Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 produces three polysaccharides, alginate, Psl, and Pel that play distinct roles in attachment and biofilm formation for monospecies biofilms. Considerably less is known about their role in the development of mixed species biofilm communities. This study has investigated the roles of alginate, Psl, and Pel during biofilm formation of P. aeruginosa in a defined and experimentally informative mixed species biofilm community, consisting of P. aeruginosa, Pseudomonas protegens, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Loss of the Psl polysaccharide had the biggest impact on the integration of P. aeruginosa in the mixed species biofilms, where the percent composition of the psl mutant was significantly lower (0.06%) than its wild-type (WT) parent (2.44%). In contrast, loss of the Pel polysaccharide had no impact on mixed species biofilm development. Loss of alginate or its overproduction resulted in P. aeruginosa representing 8.4 and 18.11%, respectively, of the mixed species biofilm. Dual species biofilms of P. aeruginosa and K. pneumoniae were not affected by loss of alginate, Pel, or Psl, while the mucoid P. aeruginosa strain achieved a greater biomass than its parent strain. When P. aeruginosa was grown with P. protegens, loss of the Pel or alginate polysaccharides resulted in biofilms that were not significantly different from biofilms formed by the WT PAO1. In contrast, overproduction of alginate resulted in biofilms that were comprised of 35–40% of P. aeruginosa, which was significantly higher than the WT (5–20%). Loss of the Psl polysaccharide significantly reduced the percentage composition of P. aeruginosa in dual species biofilms with P. protegens (<1%). Loss of the Psl polysaccharide significantly disrupted the communal stress resistance of the three species biofilms. Thus, the polysaccharide composition of an individual species significantly impacts mixed species biofilm development and the emergent properties of such communities.


e23014 Background: The number of annual global cancer deaths is rising and the majority of this burden, for a multitude of reasons, falls in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs). With the United Nations' 3rd and 17th Sustainable Development Goals in mind (which include by 2030 "reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases" and "partnership for the goals") a survey was undertaken at the UK's two largest comprehensive cancer centres to scope individual and team endeavours to work with colleagues in less well-resourced countries. Methods: Employees at the Royal Marsden Foundation Trust (RM) and Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London and Surrey, UK and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust (Christie), Manchester were invited to complete a survey to capture collaborative clinical care, research, education and training. Results: Responses were received from 520 multidisciplinary individuals across the 2 centres to two similar questionnaires. A large number had experience of working in some capacity in, or in collaboration with an LMIC. At the RM 14.62% of respondees were currently working with colleagues in LMICs. At The Christie 13.22% of staff had experience of working in LMICs in a supportive capacity. Those currently collaborating with colleagues in LMICs were working in a wide range of countries across Asia, Africa and South America in a range of initiatives spanning clinical care, research, education and training. Of those who answered the survey 64% at The Christie said they'd like to hear more about opportunities to be involved in supporting global health care, and 89% at RM/ICR said they'd be interested in joining a collaborative group working on global oncology initiatives at the institutions. Conclusions: This survey highlights the body of willing, interested individuals keen to work with colleagues in LMICs to improve cancer outcomes. The launch of the UK Global Cancer Network in 2020 will build upon these two surveys with a planned national survey of global health and cancer work undertaken by individuals in 2021.


William F. 'Buffalo Bill' Cody was the entertainment industry's first international celebrity, achieving worldwide stardom with his traveling Wild West show. For three decades he operated and appeared in various incarnations of 'the western world's greatest traveling attraction,' enthralling audiences around the globe. When the show reached Europe it was a sensation, igniting 'Wild West fever' by offering what purported to be a genuine experience of the American frontier. By any standard Charles Eldridge Griffin (1859-1914), manager of the Wild West's European tour, was a remarkable man. Known by the stage names of Monsieur F. Le Costro, Professor Griffin, and the Yankee Yogi, he was an author, comedian, conjurer, contortionist, dancer, fire-eater, hypnotist, illusionist, lecturer, magician, newspaper owner, publisher, sword swallower, and yogi. His account of life on the road with the Wild West show, published here for the first time since its release in 1908, opens a window on a vanished world. In addition to line drawings and photographs from the original book, Chris Dixon provides an introduction and annotations for historical context. Griffin's story of traveling with Buffalo Bill in Europe from 1903 to 1906 presents a fascinating picture of a quintessentially American character. At the same time it offers a vision of the nation on the verge of nationalism, imperialism, and an emerging global mass culture.


The Dirichlet model describes how frequently-bought branded consumer products like instant coffee or toothpaste are purchased when the market is stationary and unsegmented. This is the common situation where, over the time-periods analysed, (A) the sales of each brand show little variation, (B) the different brands show no special groupings. We introduce the empirical data in Section 1 and the model itself in Section 2. The model assumes a mixture of distributions at four levels (Section 2.1): (0 Purchasing of the product-class takes the form of a Poisson process for each consumer, (ii) The purchasing rates of different consumers follow a Gamma distribution, (iii) Each consumer's choices among the available brands follow a multinomial distribution, and (iv) These choice probabilities follow a multivariate Beta or "Dirichlet" distribution across different consumers. In Section 2.2 we givejustifications for these assumptions. More importantly, the model has successfully described the patterns observed in more than 40 product-fields (Section 3) and therefore provides interpretative norms (Section 3.1). As input the model only requires the sales level of each brand and two parameters. These can be identified as two aspects of consumer diversity, namely how much people differ from each other in (a) their purchasing rates and (b) their brand-ehoice preferences (Section 3.2). The model encompasses earlier, more limited formulations which often remain easier to use, as noted in Section 4.1. We briefly review the literature on other models in Section 4.2 and comment on aspects of model-building and on some future areas of work in Section 5.


ABSTRACT Peacekeepers in cities face particular challenges because cities are densely populated and heterogeneous, encompass multiple terrains and fluid features, and host key assets of political, economic and strategic importance. Attacks targeting peacekeepers in cities constitute a recurrent problem, but how do they affect a peace operation's activities? We theorise the effects of such violence on three outcomes: patrolling and outreach, use of force, and the establishment of new bases. We explore these dynamics by analysing intra-city dynamics of violence and operational activity following attacks on African Union (AU) peacekeepers in Mogadishu, Somalia, from initial deployment in 2007 through 2009. We use the geo-referenced UCDP Peacemakers at Risk (PAR) dataset and extend it by coding specific city sub-locations for incidences of violence, allowing us to analyse the spatiality of violence involving peacekeepers in Mogadishu. The evidence suggests that during its first three years, attacks on AMISOM significantly hampered its ability to spread out in the city and operate effectively, but did not evidently alter wider patterns of violence in the city. Despite these challenges, AMISOM managed to fulfil the core element of its mandate: preventing the overthrow of the Somali Transitional Federal Government.


In the present contribution, we assess the efficiency of the alkali metals (Na, K, Rb and Cs) as A-site acceptor dopants in proton conducting BaZrO3 by first principles calculations. The calculated acceptor–proton complexes become weaker with increasing dopant size, with binding energies ranging from 0.33 eV for Na to 0.10 eV for Cs, which is in the range of, or even lower than, those found for B-site doped BaZrO3. By mapping out all relevant minimum energy pathways for the proton, we reveal that the highest migration energy barrier for most of the alkali metals is comparable or even lower than that of Y. Further, all A-site dopants display more exothermic hydration enthalpies compared to that of Y-doped BaZrO3, ranging from 131 kJ mol 1 to 83 kJ mol 1 for Na and Cs, respectively. The calculated dopant solubility increases in the order Na < Cs < Rb < K, with the predicted solubilities of the two latter being in the range of that of e.g. Y. Although Cs would lead to the highest proton mobility, the higher solubility of K and Rb renders them more attractive A-site dopants for BaZrO3. Overall, our results suggest that alkali metals as A-site dopants may enhance the bulk proton conductivity of BaZrO3, compared to Y-doped BaZrO3.


The main purpose of this work is to model and control a fuel cell/supercapacitor power source system to feed a DC-bus with a constant output voltage despite load changes. The fuel cell is modeled as a nonlinear current-dependent voltage source meanwhile, the supercapacitor is represented as an ideal capacitor. The power converters are modeled using a average model techniques. Furthermore, the proposed nonlinear state feedback control method is based on backstepping techniques and Lyapunov stability analysis to ensure that error signals converge to zero. A load estimator is designed using Immersion-Invariance (I&I) theory to track load changes through available measurements. Finally, simulation results show that the proposed control scheme stabilizes the system when step changes are applied to the load.


Adhesional characteristics of an elastomeric liner composition toward a highly filled composite matrix and metal case were investigated. The system is com- posed of an excess isocyanate functionality in the elastomer compared to an excess hydroxyl functionality in the composite matrix. Both phases essentially contain the same binder (HTPB) and curing agent (IPDI). A bifunctional aziridine (MAPO) is used as a bond (adhesion) promoter. The effects of the R value, triol/diol ratio, and MAPO concentration on the adhesive nature of the metal-elastomer-matrix system were investigated by tensile and peel test methods. Maximum T-peel values were obtained for the NCO/OH ratio of R A 1.15 and for the triol/diol ratio of 0.054. The optimum MAPO concentration was found to be around 1-2% for the elastomer. As a result of this investigation, three candidate compositions were selected to be employed as an elastomeric material. On these compositions, metal-elastomer-composite (MEC) tensile, MEC-shear, lap-shear, elastomer-composite (EC) peel, and T-peel tests were applied. These compositions reflect acceptable combinations of strength and elasticity as well as good adhesive values required for a liner material. In particular, one of the compositions tested seems to be a good candidate when all the required characteristics of an elastomeric liner material are considered. It has a large enough elasticity with the required modulus to withstand the compressive and shearing forces in applications together with good adhesive properties toward the composite matrix and the metal. q 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 64: 2355-2362, 1997


Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) results when increases in beta cell function and/or mass cannot compensate for rising insulin resistance. Numerous studies have documented the longitudinal changes in metabolism that occur during the development of glucose intolerance and lead to T2DM. However, the role of changes in insulin secretion, both amount and temporal pattern, has been understudied. Most of the insulin secreted from pancreatic beta cells of the pancreas is released in a pulsatile pattern, which is disrupted in T2DM. Here we review the evidence that changes in beta cell pulsatility occur during the progression from glucose intolerance to T2DM in humans, and contribute significantly to the etiology of the disease. We review the evidence that insulin pulsatility improves the efficacy of secreted insulin on its targets, particularly hepatic glucose production, but also examine evidence that pulsatility alters or is altered by changes in peripheral glucose uptake. Finally, we summarize our current understanding of the biophysical mechanisms responsible for oscillatory insulin secretion. Understanding how insulin pulsatility contributes to normal glucose homeostasis and is altered in metabolic disease states may help improve the treat-


This document presents the findings of the FP7 ex-post evaluation and the Horizon 2020 interim evaluation of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions. The Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions ensure excellent and innovative research training as well as attractive career and knowledge-exchange opportunities through cross-border and cross-sector mobility of researchers, to better prepare them for current and future societal challenges. Data for the evaluation were gathered through an in-depth literature review, analysis of programme data, online surveys with funded researchers and comparison groups (circa 19 500 responses were gathered in total), 60 telephone interviews with stakeholders, 18 case studies of individual MSCA projects, a bibliometric analysis of MSCA fellows and a comparison group, and a social network analysis of organisations that have participated in the programme. The results show that the programme is performing strongly in respect of all the evaluation criteria examined (relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, coherence and EU added value). Recommendations for further development of the programme are provided


A 42-year-old Filipino female was admitted due to weight loss and recurrent abdominal pain over the past ten years. In 2010, she was diagnosed to have disseminated PTB associated with a liver mass. After 1 year of anti-TB treatment, lung condition was treated but her liver mass has enlarged. She also developed diarrhea, diabetes, and skin lesions with biopsy results showing Necrolytic Migratory Erythema (NME). CT scan showed liver and pancreatic tumors that were biopsied revealing a neuroendocrine tumor. Blood glucagon level was elevated. She was treated as a case of glucagon-secreting tumor with liver metastases with Everolimus and Octreotide. After 3 months of treatment, she gained weight, the skin lesions improved, and the liver mass decreased in size. Many of the initial symptoms of glucagonoma are nonspecific and subtle. As a result, glucagonoma is often diagnosed relatively late in the course of the disease. NME, the characteristic skin lesion of the glucagonoma syndrome, is often the clue that leads to the correct diagnosis.


We report on an ecosystem modeling approach that integrates global satellite, climate, vegetation, and soil data sets to (1) examine conceptual controls on nitrogen trace gas (NO, N2O, and N2) emissions from soils and (2) identify weaknesses in our bases of knowledge and data for these fluxes. Nitrous and nitric oxide emissions from well-drained soils were estimated by using an expanded version of the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford (CASA) Biosphere model, a coupled ecosystem production and soil carbon-nitrogen model on a 1° global grid. We estimate monthly production of NO, N2O, and N2 based on predicted rates of gross N mineralization, together with an index of transient water-filled pore space in soils. Analyses of model performance along selected climate gradients support the hypothesis that low temperature restricts predicted N mineralization and trace gas emission rates in moist northern temperate and boreal forest ecosystems, whereas in tropical zones, seasonal patterns in N mineralization result in emission peaks for N2O that coincide with wetting and high soil moisture content. The model predicts the annual N2O:NO flux ratio at a mean value of 1.2 in wet tropical forests, decreasing to around 0.6 in the seasonally dry savannas. Global emission estimates at the soil surface are 6.1 Tg N and 9.7 Tg N yr−1 for N2O and NO, respectively. Tropical dry forests and savannas are identified by using this formulation as important source areas for nitrogen trace gas emissions. Because humans continue to alter these ecosystems extensively for agricultural uses, our results suggest that more study is needed in seasonally dry ecosystems of the tropics in order to understand the global impacts of land use change on soil sources for N2O and NO.


In this letter, the temporal coherence of tropical forest scattering at P-band is addressed by means of a ground-based experiment. The study is based on the TropiScat campaign in French Guiana, designed to support the Biomass mission, which will be the ESA 7th Earth Explorer mission. For Biomass, temporal coherence is a crucial parameter for coherent processing of polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry and SAR tomography in repeat-pass acquisitions. During the experiment, data were continuously collected for six months during both the rainy and dry seasons. For the rain-free days in both seasons, the coherence exhibits a daily cycle showing a high decorrelation during daytime, which is likely due to motion in the canopy. Up to a 20-day baseline, the coherence is much higher in the dry season than in the rainy season (> 0.8). From 20 to 40 days, it presents the same order of magnitude in both seasons [0.6, 0.7]. For larger temporal baselines, it becomes lower in the dry season. The results can be used to assess the long-term coherence of repeat-pass observations over a tropical forest. However, an extension of this study to several years and over other forest spots would be necessary to draw more general conclusions.


Background The Global Emerging Infectious Surveillance Program of the U.S. Department of Defense, Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch supports a repository for Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC) clinical isolates recovered from routine care at U.S. Military Treatment Facilities in the continental US (CONUS) and at several overseas (OCONUS) labs though collaborative surveillance projects. Here we report the use of phenotypic data in conjunction with molecular typing and whole genome sequencing (WGS) of GC to describe the antimicrobial resistance trends from isolates collected from three geographically different clinics in Lima, Callao and Iquitos, Peru. Methods Putative GC collected from patients between 2012 and 2015 were confirmed as GC using standard biochemical and serological methods. Susceptibility to eight different antibiotics was determined by Etest. β-lactamase (ßL) activity was determined by nitrocefin hydrolysis. NG-MAST types were determined by standard methods and WGS analysis. Results Sixty eight out of 90 isolates examined were confirmed as GC. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed a high level of resistance to ciprofloxacin (70%) and lower percentages of resistant strains to other common antibiotics. Although 63% percent of isolates were β-lactamase positive by the nitrocefin test, only 70% of these isolates were PenR. The other 30% had reduced susceptibility to Pen (PenRS). Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) revealed mutations in the bla TEM-1B gene for these PenRS isolates. These isolates were collected from different clinics, but showed genetic relatedness based on nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based analysis. Several novel NG-MAST types were detected among the isolates. Conclusion These findings highlight the high prevalence of multidrug resistant GC in Peru. The identification of NG-MAST types not identified in surveillance reports from Europe or the United States is important. Further, WGS allowed us to discern false positive β-lactamase isolates by detecting mutations in the bla TEM genes observed in PenRS isolates and showed the clonally relatedness of these isolates. Disclosure No significant relationships.


A study has been conducted on the design of large-bore, superconducting solenoid magnets in an effort to determine how weight and cost scales with field and size. The fields considered ranged from 0.5 to 20 T and bore sizes from 3 to 10 m. The designs are based on light-weight, high-performance superconducting magnet designs using cable-in-conduit niobium-titanium and niobium-tin conductors. All methods to reduce the weight of the magnets are used, and both aluminum and stainless steel are considered for the structure, With the length of the magnets fixed at 10 m, the amount and cost of the conductor is determined for each field and bore size. The largest magnets are determined for each field value that have weights under 10/sup 4/, 10/sup 5/, and 10/sup 6/ kg. The cost scales as the square root of stored energy and in millions of dollars is twice the product of field (T) and bore (m).


A systematic theoretical basis is developed that optimizes an arbitrary number of variables for (i) modeling data and (ii) the determination of stationary points of a function of several variables by the optimization of an auxiliary function of a single variable deemed the most significant on physical, experimental or mathematical grounds from which all the other optimized variables may be derived. Algorithms that focus on a reduced variable set avoid problems associated with multiple minima and maxima that arise because of the large numbers of parameters. For (i), both approximate and exact methods are presented, where the single controlling variable k of all the other variables passes through the local stationary point of the least squares metric. For (ii), an exact theory is developed whereby the solution of the optimized function of an independent variation of all parameters coincides with that due to single parameter optimization of an auxiliary function. The implicit function theorem has to be further qualified to arrive at this result. A nontrivial real world application of the above implicit methodology to rate constant and final concentration parameter determination is made to illustrate its utility. This work is more general than the reduction schemes for conditional linear parameters since it covers the nonconditional case as well and has potentially wide applicability.


AIMS
To evaluate phenotypic and genetic variables associated with a poor long-term response to inhaled corticosteroid therapy for asthma, based independently on lung function changes or asthma exacerbations.

MATERIALS & METHODS
We tested 17 phenotypic variables and polymorphisms in FCER2 and CRHR1 in 311 children (aged 5-12 years) randomized to a 4-year course of inhaled corticosteroid during the Childhood Asthma Management Program (CAMP).

RESULTS
Predictors of recurrent asthma exacerbations are distinct from predictors of poor lung function response. A history of prior asthma exacerbations, younger age and a higher IgE level (p < 0.05) are associated with recurrent exacerbations. By contrast, lower bronchodilator response to albuterol and the minor alleles of RS242941 in CRHR1 and T2206C in FCER2 (p < 0.05) are associated with poor lung function response. Poor lung function response does not increase the risk of exacerbations and vice versa (p = 0.72).

CONCLUSION
Genetic and phenotypic predictors of a poor long-term response to inhaled corticosteroids differ markedly depending on definition of outcome (based on exacerbations vs lung function). These findings are important in comparing outcomes of clinical trials and in designing future pharmacogenetic studies.


Roughing filtration can be considered as a major pretreatment process for waste water, since the process efficiently separate fine solid particles over prolonged periods without addition of chemicals. Roughing filters mainly act as physical filters and reduce the solid mass. However, the large filter surface area available for sedimentation and relatively small filtration rates also supports adsorption as well as chemical and biological processes. Therefore besides solid matter separation, roughing filters also partly improve the bacteriological water quality and to a minor extent, change some other water quality parameters such as colour or amount of dissolved organic matter. This article evaluates modifications to roughing filtration technology, which may address these limitations without compromising the simplicity of the treatment process and also compare the efficiency of horizontal roughing filters and vertical roughing filters. Successful modifications include the design concept and process capabilities for roughing filter. Achieved results in this study shows that Horizontal roughing filters perform better than vertical roughing filters due to unlimited filter length, simple layout and less susceptible than vertical-flow filters to solid breakthroughs caused by flow rate changes in the filters.


Condensate clouds are a salient feature of L dwarf atmospheres, but have been assumed to play little role in shaping the spectra of the coldest T-type brown dwarfs. Here we report evidence of condensate opacity in the near-infrared spectrum of the brown dwarf candidate Ross 458C, obtained with the Folded-Port Infrared Echellette (FIRE) spectrograph at the Magellan Telescopes. These data verify the low-temperature nature of this source, indicating a T8 spectral classification, log10Lbol/L☉ = −5.62 ± 0.03, Teff = 650 ± 25 K, and a mass at or below the deuterium burning limit. The data also reveal enhanced emission at the K band associated with youth (low surface gravity) and supersolar metallicity, reflecting the properties of the Ross 458 system (age = 150–800 Myr, [Fe/H] = +0.2 to +0.3). We present fits of FIRE data for Ross 458C, the T9 dwarf ULAS J133553.45+113005.2, and the blue T7.5 dwarf SDSS J141624.08+134826.7B, to cloudless and cloudy spectral models from Saumon & Marley. For Ross 458C, we confirm a low surface gravity and supersolar metallicity, while the temperature differs depending on the presence (635+25−35 K) or absence (760+70−45 K) of cloud extinction. ULAS J1335+1130 and SDSS J1416+1348B have similar temperatures (595+25−45 K), but distinct surface gravities (log g = 4.0–4.5 cgs versus 5.0–5.5 cgs) and metallicities ([M/H] ≈ +0.2 versus −0.2). In all three cases, cloudy models provide better fits to the spectral data, significantly so for Ross 458C. These results indicate that clouds are an important opacity source in the spectra of young cold T dwarfs and should be considered when characterizing planetary-mass objects in young clusters and directly imaged exoplanets. The characteristics of Ross 458C suggest that it could itself be regarded as a planet, albeit one whose cosmogony does not conform with current planet formation theories.


Geometric and solid modelling deal with the representation and manipulation of physical objects. Currently most geometric objects are formulated in terms of polynomial equations, thereby reducing many application problems to manipulating polynomial systems. Solving systems of polynomial equations is a fundamental problem in these geometric computations. The author presents an algorithm for solving polynomial equations. The combination of multipolynomial resultants and matrix computations underlies this efficient, robust and accurate algorithm.<<ETX>>


In this paper, a system called Caretta that integrates personal and shared spaces to support face-to-face collaboration is described. We use PDAs and a multiple-input sensing board for personal and shared spaces, respectively. Users of Caretta can discuss and negotiate with each other in the shared space by manipulating physical objects, while they individually examine their ideas in their own personal spaces. Caretta allows users to participate in group activities interchangeably and seamlessly using both these spaces. Caretta is applicable to various collaborative tasks. In this paper, it supports users in urban planning tasks. User studies of Caretta demonstrated that it allowed users to collaborate in a flexible fashion: users could work individually in their personal spaces at their own pace, cooperatively work together in the shared space, and smoothly transition between both of the spaces.


The crystal structure of a new hafnium oxyhydroxide obtained by an ion-exchange reaction from a Li2HfO3 precursor has been solved by a direct method and refined using Rietveld full profile fitting based on X-ray powder diffraction data. HfO(ОН)2 crystallizes in a P21/c monoclinic unit cell (a = 5.5578(5) Å, b = 9.0701(10) Å, c = 5.7174(5) Å, β = 119.746(5)°); its structure can be described as a framework formed by edge-sharing HfO6 octahedra connected to each other via vertices. In addition, an analysis of the atomic pair distribution function obtained using synchrotron radiation was used to confirm the model and to describe fine-structure features.


Abiotic stress factors, especially high temperatures and salinity, represent the major constraints limiting agricultural production. In present investigation barley forty selected lines was treated in pods at three salt concentrations (25, 50 and 75 mM NaCl) and one control line. In present investigation the maximum salinity affect the yield, spike and total biomass of the plant. For the genetic diversity among barley lines two method were applied morphological evaluation under IPGRI 1994 descriptor and protein profiling, a significant genetic variation index were occur in qualitative traits on the basis of frequency distribution. As result two clusters was obtained at linkage distance 25. Cluster-1 contains 39 lines while cluster-2 contains only 1 line. In protein profiling a total of 12 bands were observed in which 10 bands were polymorphic and two bands 1 and 9 were monomorphic. the genetic diversity on band 1 is 0.65%, band 2 (0.58%), band 3 and 4 (0.45%), band 5 (0.50), band 6 (0.55), band 7 (0.60), band 8 (0.28), band 9 (0.68), band 10 (0.75), band 11 (0.70), band 12 (0.65), these bands were further divided into three zone on the basis of molecular weight. Zone one contain four bands (band 12, 11, 10, 9), zone two contain four (band 8, 7, 6, 5), zone three also contain four bands (band 4, 3, 2, 1). Band 5 dominantly present in zone two bands 10 is dominantly present in zone one which show significant genetic diversity among barley genotypes, a dendrogram tree were also construct for protein bands. As result three clusters were obtained at linkage distance 25. Cluster-1 contains 16 genotypes cluster-2 contains only 14 genotype and cluster-3 contains 10 genotypes out up 40.


Eribulin sensitivity was examined in a panel of twenty-five human cancer cell lines representing a variety of tumor types, with a preponderance of breast and lung cancer cell lines. As expected, the cell lines vary in sensitivity to eribulin at clinically relevant concentrations. To identify combination drugs capable of increasing anticancer effects in patients already responsive to eribulin, as well as inducing de novo anticancer effects in non-responders, we performed a combinatorial high throughput screen to identify drugs that combine with eribulin to selectively kill tumor cells. Among other observations, we found that inhibitors of ErbB1/ErbB2 (lapatinib, BIBW-2992, erlotinib), MEK (E6201, trametinib), PI3K (BKM-120), mTOR (AZD 8055, everolimus), PI3K/mTOR (BEZ 235), and a BCL2 family antagonist (ABT-263) show combinatorial activity with eribulin. In addition, antagonistic pairings with other agents, such as a topoisomerase I inhibitor (topotecan hydrochloride), an HSP-90 inhibitor (17-DMAG), and gemcitabine and cytarabine, were identified. In summary, the preclinical studies described here have identified several combination drugs that have the potential to either augment or antagonize eribulin's anticancer activity. Further elucidation of the mechanisms responsible for such interactions may be important for identifying valuable therapeutic partners for eribulin.


In this paper, a non-intrusive accident prediction model based on the information fusion technique of Dempster-Shafer (D-S) evidence theory is investigated, which can infer the belief probability of the drowsiness related accidents by integrating information from driver's eyes and driving performance. Firstly, to acquire the relevant physiological signals and driving performance data used in this proposed model, a driving simulator experiment is introduced. Secondly, three features reflecting driver drowsiness are quantitatively extracted, including gaze direction changing, blinking duration and standard lateral deviation. Finally, D-S evidence theory is applied to fuse these features. The inference results can predict over 70% drowsiness related accidents and therefore demonstrate the utility of this proposed model.


This paper presents a full custom one-bit slice delay commutator for a pipeline split radix FFT (SRFFT) architecture, implemented using the true single-phase-clock (TSPC) circuit technique and a 1.0-/spl mu/m CMOS technology. This circuit can be configured or all intermediate SRFFT computation levels for transforms of lengths up to N=2048, where N is power of two. The circuit has been tested up to 200 MHz, having a power consumption of 1.1 W at 5 V of power supply.


Motor-vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among children aged >/=1 year in the United States, and one in four crash-related deaths among child passengers aged </=14 years involves alcohol use. To characterize the occurrence of child passenger deaths involving drinking drivers during 1997-2002, CDC analyzed data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicated that among the 2,355 children who died in alcohol-related crashes, 1,588 (68%) were riding with drinking drivers; the majority of these children were not restrained. To reduce the number of child fatalities in alcohol-related motor-vehicle crashes, effective interventions are needed to prevent alcohol-impaired driving and to increase use of child passenger restraints.


This paper describes an accelerated ageing experiment of transformer oil/paper insulation with preset moisture levels. These samples were tested with return voltage and polarisation/depolarisation measurements. Molecular weight has also been measured with Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC). Results suggested the impact of moisture on the ageing of oil/paper insulation. An attempt has been made regarding the separation of ageing and moisture on oil/paper insulation using the dielectric polarisation measurements.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Current therapy for IgA nephropathy mainly includes renin-angiotensin system inhibitors and adding steroids for patients with persistent proteinuria. This study aimed to evaluate kidney disease progression and its risk factors in a Chinese cohort under current therapy.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS
Patients with IgA nephropathy followed up for at least 12 months from a prospective database were involved. Renal survival and the relationship between clinical parameters and composite kidney failure events (defined as end stage kidney failure or eGFR halving) were assessed.

RESULTS
Overall, 703 patients between 2003 and 2011 were enrolled in this study, with a mean follow-up time of 45 months. Mean eGFR was 84.0 ml/min per 1.73 m(2), systolic BP was 124 mmHg, and time-averaged mean arterial pressure was 90.0 mmHg. Median proteinuria at baseline was 1.60 g/d, and time-averaged proteinuria was 0.80 g/d. The mean rate of eGFR decline was -3.12 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) per year (95% confidence interval, -19.07 to 11.80), and annual end stage kidney failure rate was 2.3%. Multivariate Cox regression analyses revealed that baseline eGFR (hazard ratio, 0.76 per 10 ml/min per 1.73 m(2); 95% confidence interval, 0.66 to 0.91), proteinuria at 6 months (hazard ratio, 1.53 per g/d; 95% confidence interval, 1.27 to 1.84), and systolic BP control at 6 months (hazard ratio, 1.36 per 10 mmHg; 95% confidence interval, 1.05 to 1.77) were associated with composite kidney failure events. Baseline eGFR (regression coefficient, -0.06; 95% confidence interval, -0.07 to -0.04), time-averaged proteinuria (regression coefficient, -0.21; 95% confidence interval, -0.25 to -0.16), and time-averaged mean arterial pressure (regression coefficient, -0.15; 95% confidence interval, -0.21 to -0.09) were independent predictors of the slope of eGFR by linear regression.

CONCLUSION
Lower proteinuria and lower BP were associated with slower eGFR decline and lower risk of end stage kidney failure in patients currently being treated for IgA nephropathy.


The slow-down of technology scaling combined with the exponential growth of modern machine learning and artificial intelligence models has created a demand for specialized accelerators, such as GPUs, ASICs, and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). FPGAs can be reconfigured and have the potential to outperform other accelerators, while also being more energy-efficient, but are cumbersome to use with today's fractured landscape of tool flows. We propose the concept of an operation set architecture to overcome the current incompatibilities and hurdles in using DNN-to-FPGA compilers by combining existing specialized frameworks into one organic compiler that also allows the efficient and automatic re-use of existing community tools. Furthermore, we demonstrate that mixing different existing frameworks can increase the efficiency by more than an order of magnitude.


The article is theoretically and methodologically dedicated to analyzing party factors of formation, functioning and stability of governmental cabinets in parliamentary democracies. This task proved to be relevant at the background of the fact that party governments are usually formed and function in countries that are institutionally defined as parliamentary democracies, even regardless of their systems of government. In view of this, governmental cabinets as the top executive in such countries are inevitably and typically marked and characterized by the influence of party factors that outline the parameters of formation, functioning and stability of governments in different parliamentary democracies. The author found that the attributes of party systems, including electoral volatility and party fractionalization, as well as the desire of parties to achieve the status of minimally winning governmental cabinets, have the greatest impact on the formation, functioning, responsibility and stability of governments. At the same time, it was stated that the party determination of the processes of government formation, functioning, responsibility and stability, although it is amenable to averaging, should not be unidirectional, as it is additionally determined by national and regional, including institutional, specifics.

http://jcee.wsgk.com.pl/wp-content/uploads/archive_2020/Białobłocka S., Ancerowicz A. 13-2020.pdf


Background:Incivility is a significant problem in nurse satisfaction and nurse retention and can be detrimental to a patient's outcome; therefore, it would be beneficial to educate nurses on ways to improve incivility in clinical practice. Objectives:To determine if a nursing education program, utilizing case studies and discussion of the nurses' experiences would increase awareness of incivility and impact the number of perceived incidences by (1) assessing nurses' experience of incivility along with discerning the perceived source of the incivility and (2) educating the nurses, thus determining if the in-service education decreases the incidence of incivility in the adult intensive care unit. Methods:This is a quantitative pilot study that utilized a 1-group preintervention and postintervention test design. The intervention was a 60-minute educational program. Twenty-one nurses completed the survey that assesses prevalence of incivility by specific sources, such as nurses, physicians, supervisors, general (other hospital employees), and patients before and after participation in the education intervention. Descriptive statistics of the 5 dimensions of civility and a total dimension score of civility were used. Results:A total of 21 nurses completed all parts of this study. The postintervention score had a higher mean than the preintervention score in each of the dimensions. Higher scores indicate incivility; thus, lower scores indicate civility. Therefore, more instances of incivility were identified after intervention to increase awareness of incivility. In addition, nurses perceived greater amounts of incivility from patients and families, whereas the direct supervisor (team leaders) showed the greatest amount of civility. A hierarchical regression revealed that race had the largest negative impact, followed by nurses practicing for more than 5 years, part-time status, and younger age, respectively. Discussion:The outcomes in this pilot study contradict much of the research on incivility in nursing, which previously found that supervisors are more uncivil toward their staff nurses than the rest of the staff. The results of the current study found that incivility perceptions were higher in the postintervention survey; these findings suggest that the education was effective, thus creating more awareness of incivility. This could be a positive cultural turning point in nursing as it decreases incivility, which in turn will help to decrease medical errors, attrition rates, and the financial burden on hospitals.


During the last couple of years, scientific and general interest in volcanos has surged as a result of the lively performance of Mt. St. Helens, and that's why Krakatau 1883 promises to become a good seller. What does it offer? The writers begin the volume with a detailed chronology of the eruptions, eyewitness accounts, and media coverage that cover local and regional effects, the tsunamis and their catastrophic results, and the sonic effects. Next is a section with translated parts of Verbeek's monumental monograph on the 1883 eruptions, followed by reprints of other scientific papers, and summaries of recent work on the event. For those deficient in French or Dutch, the translation of Verbeek's work will be especially welcome, because this civic engineer described and interpreted a colossal amount of data.


Visual memory can draw upon averaged perceptual representations, a dependence that could be both adaptive and obligatory. In support of this idea, we review a wide range of evidence, including findings from our own lab. This evidence shows that time- and space-averaged memory representations influence detection and recognition responses, and do so without instruction to compute or report an average. Some of the work reviewed exploits fine-grained measures of retrieval from visual short-term memory to closely track the influence of stored averages on recall and recognition of briefly presented visual textures. Results show that reliance on perceptual averages is greatest when memory resources are taxed or when subjects are uncertain about the fidelity of their memory representation. We relate these findings to models of how summary statistics impact visual short-term memory, and discuss a neural signature for contexts in which perceptual averaging exerts maximal influence.


Post‐partum hemorrhage (PPH) is the leading cause of maternal mortality. Identification of the precise bleeding site is generally important to control hemorrhage, but such an approach has not been fully established in the context of PPH. We postulated that visualization of bleeding sites could aid treatment decisions in the management of PPH.


Perspectives for the Electroencephalogram in Psychiatry Abstract. The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a non-invasive and cost-effective method to monitor spontaneous neuronal activity over time. Pathologies in EEG recordings indicate with high sensitivity but low specificity abnormal functional brain states. The main psychiatric indications for EEG recordings include atypical clinical symptoms of a neuropsychiatric syndrome or atypical reactions to medication as well as a baseline diagnostic before starting treatment with specific drugs or stimulation modalities. In recent research the EEG continues to be a valuable tool not only in diagnostics but also for the prediction of treatment success. The following paper focuses on basic electrophysiological understanding of EEG recordings, the diagnostic value of EEG recordings in different clinical entities, and new research attempts in diagnostic and treatment prediction.


This chapter surveyed the literature on income distribution, focusing on the research on the prewar period. From the literature, it has been established that the prewar Japanese society exhibited high income inequality and that the inequality increased over time. This evidence is consistent with the findings on the functional distribution of income, which indicated that the capital share was increasing in Japan in this period. In addition, this chapter expanded on the existing research by using a new individual-level data set to explore the relationship between assets and income. It was found that a substantial part of the income of the core top income earners was from their assets.


In the study area basement rocks were formed during Cambrian-Ordovician era. These rocks were effected by regional metamorphism. Caltepe Formation is at the bottom of the basement rocks. This formation con- tains metamorphosed dolomit, recrystallize and noduler limestone units. Sultandede Formation was seen on the Caltepe Formation. This formation contains phillite, schists, chalkschists and quartzites, which was ex- posed to low degree green schist metamorphism. Hacialabaz Formation overlies Sultandede formation un- comformably. This formation which contains dolomit, dolerite and limestone units was formed on carbonate platform in Jurassic-Cretaseous era. In Neogene, Bagkonak Formation was formed in terrestrial river fa- cies. It overlies Lower Paleozoic and Mesozoic formations unconformably. Barite ores are observed only in lower Paleozoic units. Mineral assemblage in the region IV is pyrite, malachite, azurite, limonite, hematite, manganite, sericite and chlorite. In addition to such minerals, some metal sulphide minerals such as galena with amount of silver, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, tetrahedrite are more common in the regions I, II and III. Isotopic data shows that ore fluids have approximately the same character. Some sedimentary features in the region IV such as cross-bedding, ritmicity layering, alternation, geopetal fabrics, brecciation, orien- tation with schistosity etc. are more common than the other regions. Ba sources were generally related to the connate waters of Sultandede formation and sulphate sources of barites which were enriched with heavy sulphur isotope ratios by the effect of sea water.


Abstract. State-of-the-art hydrological applications require a process-based, spatially distributed hydrological model. Runoff characteristics are demanded to be well reproduced by the model. Despite that, the model should be able to describe the processes at a subcatchment scale in a physically credible way. The objective of this study is to present a robust procedure to generate various sets of parameterisations of soil hydraulic functions for the description of soil heterogeneity on a subgrid scale. Relations between Rosetta-generated values of saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) and van Genuchten's parameters of soil hydraulic functions were statistically analysed. An universal function that is valid for the complete bandwidth of Ks values could not be found. After concentrating on natural texture classes, strong correlations were identified for all parameters. The obtained regression results were used to parameterise sets of hydraulic functions for each soil class. The methodology presented in this study is applicable on a wide range of spatial scales and does not need input data from field studies. The developments were implemented into a hydrological modelling system.


This research explored the potential influences on team functioning, from the perspective of adult attachment theory. Attachment styles are seen to reflect internal working models of self, others, and relationships, and influence individuals' motivations, abilities, and perceptions as regards relationships. The research question explored what the role and influence of an individual's global and team attachment style may have upon an individual's experience of a work team. It sought to explain engagement with an individual's work team, what is the subsequent influence of this on performance and how attachment style contributes to this. The key issues of Team Member Exchange and Team Identification were explored as areas of team functioning. These are the variables used to study and understand an individual's team experiences, their engagement with the team, and the relationship with their performance ratings. The research found that both adult global and team attachment styles were negatively associated with Team Member Exchange (TMX), Team Identification, job satisfaction, performance ratings and Organisational Citizenship Behaviours (OCB). Using mediation analysis, team avoidant attachment was consistently and strongly associated with the study's dependent variables and emerged as the key explanatory variable in this research. When all the attachment styles were analysed simultaneously to determine the unique effects of each attachment style, team avoidance style was the most useful in understanding both TMX and Team Identification, job satisfaction, OCB and performance measures. Those with avoidant team attachment styles felt that the experience of team was negative with lower TMX and Team Identification reported. The research has added new insights to the team and attachment literature with the important contribution of team avoidance attachment to TMX and Team Identification.


There is a strong expectation that the enterprises managing their social responsibilities correctly will receive their rewards. Some research findings confirm this expectation. Ethical behavior and corporate social responsibility can bring significant benefits to a business. The idea that business enterprises should have some responsibilities to society beyond that of making profits for shareholders has been debated for centuries (Barry, 2000). For the enterprise decisions, the interests of the society should be taken into account as well as consumer needs and the interests of the company. In this period, the relationships established by the enterprises with social stakeholders are important and they have to think about the interests of social stakeholders as well as their own interests. However, the expectation of conducting the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities are carried out through public relations practices in accordance with the ethical definition, and even the necessity of the ethics of quality, responsibility, reliability, and management of the public relations profession show that these three concepts are closely related. Careful and consistent ethical analyses provide trust, which enhances the maintenance of trust in the company. In addition to these, that should be the main responsibility of the public relations function. In this study, the concepts of ethics and public relations were explained and their connection with CSR was discussed. As CSR campaigns change according to the enterprise expertise, consumer expectations, and period circumstances, some current applications were analyzed.


Hybrid (mixed discrete and continuous) state and action Markov Decision Processes (HSA-MDPs) provide an expressive formalism for modeling stochastic and concurrent sequential decision-making problems. Existing solvers for HSA-MDPs are either limited to very restricted transition distributions, require knowledge of domain-specific basis functions to achieve good approximations, or do not scale. We explore a domain-independent approach based on the framework of hindsight optimization (HOP) for HSA-MDPs, which uses an upper bound on the finite-horizon action values for action selection. Our main contribution is a linear time reduction to a Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP) that encodes the HOP objective, when the dynamics are specified as location-scale probability distributions parametrized by Piecewise Linear (PWL) functions of states and actions. In addition, we show how to use the same machinery to select actions based on a lower-bound generated by straight line plans. Our empirical results show that the HSA-HOP approach effectively scales to high-dimensional problems and outperforms baselines that are capable of scaling to such large hybrid MDPs.


Abstract When characterizing beam-sensitive materials in the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM), low-dose techniques are essential for the reliable observation of samples in their true state. A simple route to minimize both the total electron-dose and the dose-rate is to reduce the electron beam-current and/or raster the probe at higher speeds. At the limit of these settings, and with current detectors, the resulting images suffer from unacceptable artifacts, including signal-streaking, detector-afterglow, and poor signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). In this article, we present an alternative approach to capture dark-field STEM images by pulse-counting individual electrons as they are scattered to the annular dark-field (ADF) detector. Digital images formed in this way are immune from analog artifacts of streaking or afterglow and allow clean, high-SNR images to be obtained even at low beam-currents. We present results from both a ThermoFisher FEI Titan G2 operated at 300 kV and a Nion UltraSTEM200 operated at 200 kV, and compare the images to conventional analog recordings. ADF data are compared with analog counterparts for each instrument, a digital detector-response scan is performed on the Titan, and the overall rastering efficiency is evaluated for various scanning parameters.


Background Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been associated with the development of several cancers and cardiovascular diseases in females. Nevertheless, there is still poor data on vaccination coverage against HPV in several countries, including Cyprus. The main target of the present research was to assess the vaccination status of female students in Cyprus. Methodology An online survey was conducted via a cloud-based short questionnaire on Google Forms. Students with a known email address were initially invited via email to complete the survey. The questionnaire was distributed to 340 students, aged 18-49 years old, who lived in Cyprus (60% response rate). Results The total vaccination coverage was 38.1%. The mean age of participants was 23.5 (±6.5) years. The major reason for non-vaccination was the belief that participants were not at risk of serious illness from HPV infection (22%), followed by the reported lack of time to get vaccinated (16%) and inertia (13%). The students who had information about the safety of HPV vaccines from electronic sources of information (television, websites, and blogs) had lower vaccination coverage compared to those who had received information from alternative sources (primary health centers, family doctors, or obstetricians) (relative risk (RR) = 1.923, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.9669-3.825; p = 0.033). No significant differences in vaccination rates between participants who were coming from schools of health sciences versus those from financial schools (RR = 1.082, 95% CI = 0.7574-1.544; p = 0.3348) were observed. Conclusions Public health policy interventions and education on HPV vaccines are effective ways to improve the awareness and acceptance rate of HPV vaccination among female students and improve the HPV vaccination coverage level in Cyprus.


Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are fundamental pillars of any national economy, often employing more people than large companies. Unlike larger companies, however, they often lack systematic ways to improve their operations. Quality Management (QM) has become recognised as a viable way to improve the quality of products and processes and large companies often use QM ideas as part of their operations. Historically, the main focus for QM research has been on larger organisations rather than SMEs. Since SMEs have their own set of strengths and weaknesses, such as their personalised management and lack of financial strength, respectively, it is not always possible to use traditional QM ideas in SMEs directly.
The purpose of this thesis is to investigate antecedents for QM ideas and practices in SMEs, thereby contributing to the knowledge on how to adopt QM in SMEs. Three papers are presented in order to achieve this aim. The first paper uses a case study to show a successful example of QM in a large company, which serves as a baseline for how a successful QM initiative may look. The paper also discusses the need to contextualise any improvement initiative in any company. The second paper is a literature review on the adoption of QM in SMEs. It synthesises and groups recommendations, creating a collection of important issues for SMEs to consider when adopting QM. The paper highlights the importance of external support for these endeavours and reinforces the idea that contextualisation is always important. The third paper is based on a case study in a small company, which successfully made crucial changes. The paper investigates this case in the light of Paper I and Paper II. Paper III reveals that although methods for small companies do not need to be very different from large ones, there can be some obstacles in the adoption process itself.


We present one patient suffering from metastasis with an exceptional location of primary neoplasia very unusual in men. Literature is reviewed and primary locations of metastatic tumors in epididymis commented.


Geometric uncertainties caused by respiratory motion complicate radiotherapy treatment planning. Therefore 4D CT imaging is important in characterizing anatomy motion during breathing. Current 4D CT imaging techniques using multislice CT scanners involve multiple scans at several axial positions and retrospective sorting processes. Most sorting methods are based on externally monitored signals recorded by external monitoring instruments, which may not always accurately catch the actual breathing status and may lead to severe discontinuity artifacts in the sorted CT volumes. We propose a method to reconstruct time-resolved CT volumes based on internal motion to avoid the inaccuracies caused by external breathing signals. In our method, we iteratively sort the 4D CT slices using internal motion based breathing indices. In each iteration, respiratory motion is estimated by updating a motion model to best match a deformed reference volume to each moving multi-slice sub-volumes. The breathing indices as well as the reference volumes are refined for each iteration based on the currently estimated respiratory motion. An example is presented to illustrate the feasibility of our 4D CT sorting method without using any external motion monitoring systems.


The Mirror Fusion Test Facility is a major magnetic fusion energy project at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. An important component of this facility is the vacuum vessel, which forms the vacuum chamber. The vessel is supported on twenty-two pairs of legs that rest on reinforced concrete piers. In performing static and dynamic analyses on the vacuum vessel, we separately investigated the load distribution under gravity loads, pressure loads, electromagnetic loads, and thermal loads. We also performed sophisticated dynamic analyses to predict the structural behavior under a postulated earthquake. The modeling assumptions and analytic procedures are highlighted in this paper.


Pathogenic intracellular bacteria, parasites and viruses have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to manipulate mammalian host cells to serve as niches for persistence and proliferation. The intracellular lifestyles of pathogens involve the manipulation of membrane-bound organellar compartments of host cells. In this review, we described how normal structural organization and cellular functions of endosomes, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, mitochondria, or lipid droplets are targeted by microbial virulence mechanisms. We focus on the specific interactions of Salmonella, Legionella pneumophila, Rickettsia rickettsii, Chlamydia spp. and Mycobacterium tuberculosis representing intracellular bacterial pathogens, and of Plasmodium spp. and Toxoplasma gondii representing intracellular parasites. The replication strategies of various viruses, i.e., Influenza A virus, Poliovirus, Brome mosaic virus, Epstein-Barr Virus, Hepatitis C virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome virus (SARS), Dengue virus, Zika virus, and others are presented with focus on the specific manipulation of the organelle compartments. We compare the specific features of intracellular lifestyle and replication cycles, and highlight the communalities in mechanisms of manipulation deployed.


Yellow thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials were synthesized using 2,4,6-triphenylpyrimidine-5-carbonitrile and 4-(3-cyanophenyl)-2,6-diphenylpyrimidine-5-carbonitrile acceptors combined with a very strong donor moiety of 5,10-diphenyl-10,15-dihydro-5H-diindolo[3,2-a:3′,2′-c]carbazole. The strong electron acceptors and the strong donor twisted from the acceptor plane with a large dihedral angle decreased the singlet and triplet energy gaps and managed the Dexter energy transfer. The 4-(4-(10,15-diphenyl-10,15-dihydro-5H-diindolo[3,2-a:3′,2′-c]carbazol-5-yl)phenyl)-2,6-diphenylpyrimidine-5-carbonitrile yellow TADF emitter showed short delayed fluorescence lifetime, high rate constant of reverse intersystem crossing and a high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 21.6%. The TADF emitter was used as the sensitizer of the yellow emitting 2,8-di-tert-butyl-5,11-bis(4-tert-butylphenyl)-6,12-diphenyltetracene and the TADF assisted fluorescent organic light-emitting diodes achieved a high EQE of 20.2% and a device lifetime of 1400 h up to 90% of the initial luminance of 1000 cd m−2. This study provides a strategy for developing yellow TADF emitters to assist the fluorescence emission to achieve high EQE and long lifetime simultaneously.


Regenerating planaria were treated with colchicine dissolved in planarian saline solution in order to harvest metaphase chromosomes. Slides containing such chromosomes were incubated in phosphate buffer at high temperature for 2h and stained with Giemsa solution in order to view heterochromatic dots in chromosomes. The chromosomes were found to contain massive regions of dense heterochromatin. In addition, most interphase cells exhibited numerous densely staining chromocentres. Heterochromatin has been postulated to reduce the duration and enhance the speed of the cell cycle, and previous work has implicated heterochromatin in cells undergoing rapid division. These findings imply that the profound regenerative potential of planarians may be due to their high cellular levels of heterochromatin.


The paraffinic compounds are important to new investigation on the properties physics and its correlation with theoric dates, because in literature no is completely clarified. However, there are some studies on the formalism for developing asymptotic behavior correlation for homologous series paraffin compounds. In this work is show that the effect of parameters theoric obtained by molecular modeling can be correlated with experimental dates. To paraffins as pure, for example, n-hexane, C6H14, MW 158 g/mol, is composed of two groups CH3 and four groups CH2 and its can depending of structure molecular ramification to predict what your dependency with thermodynamics data. Therefore, the molecular modeling of paraffinic compounds uses a methodology that looks for data correlated with the structure of the molecule complemented with experimental data. The objective this study is correlated this molecular data with some thermodynamics data as enthalpy of formation and other parameters.


Developments in the Urban communities has become issue of great concern. Urban development has been rapid with urban centres springing up from rural communities and sometimes creating an imbalance in environmental systems with attendant consequences and advantages. The study therefore explored the urban system housing development within the context of formulating framework for development, renewal and upgrading in order to achieve sustainable development in urban and rural communities. The aim of the study was to carry out a longitudinal survey of selected areas where there is occurrence of concentration of rural-urban, urban-rural settlement within the selected study areas. Survey was conducted on some parameters as part of the calibrated questionnaire that was designed in Likert Scale 1-5 used for the study. The parameters include evaluation of existing renewal and upgrading pattern, upgrading system, renewal strategies, features of rural-urban growth, challenges of urban renewal and regenerations, influence of urban and rural upgrading system on employment availability, health challenges associated with urban-rural settlement and post occupancy study of satisfaction level of residents of urban and rural settlement housing facilities. The study engaged population of 5 different locations with 100 residents drafted from various selected locations classified as urban and rural settlement as respondents. The data was analysed using Mean Item Score, Simple percentages and regression analysis. Some of the striking contribution in this study includes: System to formulate good renewal and resuscitating, it also include resuscitating decayed component of rural setting at urban location. The study also contribute to knowledge in advocating strategies for urban and renewal strategy like compilation of plans for physical development of the area, development of identified locations, re-accommodation and resettlement of displaced settlements, re-accommodation and resettlement of displaced settlements and reconstruction of the areas devastated by development programmes. Similarly, rural and urban development would bring employment opportunity for all classes of trade either skill labour, un-skill labour and semi-skill labour. Construction activities would attract and provide fortune to different workers category there creating prosperity for all. Finally, the study developed a system framework that could be used for urban and rural settlement regeneration, revitalization, redevelopment and reconstruction. The developed framework would assist in eliminating accommodation challenges, employment problems and health care issues often associated with disparity in settlement growth when rural settlement metamorphosed into urban settlement.


It is shown here that the fast digital convolution technique used for parallel x-ray beams can be used also to reconstruct a density function for diverging x-ray beams. This technique when combined with what was called previously a generalized ¿¿¿-filter yields good accuracy, a flexibility to cope with noise and a substantial reduction in the x-ray dosage. Finite field transforms and zero-order interpolation can be used also to improve the speed of the x-ray reconstruction process. Tests based on these methods are performed on an ideal phantom. A detailed comparison is made between a system using diverging beams, and a system using parallel beams with simulated data.


This study discusses the effects of pressure in waterjet peening (WJP)  of subsoil plow chise. It was made from austenitic stainless steel 301 JIS standard S30100. Analysis of surface integrity and change of surface hardness number is used to evaluate the performance of various parameters in the WJP process. The article summarizes information about austenitic stainless steel physically-mechanical of subsoil plow chisel that is most useful for soil tillage. The subsoil chisel was given surface treatment WJP process with a variation of pressure and time. The physical properties of subsoil plow chisel from various pressure and time of  WJP are analyzed. The findings of this study indicated that surface treatment with waterjet peening could  increase the surface hardness number and the hardening  layer fromaustenitic  stainless steel 301 (material of subsoil plow chisel).Treats the surface with WJP pressure 250 MPa  and time 3 hours  results in a higher increase in surface hardness number  up to 41% and 151% greater than the raw material respectively. Also, a deeper hardening layer to depth 250 and 500 μm each produced. Next, the cross-sectional micro structure shows the density is higher than the slip band in the defective grain of specimens that have undergone the WJP process at the time and higher pressure. However, the number of slip bands in grain defects decreases with     the pressure drop.


In the visual robotics area, we should dope out a solution to detect small objects. We need to explore much more precise detection methods to achieve better performance. In this paper, a small object detection method based on the Relevance Vector Regression (RVR) is proposed. Compared to the Support Vector Regression (SVR), it avoids the set of free parameters and Mercer kernels. After regression process by RVR, the kernel correlation coefficient is used to increase the signal-to-clutter ratio (SCR). For improving the detection performance further, the post-processing method is applied after RVR and getting the nonlinear correlation coefficient. The experiment results prove that our method has the validity and better performance than the other two methods based on filter-based methods.


Signal transduction in epithelial cells adds another level of complexity to the signaling that occurs in symmetrical cells, in the form of the need to coordinate and keep separate signals at the apical and basolateral membranes. Regulation by protein kinases ofileal NaCl absorption and its component brush-border Na + /H + exchanger are used as an example of how signaling in epithelial cells must deal with spatial localization of signals, protein-protein interactions, signaling molecules, and the involvement of the transport protein being regulated in collecting and focusing the signals generated at the receptor and beyond.


What Is CAM? Along with the many cancer treatment approaches ranging from surgery and radiation to chemotherapy or immunotherapy, millions of people seek additional options as CAM. The term complementary medicine refers to interventions that are not part of conventional medical care but are delivered alongside, as a complement to them. Alternative medicine replaces standard anticancer treatments with other approaches that may include supplements, diets developed to combat cancer, lifestyle changes, and sometimes other interventions. There are a broad range of interventions that fall under the realm of CAM. These may include ancient medicine traditions such as Ayurvedic or Oriental medicine, acupuncture, Reiki, yoga or meditation, diets, herbs, nutritional supplements, and more.


It has been recently shown how the tensorial nature of real-time path integrals involving the Feynman-Vernon influence functional can be utilized using matrix product states, taking advantage of the finite length of the non-Markovian memory. Tensor networks promise to provide a new, unified language to express the structure of path integral. Here, a generalized tensor network is derived and implemented specifically incorporating the pairwise interaction structure of the influence functional, allowing for a compact representation and efficient evaluation. This pairwise connected tensor network path integral (PCTNPI) is illustrated through applications to typical spin-boson problems and explorations of the differences caused by the exact form of the spectral density. The storage requirements and performance are compared with iterative quasi-adiabatic propagator path integral and iterative blip-summed path integral. Finally, the viability of using PCTNPI for simulating multistate problems is demonstrated taking advantage of the compressed representation.


A production-worthy deep UV resist system built on the ESCAP platform is described. The resist consists of a thermally and hydrolytically stable resin and acid generator and thus can be heated at high temperatures forfree volume reduction, which provides stabilization toward airborne base contamination. The film densification in conjunction with the use of a bulky acid reduces acid diffusion during postexposure bake, contributing to high lithographic performance. Robust 0.25μm process latitudes have been demonstrated. Furthermore, the resist has produced excellent 175nm line/space images with a depth-of-focus of 0.3μm on a KrF excimer laser stepper with a numerical aperture of 0.60, indicating that the resist allows the use of the current exposure tool in the early 1 Gbit generation.


Foramen magnum (FM) meningiomas are challenging lesions. We present the case of a 38-year-old female with neck pain, dysphonia, and slight twelfth nerve palsy. Imaging workup was highly suggestive of an FM meningioma, and microsurgical resection with the aid of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring was indicated. A transcondylar approach was employed, the vertebral artery was mobilized, and the tumor was completely removed. Postoperative MRI demonstrated complete resection. There were no signs of cervical instability. The patient presented with improvement of her symptoms and no new neurological deficit on follow-up. FM meningiomas can be successfully resected using a transcondylar approach, since it increases the exposure of the ventral FM, allowing the surgeon to work parallel to the skull base and flush with the tumor's attachment. Informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this operative video. The video can be found here: https://youtu.be/itfUOB-6zM0.


Equivalence and noninferiority designs are useful when the superiority of one intervention over another is neither expected nor required. Equivalence trials test whether a difference between groups falls within a prespecified equivalence region, whereas noninferiority trials test whether a preferred intervention is either better or at least not worse than the comparator, with worse being defined a priori. Special designs and analyses are needed because neither of these conclusions can be reached from a nonsignificant test for superiority. Using the data from a companion article, we demonstrate analyses of basic equivalence and noninferiority designs, along with more complex model-based methods. We first give an overview of methods for design and analysis of data from superiority, equivalence, and noninferiority trials, including how to analyze each type of design using linear regression models. We then show how the analogous hypotheses can be tested in a repeated-measures setting in which there are multiple outcomes per subject. We especially address interactions between the repeated factor, usually time, and treatment. Although we focus on the analysis of continuous outcomes, extensions to other data types as well as sample size consideration are discussed.


This paper presents a new adaptation of a Gaussian echo model (GEM) to estimate the distances to multiple targets using acoustic signals. The proposed algorithm utilizes m-sequences and opens the door for applying other modulations and signal designs for acoustic estimation in a similar way. The proposed algorithm estimates the system impulse response and uses the GEM to limit the effect of noise before applying deconvolution to estimate the time of arrival (TOA) to multiple targets with high accuracy. The algorithm was experimentally evaluated for different scenarios with active (trans-mitters) and passive (reflectors) targets at proximity. In the case of closely spaced static passive targets, results show that 90% of the ranging errors are below 7 mm. When tracking two moving active targets approaching very close proximity, results show that 90% of the ranging errors are less than 10 mm.


Cancer vaccines are currently conceived as therapeutic tools, in contrast to the prophylactic vaccines that have resolved the problem of a number of infectious diseases. Among the former, anti-idiotype vaccines for human follicular lymphoma have begun to produce tangible clinical results. Just 10 years ago it was not even known whether patients could be immunized against their own tumor antigens and now as many as two independent Phase III clinical trials based on this finding are underway. The rapidity of this development encourages the hope that active immunotherapy may soon become decisive in oncology. For the time being, many important results have already been achieved: the evidence of vaccine-induced, tumor-specific humoral/cellular responses and the first documented molecular remissions following vaccination.


The nonuniqueness of gravity or magnetic data inversion is well known. In order to remove ambiguity, some authors have sought solutions minimizing a functional describing geometrical or physical properties. Last and Kubik (1983), in particular, developed a method explaining the observed anomaly by structures of minimum volume. In this method the domain where anomalous sources are searched is divided into elementary prisms of a constant density or susceptibility contrast. Each elementary contrast is allowed to vary individually. Thus a contrast distribution is computed. The search for this kind of solution leads in general to geologically more appropriate bodies, but exceptions do occur. In this paper, the technique is broadened to include the search for solutions minimizing the moment of inertia with respect to the center of gravity or with respect to a given dip line passing through it. The resulting structures are both deeper and more compact, precisely as is required in specific cases. Theoretical and ...


Introduction/Background Damage control surgery (DCS) emerged as a feasible alternative for the management of patients with abdominal infection and sepsis in order to reduce mortality compared with primary definitive surgery. The phases of DCS are defined by 5-steps: first, identifying injury characteristics and presenting pathophysiology, abbreviated surgery to control bleeding and contamination, dynamic reassessment of patient parameters during the operative course, continued physiological restoration and vital organ support in the intensive care unit (ICU) and finally, delayed definitive surgical repair. Methodology We present a case of a 56 years-old woman with history of chronic hypertension and appendicectomy, with suspected ovarian mucinous carcinoma in context of a 25 cm right ovarian mass. Complete ovarian cytoreductive surgery was performed successfully including ileocecal resection with mechanical side-to-side anastomosis through midline laparotomy. Results Five days after the intervention, the patient presented with septic shock secondary to acute peritonitis due to anastomotic leakage confirmed by urgent surgical evaluation with purulent peritonitis of the four quadrants. During surgery the patient presented hemodynamic instability with high dose noradrenaline requirements and severe respiratory failure. Given the extreme severity DCS was performed, with excision of the previous ileocecal anastomosis, peritoneal lavage and placement of negative pressure therapy leaving open abdomen. Subsequently, slow but favourable evolution occurred, performing reintervention at 48h for revision, terminal ileostomy and progressive closure of the abdominal wall according to the Leppäniemi technique until complete closure of the wall (2 more procedures). Finally, the patient was discharged 3 weeks after DCS with good general condition. Conclusion There is insufficient evidence to advocate for DCS as a general strategy in patients with secondary peritonitis, but it may be an option in selected significantly physiologically deranged patients with ongoing sepsis. DCS restores physiological reserve facilitating more definitive surgical treatment resulting in decreased perioperative complications and improved outcomes. Disclosure Nothing to disclose.


Objective: Symptoms such as anorexia and sleep disturbances are common and cause a significant reduction in quality of life in hemodialysis patients. Orexin-A, which is a neuropeptide produced in lateral hypothalamic neurons and involved in regulation of feeding behavior, energy metabolism and sleep-wake cycle, is a good candidate to play a role in sleep and feeding disturbances in these patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between orexin-A levels and anorexia and sleep disturbances in hemodialysis patients. Subjects and Methods: 70 hemodialysis patients and 70 age and sex matched healthy controls were compared according to their orexin-A levels. Plasma orexinA levels were measured with the Enzyme Immunassay method. The Subjective Global Assessment Scale to assess nutritional status, and Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index to assess quality of sleep were used. Results: The mean orexin-A level of the patients was significantly lower than controls (p<0.001). Body mass index (r=-.313, p=0.01) and parathormone (r=-.341, p=0.006) were significantly correlated with orexin-A levels. After multivariate linear regression, the significance remained for body mass index (p=0.01) and triglyceride levels (p= 0.03). Conclusion: These preliminary results may suggest that plasma orexin-A levels can be used as a biochemical marker for assessment of the nutritional state in hemodialysis patients.


The review deals with the separation of mixtures of gases and vapors using polymer membranes. Several types of separation membranes and mechanism of transport of gases or vapors through the membranes are described. The solubility-diffusion model together with the definition of transport parameters (permeability, diffusion and solubility coefficients) are explained.


Peace tourism is becoming an emerging trend in the millennial era. It produces new dimensions of peace as well as tourism. Therefore, the concept of peace tourism is considered as a very broad concept with multiple aspects and there is no common agreed definition of peace tourism. The numerous facets of peace tourism are designed to lead "positive peace", a term coined by Johan Galtung (1996). Post-war Sri Lanka is in a position of achieving positive peace through reconciliation. In this theoretical and empirical background, this paper is going to examine the problems and prospects of peace tourism in post-war Sri Lanka. What is peace tourism in the millennial era and how can it help achieve positive peace in Sri Lanka? These questions will be addressed in this paper while examining the relationship between peace tourism and reconciliation policies in post-war Sri Lanka. The research design of this study is based upon the Hermeneutic approach, apost-positivist research methodology. Other research methods of the study include key Informant Interview (KII) and content analysis methods.


FPC Research Associate Dr Simon Mabon and his colleague Lucia Ardovini analyse the response of key regional actors in the Middle East to the rising threat of daesh (ISIS/ISIL), looking at differing Iranian, Saudi and Egyptian approaches.


The close-coupled theory of collisions in a radiative field is applied to the calculation of the absorption profile for the K(5P-4S) doublet broadened by collisions with Ne. Using both quantal and semiclassical approaches allows quantitative results to be obtained and also points out the more important physical aspects. The theory gives simultaneously the absorption coefficient, the fine-structure branching ratio and the polarisation redistribution from the line centre, where the impact limit is valid, to the far spectral wings. The analysis of the influence of non-adiabatic couplings shows that the total absorption coefficient is rather insensitive to these couplings but that they play an important role in the fine-structure branching ratio and in the polarisation redistribution. The authors also find a strong dependence of the polarisation redistribution with the curvature of the trajectories.


Rock avalanches are low frequency natural hazards that can alter landscape morphology, and constraining the timing, volume and emplacement dynamics of pre-historic rock avalanches is crucial for understanding the hazards posed by these events. Here we perform cosmogenic nuclide dating, topographic reconstruction and runout modeling of the Molveno rock avalanche, located north of Lake Garda in the Province of Trento, Italy. The unique morphology of the deposits, which features numerous large scarps and prominent lineaments, have previously led researchers to interpret the Molveno rock avalanche as being the result of multiple events. Our results show that the Molveno rock avalanche had a volume of approximately 600 Mm3, and failed from a prominent niche located on Monte Soran. 36Cl cosmogenic nuclide dating results shows that the deposits were emplaced as a single event approximately 4.8 ± 0.5 ka, and suggests that the unique deposit morphology is due to the emplacement processes acting during and soon after failure. Numerical runout modeling shows that this morphology could have resulted from a combination of runup and extensional spreading of the debris along the complex valley floor topography. The ages we determined for this event are coincident with the nearby Marocca Principale rock avalanche (5.3 ± 0.9 ka), which may suggest a common trigger. Our results have important implications for interpreting the morphology of rock avalanche deposits, and contribute to the evolving understanding of rock avalanche processes in the Alps.


A study on modeling the variations of directional brightness temperature (DBT) for row-structure crops was carried out with the images captured by a large-aperture thermal infrared camera over a maize canopy. The model assumes that the DBT is a function of target component brightness temperatures and their directional fractions. The canopy has three brightness temperature components: the sunlit soil, the shaded soil, and the vegetation. Their fractions in the scene depend on the sun-view geometry and the distributions of gaps within and between plant rows. To describe canopy geometrical features, a series of porous hedgerows with a rectangular cross section is used. The directional variations of gap fractions are described by the Kuusk function. The model demonstrated how the features of DBT depend on the sun-view geometry, canopy geometrical structure, and component brightness temperatures. In the simulation of DBT over a middle-density canopy near the local noontime, the results revealed an evident row-direction-oriented hot stripe in DBT polar maps, where the hot spot appeared along the sun direction. The sensitivities of the model to the input parameters were tested. Further validation demonstrated a close correlation between predicted DBT and field observations.


The necessity of using coupled techniques to analyze samples from boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) patients prior to element-specific detection has been demonstrated. BNCT patients were infused with p-boronophenylalanine (BPA)-fructose complex before the therapy started. Urine and blood plasma samples were collected at different times after the start of the BPA administration and were run on a porous graphitic carbon column coupled on-line to an inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometer (ICP-AES) and an ICP time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS). In addition to BPA, a possible metabolite to BPA and some minor boron-containing compounds, eluting close to the front, were also found in the urine and plasma samples. Because only the total concentration of boron has been measured so far in earlier studies, the suspected metabolite could not be detected, and this is the first report indicating its presence in urine and plasma of BNCT patients. The abundance of 10B in urine was about the same for BPA and its possible metabolite (98-99%). The ratio between the possible metabolite and BPA was found to differ in the urine from different patients. Most of the patients had a metabolite concentration of approximately 10 mol % of the BPA content in their urine 5-11 h after the start of the BPA administration. This ratio increased to between 30 and 80% when 24 h had passed. The ratio of metabolite to BPA was found to be lower in the plasma than in the urine samples at comparable time after the start of BPA infusion. Preliminary results from micro-LC-electrospray ionization (ESI)-MS/MS measurements on four urine samples indicate that the metabolite has a higher mass than BPA.


Disease resistance genes encoding proteins with nucleotide binding sites and Leucine-Rich Repeat (NB-LRR) domains include many members involved in the effector-triggered immunity pathway in plants. The transcript levels of these defense genes are negatively regulated by diverse microRNAs (miRNAs) in angiosperms and gymnosperms. In wheat, using small RNA expression datasets and degradome datasets, we identified five miRNA families targeting NB-LRR defense genes in monocots, some of which arose in the Triticeae species era. These miRNAs regulate different types of NB-LRR genes, most of them with coil-coiled domains, and trigger the generation of secondary small interfering RNAs (siRNA) as a phased pattern in the target site regions. In addition to acting in response to biotic stresses, they are also responsive to abiotic stresses such as heat, drought, salt, and light stress. Their copy number and expression variation in Triticeae suggest a rapid birth and death frequency. Altogether, non-conserved miRNAs as conserved transcriptional regulators in gymnosperms and angiosperms regulating the disease resistance genes displayed quick plasticity including the variations of sequences, gene copy number, functions, and expression level, which accompanied with NB-LRR genes may be tune-regulated to plants in natural environments with various biotic and abiotic stresses.


Nowadays companies face tough competition in a globalised economy with rapid technological innovation and increasingly short product life cycles. On the other hand, universities, when teaming up with industry, may enjoy the necessary financial resources and input to deliver breakthrough discoveries. Through collaboration, both university and industry benefit from knowledge and technology exchange, fostering the welfare and competitiveness of a country. This paper will explore possible ways to strengthen and improve the cooperation while protecting intellectual property and know-how that is created prior to, during or after the collaboration to achieve a win-win outcome.


It has been proven in a few early studies that radiomic analysis offers a promising opportunity to detect or differentiate between organ lesions based on their unique texture parameters. Recently, the utilization of CT texture analysis (CTTA) has been receiving significant attention, especially for response evaluation and prognostication of different oncological diagnoses. In this review article, we discuss the unique ability of radiomics and its subfield CTTA to diagnose lesions in the pancreas and kidney. We review studies in which CTTA was used for the classification of histology grades in pancreas and kidney tumors. We also review the role of radiogenomics in the prediction of the molecular and genetic subtypes of pancreatic tumors. Furthermore, we provide a short report on recent advancements of radiomic analysis in predicting prognosis and survival of patients with pancreatic and renal cancers.


In this paper, we use the technique of Taylor expansion to obtain a very analytical and highly applicable approximating formula for implied volatility for general local volatility models, including time-inhomogeneous model case. Our formula is a slightly modification of proposition 5.3 in Pierre Henry-Labordere (2008) [17], and an approximation method is also devised so that the implied variance can be expressed as a very simple series. Numerical results confirm high efficiency and accuracy of our approximating formula, and demonstrate our significant improvement over Pierre Henry-Labordere result.


Multi-stage plug-n-perf fracturing of horizontal wells has proven to be an effective method to develop unconventional reservoirs. Various studies have shown uneven fluid and proppant distributions across all perforation clusters. It is commonly believed that both fracturing fluid and proppant contribute to unconventional well performance. Achieving uniform fluid and proppant placement is an important step toward optimal stimulation. This paper discusses how to achieve such uniform placement in each stage via a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) modeling approach.
 CFD models in several lab scales were built and calibrated using experimental data of proppant transport through horizontal pipes in several laboratory configurations. A field-scale model was then built and validated using perforation erosion data from downhole camera observations and the same model parameters calibrated in the lab-scale model. With the field-scale model validated, CFD simulations were performed to evaluate the impact of key parameters on fluid and proppant placement in individual perforations and clusters. Some key parameters investigated in this study included perforation parameters (size, orientation, number), cluster spacing, cluster count per stage, fluid properties, proppant properties, pumping rates, casing sizes, and stress shadow effects, etc.
 Both lab and CFD results show that bottom-side perforations receive significantly more proppant than top-side perforations due to gravitational effects. Lab and CFD results also show that proppant distribution is increasingly toe-biased at higher rates. Proppant concentration along the wellbore from heel to toe generally varies significantly. Gravity, momentum, viscous drag, and turbulent dispersion are key factors affecting proppant transport in horizontal wellbores.
 This study demonstrates that near-uniform fluid and proppant placement across all clusters in each stage is achievable by optimizing perforation, cluster, and other treatment design factors. Validated CFD modeling plays an important role in this design optimization process.


SHORT-ROOT (SHR) is a mobile transcription factor that plays important roles in ground tissue patterning, stem cell niche specification and maintenance, and vascular development in Arabidopsis roots. Although mRNA and protein of SHR are also found in hypocotyls, inflorescence stems, and leaves, its role in the above-ground organs has been less explored. In most developmental cases, SHR, together with its partner SCARECROW (SCR), regulates the expression of downstream target genes in controlling formative and proliferative cell divisions. Accumulating evidence on the regulatory role of SHR in shoots suggests that SHR may also play key roles in the above-ground organs. Interestingly, recent work has provided new evidence that SHR is also required for cell elongation in the hypocotyl of the etiolated seedling. This suggests that the novel roles of SHR and SHR-mediated regulatory networks can be found in shoots. Furthermore, comparative research on SHR function in roots and shoots will broaden and deepen our understanding of plant growth and development.


Thalassaemias result from mutations of the globin genes that cause reduced or absent haemoglobin production and thus interfere with the critical function of oxygen delivery. They represent the most common single-gene disorders, with 4.83% of the world population carrying globin gene variants. Reduced or absent α-globin (α-thalassaemia) or β-globin (β-thalassaemia) leads to anaemia and multifaceted clinical syndromes. In this second of two reviews on the pathophysiology of haemoglobinopathies, we describe the clinical features, pathophysiology and molecular basis of α- and β-thalassaemias. We then discuss current targeted therapies, including the new oral iron chelators, which, along with chronic transfusions, constitute the mainstay of symptomatic therapy for the majority of patients. Finally, we describe potentially curative therapies, such as bone marrow transplant, and discuss some of the outstanding research studies and questions, including the upcoming field of gene therapy for β-thalassaemia. An accompanying article on haemoglobinopathies (Part I) focuses on sickle cell disease.


Sand-Crete blocks are widely used in Nigerian construction industry. Its quality has been compromised by manufacturers mainly due to the quality and cost of materials used. Iron ore tailings (IOT) are waste material obtainable from the process of smelting of iron. The study tests suitability of IOT in replacing natural sand partially in the making of Sand-Crete Blocks (SCB). Iron ore tailing was added to the mix in the following percentage: 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% of sand. It was observed the compressive strength increases with increase in curing age and also increases in percentage of iron tailings. IOT has a great potential as a replacement of fine aggregate in sandcrete block production


Kuga Katsunan, regarded by his contemporaries as one of the three leading publicists of the eighteen nineties, was something of a hero to many young intellectuals who were attracted by his synthesis of liberalism and nationalism in the concept known as kokumin. This effort to construct a theoretical justification for fusing the two predominant forces of modern Japan in a union in which the individual and the state would be balanced in a condition of interdependence was Katsunan's contribution to Japan's early liberal tradition. Rejecting for himself the label "liberal" in its orthodox sense of advocacy of doctrinaire individualism, Kuga was no more willing to regard himself as a "nationalist" unless that term were so defined as to include a positive affirmation of the value of the individual. He sought to develop instead a theory within which liberalism and nationalism could coexist in almost perfect balance.