The urgent need for developing nations to ensure food security has driven efforts to increase youth participation in agriculture within recent times. The Youth Apprenticeship Programme in Agriculture (YAPA) in Trinidad and Tobago is a government-sponsored programme for youth 17-25 years. It was launched in 2003 and its primary purpose is to provide an opportunity for young people to become involved in farming. It is expected that this experience will show them that farming can be pursued successfully as a career and in a business –like manner. This should have the desired outcome of increased numbers of young persons entering the agriculture sector, a necessity for sustainable agricultural development. The program is linked to overall policy goals of food security, poverty alleviation, employment and rural development. This paper assesses the YAPA and outlines key points related to challenges and success faced by the program. A mixed method approach was used to gather information. Focus group sessions were conducted with all programme coordinators and a sample of trainees. This was followed by a formal survey using a self administered questionnaire with all current trainees (n=57), a survey among past trainees (n=37) and an examination of archival data. Results were mixed and showed that the majority of trainees in the programme had positive attitudes towards agriculture. They entered the program because of their strong belief in the future of farming and to generate additional. Those trainees who had negative attitudes disrupted the programme and upset the coordinators. Results also showed that there are several shortcomings with the overall structure of the YAPA program. The government needed to be more supportive of the program and follow through with promised resources and post YAPA funding.


Understanding and modifying the effects of arbitrary illumination on human faces in a realistic manner is a challenging problem both for face synthesis and recognition. Recent research demonstrates that the set of images of a convex Lambertian object obtained under a wide variety of lighting conditions can be approximated accurately by a low-dimensional linear subspace using spherical harmonics representation. Morphable models are statistical ensembles of facial properties such as shape and texture. In this paper, we integrate spherical harmonics into the morphable model framework, by proposing a 3D spherical harmonic basis morphable model (SHBMM) and demonstrate that any face under arbitrary unknown lighting can be simply represented by three low-dimensional vectors: shape parameters, spherical harmonic basis parameters and illumination coefficients. We show that, with our SHBMM, given one single image under arbitrary unknown lighting, we can remove the illumination effects from the image (face "delighting") and synthesize new images under different illumination conditions (face "re-lighting"). Furthermore, we demonstrate that cast shadows can be detected and subsequently removed by using the image error between the input image and the corresponding rendered image. We also propose two illumination invariant face recognition methods based on the recovered SHBMM parameters and the de-lit images respectively. Experimental results show that using only a single image of a face under unknown lighting, we can achieve high recognition rates and generate photorealistic images of the face under a wide range of illumination conditions, including multiple sources of illumination.


We propose solutions to two important problems that have received relatively little attention in the eld of survey weighting: the construction of population targets in the face of irregularly missing data, and the optimal selection of weighting targets from the set of possible auxiliary variables. Our solution to the rst problem relies on a dynamic Bayesian population-interpolation model that allows subpopulation estimates in a given year to be informed by data from other years. To address the second, we formulate the problem of target selection as one of variable subset selection, for which we propose a lasso-based solution. We demonstrate the usefulness of these techniques by using them to generate weights for quota-sampled opinion polls from the early days of survey research. Given the declining response rates, rising use of non-probability samples, and growth in potential sources of auxiliary information in modern-day polling, these methods have wide potential application in contemporary survey research as well.


Toluene had been designated as a priority assessment chemical substance under the Japanese Chemical Substances Control Law (CSCL), and as a result of prioritization, a detailed human health hazard assessment was conducted under Assessment II. We evaluated its general, reproductive, and developmental toxicities, as well as its genotoxicity and carcinogenicity, based on the hazard information provided by domestic and international risk assessment organizations, and the following hazard assessment values for oral and inhalation exposure are proposed. The hazard assessment value of 0.223 mg/kg/day for oral exposure was calculated from a no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) of 312 mg/kg/day (equal to an average daily dose of 223 mg/kg/day) based on liver and kidney weight increases in a 13-week oral toxicity study in rats by using an uncertainty factor (UF) of 1,000 (interspecies variation: 10, intraspecies variation: 10, and short test period: 10). The hazard assessment value of 0.1 ppm (0.383 mg/m3) for inhalation exposure was calculated from a NOAEL of 45 ppm (equal to a continuous exposure level of 10.7 ppm) based on toxic effects on the central nervous system found in epidemiological investigations of occupational exposure by using a UF of 100 (intraspecies variation: 10 and severe effect: 10).


An approach for designing a hybrid parallel system that can perform diierent levels of parallelism adaptively is presented. An adaptive parallel computer vision system (APVIS) is proposed to attain this goal. The APVIS is constructed by integrating two diierent types of parallel architectures, i.e., a multiprocessor based system (MBS) and a memory based processor array (MPA), tightly into a single machine. One important feature in the APVIS is that the programming interface to execute data parallel code onto the MPA is the same as the usual subroutine calling mechanism. Thus the existence of the MPA is transparent to the programmers. This research is to design an underlying base architecture that can be optimally executed for a broad range of vision tasks. A performance model is provided to show the eeectiveness of the APVIS. It turns out that the proposed APVIS can provide signiicant performance improvement and cost eeectiveness for highly parallel applications having a mixed set of parallelisms. Also an example application composed of a series of vision algorithms, from low level and medium level processing steps, is mapped onto the MPA. Consequently, the APVIS with a few or tens of MPA modules can perform the chosen example application in real time when multiple images are incoming successively with a few seconds inter{arrival time.


Description Neurological symptoms highlight the need to understand pathophysiologic mechanisms Although severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is considered a respiratory pathogen, myriad neurologic complications—including confusion, stroke, and neuromuscular disorders—manifest during acute COVID-19. Furthermore, maladies such as impaired concentration, headache, sensory disturbances, depression, and even psychosis may persist for months after infection, as part of a constellation of symptoms now called Long Covid. Even young people with mild initial disease can develop acute COVID-19 and Long Covid neuropsychiatric syndromes. The pathophysiological mechanisms are not well understood, although evidence primarily implicates immune dysfunction, including nonspecific neuroinflammation and antineural autoimmune dysregulation. It is uncertain whether unforeseen neurological consequences may develop years after initial infection. With millions of individuals affected, nervous system complications pose public health challenges for rehabilitation and recovery and for disruptions in the workforce due to loss of functional capacity. There is an urgent need to understand the pathophysiology of these disorders and develop disease-modifying therapies.


We have shown previously that the raft-associated proteins flotillin-1 and -2 are rapidly recruited to the uropods of chemoattractant-stimulated human neutrophils and T-cells and are involved in cell polarization. Other proteins such as the adhesion receptor PSGL-1, the actin-membrane linker proteins ezrin/radixin/moesin (ERM) and the signaling enzyme phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate 5-kinase type Iγ90 (PIPKIγ90) also accumulate in the T-cell uropod. Using the in situ proximity ligation assay (PLA) we now have investigated putative close associations of these proteins in human freshly isolated T-cells before and after chemokine addition. The PLA allows in situ subcellular localization of close proximity of endogenous proteins at single-molecule resolution in fixed cells. It allows detection also of weaker and transient complexes that would not be revealed with co-immunoprecipitation approaches. We previously provided evidence for heterodimer formation of tagged flotillin-1 and -2 in T-cells before and after chemokine addition using fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). We now confirm these findings using PLA for the endogenous flotillins in fixed human T-cells. Moreover, in agreement with the literature, our PLA findings confirm a close association of endogenous PSGL-1 and ERM proteins both in resting and chemokine-activated human T-cells. In addition, we provide novel evidence using the PLA for close associations of endogenous activated ERM proteins with PIPKIγ90 and of endogenous flotillins with PSGL-1 in human T-cells, before and after chemokine addition. Our findings suggest that preformed clusters of these proteins coalesce in the uropod upon cell stimulation.


This study was carried out to examine the effect of harvest stage of corn on nutritive values and quality of round baled corn silage manufactured with corn grown in paddy land of Department of Animal Resources Development, National Institute of Animal Science, RDA from 2009 to 2010. Corn "Kwangpyungok" was harvested at three different growth times (milk, yellow ripen and ripen stage) and ensiled at each harvest stages. Crude protein (CP) and TDN (total digestible nutrient) contents of round baled corn silage was decreased and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) was not changed with delayed harvest maturity. However, contents of ADF (acid detergent fiber) and NDF(neutral detergent fiber) decreased with delayed harvest maturity. The pH at three different harvest stages ranged from 3.8 to 4.0. The content of lactic acid increased with delayed harvest maturity, but the content of acetic acid decreased. And then, flieg's score reveals that there is an increase in order, ripen stage > yellow ripen stage > milk stage. Therefore, this study suggest that round baled corn silage manufactured at yellow ripen stage can improve the silage quality. (Key words : Corn, Silage, Round bale, Quality, Organic acid)


R-curves for surface cracks in Ti-6A1-4V titanium alloy were generated for the purpose of studying the resistance of the alloy to their subcritical growth under a monotonically increasing load typical of a proof test. Another purpose was to evaluate Ehret's compliance calibration for measuring the instantaneous size of a surface crack using the unloading slope of a load-versus-clip-gage-opening curve. Another purpose was to study "leak-before-burst" during sustained load and during subcritical crack growth under rising load. Clips were mechanically attached to either side of the surface crack on the face of the specimen. A clip-gage extensometer was used to plot load-versus-clip-gage opening. Slopes were taken periodically by unloading about 10 percent so that subcritical crack growth could be distinguished from crack-tip plastic deformation. The tests were run in accordance with the ASTM Recommended Practice for R-Curve Determination (E 561-78T) as much as possible.


Continuing teacher professional development (CPTD) is regarded as key to teachers gaining essential pedagogical-content knowledge needed for the 21st century. Despite the existence of formal structures for this system in South Africa, policy implementation continues to present challenges. This study investigated constraints in the implementation of CPTD policy. The research question was 'What factors inhibit the implementation of CPTD policy in Western Cape education districts? The design was a qualitative case study with purposely-selected sample of principals, teachers, and provincial and district officers. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and triangulated through document analysis. Data analysis involved colour-coding, categorisation and emergent themes. Results revealed that CPTD implementation frustrated teachers, resulting in negative attitudes, low morale and demotivation. Teachers perceived the CPTD as a compliance activity rather than as a tool for growth and development. This conclusion could imply that policymakers need to rethink ways of improving CPTD implementation.


The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway is a major module for cellular signal transduction. The dysregulation of the MAPK pathway has been involved in the pathogenesis of multiple diseases ranging from cancers to chronic inflammations. So far, we have not fully understood the influences of external factors and signaling networks on the MAPK pathway due to the lack of in situ methods for simultaneous detection of multiple kinases in the pathway in living cells. Herein, we present a new strategy for in situ and simultaneously monitoring MAPK pathway kinases in single living cells combining multi-channel fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) with affinity fluorescent probes. We chose rapidly growing fibrosarcoma kinase (RAF), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MEK), and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) as representative members in the MAPK pathway. We designed and synthesized three fluorescent affinity probes and experimental results demonstrated that the three probes specifically targeted endogenous BRAF, MEK1/2, and ERK1/2 in living cells. Based on the multi-channel FCS system, we studied the influences of biological substances, drugs and oxidative stress on the activities of endogenous MAPK kinases and the cross-talk between the MAPK and PI3K-mTOR pathways. We have found that serum, sorafenib, and hydrogen peroxide can regulate multiple MAPK kinases and the effects of external stimuli can transmit to the MAPK pathway; furthermore, we have observed that the MAPK pathway can be activated by modulating the PI3K-mTOR pathway. Our results illustrated the complexity of a cellular signal network and the necessity of in situ and simultaneous determination of biomolecules in living cells.


The author discusses the application of the quark cluster model to the baryon-baryon interaction. The short-range repulsion and spin-orbit force in the nucleon-nucleon potential are shown to be well described by the quark-quark interaction and quark exchange between the two nucleons. An extension of the study to systems with strangeness is made. There the author studies more details about the effect coming from the composite structure of the baryon and the quark-quark interaction. The dihyperon, which is a flavour SU(3) singlet state, is also discussed in terms of the quark cluster model. Finally the effects of quark degrees of freedom in nuclei, especially on the electromagnetic properties of the deuteron, are studied and compared with the results of conventional nuclear theory.


Objective:To determine the effect of statins on the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis in a population of HIV-infected adults on antiretroviral therapy. Design:Double-blind, randomized clinical trial. Methods:Stopping Atherosclerosis and Treating Unhealthy Bone with RosuvastatiN in HIV infection was a 96-week double-blind, randomized clinical trial of 10 mg daily rosuvastatin (n = 72) vs. placebo (n = 75) in a population of HIV-infected subjects on stable antiretroviral therapy with LDL-cholesterol 130 mg/dl or less (⩽3.36 mmol/l) and evidence of heightened T-cell activation (CD8+CD38+HLA-DR+ ≥19%) or increased inflammation [high sensitivity C-reactive protein ≥2 mg/l (≥19 mmol/l)]. Change in common carotid artery intima–media thickness (IMT) (CCA-IMT) was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were changes in LDL and coronary artery calcium. Results:Median (Q1, Q3) age was 46 (40, 53) years; 78% were man and 68% African-American; 49% were on a protease inhibitor. Mean (95% confidence interval) change in LDL was −21 (−27 to −15) mg/dl [−0.54 (−0.70 to −0.39) mmol/l] in the rosuvastatin arm. In a multivariable linear mixed-effects model, assignment to statin was associated with 0.019 mm (95% confidence interval: 0.002–0.037 mm) less progression of CCA-IMT over 96 weeks. We did not find substantial effect modification by level of inflammation or immune activation biomarkers, except for a borderline statistically significant interaction for soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule (P = 0.065). There was no difference in coronary artery calcium change (P = 0.61). Conclusion:Rosuvastatin effectively lowers LDL and appears to substantially slow progression of CCA-IMT in patients with treated HIV infection. Future study is needed to determine whether subjects with higher levels of inflammation or immune activation derive greater cardiovascular benefit from statin therapy.


This paper employs a semi-parametric varying coefficient system approach to investigating the impact of environmental policy stringency on a nation's productivity growth using data for a panel of OECD countries over a period of two decades. A new cross-country proxy of environmental policy stringency is employed. Our results show that while stricter environmental policies might shift a country's total cost in production upward, for countries which have already adopted relatively more stringent environmental policies, further increasing their policy stringency seems to enhance these countries' productivity in the long run. We also find that more stringent environmental policies seem to render a country's use of intermediate inputs more inelastic to their own prices and decrease the substitutability between labour and intermediate inputs in the long run. We argue that more stringent environmental policies would exert tighter control over the use of several intermediate inputs such as energy, raw materials, pollution-intensive services etc, leading to the use of these inputs being less sensitive to changes in their market prices. Tighter control over the use of these intermediate inputs would also render them less of a substitute to labour input.


In May 2012, nine men from the Rochdale area of Manchester were found guilty of sexually exploiting a number of underage girls. Reporting on the trial, the media focussed on the fact that eight of the nine men were of Pakistani origin, while the girls were all white. It also framed similar cases in Preston, Rotherham, Derby, Shropshire, Oxford, Telford and Middlesbrough as ethnically motivated, thus creating a moral panic centred on South Asian grooming gangs preying on white girls. Despite the lack of evidence that the abuse perpetrated by some Asian men is distinct from male violence against women generally, the media focus on the grooming gang cases has constructed a narrative in which South Asian men pose a unique sexual threat to white girls. This process of 'othering' South Asian men in terms of abusive behaviour masks the fact that in the United Kingdom, the majority of sexual and physical abuse is perpetrated by white men; it simultaneously marginalises the sexual and domestic violence experienced by black and minority ethnic women. Indeed, the sexual abuse of South Asian women and girls is invisibilised within this binary discourse, despite growing concerns and evidence that the men who groomed the young girls in the aforementioned cases had also perpetrated domestic and sexual violence in their homes against their wives/partners. Through discourse analysis of newspaper coverage of these cases for the period 2012‒2018, this paper examines the British media's portrayal of South Asian men – particularly Pakistani men – in relation to child-grooming offences and explores the conditions under which 'South Asian men' have been constructed as 'folk devils'. It also highlights the comparatively limited newspaper coverage of the abuse experiences and perspectives of Asian women and girls from the same communities to emphasise that violence against women and girls remains an ongoing problem across the nation.


The purpose of this review is to discuss how healthcare professionals, and particularly nursing practice, impact upon pain management with older people (65 years and over), following surgery. The review commences with an introduction presenting why this is an important area to consider. Current available literature and findings from an ethnographic study which was designed to examine peri-operative pain-management practices with older people will then be discussed to highlight the key issues of pain assessment and management. Three overarching themes; (1) pain assessment (2) knowledge/strategies to cope with pain and (3) organization of care (culture and context), will guide the discussion. It is suggested that comprehensive pain assessment, proficient communication and multidisciplinary working, are essential to improve pain-management practices. The paper demonstrates some of the multiple and complex factors that affect the older person's pain experience and identifies possible developmental work in this field.


Inbred mice are the most popular animals used for in vivo liver research. These mice are genetically defined, readily available, less expensive to maintain than larger animals, and enjoy a broad array of commercial reagents for scientific characterization. C57BL/6 mice are the most commonly used strain. However, other strains discussed, including BALB/c, C3H, A/J, and FVB/N, may be better suited to a particular disease model or line of investigation. Understanding the phenotypes of different inbred mouse strains facilitates informed decision making during experimental design. Model systems influenced by strain-dependent phenotype include tissue regeneration, drug-induced liver injury (DILI; e.g., acetaminophen), fibrosis (e.g., carbon tetrachloride, CCl₄), Fas-induced apoptosis, cholestasis, alcohol-induced liver disease and cirrhosis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and steatohepatitis (NAFLD/NASH), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Thoughtful consideration of the strengths and weaknesses of each inbred strain in a given model system will lead to more robust data and a clearer understanding of translational relevance to human liver disease.


The paper has put a basically positive view about the future of local roads and streets. It has seen continued changes in the vehicles that use the system and lesser changes in the technology of road and street making. It has suggested that the demands of the community will have altered noticeably. Travel will have become more diverse and dispersed. The community will expect their local areas to be even more sacrosanct from through traffic than they are today. The funding debate will continue unresolved. We will be much clearer about who should pay for what, but still unsure how to collect and distribute the money equitably. If people in the year 2000 had some messages for us, listing things we should do today to make their future lives better, the list would include: 1) put in place a good legislative and policy framework to enable future roads and streets to be planned and paid for by those who will benefit from them. 2) Clarify what objectives your road and street system is intended to meet, including who pays and who benefits. 3) Have a good inventory of your road and streets system. Include both technical and financial data. Err on the side of too much rather than too little data. 4) Speed up research on the costs incurred by various users of the system (particularly by trucks). 5) Continue and increase research into how to use successfully marginal and low quality materials in road construction.


Background Teenage mothers are confronted with the double task of passing through the teenage phase and, at the same time, familiarizing themselves with the requirements of motherhood. The characteristics connected with the teenage stage mostly affect the capability of teenage mothers to adapt to the role of being a first-time mother. The essential role of midwives is to provide care for women during pregnancy and motherhood, through coaching, reassurance, supervision and social support. Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) are also valued as essential actors in maternal health, providing social support and other antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care in developing countries. The study aimed to explore a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of midwives and traditional birth attendants in caring for pregnant teenagers and teenage mothers. Methods A descriptive phenomenological framework based on a lifeworld approach was used, with in-depth interviews as the method of data collection. The setting of the study was a municipal hospital and the seven districts in the Hohoe municipality, Ghana. Six midwives and six TBAs aged 37 to 59, with experience in caring for pregnant teenagers and teenage mothers, were interviewed. Data collected from the midwives and the TBAs was analyzed using Giorgi's data analysis process. Results The general structure of the phenomenon can be described in two main themes with four sub-themes. The first main theme, 'The midwife and the traditional birth attendant as being the mother figure', included 'Emotional and financial support', and 'Creating trust and rapport'. The second main theme, 'The frightened teenage woman', included 'Unprepared: not ready for pregnancy and motherhood' and 'Unsupported: relationship with parents'. Conclusion The midwives and traditional birth attendants played the role of being a mother to these teenagers by creating trust and supporting them financially. The teenagers were not prepared for pregnancy and motherhood, and that some parents did not create good relationships with their daughters. The study has the potential to increase knowledge and understanding of midwives and TBAs' lived experience of caring for teenagers during pregnancy and early motherhood and therefore has implications for practice, education, and research.


Background: Musculoskeletal disorders following heavy computer usage are common and well known and usually affect the upper limb. Health-care professionals are also prone to these disorders; however, the effect on health-care professionals has rarely been reported.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of computer-related upper limb musculoskeletal problems among health-care students, as it can significantly affect the patient health care and the health-care system as a whole.

Materials and Methods: Four hundred fifty health-care students attached to a tertiary-care hospital were evaluated for computer-associated upper limb musculoskeletal problems using modified Maastricht Upper Extremity Questionnaire (MUEQ) and Revised Short Musculoskeletal Function Assessment (SMFA) Questionnaire.

Result: Prevalence of upper limb disorders was 45% in the study population. About 35.69% of the total problems were related to neck, 17.44% to shoulder, 19.62% to arm and forearm, 16.08% to wrists, and 11.17% to hands. Overall, Bothersome Index was higher at follow-up when compared with the beginning of study.

Conclusion: Upper limb musculoskeletal disorders following heavy computer usage have a large prevalence among health-care professionals, and adequate steps for awareness and treatment of these disorders should be taken to provide better patient care and improve the health-care system.


PURPOSE
To investigate the association between various risk factors and precancerous lesion of gastric cancer (PLGC) in patients from eastern China.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
501 cases of PLGC and 523 cases of superficial gastritis were included. A comparative study of the relation between different risk factors and PGLC was performed.

RESULTS
Statistical differences were noted in a series of indexes including Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection, family history of esophageal cancer (EC), gastric cancer (GC) and chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG), a history of CAG, gastric polyps (GP) and gastric ulcer (GU), usage of non-steroids (e.g., aspirin), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), consuming alcohol, eating food rich in nitroso compounds, irregular eating habits with no breakfast, ingestion of smoked meat, fried food and spicy food, anxiety and depression. The risk factors associated with PLGC ranked in an order of a history of CAG, GP, family history of GC, usage of non-steroids (e.g., aspirin), ingestion of spicy food frequently, HP infection, family history of EC, consuming alcohol, anxiety, a history of GU, GERD and family history of CAG.

CONCLUSIONS
A history of CAG was most associated with PLGC in patients from eastern China, followed by a history of GP and family history of GC.


Diabetic nephropathy is one of the most common complications of diabetes mellitus and the leading cause of end‐stage renal disease. A reduction in podocyte number has been documented in the kidneys of these patients. To identify the molecular changes in podocytes that are primarily caused by high glucose (HG) concentrations and not by secondary alterations (e.g. glomerular hypertension), we investigated the protein expression profiles in a podocyte cell line under long‐term HG exposure (30 versus 10 mM for 2 wk). Proteins were separated by 2‐DE, and we identified 39 different proteins in 48 spots that were differentially regulated by more than twofold in response to HG concentrations using MALDI‐TOF MS and MASCOT software. These proteins belong to several protein classes, including cytoskeletal proteins and specific annexins (annexins III and VI). Downregulation of annexins III and VI by HG concentrations was confirmed by qRT‐PCR, Western blot, and immunostaining, and was also observed in glomeruli of kidney biopsies from patients with diabetic nephropathy. Our data demonstrate that HG concentrations per se are sufficient to strongly modify the protein expression profile of podocytes, the analysis of which contributes to the identification of novel targets involved in diabetic nephropathy.


Activation of glucokinase represents a promising strategy for the treatment of type 2 diabetes; however, drug candidates have failed in clinical trials due to narrow therapeutic index between glucose-lowering efficacy and hypoglycemia. Described herein is a novel strategy for the design of next generation glucokinase activators with increased therapeutic index, which involves the optimization of activator-enzyme binding kinetics (kon, koff). This approach is based on the idea that activator binding kinetics are relevant to pharmacodynamics since the affinity of activator binding to glucokinase is cooperative with glucose such that, the rate at which an activator dissociates may influence the enzyme's sensitivity to changes in physiological glucose concentrations. This study provides a compelling example of using fast-off binding kinetics for developing safe and effective activator drugs targeting glucokinase.


As organic dyes are a major group of water pollutants, the development of materials for removal of dyes is of great significance for the environment. Here we report a kind of magnetic metal–organic framework (MOF) for the adsorption of different kinds of anionic and cationic dyes. Magnetic NH2-MIL-101(Al) was synthesized and characterized with Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), physical property measurement system (PPMS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), a transmission electron microscope (TEM), a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and nitrogen adsorption/desorption measurements. Adsorption isotherms and thermodynamic studies indicated that the maximum adsorption capacities of malachite green (MG) and indigo carmine (IC) were 274.4 and 135 mg g−1, respectively. The mechanisms of interaction such as electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bonding, π–π stacking interaction, and hydrophobic interaction are discussed for the adsorption of cationic and anionic dyes onto magnetic NH2-MIL-101(Al). Also, magnetic separation in this method shortened separation time, and the magnetic material can be reused at least five times without obvious decrease in the removal efficiency. Moreover, the synthesis of the magnetic NH2-MIL-101(Al) is easy to control and the good solvent stability makes this material promising as a novel adsorbent for the adsorption and removal of dyes from aqueous solution.


The Ethiopian Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (EFELTP) is a comprehensive two-year competency-based training and service program designed to build sustainable public health expertise and capacity. Established in 2009, the program is a partnership between the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health, the Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute, Addis Ababa University School of Public Health, the Ethiopian Public Health Association and the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Residents of the program spend about 25% of their time undergoing didactic training and the 75% in the field working at program field bases established with the MOH and Regional Health Bureaus investigating disease outbreaks, improving disease surveillance, responding to public health emergencies, using health data to make recommendations and undertaking other field Epidemiology related activities on setting health policy. Residents from the first 2 cohorts of the program have conducted more than 42 outbreaks investigations, 27analyses of surveillance data, evaluations of 11 surveillance systems, had28oral and poster presentation abstracts accepted at 10 scientific conferences and submitted 8 manuscripts of which 2are already published. The EFELTP has provided valuable opportunities to improve epidemiology and laboratory capacity building in Ethiopia. While the program is relatively young, positive and significant impacts are assisting the country better detect and respond to epidemics and address diseases of major public health significance.


Disclosed is a rubber composition having a high storage modulus (G') which is excellent in workability, fracture behavior, wear resistance and low heat generation properties. Specifically disclosed is a rubber composition containing not less than 20 prats by mass of a reinforcing filler (B) and 5-60 parts by mass of a low molecular-weight aromatic vinyl compound-conjugated diene compound copolymer C per 100 parts by mass of a rubber component (A) which contains not less than 10% by mass of a modified conjugated diene polymer having at least one functional group. The low molecular-weight aromatic vinyl compound-conjugated diene compound (C) is characterized in that the aromatic vinyl compound content is 5-80% by mass, the vinyl bond content in the conjugated diene compound unit is 10-80% by mass and the weight average molecular weight in terms of polystyrene as determined by gel permeation chromatography is 5,000-300,000.


Nowadays, automatic analysis of music signals has gained a considerable importance due to the growing amount of music data found on the Web. Music genre classification is one of the interesting research areas in music information retrieval systems. In this paper several techniques were implemented and evaluated for music genre classification including feature extraction, feature selection and music genre modeling on a database of 8 different music genres containing Celtic, Classic, Classic Piano, Jazz, Metal, Persian Classic, Relaxing and Dance music. This database was gathered from several albums composed by different musicians. Short, middle and long term features were studied and finally only short and middle term features were used in our experiments. The long term features were discarded due to their low performance in music genre classification. Two modeling types of the music genres were evaluated. In the first type, only distribution of the feature vectors was used and in the second type, the ordering of the feature vectors was taken into account. Some modeling techniques such as ANN, GMM, Decision Tree and SVM were used individually and in a hierarchical approach. We proposed a taxonomy which classifies the music genres in a hierarchy where there are a small number of classes in the root and large number of classes in leaves. In fact, each class at the root of taxonomy contains one or more music genres and each genre is represented as a leaf at the bottom of the taxonomy. In addition, several classifiers were used simultaneously, in a way that each of them classifies the music genres individually. The decision is finally made using a voting algorithm. Besides, several short-term feature extraction techniques which have successfully been applied in speech recognition, music instrument classification and also music genre classification were studied and after analysis of the experimental results using statistical measures and different combinations of features, a near optimal feature vector was selected.


We have developed expressions for the residual Helmholtz free energy and the residual chemical potential in terms of the correlation functions and bridge functions in the context of the interaction-site formalism for the Chandler-Silbey-Ladanyi equations. Unlike the corresponding expressions for the extended-RISM equation, these expressions are formally exact for systems described by interaction-site models. The new expressions are similar in form to those for multicomponent simple fluid mixtures and are found to reduce to them in the extended-atom limit, where the bond lengths approach infinity. We have also found that the residual Helmholtz free energy satisfies a variational principle for a certain class of closure relations. This finding could facilitate the development of more efficient methods for solving the Chandler- Silbey-Ladanyi equations. We have also derived explicit expressions for the residual Helmholtz free energy, residual chemical potential, residual pressure, and residual internal energy in the hypernetted-chain approximation of the Chandler- Silbey-Ladanyi equations. It is noteworthy that the derived expressions depend solely on the correlation functions of the system at full coupling, thus making the computation of the various fluid properties simpler and more efficient by eliminating the need to perform a numerical integration over a coupling constant. We have also found that the residual Helmholtz free energy associated with the hypernetted-chain approximation of the Chandler-Silbey-Ladanyi equations satisfies a variational principle. Furthermore, in the extended-atom limit, all the derived expressions associated with the hypernetted-chain approximation of the Chandler- Silbey-Ladanyi equations reduce to those corresponding to the multicomponent simple fluid mixtures.


Core-shell composite particles (CPs) are the most preferred choice for direct compaction (DC), but their application in herbal tablets is limited. Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) are usually employed as the shell materials, but there are few, if any, researches exploring the different effects of HPMC and PVP on the properties of herbal CPs. In this study, the CPs containing HPMC (CP X-H) and CPs containing PVP (CP X-P) were prepared based on herbal powders (X). Their physical properties were characterized comprehensively. The differences in properties between CP X-H and CP X-P were explored, and their mechanism analysis was also performed profoundly. The results demonstrated that (i) CP X-H and CP X-P exhibited similar flowability; (ii) CP X-H generally exhibited better compactibility, larger particle size, and more uniform particle size distribution, and lower bulk density, tap density, and hygroscopicity than CP X-P; (iii) compared with the tablets produced with CP X-P, ones with CP X-H exhibited similar weight variation (%), lower friability, and longer disintegration time. The mechanism analysis manifested that the differences in physical properties between HPMC and PVP were the important and fundamental factors, which led to the differences in structure and surface morphology of particles, and in fundamental properties of CPs. These findings are beneficial to the development of herbal core-shell CPs for DC.


As a hot research topic since the eighties, face recognition still seems to be a difficult and largely problem. Distortions caused by variations in illumination, expression and pose are the main challenges to be dealt with by researchers in this field. Efficient recognition algorithms, robust against such distortions, are the main motivations of this research. Based on a detailed review on the background and wide applications of Gabor wavelet and new transforms (Contourlet, Curvelet and Steerable Pyramid) have emerged despite their improved directional elements and other promising abilities compared to traditional wavelet transform. In this book we have introduced Steerable pyramid as a new feature extraction tool for face representation respectively recognition. We also proposed face recognition based on multiple features fusion that combine two different representations of the face image. We examine the impact of information fusion both at the feature level and at the score level. Finally an automatic user identification system, is presented.


In 2008 I resolve:

To answer every phone call the same day the call was made. The call may be trivial to me, but it may be important to someone else.

To slow down. I will remember that the patient and his or her relatives are anxious.

Because they are anxious, I will not rush.

I will ask what they want to say, and listen to the answer.

I will not interrupt, even to clarify something.

I will remember that many people are not verbal. They cannot describe what is wrong, but, instead, expect me to somehow know.

John R Taylor

I will not scare people with informed consents. I will be reasonable in discussing the risks of surgery. I will say, "in this operation I will be worried about...".

I will recommend surgery only if I am convinced there is a very high chance of helping the patient.

I will surgically change the patient's appearance only if the problem is immediately apparent.

I will decline all minor changes that are seen by the patient only.

I will do only one consultation for one problem at one visit. No more triple consults 'while we are at it'.

I will communicate more by my demeanor and smile, and less with words.

I will make fewer notes while the patient is in the consulting room, and leave my notes for later. I will look at the patient's face when I explain what is wrong. I will use clear, nonmedical language, and repeat it slowly.

I will suggest the safest anesthetic that will allow me to perform the operation properly.

I will assume nothing about what the patient understands.

I will remember the word 'patient' means sufferer, and put myself in the patient's position imagining myself in the other chair looking at me.

I will remove all abruptness and criticism from my tone.

I will make haste slowly. I will try to be on time.

I will refer to colleagues with more expertise than I for a second opinion.

I will write honest referral letters that include my diagnosis.

I will avoid all unnecessary tests, instead relying on my clinical experience in making a diagnosis.

I will tell patients the diagnosis I think is correct and avoid long lists of possibilities.

I will tell patients the one best treatment, the one I recommend, clearly and with confidence. I will explain the second-best treatment and why my first treatment is the best, but I will not confuse by recommending more than two possible treatments.

Even if surrounded by troubled people I resolve to be kind, courteous and patient to all.

I will remember aequanimitas.

I resolve not to talk about myself but rather listen to other people.

I will remember that the world does not revolve around me.

I resolve not to play the 'can you top this' game. No one wants to know I have had more troubles than they have.

I will not take second-hand gossip or interpreted stories as fact.

I will avoid people who sincerely generalize on the basis of one experience.

I will remember that not all questions are questions. When asked what I think of vitamin E on scars, I will wait until the patient tells me what they already believe. I will not try to change a believer's mind.

I will not ask rhetorical questions in the consulting room. Socrates does not live here anymore.

I will never discuss politics in the consulting room.

I will encourage and give the patient hope.

I will wash my hands before every patient visit and not wear a long tie.

I will rely on my charts, not my memory, in the operating room

I will encourage relatives to attend the consultation, particularly mothers and daughters, and watch their relationship.

I will not overbook. I will learn how to say "no" graciously.

I will telephone referring doctors regarding difficult cases, explaining my advice.

I will be positive every day.

I will enjoy my practice and thank my lucky stars for being able to do this fascinating work.


Abstract Dipole radiofrequency (RF) elements have been successfully used to compose multi-channel RF coils for ultrahigh fields (UHF) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). As magnetic components of RF fields (B1) can be very inhomogeneous at UHF (B0≥7T), dielectric pads with high dielectric constants were proposed to improve the B1 efficiency and homogeneity [1]. Dielectric pads can be used as a passive B1 shimmimg technique thanks to inducing a strong secondary magnetic field in their vicinity. The use of such dielectric pads affect not only the B1 field but also the electric field. This in turn affects the specific absorption rate (SAR) and consequently the temperature distribution inside the patient's body. To study these effects, a 29 cm-long transmission dipole RF coil element terminated by two meander was used for 7T MRI [2]. Using a cylindrical agarose-gel phantom, numerical and experimental results were analyzed with respect to homogeneity and amplitude of the magnetic and electric fields generated by the RF element in various configurations with and without dielectric pads. Calculated and measured B1 results were cross-checked and found to be in good agreement. When using dielectric pads B1 homogeneity and magnitude increase in regions where it was previously weak or insufficient. Calculations suggest that SAR distribution will change when using the pads.


Data de-duplication is one in every of vital information compression techniques for eliminating duplicate copies of continuance information and has been wide employed in cloud storage to scale back the quantity of space for storing and save information measure to guard the confidentiality of sensitive information whereas supporting de-duplication, the confluent cryptography technique has been planned to encipher the info before outsourcing to higher shield information security, this paper makes the primary plan to formally address the matter of approved information de-duplication. Completely different from ancient de-duplication systems, the differential privileges of users are more thought of in duplicate check besides the info itself. We conjointly gift many new de-duplication constructions supporting approved duplicate sign in a hybrid cloud design. Security analysis demonstrates that our theme is secure in terms of the definitions per the planned security model. As an indication of construct, we tend to implement a model of our planned approved duplicate check theme and conduct test bed experiments victimization our model. We tend to show that our planned approved duplicate check theme incurs nominal over head compared to traditional operations.


Massive transfusion therapy in severe paediatric trauma is a challenge. When this occurs in a rural setting, the potential delays in accessing medical services can lead to worse coagulopathy on presentation. We report successful treatment of a child post-traumatic lower limb amputation where treatment was only initiated 3 hours postinjury due to difficulties in access/retrieval. Rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM)-guided, goal-directed haemostatic therapy perioperatively utilising a blood product ratio of 2:2:1 units of red blood cell:free frozen plasma:platelet reverted his coagulopathy. This report aims to raise awareness of the utility of ROTEM in paediatric trauma.


Calcific brain embolization leading to stroke is rarely recognized. We report a case of spontaneous embolization to the right cerebral circulation from a severely regurgitant, calcified bicuspid valve. Bicuspid aortic valves constitute the most common congenital heart abnormality, and have a tendency to become stenosed, regurgitant, calcified, or infected. The presence of heavy calcification in a noninfected bicuspid valve may lead to dislodgement of calcific embolic material which is not necessarily heralded by acute valvular rupture. Accurate localization of the calcific embolus to the right supraclinoid internal carotid artery was provided by spiral CT imaging in this case.


Previous work has suggested that decrement in both processing speed and working memory span plays a role in the memory impairment observed in patients with schizophrenia. We undertook a study to examine simultaneously the effect of these two factors. A sample of 49 patients with schizophrenia and 43 healthy controls underwent a battery of verbal and visual memory tasks. Superficial and deep encoding memory measures were tallied. We conducted regression analyses on the various memory measures, using processing speed and working memory span as independent variables. In the patient group, processing speed was a significant predictor of superficial and deep memory measures in verbal and visual memory. Working memory span was an additional significant predictor of the deep memory measures only. Regression analyses involving all participants revealed that the effect of diagnosis on all the deep encoding memory measures was reduced to non-significance when processing speed was entered in the regression. Decreased processing speed is involved in verbal and visual memory deficit in patients, whether the task require superficial or deep encoding. Working memory is involved only insofar as the task requires a certain amount of effort. (JINS, 2011, 17, 485–493)


The pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties of cyclosporin A are reviewed. Its adverse reactions and posology in allograft transplantation are described according to clinical experience. Preliminary results with the use of cyclosporin A (Cy A) in primary cadaveric renal transplant patients, in comparison to 3 other conventional treatments, are reported in a randomized study of 69 patients: even if graft acute tubular necrosis is more frequent in the Cy A group, this group is the one which reaches the most successful short term renal graft survival.


Some algorithmic aspects of systems of PDEs based simulations can be better clarified by means of symbolic computation techniques. This is very important since numerical simulations heavily rely on solving systems of PDEs. For the large-scale problems we deal with in today's standard applications, it is necessary to rely on iterative Krylov methods that are scalable (i.e., weakly dependent on the number of degrees on freedom and number of subdomains) and have limited memory requirements. They are preconditioned by domain decomposition methods, incomplete factorizations and multigrid preconditioners. These techniques are well understood and efficient for scalar symmetric equations (e.g., Laplacian, biLaplacian) and to some extent for non-symmetric equations (e.g., convection-diffusion). But they have poor performances and lack robustness when used for symmetric systems of PDEs, and even more so for non-symmetric complex systems (fluid mechanics, porous media ...). As a general rule, the study of iterative solvers for systems of PDEs as opposed to scalar PDEs is an underdeveloped subject. We aim at building new robust and efficient solvers, such as domain decomposition methods and preconditioners for some linear and well-known systems of PDEs.


The objective of this study was to see the  association of the prognosis of ischemic stroke patients with or without collateralization after carotid stenosis. This study was conducted on 36 patients presenting with acute ischemic stroke who were going through digital subtraction angiography from March 2017 to March 2018. Collateralization status after unilateral or bilateral stenosis was evaluated. Modified ranking scale (mRS) score was  measured on the first day of the stroke and after three months. The disability of ischemic stroke patients was compared between patients who developed collateralization and who had not. Among them, 61.6% developed collateralization. Among the patients who developed collateralization after three months, 90.9% patients had mRS scale of ≤2 and who not developed collateralization, 85.7% patients had mRS scale of ≤2. In both the groups, the p value was <0.05. It can be concluded that carotid stenosed patients who suffered from ischemic stroke, most of the patients disability improved to some extents whether collateralization developed or not among the major vessels.


We consider Markov processes of DNA sequence evolution in which the instantaneous rates of substitution at a site are allowed to depend upon the states at the sites in a neighbourhood of the site at the instant of the substitution. We characterize the class of Markov process models of DNA sequence evolution for which the stationary distribution is a Gibbs measure, and give a procedure for calculating the normalizing constant of the measure. We develop an MCMC method for estimating the transition probability between sequences under models of this type. Finally, we analyse an alignment of two HIV-1 gene sequences using the developed theory and methodology.


We propose a method, SDpop, able to infer sex-linkage caused by recombination suppression typical of sex chromosomes. The method is based on the modeling of the allele and genotype frequencies of individuals of known sex in natural populations. It is implemented in a hierarchical probabilistic framework, accounting for different sources of error. It allows to statistically test for the presence or absence of sex chromosomes, and to infer sex-linked genes based on the posterior probabilities in the model. Furthermore, for gametologous sequences, the haplotype and level of nucleotide polymorphism of each copy can be inferred, as well as the divergence between both. We test the method using simulated and human sequencing data, and show that, for most cases, robust predictions are obtained with 5 to 10 individuals per sex.


Abstract Beet armyworm (BAW), Spodoptera exigua, is becoming one of more and more serious pests in China in recent years. As a part of research program of sex pheromone and its application of BAW in China, the hourly and daily variation of calling behavior and pheromone production of BAW females were investigated. Both calling behavior and titers of 4 sex pheromone components showed distinct diel rhythms, and the two peak periods were synchronous. In comparison, the calling activity lasted shorter period of time with a longer peak time, whereas the production of the sex pheromone lasted throughout the whole scotophase and part of the photophase with a very short peak time. The calling behavior began at the middle scotophase, reached the maximum at the middle‐later scotophase, and continued the maximal calling activity until the end of the scotophase. When the light was on, the calling percentage reduced sharply, and all females stopped calling 1 hour later. The variation patterns of the 4 pheromone components in the glands of the 3 day old moths were similar from one to another. From 0.5 h before to 4.5 h into scotophase, the titers increased slightly, but at 6.5 h they showed a significant increase up to the peak values of the scotophase. Soon at 8.5 h into the scotophase, they decreased significantly and thereafter gradually to undetectable level at 4.5 h into the next photophase. The daily change experiment showed that BAW females began calling at 0 scotophase, became fully active in calling at 3rd scotophase, and maintained the calling activity to 7th scotophase. There was no significant difference in pheromone titers among different day‐old moths.


Highlights What are the main findings? A new immersive rehabilitation therapy (MoveR) tool based to reinforce visual dis-crimination, visual attention, saccadic and vergence system and spatial orien-tation in dyslexics has been developed. What is the implication of the main finding? This new immersive rehabilitation therapy (MoveR) is able to improve visual per-ceptual skills better than classical visual training in children with dyslexia. Abstract In this study, we wonder how to compare the improvement in visual perceptual skills (by using the test of visual perceptual skills, TVPS) in children with dyslexia after two visual training types (a new immersive rehabilitation therapy called MoveR, and the classical vision therapy). Thirty-nine children with dyslexia were enrolled in the study. They were split into two groups (G1 and G2) matched in IQ (intelligence quotient), sex, and age. Children of the group G1 underwent to MoveR training while children of the group G2 underwent to visual training. TVPS scores of four subtests were assessed twice before and 6 months after the two different types of training (MoveR or visual). MoveR training is an immersive therapy to reinforce visual discrimination, visual attention, saccadic/vergence system and spatial orientation. Visual therapy is based by training different types of eyes movements (horizontal, vertical and oblique pursuits and saccades, convergence and divergence movements), reading task and some exercise for improving eyes–head coordination. Each training type lasted 30 min a day, five days a week, for two weeks. Before training, the TVPS scores of the four subtests measured were statistically similar for both groups of children with dyslexia (G1 and G2). After training, both group of children (G1 and G2) improved the TVPS score of the four subtests assessed; however, such improvement reached significance in G1 only. We conclude that MoveR training could be a more useful tool than classical visual training to improve visual perceptual abilities in dyslexic children. Follow up studies on a larger number of dyslexic children will be necessary in order to explore whether such improvement persists over time and its eventual implication in reading or other classroom's activities.


What role do sporting spectacles play in the making of a 'world-class' city?Indy Dreams and Urban Nightmares reports on the conflict that arose between a Vancouver community and the civic boosters who wanted to move the Molson Indy Vancouver motorsport event to their neighbourhood park. Arguing that such events are simply a matter of economic and cultural 'common sense', the civic boosters promoted the Indy spectacle as a means of gaining 'world-class' status for the city. Against this background, Lowes explores the complex relations among major league sport, urban landscape, and civic identity. He argues that the capacity to articulate a city's 'vision' for itself is an important manifestation of power and ideology, and a notable point of struggle in contemporary urban life. This encompasses much larger issues related to the struggle over urban public space and the legitimacy of a particular narrative of urban growth and civic identity - one that increasingly privileges the consumer over the citizen. Provocative and engaging, this study examines the impact of major sports events on urban centres, and shows how urban public culture is defined and shaped by competition for the right to conceptualize, control, and experience a city's public spaces.


This research was conducted to determine the prevalence of major
gastrointestinal protozoal infections, the kinds of protozoa that infects and
maintenance systems influence on pigeons in Surabaya. Pigeon taken from five
regions of Surabaya namely North Surabaya, East Surabaya, West Surabaya,
South Surabaya and Surabaya Center. Each region is taken as many as 20 pigeons
consisted of 10 pigeons with extensive maintenance system and 10 pigeons with
intensif maintenance system. So that the total overall sample is 100 pigeons.
Laboratory examination (microscopic) was conducted in November 2017 until
January 2017.Examination of the upper gastrointestinal tract using throat swabs
and stool samples were examined with native methods, sedimentation, and
flotation. Identification using a microscope using 40x objective scale and
10x oculer scale to determine gastrointestinal protozoal that was found.
Data was analyzed using Chi Square Teststatistical analysis. Results showed
78% of the positive samples gastrointestinal protozoa infections in pigeons in the
city of Surabaya.Results of Chi Square Teststatistical analysis showed a p
value of 0.030 (p<0.05) which means significantly different. Types of
protozoa found that Trichomonas gallinae (49%) and Eimeria sp. (61%). The
prevalence of gastrointestinal protozoal pigeons on extensive maintenance system
was higher (44%) compared to the intensivecare system(34%).


The present study was carried out to evaluate the anti-diabetic effect of aqueous extract of Basella alba leaves in alloxan-induced diabetic albino rats. Thirty (30) male albino rats weighing 100 to 150 g were used for this work. The rats were randomly distributed into five groups containing six (6) rats per group. Group I rats served as the healthy control group and were neither induced with diabetes nor given any treatment. Group II rats served as the diabetic control. They were induced with diabetes but not given any treatment throughout the experiment. Rats in group III and IV were induced with diabetes and administered B. alba leaf extract at different doses, 100 and 200 mg/kg, respectively. Group V rats were also induced with diabetes and treated with Metformin at a dose of 100 mg/kg body weight. The various treatments were administered orally for a period of three weeks. The mean fasting blood glucose (FBG) of the rats was determined weekly using a glucometer. The rats treated with B. alba at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg had their mean FBG levels significantly lower than the diabetic control group (p<0.05). Similarly, there was significant difference between rats in the group treated with Metformin and the diabetic control group (p<0.05). The mean FBG levels of rats treated with 200 mg/kg of B. alba leaf extract was not statistically different from that recorded in rats treated with Metformin. The results show that B. alba leaf extract has antidiabetic effect in alloxan-induced diabetic rats, varying with the quantity ingested. Hence, consumption of B. alba leaf as a vegetable should be encouraged for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Keywords: Basella alba , diabetes mellitus, fasting blood glucose, metformin, hypoglycemia. African Journal of Biotechnology , Vol 13(24) 2455-2458


The rotor motion and the information fusion of single section were discussed; the fault diagnosis method for rotary machinery based on the full information fusion of two sections was put forward, and the back propagation neural network model was established. Engineering practice indicated that the fault diagnosis accuracy based on the information fusion of two sections was higher than that based on the information fusion of single section.


This review addresses means for the improvement of treatment results in small cell and non-small cell lung cancer. In small cell lung cancer prognostic factors such as the distinction between classic and variant type in vivo remain an important subject for further investigations. Data concerning the schedule dependency of etoposide will lead to the investigation of new treatment regimens. The effect of warfarin is intriguing and warrants further research. Investigations of the damaging effects of prophylactic brain irradiation versus the effect on survival should be awaited before the role of prophylactic brain irradiation can be defined. The role of radiotherapy in the improvement of survival of limited-disease patients remains controversial. In non-small cell lung cancer the role of both radiotherapy and chemotherapy is still a matter of a seemingly never-ending debate. A major problem is the selection of patients. Therefore only randomized phase III trials should be performed in carefully defined subgroups of patients, based upon stage, performance status, and presence or absence of symptoms.


The principles, equipment and procedures for measuring leaf and canopy gas exchange have been described previously as has chlorophyll fluorescence. Simultaneous measurement of the responses of leaf gas exchange and modulated chlorophyll fluorescence to light and CO2 concentration now provide a means to determine a wide range of key biochemical and biophysical limitations on photo synthesis in vivo. Here the mathematical frameworks and practical procedures for determining these parameters in vivo are consolidated. Leaf CO2 uptake (A) versus intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci) curves may now be routinely obtained from commercial gas exchange systems. The potential pitfalls, and means to avoid these, are examined. Calculation of in vivo maximum rates of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) carboxylation (Vc,max), electron transport driving regeneration of RuBP (Jmax), and triose-phosphate utilization (VTPU) are explained; these three parameters are now widely assumed to represent the major limitations to light-saturated photosynthesis. Precision in determining these in intact leaves is improved by the simultaneous measurement of electron transport via modulated chlorophyll fluorescence. The A/Ci response also provides a simple practical method for quantifying the limitation that stomata impose on CO2 assimilation. Determining the rate of photorespiratory release of oxygen (Rl) has previously only been possible by isotopic methods, now, by combining gas exchange and fluorescence measurements, Rl may be determined simply and routinely in the field. The physical diffusion of CO2 from the intercellular air space to the site of Rubisco in C3 leaves has long been suspected of being a limitation on photosynthesis, but it has commonly been ignored because of the lack of a practical method for its determination. Again combining gas exchange and fluorescence provides a means to determine mesophyll conductance. This method is described and provides insights into the magnitude and basis of this limitation.


The K2 electronic states calculated theoretically and/or observed experimentally have been relabeled according to their dominant hydrogenic nl characters of the Rydberg orbitals. These states can be divided into core-penetrating and core-nonpenetrating states. This classification provides physical insights for interpreting and predicting experimental observations. The application of this method to K2 is compared with that to Na2 and Li2.


Rationale Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is a human cytokine that plays a major role in the activation and survival of neutrophils, eosinophils, and monocytes. It increases the activation and survival rates of these cells by inhibiting apoptosis and increasing adhesion. Specifically in neutrophils, GM-CSF is known to enhance cell chemotaxis, expression of membrane antigens, and degranulation of lytic enzymes. GM-CSF, when applied topically, has been shown to improve wound healing, particularly in patients with inherit defects in neutrophil function. Methodology In order to quantify the effects of GM-CSF on neutrophil activation, we monitored their morphology and utilized flow cytometric analysis at various concentrations of the drug. We first isolated white blood cells from whole blood by centrifuging through a 75% percoll gradient. After the target cells were separated, uniform cultures diluted to 1.0 × 106 cells/mL were prepared. These cultures were then subjected to various concentrations of GM-CSF and incubated over various increments of time (1 hour, 2 hours, 24 hours). After the allotted time, further activation was prevented with gluteradehyde. Activation through morphology was then determined by sampling the number of cells with morphological elongation and the presence of pseudopods at the various concentrations of GM-CSF. Flow cytometry was performed to monitor neutrophil activation through CD69 and CD16 expression. Results Preliminary results indicate that GM-CSF will induce morphological changes in neutrophils that may be monitored by this assay. Conclusions We hope to eventually correlate these in vitro changes with the effects of topical GM-CSF in wound healing.


To control shrubs, which are increasing in dominance in wetlands worldwide, winter burning may be an important tool, especially from the perspective of minimizing urban hazards. The goal of this project was to determine if winter burning was successful in reducing the dominance (mean percentage cover and maximum height) of Cornus sericea in sedge meadows in southern Wisconsin, where shrubs proliferated after cattle were excluded. Experimental burn and control plots were set up within sedge meadows, including an ungrazed "reference" site that had been little, if ever, grazed and a "historically grazed" site, a recovery site that had not been grazed by cattle since 1973. None of the dominant species including C. sericea was significantly affected by burning for either mean percentage cover or maximum height (analysis of variance: no burning × species interaction). Both mean percentage cover and maximum height were only weakly related to burning (28.1 and 14.3% of the variability contributed to the cumulative percentage of the coefficient of determination, respectively) at both sites based on non‐metric multidimensional scaling analysis. Although species richness increased in burned plots in 1999 and 2000, no differences were apparent between pre‐burned and unburned plots in 1997 and unburned plots in 1999 and 2000 (analysis of variance: year × burning interaction). After burning in the ungrazed site, herbaceous species appeared that had not been detected for decades, including Chelone glabra and Lathyrus palustris. Exotic species were present in both the ungrazed reference and recovery site. Although winter burning treatments did not reduce the dominance of woody shrub species in the site recovering from cattle grazing, burning was useful in stimulating the maintenance of species richness in the ungrazed sedge meadow.


A study on the effects of pre-oxidation on subsequent fatigue life was conducted. The surface oxidation and grain boundary oxidation of a nickel-base superalloy (TAZ-8A) were studied at 600 to 1000°C for 10 to 1000 h in air. The surface oxides were identified and the kinetics of surface oxidation was discussed. The grain boundary oxide penetration and morphology were studied. The pancake-type grain boundary oxide penetrates deeper and its size is larger, therefore, it is more detrimental to fatigue life than the cone-type grain boundary oxide. The oxide penetration depth, a m , is related to oxidation temperature, T, and exposure time, t, by an empirical relation of the Arrhenius type. The effects of T and t on the statistical variation of a m were analyzed according to the Weibull distribution function. Once the oxide is cracked, it serves as a fatigue crack nucleus. The statistical variation of the remaining fatigue life, after the formation of an oxide crack of a critical length, could be related directly to the statistical variation of grain boundary oxide penetration depth.


We report a retrospective analysis of 15 cases of neurobrucellosis. Initial clinical manifestations consisted of meningoencephalitis in 5 patients, acute and subacute meningitis in 4, intracranial hypertension in 2, polyradiculoneuritis with albumin-cell dissociation in 2 (one with cerebral and subarachnoid hemorrhage), and transverse myelitis and lumbar epidural abcess with root involvement in 1 each. Cranial nerve involvement was noted in 5 patients. Fever was absent in 3. Transient clinical manifestations mimicking transient ischemic attacks were noted in 3 patients. Unusual central nervous system demyelinating lesions were observed on the MRI in 1 of the patients with meningoencephalitis. Cerebrospinal fluid Wright titers and culture were rarely helpful. Most patients responded favorably with minor neurological sequelae. The most commonly used antibiotics were rifampin, doxycycline, and trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole, in various combinations for at least 3 months. The differential diagnosis of neurobrucellosis is wide. However, in endemic areas, the disease should be ruled out in all patients who develop unexplained neurological symptoms.


The widespread growth of entrepreneurship and the rapid technologic progress have made specialization the key ingredient of the successful enterprise. In order for a company to prevail in its field, it must first of all ensure the quality of the product or service provided, but also, with the utmost immediacy, it must strategically handle, those functions which it cannot fully run effectively with its own resources. All modern research indicates these functions, that most modern businesses appear to be suffering from, have to do with Logistics based mechanisms. This study deals with the process of exploring an effective solution and determining an applicable scientific method to it.
However, in order to fully understand modern business methods, the study is organized in such a manner so that the general principles governing the phenomenon are explained first followed by the specifics of its resolution. Thus, the analysis begins by defining the concepts of the modern Supply Chain and Logistics, while making extensive references to the elements that make up these concepts.
Continuing with the theoretical positioning and clarification of the terms on which this research is based, the concept of outsourcing is outlined. The scope of the analysis is characterized both by the definition of the phenomenon - method, which as we shall see, includes the provision of necessary services by an external (out-of-the-firm) provider, as well as by the procedures for its implementation in combination with the broad analysis of the services provided and their placement within the firm's supply chain. In order to make the decision making process easier there is an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of using Logistics service providers rather than dealing with the issue using in-house mechanisms.
Specifying to the subject of the research, the Logistics outsourcing stages are analyzed. This analysis encompasses the style that can make successful the whole project and includes in detail the steps from the need analysis, the clarification of the services required to the franchisee-contractor structure as well as the factors that will determine the effectiveness of the current cooperation.
Having set the full academic background but also to further draw conclusions, two typical case studies are listed. Their structure and development is based on the objective assessment of the effectiveness of the method under consideration.
In conclusion to this study, there is a reference to the current trends in the Logistics outsourcing industry and their analysis, with a conclusive view of the events that characterize them.


Lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] is independently associated with CVD risk. Evolocumab, a monoclonal antibody (mAb) to proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), decreases Lp(a). The potential mechanisms were assessed. A pooled analysis of Lp(a) and LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) in 3,278 patients from 10 clinical trials (eight phase 2/3; two extensions) was conducted. Within each parent study, biweekly and monthly doses of evolocumab statistically significantly reduced Lp(a) at week 12 versus control (P < 0.001 within each study); pooled median (quartile 1, quartile 3) percent reductions were 24.7% (40.0, 3.6) and 21.7% (39.9, 4.2), respectively. Reductions were maintained through week 52 of the open-label extension, and correlated with LDL-C reductions [with and without correction for Lp(a)-cholesterol] at both time points (P < 0.0001). The effect of LDL and LDL receptor (LDLR) availability on Lp(a) cell-association was measured in HepG2 cells: cell-associated LDL fluorescence was reversed by unlabeled LDL and Lp(a). Lp(a) cell-association was reduced by coincubation with LDL and PCSK9 and reversed by adding PCSK9 mAb. These studies support that reductions in Lp(a) with PCSK9 inhibition are partly due to increased LDLR-mediated uptake. In most situations, Lp(a) appears to compete poorly with LDL for LDLR binding and internalization, but when LDLR expression is increased with evolocumab, particularly in the setting of low circulating LDL, Lp(a) is reduced.


We have observed that the lectin Ricinus communis agglutinin I (RCA), which binds to terminal galaotose moieties, serves as a marker for vasculature in the mouse retina. The binding of fluorescein‐isothiocyanate‐conjugated RCA was used to study the development of retinal vasculature in normal mice and in rd (retinal degeneration) mutant mice, which exhibit a massive loss of photoreceptor cells during the first month of life. In the normal mouse, retinal capillaries develop in an ordered manner and are concentrated in three major zones between the inner limiting membrane and the outer plexiform layer. In the rd mouse, the vessels appear to form normally but begin to degenerate by the end of the second postnatal week. By the end of the fourth postnatal week there is approximately a 35% reduction in the total number of vascular profiles in the rd retina compared to normal littermate controls. This reduction in vascularity is temporally associated with the photoreceptor degeneration.


Renin is an aspartyl protease most commonly associated with its systemic role in regulation of arterial pressure and electrolyte balance through its participation in the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). Under normal physiological conditions, renin synthesis and secretion is restricted to the granulated juxtaglomerular (JG) cells of the kidney. Most mammals possess a single renin gene, however most strains of laboratory mice possess two renin genes, termed Ren-ld and Ren-2. Mice lacking a functional Ren-ld gene exhibit a complete lack of renal JG cell granulation and abnormal macula densa morphology. Transgenic mice carrying a 145 kb BAC clone encompassing the Ren-ld and Ren-2 loci show complete restoration of JG cell granulation and normal renal macula densa structure. The structural features required for formation of dense-core renin secretory granules have not yet been identified. Here we describe attempts to rescue the mouse Ren-ld knockout by complementation with a large human renin (hREN) transgene. Transgenic mice were generated using a 55 kb fragment of a PAC clone encompassing the hREN locus, with approximately 35 kb of 5'-flanking sequence. The hREN transgene was backcrossed onto the Ren-ld knockout background, and these M/TV-complemented animals demonstrated restoration of JG cell granulation in a transgene expression level-dependent manner, whilst the atypical macula densa morphology was not rescued. These experiments suggest that the human renin and mouse renin-ld proteins have conserved structural features necessary for the formation of dense-core renin secretory granules. The Ren-ld knockout mouse model provides an ideal tool for the in vivo dissection of structural features of the renin protein responsible for formation of dense-core secretory granules in JG cells. From the renal JG cells, prorenin is secreted either rapidly and intact by a constitutive pathway from the Golgi or protogranules, or is packaged into immature granules and processed into active renin, which is stored in dense-core secretory granules until its regulated release is stimulated. Evidence suggests that the product of the Ren-ld gene, renin-ld is released by the regulated pathway of secretion, whilst the product of the Ren-2 gene, renin-2, is released via the constitutive pathway. It is not known whether the renin-2 protein is able to enter the regulated pathway of secretion. To investigate the trafficking pathways of the two mouse renin proteins, fusion proteins of the reninld and renin-2 proteins with enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) were generated. The chimaeras were expressed in vitro in the JG-like As4.1 mouse renal carcinoma cell line. Renin-ld-EGFP was localised to large granular compartments, the Golgi apparatus and also to some smaller vesicles. Renin-2-EGFP was most evident in the Golgi apparatus, with some weaker expression in the cytoplasm, with no evidence of the fusion protein in any large granular compartment. These results confirm that the mouse renin-ld and renin-2 proteins are not equivalent, and support evidence that the renin-ld and renin-2 proteins are secreted by regulated and constitutive pathways, respectively.


Designers oversize HVAC systems for various reasons, and some reasons are more justifiable than others. In oversizing the system, the designers are essentially asking the building owner to incur the financial penalties of oversizing throughout the life of the HVAC system in favor of the theoretical benefit of perfect occupant comfort during the combination of all possible extreme conditions. The initial and ongoing financial penalties associated with oversizing are often not communicated to the client and neither are the potential comfort trade-offs of rightsizing. This paper presents the results of a study on the "rightsizing" of the rooftop HVAC systems. The study involves a survey and intensive interviews with HVAC designers regarding the design process to identify the factors that can lead to oversizing. The study also carried out extensive measurements on the performance of rooftop units (RTUs) under the peak cooling day design condition. The measurements were used to identify the signature of oversizing, and estimated penalty of oversizing in terms of energy consumption and peak electricity demand. This paper focuses on the results of the simulation exercise carried out as part of the study. The goal of the simulation work for the study was to extend the measured penalty estimate across the whole cooling season.


Biological ice nucleators (IN) function as catalysts for freezing at relatively warm temperatures (warmer than −10 °C). We examined the concentration (per volume of liquid) and nature of IN in precipitation collected from Montana and Louisiana, the Alps and Pyrenees (France), Ross Island (Antarctica), and Yukon (Canada). The temperature of detectable ice-nucleating activity for more than half of the samples was ≥ −5 °C based on immersion freezing testing. Digestion of the samples with lysozyme (i.e., to hydrolyze bacterial cell walls) led to reductions in the frequency of freezing (0–100%); heat treatment greatly reduced (95% average) or completely eliminated ice nucleation at the measured conditions in every sample. These behaviors were consistent with the activity being bacterial and/or proteinaceous in origin. Statistical analysis revealed seasonal similarities between warm-temperature ice-nucleating activities in snow samples collected over 7 months in Montana. Multiple regression was used to construct models with biogeochemical data [major ions, total organic carbon (TOC), particle, and cell concentration] that were accurate in predicting the concentration of microbial cells and biological IN in precipitation based on the concentration of TOC, Ca2+, and NH4+, or TOC, cells, Ca2+, NH4+, K+, PO43−, SO42−, Cl−, and HCO3−. Our results indicate that biological IN are ubiquitous in precipitation and that for some geographic locations the activity and concentration of these particles is related to the season and precipitation chemistry. Thus, our research suggests that biological IN are widespread in the atmosphere and may affect meteorological processes that lead to precipitation.


This chapter argues that evictions constitute an everyday form of violence faced by people living in rented accommodation, a form of violence that we describe as 'domicide'. Evictions involve the forced removal of people from their home and since the financial crash in 2007/08, they have become everyday phenomena in a number of countries, including the USA, Spain, Ireland and Greece. In the UK, evictions have spiked with an estimated 170 evictions carried out each day in 2015. The main drivers of these evictions are rent arrears that are due to recent and direct cuts in household income under austerity and welfare reforms, cuts that directly affect the ability of tenants to pay their rent.


The study aimed to evaluate the Commission of the European Communities (CEC) quality criteria for paediatric lateral spine radiographs, and to use these to assess and compare the quality of film-screen and digital images. 286 paediatric lateral spine radiographs (89 film-screen and 197 digital) were independently analysed by two observers according to the CEC criteria. Based on fulfilment of criteria, images were assigned two scores, an image criteria score and a visual grading analysis score. Sensitivity values (S) on digital radiographs were recorded and correlated with image quality. Variability for assignment of scores between observers was lower for the image criteria than the visual grading analysis technique. Analysis of variance for fulfilment of criteria between techniques, and (for digital images) age and sensitivity values was calculated. Film-screen did significantly better (p<0.05) than digital imaging for Criterion 6 (visually sharp reproduction of the cortex and trabecular markings consistent with age), but significantly worse for Criterion 7 (reproduction of the adjacent soft tissues). There was a significant difference in mean S values for each age group when Criterion 6 was or was not met. Results show that although interpretation between two observers was ambiguous, the CEC criteria were able to detect differences in quality of film-screen and digital images. It is also possible to use them when optimizing target S values.


Synopsis : The high temperature oxidation behavior in air atmosphere and air-mist cooling property of 1 ton ingot are investigated using plain carbon steel (P.C. steel), chromium bearing steel (Cr steel) and chromium and nickel bearing steel (Cr-Ni steel) in order to clarify the effect of surface oxidation on cooling property. The results obtained are summarized as follows. At 1573K, Cr enriched outer scale layer and internal oxide consist of Fe2SiO4 eutectic oxide are formed on Cr steel, whereas characteristic subscale of Ni bearing steel is formed on Cr-Ni bearing steel. These characteristics disappear at lower oxidation temperature. At mist cooling, cooling rate, and hence heat transfer coefficient of Cr steel is significantly reduced compared with P.C. steel and Cr-Ni steel. Characteristics of scale morphology and cooling property due to chromium bearing disappear by Ni addition. Comparing with other cooling experiments, specimen dimension has significant effects on cooling properties. As air-mist cooling intensity is mild in this work, insulation effect of surface scale or subscale layer is insufficient to explain the cooling property. It is considered that the morphology change of cast surface is caused by the formation of chromium oxide layer at the inside of outer scale and hence prevention of FeO or Fe2SiO4 formation which clamp scale layer.


Quality of service (QoS) is widely employed for describing nonfunctional characteristics of web services. Although QoS of web services has been investigated intensively in the field of service computing, there is a lack of real-world web service QoS data sets for validating various QoS-based techniques and models. To investigate QoS of real-world web services and to provide reusable research data sets for future research, we conduct several large-scale evaluations on real-world web services. First, addresses of 21,358 web services are obtained from the Internet. Then, three large-scale real-world evaluations are conducted. In our evaluations, more than 30 million real-world web service invocations are conducted on web services in more than 80 countries by users from more than 30 counties. Detailed evaluation results are presented in this paper and comprehensive web service QoS data sets are publicly released online.


This paper studies the Hojman conserved quantity, a non-Noether conserved quantity, deduced by special weak Noether symmetry for Lagrange systems. Under special infinitesimal transformations in which the time is not variable, its criterion is given and a method of how to seek the Hojman conserved quantity is presented. A Hojman conserved quantity can be found by using the special weak Noether symmetry.


This study was carried out to investigate the interaction of simultaneous use of fluoxetine (Flx), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, and diclofenac (Dcf), a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, on food intake in goldfish, Carassius auratus. Treatments with different dosage of Flx including control, 0, 1, and 10 µg/g body weight (BW) were injected in the fish with mean weight of 30.16 ± 8.57 g every other day in total of 5 times. Then fish were exposed to 3 different levels of Dcf including 0, 10, and 100 mg/l for 5 days. Injection of fluoxetine significantly decreased food intake and consequently body weight. After 5 days exposure to Dcf, the amount of food intake in the Dcf receiving treatments of 1 mg/l and 10 mg/l was significantly larger than that of 0 mg/l Dcf receiving treatment in both the Flx dosage groups of 1 μg/g BW and 10 μg/g BW. Our results indicated that Dcf inhibits behavioral change effects of Flx showing the complex effects of pharmaceuticals on fish.


Human authors have attempted to identify a plausible first-order model which characterizes the high-level control cycle of expert human planners in the task of battlefield planning. Literature on the training of battlefield planning experts, interviews with expert planners, Army doctrine, and observations of planning activities of human experts were used to construct the model. The model is evaluated against a verbal protocol of a simulated corps maneuver-control planning exercise conducted at the US Army War College. It is concluded that the most striking aspect of the protocol for this planning problem is the interleaving of the task of subproblem formulation with the tasks of subproblem decomposition, plan critiquing, and plan repair. The evidence from the protocol is shown to be consistent with the ordering of these tasks as predicted from the first-order model.<<ETX>>


The current-voltage characteristic of metal-semiconductor junctions is described by a simple equation which is the product of an exponential and a hyperbolic sine function if one includes the effect of tunneling. In the case of equal current flow via tunneling and via thermionic emission the conductance becomes a hyperbolic cosine function of the applied voltage. Devices displaying such characteristics appear attractive for use in harmonic frequency converters.


Dynamic logic families that rely on energy recovery to achieve low energy dissipation control the flow of data through gate cascades using multiphase clocks. Consequently, they typically use multiple clock generators and can exhibit increased energy consumption on their clock distribution networks. Moreover, they are not attractive for high-speed design due to their high complexity and clock skew management problems. In this paper, we present TSEL, the first energy-recovering (a.k.a. adiabatic) logic family that operates with a single-phase sinusoidal clocking scheme. We also present SCAL, a source-coupled variant of TSEL with improved supply voltage scalability and energy efficiency. Optimal performance under any operating conditions is achieved in SCAL using a tunable current source in each gate. TSEL and SCAL outperform previous adiabatic logic families in terms of energy efficiency and operating speed. In layout-based simulations with 0.5 /spl mu/m standard CMOS process parameters, 8-bit carry-lookahead adders (CLAs) in TSEL and SCAL function correctly for operating frequencies exceeding 200 MHz. In comparison with corresponding CLAs in alternative logic styles that operate at minimum supply voltages, CLAs designed in our single-phase adiabatic logic families are more energy efficient across a broad range of operating frequencies. Specifically, for clock rates ranging from 10 to 200 MHz, our andbit SCAL CLAs are 1.5 to 2.5 times more energy efficient than corresponding adders developed in PAL and 2N2P and 2.0 to 5.0 times less dissipative than their purely combinational or pipelined CMOS counterparts.


In the last years, due to increasing ecology and environmental constraints, a search for lightweight structures has been carried out, leading to the use of more complex geometries and new materials. In that context, TRIP (TRansformation Induced Plasticity) steels are of particular interest as the due to their good mechanical properties to weight ratio [1]. They are often used in the automotive industry for reinforcement parts of the vehicle (bumper, door beam…). To increase life duration,critical parts are shot peened. The specific mechanical behaviour of TRIP steels is due to their microstructure: they contain residual austenite that can transform into martensite when a stress is applied. This mechanism is responsible for hardening of the steels. The beneficial effect of shot peening on metastable austenitic steels was recently established by Fargas et al. [2], resulting in extensive austenite to martensite phase transformation. Numerous analytical models and numerical approaches based on finite element analysis have been developed to simulate the shot peening process. Reviews of the wide variety of numerical models can be found in Rouhaud et al. [3] and Sherafatnia et al. [4]. Only few experimental studies have been published up to now dealing with the impact of shot peening on metastable austenitic steels [5-7]. The first model taking into account the TRIP effect during peening was proposed very recently by Halilovic et al. [8]; it was developed for an austenitic steel AISI 304 peened steel with a single laser shot using a large strain formulation of transformation plasticity.


A retrospective histopathological study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of mucin filled ducts and their associated mucinous proliferation in 962 breast cancers and 335 benign lesions. A total of 38 (3%) cases with mucin filled ducts was identified and 27 (2%) of these showed mucin extravasation into the adjacent stroma, changes characteristic of mucocoele‐like lesions. This constitutes the largest series reported to date. Of the mucocoele‐like lesions 12 were prototypic screen‐detected cases; 11 of which were mammographically detected on account of suspicious microcalcification and eight cases (67%) exhibited mucinous atypical ductal hyperplasia without overt malignancy. A further 12 mucocoele‐like lesions were incidental findings in screen‐detected (11) and symptomatic (one) cancers, the majority of which were invasive ductal carcinomas of no special type. In six of these cases (50%), mucinous atypical ductal hyperplasia or ductal carcinoma in situ was present. Thirty mucinous carcinomas constituted 3% of all cancers and three cases had associated mucocoele‐like lesions. Mucinous atypical ductal hyperplasia or ductal carcinoma in situ was also associated with 11 cases of mucinous carcinoma. In six mucinous carcinomas, amorphous microcalcification with a similar appearance to that of benign mucocoele‐like lesions was identified in the mucin, suggesting a possible link between the two lesions. Mucin‐filled ducts or mucocoele‐like lesions were almost twice as frequent in screen‐detected as in symptomatic lesions. The presence of mucinous atypical ductal hyperplasia in screen‐detected mucocoele‐like lesions, a decade earlier than the peak of mucinous carcinoma, is a possible risk factor for subsequent invasive malignancy. Mucin‐filled ducts, mucocoele‐like lesions, mucinous atypical ductal hyperplasia or ductal carcinoma in situ and mucinous carcinoma may represent different stages of the same disease process. Our findings suggest that patients with mucin‐filled ducts of mucocoele‐like lesions merit close follow‐up.