The study pursues to stretch an overall interpretation of E-retailing practices in the Indian market on the consumers. In contemporary globalize scenario, several innovative technologies, especially the internet have been changing the ways of doing transactions in the market. E-retailing practices involve selling the products or services directly to the consumers who are the end users on the internet. In the Indian market, e-retailing is highly information-intensive and thus makes it important to recognize new development in strategy to create value on the consumers. We live in a technological epoch and consumers are fuelled by internet- induced potentials and an even increasing mood of resourcefulness. Actually E-retailing is seen to arise from the consolidation traditional retailing to e-retailing to create an outbreak of activities among the Indian market consumers. E-retailing emerges from the internet and web technology to facilitate the implementation of retailing. It focuses on internet or web-based interaction between the Indian market and its highly oriented consumers. Above all, Eretailing allowed the consumers to a new kind of specialization. These specialization deals with specialized stores, product line, special classes of customers and sellers and other special e-stores too to satisfy the consumers so as to retain consumer royalty and enhance the profitability. E-retailing is evolved recently with the emergence of Information technology such as internet and web technologies


Endogenous protein loss at the end of the small intestine was determined in two experiments using 10 pigs surgically prepared with end-to-end ileo-rectal anastomosis to allow total collection of ileal digesta. In the first experiment pigs were fed graded protein levels of 0 (protein-free), 55, 110 or 165 g/kg diet. Optimal durations for the adaptation and collection periods were found to be 4 and 3 d, respectively (combination 4:3), as shown by the higher correlation coefficient (r2 = 0.95) between excreted and ingested nitrogen compared with the other combinations tested (5:2, 5:3, 9:3, 9:5). The estimated amounts of endogenous N and amino acids were less accurate and tended to be smaller (P < 0.20) when obtained by extrapolation to zero nitrogen intake than when measured in pigs fed the protein-free diet. The endogenous protein was rich in proline, glutamic acid, glycine, aspartic acid, serine and threonine. In comparison to other amino acid patterns, this composition suggested a low bacterial contamination of the digesta. In the second experiment three levels of dietary fiber from wheat straw, corn cobs and wood cellulose were studied in pigs fed protein-free diets. Between 17 and 34 g crude fiber/kg diet, fiber increased the endogenous losses of nitrogen and amino acids per kilogram of dry matter intake (P < 0.05), but the excretion reached a plateau at higher dietary fiber concentration (102 g/kg). In contrast, glucosamine and galactosamine excretion increased continuously and linearly (P < 0.05) with fiber intake. We conclude that endogenous amino acid loss may be considered constant at usual and high levels of the fibrous mixture under study.


We develop a crustal deformation model of the western conterminous United States for the 2023 update of the National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM). The kinematic finite-element code NeoKinema is used to describe crustal deformation, including long-term slip on faults and off-fault strains (both elastic and permanent). Three different data sets—Global Positioning System (GPS) velocities, geological fault offset rates, and crustal stress orientations—are used to constrain the model, and the plate tectonic rotation of Pacific relative to North America is also imposed on some boundaries. Compared to the last NSHM model update in 2014, the GPS and geological fault data are substantially updated, and new corrections are implemented in both the data and modeling approach, including the correction of the "ghost transient" effect due to postseismic deformation following large historic earthquakes, and correction for shallow creep on faults estimated from independent data. Based on these modeling results and a plate tectonic model of the Cascadia subduction zone, a long-term seismicity rate map is also computed for the western United States; this map is independent of the local seismic catalog and can, therefore, be tested retrospectively as well as prospectively. We find good success in most of the region, except in Cascadia, where the 45 yr instrumental seismicity record is much quieter than the forecast of our long-term model.


Improvements in tracking performances are significant using generalized predictive control laws as machine tool feed drives control. Nevertheless, testing user-built control modules within a real CNC machine tool designed under a closed architecture is not straightforward. The creation of a virtual machining centre appears therefore as a solution to this problem. The paper presents developments of a three-axis machine tool simulator. It includes visualization facilities and allows relevant comparisons between different control strategies, proving to be a useful CACSD (computer aided control systems design) tool. Within this framework, the advantages of the predictive law can be easily underlined. Moreover, the advanced control structure fits the innovative demands of the open architecture


This study aims to examine the effect of brand image and product quality on purchasing decisions (a case study of UIN RADEN INTAN LAMPUNG student. This type of research is a quantitative research that is causal comparative (causal comparative reasarch), namely a causal relationship between two or more variables.  This research is a student of UIN RADEN INTAN LAMPUNG and obtained a sample of 100 respondents. Data collection techniques in this study using a questionnaire distributed online via google form. Based on the results of the analysis of the t test it can be explained that brand image and product quality partially affect  positive and significant towards purchasing decisions, where each independent variable (brand image and product quality) has a value of t sig <0.05. Based on the results of the analysis of the F test, it can be explained that brand image and product quality simultaneously have a positive and significant effect.  on purchasing decisions, where the value of F sig is 0.000 <0.05.  For further research, it is hoped that it can examine more deeply about the title and add other variables in it.


Observation of isolated islands of apparently surviving myocardium within areas of necrotic tissue at the edge of myocardial infarctions has been interpreted by some as histologic evidence of a unique "border zone" region. Serial section reconstruction of transmural canine myocardial infarctions was performed in this study to establish whether these islands were truly isolated or were continuous peninsulas of tissue separated by the plane of section. Three-dimensional analysis of the infarcts revealed no true islands but instead demonstrated a region composed of highly complex interdigitating peninsulas. We conclude that there is an extremely irregular but sharp boundary demarcating normal and infarcted myocardium with no intermediate zone. This observation is discussed in relation to recent data, based on coronary blood flow and creatine phosphokinase analysis, which also demonstrates a sharp boundary between the normal and infarct zones.


This contribution explores a remarkable but very much understudied late medieval roadside monument, the so-called Croix Couverte near Beaucaire in the eastern Languedoc. not only is it one of the earliest extant structures erected in the novel Flamboyant Gothic style, it can also be conclusively linked to the patronage of Jean de Valois, Duke of Berry from 1360, and resident as Lieutenant du Roi at Beaucaire from 1382 to 1384. This study investigates the Croix within several rings of inquiry, which gradually widen as the discussion proceeds, beginning with its local context, and proceeding with a detailed examination of the monument's place within several architectural traditions (roadside furniture, covered crosses especially; ciboria and honorific baldachins). In order to better comprehend its cutting-edge design, the Croix is then positioned within broader (micro-)architectural trends around 1400, a period often referred to as the age of International Gothic. The final part is devoted to some of the architecturally themed miniatures in Jean de Berry's famous book of hours, the Très Riches Heures, which reflect and refract many of the broader themes of this study, including the "signing" of landscapes through roadside monuments; the simultaneous control and sanctification of certain locales; and the late medieval fascination with turriform and ciboriform structures in the framing of both the sacred and the political.


Distributed Network Management is gaining importance due to the explosive growth of the size of computer networks. New management paradigms are being proposed as an alternative to the centralised one, and new technologies and programming languages are making them feasible. The use of Mobile Agents (MAs) to distribute and delegate management tasks is a particularly promising approach to dealing with the limitations of current centralised management systems which appear to be lacking flexibility and scalability. This paper is focused on the impact that mobile code paradigms can have on distributed network and system monitoring. A dynamic, hierarchical management model based on a delegation paradigm is adopted and an MA-architecture for monitoring operations is proposed. Finally, possible uses of the proposed model and architecture for pursuing seamless and timely monitoring are discussed.


The design of most distributed consensus protocols does not take into account the fact that, over time, the different processes running the protocol are subject to a varying availability of processing and communication resources. Because of that, performance bottlenecks are possible to arise in those executions on which a process that plays a key role in the protocol is executing on a slower processor, or experiences long delays in the communication with other processes. In a previous work we have proposed the abstraction of a slowness oracle that allows a class of consensus protocols, designed for the asynchronous distributed system augmented with unreliable failure detectors, to adapt themselves to this varying availability of resources, minimizing performance bottlenecks. We analyse the performance of several implementations of such adaptive consensus protocols. Their performance is compared against that of a nonadaptive protocol via both simulated scenarios as well as experiments conducted at our laboratory. From the results attained, we conclude that the more accurate is the slowness oracle the better is the performance of the adaptive protocols that uses it. Nevertheless, even very naive implementations of a slowness oracle are sufficient to yield better performance when system load is not homogeneous.


The development of the concept, causes and management of severe (psychopathic) personality disorder is reviewed against the current background of government concern about the activities of a small group of individuals alleged to be showing the disorder to a dangerous degree. The authors acknowledge the problems involved in 'labelling' the disorder. The term psychopathic has a somewhat chequered history. It did not enter UK legislation until the Mental Health Act 1959. To this extent, it is a legal term and does not equate to any exact degree with the clinical descriptions currently in use. However, the term 'psychopathic disorder' will be used as a kind of shorthand for variants in everyday use. It is important to note that in this contribution we are only considering those 'psychopaths' who have come to the attention of the criminal justice and mental health systems. There are also 'psychopaths' who, for a variety of reasons, have not come to official attention and a recent contribution by Board and Fritzon (2005) highlights some interesting common characteristics in business managers and a sample of forensic patients detained in high security establishments.


Fourty-five minutes after an intravenous injection of Mg SO4 (170 mg of element Mg), in 7 young and healthy men, a significant decrease in circulating 53-84 PTH has been observed. An injection of magnesium pyrrolidone carboxylate (170 mg of Mg) failed to induce changes in plasma levels of PTH. The urinary excretion of Mg was 2-fold higher after the injection of Mg SO4 than after the injection of magnesium pyrrolidone carboxylate. For both magnesium salts used, the time patterns of plasma magnesium concentrations were the same and red blood cells magnesium was not increased. These results suggest that, in our experimental conditions, the retention of magnesium was higher after magnesium pyrrolidone carboxylate than after Mg SO4 and that the drop in plasma PTH could partly explain the larger urinary excretion of magnesium after Mg SO4.


Organized medicine both in Europe and the United States has with a unified voice called for a renewed sense of professionalism among physicians and for an emphasis on this set of attributes in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. In the last decade both the American Board of Internal Medicine [1] and the Association of American Medical Colleges [2] have launched major initiatives promoting professionalism, and the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education in the Unites States lists professional development as one of the major goals of residency education [3]. These efforts have culminated in the European Federation of Internal Medicine, the American College of Physicians±American Society of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Internal Medicine working together to develop a Charter on Medical Professionalism [4] that seeks to better define these attributes and mandate physician responsibilities. To date, the charter has been accepted and endorsed by over 90 professional societies worldwide (including the Israel Society of Internal Medicine) [5]. The charter is based on the overriding principles of primacy of patient welfare, patient autonomy and social justice [4]. From these principles a specific set of professional obligations are derived. As Harold Sox has pointed out in an introduction to the charter, the principle of the primacy of patient welfare dates from ancient times and is intuitive to most physicians. In contrast, the principle of patient autonomy is a product of the past century and is the basis for much of modern western medical ethics. The almost universally accepted Helsinki code on human experimentation relies heavily on this principle. The obligation to pursue social justice is in a sense the most revolutionary of the principles and for many physicians will represent an expansion of their responsibilities toward their patients and society, since medical organizations have in the past often acted more in their self-interest than for societal benefit. The impetus for these efforts in the words of the charter's authors is the fact that ` the medical profession is confronted by an explosion of technology, changing market forces, problems in health care delivery, bioterrorism and globalization. As a result, physicians find it increasingly difficult to meet their responsibilities to patients and society'' [4].


The force of natural selection to eliminate deleterious genes is attenuated with advancing age, allowing senescence to evolve. This suggests that a distinctly marked end of the reproduction period is likely to be followed by an acceleration of senescence. It is thus expected that menopause should trigger an acceleration of age-related mortality increase in human females. Such an abrupt initiation of mortality acceleration is not predicted for human males at the same ages, whose fecundity declines more gradually. Life table aging rate patterns for selected industrialized countries generally support this hypothesis. A cause-of-death decomposition analysis indicates that the sex differential in mortality acceleration is mainly due to cardiovascular diseases, which is consistent with the prevalent view that postmenopausal changes in the sex hormone status may affect lipoprotein metabolism, and in turn, raise the risk of arteriosclerosis.


Background: Road traffic accident (RTA) is a common problem of neurosurgery department. It is one of the leading causes of death in Bangladesh; the World Health Organization estimated that it kills over 21,000 people in the country annually.
Aims: This study aims at to give special attention to RTA patients having head injury or spine injury rather than other injury.
Method: The data were collected using a set of structured questionnaires from January/2018 to December/2018.
Result: Maximum (93.3%) of RTA patients were managed conservatively and only a few number (6.7%) of patients needed surgery. Recovery was 83% and death was in 17% cases.
Conclusion: Head injuries remain the most common and serious type of trauma in RTA and demand good neurosurgical care for such patients. Immediate attention is needed to reduce preventable deaths and morbidities in rural Bangladesh.
Bang. J Neurosurgery 2019; 9(1): 22-25


Many machine learning algorithms have been proposed and applied to a wide range of prediction problems in the field of industrial management. Lately, the amount of data is increasing and machine learning algorithms with low computational costs and efficient ensemble methods are needed. Alternating Decision Forest (ADF) is an efficient ensemble method known for its high performance and low computational costs. ADFs introduce weights representing the degree of prediction accuracy for each piece of training data and randomly select attribute variables for each node. This method can effectively construct an ensemble model that can predict training data accurately while allowing each decision tree to retain different features. However, outliers can cause overfitting, and since candidates of branch conditions vary for nodes in ADFs, there is a possibility that prediction accuracy will deteriorate because the fitness of training data is highly restrained. In order to improve prediction accuracy, we focus on the prediction results for new data. That is to say, we introduce bootstrap sampling so that the algorithm can generate out-of-bag (OOB) datasets for each tree in the training phase. Additionally, we construct an effective ensemble of decision trees to improve generalization ability by considering the prediction accuracy for OOB data. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, we conduct simulation experiments using the UCI machine learning repository. This method provides robust and accurate predictions for datasets with many attribute variables.


Vancomycin, an antibiotic to which methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is sensitive, frequently induces hypersensitivity reactions. Lowering the vancomycin infusion rate and/or premedicating with antihistamine effectively reduce hypersensitivity in most cases. However, vancomycin desensitization is sometimes the only way to ensure safe use. Two types of desensitization protocols have been reported, and these utilize different infusion intervals; rapid desensitization and slow desensitization. We herein report a case of vancomycin hypersensitivity with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection. A combination of the two desensitization protocols, rapid desensitization followed by slow desensitization, effectively inhibited the hypersensitivity reaction during vancomycin infusion, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was successfully eradicated.


Trace elements (TEs) emitted from coal-fired power plants have done great harm on the environment, which has caused widespread concern in the world. In this study, the effects of boiler loads (100 and 75% output) on the migration behaviors of TEs (including Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Ba, and Pb) were conducted on a coal-fired power plant with selective catalytic reduction (SCR), electrostatic precipitator (ESP), wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD), and wet electrostatic precipitator (WESP). Simultaneous sampling of coal, bottom and fly ash, flue gas, and the byproducts from WFGD and WESP was performed. It shows that mass balance rate of TEs at the two loads is in the acceptable range. TEs mainly distribute in bottom and ESP ash in the coal-fired power plant at the two loads. In comparison to the 100% load, the amount of TEs in bottom ash increases at the 75% load. The overall removal rates of TEs through the whole system at the two loads are higher than 99.9%. Except Co and Ba, the overall removal rate a...


Recent advances in land system science and in institutional analysis provide complementary, but still largely disconnected perspectives on land use change, governance, and sustainability in social-ecological systems, which are interconnected across distance. In this paper we bring together the emerging concept of telecoupled land systems and the established concept of polycentric governance to support the analysis and the development of sustainable land governance in interconnected social-ecological systems. We operationalize the two concepts by analyzing networks of action situations in which interactions between proximate and distant actors as well as socioeconomic and ecological processes cause land use change and affect the sustainability of land systems. To illustrate this integrated approach empirically, we analyze a case of transnational biofuel investment in Sierra Leone. We identify the characteristics of, and activities in, networks of action situations that affect the sustainability of land systems related to this case. Integration of the two concepts of telecoupled land systems and polycentric governance enables analysts to identify interactions in polycentric governance systems (1) as drivers of telecoupled sustainability problems and (2) as transformative approaches to such problems. The method provides one way for linking place-based analysis of land change with process-based analysis of land governance.


An 85-year old female had a polypoid tumour in the sigmoid colon that histologically conformed to a lymphoepithelioma-like (LEL) carcinoma. The tumour was arranged in cords, chains, clusters and microalveoli of pleomorphic, irregular cells set within a dense intratumoral lymphocytic stroma. The tumour was EBV-negative and showed loss of MLH-1 and PMS-2 mismatch repair proteins. The patient did not fulfil the criteria for HNPCC. Only 5 other cases of primary colonic LEL carcinoma have been described previously and only one case appears to have an unequivocal association with EBV. In addition, one of the cases was encountered in a HNPCC patient. This is an unusual morphologic variant of a microsatellite unstable tumour with a LEL pattern, not associated with EBV.


Spin wave envelope solitons in a magnetic thin film are modeled by the nonlinear Schroedinger equation. Recent experimental observations of dark solitons in yttrium iron garnet thin films, however, are different from the mathematical predictions. In particular, it is expected that carrier wave phase will be conserved during propagation but this does not appear to be the case in experiment. To understand this discrepancy, higher order dispersive and nonlinear terms have been added to the model equation. Numerical simulations show that phase still must be conserved in the modified model.


OBJECTIVE
This study assessed the degree to which women's intention to breastfeed prior to delivery translates to actual breastfeeding at hospital discharge and to investigate predictors of breastfeeding in a minority inner-city population.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS
We conducted a retrospective cohort study of consecutive mother-infant dyads born July-September 2010 and discharged from the nursery at an academic community hospital in Philadelphia.

RESULTS
The demographics of the 578 women who participated included a mean age of 25.3 years (SD 6.1), 61% African American and 18% Latina, 85% covered by Medicaid, and a mean postpartum hospital stay of 2.3 days. Overall, 60% expressed an intention to breastfeed prior to delivery (exclusively or with formula), but only 50% were breastfeeding at discharge. Of those who intended to breastfeed (exclusively or with formula), 75% were breastfeeding at discharge. Of those who intended to breastfeed exclusively, 40% were doing so at discharge. Of those who intended to bottle feed, 11% were breastfeeding at discharge. In multivariable analysis, older mothers and those with lower parity were more likely to breastfeed at discharge and also to breastfeed exclusively, controlling for ethnicity, parity, insurance, pregravida body mass index, score on the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, type of delivery, infant birth weight and gestational age.

CONCLUSIONS
In a minority inner-city population, only three in four women who intended to breastfeed prior to delivery were breastfeeding at hospital discharge. However, one in 10 women previously not intending to breastfeed did so. Strategies are needed to promote and strengthen women's intention to breastfeed and to help women's breastfeeding outcomes meet their intentions.


This paper proposes a home automation system using a PDA(Personal Digital Assistants)-based intelligent robot system architecture which consists of three layers; a user layer, a manager layer, and an action layer. In the user layer, users manage and control the robot, and get visual information via the remote monitoring system. In the case of showing maps with the status of the robot, synchronization is very important. In the manager layer, there are three parts; a server part, a home appliances part, and a storage part. The server part manages all the status information of the house, the home appliances part controls all appliances, and the storage system stores all the status information of the house. In the action layer, the main robot system uses a PDA instead of a computer. As a PDA has limited performance, simple algorithms are required. It has an intelligent functional engine for SLAM(Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) and vision processing. We have developed the PDA-based mobile robot system for home automation based on this architecture in order to verify its efficiency.


With this issue, the Faculty of Maritime Studies Split is starting a scientific journal, Transactions on Maritime Science. This I salute for two reasons: firstly because a scientific journal is culturally a very important achievement (Marusic, 2005; Marusic, 2006), and secondly because the editors have kindly asked my advice, considering me a seasoned editor (Marusic, 2010). They also asked me to write (a long) editorial for the first issue. This gives me the opportunity to offer my recommendations for the future of the journal, which I like to do (Marusic, 2010; Marusic, 2011). I wish the Transactions all that its editors certainly dream of – indexing in prestigious databases and then a decent impact factor. With good and dedicated work, this will take about a decade (Marusic and Marusic, 2002), and I will be safe even if that does not happen: advice was given (even published), and my work and responsibilities are over; anything else I do will constitute an added value, but the full responsibility is on the editors.Starting a new scientific journal, especially in a small scientific community, is a daring, long-lasting and never-ending endeavour – one should think twice before embarking on such a task (Marusic, 2010; Marusic, 2011). Just as authors publish for many different reasons, so do editors start a new journal for different reasons, not only because they want to present the latest scientific discoveries, but also to teach, to inform, to console, to amuse, to stimulate discussion, to make money.


This work is part of a three year PhD project to examine how Software Visualization(SV) can be applied to support the design and construction of Genetic Algorithms (GAs). A user survey carried out at the start of this project identified a set of key system features required by GA users. A visualization system embodying these features was then designed and a prototype built. This paper describes what genetic algorithms are and how they can be applied. It then reviews some of the survey results and their impact on the design of the visualization system. The paper concludes with an exploration of how the resulting prototype may be evaluated.


We present optical nanoantennas designed for applications that require processing temperatures larger than 800 degrees C. The antennas consist of arrays of Re/Pt bilayer strips fabricated with a lift-off-free technique on top of etched trenches. Reflectance measurements show a clear plasmonic resonance at approximately 670 nm for light polarized orthogonal to the strip axis. The functionality of the antennas is demonstrated by growing single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on top of the antenna arrays and measuring the corresponding Raman signal enhancement of selected CNTs. The results of the measurements are quantitatively discussed in light of numerical simulations which highlight the impact of the substrate.


This paper presents the research into the effect of dried concrete sludge on the properties of fresh and hardened cement paste. Concrete washout slurry was also investigated which accumulates in concrete plants. Concrete washout slurry is being created from regenerated water, which have too big density to use it in fresh concrete mixes. Cement paste mixtures were made from cement, superplasticiser, water and dried concrete sludge. Cement in the mixture was replaced by concrete sludge at 0 % – 30 %. The chemical, mineral compositions and particle size distribution of the dried concrete sludge was determined. The slump of the cement paste with different content of dried concrete sludge was measured. The density, the compressive and flexural strengths of hardened cement paste containing different amounts of dried concrete sludge were tested. The tests revealed that both technological and mechanical properties of the specimens deteriorated with the increase of dried sludge content. The test results suggest that the replacement of cement by dried concrete sludge has a negative effect on mechanical properties of hardened cement paste. A slight strength decrease observed in specimens where 5 % of cement was replaced with dried concrete sludge suggests that the replacement of cement at 5 % is appropriate and could be passible.


Objective To evaluate cases of pediatric ocular trauma at a tertiary eye hospital in central Saudi Arabia and determine the demographics, causes, ocular injuries, and visual status before and after management. Methods A retrospective review was performed of health records of children younger than 16 years with ocular trauma managed from January 1998 to December 2019. Data were collected on patient demographics, eye involved, cause of trauma, the presenting and final vision, and the duration of follow-up. Best-corrected visual acuity at the last follow-up was compared between open and closed eye injury groups. The Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology was used to classify the ocular injuries. Results Among 1003 patients, 728 (72.6%) had open globe and 275 (27.4%) had closed globe injuries. The main causes of trauma were unsafe playing-related activities (n = 394; 39.3%), unsafe home environment (n = 158;15.8%) and injury by metallic objects (n = 166; 16.6%). Gunshot-related ocular trauma was noted in 62 (6.2%) children. Presenting vision less than 20/400 was noted in 292 (40.1%) eyes with open globe injuries and 110 (40%) eyes with closed globe injuries (P = 0.4). After a median follow-up of 13.3 months, best-corrected visual acuity was 20/20 to 20/200 in 393 (53%) eyes with open globe injuries and 137 (49.8%) eyes with closed globe injuries (P = 0.03). Conclusions Despite proper management, children in this study sustained significant permanent visual loss secondary to ocular trauma. Public health efforts in Saudi Arabia are needed to reduce preventable injury-related childhood blindness.


Communication between the nervous and immune systems is required for the body to regulate physiological homeostasis. Beta-adrenergic receptors expressed on immune cells mediate the modulation of immune response by neural activity. Activation of beta-adrenergic signaling results in suppression of antitumor immune response and limits the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. Beta-adrenergic signaling is also involved in regulation of hematopoietic reconstitution, which is critical to the graft-versus-tumor (GVT) effect and to graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). In this review, the function of beta-adrenergic signaling in mediating tumor immunosuppression will be highlighted. We will also discuss the implication of targeting beta-adrenergic signaling to improve the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy including the GVT effect, and to diminish the adverse effects including GVHD.


In this study, we explore how sentence stress is described in pronunciation assessment. The data, also used in two previous studies, consist of listener ratings of Finnish-speaking learners' pronunciation in read-aloud and free speech. The listeners rated the speakers' pronunciation on segmental and suprasegmental level on a numeric scale and verbally. Typical descriptions of sentence stress in the data focus on specific error categories and general comments. The sentence stresses that were assessed with the lowest ratings were often described in more detail than those with higher ratings. According to the raters' comments, the sentence stresses that got the lowest ratings typically occurred too often or not often enough. The sentence stresses with the highest ratings were also described with positive comments. There were differences between the rater groups when it comes to the amount of comments and the proportion of specific and general comments. Differences between read-aloud and free speech concerned the proportion of general comments and the frequency of too many stressed words. The results can be utilized in pronunciation assessment, as assessing pronunciation is often considered challenging.


The emerging stock market in Viet Nam has been developed since 2006 and was affected by the financial crisis  2007-2009. This study analyzes the impacts of tax policy on market risk for the listed firms in the wholesale  and retail industry as it becomes necessary. First, by using quantitative and analytical methods to estimate asset and equity beta of total 9 listed companies in Viet Nam wholesale and retail industry with a proper  traditional model, we found out that the beta values, in general, for many institutions are acceptable. Second, under 3 different scenarios of changing tax rates (20%, 25% and 28%), we recognized that there is not large  disperse in equity beta values, estimated at 0,603, 0,609 and 0,613. Third, by changing tax rates in 3  scenarios (25%, 20% and 28%), we recognized that both equity and asset beta mean values have positive relationship with the increasing levels of tax rate. Finally, this paper provides some outcomes that could  provide companies and government more evidence in establishing their policies in governance. Keywords : beta, capital structure, economic crisis, risk, tax rate, wholesale and retail industry


7 eyes of keratoconus were treated with epikeratophakia in which the authors used self-made corneal lenses by a rapid method. The corneal curvature was markedly flattened to reduce myopia and irregular astigmatism was eliminated, resulting in much improved visual acuity in 6 eyes.


In the Spring 1959 issue of the Public Opinion Quarterly, Bernard Berelson explains why he thinks that communication research may be dead. The pioneers in this field, he says, have abandoned their original interests and those who have followed neither measure up to the pioneers nor have they anything very new to contribute. In passing, he cites the demise of the Committee on Communication at the University of Chicago as symbolic of this state of affairs. In their replies, Berelson's critics say, in effect, that it is uncomfortable but challenging to have to protest their own obituary. They cite numerous areas of inquiry and a variety of studies which, for them, are indicative of a continued vitality in the field of communication research. In the proliferation of examples, however, I think that the critics missed a chance to point out to Mr. Berelson exactly what is and what is not dead. By granting that something has happened to the pioneering type of communication research, it becomes possible to point out more clearly what is alive. Disciplines Critical and Cultural Studies This journal article is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/165 MASS COMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH AND THE STUDY OF POPULAR CULTURE: AN EDITORIAL NOTE ON A POSSIBLE FUTURE FOR THIS JOURNAL


Abstract The rate of dolichol synthesis in normal and diabetic liver slices in the presence or absence of insulin was investigated with radiolabeled acetate and mevalonate as substrates. Cholesterol and dolichol syntheses were found low in diabetic rat liver slices when incubated either with 1-14C-acetate or 2-3H-mevalonate. In the presence of insulin, cholesterol and dolichol synthesis in diabetic rat liver slices returned to normal in nine hours when incubated with 1-14C-acetate; however, with 2-3H-mevalonate, synthesis of cholesterol and dolichol normalized in about three hours. These studies show that dolichol synthesis in rat liver slices is dependent on insulin.


Halkidiki is a district embedded in Central Macedonia, Greece where tourism has been the most significant pillar of development; however, the sharply declining economic performance of the recent years, clearly indicates the need for structural changes and the development of an ambitious long term regional strategy plan, in order to face economic challenges, explore new market opportunities and robust the existing regional competitive advantages. The purpose of the chapter is to introduce smart tourism development model, which is based on three distinctive development tools: 1) Smart Specialization Strategy Methodology, as the pillar to determine and support specific priorities; 2) Quality Policies, as a pillar of stakeholders commitment to provide superior quality products and services, mostly though Local Quality Agreements; and 3) Social economy entrepreneurship, as the third pillar upon which local population and social entities will be engaged and involved. Smart tourism development model aims to establish a new tourism development perception, closely linked to the existing local market opportunities and simultaneously contributing to the enhancement of the competitive advantages of as many as possible of the other sectors of the regional economy.


The state of Sarawak is no exception to the Hadrah's performance which has indeed been received in North Peninsular Malaysia such as in Perlis, Kedah, Perak and Penang. Hadrah performance is a form of public entertainment that is still widely welcomed. The performances are still being presented at weddings as well as in other occasions. Therefore, this study aims to analyse the implicit meaning behind the performance of Hadrah through the ethnography communication approach of S.P.E.A.K.I.N.G (for setting and scene, participants, ends, acts sequence, key, instrumentalities, norms, & genre) by Hymes (1972) as well as to exhibit other cultural elements that permeate in the performances of the state in Sarawak such as involve elements of metapragmatic, language and community as well as metaphors and languages that should not run in a performance. The data collection was carried out through two methods: library research and field research. The study found out that the performance of the Hadrah is not only a feature to entertain guests but rather implicitly because the selection of songs in the performance complements the aspects of advice and irony that should guide listeners especially newly married couples.


State of the art research currently aims at utilizing the new wireless capabilities in vehicles to handle road safety threats, relay traffic information, and provide vehicles with a broader sense of their surroundings. Additionally, multimedia and entertainment applications play a vital role in pushing new technologies. They require delivering large pieces of data to the widest possible public using specialized means of delivery. In the meanwhile, the BitTorrent protocol has become widely utilized for large file sharing. However, this protocol requires modifications to allow its use in the highly volatile vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs). This paper describes the work done to design algorithms for locating file pieces and gathering information about them. This represents the most challenging step toward applying a BitTorrent-like scheme for VANETs.


An endoreversible Carnot‐type heat engine is studied under the usual restrictions: no friction, working substance in internal equilibrium (endoreversibility), no mechanical inertial effects, and under Newton's cooling law for heat transfer between working fluid and heat reservoirs. A monoparametric family of straight lines which is isoefficient is found; i.e., all points (engine configurations) that belong to same line have the same efficiency. Along each line the power output divided by entropy production is a constant. From these properties and by using some dissipated quantities, relationships are obtained between reversible work and finite‐time work and between reversible efficiency and finite‐time efficiency. An ''ecological'' criterion is proposed for the best mode of operation of this heat engine. It consists in maximizing a function representing the best compromise between power and the product of entropy production and the cold reservoir temperature. The corresponding efficiency results almost eq...


Background Smoking cessation programmes delivered via smoking cessation clinics show increase in quitting in the short term. The aims were to describe the characteristics of the Jordanians attending only one smoking cessation clinic, to describe the outcomes. Methods Descriptive study. All smokers had attended the clinic during the first year. Data collected from clinical records obtained from a structured questionnaire included; socio-demographic; health status; smoking history and the procedures delivered by clinic. Results A total of 467 subjects (82.4% males, 17.6% females) attended the smoking cessation clinic between August and September 2011. Their age ranged between 17 and 73 years with a mean (SD) of 41.2 (11.4) Three quarters of subjects were married. A Half (50.2%) of subjects had university education. About one third of subjects reported having medical illnesses. Less than half (41.4%) of subjects reported that at least one of their family members is smoker. 58.0% of subjects started smoking at the age between 12 and 18 years. The mean (SD) number of cigarettes smoked by the subjects was 34.2 (15.0) and 40.9% of subjects reported smoking of more than 40 cigarettes per day. More than two thirds (69.0%) of subjects attempted to quit and the main reasons were related to their health and their family health. Overall, 14.9% succeeded to quit smoking. None of those who had one visit quitted smoking. On the other hand, more than half (60.0%) of subjects who visited the clinic ≥6 times quitted smoking. Conclusion Heavy smoker young Subjects showed strong desire to quit. A potential role of the clinic depends on continuous follow up and early intervention.


This work presents a diagnostic method for disaster response operations. The algorithm of identification of the situation in disaster conditions is described. The combination of the diagnostic method with remote sensing techniques and approximate disaster-spreading model can provide the required credibility and efficiency of disaster prediction and response.


Multicultural of meaning can be understand various aspects of life , but more often come to the surface when touched by religious and multicultural education. Pluralist in about have a religion always touted though still much conflict do in the name of religion. In the world of education , just as the discourse of multicultural education, theory , concept , or the like is not on the level of the students have not his actions to realize in life should be. Conceptually speaking , should probably dig the meaning of multicultural local wisdom in the sphere of culture , in order to preserve the local culture and inheritance until not even left forgotten . Huma Betang is a special custom home Dayak tribe , meaning the philosophy contained in it is to appreciate , appreciate the diversity and united together. In this paper highlights how multicultural about have a religion can be understood in the domain and in the domain of education is not merely a matter of discourse but be applicable in understanding the life of nation and state .


Any computational circu it is incomplete without the use of an adder. Addition is one of the primary operations in arithmetic circuits. These adder cells commonly aimed to reduce power consumption and delay. These studies have also investigated different approaches realizing adders using CMOS technology. The designer's concern for the level of leakage current is mainly aimed at minimizing power dissipation. For portable electronic devices this equates to maximizing battery life. When a mobile phone is in standby mode, certain portions of the circuitry are shut down. Even though de-activated, these circuits have some leakage current flowing through them. Even if the leakage current is much smaller than the normal operating current of the circuit, it depletes the battery charge over the relatively long standby time, whereas the operating current during talk time only depletes the battery charge over the relatively short talk time. As a result, the leakage current has a disproportional effect on total battery life. In this project leakage power and the ground bounce noise is considerably reduced by the use of sleep transistor in fu ll adder design. S ize of the sleep transistor is determined by transistor resizing approach. 4 bit adder is implemented using 1 bit adder as reference. The simulation shows that, the 1 bit and 4 bit adders are efficient in terms of standby leakage power, active power and ground bounce noise. Simulations have been performed by using 130 nm CMOS. Electric Tool is used to design the schematic and layout level diagrams of our project. The LT -SPICE Tool will be used for simulation of the Sp ice code which tests the functionality of our generated layout and schematic blocks.


Drechslera teres (D. teres) is an ascomycete, responsible for net blotch, the most serious barley disease causing an important economic impact. The cell wall is a crucial structure for the growth and development of fungi. Thus, understanding cell wall structure, composition and biosynthesis can help in designing new strategies for pest management. Despite the severity and economic impact of net blotch, this is the first study analyzing the cell wall-related genes in D. teres. We have identified key genes involved in the synthesis/remodeling of cell wall polysaccharides, namely chitin, β-(1,3)-glucan and mixed-linkage glucan synthases, as well as endo/exoglucanases and a mitogen-activated protein kinase. We have also analyzed the differential expression of these genes in D. teres spores and in the mycelium after cultivation on different media, as well as in the presence of Paraburkholderia phytofirmans strain PsJN, a plant growth-promoting bacterium (PGPB). The targeted gene expression analysis shows higher gene expression in the spores and in the mycelium with the application of PGPB. Besides analyzing key cell-wall-related genes, this study also identifies the most suitable reference genes to normalize qPCR results in D. teres, thus serving as a basis for future molecular studies on this ascomycete.


In the title compound, C22H21ClN4O2·2H2O, the almost-planar benzimidazole ring system [maximum deviation 0.014 (1) Å] is inclined at angles of 36.32 (5) and 74.75 (7)° with respect to the phenyl and imidazole rings, respectively. In the crystal structure, the water molecules are linked to the organic molecules to form a three-dimensional network via O—H⋯N and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The packing is further consolidated by a pair of bifurcated C—H⋯O bonds, generating R 1 2(6) loops. C—H⋯π interactions are also observed.


The historical novel for children is the kind of Literature that transmits to young readers the historical knowledge in a pleasant and easy way, thanks to its entertaining and recreational character. The fictional heroes in most children's historical novels are social examples for the young readers, who adopt behaviors and motivations through observation. Additionally, the postmodern attestation of History as narration, with the appointment of microhistory - which is favored when the psychography of fictional heroes is on the forthground and when historical facts are interpreted from different perspectives and under various visual angles - spur many writers to provide marginal characters with space as well as speech.
Bearing in mind that the byzantine era is a common subject in Children's Literature and contemporary novelists try to educate children and at the same time bring out  Byzantium's charm either by highlighting neglected historic events or by examining already known faces and facts from a fresh angle  and given the fact that the concept of intertextuality in literature is a way to build up interpretive communities among young readers, this paper examines Greek writer's, Penelope Maximos, five historical novels for children entitled as In the years of Alexios Komninos, (Stochastis, 1984), The first crusaders in Byzantium; 1096-1099 AD (Stochastis, 1989), Emmanouil Komninos. The knight emperor (Stochastis, 1990), The downfall of Thessaloniki. In the years of Andronikos Komninos (Stochastis,  1987) and  Close to Athenais (Astir, 1972). More specifically, we will focus on the way Maximos attempted to make "visible" fictional characters  who were until recently considered of less or least importance; Minors and adults who were being oppresed during the Byzantine era, such as slaves, suddenly become protagonists surrounding historic characters and, thanks to their presence, make the plot roll smoothly. In this paper will be also pointed out the way the writer chose to present to young readers female characters and their efforts not only to express their emotions freely, but also to interfere with Byzantine society and fight for their rights, in order to point out to the juvenile readers paths, thoughts and life idealism.


Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate 18fluorine-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) findings in the differential diagnosis of pulmonary carcinoids and pulmonary hamartomas. Methods: 18F-FDG PET/CT findings of 34 patients with pulmonary carcinoids (12 atypical, 22 typical) and 32 patients with pulmonary hamartomas were retrospectively evaluated. Both mean diameter and mean maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of hamartomas and carcinoids were compared by Mann-Whitney U and Kruskall-Wallis H tests. Results: The mean longest diameter of atypical carcinoids (3.5±1.7 cm) was higher than that of hamartomas (2.1±1 cm) (p=0.038). No significant difference was found between the mean diameter of typical carcinoids and mean diameter of hamartomas (p=0.128). The mean SUVmax of atypical carcinoids (5.97±3.7) and typical carcinoids (4.22±1.7) were higher than those of hamartomas (1.65±0.9) (p=0.002 and p=0.003, respectively). There were collapse/consolidation in 55.8%, bronchiectasis or mucoid impaction in 47%, and air trapping in 14.7% in the peripheral parenchyma of the 34 carcinoids. Collapse/consolidation was detected in a patient with endobronchial hamartoma, and other finding was not found in the parenchyma around hamartomas. Conclusion: The 18F-FDG uptake of pulmonary carcinoids can vary from minimal to intense. 18F-FDG uptake can be seen in pulmonary hamartomas. However, the mean SUVmax of atypical carcinoids and typical carcinoids were higher compared to hamartomas. Pulmonary carcinoid must be suspected in cases with accompanying bronchial obstruction findings in the periphery of the mass.


Introduction
Innovation is crucial for companies who have to react to constantly changing markets. Several national and European research institutes stress the importance of developing innovation for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). This was a trigger to design a minor on strategic innovation for different disciplines - technical and economic departments - of the Fontys University of Applied Sciences. It prepares students to be more competent to take initiatives in developing innovation. The newly designed education should be an answer to the question of how to help companies to become more able to adapt to new changes in the market by providing them with higher educated personnel, who have developed competences on strategic innovation.
The starting point for the research is the perceived effectiveness of teaching students to take part in developing innovation at SMEs. More specifically, the question is how to develop action-oriented learning environments to develop competences for innovation development.

Research
The central research question of this thesis is:
In what way could a competence-based and action-oriented learning environment on innovation development in SMEs be designed?
This research question provides a basis for evaluating three implementations of the minor learning program (30 EC) on strategic innovation. Findings of the research indicate the importance of educating students about innovation. Educational strategies such as partnering learners with SME staff, simulation exercises, and hands-on exercises all contribute to students' analytical skills. 'Real world' experience in corporate settings helps students bridge the gap between theory and practice, and consequently prepares them to be competitive in their chosen employment.
In the period from 2006 till 2009, three academic years were spend to teach students knowledge and competences on strategic innovation. The parameters evaluated are relevance and effectiveness and the system to be analysed is the minor 'strategic innovation'. These two parameters are described as follows:
Relevance
Teachers and students consider all teaching elements of the minor required to adequately prepare for contributions to innovation development in SMEs relevant. Key persons from SMEs believe that such knowledge and competences are important for companies to increase market competitiveness through innovation.
Effectiveness
Students develop perceptions on how innovation developments should be initiated in SMEs. They learn how to analyse companies for indicators of and preparation for changes. Students are capable of formulating an innovation development advice for companies, and explain how current activities could be changed to improve corporate success.
These parameters are the focus of the measuring method. Optimization of the parameters improves the learning conditions. There is a relation between the two parameters and the variables of a conceptual model with which data can be categorised.

Conclusions and recommendations
The thesis concludes with a model to analyse the different positions and perspectives of the stakeholders. It is also used for designing a competence-based and action-oriented program. During the research, it became clear that teachers were having a major role in the learning processes of students to change them from rather inexperienced in strategic innovation, into being experienced to the level of starting professionals. Teachers must therefore have many different abilities/competences.

For these teachers, it is important that they have - to a certain extent - an expertise in the field of study so they are able to coach and lecture their students properly. Therefore it is necessary that they have their networks with companies on this matter, which enables them to discuss the reality of innovation in the company. Next to the ability to understand the content, teachers must have the ability to determine the starting level of the students of different disciplines joining the minor and choose lecture and coaching conditions with which each student can learn effectively. Teachers therefore must be able to use several strategies of teaching. Students themselves also need to be experienced in interdisciplinary cooperation to work in strategic innovation projects. From these multidisciplinary approaches, teachers must be able to guarantee learning effectiveness to the major goal of the minor education. In order to do so, teachers need to collaborate themselves with their colleagues and agree to the formulated conditions of the minor education.

The conclusions as presented from the data of the research are focussed on the teacher being the provider of knowledge and the "manager" of learning activities of students. The main success factors of these conclusions can be formulated as follows.

1. Teachers need to get the opportunity to become adapted to new fields of study in order to have a relevant contribution.
2. Teachers must use their network to find companies that fit to the goals of the minor.
3. Teachers need to determine the match of complexity of the minor and minimum conditions for students to join.
4. Teachers must understand how to help students to work interdisciplinary.
5. Teachers must adapt to new teaching and learning strategies to make the educational processes effective.
6. Teachers in a multidisciplinary teaching and learning context need to be informed on the background of students to make their teaching more effective.
7. Teachers must be able to present the specific theme of their lectures in the context of the goal of the minor to make their teaching activities effective.
8. Teachers from various disciplines working in a multidisciplinary minor need to work interdisciplinary with their colleagues.
9. Teachers must agree to the formulations of the competences.

Universities of applied sciences mostly educate young professionals in the region they are situated in. They need to feel the responsibility to follow the needs of companies, like competences of starting professionals on innovation development, and give teachers the opportunities to make improvements of the education with which starting students are being prepared to become starting professionals in companies.


In sunlit waters, the fate of fluoroquinolone antibiotics is significantly impacted by photodegradation. The mechanism of how natural organic matter (NOM) participates in the reaction has been frequently studied but still remains unclear. In this work, the interactions between the excited triplet state of the fluoroquinolone antibiotic norfloxacin (3NOR*) and a variety of NOM extracts were investigated using time-resolved laser spectroscopy. The observed transient absorption spectrum of 3NOR* showed a maximum at ca. 600 nm, and global fitting gave a lifetime of 1.0 μs for 3NOR* in phosphate buffer at pH = 7.5. Quenching of 3NOR* by Suwannee River hydrophobic acids (HPO), Beaufort River HPO, and Gartempe River HPO yielded rate constants of 1.8, 2.6, and 4.5 (×107 molC-1 s-1) respectively, whereas HPO from South Platte River unexpectedly increased the lifetime of 3NOR* with an as yet unknown mechanism. Concurrent photodegradation experiments of NOR (5 μM) in the presence of these NOM were also performed using a sunlight simulator. In general, the effects of NOM on the photodegradation rate of NOR were in agreement with observations from transient absorption studies. We suggest that adsorption of NOR to NOM is one of the major factors contributing to the observed quenching. These results yield a new insight into the likely role of NOM in sunlight-induced degradation of micropollutants.


Ruthie Ilalbrook (nee pic* turn) was chonen 1958 Home coming quoon lust night in a special eloctlon held in the Knirineering auditorium. The more than 2B0 ballots cast selected Mitzle Kirk and Audrey Gowman us princesses for the celebrations set here for October 22. All three are coeds of Santa Maria's I Ian* cock college. The thrrn candidate* had baan choaan lait week by a special Cal Poly committee, who traveled to Hunts Marla for tha avleetlon. Tha commlttou Included: Don Hwoot, ouran committee chulrnmn; Huh (.rime, AHH president; A1 Mar ti ii a i, homecoming committee chairman; Hon l,ove, queen com mittee memheri uml (.mile Calengno, student body repreaenintlve. I'.MCiirtM ( hot.cn _ Cal Poly'* mrn curorts for the queen and her prlnee**e* were al*o chosen la«t week, They are Bteva Aakaw, air con ditioning major and sophomore cla*« president; Hob McVay, senior electrical engineering major: und John Netsley, mechanical engineeror. lng maj The e eicort* from 18 committee which choee the IB application* submilted Included1 Pave Pattereon, Starling Bradley. Miee Maw (In structor). and bon Rweot. They were chosen on baele of maturanss* and polie. Blue Key Tskea Part Bine Key honor fraternity Preel-


Abstract We investigate to what extent the current helicity distribution observed in solar active regions is compatible with solar dynamo models. We use an advanced 2D mean-field dynamo model with dynamo action largely concentrated near the bottom of the convective zone, and dynamo saturation based on the evolution of the magnetic helicity and algebraic quenching. For comparison, we also studied a more basic 2D mean-field dynamo model with simple algebraic alpha quenching only. Using these numerical models we obtain butterfly diagrams for both the small-scale current helicity and the large-scale magnetic helicity, and compare them with the butterfly diagram for the current helicity in active regions obtained from observations. This comparison shows that the current helicity of active regions, as estimated by −A·B evaluated at the depth from which the active region arises, resembles the observational data much better than the small-scale current helicity calculated directly from the helicity evolution equation. Here B and A are respectively the dynamo generated mean magnetic field and its vector potential.


Immunotherapy that harnesses the human immune system to fight cancer has received widespread attention and become a mainstream strategy for cancer treatment. Cancer immunotherapy not only eliminates primary tumors but also treats metastasis and recurrence, representing a major advantage over traditional cancer treatments. Recently with the development of nanotechnology, there exists much work applying nanomaterials to cancer immunotherapy on the basis of their excellent physiochemical properties, such as efficient tissue-specific delivery function, huge specific surface area, and controllable surface chemistry. Consequently, nanotechnology holds significant potential in improving the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. Nanotechnology-based immunotherapy mainly manifests its inhibitory effect on tumors via two different approaches: one is to produce an effective anti-tumor immune response during tumorigenesis, and the other is to enhance tumor immune defense ability by modulating the immune suppression mechanism in the tumor microenvironment. With the success of tumor immunotherapy, understanding the interaction between the immune system and smart nanomedicine has provided vigorous vitality for the development of cancer treatment. This review highlights the application, progress, and prospect of nanomedicine in the process of tumor immunoediting and also discusses several engineering methods to improve the efficiency of tumor treatment.


CONTEXT
Double vision (diplopia) is a major determinant of work disability in patients with Graves' orbitopathy (GO), but is not part of the classification NOSPECS classification of GO.

OBJECTIVE
The objectives of the study were to quantitate diplopia in patients with moderate to severe GO and to study associations with other disease and patient variables.

DESIGN
This was a single-center prospective study of consecutive patients at the time of referral.

SETTING
The study was conducted at the University Hospital Thyroid-Eye Clinic.

PATIENTS
Patients included 216 patients diagnosed with moderate to severe and active GO.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Binocular diplopia in field of gaze and monocular fields of motility were prospectively recorded on diagrams and measured by planimetry. Fields of diplopia were correlated to other disease and patient variables.

RESULTS
Six patients had only one functional eye and were excluded. Among the remaining 210 patients, diplopia was present in 75.2%. In patients with diplopia, this ranged from 5% to 100% (observed in 11.4% of patients) of binocular field of gaze. The field of diplopia correlated positively with eye motility restriction and with asymmetrical affection of orbits but negatively with signs of inflammation and proptosis that often are the main outcome measures in clinical studies of GO therapy.

CONCLUSION
Diplopia is very common in moderate to severe GO and a major cause for active therapy. In moderate to severe GO, the field of diplopia correlates negatively with some other indicators of disease activity, which may be explained by the physiological properties of binocular fusion.


Bridging the gap that exists between science and every day practice in sport and exercise nutrition (SEN) is the core theme of this context statement. This work contributes to the evidence-based practice (EBP) movement which began in the medical field in the early 1990s, which is now becoming a popular concept in SEN. However, a significant obstacle currently facing practitioners is the increasing gap between scientific knowledge and the efficacious translation and utilisation of relevant knowledge in everyday practice. The causes of this gap are many and complex, including a broad landscape of often disconnected and heterogeneous practices: the absence of contextual consideration, attitudinal disparities between scientists and practitioners, practitioners' resistance to change, and the many pitfalls of information overload experienced by consumers without the means to differentiate knowledge from marketing practices. These are among the issues which motivated the creation of my public works, namely a variety of publications and Mode 2 EBP knowledge products, and my on-going commitment to closing the gap through EBP thereby enhancing the quality and reliability of recommendations that practitioners deliver to clients. In this context statement, informed by autoethnographic discourses on the value of the practitioner/researcher perspective and conceptualising complex practice as bricolage I set out my rationale for why we need to build bridges between science and practice in SEN; and related sport science disciplines. I discuss a number of significant themes, such as what constitutes as pertinent knowledge and evidence for practice, that have preoccupied me and that have led to the creation of the public works that form parts of a comprehensive bridge, the purpose of which, in support of the main theme, which is to bridge the gap between academic research and real-world practice. This synthesis describes each of the public works in terms of content and rationale, and I provide evidence to support my claim that the works are novel and contribute both to the body of knowledge in my field and to practice. I also explain why context is vital to knowledge production and decision making in expert practice, and finally I offer a vehicle with which to navigate the bridge in the form of a model for a knowledge transfer cycle for evidenced-based practice. Therefore, drawing upon my critical engagement with a selection of my own outputs, my public works, utilising real-world exemplars from my own personal and professional development, over time I have sought to bridge the gap between science and practice in sport and exercise nutrition, harnessing technological advances and social media, to continue to make a difference.


Background: Whether HAIR-AN syndrome and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) are distinct entities or represent a phenotypic spectrum of the same syndrome is still unclear. HAIR-AN syndrome is characterized by high insulin resistance, obesity, and hyperinsulinemia as compared to PCOS and could represent adipose tissue dysfunction as the primary pathophysiologic trigger. This study was undertaken to study the role of adipose tissue dysfunction in HAIR-AN syndrome and PCOS using adipocytokines as surrogate markers of "adiposopathy." Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital over a period of 1 year. Serum adiponectin, leptin, IL-6, and TNF-α levels were measured in 30 women with HAIR-AN syndrome and in 30 women with PCOS. Correlations between adipocytokines, inflammatory markers, serum testosterone, and serum insulin were determined. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS version 23.0 (IBM SPSS Statistics Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) software program. Results: Women with HAIR-AN syndrome had significantly higher hyperandrogenemia, hyperinsulinemia, and insulin resistance as compared to PCOS women. They also had high leptin levels and lower adiponectin levels (p < 0.001). However, the levels of inflammatory markers (TNF-α and IL-6) were similar in both the groups (p > 0.05). Serum adiponectin showed a negative correlation with HOMA-IR and testosterone levels, while leptin showed a positive correlation with both in HAIR-AN patients while no such correlation was found in the PCOS group. Conclusion: The significantly raised adipocytokines in HAIR-AN syndrome patients as compared to PCOS patients indicates the primary role of adipose tissue dysfunction ("adiposopathy") in the pathogenesis of HAIR-AN syndrome while only a minor role, if any, in PCOS. Both these syndromes stand as distinct entities pathogenically with an overlapping phenotype.


Abstract. Arpiwi NL, Wahyuni IGAS, Muksin IK. 2019. Genetic diversity of Pongamia pinnata in Bali, Indonesia using Inter Simple Sequence Repeat markers. Biodiversitas 20: 2134-2142. Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre is a member of family Leguminosae that produces seed oil for biodiesel feedstock. The aim of the present study was to determine genetic diversity of pongamia trees that grow in Bali using Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers. This study is important to support the breeding program for the improvement of the biodiesel producing species. Leaf samples were taken from 26 pongamia trees grown on northern and southern coastal areas of Bali. Genomic DNA was isolated from fresh leaves sample and was amplified by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) using 9 ISSR primers. The banding patterns of DNA after PCR were scored and tabulated into a binary matrix. Genetic distance was generated by pairwise distance using composite maximum likelihood. A dendrogram was constructed using Unweighted Pair Group Method Arithmetic (UPGMA) method. The binary matrix was further analyzed for Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) with Primer E V.6 software. DNA concentrations ranged from 98.59-100.55 ng/μL with sufficient quality for PCR. The number of alleles for 9 primers was 43, the number of the polymorphic band was 35, and the number of monomorphic bands was 8. Percentage of polymorphism ranged from 50 to 100%. Cluster analysis of 26 DNA of pongamia trees showed that the trees were grouped into two, namely group I and II. Group I consisted of two trees only, namely Uma Anyar 1 and Penarukan 1. Group II consisted of 24 pongamia trees which were divided into 3 subgroups, namely IIA, IIB, and IIC with close genetic distance. Analysis of NMDS supported cluster analysis that 23 out of 26 pongamia trees had close genetic distance, and possibly they come from a similar source. Genetic diversity of pongamia in Bali needs to be widen possibly by the introduction of new planting materials from across Indonesia or seed procurement from different sources.


The rapid development of Islamic philanthropic activism in Indonesia has drawn much attention among scholars, practitioners, and policy makers. It appears that efforts to promote Islamic philanthropic activism as a means of fostering social justice have been done by civil society organizations and the state's agencies. It can be seen partly in the motives and objectives of Islamic philanthropic associations, as well as regulations enacted by the state regarding the practice of Islamic philanthropy since independent era until nowadays. It suggests that the philanthropic culture in Muslim societies is no longer governed in a traditional way, or simply to relieve the poor. Instead, it is expected that through the culture of giving, poverty can be alleviated, and Islamic associations can provide long-term development projects. However, in reality, these efforts to promote social justice have been constrained by several factors, including social, economic and political factors, and therefore enduring and systematic efforts from the state's actors and civil society, to promote social justice are, still needed. Keywords: philanthropy, Islam, social justice.


Wheat is a staple grain in most parts of the world and is also frequently used in livestock feed. The current study looked at the impact of a wheat grain diet on bone turnover markers. Thirty male rats (n = 10) were separated into three groups of ten. The rats in Group 1 were fed a chow diet, while the rats in Group 2 were provided whole grains. The rats in Group 3 were fed refined grains. Each rat's bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) were measured after 12 weeks in the tibia of the right hind limb. We also looked at the amounts of bone turnover indicators in the blood. TRAP-5b (Tartrate-resistant acid Phosphatase 5b), NTx (N-telopeptide of type I collagen), DPD (deoxypyridinoline), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and osteocalcin (OC), as well as the levels of Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor Kappa B (RANK) and osteoprotegerin (OPG). Rats fed whole and refined grains showed lower BMC and BMD (p < 0.05) than the control group rats. The grain diet resulted in lower OPG, OC, and ALP levels than the chow-fed rats, as well as significantly higher (p < 0.05) levels of RANK, DPD, TRAB 5b, and NTx. In a rat model, an exclusive whole or refined grain diet lowered bone turnover and mass.


In Autonomous Transit Networks some basic elements influence the throughput: network structure, maximum velocity, number of vehicles etc. Other parameters like station structure, dynamic routing or vehicle behavior on intersections play minor role. Yet in highly congested nets, when vehicles interfere in the traffic, some subtle decisions may influence overall system ridership. We tested the impact of intersection priority rules on passenger waiting time, which measures the throughput. The dependence occurred its relevance in a crowded network.


In this study, a sensitive and practical method for the determination of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) in smoked foods with HPLC-FLD was developed. In order to improve the detection limit of HPLC-FLD, we prepared magnetic nanoparticles with monomers of 4,4′-bipyridine and cyanuric chloride (Fe3O4@TCLN) used as a sorbent in magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) to extract trace BaP from the samples. The recovery was 94.74% for BaP, and the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 0.09 μg kg−1 and 0.28 μg kg−1, respectively. As a result of BaP analysis from real smoked foods, the average BaP content was 5.68 μg kg−1 and the highest content of BaP was 6.12 μg kg−1. The developed method could be potentially used for the determination of BaP in food safety analysis and monitoring.


This article is an inquiry about growth of hospitals expenses. The analysis is founded on the long term construction of monetary series. These series show evidence of three characteristics: growth of hospitals expenses between 1815 and 1993, development trough a succession of stages, existence of long term cyclic fluctuations contrary to the Kondratieff's movements.


This article reflects on how professional nurses learn caring behaviors in nursing school and then transpose those behaviors in the clinical setting. Although nursing is considered to be one of the most 'trusted' professions and a 'caring for others' profession, often there is a disconnect between this and actual experiences of patients and families in the clinical setting. Nurturing professional growth through emotional intelligence will be explored and application of emotional intelligence concepts will be applied to the profession of nursing. The author contends that by fostering characteristics of emotional intelligence, nurses will not only be thought of as 'caring' but will also demonstrate behaviors that 'reconnect' the patient's perception to reality of the care experience.


Anal cancer is a serious health problem in HIV-positive Men who have Sex with Men (MSM), and precursor lesions like anal intraepithelial neoplasia; are well defined. Anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN), a human papillomavirus (HPV)- associated anal cancer precursor lesion, is frequent among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive men who have sex with men and women (MSMW). There is a paucity of data published on the progression of high-grade AIN to invasive cancer as well as on clinical and virological characteristics comparing anal margin and anal canal carcinoma. Men who are infected with HIV and MSM are at particularly high risk for persistent HPV infection and HPV-induced lesions. The treatment of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HISL) in HIV positive MSM associating the adjuvant vaccine against HPV is likely to be cost-effective, with benefits reported in the age group above 38 years. It is convenient to design large controlled studies that enroll the MSM population infected with HIV, as in our patient; to evaluate the benefits of the HPV vaccine.


Run-time tools are crucial to program development. In our desktop computer environments, we take for granted the availability of tools for operations such as debugging, profiling, tracing, checkpointing, and visualization. When programs move into distributed or Grid environments, it is difficult to find such tools. This difficulty is caused by the complex interactions necessary between application program, operating system and layers of job scheduling and process management software. As a result, each run-time tool must be individually ported to run under a particular job management system; for m tools and n environments, the problem becomes an m \times n effort, rather than the hoped-for m + n effort. Variations in underlying operating systems can make this problem even worse. The consequence of this situation is a paucity of tools in distributed and Grid computing environments. In response to the problem, we have analyzed a variety of job scheduling environments and run-time tools to better understand their interactions. From this analysis, we isolated what we believe are the essential interactions between the run-time tool, job scheduler and resource manager, and application program. We are proposing a standard interface, called the Tool Dæmon Protocol (TDP) that codifies these interactions and provides the necessary communication functions. We have implemented a pilot TDP library and experimented with Parador, a prototype using the Paradyn Parallel Performance tools profiling jobs running under the Condor batch-scheduling environment.


Wastewater may contain high levels of the nutrients: nitrogen and phosphorus. Excessive release of nutrients to the environment can cause severe environmental problem such as eutrophication leading to algal blooms, oxygen deficiency, and fish kills. The forward osmosis (FO) could be a choice of treatment. FO process presents the results of using four kinds of variation in concentration of magnesium chloride (MgCl2) as draw solution and the two kinds of commercial membranes for nutrient rejection in the same cross flow velocity at 0.25 m/s and temperature at 25°C. Nutrients consisting of nitrogen (nitrite, nitrate, and ammonium) and phosphorus (phosphate) in feed solution were successfully rejected with an efficiency of mostly more 95%. The water flux in membrane HTI-NW achieved lower 7.55 - 9.61 L/m2·hr than in membrane HTI-ES that exceeds until 13.58 - 15.10 L/m2·hr. The reverse solute in membrane HTI-NW is seemly constant along all concentration of DS MgCl2 that the chloride diffusion is slightly higher than magnesium. In membrane HTI-ES, the reverse solute of chloride was almost three times than that of magnesium. The concentration of MgCl2 plays a significant role in rejecting nutrients by the Donnan's potential and the diffusion constant in low and high concentration of DS, respectively.


Study Design. A prospective study of 15 patients who underwent modified Smith–Robinson anterior cervical discectomy and fusion at three or four operative levels stabilized with an unicortical anterior plate. Objectives. To provide medium-term follow-up data on the surgical success and patient outcome of three- and four-level anterior cervical discectomies and fusions and to determine the effect that plate fixation has on the results. Summary of Background Data. The success of arthrodesis for anterior cervical fusion depends on several factors, including the number of surgical levels. The arthrodesis rate and outcome for patients having three- and four-level discectomy and fusion procedures is disappointing. Internal fixation putatively improves these parameters. Methods. Fifteen patients (average age, 51 years; range, 35–77), were observed for an average of 42 months (range, 25–73) All had an anterior discectomy, burring of the endplates, placement of an autogenous tricortical iliac crest graft at three (12 patients) or four (3 patients) levels, and application of a Cervical Spine Locking Plate. All patients had follow-up office visits with examinations and radiographs. Radiographic union, postoperative pain relief, and neurologic recovery were evaluated. Results. Solid arthrodesis was achieved at all levels in only 7 (47%) of the 15 patients after a single procedure. Of the 8 patients with pseudarthrosis, 3 had sufficient pain to necessitate revision surgery (with pain relief in two), 1 had pain without further surgery, and 4 no pain. Of the 7 with solid fusion, 3 had persistent pain, and 4 had none. Two in this group had a second procedure. All 4 patients with preoperative myelopathy improved, and 10 of the 11 with radiculopathy had resolution of arm symptoms. Conclusions. Three- and four-level modified Robinson cervical discectomy and fusion results in an unacceptably high rate of pseudarthrosis. The Cervical Spine Locking Plate alone does not appear to improve the arthrodesis rate.


data shows that the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in patients with acute stroke admitted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary and Freeman Hospital, Newcastle UpoIn Tyne, was 31I,O (24/78) as defined by a raised stable HbA,, (<7o5%, that is, above the 95'%) confidence limits). There were four patients within this group with previously diagnosed diabetes mellitus, resulting in an overall incidence of unrecognised diabetes mellitus of 26°/., (20/78). There is therefore a significant number of patients with acute stroke presenting with previously unrecognised diabetes mellitus (p<OO5). The group of patients presenting with a raised HbA,, value also, and not surprisingly, had a significantly higher blood glucose concentration than those with a normal HbA,, value. The report fails to emphasise the role of stress hyperglycaemia in predicting outcome, an important omission because our observed mortality rates suggest a higher mortality in those patients with stress hyperglycaemia (normal HbA1, but blood glucose <8 mmol/l (14-4 mg/100 ml)): 42 80% compared with 30% for diabetic patients recognised and unrecognised. We think therefore that undiagnosed diabetes mellitus is a more important factor in acute stroke than reported but that stress hyperglycaemia is more important in predicting early mortality.


A hinge joint is a type of synovial joint that exists in the body and serves to allow motion primarily in one plane. The hinge joint is made up of two or more bones with articular surfaces that are covered by hyaline cartilage and lubricated by synovial fluid. Stabilization of each hinge joint is by muscles, ligaments, and other connective tissues, such as the joint capsule. The hinge joints of the body include the elbow, knee, interphalangeal (IP) joints of the hand and foot and the tibiotalar joint of the ankle.


How the coexistence of species is affected by the presence of multiple resources is a major question in microbial ecology. We experimentally demonstrate that differences in diauxic lags, which occur as species deplete their own environments and adapt their metabolisms, allow slow-growing microbes to stably coexist with faster-growing species in multi-resource environments despite being excluded in single-resource environments. In our focal example, an Acinetobacter species (Aci2) competitively excludes Pseudomonas aurantiaca (Pa) on alanine and on glutamate. However, they coexist on the combination of both resources. Experiments reveal that Aci2 grows faster but Pa has shorter diauxic lags. We establish a tradeoff between Aci2's fast growth and Pa's short lags as their mechanism for coexistence. We model this tradeoff to accurately predict how environmental changes affect community composition. We extend our work by surveying a large set of competitions and observe coexistence nearly three times as frequently when the slow-grower is the fast-switcher. Our work illustrates a potentially common mechanism for the emergence of multi-resource coexistence despite single-resource competitive exclusions.


In recent years, a variety of deep learning (DL) models for seismic phase picking have attracted considerable attention and are widely adopted in many earthquake monitoring projects. However, most current DL models pick P and S arrivals trace by trace without simultaneously considering the spatial coherence of seismic phases among different stations in a seismic array. In this study, we develop a generalized neural network named CubeNet based on 3D U-Net to properly consider the spatial correlation of individual picks at different stations and thus improve the picking accuracy. To deal with data acquired by irregularly distributed stations, seismic data are first regularized into data cubes, which are then fed into CubeNet to calculate probability distributions of P arrivals, S arrivals, and noise. In addition, a variable trace resampling method for optimizing the differential sampling points between P and S arrivals in a trace for varying array apertures is also proposed to further improve the picking accuracy. CubeNet is trained by 47,000 microseismic data cubes and then tested by three data sets from different arrays with varying apertures and station intervals. It is found that CubeNet is rather resilient to impulsive noise and can avoid misidentifying most of the abnormal picks, which are challenging for the signal-trace based phase picking methods such as PhaseNet. We believe the newly proposed CubeNet is especially suitable for processing seismic data collected by large-N arrays.


The glutamate transporter GLT‐1 is the major route for the clearance of extracellular glutamate in the forebrain, and most GLT‐1 protein is found in astrocytes. This protein is coupled to the Na+ electrochemical gradient, supporting the active intracellular accumulation of glutamate. We recently used a proteomic approach to identify proteins that may interact with GLT‐1 in rat cortex, including the Na+/K+‐ATPase, most glycolytic enzymes, and several mitochondrial proteins. We also showed that most GLT‐1 puncta (∼70%) are overlapped by mitochondria in astroglial processes in organotypic slices. From this analysis, we proposed that the glycolytic enzyme hexokinase (HK)−1 might physically form a scaffold to link GLT‐1 and mitochondria because HK1 is known to interact with the outer mitochondrial membrane protein voltage‐dependent anion channel (VDAC). The current study validates the interactions among HK‐1, VDAC, and GLT‐1 by using forward and reverse immunoprecipitations and provides evidence that a subfraction of HK1 colocalizes with GLT‐1 in vivo. A peptide known to disrupt the interaction between HK and VDAC did not disrupt interactions between GLT‐1 and several mitochondrial proteins. In parallel experiments, displacement of HK from VDAC reduced GLT‐1‐mediated glutamate uptake. These results suggest that, although HK1 forms coimmunoprecipitatable complexes with both VDAC and GLT‐1, it does not physically link GLT‐1 to mitochondrial proteins. However, the interaction of HK1 with VDAC supports GLT‐1‐mediated transport activity. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


A pot study was aimed to investigate the role of tomato in determining differential response to bacterial wilt causal agent Ralstonia solanacearum pathogen and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) Glomus mosseae. Disease severity was measured after 10, 20 and 30 days of plant growth. The pathogen and dual treatment (R. solanacearum with G. mosseae) were not significantly different at the end of this experiment. Soil pH was greatly influencing the pathogen and AMF microbe. Glomus mosseae mycorrhizosphere was more alkaline (pH 5.9) compared to the pathogen mycorrhizosphere (pH 4.9). The concentration of bacterial cell in the R. solancearum soil was not different from the dual treatment after 60 days of plant growth. Spore germination was influenced by the interaction between the soil pathogen and AMF. Spores number in the dual treatment at 60 days was less than the original number added. Root colonization percentage in G. mosseae (61%) was significantly more than the dual treatment (16%). This provide an evidence about the role of plant host in increasing the spores germination influenced by many substances produced by the host root (root exudates). The results demonstrated that the role of plant in determination the relationship between soil-borne pathogen and antagonistic microbe was critical.


Abstract Three types of apartment claddings in Surabaya, Indonesia were studied to analyze their effect into bedroom temperature. They were glass windows in a niche, glass door in a balcony, and glass windows on a plain wall with glass door in a balcony. On-site temperature measurement was recorded and complemented with questionnaire surveys of occupants' perception regarding room temperature. The study showed that an apartment cladding with the largest proportion of opaque material combined with a balcony offered an indoor temperature of up to 9 °C lower than the outdoor compared to the other cladding types. Nevertheless, 72 % of occupants participated in this study, who use air conditioners during night time, including one with the cladding with the largest temperature difference claimed that the indoor temperature before air-conditioners was still too warm, which triggered air-conditioners initial time more than 10 minutes to achieve the desired indoor temperature. It indicated that the opaque material time lag played a significant role in heating the room during night time when the air-conditioner is about to be operated.


A major goal of the national program to Build a New Socialist Countryside is to modernise and urbanise the rural built environment. This objective has been bolstered by the extension of state-sponsored urban planning regimes into rural jurisdictions. One of the implications of this is that every administrative village in China is now required to commission and implement a 20-year "master plan" for redevelopment. Through tracing the origins and rationale of key policy initiatives, in the first part of this paper I aim to show how urban planning came to be seen as an appropriate tool for solving a range of intractable rural "problems." In the second part of the paper, I present a case study of village redevelopment in order to illustrate how the principles of urban planning have been applied to the re-making of rural built environments and the transformation of rural life.


The oft-replicated risky-shift phenomenon in decision-making groups was examined under conditions where one or all of the group members expected to serve as a delegate representing and defending their group's decisions in meetings with delegates from other groups. Three separate delegate conditions and a control were employed. In two of the conditions a single delegate was selected–designated by the group in one case and chosen at random in the other. In a third condition, all members expected to serve as delegates. The control condition consisted of the standard group discussion-to-consensus without any delegate manipulation. No mean differences in magnitude of risky shift between conditions were obtained. An examination of the two single-delegate conditions revealed other kinds of differences. Whereas the behavior of the delegate selected randomly appeared to have little effect on the size of the risky shift, this was not the case for the group-designated delegate. Correlational analyses indicated that the latter's influence and communication input and output were related to risky-shift magnitude.


The introduction of a Au(III) ion into a mesogenic core, [M(Bdt)(Cnbpy)](+) (Bdt = 1,2-benzenedithiolato and Cnbpy = 4,4'-di-alkyl-2,2'-bipyridine (n = 13 (4,4'-di-tridecyl-2,2'-bipyridine (C13bpy)) and 8,10 (4,4'-di-(3-octyltridecyl)-2,2'-bipyridine (C8,10bpy)))), leads to the formation of ionic molecular assemblies in crystalline and mesophases. Successive syntheses of precursor complexes, [AuCl2(Cnbpy)]PF6 (n = 13 (1) and 8,10 (2)), followed by the target complexes, [Au(Bdt)(Cnbpy)]PF6 (n = 13 (3) and 8,10 (4)), were achieved. The crystallographic analysis of 3 revealed that the central cationic cores form a characteristic one-dimensional columnar structure, which is an essential property for the formation of columnar structures in the liquid crystalline phase. The central cores of the [Au(Bdt)(C13bpy)](+) cations in 3 stack alternatively so as to cancel out their dipole moments and the counteranions lie between the cationic columns. Furthermore, the introduction of the branched alkyl tails in 4 induces the formation of a rectangular columnar liquid crystalline phase (Col(r)) with C2/m symmetry, and it melts to an isotropic liquid at 69 °C. The Col(r) phase of 4 is partially similar in its liquid crystalline structure to the neutral [Pt(Bdt)(C8,10bpy)] liquid crystal in a hexagonal columnar phase reported previously, while complex 4 shows a lower clearing point than that of the Pt analogue. Based on these results, the present study demonstrates the designability of the liquid crystalline structures of the [M(Bdt)(C8,10bpy)] skeleton together with their assembled structures and physico-chemical properties.


Abstract. Abdalgader SIA, Ahmed AI. 2019. Amino acids profile and protein functional properties of Chrozophora oblongifolia seeds from Kordofan Region, Sudan. Trop Drylands 3: 17-21. The present research was conducted to study the amino acids profile and protein functional properties of Chrozophora oblongifolia seeds. The fresh seeds samples were procured from North and West Kordofan regions, Sudan. The protein functional properties, i.e., water absorption capacity, oil absorption capacities, emulsifying capacity, foaming stability, bulk density and crude protein were determined, then the amino acids profile was investigated using an amino acids analyzer (L-8900 Hitachi-hitech, Tokyo, Japan) under the experimental conditions recommended for protein hydrolysates. The results found that there were seven essential amino acids namely lysine, histidine, threonine, methionine, valine, isoleucine, and phenylalanine and nine non essential amino acids namely arginine, aspartic acid, serine, glutamic acid, glycine, proline, alanine, cystine and tyrosine were qualified and quantified in present investigation according to the following values: Glycine with a range of 0.99-1.02 g/100g proteins, while arginine with a range of 8.43-8.87 g/100g protein was the highest. Leucine and isoleucine which were limiting amino acid in most foodstuffs, were presented in ranges of 7.27-7.59g/100g protein for leucine and 5.24-56 4.19 g/100g protein for isoleucine. Statistical analysis of the seeds protein concentrates showed that a significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in crude protein and water absorption capacities, oil absorption capacities, foaming stability and bulk density were found between the two different collection regions, while there were no significant (p ≤ 0.05) differences found in emulsifying capacity and foaming capacity in the two different locations of which samples were procured. The protein concentrates indicated higher protein content for North Kordofan seeds (83.33%) than that of 80.6% for West Kordofan seeds. This study concluded that C. oblongifolia seeds can be considered as a cheap source of edible protein which had a rich of essential amino acids


Clevidipine is an intravenous calcium channel antagonist of the dihydropyridine class that acts primarily as a vasodilator of the arterial bed. During pediatric surgeries, boluses from 10 to 20 mcg/kg and infusions from 0.5 to 5 mcg/kg/min have been used for the treatment of hypertension or when controlled hypotension is required. Clevidipine's fast metabolism allows a precise titration of drug if higher or lower doses are required. Future prospective clinical trials will provide further knowledge regarding clevidipine's safety profile in pediatric patients.