K and P was significantly higher in soil than soilless treatments. The micronutrient concentrations (Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn) of plants grown in soilless treatment were generally higher than those grown on soil in the different plant tissues. The growth, yield, fruit quality and nutrient uptake was much more satisfactory on plant growing under media using jute fiber, than the other media. With controlled nutrient supply, less expense, less labor, no use of pesticides or fertilizer with the controlled environment the use soilless system with jute fiber can be an effective one for growing squash over conventional soil culture. Our results also showed that soilless culture can improve yield (total, marketable fruit) fruit quality of zucchini squash in comparison with soil culture.


Abstract Ecological studies of hummingbird communities have emphasized the importance of local conditions and contemporary interactions in the development of these varied faunas. A time-calibrated, DNA hybridization-based phylogeny of the principal hummingbird lineages was used to examine historical aspects of hummingbird faunas in the species-rich tropical lowlands and Andes, and the relatively depauperate West Indies and temperate regions of Central and North America. Parsimony reconstructions of ancestral distributions indicate that these faunas are polyphyletic in origin, comprising several to many independent lineages. Based on the timing of geologic and cladogenic events, hummingbird faunas appear to have arisen more often by colonization than by large-scale vicariance, with multiple dispersals across water gaps, elevational gradients, and latitude. The extent to which particular lineages colonized different regions depended, however, on lineage ecology as well as on the habitat and age of the fauna. In general, the oldest extant trochilofauna, which today occupies the tropical lowlands, was the principal source of colonizing taxa. However, all regions except possibly the West Indies contributed taxa now found elsewhere, including in the tropical lowlands. The Andean fauna comprises several lineages with lowland origin (hermits, Mangoes, Brilliants, Coquettes, Emeralds) as well as at least one that arose in temperate regions outside South America (Bees). At least two lineages that colonized the West Indies gave rise to endemic genera (Mangoes to Eulampis , and Emeralds to Orthorhyncus ). Even groups that diversified in the highlands (Brilliants and Bees) gave rise to taxa that subsequently reinvaded the tropical lowlands. As the result of these varied histories, hummingbird communities cannot be arranged easily with respect to organizational complexity and coevolution with nectar sources. Although the physically insular faunas in the Andes and West Indies differ markedly in diversity, both were more strongly affected by colonization than the other faunas. A high potential for coevolution between hummingbirds and plants probably facilitated the successful establishment and radiation of the several Andean-associated lineages. However, coexistence between the two most diverse Andean clades may have been favoured initially through different habitat preferences by their extra-Andean ancestors. In the tropical lowlands, by comparison, the basic separation between the forest-dwelling hermits and canopy and edge-dwelling nonhermits appears to have evolved in situ. The low species and morphologic diversity of hummingbirds breeding north of Mexico reflects the predominance there of a single relatively recent lineage. The regional coexistence of numerous unrelated lineages implies that patterns of ancestry, colonization, and extinction contribute to the make-up of contemporary species-rich hummingbird faunas and serves to qualify the view that hummingbird communities are coadapted assemblages that resist change.


Snow crabs, Chionoecetes spp., are among the commercially most important species of Decapoda in the world, and proper stock assessment and management are required for their sustainable use. In the present study, morphological characteristics of three snow crabs, Chionoecetes japonicus, Chionoecetes opilio and a hybrid form exhibiting characteristics intermediate between those of the parent species, Chionoecetes japonicus/opilio, have been compared. The ratio of carapace length including rostral horn (CL(RL)) to carapace width (CW) in C. japonicus, C. opilio, and the C. japonicus/opilio hybrid was 0.973 ± 0.020, 0.983 ± 0.019, and 0.956 ± 0.019, respectively. The only significant difference in regression slope among the three crabs, was between CW and chela height (CH), indicating that at a given size, the hybrid form is the fastest in the growth of chela height in relation to carapace width. In C. japonicus and C. opilio, the relationship between CW and total weight (TW) was significantly negatively allometric, while in the hybrids, it was significantly positively allometric. This indicates that at a given size, the hybrid form is heavier than the others.


A compressible fluid with wave speed c lies on both sides of an infinite plane membrane whose equilibrium position is z = 0 in a Cartesian coordinate system. The membrane is free to vibrate in response to the fluid pressure, except for two disc regions So and S 1 , each of radius a, with respective centres at (x, y, z) = (0, 0, 0) and (d, 0, 0). The membrane displacement η(x, y) is constrained to be zero on each of the discs So and S 1 , leading to a mixed boundary-value problem with different types of conditions according as x, y E S 0 U S 1 or x, y ¬∈ S 0 U S 1 . The system is activated by an obliquely incident plane wave of radian frequency ω and acoustic wavenumber k = w/c. Asymptotic results are sought in the limits of large kd and small values of the fluid loading parameter. This is achieved by reducing the problem to that of a combination of single disc problems, and asymptotic results are known for this simpler class of mixed boundary value problems.


This thesis is concerned with the propagation of transient electromagnetic waves in nonlinear media. It consists of a General Introduction and five scientific papers.

The General Introduction gives a broad overview of nonlinear electromagnetic phenomena. The emphasis is on the representation of the constitutive functional modeling the material's response to electromagnetic excitation, and the methods employed to analyze the combination of the constitutive functional and the Maxwell equations. Some applications of nonlinear electromagnetics are also discussed.

Paper I treats the inverse scattering problem for an isotropic, homogeneous, nonlinear slab, subjected to a normally incident field. It is shown that when both reflected and transmitted fields are measured, we can reconstruct both the nonlinear permittivity and permeability. When one of these functions is known, reflection data is sufficient to obtain the other.

Paper II gives a formulation of transient electromagnetic fields, that can be used to analyze wave propagation in homogeneous media. The source free Maxwell equations are treated as an eigenvalue problem, from which we deduce the propagating waves and their wave speeds. The analysis is applied to the case of obliquely incident waves on a semi-infinite, bianisotropic, nonlinear medium.

Paper III analyzes the propagation of electromagnetic waves in a waveguide filled with an isotropic, nonlinear material. The equations governing each waveguide mode are derived, and it is shown that the different modes couple to each other. This coupling is quantified, and a growth estimates is given for the induced modes.

Paper IV deals with discontinuous electromagnetic waves, shock waves. It is shown that in order for these waves to be stable, they must satisfy a number of conditions, similar to Lax's classical shock conditions. These conditions permit us to classify electromagnetic shock waves as slow, fast or intermediate shock waves.

Finally, Paper V investigates the uniqueness and continuous dependence on data for solutions of the quasi-linear Maxwell equations, when we also require them to satisfy an entropy condition. This condition is related to the second law of thermodynamics, that the energy that is not described by our model must be dissipated.


This thesis explores how women doctoral students imagine their post-PhD futures, and how doctoral experiences shape career aspirations. Situated in literature highlighting the persistence of gender inequality in academia, and gendered post-PhD career choices, this research illuminates the factors which influence aspirations, and the role of the PhD in the 'leaky pipeline'. Using qualitative methods – interviews, research diaries, and letters to future selves – within a longitudinal framework, it explores how academic careers are perceived over time, and how shifting personal priorities shape imagined futures. Using possible selves theory and the concept of horizons for action as theoretical tools enables analysis of individual agency and academic structures. Adopting a three-dimensional narrative inquiry approach, underpinned by feminist research principles, places participants' stories at the centre of the thesis.
These methodological and theoretical approaches make visible the structural barriers that participants perceived to pursuing academic careers, including the pressure to publish and the prevalence of insecure contracts. The research makes explicit how gendered issues pose barriers, including perceived incompatibilities between family and academic life. These issues hindered participants' sense of belonging to academic communities and their ability to develop academic identities. This research demonstrates how the doctorate acts as a litmus test for an academic career, allowing participants to observe what being an academic involves, and judge whether or not academia is 'for' them. It has implications for the higher education sector, current and future doctoral students, and those involved in doctoral education and support.
This research makes four key contributions to knowledge. Firstly, it addresses the gap in knowledge about women's experiences of doctoral study, and their career aspirations. Secondly, its cross-disciplinary approach contributes to literature on academic cultures. Thirdly, it adds to knowledge about how PhD students develop feelings of belonging to academic communities. Finally, my introduction of the career savvy concept contributes to literature on doctoral students' career development. This research also makes methodological contributions through its longitudinal perspective and use of letters to future selves, and offers a theoretical contribution in combining possible selves theory from psychology with the sociological concept of horizons for action.


We study an important variant of the stochastic multi-armed bandit (MAB) problem, which takes penalization into consideration. Instead of directly maximizing cumulative expected reward, we need to balance between the total reward and fairness level. In this paper, we present some new insights in MAB and formulate the problem in the penalization framework, where rigorous penalized regret can be well defined and more sophisticated regret analysis is possible. Under such a framework, we propose a hard-threshold UCB-like algorithm, which enjoys many merits including asymptotic fairness, nearly optimal regret, better tradeoff between reward and fairness. Both gap-dependent and gap-independent regret bounds have been established. Multiple insightful comments are given to illustrate the soundness of our theoretical analysis. Numerous experimental results corroborate the theory and show the superiority of our method over other existing methods.


We describe an unusual example of rhythmically layered peraluminous granitic pegmatite locally developed in the intragranitic Potrerillos NYF pegmatites derived from the A-type host granites of the Las Chacras–Potrerillos batholith, Sierra de San Luis, Argentina. The strikingly rhythmic layers in the Zebra pegmatite consist of units of albite–K-feldspar–quartz–K-feldspar–albite, with accessory tourmaline and minor muscovite. The layers crystallized from a boron-bearing melt ponded and thermally insulated in the intermediate zone. A layer of low albite 1–2 cm thick was followed by coarser-grained K-feldspar, then well-ordered microcline, which gives way to quartz grains, also coarser-grained, in optical continuity. Zoned prismatic crystals of schorl nucleated in the feldspathic layer in random orientation. Muscovite is scarce. The rock has a granitic composition enriched in Rb, Cs, and B, and is depleted in the rare-earth elements compared to its precursor. We contend that the normative composition, 35.3% Or, 38.1% Ab, and 21.3% Q, was close to the eutectic in the granite system modified by dissolved H2O, F, and B, at a P(H2O) close to 3.5 kbar and a temperature in the range 575–600 °C. Repeated incursions from the field of Ab + Or to the field of quartz and back again as the melt was producing bubbles of H2O can account for the rhythmic crystallization and the local truncation or merging of the feldspathic layers. Occasional larger crystals of K-feldspar may have become detached from the wall or roof of the chamber.


A three-component intervention was implemented with 47 youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as they transitioned from high school to adult life. The youth, ages 16 to 19 years, were randomly assigned to a Year 1 group or a Year 2 group. Participants in the Year 1 group received a transition planning intervention consisting of (a) group training sessions for families in the transition process, (b) person-centered planning meetings facilitated by project staff, and (c) follow-up assistance with career exploration and plan implementation. Data were collected pre- and post implementation to measure student and family expectations, self-determination, and career decision-making ability. The Year 2 group began receiving services following the second data collection point. Participants in the Year 1 group reported statistically significant increases in all four measured variables, whereas the Year 2 group showed no significant changes. Implications for redesigning transition services for this population are discussed.


By Drew Wayman, Health Sciences; Paige Reinshagen, Health Sciences; Megan York, Health Sciences Advisor: Susan Kotowski
 Presentation ID: AM_B34
 Abstract: The built environment is made up of all the physical places in which we interact during our daily lives and includes buildings, streets, parks, and so forth. The built environment has been found to have an impact on an individuals' physical activity, productivity, and wellness. With a considerable portion of the population being considered obese, there is a need to understand how the design of the work environment, where people spend a significant portion of their day, influences these factors. The College of Allied Health Sciences will soon be moving from a very old, traditionally designed office/educational building, to a new, modern designed building with very different features. The aim of this project was to evaluate the impact of the current French East building on the faculty, staff, and students and their levels of physical activity, productivity, and well-being. Demographic information and office characteristic information were collected for each participant. At the start of multiple different days participants were asked to complete baseline surveys on their mood and stress. They were then asked to track their physical activity (e.g. sitting/standing/walking) using their iPhone, which they were asked to keep on them the entire time they were in the building. They kept a log of what they were doing throughout the day and completed a survey at the end of the day to again assess mood and stress levels.


The mobilization of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) into the peripheral blood of mice was induced by recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) (250 microgram/kg/d) alone or combined with recombinant rat stem cell factor (rrSCF) (34 microgram/kg/d), injected subcutaneously (s.c.) once a day for 10 and 17 days. After administering G-CSF plus SCF or G-CSF alone for 10 days, the level of day-11 spleen colony-forming units (CFU-S-11) in the peripheral blood increased 169- and 93-fold, respectively. The effect was lower--30- and 17-fold--after 17 days of treatment. A 1.5- to three-fold decrease in CFU-S-11 content in the bone marrow of treated mice was observed. In normal mice, the content of long-term culture initiating cells (LTC-IC) in blood was below the threshold level. Cytokine treatment mobilized LTC-IC in the circulation. Following a 10- and 17-day course of G-CSF plus SCF, the proliferation of CFU-S-11 in the peripheral blood but not in the bone marrow increased from <10% in the controls to 44 and 72%, respectively, as measured by hydroxyurea (HU) suicide. Spleen-repopulating ability (SRA) of CFU-S (daughter CFU-S-8 content in an 11-day-old spleen colony) increased two-fold in the peripheral blood after a 10-day course and seven-fold after a 17-day course of combined cytokines. One month after the final cytokine injection, all hematopoietic indexes (including the number of different precursors, their proliferative rate, and their SRA) were near normal. The results suggest that the age structure of the mobilized progenitor population depends on both the cytokines used and the duration of the treatment: more immature CFU-S with higher proliferative activity and an increased SRA were mobilized preferentially after a 17-day course of combined cytokines.


Abstract. Vicarious calibration refers to methods that make use of "invariant" natural targets of the Earth for the post-launch calibration of sensors. This process of calibration is useful for initial phase orbit operation of sensor and thereafter for validation during its operational span. This method of periodic evaluation of radiometric and geometric performance of the space-borne optical sensors and validation of derived radiance/reflectance is to ensure availability of consistent and accurate data products to the user community. This paper describes one such Cal/Val facility's design, engineering aspects and realization at National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Shadnagar. The target materials used for filling the Cal/Val site are studied for its reflectance. These targets have reflectance ranging from 9% to 53%, in the VNIR (Visible and Near Infra-Red) region. This paper also describes instruments used for calibration and homogeneity studies of targets for its invariance since operationalisation (January 2016). The last section of this paper is about reflectance based absolute radiometric calibration of medium resolution Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) sensor (Resourcesat and Cartosat series) using RT model and edge based LSF/MTF estimation of high resolution sensor carried out using the Cal/Val facility.


The coupling of mobility and quality-of-service with security is a challenge that should be addressed in future wireless overlay systems. The mobility of a node can disrupt or even intermittently disconnect an ongoing real-time session because a secure handover must be performed to ensure continuous connectivity. The duration of the such interruptions is called disruption time or handover delay and can heavily affect the user satisfaction. The handover procedure needs to protect its integrity and confidentiality-otherwise, the packets may be rerouted to a malicious node and the legitimate handover may not be performed. The security procedure to ensure this should not lengthen significantly the handover delay to provide good quality real-time services. In this paper, we focus on the network-layer mobility, specifically, on Mobile Internet protocol version 6 (MIPv6) since it is the natural candidate for providing such mobility in future systems. To solve the problem of on-path attackers and prevent leakage of secrets, we propose a security architecture for MIPv6 based on leakage resilient-authenticated key establishment (LR-AKE) protocol and its cooperation with public key infrastructure. The proposed architecture prevents against on-path attackers which was not addressed in the specifications of MIPv6, and also provides robustness against leakage of secret values. Using analytical models, we evaluate MIPv6 handover delay for real-time services. We identify the crucial factors affecting the handover delay among transmission delays of MIPv6, security and LR-AKE messages, queueing delays and en/decryption delays.


To reduce the risk of neural tube defects, studies have been conducted on female students of medical services, nutritional science, and nursery education that investigated the awareness of folic acid by using questionnaires. Many investigators have suggested the need to provide detailed information about the awareness of folic acid and knowledge about folic acid intake and neural tube defect risk reduction. The dietary habits of female students showed a positive correlation with their estimated folic acid intake, suggesting that improvements in dietary habits are associated with the consumption of folic acid. The importance of folic acid intake must be more aggressively promoted among female students. Thus, many learning opportunities should be provided for such students to help increase their folic acid intake.


Posterior interventricular artery (PIA) present in the posterior interventricular groove over the inferior surface of the heart. Human hearts consist of either  Right coronary predominance or Left coronary predominance. Left coronary predominant people are more prone to get ischemic heart diseases. In left coronary predominance entire left ventricle except a part of the right ventricle adjoining anterior interventricular groove supplied by the left main coronary artery. Left coronary dominance has a poor prognosis in acute coronary syndrome when compared with the right coronary predominance. Myocardial bridging may be benign or malignant. So myocardial bridging with left coronary dominance may be a risk factor to the ischemic heart disease. The aim of the present study is to find out the coronary dominance pattern in myocardial bridged hearts in cadavers. Ninety cadaveric hearts were procured from the Department of Anatomy, IMS & SUM Hospital Bhubaneswar. After a simple dissecting procedure, myocardial bridges and coronary dominance patterns were observed. Myocardial bridging was present over the left anterior interventricular artery in 51(56.7%) hearts. Out of 51 myocardial bridged hearts, right coronary predominance is present in 45 (88.24%) hearts and left coronary predominance present in 6(11.76%) hearts.  Along with the left dominance, if myocardial bridge present over the left epicardial coronary artery, there may be an increased frequency of myocardial ischemia.


The Atmosphere-surface Radiation Automatic Instrument (ASRAI) is a newly developed hyper-spectral apparatus by Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (AIOFM, CAS), measuring total spectral irradiance, diffuse spectral irradiance of atmosphere and reflected radiance of the land surface for the purpose of in-situ calibration. The instrument applies VIS-SWIR spectrum (0.4~1.0 μm) with an averaged spectral resolution of 0.004 μm. The goal of this paper is to describe a method of deriving both aerosol optical depth (AOD) and aerosol modes from irradiance measurements under free cloudy conditions. The total columnar amounts of water vapor and oxygen are first inferred from solar transmitted irradiance at strong absorption wavelength. The AOD together with total columnar amounts of ozone and nitrogen dioxide are determined by a nonlinear least distance fitting method. Moreover, it is able to infer aerosol modes from the spectral dependency of AOD because different aerosol modes have their inherent spectral extinction characteristics. With assumption that the real aerosol is an idea of "external mixing" of four basic components, dust-like, water-soluble, oceanic and soot, the percentage of volume concentration of each component can be retrieved. A spectrum matching technology based on Euclidean-distance method is adopted to find the most approximate combination of components. The volume concentration ratios of four basic components are in accordance with our prior knowledge of regional aerosol climatology. Another advantage is that the retrievals would facilitate the TOA simulation when applying 6S model for satellite calibration.


This paper addresses a cyclone identification algorithm with the superlevel set filtration of the persistent homology together with the merge-tree reconstruction of data. Based on the informa- tion of peaks and saddles of the scaler field, the newly developed algorithm divides the analysis area into several homology classes, each of which satisfies the peak-to-saddle difference larger than a criterion that should be set in advance. Applied to the 850-hPa relative vorticity in the western North Pacific at 1200 UTC on 2 March 2013, 3 homology classes were found with the criterion of 100 × 10 −6 s −1 and 17 homology classes were found with the criterion of 50 × 10 −6 s −1 . The merge-tree restructuring clarified the neighbour relation among homology classes. The result suggests that the weak criterion detected too much homology classes, some of which are small peaks inside of a single cyclone. The clima- tology feature density provides the Pacific storm track with the strict criterion. Finally, a possible way to extend toward cyclone tracking with the persistent homology is discussed.


Every tourism potential owned by Bali needs to be studied, researched and developed in order to meet the needs of the economy community. One of the tourism potential that needs to be developed in Bali is the wine tourism. Buleleng Regency is one of the largest wineries and also the house of the oldest wine factory on the island of Bali. But there are still many foreign tourists who are not aware of the existence of the wine producing region. This study aims to determine the perception of tourists about the wine products and to know the development strategy that must be done in order to support the activities of wine tourism in Buleleng Regency. The results of this study showing that the tourists perception regarding Bali wine product shows that they feel the quality of the products is good and also shows their interest to do wine tourism in Buleleng Regency. Based on the results of SWOT analysis, there are several strategies that can be applied to develop the wine tourism such as increasing the promotion of tourism in Bali to be better known by foreign tourists, government working together with the wine-producing companies to jointly develop wine tourism activities in Buleleng, and the last by expanding the area of wineries in the district of Buleleng so there is an image or existence of wine tourism in Buleleng. In connection with the results and discussion in this study, the suggestion that is expected to be done by the government is to work with companies that produce wine in improving the quality of products and services, and pay attention to periodicity and innovation on a regular basis.


Peat soil is characterized by its high content of decomposed organic matter. Majority of areas occupied by peatland have been developed for agriculture sectors such as pineapple cultivation and oil palm. Due to its geotechnical drawback characteristics such as highly compressibility and low shear strength, peat soil is classified as problematic soils and unstable for engineering structures. Lack of suitable and expensive price of lands, peatland will be an alternative option for future development. Prior to construction works, stabilization of peat soil should be performed to enhance its engineering characteristics. This paper presents the effect of cement and curing period on engineering properties of the cement-treated peat soil. Some engineering variables were examined including the compaction behaviour, permeability and unconfined compressive strength (UCS). The Atterberg limit test was also carried out to examine the influence of cement addition on peat soil. The cement-treated peat soils were prepared by adding varying amount of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) ranging between 0% and 40% of dry weight of peat soil. In order to examine the effect of curing, the treated samples were dried at room temperature for three and seven days while for UCS tests samples were extended to 28 days prior to testings. The results showed that the liquid limit of treated soil decreased with the increase of cement content. Maximum dry density (MDD) increased while optimum moisture content (OMC) dropped with the increase in cement content. Permeability of treated soil decreased from 6.2×10-4 to 2.4×10-4 ms-1 as cement content increase from 0% to 40%. In contrast, the UCS tests indicated an increase in uncompressive strength with the increase in cement contents and curing period. The liquid limit and permeability were also altered as curing periods were extended from three to seven days. This study concluded that geotechnical properties of peat soil can be stabilized using ordinary cement and by modification of the curing periods.


Price gouging occurs when, in the wake of an emergency, sellers of a certain necessary goods sharply raise their prices beyond the level needed to cover increased costs. Most people think that price gouging is immoral, and most states have laws rendering the practice a civil or criminal offense. The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the philosophic issues surrounding price gouging, and to argue that the common moral condemnation of it is largely mistaken. I will make this argument in three steps, by rebutting three widely held beliefs about the ethics of price gouging: I ) that laws prohibiting price gouging are morally justified, 2) that price gouging is morally impermissible behavior, even if it ought not be illegal, and 3) that price gouging reflects poorly on the moral character of those who engage in it, even if the act itself is not morally impermissible.


Diabetes mellitus (DM) -related hospitalizations are recognized as important opportunities for self-management intervention. Yet, there remains a need for practical delivery strategies.
 Objective: To assess provider perspectives on DM mobile apps as a tool for self-management education and support in the inpatient setting.
 Methods: Healthcare professionals (n=33) who oversee or provide DM care and education to hospitalized patients completed a validated survey about DM mobile apps.
 Results: Only 21% of respondents had previously used an app for DM education. Of those who had never used a DM app, 100% indicated that they would consider recommending one to their patients. For 82% of respondents, patient access to and interest in app use were rated as the most important factors in their decision to recommend apps. Patient acuity and time were also noted as key considerations. In fact, 54% of respondents were only willing to spend 5 minutes to download and teach app use. Hospitalized patients considered best candidates for apps are those newly diagnosed with DM, new to insulin, admitted with a DM-related complication, or requiring additional education/support (change in treatment plan) . Perceived benefits of apps in relation to self-management were to reinforce education (71%) , support education with trustworthy information (62%) , and serve as a resource after discharge (56%) . Some respondents also foresaw a role for apps in teaching patients during hospitalization, especially younger patients generally viewed as more interested in apps. Most respondents agreed the following features are important for apps in education and support: Content is developed by DM experts (91%) , provide answer to basic DM self-management questions (96%) , user experience can be customized (91%) , and include features for logging/tracking glucose results (91%) .
 Conclusions: Hospital-based providers offer valuable insights into DM app use. Exposing them to apps to support patient self-management warrants strong consideration.

 J.S.Krall: Research Support; Becton, Dickinson and Company, Sanofi. J.Ng: Research Support; Sanofi. L.M.Siminerio: Advisory Panel; Abbott, Bayer AG, Research Support; Becton, Dickinson and Company, Sanofi.

 Becton, Dickinson and Company


Simulating vast crowds of autonomous agents within a procedurally generated virtual environment is a challenging endeavour from a technical perspective, however it becomes even more difficult when the subjective nature of perception is also taken into account. Agent behaviour is the product of artificial intelligence systems working in tandem, however the sophistication of these systems is not a guarantee of achieving believable behaviour. Within locations based upon reality such as an urban environment, the perceived realism of agent behaviour becomes even harder to achieve. This paper presents the development of a crowd simulation that is based upon a real-life urban environment, which is then subjected to perceptual experimentation to identify features of behaviour which can be linked to perceived realism. This research is predicted to feedback into the development processes of inhabited cities, especially those attempting to simulate perceptually realistic agents as it will highlight features of behaviour that are important to implement. The perceptual experimentation methodologies presented can also be adapted and potentially utilised to test other types of crowd simulation, whether it be for the purposes of computer games or even urban planning and health and safety.


As the proprietary cost of mandatory disclosure increases, managers withhold information from mandatory disclosure and substitute less proprietary voluntary disclosure. In this study, we examine the role managers' incentive-compensation contracts play in this disclosure tactic. Specifically, we examine how contracts that explicitly evaluate managers on peer performance are associated with: (1) the transparency of mandatory disclosure; (2) the provision of voluntary disclosure; and (3) the substitution between the two. We show that the sign of substitution depends critically on whether managers compete with peers for market prices or accounting numbers. Moreover—and consistent with our theoretical prediction—we show that the magnitude of substitution is greater for managers facing intense strategic interactions with peers. Collectively, our findings suggest that disclosure-specific costs should be interpreted more broadly, as proprietary costs to one manager may arise—or perhaps more importantly, not arise—because of characteristics of managers at other firms. JEL classification: D22, D82, J33, L1, M12, M48


Nutrition has a direct role in creating, maintaining and improving of health. Breakfast is considered as one of the main meals and snacks as a major part of energy and nutrients supplier for children. This study aim to comparison between pamphlets and SMS instruction on breakfast and snack food consumption pattern based on the Health Belief Model among girls in high schools of Sheiban City. This intervention study involved three groups that were conducted by the two intervention groups and a control group among 300 female high school students. To determine the samples, three schools of girls and from each school 100 students were selected using random sampling method. The tools of data collection was a questionnaire which validated by a panel of experts and test-retest reliability and Cronbach's alpha calculation. Educational intervention was distribution of pamphlets and texting to the pamphlet and SMS groups, respectively. The statistical analysis of variance and covariance of collected data were performed by SPSS software version 22. The results were significant at level of P≤0.05. Comparing the two control and tested groups showed that mean score of Health Belief Model (susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers, self-efficacy and cues to action) as well as breakfast and snack food consumption behavior scores of students significantly increased after the educational intervention in the intervention group compared to the control, but the education effects in both groups were similar. Education based on Health Belief Model by SMS and pamphlets was effective on breakfast and snack consumption behavior. There was no significant difference between educational effects of two methods .


Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease in the United States. Renal hypertrophy and extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation are prominent features of DN. Chronic hyperglycemia leads to the accumulation of nonenzymatic glycation proteins known as Amadori and advanced glycation end products. Glycated proteins represent a major mechanism by which hyperglycemia leads to diabetic renal disease. Oxidative stress has emerged as a critical pathogenic factor in the development of diabetic complications, including DN. Research in our laboratory finds novel NAD(P)H oxidases, highly expressed in the kidney, to be major sources of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in diabetes. The purpose of the study is to investigate the mechanisms by which Amadori alter the redox state to mediate matrix expansion in glomerular mesangial cells. Methods NADPH-dependent superoxide generation was measured using lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence and intracellular ROS production was measured using the peroxide-sensetive fluorescent probe 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCF). To study ECM production, the expression of fibronectin (FN) and collagen IV expression was assessed by Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence confocal microscopy. Summary Amadori products and control albumin were prepared by incubating human serum albumin (HSA) in the presence or absence of glucose for 1 week. In mesangial cells, Amadori-HSA stimulates NADPH-dependent superoxide generation compared with control-HSA measured by lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence in a dose- and time-dependent manner. In addition, we show that exposure of mesangial cells to Amadori-HSA resulted in an increase in DCF fluorescence. Amadori-HSA induces FN and collagen IV expression in mesangial cells as detected by Western blot analysis. Pretreatment of the cells with diphenyleneoidonium (DPI), an inhibitor of NAD(P)H oxidase, markedly reduces Amadori-HSA-induced FN expression as assessed by immunofluorescence confocal microscopy. Conclusion NAD(P)H-oxidase isoenzyme(s) are activated by Amadori, leading to matrix accumulation in mesangial cells. This may represent an important mechanism by which Amadori products contribute to the pathogenesis of DN.


ments, notably the account of the caravan-trade mentioned earlier, and a long memorandum (pp. 353-86) submitted by Wetzstein in 1852 on the necessity for Prussian representation in Damascus by a salaried consul. His plea failed, but the survey of the city at mid-century which he gives retains interest. There are reproductions of two contemporary maps of parts of Ottoman Syria one based on Wetzstein's own observations. The work as a whole is a meticulous and detailed study, of wider interest and significance than its title might suggest.


Abstract : Computer generated forces (CGF) simulations have entities as actors in their simulation. A type of CGF in which the entities have limited autonomy is semi-automated forces (SAF). The SAF system for this thesis research is OneSAF, a near real-time SAF that offers raw data collection of the entities in a particular simulation scenario. The data collection files vary in size from 500 kilobytes to larger than four gigabytes. Entity behavior property verification (BPV) is an integral part of SAF simulation software testing. The purpose for this research is to provide immediate feedback to the system user/developer as to what an entity had done in a scenario. From the simulation point of view, it provides answers to questions like Did the entity route shortest distance to destination? From the developer's point of interest, the BPV can provide insight to flaws in the model, such as a vehicle crossing a river where a bridge does not exist. Automated BPV (ABPV) takes one step further by minimizing hard coding of tools that process collection files. ABPV allows portability of the product of this thesis to other systems. ABPV Tools (ABPVT) of this thesis is designed to run in Linux and Windows and will be included in future distributions of OneSAF as an intricate part of the testing suite.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to document the work status, rehabilitation practices, and barriers to work re-entry for women who have undergone mastectomy (MRM). Three independent groups of subjects included 31 female patients who were post-modified radical mastectomy (MRM), 18 physical or occupational therapists working in cancer centers, and 5 employers who represented a diverse group of businesses. Patients and therapists completed written surveys regarding the post-operative rehabilitation process. Employer interviews focused on company policies and procedures related to work re-entry. Descriptive statistics documented patients' pre- and postoperative work status and types of problems experienced postoperatively. Responses to open-ended questions were triangulated among the three groups to identify common barriers to work re-entry. Only 20% of women in this sample did not return to their preoperative employment, and most cited physical impairments as the reason. Nearly half of these women received no postoperative exercise instructions. Employers seemed willing and able to accommodate employees who return to work following mastectomy surgery when given specific information regarding their physical and functional limitations. These preliminary findings indicate the need for additional research that reflects the experiences of a more generalized population of patients, therapists, and employers.