The stability and the dynamic behavior are integral parts of designing hydrofoil supported sailing vessels, such as the America's Cup (AC) 50 class. The foil design and the control systems have an important influence on the performance and stability of the vessel. Both foil and control system design also drive the maneuverability of the vessel and determine maneuvering procedures. The AC50 class requirements lead to complex foil control systems and the maneuvering procedures become sophisticated and multifaceted. Sailing and maintaining AC50 class yachts is a complex, expensive and time-consuming task. A dynamic velocity prediction program (DVPP) for the AC50 is therefore developed to assess the dynamic stability of different foil configurations and to simulate and optimize maneuvers. The goal 143 is to evaluate certain design ideas and maneuvering procedures with this simulator so that sailing time on the water can be saved. The paper describes the principal concepts of developing an AC50 model in the DVPP FSEquilibrium. The force components acting on the yacht are defined based on physical principles, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and experimental investigations. The control systems for adjusting the aero- and hydrodynamic surfaces are modeled. Controllers are utilized to simulate the human behavior of performing sailing tasks. Maneuvers are then defined as sequences of crew actions and crew behaviors. In the paper examples of utilizing the DVPP in preparation for the 35th America's Cup in Bermuda are described. The DVPP is for example used to investigate the effect of different boat set-ups on stability and handling during maneuvers. With the sailing team, maneuver procedures are developed and tested. Procedures such as dagger board and rudder elevator movement and crew position are investigated and evaluated to minimize the distance lost during tacking and gybing. The DVPP is also employed for trajectory optimization during maneuvers.


Middle lobe syndrome (MLS) commonly presents with chronic cough, right-sided chest pain, purulent sputum, hemoptysis, weight loss, and pneumonia. The etiology of MLS was initially described as external compression of the right middle lobe bronchus. However, it is known that multiple etiologies of MLS exist, involving intrinsic and extrinsic bronchial compression. The etiologies include broncholithiasis, peribronchial lymphadenopathy, foreign body aspiration, and bronchiectasis. The presenting complaints of MLS are similar regardless of the etiology, referable to the common factor of obstruction of the right middle lobe. Lateral chest radiography in MLS characteristically demonstrates a wedge-shaped opacity in the right middle lobe. We present a case of a 38-year-old Korean female with a remote medical history significant for pulmonary tuberculosis, who presented for evaluation of an enlarging right hilar mass with associated productive cough, chills, night sweats, right-sided pleuritic chest pain, weight loss, and fever. She was diagnosed with MLS, which was successfully managed surgically with a middle lobe lobectomy with complete resolution of symptoms.


Deregulation of cell cycle control is the leading cause of cancer. The retinoblastoma (Rb) family members, including RB1/p105, RBL1/p107 and RBL2/p130, are crucial to restrain cell cycle progression and their inactivation, either direct or indirect, is a hallmark of most human tumors. In particular, RBL2/p130 emerging role in senescence and apoptosis, seems to contribute importantly to its tumor suppressor function. Furthermore, many studies largely contributed to establish RBL2/p130 as an important cancer target, which is inactivated by cell cycle kinases and whose deregulation underlies various cancer types. In this regard, we set out to restore RBL2/p130 function in tumors and exploit its tumor suppressive potential for cancer therapy. In particular, we have identified, through computational chemistry and molecular modeling studies, a small molecule able to act as a specific inhibitor of the CDK2-CycA complex and to reactivate the tumor suppressive function of RBL2/p130 in cancer. We analyzed by MTS assay the cytotoxic effect of our compound on a panel of different tumor cell lines and determined its IC50 values. We evaluated its effects on cell cycle and apoptosis by FACS and dissected its molecular mechanism of action by Western blot and RT-PCR. We found that our compound effectively inhibited proliferation of lung cancer and mesothelioma cell lines by specifically inhibiting CDK2-CycA activity towards RBL2/p130. The decrease in RBL2/p130 phosphorylation led to stabilization of its complex with the E2F4 transcriptional factor and consequent repression of their targets necessary for cell cycle progression, including CDK2 itself. Consistently, our compound arrested cell cycle and triggered apoptosis. Interestingly, apoptosis seemed to be mediated by RBL2/p130 itself because it was repressed in RBL2/p130-silenced cells. Furthermore, our compound proved to be active in an A549 xenograft model of lung cancer. Overall our findings indicate that the pharmacological reactivation of RBL2/p130 induces its cell-cycle restraining and pro-apoptotic functions, the latter being still largely unexplored, and identify a new possible therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment. Citation Format: Francesca Pentimalli, Luca Esposito, Iris Maria Forte, Carmelina Antonella Iannuzzi, Flavio Rizzolio, Tiziano Tuccinardi, Paola Indovina, Silvia Boffo, Antonio Giordano. Reactivating RBL2/p130 oncosuppressive function as a new, possible antitumoral strategy. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-080. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-LB-080


This study compares the situation of engineers in Britain with those in other countries, and examines the development of industrial cultures along different industrial traditions. It covers such issues as education, employment and labour relations to show how far engineers are undervalued. In an increasingly competitive climate, well-trained, experienced management is vital for establishing the long term future of industry. In response to this need, the number of management training courses have been growing in recent years. However, there is a group of highly skilled professionals who are not always recognized for their management potential. Engineers, often viewed as nothing more than technicians, are a valuable but neglected human resource. Their expertise has helped to generate the recent organizational restructuring throughout the manufacturing industry. This study compares the situation of engineers in Britain with those in other countries. It analyzes the industrial cultures of countries that have developed along very different traditions such as Japan, Germany and Hungary as well as countries like Canada and the US where British traditions have prevailed but where the outcomes are different. Bringing together leading writers on management who have specialist knowledge of the engineering profession, it covers such issues as education, employment and labour relations to show how far engineers are undervalued in British culture. This book should be of interest to undergraduates, MBA students, academics and researchers in management, engineering, new technology, industrial sociology and organizational behaviour.


We study the magnetic properties of W/Co40Fe40B20 (CoFeB)/MgO films using the spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) technique. This study takes the advantage of the spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) for generating an oscillating resistance, which is one of the necessary requirements for obtaining mixing voltage in the ST-FMR technique. We have measured both the as-grown and the annealed samples with different CoFeB layer thicknesses, which include the in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic anisotropies. The spectra for these two types of anisotropies show distinct signatures. By analyzing the ST-FMR spectra, we extract the effective anisotropy field for both types of samples. In addition, we investigate the influence of CoFeB thickness and annealing on the Gilbert damping constant. Our experiments show that by taking advantage of SMR, the ST-FMR measurement acts as an effective tool with high sensitivity for studying the magnetic properties of ultrathin magnetic films.


One of Buddhism's great teachers, Sri S.N. Goenka, has passed away at
age 90. Considering this, we will consider some aspects of Goenka's
teaching style in his 10?day residential Vipassana course, which is taught
world?wide. Of interest to us is Goenka's teaching methods embodied
within his daily Dhamma Discourses, Day 1 to Day 11, in which he
explains how to practice Vipassana meditation. Along with these
instructions Goenka also examines key doctrines in the Pali Nikayas and
how they relate to Vipassana with respect to the mindful observation of
bodily feelings.


This paper describes an orientation course every first year student entering the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign participates in during the first six weeks of class, fall semester. The program is unique in that it is entirely organized and taught by third and fourth year engineering students, each of which facilitates one or two sections of the course, known as Engineering 100. Although the sections group students by department, much of the material in the course covers other areas as well, ranging from campus health services to web page construction. This paper will first provide an overview of the content and structure of the Engineering 100 program from the perspective of a first year student, then from the perspective of a student facilitator, and finally from an administrative point of view. In addition, it is a goal of this paper to convey some of the educational philosophy that has driven this program forward over the last six years and, in our opinion, made it so successful.


A constraint to black hole (BH) accretion has previously been derived for the inner edge fixed at the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) and the innermost bound circular orbit (IBCO). This constraint is referred to as the mass-radius (MR) relation in this study, and the validity of the MR relation is discussed for different cases. It is shown that the product of the BH mass and the inner edge radius decreases monotonically in the accretion process for the inner edge located between IBCO and ISCO. In addition, we discuss the validity of the MR relation by considering the magnetic coupling (MC) effects of a Kerr BH with its surrounding disc. Although theoretically the product of the BH mass and the radius of ISCO increases (decreases) with time for a BH spin greater (less) than some critical value in the MC process, this relation is approximately valid for an Eddington accretion rate persisting for a rather long time, such as more than 106 years. Finally, we discuss the possible application of the MR relation to astrophysics.


Wide-area sensor infrastructures, remote sensors, RFIDs, phasor measurements, and wireless sensor networks yield massive volumes of disparate, dynamic, and geographically distributed data. As such sensors are becoming ubiquitous, a set of broad requirements is beginning to emerge across high-priority applications including adaptability to national or homeland security, critical infrastructures monitoring, disaster preparedness and management, greenhouse emissions and climate change, and transportation. The raw data from sensors need to be efficiently managed and transformed to usable information through data fusion, which in turn must be converted to predictive insights via knowledge discovery, ultimately facilitating automated or human-induced tactical decisions or strategic policy based on decision sciences and decision support systems.


We introduce a computational database with calculated structural, thermodynamic, electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of 820 one-dimensional materials. The materials are systematically selected and exfoliated from experimental databases of crystal structures based on a dimensionality scoring parameter. The database is furthermore expanded by chemical element substitution in the materials. The materials are investigated in both their bulk form and as isolated one-dimensional components. We discuss the methodology behind the database, give an overview of some of the calculated properties, and look at patterns and correlations in the data. The database is furthermore applied in computational screening to identify materials, which could exhibit Majorana bound states.


Studies on the impact of government expenditures on regional and municipal development mainly focus on examining local budgets. Simultaneously, each territory has various channels for financing public needs and collecting taxes and other payments. Therefore, this research develops and tests a methodology to construct the public sector financial balance at the municipal level. The presented approach in based on the System of National Accounts (SNA), which considers expenditures and revenues of the federal, regional or municipal budgets as a single institutional sector, regardless of their affiliation. Therefore, in order to achieve the municipal financial balance, it is necessary to analyse tax payments at various budget levels, grouping them in accordance with the SNA classification. For calculating municipal expenditures, an original technique was developed to consider the costs of all public sector financial flows, including direct federal and regional sources. We use official information on municipal payroll obtained from the Federal State Statistics Service database. The net lending/borrowing ratio is taken as a balance indicator of supply and use. Public sector financial balances were constructed for 69 municipalities of Sverdlovsk oblast. Calculations have shown that, on average, public sector expenditure is almost equally divided between regional and federal budgets (one half) and municipal budgets (another half). Various municipality types were identified: 9 donors of public administration resources in Sverdlovsk oblast; 5 territories (including Ekaterinburg city) with a moderate deficit of internal resources; 35 municipalities with a significant lack of finances; 11 areas completely dependent on public administration resources. This work is part of the research aiming to develop the System of Territorial Accounts, tat is, an SNA analogue that can be implemented at the regional and municipal levels.


Breast ulceration is usually associated with breast cancer. However, it is important to know other factors that may be involved in its etiology. In this case report, we presented a very rare cause of pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) in the breast of a female patient without any prior history of breast tissue trauma or surgical intervention. More than one-half of PG cases develop in association with an underlying systemic condition including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), hematologic disorder and arthritis. In contrast to other extraintestinal manifestations, cutaneous and ocular disorders occur at equal frequency in both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. PG has been detected in 0.75% of IBD patients. It usually is related to the activity of colitis. The classic lesion begins as erythematous pustules or nodules. The patients with ulcerative PG have had an associated disease such as IBD, arthritis, monoclonal gamapathy, and internal malignancy. Lesions may be single or multiple. It can be resolved by treatment of the underlying colitis. For mild localized cases, topical corticosteroid or topical tacrolimus should be considered as the first choice. Severe cases can require systemic glucocorticoids, immunosuppressants or anti-TNF therapy. This case differs from others reported in the literature because in addition to breast, hand and foot lesions consistent with pyoderma gangrenosum were also present in this patient.


In order to assess various aspects of their role in the Indian mass vasectomy camp at Bihar 18 motivators were surveyed about their involvement in the program targets fixed for them methods of motivation amount of incentive money ideal time for holding camps transportation facilities and suggestions for improvement of the camp. The motivators were young literate and came from differing occupations and religions. 8 were themselves sterilized; others used contraceptives such as Nirodh and Contab while the rest said they might be sterilized later. 8 of the motivators began recruiting sterilization cases specifically for the money incentive while others became involved in other ways. The 2 official motivators who were given the target of bringing in 25-40 cases could not achieve this target but felt optimistic about future success. Motivators were evenly divided about the sufficiency of the amount of money offered them for sterilization cases. Varying methods of motivating sterilization acceptors for the camp were reported but neither any theory nor philosophy of motivation was seen to be working. Points of dissatisfaction mentioned by the motivators included inadequate transportation a waiting time that was too long inadequate diet given the acceptors and no proper accomodation given for stay if the patient is not operated on on that day. It is concluded that in a community of illiterate and poor people the factor of motivation for the small family norm as such is not as strong an incentive as the need for money. An increased incentive to the vasectomy acceptors may bring in more cases for sterilization to the camp.


Different co-crystals from N-hetero-tolane derivatives are prepared by hydrogen- or halogen-bonding. Their crystal structures have been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD). Highly ordered smectic liquid crystals are obtained upon protonation of compound 1 and show a remarkable thermal stability. All supramolecular aggregates, crystalline or liquid crystalline, are characterized accordingly by X-ray diffraction (XRD), polarized optical microscopy (POM), and thermal analysis (DSC).


Background: The rate of unintentional child injuries in sub-Saharan Africa is at 53.1 per 100,000, The highest for low income regions, data on these injuries and associated factors among children in Uganda is very scanty. Most child injuries are related to the way of life in rural communities typically burns from charcoal stoves, candle light , hot fluids, chemicals , falls, and animal bites . Methods: This was a cross sectional community survey among the Promise EBF participants in Mbale district of east Uganda. Objective; to establish the prevalence, causes and associated factors of un intentional child injuries in Mbale District . Results: The commonest unintentional injuries were, falls, and burns 11% of the children. The main causes were hot water (43%) and burning charcoal stoves/firewood. Predisposing factors to burns were residence in rural areas (OR 2.0; 95% CI: 1.1, 3.5) and having three or more siblings (OR 1.6; 95% CI: 0.9, 2.8) .. 40% of the well off mothers and those with at least 8 years of education were more likely to report their child injuries. ((OR: 1.7; 95% CI 1.0, 2.9) and (OR 1.5; 95% CI 1.0, 2.2) respectively). Conclusion: The prevalence of unintentional injuries among children of this cohort of mothers was high, caused by burns, falls, poisoning and animal bites .


Drawing on discursive psychology and positioning theory, this study explores the influence of cultural and familial value orientations on battered women's identity, agency, and decision to leave or stay in abusive conjugal relationship in Ghana. Two semi-structured focus group discussions and four in-depth personal interviews were conducted with 16 victims of husband-to-wife abuse from rural and urban Ghana. The findings indicate that entrapment of victims of spousal abuse in Ghana reflects their social embeddedness and that battered women's identities and agency are expressed in the context of familial and cultural value orientations. The primacy of family identity and victims' apparent implicit moral obligation to preserve the social image of their extended family influence their entrapment. Participants' discursive accounts further suggest that stay or leave decisions of battered women in Ghana reflect a joint product of negotiated agency between victims and their extended family. It is thus argued that the agency of battered women in Ghana is not constituted by individual psychological states or motives, but instead, viewed as a property of victims who exercise it in a given relational context, and partly constituted by familial relationships and identities. The study suggests that intervention initiatives in Ghana should focus on the phenomenon of conjugal violence beyond immediate victims to include families and the larger communities in which victims are embedded.


This study addressed: (a) whether any changes in well-being over time could be attributed to participants' aging or to economic or historical events; (b) whether predictors (e.g. age, religiosity, and financial status) were similarly associated with well-being in cohorts of college seniors assessed at different times; and (c) whether predictors of well-being were similar for the same cohort over a 25-year time span. Using three cohorts of emerging adults (1982, n = 189; 2007, n = 188; and 2010, n = 79) and a subsample of the 1982 cohort followed across 25 years (n = 83), the findings indicated that well-being declined over time, possibly due to historical influences rather than changes associated with aging. Well-being was similarly predicted by religiosity, relationship status, and financial status across cohorts. Longitudinal analyses indicated that earlier religiosity was inversely associated with later financial status and later financial status was associated with higher well-being.


The "superfine" time structure of the Jovian S burst decameter emission has been investigated with the aim to clarify the noise nature of the given radiation. The Jovian Io‐B noise storm taken for analysis in the paper has been observed on June 8, 1997, with an acousto‐optical spectrograph designed at the Observatory Nancay, and incorporated into the giant Kharkov, Ukraine, UTR‐2 radio telescope, operating from 10 to 25 MHz. The presence of the flicker noise component in the processed signals has been shown with an application of the wavelet transform and maximum likelihood techniques. The spectral parameters γ characterizing such processes have been calculated for different frequencies and different time intervals. The set of randomly distributed pulses has been considered as one of the possible models of S bursts adiation, capable for producing this noise process.


AIMS
To present a case series showing efficacious use of vincristine in treating Kasabach-Merritt syndrome (KMS).

METHODS
The case notes of four children treated for KMS by the authors with corticosteroids and vincristine were reviewed. Specific attention was paid to the efficacy and adverse effects of each therapeutic agent.

RESULTS
The age of presentation ranged from birth to 11 months. Initial treatment with high dose corticosteroids was uniformly ineffective, and in 2 cases, prolonged use caused significant side-effects. Subsequent or concurrent treatment with vincristine was effective and well-tolerated, with no discernable side effects. The only complications were line-related.

CONCLUSIONS
Kasabach-Merritt syndrome is rare, but it is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. No definitive treatment regime has been established, but the authors suggest that vincristine should be considered a first-line agent, and that the use of systemic corticosteroids should not be routine.


The high comorbidity of alcohol use disorder and depressive disorder is associated with poor patient prognosis. The mechanisms underlying this comorbidity, however, are largely unknown. By applying the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations parameter in resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, this study investigated changes in the brain functioning of alcohol-dependent patients with and without depression. Alcohol-dependent patients (n = 48) and healthy controls (n = 31) were recruited. The alcohol-dependent patients were divided into those with and without depression, according to Patients Health Questionnaire-9 scores. Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations in resting-state brain images were compared among the alcohol-dependent patients with depression, alcohol-dependent patients without depression, and healthy controls groups. We further examined associations between amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations alterations, alcohol-dependence severity, and depressive levels (assessed with scales). Compared with the healthy controls group, both alcohol groups showed amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations enhancement in the right cerebellum and amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations abatement in the posterior central gyrus. The alcohol-dependent patients with depression group had higher amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations in the right cerebellum than the alcohol-dependent patients without depression group. Additionally, we observed a positive correlation between amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations value and Patients Health Questionnaire-9 score in the right superior temporal gyrus in the alcohol-dependent patients with depression group. Alcohol-dependent subjects showed abnormally increased spontaneous neural activity in the right cerebellum, which was more significant in alcohol-dependent patients with depression. These findings may support a targeted intervention in this brain location for alcohol and depressive disorder comorbidity.


Background: Pregnant women infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) can transmit the infection to their fetuses and newborns. Neonates who contract the HBV have about 90% risk of developing chronic HBsAg carriage (HBsAg: hepatitis B surface antigen) and chronic liver disease. Neonatal immunization interrupts this vertical and perinatal transmission. Objectives: To determine the seroprevalence of HBsAg among pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) and to identify potential risk factors associated with HBV infection. Materials and Methods: A case control study was conducted involving a total of 303 pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic at AKTH and 303 nonpregnant women of childbearing age. Blood sample was collected from each woman and the serum tested for the presence of HBsAg using latex rapid agglutination slide test kit (Cal-Tech Diagnostic Inc., USA) in the laboratory of the hospital. Reactive samples were stored at -20oC and further confirmed for HBsAg using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits (Bio-Rad, France). HBsAg-positive samples were tested for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) using ELISA kits (Orgenics, Israel). A pretested, structured questionnaire was used for the collection of sociodemographic data and possible risk factors. Results: The prevalence of HBsAg among pregnant women and nonpregnant women were 7.9 and 7.6%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of HBsAg in pregnant and nonpregnant women. The presence of HBeAg was statistically significant among both pregnant and nonpregnant women who tested positive for HBsAg. The risk factors associated with HBV infection were blood transfusion, ear piercing, history of an affected sibling with HBV infection, tattooing, and abortion among pregnant women. Conclusion: The prevalence of HBsAg in this study was not statistically different in pregnant and nonpregnant women. There was a high level of HBeAg infection among pregnant women who tested positive for HBsAg. History of an affected sibling with HBV infection, tattoo, and abortion were significant risk factors for HBV infection. Keywords: Africa, hepatitis B, pregnancy, risk factors


Biological photoreceptors are very suitable for studies of the structure–function relationship in proteins. Of the many possible candidates, from at least six different families, we discuss here photoactive yellow protein (PYP, a member of the Xanthopsin family). The excellent physical and photochemical stability of PYP has allowed recording of a large amount of data relevant for this characteristic. The timescales relevant for functional transitions in PYP are most easily studied with transient spectroscopy. Application of the combination of UV/Vis and FTIR spectroscopy has revealed (besides multiple electronically excited states) the subsequent involvement of the following transient intermediates: I0, pR1, pR2, pB′, pB and pBdeprot. The structures of these transient intermediates have been characterized with general structural techniques like X-ray diffraction and NMR spectroscopy. Most extensive results have been obtained with X-ray diffraction, applied both in a time-resolved mode and by making use of low-temperature trapping. This has led to a detailed description of the reversible spatial changes in PYP that follow light activation. The structure of the transient intermediates, however, is exquisitely sensitive to constraints from the molecular environment of the protein, like the absence/presence of a crystalline lattice. Extrapolating these results to the signalling state of PYP in vivo is extremely complicated but also very challenging. Rather than measure, one can also simulate and/or calculate the spatial structures of transient intermediates of PYP. This challenge is most straightforwardly tackled with a detailed analysis of the intrinsic dynamics of the stable receptor state of PYP. Such studies have revealed striking similarities in the dynamics of all PAS domain proteins of which a spatial structure has been determined. The next challenge is to properly describe the change in configuration of the chromophore, induced by light, and to expand such simulations to the timescale relevant for completion of this photocycle.


Abstract Trichoderma strains were evaluated under field conditions to assay their efficacy in suppressing Alternaria fruit rot disease and promoting chili plant growth. The experiment was conducted at the Botanical Garden, Rajshahi University, Bangladesh from July 2006 to March 2007. Application of Trichoderma harzianum IMI 392432 significantly (p = 0.05) suppressed the disease compared to Alternaria tenuis (T2) treatment and improved both growth and yield. The treatment T4 (T. harzianum IMI-392432 + A. tenuis) was most effective in reducing disease percentage (72.27%) compared to A. tenuis (T1) treatment. The highest seed germination rate (85.56%) and the highest growth and yield (12.5 g/plant) was also recorded in the same treatment (T4), followed by T5 (T. harzianum IMI-392433 + A. tenuis), T6 (T. harzianum IMI-392434 + A. tenuis), T2 (T. virens IMI-392430 + A. tenuis), and T3 (T. pseudokoningii IMI-392431 + A. tenuis) treatment, while single treatment with A. tenuis significantly decreased these values.


The Fermi Bubbles (FB) are a pair of large-scale ellipsoidal structures extending above and below the Galactic plane almost symmetrically aligned with the Galactic Center. After more than 10 years since their discovery, their nature and origin remain unclear. Unveiling the primary emission mechanisms, whether hadronic or leptonic, is considered the main tool to shed light on the topic. We explore the potential key role of MeV observations of the FB and we provide a recipe to determine the sensitivity of Compton and Compton-pair telescopes to the extended emission of the FB. We illustrate the capabilities of the Imaging Compton Telescope COMPTEL, the newly selected NASA MeV mission COSI (Compton Spectrometer and Imager), as well as the expectations for a potential future Compton-pair telescope such as AMEGO-X (All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory eXplorer).


The objective of this paper is to reflect upon some issues that constitute challenges to the Unified Health System managers and professionals, the quality and the humanization process in the health actions in mental health. Both concepts hold a prominent place in the psychiatric care reform process currently established in Brazil, as well as in the discourse of the professionals in mental health care. It discusses the quality and the humanization concepts differently from the traditional financial gains, nonhospitalization and assistencialist perspective. Instead they are linked to the principle of noninstitucionalization as a negation of the asylum logic that undermines subjective practices and enforces them as ethical mechanisms in the search for innovative life modes.


Double stranded RNA (dsRNA), an intermediate that is common during viral infection, directly induces much higher levels of expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6) mRNA than does the cytokine IL-1beta. Interferon alpha (IFNalpha) by itself does not induce expression of IL-6; nonetheless, IFNalpha pretreatment dramatically enhances IL-6 induction by dsRNA but not by IL-1beta. Mutation of either the activating transcription factor/cyclic AMP response element binding protein (ATF/CREB) or the NF-IL-6 binding element within the IL-6 promoter eliminates most responsiveness of CAT reporter constructs to either dsRNA or to IL-1beta. IFNalpha pretreatment partially restores responsiveness to dsRNA but not to IL-1beta when either the ATF/CREB site or the NF-IL-6 site is mutated, but at least one of these sites must be intact for responsiveness to be restored. Mutation of the kappaB binding site in the IL-6 promoter eliminates responsiveness to either IL-1beta or to dsRNA, and pretreatment with IFNalpha does not restore any responsiveness. Incubation with dsRNA leads to a decrease in protein translation, especially in cells that have been pretreated with IFNalpha. Nonetheless, IFNalpha pretreatment followed by dsRNA leads to very high IL-6 protein levels. These studies demonstrate that major differences exist in the induction of IL-6 at both the mRNA and protein levels by dsRNA compared to cytokines and that IFNalpha pretreatment selectively enhances IL-6 induction by dsRNA but not by IL-1beta. The high levels of IL-6 expression that result when cells encounter class I IFN prior to dsRNA suggest a mechanism for a heightened host response to viral infection with heightened production of this pleotropic cytokine.


Superior labrum tears are common injuries in the throwing athlete. Sever contributing factors have been identified; however, the effects of instability on the superior labrum have not been studied. The goal of this cadaver study was to determine the effect of instability on superior labral strain in a model of the throwing motion. Six cadaver shoulders were mounted on an MTS machine with a strain gauge placed on the superior labrum. The shoulder was brought into the late cocking phase and strain measured before and after the introduction of a lesion to the inferior glenohumeral ligament to create anterior instability. Labral strain increased linearly in the late cocking phase of throwing in all specimens. Posterosuperior labral strain increased 160% in the unstable shoulders. This was a significant difference (P = .02). Instability increases strain in the posterosuperior labrum in the late cocking phase of throwing. This increased strain may render the labrum more prone to injury in the throwing or overhead athlete.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the association between alcohol consumption and risk for development of diabetes.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
We examined 2,953 Japanese male office workers aged 35-59 years who did not have impaired fasting glucose (IFG) (a fasting plasma glucose concentration of 6.1-6.9 mmol/l), type 2 diabetes (a fasting plasma glucose concentration of > or =7.0 mmol/l or receipt of hypoglycemic medication), medication for hypertension, or a history of cardiovascular disease. Fasting plasma glucose concentrations were measured at periodic annual health examinations from May 1994 through May 2001.

RESULTS
There was a U-shaped association between alcohol consumption and the incidence of IFG or type 2 diabetes during 7 years of follow-up, with the lowest incidence at alcohol intake of 23.0-45.9 g ethanol/day. After controlling for age, family history of diabetes, BMI, cigarette smoking, and physical activity, the relative risk for development of IFG or type 2 diabetes compared with alcohol consumption of 23.0-45.9 g ethanol/day was 1.51 (95% CI, 1.07-2.13), 1.31 (95% CI, 0.93-1.84), 1.18 (95% CI, 0.87-1.61), and 1.43 (95% CI, 1.01-2.02) with alcohol consumption of 0, 0.1-22.9, 46.0-68.9, and > or =69.0 g ethanol/day, respectively (P for quadratic trend = 0.016). Analyses by presence or absence of a risk factor revealed that a U-shaped association was more evident in older men, men without a family history of diabetes, and nonsmokers.

CONCLUSIONS
These results indicate that moderate alcohol consumption among apparently healthy Japanese men is associated with reduced risk for development of IFG or type 2 diabetes.


The review gives data mainly on Soviet investigations on the preparation and application of synthetic tanning agents, comprising auxiliary syntans and substitutes for vegetable tannins. A detailed account is given of the processes used in the synthesis of Soviet heavy-duty syntans and some information on the production of substitute syntans abroad. The bibliography contains 83 references.


Over an eight years period about 6200 cell cultures, sera, cell culture media and supernatants were routinely monitored for contamination with mycoplasmas, bacteria and fungi. Mycoplasmas were detected in 24.0% of 4443 samples which were checked for possible contamination. In 1742 samples from a laboratory, known to have only mycoplasma free cultures, 2 were positive, both samples having an external origin. The value of routine monitoring to prevent the introduction of mycoplasma was confirmed. Culture and direct fluorescent assay using the fluorochrome bisbenzimide (Hoechst 33258) yielded comparable results. The applicability and significance of both methods is discussed. In spite of a few disadvantages the culture method is considered to be superior to the fluorescence assay, but both methods should be employed in order to obtain sufficiently reliable results. The importance of appropriate methods for the detection of mycoplasmas is stressed because of their potential influence on experimental results. The probable sources of cell culture contamination are also discussed.


In Drosophila brain, gamma neurons in the mushroom body are involved in higher functions such as olfactory learning and memory. During metamorphosis, they undergo remodelling after which they adopt their adult shape. Some mutations alter remodelling and therefore neuronal final morphology, causing behavioural dysfunctions. The RNA binding protein Imp, for example, was shown to control this remodelling process at least partly by regulating profilin expression. This work aims at precisely characterizing the morphological changes observed upon imp knockdown in order to further understand the role of this protein. We develop a methodological framework that consists in the selection of relevant morphological features, their modelling and parameter estimation. We thus perform a statistical comparison and a likelihood analysis to quantify similarities and differences between wild type and mutated neurons. We show that imp mutant neurons can be classified into two phenotypic groups (called Imp L and Imp Sh) that differ in several morphological aspects. We also demonstrate that, although Imp L and wild-type neurons show similarities, branch length distribution is discriminant between these populations. Finally, we study biological samples in which Profilin was reintroduced in imp mutant neurons, and show that defects in main axon and branch lengths are partially suppressed.


Introduction: To prevent rabies in animal bite victims, complete postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) with an anti-rabies vaccination (ARV) is essential. This study was done to determine the compliance rate of ARV in patients with animal bites who presented to the emergency department (ED) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective observational study done on patients presenting to the ED with a history of animal bites over 1 year (May 2020–June 2021). Categorical variables were presented as percentages, and quantitative variables were summarized using mean and standard deviation (SD). Results: A total of 122 animal bite (World Health Organization [WHO] Category II and III) victims presented to the ED during the study. The mean age of the cohort was 38.12 (SD: 16.4) years with a male (n = 67: 54.9%) preponderance. Based on the physiological stability, a majority were triaged as priority III (n = 119; 97.5%). Most patients presented with dog bites (n = 88; 72.1%), followed by cat (n = 14; 11.5%) and rat bites (n = 13; 10.7%). Two-thirds were unprovoked (n = 82; 67.2%) and were caused by stray animals (n = 62; 50.8%). More than half (n = 65; 53.3%) of the bites were WHO Category III bites. All Category II and III patients had received the first dose of ARV at our center and category III patients received immunoglobulin local injection as well. Noncompliance to ARV was seen in almost a quarter (n = 32; 26.2%) of patients of which forgotten dates (n = 11; 34.4%) were the most common cause. There was no significant statistical variable to determine the cause of noncompliance. Conclusion: Unprovoked bites by stray dogs were the cause of a majority of the animal bites. Compliance with PEP remains low at two-thirds of the total. The most common cause of noncompliance to ARV was due to forgotten dates. The following core competencies are addressed in this article: Medical knowledge, Systems-based practice, Practice-based learning and improvement.


Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a type of endogenous non-coding RNA with multiple binding sites that specifically bind to microRNAs (miRNAs) and serve an important role in cellular regulatory networks. Patients exhibit varying levels of lymphatic metastasis in a clinical setting. The present study investigated the association between circRNAs and lymphatic metastasis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The tissue samples were divided into three groups, including early tumor stage associated with advanced nodal stage (T1 group), advanced tumor stage associated with early nodal stage (T2 group) and healthy esophageal epithelial tissues as the control group (C group). Gene chip analysis identified circRNAs, and those with possible regulatory functions were validated by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis (RT-qPCR). circRNAs containing miRNA response element (MRE) sequences were obtained, and circRNA/miRNA prediction software was used to predict miRNAs that may interact with circRNA. A total of 12,275 circRNAs were detected, including 861 with statistically significant differences. A comparison between the T1 and C groups identified 152 upregulated circRNAs and 431 downregulated ones, while a comparison between the T2 and C groups identified 187 upregulated and 481 downregulated circRNAs. A T1/T2 group comparison revealed that four circRNAs were upregulated and seven were downregulated (fold change >1.5; P<0.05). The RT-qPCR data and gene chip analysis consistently identified hsa_circRNA_100873 as differentially expressed among the examined groups. A total of five potential MREs and complementary sequences were selected for hsa_circRNA_100873. The results of the present study indicated that multiple differentially expressed circRNAs are involved in the pathogenesis of ESCC, and that upregulation of hsa_circRNA_100873 may be associated with increased lymphatic metastases in ESCC.


The prognosis of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is determined by innate immunity, adaptive immunity, and a variety of regulatory factors in the host. Controversy still exists over the role of innate immunity in the progression of HBV infection. Adaptive immunity, especially the immune response mediated by CD8+ T cells, plays an important role in HBV clearance. However, in patients with chronic infection, such CD8+ T cells are often exhausted and associated with various regulatory factors including programmed cell death 1 and T-cell immunoglobulin mucin-3. This article elaborates on the association of chronicity of HBV infection with host immune system and various regulating factors.


In this concluding editorial, we present the central observations regarding the theoretical, empirical and methodological explorations of the various articles that make up this special issue on the governability of societal transitions towards sustainability. We elaborate on the specific contributions of each article to the governance of sustainability transitions and the transition management approach and identify interesting similarities and differences between the various articles. Next, we revisit the guiding questions we formulated in the introductory editorial, and we answer these questions by synthesising the contributions of the eight articles regarding: 1) which theoretical perspectives are fruitful; 2) which empirical pathways and governance principles are available and valuable for governing sustainability transitions; 3) what we learnt about the governability of sustainability transitions; 4) how special sustainability transitions are as far as efforts to govern them are concerned; 5) which normative issues are at stake when attempting to govern sustainability transitions. We conclude the present editorial with an agenda of next challenges for both the practice and the study of the governance of sustainability transitions.


EDIT MapViewer and Map REST services Mergen, P.¹; Davy, J.²; Theeten, F. ¹ & Roca-Ristol, P.³ ¹Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA), Leuvensesteenweg 13, 3080 Tervuren, Belgium firstname.lastname@example.com ²National Botanic Garden of Belgium, Bouchout Domain, Nieuwelaan 38, 1860 Meise, Belgium ³Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Jose Gutierrez Abascal, 2 28006 Madrid, Spain During the two hour session titled Biodiversity Informatics for Biosystematics we plan to include a 15 minutes + 5 minutes questions feature with a power point presentation highlighting the EU Network of Excellence EDIT for European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy, MapViewer and the EDIT Map REST Services. The MapViewer is an online GIS tool for taxonomists to plot and query distribution data of species to be used in publications. It has many valuable features that operate entirely online with no need to download any client software. The platform links to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) allowing the users species data to be compared to the data contained within GBIF. There are also spatial analysis tools included in the MapViewer to perform more complex studies. The ability to highlight and label regions interactively on the map for reference after printing is also possible. It is also open source and free to use, which is becoming very desirable in the taxonomic world. The Map REST Services are tools used by institutions to allow for the dynamic mapping of species data allowing points or areas to be highlighted. Queries can be preformed on species datasets that result in the displaying of a map that shows the species occurrence locations based on the query preformed. There is also the possibility of viewing maps with areas highlighted based on TDWG region standards. Both options allow the possibility of overlaying the data on WMS layers like Google earth or NASA satellite images. These tools are available freely and will be maintained beyond the end of the EDIT project by the Royal Museum for Central Africa and the National Botanic Garden of Belgium. Alternatively we offer a mirror to institutions wishing to host their own copies of these services.


We introduce a novel joint sparse representation based multi-view automatic target recognition (ATR) method, which can not only handle multi-view ATR without knowing the pose but also has the advantage of exploiting the correlations among the multiple views of the same physical target for a single joint recognition decision. Extensive experiments have been carried out on moving and stationary target acquisition and recognition (MSTAR) public database to evaluate the proposed method compared with several state-of-the-art methods such as linear support vector machine (SVM), kernel SVM, as well as a sparse representation based classifier (SRC). Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed joint sparse representation ATR method is very effective and performs robustly under variations such as multiple joint views, depression, azimuth angles, target articulations, as well as configurations.


Background CD73 (ecto-5'-nucleotidase) is an ecto-nucleotidase that dephosphorylate AMP to form adenosine. Activation of adenosine signaling pathway in immune cells leads to the suppression of effector functions, down-regulate macrophage phagocytosis, inhibit pro-inflammatory cytokine release, as well as yield aberrantly differentiated dendritic cells producing pro-tumorigenic molecules.1 In the tumor microenvironment, adenosinergic negative feedback signaling facilitated immune suppression is considered an important mechanism for immune evasion of cancer cells.2 3 Combination of CD73 and anti-PD-1 antibody has shown promising activity in suppressing tumor growth. Hence, we developed AK119, an anti- human CD73 monoclonal antibody, and AK123,a bi-specific antibody targeting both PD-1 and CD73 for immune therapy of cancer. Methods AK119 is a humanized antibody against CD73 and AK123 is a tetrameric bi-specific antibody targeting PD-1 and CD73. Binding assays of AK119 and AK123 to antigens, and antigen expressing cells were performed by using ELISA, Fortebio, and FACS assays. In-vitro assays to investigate the activity of AK119 and AK123 to inhibit CD73 enzymatic activity in modified CellTiter-Glo assay, to induce endocytosis of CD73, and to activate B cells were performed. Assay to evaluate AK123 activity on T cell activation were additionally performed. Moreover, the activities of AK119 and AK123 to mediate ADCC, CDC in CD73 expressing cells were also evaluated. Results AK119 and AK123 could bind to its respective soluble or membrane antigens expressing on PBMCs, MDA-MB-231, and U87-MG cells with high affinity. Results from cell-based assays indicated that AK119 and AK123 effectively inhibited nucleotidase enzyme activity of CD73, mediated endocytosis of CD73, and induced B cell activation by upregulating CD69 and CD83 expression on B cells, and showed more robust CD73 blocking and B cell activation activities compared to leading clinical candidate targeting CD73. AK123 could also block PD-1/PD-L1 interaction and enhance T cell activation. Conclusions In summary, AK119 and AK123 represent good preclinical biological properties, which support its further development as an anti-cancer immunotherapy or treating other diseases. References Deaglio S, Dwyer KM, Gao W, Friedman D, Usheva A, Erat A, Chen JF, Enjyoji K, Linden J, Oukka M, et al. Adenosine generation catalyzed by CD39 and CD73 expressed on regulatory T cells mediates immune suppression. J Exp Med 2007; 204:1257–65. Huang S, Apasov S, Koshiba M, Sitkovsky M. Role of A2a extracellular adenosine receptor-mediated signaling in adenosine-mediated inhibition of T-cell activation and expansion. Blood. 1997; 90:1600–10. Novitskiy SV, Ryzhov S, Zaynagetdinov R, Goldstein AE, Huang Y, Tikhomirov OY, Blackburn MR, Biaggioni I,Carbone DP, Feoktistov I, et al. Adenosine receptors in regulation of dendritic cell differentiation and function. Blood 2008; 112:1822–31.


With Asia housing 75% of humanity, and the proportion of seniors rapidly climbing from 5.3% in 2015 to 9.3% by 2025, Osteoporosis is rapidly becoming a growing medical ailment in this part of the world too [1]. In Pakistan, though clear data on occurrence of hip fractures (osteoporotic) annually is not established, large ultrasound studies suggest that there may be more than 9 million people (7 million women, 2 million men) afflicted with Osteoporosis. It is expected that these estimates may very well cross 12 million by the year 2050 – becoming a major health burden. Low per capita income and high hospital costs further derail the earning capacity. Estimations indicate the population to cross 340 million by the year 2050, and of these 14.9% (50 million) will be over the age 60 years. A five year study from one hospital revealed a 2:1 female to male ratio of hip fracture cases, with 61 years being the average age of patients having osteoporotic fracture. This average age is lower than that reported in North America and Europe but matches data from India. Another study revealed 16% and 34% occurrence of osteoporosis and osteopenia respectively in females of age group 45 to 70 using ultrasound technique. Another study from KPK province estimated the numbers at 29 and 42% respectively. 75% of postmenopausal women from Peshawar seemed to be at risk of osteoporosis on a clinical risk score analysis [2-7].


Prediction of the conditions in the near-Earth space environment (space weather) is an urgent scientific and practical task, and there are several scientific teams in the world which have been deeply involved in this research using various model assumptions. One of the most important problems in such calculations is the reliability of the initial data – synoptic maps of the solar magnetic fields. The most famous Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) uses observations of the Global Oscillations Network Group (GONG). However, there are other sources of measurements of the full-disk solar magnetic fields (WSO, SDO/HMI and SOLIS in the USA, IRmag at Mitaka in Japan, SMAT in China, STOPs in Russia), and it is of interest to use them to calculate the parameters of the solar wind. In this paper this is done on the example of Carrington Rotation (CR) 2164 using observations from Wilcox Solar Observatory (WSO), GONG, Solar Telescope for Operative Prediction (STOP) at the Sayan Solar Observatory (SSO). The calculations are based on the Wang-Sheeley-Arge (WSA) model and include the determination of the parameters of the coronal magnetic field in the Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) approximation. The propagation of the solar wind to Earth's orbit is calculated using the HUX (Heliospheric Upwind eXtrapolation) model. It is shown that the differences in solar wind speeds for different data sets can reach 200 km/s or even more. The results of model simulations are compared with the experimental ACE satellite data.


In this paper, we introduce several test statistics testing the null hypothesis of a random walk (with or without drift) against models that accommodate a smooth nonlinear shift in the level, the dynamic structure and the trend. We derive analytical limiting distributions for all the tests. The power performance of the tests is compared with that of the unit-root tests by Phillips and Perron [Biometrika (1988), Vol. 75, pp. 335–346], and Leybourne, Newbold and Vougas [Journal of Time Series Analysis (1998), Vol. 19, pp. 83–97]. In the presence of a gradual change in the deterministics and in the dynamics, our tests are superior in terms of power.


This article explores the factors associated with support for a merger of Ontario's two publicly funded school systems (secular and Catholic). Drawing upon survey data from over 2,000 Ontarians, it investigates the sociodemographic and attitudinal correlates of opinions toward school system reform. We find evidence that both political attitudes and religious identities are associated with school system attitudes, but that religious identity—specifically Catholicism—has a much more powerful impact. Our findings suggest that coalitions of support and opposition to a school system merger in Ontario are complex and not driven by a single obvious cleavage.
Keywords: religious education, public opinion, Ontario


We investigate exciton-phonon coupling and exciton transfer in diindenoperylene DIP thin films on oxidized Si substrates by analyzing the dielectric function determined by variable-angle spectroscopic ellipsometry. Since the molecules in the thin-film phase form crystallites that are randomly oriented azimuthally and highly oriented along the surface normal, DIP films exhibit strongly anisotropic optical properties with uniaxial symmetry. This anisotropy can be determined by multiple sample analysis. The thin-film spectrum is compared with a monomer spectrum in solution, which reveals similar vibronic subbands and a Huang-Rhys parameter of S 0.87 for an effective internal vibration at eff= 0.17 eV. However, employing these parameters the observed dielectric function of the DIP films cannot be described by a pure Frenkel exciton model, and the inclusion of charge-transfer CT states becomes mandatory. A model Hamiltonian is parametrized with density-functional theory calculations of single DIP molecules and molecule pairs in the stacking geometry of the thin-film phase, revealing the vibronic coupling constants of DIP in its excited and charged states together with electron and hole transfer integrals along the stack. From a fit of the model calculation to the observed dielectric tensor, we find the lowest CT transition E00 at 0.26 0.05 eV above the neutral molecular excitation energy E 00 , which is an important parameter for device applications.


Small and Medium sized enterprises (SMEs) plays important role in Indonesia economic. It contributes to 99.9% of national economic, 97% to employment and 60.34% to Indonesia GDP. Moreover, Indonesia is known to be one of the most internet users. However, currently, there is lack of studies to understand the role of digital technology and entrepreneur orientation on influencing the performance of SME's in Indonesia. This study aims to develop a conceptual model linking entrepreneurial orientation, digital technology capability and SME performance. This study is using Systematic literature review (SLR) method. The result of SLR was used as the based for the concept development. More than 1100 publication published from 2010 to 2019 were screened with entrepreneurial orientation, digital technology and SMEs' performance as keywords. Finally, 34 journals were included for this review. Based on the review there were three possible relationships in the conceptual model which are (1) there is a positive relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance; (2) there is a positive relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and digital technology capability and (3) there is a positive relationship between digital technology capability and firm performance. It concludes with the need for further study to find empirical validation of the three relationships. Contribution of this study is giving the conceptual framework that both entrepreneurial orientation and digital technology capability might have important roles to SMEs' performance in Indonesia


MyoG gene was reported to play a core role in regulating myogenesis. According to 5'flank regions and partial sequences of the MyoG gene in Sus scrofa, Bos taurus, Homo sapiens, and Mus musculus published in GenBank, the homogeneous primers were designed to amplify the promoter region of Gansu wapiti MyoG by Touch-Down PCR. The PCR product was cloned into pMD18-T vector, and then was transformed into E.coli DH5 a. Positive clones were identified by using PCR, restriction endonuclease, sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. The results showed that the length of promoter region sequence in Gansu wapiti MyoG was 685bp, and the similarity was 88.1%, 84.9% and 82.6% with those of Sus scrofa, Homo sapiens and Mus musculus respectively. It indicates that the promoter region sequence of MyoG was comparatively conservative among different species. This work would lay the foundation for further study on regulating and expressing mechanism of MyoG in Gansu wapiti.


To make Web search more effective, we address the problem of articulating a user's information needs more effectively. This is done in an iterative way, by allowing the user to provide relevance feedback regarding individual segments of retrieved Web-pages. Previously applied methods are limited to discovering 'general importance values of segments' (based on the authors' 'objective views' i.e., main topics) rather than 'subjective importance values of segments' (based on a user's 'subjective view' i.e., personal information needs). In this paper, a user's interests are incrementally identified by allowing the user to iteratively select relevant keywords or phrases from a set of system-recommended candidate-keywords and candidate-phrases (i.e., pseudo-relevance feedback). It makes it possible to discover 'subjective importance values of segments' that can be dynamically changed by the user by indicating their interests regarding retrieved Web-pages. The important segments, selected by the user, provide higher precision of pseudo-relevance feedback for further Web information retrieval purposes.


Solvents are widely used in organic synthesis. Sulfolane is a five-membered heterocyclic organosulfur sulfone (R-SO2-R', where R/R' is alkyl, alkenyl, or aryl) and an anthropogenic medium commonly used as industrial extractive solvent in the liquid-liquid and liquid-vapor extraction processes. Under standard conditions sulfolane is not aggressive towards steel, but at higher temperatures and in oxygen, water, or chlorides presence, it can be decomposed into some corrosive (by-)products with generation of SO2 and subsequent formation of corrosive H2SO3. This pilot-case study provides data from laboratory measurements performed in low conductivity sulfolane-based fluids using an industrial multi-electrochemical technique for reliable detection of corrosion processes. In particular, a comprehensive evaluation of the aqueous phase impact on general and localized corrosion of AISI 1010 carbon steel in sulfolane is presented. Assessment of corrosive damage was carried out using an open circuit potential method, potentiodynamic polarization curves, SEM/EDS and scanning Kelvin probe technique. It was found that an increase in the water content (1–3 vol.%) in sulfolane causes a decrease in the corrosion resistance of AISI 1010 carbon steel on both uniform and pitting corrosion due to higher conductance of the sulfolane-based fluids.


Following a brief historical review, this paper describes the procedure used at the PTB to determine the SI unit of resistance based on a calculable cross capacitor.


The research modelled electricity consumption for Ghana using annual data for the period 1971-2011, obtained from world development indicator. The research adopts the Gregory and Hansen model of cointegration for the estimation in the presence of structural breaks. The results reveal stable short run and long-run relationships among the explanatory variables and electricity consumption. The findings suggest that financial development explain electricity consumption in Ghana both in the short run and in the long run. The other variables (trade openness, price, and income) in the estimated model do not significantly explain electricity consumption. Therefore, they are not reliable policy variables in managing electricity consumption.


We have performed a detailed transverse magnetization study of the pyrochlore antiferromagnet Gd2Ti2O7. A transverse magnetization of about 10−3Msat is observed in the low-temperature ordered phases. These measurements result in the refinement of the Gd2Ti2O7 phase diagrams. Observation of a transverse magnetization indicates loss of the cubic symmetry in some of the magnetic phases and provides new information for a better understanding of the complicated magnetic ordering of Gd2Ti2O7.


Senescent cells accumulate in tissues with organismal age and contribute causally to multiple chronic diseases. In vivo senescent cell phenotypes are heterogeneous because cellular context and stressors vary by cell type and tissue. Due to the variability of senescence programs, there is no universal method to identify senescent cells and even widely used markers, such as CDKN2A, are not ubiquitous. Therefore, we interrogated the Tabula Muris Senis mouse single-cell aging atlas and an array of single-cell datasets from human donors that spanned many ages to find cell-specific signatures of cellular senescence. We derived 75 mouse and 65 human senescence signatures from individual cell populations. CDKN2A and other markers of senescence were overrepresented in these signatures but there were many novel senescence genes present at higher rates. Within individual cell populations, we observed multiple programs of senescence with distinct temporal and transcriptional characteristics. We packaged the signatures along with a single-cell scoring method into an open-source package: SenePy. SenePy signatures better recapitulate cellular senescence than available methods when tested on multiple in vivo RNA-seq datasets and a p16ink4a reporter single-cell dataset. We used SenePy to map the kinetics of senescent cell accumulation across 97 cell types from humans and mice. SenePy also generalizes to disease-associate senescence and we used it to identify an increased burden of senescent cells in COVID-19 and myocardial infarction. This work provides a significant advancement towards our ability to identify and characterize in vivo cellular senescence.


The CI repressor protein, responsible for maintenance of the lysogenic state, and the Apl protein, required for efficient prophage induction, are the two control proteins of the lysis-lysogeny transcriptional switch of coliphage 186. These proteins have been overexpressed, purified, and their self-association behavior examined by sedimentation equilibrium. Phage 186 CI dimers self-associate in solution through tetramers to octamers in a concerted process. The Apl protein of 186 is an unusual example of a helix-turn-helix protein which is monomeric in solution.


Lateral medullary syndrome (LMS) is a constellation of varied neurologic manifestations seen in cerebrovascular accidents. The posterolateral part of the medulla oblongata of the brain stem and cerebellum receiving arterial blood supply from the posterior inferior cerebellar artery are the areas commonly affected. We present a case of a middle aged gentleman referred to our hospital for persistent intractable hiccups as presenting symptom of LMS. He presented to our emergency room with persistent hiccups and left sided cerebellar signs. The patient had significant past history of alcohol and tobacco (smoking) dependence since 30 years apart from being a hypertensive.


This article aims to investigate the long-term performance of a portfolio of firms that announced the repurchase of their own stocks in the Brazilian market from 2003 to 2014. Open market stock repurchase is a means to distribute cashflow to shareholders. Some of the reasons for a firm to buy back its own stocks are: to adjust its capital structure; to reduce excessive cash levels; as an alternative to dividends; and signaling to the market in order to reduce information asymmetry between the firm and its investors. If the signaling hypothesis is true, then forming a portfolio with shares that announce repurchases generates abnormal returns in the long run. Our results show that repurchase announcements in the open market signal stock underpricing, and abnormal returns can be earned using this strategy. Results are inconsistent with the semi-strong form of the efficient markets hypothesis, which states that one cannot earn abnormal returns with publicly available information. We obtained abnormal returns using the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and Fama and French three-factor model. Additionally, we divided the sample in growth and value firms. We found that the average abnormal return for firms that announce repurchase programs ranges from 5.4% to 7.9% for up to a 3-year period after the announcement. For value companies (more likely to repurchase stocks due to undervaluation), abnormal returns can reach up to 11.5% per year.


Image sensors can achieve non-contact detection of heart rate to predict the physiological status of the driver in an automotive driver monitoring system. However, the performance of such methods depends on the in- tensity of the light source. In this study, the effects of visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) light sources on heart rate measurement are inves- tigated. The custom-built setup employs Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors for visible and dual visible and near-infrared spectra, in addition to the controllable light sources with visible and near-infrared wavelengths. As a reference heart rate, a pho- toplethysmogram signal from an heart rate sensor is employed. Upon image acquisition, heart rate is estimated based on the facial images with varying intensities of visible and near-infrared light sources under dim light conditions (10–50 lx). Compared to the values obtained using the visible light source alone, the signal-to-noise of the extracted signal increases and the root mean square error of the estimated heart rate decreases when the dual visible and near-infrared light is applied. This study demonstrates that the use of dual visible and near-infrared light sources can enhance the performance of non-contact heart rate measurements, which could be applied to monitor the driver's status under dim light conditions.


Plant-parasitic cyst nematodes are major agricultural pests worldwide. These obligate endoparasites invade the roots of host plants where they transform cells near the vascular cylinder into a permanent feeding site. Plants possess a multilayered innate immune system consisting of different types of extracellular and intracellular immune receptors. These enable detection of most invading nematodes and initiate immune responses that result in resistance. Many plant pathogens use effectors to overcome resistance. Here, modulation of plant innate immunity by plant-parasitic cyst nematodes was investigated. Extracellular immune receptor signaling and hormone-mediated signaling pathways were found to contain infection of susceptible Arabidopsis thalianawith Heterodera schachtii. A large family of effectors was identified in Globodera rostochiensis. One of these so-called SPRYSECs interacted with a novel CC-NB-LRR type resistance protein of a susceptible tomato without inducing resistance responses. Instead, the effector was found to suppress defense-related programmed cell death and resistance mediated by several CC-NB-LRR type resistance proteins. In addition, a secreted antimicrobial peptide was identified in G. rostochiensis. Plant-parasitic cyst nematodes thus most likely secrete effectors that protect against plant immune responses and secondary infections. The current evidence for the existence of immune modulating effectors is reviewed and directions for further research are given.


Developing CI techniques for economic games and policies is a very promising and fast-growing field. Several interesting multi-disciplinary subfields exist, which require researchers of various disciplines to collaborate with each other and contribute to the advances of knowledge in this emerging new field. Obviously, in both computer science and economics, there are still many open questions and challenges, ranging from robustness issues to co-learning aspects, and from economic modeling, validation, and interpretation to large- scale simulation of complex adaptive systems. It is essential that such multi- disciplinary research challenges are tackled in a true multi disciplinary approach by both computer scientists and economists. We hope this short article will encourage more researchers and practitioners to join the exciting research in CI in economics.


The rules for the procedure to stop cancer are the same as those for repairing a puncture of a bicycle tyre. To make it easy for everyone to understand, this article will take you step by step through repairing a puncture and reversing cancer. The procedures are entirely different but the rules are the same.


Energy drinks are non alcoholic, carbonated beverages claimed to give extra burst of energy for daily obligation. They contain some form of legal stimulants and vitamins which are meant to give consumers short term boost in energy and increase mental alertness. Energy drinks enjoy patronage especially among higher institution students in Nigeria, but little is known about the consumption pattern and possible health risks to consumers. This study was carried out to determine the contribution of four commonly consumed energy drinks to energy intake of University of Ibadan students and the associated health risk factors. A descriptive cross-sectional survey of energy drinks consumption was carried out using a four-stage systematic random sampling technique to select 307 students from six out of nine halls of residence for Undergraduates and the two Postgraduate halls. A validated semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information on socio-demographic characteristics, consumption pattern and frequency, and factors influencing consumption of energy drinks. Samples of the four most commonly consumed energy drinks by the students (Power Horse, Emerge, Red Bull and Matador brands) were purchased from different stores within and around the University of Ibadan campus. Composite samples of all the four energy drinks (with at least six months expiration date) were analysed for physico- chemical characteristics, gross energy, minerals and B-vitamins content in triplicate using standard methods of AOAC. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and one way ANOVA, and level of significance set at p < 0.05. Respondents mean age was 23.1 ± 4.6 years, 79.2% were undergraduates and 51.1% were female. Majority (74.6%) of respondents had ever taken energy drinks prior to the study, 42.4% reported consuming at least one can in a week, and 52.1% consumed 1 can at a sitting. Reasons for consumption included to increase: energy (48.2%), mental alertness (18.6%) and athletic performance (9.5%). Reported side effects were: insomnia (14.0%), frequent urination (12.2%), dehydration (11.3%), anxiety (9.1%), heart palpitation (3.5%). Frequency of consumption was significantly associated with gender (p < 0.05). Titratable acidity, total solids and pH of energy drinks ranged between 7.57 ± 0.60 - 8.28 ± 0.08, 7.57 ± 0.60 - 11.42 ± 0.31, and 3.36 ± 0.08 - 3.81 ± 0.12 respectively. Glucose, sucrose, and gross energy content ranged between 7.77 ± 0.01 - 7.89 ± 0.01 g, 22.61 ± 0.07 - 23.74 ± 0.09 g, and 43.59 ± 0.38 - 48.89 ± 0.28 kcal/100g respectively. Few respondents knew about the ingredients and potential health risks associated with energy drink consumption. All the four drinks had acidic pH, hence nutrition education on reduction of energy drink consumption is needed among these students.


The use of in situ hydrogel systems for vaginal drug delivery is an important strategy in the treatment of vaginitis. The aim of this study was to develop in situ vaginal hyrogels for benzydamine hydrochloride (BNZ) which were composed of poloxamer and chitosan. The reason for development of these hydrogels was to obtain a vaginal delivery system with improved mechanical and mucoadhesive properties that could provide prolonged retention time for the treatment of vaginits. The hydrogels were also designed for once a day dosage of the drug and to obtain a controlled release of the BNZ. For this purpose BNZ containing hydrogel formulations using thermosensitive polymer (Poloxamer 407) and mucoadhesive polymer (Chitosan H, Chitosan M and Chitosan L) were developed. The hydrogels are composed of polymers which have promising potential for vaginal delivery systems. These formulations were evaluated by rheology, texture, mucoadhesive profiles and drug diffusion with a Franz diffusion cell. It was observed that the diffusion of BNZ from the in situ poloxamer-chitosan hydrogel was more sustained and controlled than with the poloxamer gel. The hydrogel formulations diffused about 65.3±5.1, 80.6±3.8, 88.1±7.3 and 100.4±4.8% of BNZ at 6h. The formulation containing Poloxamer 407 and Chitosan H has the best controlled release profile and mucoadhesive properties, results which indicate that it could suitable for use once a day on the vaginal route. Moreover, the hydrogels higher mucoadhesion exhibited by this formulation prolongs the drug residence time compared with the poloxamer gel and may increase the BNZ efficacy. These BNZ mucoadhesive vaginal hydrogel formulations may be a promising alternative to conventional dosage forms for vaginal topical therapy.


In this paper we assess the impact of oil price shocks on oil-producer and oil-consuming economies. VAR models for different countries are linked together via a trade matrix, as in Abeysinghe (2001). As expected, we find that oil producers (here, Russia and Canada) benefit from oil price shocks. For example, a large oil shock leading to a price increase of 50% boosts Russian GDP by about 6%. However, oil producers are hurt by indirect effects of positive oil price shocks, as economic activity in their exporter countries suffers. For oil consumers, the effects are more diverse. In some countries, output falls in response to an oil price shock, while other countries seem to be relatively immune to oil price changes. Finally, indirect effects are also detected for oil-consumer countries. Those countries, which trade more with oil producers, gain indirect benefits via higher demand from oil-producing countries. In general, the largest negative total effects from positive oil price shocks are found for Japan, China, the USA, Finland and Switzerland, while other countries in our sample seem to have fared quite well during recent positive oil price shocks. The indirect effects are negative for Russia, Finland, Germany and Netherlands.


In wireless sensor networks the nodes periodically sense the environment, and huge amount of raw data are injected into the network. In order to extract useful information from the network, yet at the same time to incur least energy consumption, complex event processing techniques are highly required. In this paper we propose a framework for complex event processing in wireless sensor networks. Our framework is based on the layered network, and transforms the complex events into sub-events that are suitable to be detected by nodes within regional areas. As a middleware, our framework is easy to extend, and various complex event processing algorithms could be embedded into the framework.


Tetradenia riparia has been used by traditional healers for treatment against various ailments including wound healing and skin sores. The scientific validation of the use of T. riparia against selected strains of Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria as well as selected fungal strains has substantiated the use by traditional healers. The relatively high inhibitory concentration for both bacterial and fungal strains further indicated the high value of this plant species in the medicinal world and could aid in treatment of secondary infections, such as, mouth sores, pelvic or vaginal sores in individuals who are HIV/AIDS infected.

 Key words: Tetradenia riparia, iboza, antimicrobial, traditional medicines.


Purpose
Using a theoretical and empirical focus on the power stakeholders exert, the purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the factors that influence the subsidiaries of multinationals' participation in corporate social responsibility (CSR) under the pressures (expectations and demands) their complex system of internal and external stakeholders' places upon them.

Design/methodology/approach
Using an in-depth case study, the relationship a local subsidiary in the food and beverage industry has with its stakeholders as regards CSR is analyzed.

Findings
The findings illustrate three main aspects: how the local company is affected by and how it affects its stakeholders (an example of the multidirectionality of power and influence); the direct and indirect practices that are adopted to address challenges; and the importance of the role the local subsidiary plays as an implementer and diffuser of its parent organization's responsible practices across the industry value chain.

Originality/value
To the best of authors' knowledge, the focus is on analyzing the power stakeholders have in the context of multinational companies that has not been applied before, and the outcome of using this approach is that the authors have uncovered gaps in the literature for future research.


Abstract Fungal species members of the genus Neodevriesia have been known to occur in marine environments. This report documents the first record of the fungal genus Neodevriesia isolated from scleractinian corals. Three isolated strains were identified from a phylogenetic tree that was constructed, based on the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer and partial large subunit (ITS + LSU) DNA sequences. Isolates were closely related to both Neodevriesiashakazului (Crous) Crous and Neodevriesiaqueenslandica (Crous, R.G. Shivas & McTaggart) Crous, but formed a distinct clade with strong support that implies a potentially genetic variant of a known species or even a novel species. These findings contribute to the fungal diversity checklist in Malaysia and knowledge about marine fungi associated with scleractinian corals.


Semantic role labeling is a feasible proposal to shallow semantic parsing. A maximum entropy classifier is used in the semantic role labeling system, which takes syntactic constituents as the labeled units. The maximum entropy classifier is trained to identify and classify the predicates' semantic roles at the same time. Some useful features and their combinations are used in the classifier. In the post-processing step, only the roles with the highest probability among the embedding ones are kept. After predicting all the arguments, which have matched the constituents in full parsing trees, a simple rule-based post-processing is applied to correct the arguments that have not matched the constituents in these trees. F1=75.49% and F1=75.60% results are obtained on the development and test set respectively. So far as it is known, this is the best result based on single syntactic parser in literatures.


The paper investigates the decisions of companies to enter new submarkets, analyzing the relationship between submarket concentration and entry through the explanatory power of submarkets. The relationship is analyzed both at the aggregate level for all countries and both at the country-specific level using a pharmaceutical company dataset gathered in seven countries in the 1987-1998 period. A Bayesian panel probit model enables us to measure entry into a new submarket using the lagged dependent variable to incorporate potential state persistence. The results obtained at the submarket level indicate a negative correlation between concentration and entry by diversification, although previous literature at market level has indicated conflicting results for the same relationship.


Abstract Purpose: Duodenal tumors are rare and require a different management from that of esophagogastric neoplasia. The present study retrospectively analyses the endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) features of duodenal tumors of both epithelial and subepithelial origin. Materials and Methods: During a 12 year period, all duodenal tumors with histologic confirmation by surgery or biopsy were collected including endoscopic and endosonographic images. EUS images were analyzed for specific features (echogenicity, wall layer structure and relation, outer margins) to possibly distinguish epithelial (polyps and carcinoma versus lymphoma) and subepithelial (tumor type) tumors. Results: 53/80 cases had histologic confirmation (mean age 53.1 ± 11.4 years, m:f = 33:20), 31 were epithelial (13 adenomas, 12 carcinomas, 6 lymphomas) and 22 subepithelial (11 GISTs, 7 Brunneromas, 1 lipoma, 3 NETs). EUS did not recognize carcinomas in 2/13 adenomas. EUS features suggesting carcinoma were loss of wall layers and irregular margins. 5/6 lymphomas showed inhomogeneous thickening with layers partially recognizable. Tumor type of subepithelial lesions correlated with echogenicity: GIST tumors were mostly (62.5 %) hypocheoic with the 3 malignant cases being characterized by heterogeneous echopattern with irregular outer margins. Of the hyperechoic lesions, lipomas had a homogeneous whitish appearance, while NET and Brunneromas were less hyperechoic. In the latter, the endoscopic aspect was also helpful for differential diagnosis. Accuracy of combined endoscopic/EUS imaging for all duodenal lesions was 84.9 % (45/53). No procedural complications occurred among all patients that received EUS examinations. Conclusion: EUS contributes to the differential diagnosis of epithelial lesions known to be malignant; in subepithelial tumors, tissue confirmation is still required.


This paper examines the effect of managerial stock holdings on corporate dividend payments under the new dividend tax environment. Utilizing a very rare event on dividend tax rate cut introduced in May 2003, this paper allows us to fully investigate whether managers holding sizable stakes direct their corporations to raise dividends for their own benefits. Our results show that managerial stock holdings have significantly positive effect on both the likelihood and the extent of dividend increase in year 2003. However, there is no such relation for the period of 1993 through 2002. Similar to the previous studies, managerial stock options are negatively related to dividend payment increases both before and after dividend tax cut.


The UK's Regular Interlaboratory Counting Exchanges (RICE) scheme provides proficiency testing for laboratories counting asbestos fibres by phase contrast optical microscopy, as in the method for measurement of airborne fibre concentrations. From 1984 to 1992, the scheme used circulations of industrial samples containing mostly chrysotile, and reference values were obtained from fibre counts by automated image analysis. In 1992, lower density (< 100 fibres/mm2) samples from asbestos clearance operations were added and the new reference values were medians of the laboratories' determinations. In extensive data from 28 recent rounds of sample exchanges, the new reference values are shown to be more reliable than the old. Average counting levels have changed, with different trends according to fibre density. In low density samples, after initial increases, the levels appear to have stabilized. Counting levels on the higher density samples show a continuing trend of approximately 0.5% decrease per round. Widening the density range may have reduced the influence of counters' preconceptions of what values are expected and so their counts on the reference samples may now better reflect their routine counting. The implications of these findings and of other new developments, such as expected new counting rules, are discussed.


Despite all that has been written, little evidence supports the notion that the American diet for the elderly needs major modifications (table 3). Particularly in counseling and assessing the elderly, physicians must keep in mind that whatever technique older patients used to reach their present age is probably better than what we can recommend. In the last analysis, the most sensible nutritional recommendations we can make are to maintain ideal body weight, reduce animal protein, increase complex carbohydrates and fiber, reduce saturated fats and cholesterol, increase calcium intake, and avoid high doses of supplementary nutrients. If available data are any indication, many community-dwelling elderly persons are now making most of these modifications.


technologies provide the communication medium which allows collaborators to share and communicate ideas. These technologies, however, exhibit limited support for knowledge transfer which is more than a communication problem. It is still unclear how people can communicate, over the Web 2.0, cognitive activities which they undertake during the knowledge acquisition process. In this work, we present an integrated approach for knowledge sharing that addresses the needs of both knowledge providers and recipients. It combines both concept mapping and dynamic annotation to enable for effective construction and perception of knowledge. The approach begins by helping knowledge providers visualize their own experience using a tool we named "MindGate". Afterwards, an Ontology-based model is used to convert the visual representation of knowledge to a machine-readable format. This format can then be published and reused by Internet users through a prototype social network called "SocialMinds". We have tested our approach with three research students who used our approach to carry out research tasks. The analysis of user behavior, activity and tool usage proved the potential of our approach to facilitate knowledge sharing and support both individual and group work.


Background – Most existing research on medical clowns in health care service has investigated their usefulness among child health consumers. In a 360-degree research stream, we aim to identify the optimal audience (adults or children health consumers), for which medical clowns are most useful in enhancing health consumers' satisfaction and, in turn, reducing their aggressive tendencies.Methods – We conducted three studies, which examined the placement fit of medical clowns from a different point of view: medical staff (Study 1a, n = 88), medical clowns (Study 1b, n = 20), and health consumers (Study 2, n = 397).Results – Studies 1a and 1b demonstrate that both medical staff and clowns believe that child health consumers profit most from the clowns. In Study 2, data from health consumers in seven different hospital wards showed that clowns are useful in mitigating the effect of negative affectivity on satisfaction, thereby reducing aggressive tendencies among children. Surprisingly, the effect of medical clowns on adults is not only weaker, but reversed, such that interactions with medical clowns decrease adults' satisfaction and increase their aggressive tendencies.Discussion - The medical clowns are most useful in elevating satisfaction and reducing aggressive tendencies of children. However, older adults show lower satisfaction and higher aggressive tendencies following the performance of the medical clown. The main limitation of the study is investigating aggressive tendencies rather than actual aggression. Future research should examine actual aggression.Conclusion – Medical clowns should be placed in children's wards. This conclusion can guide health care service policy makers by indicating the optimal placement of clowns, thereby benefitting most from the clowns' efforts, elevating health consumer satisfaction, and reducing aggressive tendencies.Trial registration – article doesn't report a health care intervention on human participants.


Although the mammalian locomotor CPG has been localized to the lumbar spinal cord, the functional-anatomical organization of flexor and extensor interneurons has not been characterized. Here, we tested the hypothesis that flexor and extensor interneuronal networks for walking are physically segregated in the lumbar spinal cord. For this purpose, we performed optical recordings and lesion experiments from a horizontally sectioned lumbar spinal cord isolated from neonate rats. This ventral hemi spinal cord preparation produces well-organized fictive locomotion when superfused with 5-HT/NMDA. The dorsal surface of the preparation was visualized using the Ca2+ indicator fluo-4 AM, while simultaneously monitoring motor output at ventral roots L2 and L5. Using calcium imaging, we provided a general mapping view of the interneurons that maintained a stable phase relationship with motor output. We showed that the dorsal surface of L1 segment contains a higher density of locomotor rhythmic cells than the other segments. Moreover, L1 segment lesioning induced the most important changes in the locomotor activity in comparison with lesions at the T13 or L2 segments. However, no lesions led to selective disruption of either flexor or extensor output. In addition, this study found no evidence of functional parcellation of locomotor interneurons into flexor and extensor pools at the dorsal-ventral midline of the lumbar spinal cord of the rat.


We report a method based on heterodyne numerical holography associated to photothermal excitation for full field imaging of heating in plasmonic systems. A modulated pump laser (l=532 nm) heats the nanostructures, creating local refractive index changes. This modulation is detected using a probe and a local oscillator beam (l=785 nm), frequency-shifted to create a hologram beating at low frequency. The possibilities of this non-contact full field imaging method, which delivers signals directly proportional to the local temperature increase induced by dissipative phenomena, will be illustrated on nanodisc chains and rod pairs.


A new design paradigm for symmetric-key design primitives, such as hash functions and block ciphers, is the Addition-Rotation-XOR (ARX) paradigm. ARX functions rely on the combination of addition modulo 2 n, word rotation and exclusive-or to increase the difficulty of applying traditional linearity-based attacks. This work provides contributions in the analysis of ARX functions.
This dissertation introduces a new analytic technique, pseudo-linear cryptanalysis, which takes advantage of linear properties of ARX-functions over the groups Zn2 and Z2n. This is in contrast to traditional linear analysis, which has largely focused on linearity over Z2. Pseudo-linear cryptanalysis can be used on any ARX-based symmetric primitive, and is particularly useful for block ciphers and iterative hash functions containing round functions. The dissertation also presents a variant that can be used for differential attacks, and extends the branch number diffusion metric for ARX ciphers that use large words.
Secure hash functions are among those primitives that may be built on ARX-functions. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is currently in the process of selecting the next US standard secure hash algorithm, SHA-3, which will be used in everyday applications such as secure online sessions and password-based authentication. Two of the five finalists in the SHA-3 competition are based on ARX functions. This dissertation applies pseudo-linear cryptanalysis, truncated differentials, and new ideas for computing branch numbers to SHA-3 finalist Skein. It also presents improved attacks on second-round SHA-3 candidate CubeHash as well as structural analysis of its symmetry classes.


19, ABSTRACT (Continue on reverse if necessary and identify by block number) The purpose of this research was to study robust iterative methods for solving sparse (block tridiagonal) nonsymmetric linear systems in a parallel computing environment. A new method was developed which uses block-row symmetric successive overrelaxation (SSOR) with conjugate gradient (CG; acceleration. The method is reobust, with convergence assured even for poorly conditioned systems, and the method is easily implemented in a parallel environment. The method transforms a nonsymmetric system with an arbitrary eigenvalue distribution into a symmetric one with eigenvalue restricted to the interval (0,1). Research included testing of the algorithms on an Alliant FX/8 multiprocessor where it was demonstrated that the methods is very robust and performs better than standard existing methods. .


[3H]R5020 was bound to cytosolic and nuclear samples of human Fallopian tube with high affinity and specificity. The cytoplasmic and nuclear concentrations of progestagen receptor varied, throughout the menstrual cycle, in the ampulla, isthmus and fimbria. Concentrations were higher at the late proliferative stage of the cycle than at the early proliferative and late secretory stages. A positive linear regression was observed between cytosolic and nuclear progestagen receptor concentrations and plasma oestradiol levels. A negative linear relationship was observed between cytosolic progestagen receptor concentration and plasma progesterone levels during the secretory stages of the menstrual cycle.


The design and first experimental results of Tx and Rx L-band bandpass filters for a highpower satellite diplexer are presented in this paper. Designed in the framework of an ESA ARTES AT project, the filters are based on TM010 mode dielectric resonators. These resonators allow for better results in terms of volume occupation with respect to other dielectric resonators still maintaining high Q-factor values (>2000). Volume saving above 30% is achieved with respect to standard coaxial filters. The filter geometries and materials have been chosen in order to improve the power-handling and to cope with related critical issues for space applications (i.e. avoid any multipactor discharge in the operating RF power range and low-PIM response). Measurements of Tx filter show good correlation with the design in terms of central frequency, BW, and unloaded Q-factor (almost 3000). Measurements of Rx filter show a worse correlation with the design in terms of filter response shape. This is ascribed to size tolerances of one of the filter resonators. Multiple analyses are ongoing to remove this degradation in the final engineering model.