801 DNA damage checkpoints are regulatory signal transduction pathways that allow cells to control DNA damage-induced cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, and cell death by apoptosis. Most human tumors arise from multiple genetic changes, including defective DNA damage checkpoints that provide potential targets for therapeutic use of DNA-damaging agents. One strategy to enhance the impact of these agents is to inhibit the checkpoint signaling in cancer cells. The checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1) is one of the effector kinases that regulates cell cycle progression after DNA damage. Upon DNA damage, Chk1 is phosphorylated on Ser 345 and 317, and this phosphorylation is dependent on ATM (ataxia-telangiectasia mutated) or ATR (ATM and Rad 3-related). In addition to phosphorylation, DNA damage-dependent Chk1 activity could be modulated by other posttranslational modifications and protein-protein interaction. We have developed experimental procedures for identification of novel Chk1 posttranslational modifications and associated proteins. Using immunoprecipitation followed by mass spectroscopy analysis, we have found novel candidate Chk1-associated proteins. Potentially, interaction of these proteins with Chk1 could inhibit DNA damage-dependent Chk1 activation, leading to abrogation of checkpoint response and sensitization of cancer cells to DNA-damaging drugs.


This paper describes an analysis of the transient response of an orthogonal core-type dc-ac converter for use in a photovoltaic power system. The analysis is based on a numerical model of an orthogonal core for use with the SPICE circuit analysis program. As one example of such a transient response analysis, we calculated the voltage and current of the dc-ac converter when its secondary is cut off from the ac system. The calculated results agreed well with measurements. The analytical method presented here is useful for predicting the behavior of a photovoltaic power system at the occurrence of ac system interruptions, line-to-line faults and various other faults.


In this paper, the properties are discussed systematically for triangles of which sides or interior angles are equal difference sequences.


Treatment of AKR mice with the saponin Quil A delayed their death in spontaneous leukaemia. In vitro tests did not demonstrate any influence on infection of rat cells with Kirsten sarcoma virus. Quil A in the concentration nanogram/ml doubled the mitogen response of AKR spleen cells to lipopolysaccharide.


Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of DASH diet and law salt diet health education program on the blood pressure and the diet habit in the prehypertension group in Korea. Methods: The participants in this study were 141 people with prehypertension who were seen at a public health center. Data collection was done from March 11 to November 11, 2005 using interview with questionnaires. The participants took part in the diet health education program for 8 weeks. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of health education program, the variables of the diet such as hypertension, law salt diet and DASH diet were measured before and after the health education. The blood pressure was measured three times during the education. The collected data were analyzed with paired t-test and repeated ANOVA using SPSS 12.0 for Windows. Results: The diet habit variables after the education showed that their diet habit tend to the low salt diet and the DASH diet. The participants improved in their knowledge of hypertension and law salt diet, and they improved in the behavioral level of law salt diet and DASH diet after the health education for 8 weeks. Systolic and diastolic pressure were significantly decreased in prehypertension group after 8 weeks [10mmHg/6mmHg(p


The clinical records of 44 children (34 girls and 10 boys) with ureteroceles, seen at the Squier Urological Clinic during a period of 27 years, have been reviewed and the findings tabulated. Of the 44 cases, 38 were found clinically among some 3,800 new pediatric urologic admissions, an incidence of 1 in every 100 new pediatric urologic patients. The other six cases were found incidentally at necropsy at the Babies Hospital, among 3,200 consecutive necropsies, i.e., one in every 500 general pediatric necropsies. Among the 38 clinical cases of ureteroceles 85% had severe dilatation of one or more upper urinary tract units, 25% of which had also evidence of bladder-neck obstruction caused by the ureterocele. In the remaining 15%, the dilatation was confined to one upper urinary tract unit and was minimal or mild. As expected, large ureteroceles were present in those patients with unilateral or bilateral duplication of the upper urinary tract, and caused severe hydroureteronephrosis, while small ureteroceles were usually seen in children with single upper tracts, and produced minimal or mild ureteropyelic dilatation. Unilateral or bilateral duplication of the upper urinary tracts was also present in 75% of the 38 cases and in 90% of those who had large ureteroceles. In all children with duplicated urinary tract who had ureteroceles, the latter were always found involving the lower ureteral ostium; i.e., the one which drained the upper kidney. There was no characteristic clinical picture caused by this condition, but fever, pyuria and recurrent abdominal pain were usually present. Urography was helpful in establishing a correct diagnosis of ureterocele in about 50% of all cases irrespective of the status of the ureterocele and quality of the film. Cystoscopy was only done whenever the diagnosis was not previously established by urography on in difficult situations such as those seen in collapsed ureteroceles. In this latter group the cystoscopic findings were bizarre and at times misleading. Transcystoscopic excision of the ureterocele was carried out in many cases but with good results only in those children with small uneteroceles and minimal to mild dilatation of the upper urinary tract. Nephrectomy or heminephroureterectomy was the treatment of choice in children with large ureteroceles and severely dilated upper urinary tracts. At times, multistaged procedures were necessary in order to achieve a satisfactory result, the initial step being a simple cystoscopic fulguration or a suprapubic excision, or uncapping of the ureterocele. Whenever the general condition of the child was satisfactory, the treatment consisted of attempts at repair of the anomaly, when feasible, or radical excision not only of the uneterocele but also of the involved renoureteral unit or units if the remaining kidney was considered sufficient to support a useful life. Finally, a prolonged course with antibiotics and chemotherapeutic agents usually followed surgery, in order to control the concomitant infection of the urinary tract. Ureteroceles in children were found to be apt to produce serious hydrodynamic disturbances of the upper urinary tracts and sometimes obstruction of the bladder neck. Furthermore, bizarre clinical syndromes, misleading cystoscopic findings and confusing urographic pictures were present in about 30% of the 38 clinical cases of ureterocele in children seen at the Squier Urological Clinic and described in this report. In these cases the correct diagnosis was initially overlooked or delayed, adequate treatment postponed or incompletely carried out, and the results obtained were poor. On the other hand, satisfactory result were usually achieved in the remaining 70% of the cases in which a correct diagnosis was established early and adequate treatment instituted. For these reasons, familiarization with the various clinical, cystoscopic and urographic findings encountered in children with ureterocele is important in order to bring about early diagnosis and treatment of this condition.


LL37 is a cathelicidin-derived antimicrobial peptide (AMP) with a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity and wound-healing potential. The enhancement of these characteristics was recently demonstrated for a cysteine (CYS)-modified cathelicidin-derived LL37-SH conjugated with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Considering the potential of this peptide, we hereby report a computational study in which well-tempered metadynamics was applied to unveil the interaction of LL37-SH and LL37 with a AuNP with atomistic detail. A structural analysis combined with the free energy surface (FES) characterization allowed the assessment of the role of CYS residue during the formation of the conjugate, as well as to understand how the AuNP improves the antimicrobial activity of the peptide. It was found that CYS promotes a lower conformational entropy (before and after adsorption onto the AuNP) and a faster adsorption process when compared to the LL37 without CYS. The FES for LL37-SH is characterized by one global minimum, while for LL37 a potential metastable state was found. The presence of the AuNP leads to an elongation of the peptides along with the adsorption, which translates into the increase of the solvent-accessible surface area. This elongation combined with the greater availability of positively charged residues upon adsorption rationalizes the observed enhancement of the activity of the LL37-SH/AuNP conjugate.


We report a novel method to synthesize bulk grain-size gradient polycrystalline Ni by AGG. By periodical sintering in the large volume press (LVP), AGG repeatedly occurs, resulting in exceptionally large grains on the sample surface, but the inner grains are still small. The formation of grain-size gradient profile is attributed to the uneven plastic deformation caused by compression in the LVP. Besides, the gradient structure can be achievable with uniformity by employing tungsten with a high shear modulus into the sample assembly. This work would guide us to design bulk heterogeneous gradient nanostructured materials with both excellent strength and ductility. The uniform grained gradient structure obtained with the improved LVP assembly. (a) The improved LVP assembly with W tablet used between Ni sample and outer Mo-capsule; (b) Inverse pole figure mapping characterization of uniform grain-size gradient structure comprised of smaller grains.


Advanced train control systems (ATCSs), which will allow dispatching, track switching, and even braking of trains by operators at remote sites, are discussed. The history and development of the concept are traced, and the architecture of ATCSs is described. Present and planned testing of various systems is discussed. The problems posed by writing software to connect the numerous ATCS systems are examined.<<ETX>>


We consider the classical selection and sorting problems in a model where the initial permutation of the input has to be restored after completing the computation. While the requirement of the restoration is stringent compared to the classical versions of the problems, this model is more relaxed than a read-only memory where the input elements are not allowed to be moved within the input array.

We first show that for a sequence of n integers, selection (finding the median or more generally the k-th smallest element for a given k) can be done in O(n) time using O(lg n) words1 of extra space in this model. In contrast, no linear-time selection algorithm is known which uses polylogarithmic space in the read-only memory model.

For sorting n integers in this model, we first present an O(n lg n)-time algorithm using O(lg n) words of extra space. When the universe size U is polynomial in n, we give a faster O(n)-time algorithm (analogous to radix sort) which uses O(ne) words of extra space for an arbitrarily small constant e > 0. More generally, we show how to match the time bound of any word-RAM integer-sorting algorithms using O(ne) words of extra space. In sharp contrast, there is an Ω(n2/S)-time lower bound for integer sorting using O(S) bits of space in the read-only memory model. Extension of our results to arbitrary input types beyond integers is not possible: for "indivisible" input elements, we can prove the same Ω(n2/S) lower bound for sorting in our model.

En route, we develop linear-time in-place algorithms to extract leading bits of the input array and to compress and decompress strings with low entropy; these techniques may be of independent interest.


Research on the development of digital skills and competencies has primarily been concerned with the current socio-economic situation. Based on statistical data compiled by the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, there is a gap in the level of digital skills of both the entire population of Russia and young people in comparison with the populations of most European countries. This research explored some of the issues of the structure of digital skills, identifying their levels and the areas necessary for assessing the development and formation among students. This study was based on the data of a sociological survey conducted among students of higher education institutions of the Sverdlovsk Region in their first year of a bachelor's degree, as well as for various training profiles (humanitarian, science and mathematics, engineering and socio-economic). The role of the university as a filter was revealed, and also its role as an agent in the process of professional socialization of young people. However, the institutions did not meet the requirements of the modern digital economy. Keywords: students, economy digitalization, digital skills, socialization


Although many different nanomaterials have been tested as substrates for laser desorption and ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS), this emerging field still requires more efficient multifuncional nanomaterials for targeting, enrichment, and detection. Here, we report the use of gold manganese oxide (Au@MnO) hybrid nanoflowers as an efficient matrix for LDI-MS. The nanoflowers were also functionalized with two different aptamers to target cancer cells and capture adenosine triphosphate (ATP). These nanoflowers were successfully used for metabolite extraction from cancer cell lysates. Thus, in one system, our multifunctional nanoflowers can (1) act as an ionization substrate for mass spectrometry, (2) target cancer cells, and (3) detect and analyze metabolites from cancer cells.


Indonesia is a developing country that needs funds to finance its development. In order to finance all the interests of the state in realizing a better national economy, an APBN (State Revenue and Expenditure Budget) is prepared. The taxation sector is the largest sector that contributes to the State Budget. However, in the implementation of tax revenue does not match the predetermined target, one of the causes of this is due to tax evasion by taxpayers.
This study aims to examine the factors that influence the intention to commit tax evasion. This research is a quantitative research with data collection techniques using a questionnaire distributed to taxpayers who are registered free workers at KPP Pratama Subang. The sample used in this study was 118 respondents using purposive sampling technique and an error rate of 5%. The analysis technique uses multiple linear regression analysis.
The results showed that the coefficient of determination R2 was 0.374, which means that the dependent variable could be explained by the independent variable at 37.4% and the remaining 62.6% was explained by other variables. The results of this study conclude that partially the variable love of money, tax system, tax justice, tax discrimination, and tax sanctions has no effect on tax evasion, while the variable understanding of taxation has a negative effect on tax evasion and the variable religiosity has a negative effect on tax evasion. Simultaneously, the variable love of money, tax system, tax justice, tax discrimination, understanding of taxation, taxation sanctions and religiosity have an effect on the variable tax evasion.


In this study, dominance rank instability among male Lemur catta during mating was investigated. Also, data on agonism and sexual behavior across five consecutive mating seasons in a population of L. catta on St. Catherines Island, USA, were collected. Instances of male rank instability were categorized into three types. Type 1 consisted of a temporary switch in the dominance ranks of two males, which lasted for a period of minutes or hours. Type 2 dyadic male agonistic interactions showed highly variable outcomes for a period of time during which wins and losses were neither predictable nor consistent. Type 3 interactions consisted of a single agonistic win by a lower-ranked male over a more dominant male. More Type 2 interactions (indicating greater dominance instability) occurred when males had not spent the previous mating season in the same group, but this trend was not statistically significant. The majority of periods of male rank instability were preceded by female proceptivity or receptivity directed to a lower-ranked male. As such, exhibition of female mate choice for a lower-ranking male appeared to incite male-male competition. Following receipt of female proceptivity or receptivity, males who were lower-ranking took significantly longer to achieve their first agonistic win over a more dominant male than did males who were higher-ranked. Ejaculation frequently preceded loss of dominance. In conclusion, temporary rank reversals and overall dominance rank instability commonly occur among male L. catta in mating contexts, and these temporary increases in dominance status appear to positively affect male mating success.


CONTEXT Video laryngoscopes achieve laryngeal visualisation through indirect imaging using video cameras that look around the curve of the tongue. The new AMBU ISCOPE intubation device combines features from the laryngeal mask airway with video laryngoscopy enabling visual control of tracheal intubation without the use of a stylet. OBJECTIVE We hypothesised that the AMBU ISCOPE would shorten the time taken to intubate a manikin compared to the Macintosh laryngoscope. DESIGN Crossover study. SETTING University hospital in Denmark. Study period: April 2011. PARTICIPANTS We enrolled 36 trainees (19 nurse anaesthetists and 17 anaesthetists) with a median of 7 months of experience in anaesthesia (interquartile range 5 to 7.5 months). INTERVENTION Tracheal intubation of a manikin, the Laerdal Airway Management Trainer, using either the AMBU ISCOPE, a new intubation conduit, or a conventional Macintosh laryngoscope. Every trainee performed three tracheal intubations with each device. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The primary end-point was time to intubation. Secondary end-points were Cormack & Lehane grade and dental contact. RESULTS Median time to tracheal intubation was 33.5 s using a Macintosh laryngoscope and 41.5 s using the AMBU ISCOPE device (P = 0.008). In both groups, 97% of intubations were successful. Ninety-seven percent of laryngeal visualisations achieved using the AMBU ISCOPE device were reported to be Cormack & Lehane grade 1 versus 57% for the Macintosh laryngoscope (P = 0.0001). CONCLUSION Tracheal intubation time was significantly longer in trainees using the AMBU ISCOPE intubation device compared to a Macintosh laryngoscope, but with a difference of only 8 s. Laryngeal visualisation was significantly better using the AMBU ISCOPE device, but success rates for intubation were the same.


Although inhaled tobramycin increases lung function in people with cystic fibrosis (pwCF), the density of P. aeruginosa in the lungs is only modestly reduced by tobramycin; hence, the mechanism whereby tobramycin improves lung function is unclear. Here, we demonstrate that tobramycin increases the abundance of two 5′ tRNA-fMet halves in outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) secreted by P. aeruginosa and that the 5′ tRNA-fMet halves reduce IL-8 secretion by CF bronchial epithelial cells (CF-HBECs). In mouse lung, the 5′ tRNA-fMet halves attenuate KC secretion and neutrophil recruitment. We also report that the 5′ tRNA-fMet halves suppress pro-inflammatory network gene expression by an Argonaut 2 (AGO2)-mediated gene silencing mechanism, thereby reducing IL-8 secretion in CF-HBECs. Moreover, tobramycin reduces the IL-8 concentration and neutrophil content in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of pwCF. Thus, we conclude that tobramycin improves lung function in part by reducing chronic inflammation and neutrophil-mediated lung damage in pwCF.


Purpose: The primary outcome was to investigate the accuracy of intraoperative macroscopic diagnosis by the operating surgeon with the results of the subsequent histopathologic examination. The secondary outcome was to identify the predictors of discrepancies between these 2 groups. Materials and Methods: A multicentre, prospective, observational study was conducted over a period of 2 months with a 30-day follow-up period. Patients who underwent surgery with the intention of appendicectomy were recruited in the study. Results: A total of 1169 patients were recruited. False negatives (FNs) were defined as a normal macroscopic diagnosis but histopathologically appendicitis, whereas false positive otherwise. Overall, FN rates were 22.4%, whereas false positive rates were 8.2%. The seniority of the operating surgeons did not affect the ability to accurately diagnose appendicitis macroscopically (P=0.069). However, consultant surgeons had the lowest FN rate of 15.6%. Females and preoperative ultrasound scan increased odds of FN, whereas preoperative computed tomography decreased the odds of FN appendicectomy. Conclusion: Macroscopic identification intraoperatively is inaccurate with a FN rate of 22%.


Written by a leader in the field of American social policy, this new edition provides case examples and step-by-step suggestions for individuals who wish to get involved and have an impact on social policy. Using a nuts-and-bolts approach, Lobbying for Social Change is ideal for those with no previous experience in advocating for public policy. This new edition avoids professional and academic jargon and prepares readers to effectively lobby face-to-face with public officials with its new chapters on the changing context of political action and how to use the new technology of the information age to aid lobbying efforts.Make yourself heard with this informative guide to the process of advocating social change. Extensive case material is drawn from current battles for policy change--abortion, funding of mental health services, welfare reform, and environmental pollution--revealing the successful strategies employed by activists on the front line today.Lobbying for Social Change is thoroughly practical and readable, avoiding professional and academic jargon. Aside from its use to anyone wishing to be an advocate, this important volume provides fascinating reading on the impact of activism on policy decisions.Highlights of the book include: the specific activities for preparing to do any kind of lobbyingtechniques to adapt the general principles of lobbying to different political styles of public officialsa step-by-step guide from the pre-visit preparation through the visit itself and the follow-upstrategies to involve an audience in the work of making a casetips for handling problem audiences advice on what to expect in a public hearing, and how to prepare for it, make an effective presentation, and field questions from legislatorsdistinctive features of the newspaper, radio, and television, and tips for using each medium advantageously


The My Number program is a national identification number in Japan that will be introduced next year. Various personal information is correlated to the personal number of this program. Hence, its protection is paramount. However, whereas the aim of current security measures is to prevent leaks directly, we must consider the possibility of non-secret information being used to indirectly leak secret information by inference. We studied a hypergraph-basedmodel that can help to prevent inference of information in the My Number program. Names, addresses and other information are correlated with the personal number, and inference paths are detected by using a mapping from information stored in the program to the hyper graph. The hyper graph model and Dijkstra's algorithm are used to prevent the possibility of information leaks by inference.


Pseudostenosis is a generally benign complication of percutaneous coronary intervention that is caused by the mechanical deformation of a tortuous artery by the guidewire. We describe two cases of a tortuous right coronary artery in which pseudostenosis was relieved by placing a Transit exchange catheter (Cordis) distally and subsequently removing the guidewire. This technique safely confirmed the diagnosis of pseudostenosis without losing guidewire position or requiring additional wires and balloons. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv 2004;63:457–461. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The coexistence of modernities of different structural types, with different historical foundations, and with different systemic modes of structural organization leads to the coexistence of traditional and new actors within a single spatiotemporal arrangement of international relations and to the differentiation of macroregions and nation-states in accordance with structural principles of organization. In the final analysis, the type of political access in specific nation-states and the combination of different types of political access in macroregions with different modes of structural organization and at different stages of historical development influence the developmental strategies of states and the character and priorities of their foreign policies; these in turn continue in significant measure to shape the processes that form the space of world politics. The identification of such interconnections makes it possible to analyze the influence of the type of sociopolitical access in states, coalitions of states, and global regions on the formative processes and character of the space of world politics and to engage in social engineering of the format of national and world space with a view to optimizing conditions for national development. Theoretical and practical conceptualization of the interconnection between external and internal processes, including their political component, will enable us to work out applied theories of competitive models of cooperative regional and national development and strategies for national modernization and development with adequate protection of national interests.


One of the most crucial estimates retrieved from measured seismic reflection data is the subsurface image. The image provides detailed information of the subsurface of the Earth. Seismic reflection data consists of so-called primary and multiple reflections. Primary reflections are events that have been reflected a single time, while multiple reflections have been reflected multiple times before they are recorded by the receivers. Most current migration algorithms assume all reflections in the data are primary reflections. Hence, in order to retrieve an accurate image of the subsurface, multiple reflections need to be eliminated before migration. Keeping the multiple reflections in the measured seismic reflection data will lead to a sub-optimal image of the subsurface, because the multiple reflections will be imaged as if they were primary reflections. Such artefacts in the image can cause erroneous interpretation...


This paper presents experimental results about the use of the Critical Literacy Approach (CLA) in literary appreciation using Indonesian short stories. The purpose of the study is to find better teaching strategies to improve students' critical thinking skills and critical awareness to comprehend the conditions of the world, including social relationships involving disproportionate power relations. This study uses the randomized pretest-posttest control group design (RPPCGD), which is a randomized design by giving pretest and posttest to the experimental group (CLA) and control group (expository). The effect of both teaching strategies is calculated through the difference between the pretest and posttest of both groups. This research involved 170 students in the Department of Indonesian Language and Literature Education of an education university in Indonesia. The results are presented in the form of analytical descriptions of paired samples test and paired samples correlations of each group. The results show that students who did a short story analysis with CLA had significantly increased critical thinking skills and critical awareness compared to students of expository strategy. The average posttest of the experimental group is 80.33, which is considerably higher than the control group, with an average of 76.13. The average increase in skills (posttest-pretest) of the experimental group is 38.71 points, and the control groups have an average increase of 31.19 points. Therefore, it is clear that the teaching of literary appreciation using Indonesian short stories with CLA is effective. The use of CLA strategies in increasing students' critical thinking skills and critical awareness through literary appreciation of Indonesian short stories shows positive results. The results of this study can contribute to the field of learning design with new ideas to improve critical thinking skills and critical awareness of Indonesian students through effective short story analysis or fictional prose analysis.


L-Aspartate-beta-semialdehyde dehydrogenase (ASA DH) from Escherichia coli has been probed by site-directed mutagenesis to identify residues that play an important function in the catalytic activity of the enzyme. Sequence homology searching among ASA DHs that have been isolated from other species and comparisons with the structures of functionally similar D-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenases (GAPDH) that have been solved from several species have been utilized to select appropriate targets for mutagenesis. A highly conserved active site glutamine has been identified in the E. coli ASA DH that enhances the reactivity of the enzyme. Alteration of this residue leads to an enzyme with reduced catalytic efficiency, yet with an unchanged binding affinity for substrates and coenzyme. Replacement of an arginine residue that is conserved throughout the ASA DH and GAPDH enzyme families leads to a significant decrease in catalytic turnover and is the only mutation examined that also results in a decreased affinity for the substrates of the reaction. This residue is assigned a role in the binding of the substrate aspartate-beta-semialdehyde. Sequence alignment of ASA DH with other NADP- and NAD-dependent enzymes has resulted in the identification of a putative pyridine nucleotide binding region. Substitution of two amino acids in this region with neutral or positively charged side chains has resulted in a change in enzyme specificity. For wild-type ASA DH, NADP is strongly favored as the coenzyme, while in this mutated enzyme the selectivity has been lowered by a factor of 60, and this enzyme has comparable affinities for either pyridine nucleotide.


Background/Purpose: One stage urethroplasty with parameatal foreskin flap (OUPF) applicable to all types of hypospadias was first described by Tomohiko Koyanagi, however high complication rates were reported .The aim of this study is to analyze the results of a modification of the Koyanagi technique as a one-stage repair of proximal hypospadias. Patients and Methods: During the period of from March 2008 to March 2009, 30 patients underwent treatment of proximal hypospadias using the modified Koyanagi technique. Patient age at the time of surgery ranged from 6 to 24 months. In all cases, the urethral opening was at or just proximal to the penoscrotal junction. Follow up ranged from 3 months to 1 year. Results: Primary success occurred in 27 cases (90%) with accepted cosmetic appearance. Complications occurred in 3 cases (10%). Urethrocutaneous fistula occurred in 2 cases (6.7%). Meatal recession occurred in 1 case (3.3%). There was no incidence of meatal stenosis, urethral stricture, residual chordee or complete flap necrosis.


Synopsis : We have studied the trapped field properties of the MgB 2 bulk superconductors fabricated by various methods. The MgB 2 bulks were magnetized by a filed-cooled magnetization (FCM) method using a superconductor coil and a pulsed field magnetization (PFM) method using a copper coil. We firstly obtained a trapped field of 1.5 T at 14 K by FCM for an MgB 2 disc bulk (30 mm diameter and 7 mm thickness) with a filling factor of about 50 %, which was fabricated by an in-situ capsule method using a home-made capsule. The trapped field of MgB 2 bulk by FCM was enhanced up to 2.9 T by the densification and the enlargement. Such dense MgB 2 bulks were fabricated by an in-situ hot isostatic pressing under the pressure of up to 980 MPa or an ex-situ spark plasma sintering by applying uniaxial stress of 50 MPa. An in-situ infiltration method without the physical pressure also produced the dense MgB 2 bulks, which trapped a 3 T-class magnetic field. The Ti-doping improved considerably the trapped field by FCM up to 5.6 T at 11.3 K for the triple-stacked Ti-doped MgB 2 bulks. The PFM method also produced a Tesla-class MgB 2 bulk magnet. The trapped field of 1.1 T at 13 K was obtained for the HIP-processed MgB 2 disc bulk (22 mm diameter and 20 mm thickness). A magnetic field of 1.6 T was trapped at 20 K in the MgB 2 bulk composite, consisting of two ring-shaped MgB 2 bulks sandwiched by four thin copper plates and an inserted soft-iron yoke cylinder, using double PFM using a split-type coil with soft-iron yokes. We have shown the potential of the MgB 2 bulk magnets for the practical


Expression of the tryptophanase (tna) operon in Escherichia coli is regulated by catabolite repression and tryptophan-induced transcription antitermination. The key feature of this antitermination mechanism has been shown to be the retention of uncleaved TnaC-peptidyl-tRNA in the translating ribosome. This ribosome remains stalled at the tna stop codon and blocks the access of Rho factor to the tnatranscript, thereby preventing transcription termination. In normal S-30 preparations, synthesis of a TnaC peptide containing arginine instead of tryptophan at position 12 (Arg12-TnaC) was shown to be insensitive to added tryptophan, i.e.Arg12-TnaC-peptidyl-tRNA was cleaved, and there was normal Rho-dependent transcription termination. When the S-30 extract used was depleted of release factor 2, Arg12-TnaC-tRNAPro was accumulated in the absence or presence of added tryptophan. Under these conditions the accumulation of Arg12-TnaC-tRNAPro prevented Rho-dependent transcription termination, mimicking normal induction. Using a minimal in vitro transcription system consisting of a tna template, RNA polymerase, and Rho, it was shown that RNA sequences immediately adjacent to thetnaC stop codon, the presumed boxA andrut sites, contributed most significantly to Rho-dependent termination. The tna boxA-like sequence appeared to serve as a segment of the Rho "entry" site, despite its likeness to the boxA element.


We report a rare case of lung cancer associated with the right aortic arch. A 72-year-old male was admitted to our hospital for surgical treatment of squamous cell carcinoma arising from left B3. The patient had a right aortic arch with the type of mirror-image branching. He underwent a left upper lobectomy and lymph node dissection. We easily resected the lymph nodes in the left side of the upper mediastinum without rotating aortic arch because the aortic arch was positioned on the other side.


We find ourselves in the midst of a good show season, despite a difficult year in respect of climate and markets. Although this year saw fewer entries than expected, with fewer national championships and international shows than last year, the quality was outstanding and numerous breeders were in attendance.


Abstract A non-dissipative model for vortex motion in thin superconductors is considered. The Lagrangian is a Galilean invariant version of the Ginzburg–Landau model for time-dependent fields, with kinetic terms linear in the first time derivatives of the fields. It is shown how, for certain values of the coupling constants, the field dynamics can be reduced to first order differential equations for the vortex positions. Two vortices circle around one another at constant speed and separation in this model.


A149 Background:
 Belinostat (B) is a low molecular weight, synthetic hydroxamic acid derivative that inhibits class I and II histone deacetylases. Bortezomib (Bz) is a potent, selective inhibitor of the 26S proteasome. In preclinical studies, synergistic antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic effects were observed with the combination, providing the rationale for this study.
 Methods:
 This phase 1 study is designed to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and to evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetic (PK) behavior of the combination of B and Bz. Each 21-day treatment cycle consists of B (600-1000 mg/m 2 ) IV daily over 30 minutes on days 1-5 and Bz (0.7-1.5 mg/m 2 ) IVP over 2-5 seconds on days 1, 4, 8, and 11 (days 2, 5, 8, and 11 cycle 1 only).
 Results: To date, 15 patients have been enrolled (median age 54 [range 27-72]; median PS 1 [range 0-1]). Twelve patients are evaluable for toxicity and have received a total of 27 treatment courses (crs) (median 2 [range 1-4]). Two patients at dose level 3 (B: 600 mg/m 2 / Bz: 1.3 mg/m 2 ) experienced a dose limiting toxicity (DLT), grade (gr) 3 dehydration and gr 4 thrombocytopenia, both of which required a dose reduction. The exact relationship of the gr 3 dehydration and study combination is unclear as the patient had uncontrolled constipation and decreased oral intake as a result of a change in pain medications on cr 1 day 1. One patient at this dose level had an asymptomatic gr 2 cardiac conduction abnormality that resolved. Most adverse events (AEs) have been mild to moderate. Gr 1-2 AEs include anorexia (3 crs), acute infusion reaction (5 crs), fatigue (6 crs), nausea (16 crs), neutropenia (1cr), pain (6 crs), phlebitis (3 crs), thrombocyctopenia (1 cr), and vomiting (11 crs). Gr 3 AEs (occurring after course 1) include anorexia (3 crs), dehydration, fatigue, nausea, vomiting (2 crs each), elevation of alkaline phosphatase (1 cr) and hypoalbuminemia (1 cr). One patient with Ewing's Sarcoma maintained stable disease for 4 crs whereas two patients with peritoneal and appendiceal carcinoma maintained stable disease for 3 crs of therapy, respectively. Analysis of B PK demonstrates no statistical differences in the parameters between days 1 (B only) and 2 (B + Bz) for AUC, C max , clearance, and half-life.
 Conclusions:
 B in combination with Bz has been generally well tolerated. Toxicities primarily have been gr 1-2 in nature, with two DLTs, dehydration and thrombocytopenia, at dose level 3. PK data suggests no impact of Bz on the PK parameters of B. Due to the undefined association of the gr 3 dehydration and study combination, enrollment into dose level 3 has been expanded and is ongoing. Assessment of biological markers will be performed in an expanded cohort at the MTD.


In this work a thorough study of a number of specific supersymmetric sigma-models with extended supersymmetry is performed within the context of generalised complex geometry. More specifically the supersymmetric Wess-Zumino-Witten model on a variety of group manifolds was considered. By explicitly calculating the admissible complex structures and the associated pure spinors on the target manifold a full characterisation of the different possible geometries is provided. By using this approach the various aspects of generalised Kahler geometry can be studied in detail. Also considered are the various isometries present in the model and duality relations linking the different descriptions.


Classification is one of the important fields in data analysis. Generating concept-based (JSM) hypotheses is a well-known approach to this task. Although the accuracy of this approach is quite good, the coverage is often insufficient. In this paper a new classification approach is presented. The approach is based on the similarity of an object to be classified to the current set of hypotheses: it attributes the new object to the class that minimizes the set of new hypotheses when a new object is added to the training set. The proposed approach provides a better coverage in comparison with the classical approach.


Critical dimension (CD) variation caused by defocus is largely systematic with dense lines ldquosmilingrdquo through focus while isolated lines ldquofrown.rdquo In this paper, we propose a new design methodology that allows explicit compensation of focus-dependent CD variation, in particular, either within a cell (self-compensated cells) or across cells in a critical path (self-compensated design). By creating iso and dense variants for each library cell, we can achieve designs that are more robust to focus variation. Optimization with a mixture of dense and iso cell variants is possible, both for area and leakage power in timing constraints (critical delay), with the latter an interesting complement to existing leakage-reduction techniques, such as dual-Vth. We implement both a heuristic and mixed-integer linear-programming (MILP) solution methods to address this optimization and experimentally compare their results. Results indicate that designing with a self-compensated cell library incurs 12% area penalty and 6% leakage increase over a baseline library while compensating for focus-dependent CD variation (i.e., the design meets timing constraints across a large range of focus variation). We observe 27% area penalty and 7% leakage increase at the worst case defocus condition using only single-pitch cells. The area penalty of circuits after using both the heuristic and MILP optimization approaches is reduced to 3% while maintaining timing. We also apply the optimization to leakage, which traditionally shows very large variability due to its exponential relationship with gate CD. We conclude that a mixed iso/dense library that is combined with a sensitivity-based optimization approach yields much better area/timing/leakage tradeoffs than using a self-compensated cell library alone. Self-compensated designs show 25% less leakage power on average at the worst defocus condition compared to a design employing a conventional library for the benchmarks studied.


Most current speech recognition systems are based on Hidden Markov Model (HMM) using Viterbi search in decoding stage. Whereas such algorithm is in terms of dynamic programming, it consists of many computations with increasing number of reference words. This paper presents a novel method called HGSCA computing likelihood measurement between an unknown input pattern and a reference model based on a synergy between HMM and Genetic Algorithm (GA) in a parallel form by Stochastic Cellular Automata (SCA). The HGSCA algorithm is compared with the Viterbi algorithm from the "recognition time" and "recognition error" view points. Experimental results show although HGSCA and Viterbi algorithms are very close in recognition accuracy, the HGSCA is so faster than the Viterbi algorithm.


The effects of diagnostic levels of ultrasound on DNA of HeLa cells included: increased immunoreactivity to antinucleoside antibodies in G1 cells, strongly suggestive of unwinding of the helix or single-strand break induction, and low levels of non-semiconservative synthesis in logarithmically growing cells treated with hydroxyurea, indicating repair synthesis. In the C3H mouse cell line 10T-1/2, Cl 8, loss of contact inhibition with a criss-crossed growth pattern was seen. In one experiment, tumors developed in syngeneic mice at the site of injection of ultrasonically treated cells. Ultrasound in the diagnostic range appears to cause detectable effects on DNA and growth patterns of animal cells.


Neural decoders for quantum error correction (QEC) rely on neural networks to classify syndromes extracted from error correction codes and find appropriate recovery operators to protect logical information against errors. Despite the good performance of neural decoders, important practical requirements remain to be achieved, such as minimizing the decoding time to meet typical rates of syndrome generation in repeated error correction schemes, and ensuring the scalability of the decoding approach as the code distance increases. Designing a dedicated integrated circuit to perform the decoding task in co-integration with a quantum processor appears necessary to reach these decoding time and scalability requirements, as routing signals in and out of a cryogenic environment to be processed externally leads to unnecessary delays and an eventual wiring bottleneck. In this work, we report the design and performance analysis of a neural decoder inference accelerator based on an in-memory computing (IMC) architecture, where crossbar arrays of resistive memory devices are employed to both store the synaptic weights of the decoder neural network and perform analog matrix-vector multiplications during inference. In proof-of-concept numerical experiments supported by experimental measurements, we investigate the impact of TiO$_\textrm{x}$-based memristive devices' non-idealities on decoding accuracy. Hardware-aware training methods are developed to mitigate the loss in accuracy, allowing the memristive neural decoders to achieve a pseudo-threshold of $9.23\times 10^{-4}$ for the distance-three surface code, whereas the equivalent digital neural decoder achieves a pseudo-threshold of $1.01\times 10^{-3}$. This work provides a pathway to scalable, fast, and low-power cryogenic IMC hardware for integrated QEC.


In this note we consider the longest word, which has periods p1, . . . , pn, and does not have the period gcd(p1, . . . , pn). The length of such a word can be established by a simple algorithm. We give a short and natural way to prove that the algorithm is correct. We also give a new proof that the maximal word is a palindrome. Mathematics Subject Classification. 68R15.


John Rock is a distinguished gynecologist and a devout Roman Catholic. His scientific interests, which include the development of a widely discussed contraceptive pill, have centered in the field of human reproduction. His conscience, if we interpret the preface correctly, leads him to believe that the time has come for a Catholic physician to explore the religious, ethical, and medical problems involved in controlling the rapid increase in the world's population. He accomplishes his purpose with much dignity and not a little wit. His relaxed, yet remarkably clear style, his shrewd utilization of semantics to develop his arguments, and the incisive way he makes his points suggest the maneuvers of a skilled chess player. The book is not written primarily for physicians, but is, rather, a popular work and anyone, regardless of his faith or occupation, who is concerned about the rapid increase in population growth or who is interested


This study examines effects of individual development accounts (IDAs) on household wealth of low-income participants. Methods: This study uses longitudinal survey data from the American Dream Demonstration (ADD) involving experimental design (treatment group = 537, control group = 566). Results: Results from quantile regression analysis indicate that IDA participants had more household financial assets, controlling for household saving taste and other demographic variables. Program participants did not reshuffle existing assets into IDAs and IDA savings was new household wealth. Low-wealth participants benefited more from the program than those with relatively more wealth. In addition, program participation changed participants' saving behaviors and improved household saving taste. Conclusions: IDAs facilitate asset accumulation among low-income households. Implications for social work practice are discussed.


Associations between multiple discrete measures are often due to collapsing over other variables. When the variables collapsed over are unobserved and continuous, log-multiplicative association models, including log-linear models with linear-by-linear interactions for ordinal categorical data and extensions of Goodman's (1979, 1985) RC(M) association model for multiple nominal and/or ordinal categorical variables, can be used to study the relationship between the observed discrete variables and the unobserved continuous ones, and to study the unobserved variables. The derivation and use of log-multiplicative association models as latent variable models for discrete variables are presented in this paper. The models are based on graphical models for discrete and continuous variables where the variables follow a conditional Gaussian distribution. The models have many desirable properties, including having schematic or graphical representations of the system of observed and unobserved variables, the log-multiplicative models can be read from the graphs, and estimates of the means, variances, and covariances of the latent variables given values on the observed variables are a function of the log-multiplicative model parameters. To illustrate some of the advantageous aspects of these models, two examples are presented. In one example, responses to items from the General Social Survey (Davis and Smith 1996) are modeled, and in the other example, panel data from two groups (Coleman 1964) are analyzed.


Information on the toxicity of carbon nanotubes is still fragmentary but indicates that these particles can induce adverse effects. We previously demonstrated in rats that, when purified multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) reach the lung, they are biopersistent and induce lung inflammation as well as fibrosis. The present study was designed to address the genotoxic potential of this material in the same species. In vivo, micronuclei (MN) were assessed in type II pneumocytes 3 days after a single intra-tracheal administration of MWCNT (0.5 or 2 mg). We also used the cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay in rat lung epithelial cells exposed in vitro to MWCNT (10, 25, 50 mug/ml). Finally, we applied a human pancentromeric fluorescent probe (fluorescent in situ hybridization assay) to differentiate clastogenic and/or aneugenic mechanisms in a human epithelial cell line (MCF-7). In vivo, we found a significant and dose-dependent increase in micronucleated pneumocytes after a single administration of MWCNT ( approximately a 2-fold increase at the highest dose). In vitro, we observed a significant increase of MN in epithelial cells after exposure to MWCNT (up to a 2-fold increase at the cytotoxic dose of 50 mug/ml). Finally, we found that MWCNT induced both centromere-positive and -negative MN in MCF-7 cells. Overall, this study provides the first evidence of the potential of MWCNT to induce clastogenic as well as aneugenic events.


By utilizing the iterative solutions based on the level set method, the geometric active contour model (GACM) can be used to detect image boundaries and then solve the question of topology variation in curve evolution effectively, therefore, we adopt the GACM to investigate the boundary detection of digital X-ray skeletal images. According to the characteristics of medical images, we present an improved Chan-Vese method which combines regional information with image gradient information to increase the boundary detection capability. Theoretically speaking, the improved method can guarantee not only the speed and robustness of image division but also the accuracy of target extraction from the medical image background with abundant boundary layers. In practice, this method is proved to detect the boundaries of the epiphysis /metaphyseal regions of interest (EMROI) in X-ray skeletal images effectively and clearly.


Invasion by colorectal carcinomas is characterized by an epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-like dedifferentiation of the tumor cells. However, a redifferentiation towards an epithelial phenotype, resembling a mesenchymal-epithelial transition, is detectable in metastases. This indicates that malignant progression is based on dynamic processes, which cannot be explained solely by irreversible genetic alterations, but must be additionally regulated by the tumor environment. The main oncoprotein in colorectal cancer is the Wnt pathway effector β-catenin, which is overexpressed due to mutations in the APC tumor suppressor in most cases. EMT of the tumor cells is associated with a nuclear accumulation of the transcriptional activator β-catenin, which is reversed in metastases. Nuclear β-catenin is involved in two fundamental processes in embryonic development: EMT and stem cell formation. Accumulating data demonstrate that aberrant nuclear expression of β-catenin can also confer these two abilities to tumor cells, thereby driving malignant tumor progression.


Within the interacting Fermi gas model for isospin asymmetric nuclear matter, effects of the in-medium three-body interaction and the two-body short-range tensor force due to the ρ meson exchange as well as the short-range nucleon correlation on the high-density behavior of the nuclear symmetry energy are demonstrated respectively in a transparent way. Possible physics origins of the extremely uncertain nuclear symmetry energy at supra-saturation densities are discussed.


Noninvasive measurement of oxygen saturation of fetal blood is a valuable supplement to conventional intrapartum cardiotocography in the area of fetal distress diagnostics. This work focuses on the technical problems that were overcome in incorporation of the new pulse oximetry feature into computerized fetal monitoring system. The prototype system is based on battery-powered notebook computer and its software was developed in LabView graphic applications environment. It made possible the investigation of the pulse oximeter ability to cooperate with various types of fetal monitors and the implementation of validation procedure for measurements.


This paper presents detailed experimental data on the flow and turbulence within the wake and boundary layer of a rotor blade operating behind a row of Inlet Guide Vanes (IGVs). The experiments are performed in a refractive index matched facility that provides an unobstructed view of the entire flow field. Results of the high-resolution 2D Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements are used for characterizing the mean flow, Reynolds stresses, turbulent kinetic energy as well as dissipation and production rates. Dissipation and production rates are high and of the same order of magnitude near the trailing edge, and decrease rapidly with increasing distance from the blade. The trend is reversed in the wake kinking region, resulting in elevated turbulence levels, i.e. a turbulent hot spot. One-dimensional spectral analysis shows that, except for the very near wake and hot-spot regions, the turbulence within the rotor wake can be assumed to be isotropic. Also the directions of the maximum shear strain and shear stress are aligned in that region, i.e. consistent with eddy viscosity type Reynolds stress models. The rotor near wake mainly consists of two parallel layers experiencing planar shear with opposite signs as one would expect to find in a 2D wake. However, orientation differences can extend up to 45° near the trailing edge and the hot-spot. Furthermore, there is substantial mismatch in the location of the local maxima of stresses and strains. The values of S 33 are also large there, indicating that the flow is three-dimensional. Rotor boundary layer measurements focus on a region where the IGV wake intersects with the rotor blade. The impingement of the increased axial velocity region in between the IGV wakes causes the thinning of the boundary layer. This is similar to the effect of a turbulent jet impinging on a flat surface. When viewed in the frame of reference of "non-wake" flow regions, the boundary layer thinning can also be attributed to the suction (or "negative jet") effect of the "slip velocity" present in the IGV wake segments. Spectral analysis shows that the turbulence in the rotor boundary layer is highly anisotropic. As a result, the spectra cannot be used for estimating the dissipation rate.Copyright © 2003 by ASME


An online fault detection and estimation method is proposed for linear time-varying systems by using the fault residual, which is obtained from the measured state and output of the system. The filter designed is not only used to monitor the system behaviour, but also can track the fault and predict changing trend of the fault. The stability of the filter is analyzed. Finally, a simulation example is given to show the validity and the applicability of the proposed approach.


2153 Abstract Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy in developed countries and is the second leading cause of cancer mortality among American males. Although metastatic prostate cancer can be treated initially by endocrine therapy, it inevitably progresses to a hormone-refractory state. It has been frequently observed that disease progression in prostate cancer is linked with development of apoptosis resistance, higher growth rate and invasive and metastatic properties of the cell. It is therefore critical to elucidate the cancer cell survival mechanisms to allow development of informative biomarkers and effective therapies for this condition. Telomerase activity is a critical factor in the maintenance of chromosomal stability and for cellular immortality. The holoenzyme consists of a catalytic protein subunit reverse transcriptase, TERT, the telomerase RNA template subunit, TERC, and other associated proteins. Telomerase stabilizes the ends of the linear chromosomes by adding d(TTAGGG)n repeats via a mechanism of reverse-transcription. Its activity is typically low and is transiently expressed only in S phase in most normal somatic human cells but is over expressed in most human cancers. One of the major limitations of telomerase directed therapies is the lengthy time lag observed between the start of the treatment and before significant effects appear. Telomerase likely has roles beyond telomere maintenance including potential roles in tumor migration and invasion and protection from apoptosis, which could be explored to target telomerase for rapid induction of growth arrest. These effects are thought to be affected by the regulated levels of TERT in the cells and can be telomere-length dependent or independent. However, the exact role of TERT in the biological behavior of the cells remains uncertain. We observed that retroviral expression of TERT in hormone-sensitive LNCaP cells increased hTERT mRNA levels by 10-fold as compared to empty-vector infected cells. These TERT overexpressing cells demonstrated an increase in anchorage-independent growth in soft agar, suggesting that hTERT could modulate the tumorigenic potential of these cells. . However, TERT overexpression did not appear to modulate prostate cancer cell proliferative response to a chemotherapeutic agent, doxorubicin as well as lower concentrations of hydrogen peroxide. Effect on response to higher concentrations of these agents as well as effect of TERT expression on proliferative and survival response to DNA damaging agents and other stress responses, are still under investigation. Further, whether the effects of TERT are telomere length dependent or independent will also be determined. Elucidating the role of hTERT in the biological consequences of the cells could provide insight on studying its regulatory pathways that may be useful in designing anti-telomerase agents that could induce rapid growth arrest in cancer cells.


Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) using standard cartridges is widely regarded as the method of choice to extract analytes from samples with complex matrices or to extract and concentrate analytes from a wide variety of samples in general. In this paper, an automated SPE system is presented that is based on standard cartridges. It is shown that SPE with standard cartridges is easily and effi ciently automated for use in LC/MS-based determination of illegal antibiotics in food products of animal origin. An established manual SPE method was easily transferred to the GERSTEL MultiPurpose Sampler (MPS) using the SPE option under MAESTRO software control. Recovery and precision was improved while signifi cantly reducing the time and effort required for sample preparation. INTRODUCTION According to the Federal Statistical Offi ce the European Union imported about 6 billion tons of food products of animal origin in 2004. Most of it was meat and meat products as well as fi sh and fi sh products. Food that is imported into the European Union (EU) has to meet EU standards of quality. Compliance with EU regulations is routinely monitored. In


Yoni Srava is an annoying symptom that usually reflects infective conditions of genital tract in females. One of the Yonivyapada having Yonisrava as its prominent symptom is Kaphaja Yonivyapada which can be co-related to Trichomoniasis or Candidiasis infections. In Kaphaja Yonivyapada, symptoms of itching along with sticky and unctuous discharges per vaginum have been illustrated. The patient may experience either mild and dull pain or no pain at all. In severe Trichomonas infection, there is mild to moderate pain at the genital organs due to inflammatory changes, though in most cases, it may be painless. Considering all the symptoms, mentioned by Acharya Charaka and others, the Kaphaja Yonivyapada can be closely compared with Trichomonas Vaginitis. A 46 years old female patient was presented with the complaints of itching in vulvar region and white discharge per vaginum since 3 months. On clinical evaluation, ulceration was present on bilateral labia minora along with strawberry spots on vaginal walls, yellowish-white discharge and cervical congestion. Aim and Objective: To study the efficacy of Sthanik Chikitsa along with oral Ayurvedic formulations in Kaphaja Yonivyapada (Trichomoniasis). Nimbadi Kshaya Yoni Dhavan followed by Mahanimba Taila Pichu twice a day for seven days along with oral herbal formulation is prescribed to the patient. Results: After completion of the treatment protocol patient got relief in her symptoms like itching in vulvar region and white discharge per vaginum. Conclusion: In Kaphaja Yonivyapada, especially Trichomonas Vaginitis Ayurvedic management by the use of Mahanimba (Melia azedarach) containing formulations for Sthanik Chikitsa are quite effective as Mahanimba is having Krimighna and Kandughna properties.


Model management emerged in the mid-seventies in the context of managing models in decision support systems (DSS). With the recent advances in computer and telecommunication technologies, organizations are ever increasingly dependent on management models for data analysis and decision support. Accordingly, the number and complexity of management models and of modeling platforms dramatically increased rendering such models a corporate (and national) resource. With the advent of the Web and distributed computing environments, there is also an increasing demand to share these often heterogeneous models over corporate intranets as well as the Web. To this end, this paper presents an XML-based architecture for sharing heterogeneous models in Web and distributed computing environments. The architecture includes an XML schema for representing models. The schema is based on the structured modeling paradigm as a formal mathematical environment for conceiving, representing and manipulating a wide variety of models. The architecture allows different types of models, developed in a variety of modeling platform to be represented in a standardized format and shared over the Web. The paper demonstrates the proposed architecture through a case study.


NATURAL HISTORY OF ISOLATED ANTENATAL HYDRONEPHROSIS A Cheng, V Phan, DF Geary, ND Rosenblum BACKGROUND: Isolated antenatal hydronephrosis (ANH), defined as dilatation of the renal pelvis in the absence of vesicoureteral reflux, obstruction and other renal malformations, is the most commonly recognized neonatal renal disorder. The natural history of isolated ANH is undefined. Yet, affected infants frequently undergo repeated investigation and prophylaxis for urinary tract infection. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to define the natural history of isolated ANH. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of prospectively gathered data from patients with isolated ANH seen in the Newborn Renal Clinic at The Hospital for Sick Children between January 1997 and April 2000. All patients had an ultrasound and voiding cystourethrogram as neonates. DTPA scans were performed as clinically indicated. Hydronephrosis (pelvic diameter) was graded by the APD classification scheme: normal (0-4mm); mild (5-9mm); moderate (1015mm) and severe (>15mm). The temporal change in the grade of hydronephrosis was defined by the status of the more severely affected kidney. RESULTS: Sixty-three patients with isolated ANH were evaluated. First postnatal ultrasound at a mean age of 18.4 days (SD=17.8 d) revealed resolution of ANH in 22% (14/63), mild hydronephrosis in 56% (35/63), and moderate or severe hydronephrosis in 22% (14/63). Hydronephrosis was worse in the left kidney compared to the right kidney (degree of hydronephrosis, left kidney vs right kidney: normal 37% vs. 60%; mild 46% vs. 30%; moderate 11% vs. 10%; severe 6% vs. 0%; p=0.002). Reassessment of the degree of hydronephrosis at a mean age of 14.5 months (SD=9.5 months) in 57/63 patients demonstrated overall improvement compared to the initial ultrasound (p=0.002). Pelvic diameter was stable in 47% (27/57), improved in 39% (22/57), and worsened in 14% (8/57). Of the 14% with increased hydronephrosis, 2 were initially normal and worsened to mild and 6 were initially mild and worsened to moderate. Interestingly, the proportion of left kidneys that deteriorated was not statistically different than the proportion of right kidneys (p=0.557). Renal growth, assessed by serial ultrasonography, was observed in 98.2% (56/57) of patients. Differential renal function assessed by DTPA scan was normal in 86.2% (25/29) of patients. Of the 4 patients with abnormal function, a clinically important difference from normal was observed in only one patient. CONCLUSION: We conclude that isolated ANH resolves in a significant proportion of patients by the neonatal period. In the remaining patients, ANH stabilizes or improves postnatally in the majority. Our results provide further insight into the natural history of this disorder.


Selivanovaite, ideally NaFe3+Ti4(Si2O7)2O4(H2O)4, is a murmanite-group (seidozerite supergroup) TS-block mineral from the Lovozero massif, Kola Peninsula, Russia. The crystal structure of selivanovaite was refined in space group C, a 10.524(6), b 13.815(6), c 12.213(14) Å, α 99.74(6), β 107.45(8), γ 90.15(10)°, V 1666.8(26) Å3, R1 = 21.40%. The previously given chemical analysis has been modified to better fit the crystal structure: Nb2O5 8.51, ZrO2 2.94, TiO2 31.96, SiO2 30.62, Al2O3 0.05, Fe2O3 5.08, FeO 3.23, MnO 3.36, CaO 2.14, MgO 0.75, Na2O 2.47, H2O 8.88, sum 99.99 wt.%; H2O was determined from structure-refinement results: H2O = 3.34 pfu, OH = 1.05 pfu. The empirical formula calculated on 22 O apfu is: (Na0.63Ca0.30Mn0.36)Σ1.29(Fe3+0.50Fe2+0.35)Σ0.85(Ti3.14Nb0.50Zr0.19Mg0.15Mn0.01Al0.01)Σ4.00Si3.99O22.00H7.73, Z = 4. The crystal structure of selivanovaite [basic structure type B1(MG)] is an array of TS blocks (Titanium Silicate) connected via hydrogen bonds. The TS block consists of HOH sheets (H = heteropolyhedral, O = octahedral) parallel to (001). In the O sheet, the Ti-dominant MO(1,2) sites, Na-dominant MO(3) site, and □-dominant MO(4) sites give ideally Na□Ti2pfu. In the H sheet, the Ti-dominant MH(1,2) sites, Fe3+-dominant AP(1) site, and vacant AP(2) sites give ideally Fe3+□Ti2pfu. The MH and AP(1) polyhedra and Si2O7 groups constitute the H sheet. The ideal structural formula of selivanovaite of the form AP2MH2MO4(Si2O7)2(XOM,A)4(XPM,A)4 is Fe3+□Ti2Na□Ti2(Si2O7)2O4(H2O)4. Selivanovaite is a Fe3+-bearing and OH-poor analogue of vigrishinite, ideally Zn□Ti2Na□Ti2(Si2O7)2O2O(OH)(H2O)4. Vigrishinite and selivanovaite are related by the following substitution: O(OH)–vig + H(Zn2+)vig ↔ O(O2–)sel + H(Fe3+)sel. Selivanovaite is a Fe3+-bearing and Na-poor analogue of murmanite, ideally Na2Ti2Na2Ti2(Si2O7)2O4(H2O)4. Murmanite and selivanovaite are related by the following substitution: O(Na+)mur + H(Na+2)mur ↔ O(□)sel + H(Fe3+)sel + H(□)sel. The doubling of the t1 and t2 translations of selivanovaite compared to those of murmanite is due to the ordering of Fe3+ and □ in the H sheet and Na and □ in the O sheet of selivanovaite.


The author observed and analyzed the changes in laws and phenomena in social life revolving around the state—religion relations through historical periods of Vietnam. On that basis, comments and issues that need attention for building this relationship in the future were marked. Methods of analysis, synthesis, and comparison were used to conduct this study. In this paper, the author consulted the kinds of literature of Vietnamese scholars related to the research issue. The result shows that the state—religious relationship in Vietnam should be built on secular principles, in the direction of supporting religious diversity and needs to maintain harmony founded on Vietnamese culture and society.


Low temperature co-fired ceramic technology (LTCC) has become a viable technology for many millimetre wave applications. In this paper, the dielectric properties of a typical LTCC tape are presented, including relative permittivity, dielectric loss factor and loss tangent. LTCC interconnection losses including dielectric loss, conductor loss and surface roughness loss are also discussed in detail. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to examine the surfaces of the thick-film gold conductors and the significance of surface roughness is discussed with respect to skin depth at these high frequencies. The results of a simple, but novel, experiment illustrating the effect of controlling the surface roughness at millimetre wave frequencies are also presented


Lantibiotics are ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide antibiotics. The modifications involve dehydration of Ser and Thr residues to generate dehydroalanines and dehydrobutyrines, followed by intramolecular attack of cysteines onto the newly formed dehydro amino acids to produce cyclic thioethers. LctM performs both processes during the biosynthesis of lacticin 481. Mutation of the zinc ligands Cys781 and Cys836 to alanine did not affect the dehydration activity of LctM. However, these mutations compromised cyclization activity when investigated with full length or truncated peptide substrates. Mutation of His725, another residue that is fully conserved in lantibiotic cyclases, to Asn resulted in a protein that still catalyzed dehydration of the substrate peptide and also retained cyclization activity, but at a decreased level compared to that of the wild type enzyme. Collectively, these results show that the C-terminal domain of LctM is responsible for cyclization, that the zinc ligands are critical for cyclization, and that dehydration takes place independently from the cyclization activity. Furthermore, these mutant proteins are excellent dehydratases and provide useful tools to investigate the dehydration activity as well as generate dehydrated peptides for study of the cyclization reaction by wild type LctM.


With this opening editorial, the Association of Pathology Chairs (APC) is launching a new journal called Academic Pathology. The APC is a nonprofit society that serves as the voice of academic departments of pathology in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The APC exists to provide leadership and advocacy for the dynamic discipline of pathology and to enable academic departments to meet the demands of their 3 missions—medical education, research, and practice. The decision to launch a new journal was borne out of the desire to give voice to the innovations in leadership and management of academic departments of pathology (in their entirety, including anatomic pathology, laboratory medicine, experimental pathology, etc). Although the field of medicine has been evolving continuously since its modern origins in the 19th century, the pace of change has accelerated in an extraordinary fashion. The modern structure of academic departments of pathology was established in the mid-20th century, coinciding with the growth of robust extramural funding for basic and clinical research and the convergence of anatomic pathology and laboratory medicine as specialty areas in academic pathology. Although the criteria for success of academic departments of pathology maintain continuity with those of the 20th century, the 21-century models for health care delivery—and funding—require an almost completely new approach to establishing the sustaining value of academic pathology. In turn, academic departments of pathology have unprecedented opportunity to provide leadership in the transformation of our specialty in the 21st century. We seek these voices of leadership and change. There is a strong call for leadership development and performance in medicine. To date, the discipline of academic pathology has been underrepresented in this discussion, although the need for such leadership is recognized. Articles relevant to the performance of the 3 missions of academic pathology are published both in pathology journals (eg, Refs. 9-16) and elsewhere. Until now, however, a journal has not existed that specifically solicits articles addressing the operational and leadership challenges faced by academic departments of pathology. In creating this journal, we seek to cultivate scholarship in this arena and help disseminate innovation and best practices. This is an open-access journal, and the intended audience for this journal reaches beyond academic pathology. It is precisely the innovative practices developed and assessed in academic departments of pathology that can help improve the performance of pathology and laboratory medicine throughout the industry. Moreover, pathology practice, education, and research have impact on the delivery of health care writ large. Hence, we hope that articles published in this journal will reach a national and international audience both within the field of pathology and beyond. In the latter case, health care providers, educators, researchers, and policy makers alike may benefit from articles published in Academic Pathology. We also consider that this journal should both welcome an international authorship and give consideration to articles of value to the worldwide practice of academic pathology. This journal will publish original articles, reviews, case studies, and commentaries that address the core missions of academic departments of pathology. Contributions should reflect the best practices of pathology as a dynamic 21stcentury discipline. All articles will be rigorously peer reviewed for relevance and quality. Priority will be given to articles that address any of the following:


The need for a reliable noninvasive method to detect deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is apparent from its prevalence, the fallibility of its clinical diagnosis, and the several drawbacks of phlebography. Experience with phleborheography (a plethysmographic technique for detecting DVT) over three years is presented. Phleborheography (PRG) is found to have an overall accuracy of 93% compared to phlebography. It is recommended that treatment decisions can be based on unequivocal PRG results, and PRG should be used to screen high risk patients. The medical, economic, and social benefits of PRG are described.


Bioreactors are commonly used in industry, owing to their low energy requirement. These reactors are often operated at reduced flow rates in order to maintain a high retention time, and reduce shear stress on the biomass. An important factor is the mixing between biomass and substrate, and thus the maintenance of turbulence is important. Hence, the aim of this work is the application of the CFD technique to obtain a better understanding of the turbulent behaviour in an anaerobic sequencing batch reactor, with a nominal Reynolds number of about 1,700. This study considered a single-phase approach to evaluate several turbulence models. The obtained results indicate that the flow has little influence on the regions in the transition regime for the conditions evaluated, in spite of the low Reynolds number. Moreover, comparing the use of different models, it was found that the Reynolds stress model does not require longer time for its calculations.


This paper addresses stabilization problem with decay rate analysis for discrete-time linear systems subject to actuator saturation. The saturation-dependent Lyapunov function is exploited to propose new stability conditions by introducing additional slack variables. Especially, elimination Lemma is used to show the stable property of one slack variable. If the stable slack variable is specified a priori by a systematic and simple approach, via a cone complementarity approach , a state feedback controller is then designed by using LMI-based optimization algorithm which guarantees an upper bound on the decay rate of the system. The simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.


Glioblastomas (GBM) account for poor prognosis and dismal survival rates in patients due to their highly aggressive infiltrative nature to rapidly migrate within the brain. Experimental treatments for GBMs using animal models often elicit severe side effects and there are major doubts regarding the usefulness of such in vivo models when undergoing animal to human clinical translation. Here, we describe the development of a series of 3D bioengineered GBM models towards the generation of a more physiologically representative system in which candidate drugs can be tested. Glioma cell lines U87 and U251 derived from human GBM were used along with associated knockdowns of previously described anti-migratory and pro-migratory genes or anti-migratory inhibitors to examine their roles in the actin polymerization pathway in cancer cell migration. GBM models were fabricated by implantation of spheroids within hydrogel microenvironments that were fashioned to exhibit migratory collagen tracts within a non-cell adhesive outer shell. The distribution of collagen was organised to have low, intermediate, and high-density regions within the construct, replicating the complexity of native GBM. 3D models were then cultured under control conditions (media only) or treated with anti-migratory drugs (CCG-1423, rhosin or combination). Using light-sheet and confocal microscopy, migration velocity, cell phenotype and migratory behaviours were analysed in live and fixed tumour mimics. In models where migration is promoted, actin was vastly upregulated and cells assumed a migratory mesenchymal phenotype, whereas under anti-migratory drug treatment, cells were amoeboid in shape with a dramatic reduction in actin expression and consequently limited migration velocity. Here, we have demonstrated that it is possible to develop biologically-relevant GBM models that capture the anisotropic nature of the tumour microenvironment using multi-layer biopolymer engineering. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop technology that can help provide personalised treatments for GBM and subsequently improve patient outcomes.


As synthetic biology advances the intricacy of engineered biological systems, the importance of spatial organization within the cellular environment must not be marginalized. Increasingly, biological engineers are investigating means to control spatial organization within the cell, mimicking strategies used by natural pathways to increase flux and reduce cross-talk. A modular platform for constructing a diverse set of defined, programmable architectures would greatly assist in improving yields from introduced metabolic pathways and increasing insulation of other heterologous systems. Here, we review recent research on the shell proteins of bacterial microcompartments and discuss their potential application as "building blocks" for a range of customized intracellular scaffolds. We summarize the state of knowledge on the self-assembly of BMC shell proteins and discuss future avenues of research that will be important to realize the potential of BMC shell proteins as predictively assembling and programmable biological materials for bioengineering.


Date Presented 04/05/19
 This poster will present a study that gathered sensory profile data for 408 children who experienced early adversity. Results characterize sensory processing behaviors of this population, offering participants insights about sensory characteristics and type of maltreatment, as well as length of exposure to maltreatment. Findings can help guide OT assessment and intervention for children who experience early adversity.
 Primary Author and Speaker: Amy Lynch
 Contributing Authors: David Cross, Casey Call, Amanda Howard


The combination of magnetic hyperthermia with chemotherapy is considered a promising strategy in cancer therapy due to the synergy between the high temperatures and the chemotherapeutic effects, which can be further developed for targeted and remote-controlled drug release. In this paper we report a simple, rapid, and reproducible method for the preparation of thermosensitive magnetoliposomes (TsMLs) loaded with doxorubicin (DOX), consisting of a lipidic gel formation from a previously obtained water-in-oil microemulsion with fine aqueous droplets containing magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) dispersed in an organic solution of thermosensitive lipids (transition temperature of ~43 °C), followed by the gel hydration with an aqueous solution of DOX. The obtained thermosensitive magnetoliposomes (TsMLs) were around 300 nm in diameter and exhibited 40% DOX incorporation efficiency. The most suitable MNPs to incorporate into the liposomal aqueous lumen were Zn ferrites, with a very low coercive field at 300 K (7 kA/m) close to the superparamagnetic regime, exhibiting a maximum absorption rate (SAR) of 1130 W/gFe when dispersed in water and 635 W/gFe when confined inside TsMLs. No toxicity of Zn ferrite MNPs or of TsMLs was noticed against the A459 cancer cell line after 48 h incubation over the tested concentration range. The passive release of DOX from the TsMLs after 48h incubation induced a toxicity starting with a dosage level of 62.5 ug/cm2. Below this threshold, the subsequent exposure to an alternating magnetic field (20–30 kA/m, 355 kHz) for 30 min drastically reduced the viability of the A459 cells due to the release of incorporated DOX. Our results strongly suggest that TsMLs represent a viable strategy for anticancer therapies using the magnetic field-controlled release of DOX.


This text studies the applications of psychotherapeutic principles and techniques beyond consulting and into the larger world of political and social reality. The volume focuses on incarcerated political and social reality. The volume focuses on incarcerated political prisoners in Pinochet's Chile- people who have been kidnapped off the streets, stolen from their families and communities, denied due process of law, and tortured and abused. Yet, they exhibit hope and courage to extraordinary degrees. Beyond the ordeals of the prisoners, there is the plight of the families left behind who must deal with poverty, oppression and fear for missing loved ones. They too exhibit hope and courage beyond the ordinary. It is the author's stated purpose to understand and reveal to the reader the psycho- and social dynamics that allow families to be the front line of resistance against state sponsored torture and oppression. The volume is thus an unusual and valuable contribution to the study of family systems under extreme duress. Moreover, the volume demonstrates not only the far-reaching possibilities that exist when psychotherapeutic techniques and knowledge are used to further the goals of a political state.


This book explores the historical insights of Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), Russia's most celebrated poet and arguably its greatest thinker. Svetlana Evdokimova examines for the first time the full range of Pushkin's fictional and nonfictional writings on the subject of history-writings that have strongly influenced Russians' views of themselves and their past. Through new readings of his drama, Boris Godunov, such narrative poems as Poltava, The Bronze Horseman, and Count Nulin; prose fiction, including The Captain's Daughter and Blackamoor of Peter and the Great; lyrical poems; and a variety of nonfictional texts, the author presents Pushkin not only as a progenitor of Russian national mythology but also as an original historical and political thinker. Evdokimova considers Pushkin within the context of Romantic historiography and addresses the tension between Pushkin the historian and Pushkin the fiction writer. She also discusses Pushkin's ideas on the complex relations between chance and necessity in historical processes, on the particular significance of great individuals in Russian history, and on the historical truth.


Background: The impaired adipogenic potential is a hallmark of preadipocyte senescence. Results: Senescent preadipocytes treated with advanced glycation end products (AGEs) resumed adipogenesis in vitro and ex vivo. Conclusion: AGE-induced expression of the receptor for AGEs (RAGE) and AGE-RAGE-dependent inhibition of p53 function restore adipogenesis in senescent preadipocytes. Significance: Glycated proteins could participate in aging-impaired adipose development. The impaired adipogenic potential of senescent preadipocytes is a hallmark of adipose aging and aging-related adipose dysfunction. Although advanced glycation end products (AGEs) derived from both foods and endogenous nonenzymatic glycation and AGE-associated signaling pathways are known to play a key role in aging and its related diseases, the role of AGEs in adipose aging remains elusive. We show a novel pro-adipogenic function of AGEs in replicative senescent preadipocytes and mouse embryonic fibroblasts, as well as primary preadipocytes isolated from aged mice. Using glycated bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model protein of AGEs, we found that glycated BSA restores the impaired adipogenic potential of senescent preadipocytes in vitro and ex vivo. However, glycated BSA showed no effect on adipogenesis in nonsenescent preadipocytes. The AGE-induced receptor for AGE (RAGE) expression is required for the pro-adipogenic function of AGEs in senescent preadipocytes. RAGE is required for impairment of p53 expression and p53 function in regulating p21 expression in senescent preadipocytes. We also observed a direct binding between RAGE and p53 in senescent preadipocytes. Taken together, our findings reveal a novel pro-adipogenic function of the AGE-RAGE axis in p53-regulated adipogenesis of senescent preadipocytes, providing new insights into aging-dependent adiposity by diet-driven and/or endogenous glycated proteins.


A study was conducted to determine the occurrence and colour preferences of oviposition by mosquitoes in man-made containers under field conditions. A total of nine (9) different colour 2 litre plastic containers were used as artificial mosquito oviposition containers. They were filled with equal amounts of water and placed in the biological garden of the Department of Biological Sciences, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto. The containers were observed for seven (7) days for mosquito larvae. A total of 319 larvae belonging to four genera, Aedes, Anopheles, Culex and Mansonia were co-habiting/ colonizing the garden. The highest occurring genus was Culex with 108 (33.9%) larvae, followed by Aedes with 92 (28.8%), Mansonia 79 (24.8%) and Anopheles with 40 (12.5%) larvae. The colour preference of mosquitoes was in this order: red 25.4 % (81), brown 20.4 % (65), black 16.0% (51), blue 13.2% (42), purple 10.3% (33), pink 7.8% (25), green 6.3% (20), yellow 0.6% (2) and white 0% (0). Although many genera oviposited in more than one colour container, the general distribution of larvae revealed that Aedes and Culex preferred red colour, Mansonia preferred brown container while Anopheles preferred black container. This study shows the importance of colour in determining the breeding sites and thus the occurrence of mosquitoes. The implications of such containers as possible breeding foci of mosquitoes of potential public health significance have been highlighted.


Carbohydrates represent 5–25% of the organic matter in soils. They constrain microbial activities and mineral nutrient production in soil and also reflect the whole microorganism community dynamic. The objective of this study was to determine the contents and composition of hydrolysable carbohydrates in soils collected in a forest–savanna mosaic landscape in the region of Lamto (Cote d'Ivoire). Capillary gas chromatography was used to identify and determine carbohydrates in soil profile under 4 tropical ecosystems: gallery and plateau forests, and grass and shrub tree savannas. Forest soils were higher in organic matter than savanna soils (0.50–2.96% C v. 0.53–1.22% C). The carbohydrate-C content of soils, expressed as percentage of total soil organic C, was low, a likely consequence of the tropical climate that promotes a rapid decomposition of surface plant debris. The carbohydrate-C content was higher under savanna soils (5–7%) than under forest soils (3–4%). Glucose, ribose, mannose, xylose, and galactose were the 5 most abundant extractable monosaccharides in all soils. Between them, only xylose and ribose are controlled by the vegetation type. The [(galactose + mannose) : (arabinose + xylose)] and [mannose : xylose] ratios suggested that most soil sugars derive from microbial biomass. The large abundance of microbial carbohydrates indicates intense microbial activities in the soil, and then rapid decomposition of soil organic matter favoured by the long wet season, with high temperatures and soil water availability at the site study. Results suggest clearly that the climate likely controls the amount and composition of carbohydrates in Lamto soils.


This paper presents a highly efficient polar transmitter using interleaving pulse modulation for multiple communication standards. Using the proposed interleaving pulse modulation technique, a polar transmitter can suppress the odd-order output spurs deeply with a feasible value of essential sampling frequency and keep the residual spurs from falling into the receive bands. To validate the proposed technique, a prototype polar transmitter was constructed and evaluated. Using global system for mobile communications, enhanced data rates for GSM evolution, and wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) signals at 836.5 MHz, the polar transmitter achieved 68%, 45.5%, and 41.2% power-added efficiency at output power levels of 28, 26, and 25 dBm, respectively. The measurement results were able to pass the spectral requirements defined by the respective standards without the use of any pre-distortion or calibration techniques. Moreover, the polar transmitter was able to achieve an output dynamic range of 80 dB required by the WCDMA standard.


The Development of Technological Management Model: A Conceptualization of Computer Technology in the Workplace Paul E Madlock The purpose of this dissertation was to develop a model that would serve to assist scholars, business professionals, and employees manage the influence of computer technology in the workplace. This study also focused on mandated use environments given the paucity of research in this area. In doing so, Technology Management Model (TMM) was developed. Actor Network Theory (ANT; Callon, 1986; Latour, 1987; Law, 1987) and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT; Bandura, 1986) provided support for the multifactor design of TMM. As a result, TMM was comprised of three latent variables of technological, personal, and organizational factors though to influence the attitudes employees hold toward computer technology in the workplace. Further, these attitudes held by employees were then hypothesized to be positively related to their work related attitudes of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The results generally supported all of the correlational hypotheses and also indicated that the data fit the TMM. Implications for these findings are discussed with an emphasis on the value derived from the initial development of TMM including its simplicity, practicality, and its appeal to scholars, business professionals, and employees. Specifically, TMM appears to explain the influence technology has on the organization and its members in mandated use work environments.


Real-time heuristic search algorithms that precompute search space-specific databases have demonstrated exceptional performance in video-game pathfinding. We discuss the first steps towards extending these algorithms to other search spaces that also benefit from the real-time property. We present our initial progress in characterizing the performance of current algorithms based on the features of a search space, and discuss future directions of this research.


Explanatory accounts of emotion require, among other things, theoretically tractable representations of emotional experience. Common methods for producing such representations have well-known drawbacks, such as observer interference or lack of ecological validity. Literature offers a valuable supplement. It provides detailed instructions for simulating emotions; when successful, it induces empathic emotions. It too involves distortions, through emotion-intensifying idealization and ideological biases. But these also relate to emotion study. There are three levels at which literature bears on emotion research: (1) the individual work; (2) generic and related patterns; and (3) properties found widely across individual works and genres. Even at the third, most general level, literature suggests potentially important hypotheses about our pleasure in emotional simulation and our need to share emotional experiences.


Anti-infective drug shortages pose significant problems for clinicians and are a rapidly evolving public-health emergency that may require government oversight, according to an article published online January 19 in Clinical Infectious Diseases.


The analysis of patterns of segregating (i.e. polymorphic) sites in aligned sequences is routine in population genetics. Quantities of interest include the total number of segregating sites and the number of sites with mutations of different frequencies, the so-called site frequency spectrum. For neutrally evolving sequences, some classical results are available, including the expected value and variance of the spectrum in the Kingman coalescent model without recombination as calculated by Fu (1995). In this work, we use similar techniques to compute the third moments of the site frequency spectrum without recombination. We also account for the linkage pattern of mutations, yielding the full haplotype spectrum of three polymorphic sites. Based on these results, we derive analytical results for the bias of Tajima's D and other neutrality tests. As an application, we obtain the second moments of the spectrum of linked sites, which is related to the neutral spectrum of chromosomal inversions and other structural variants. These moments can be used for the normalisation of new neutrality tests relying on these spectra.


Abstract The 2007/08 food crisis, which revived interest in public stocks for food security purposes in different parts of the world, has sparked heated debates at every Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) since the Bali Ministerial in December 2013. At the heart of these debates are the current rules of the WTO that apply to public stockholding and how they limit (or not) the ability of a government to constitute food stocks and pursue its food security objectives. This article discusses the current WTO rules that apply to food stockpiling and the rationale behind them. It describes the current WTO disciplines, notably in the area of domestic support, and examines the different types of support provided by the WTO Members under their public stockholding programs. It concludes by looking at the main arguments for and against the current rules.


In the Patient St. with a Morbus Waldenström macroglobulinemia a double paraproteinemia could be detected. Besides the IgM myeloma protein an IgG myeloma protein was identified during the clinical course. A strong cross reactivity between the IgM and the IgG myeloma proteins was shown using anti-idiotypic antisera. This is an indirect indication for a common precursor cell clone of the IgM- and IgG-myeloma protein producing cells. The anti-idiotypic antisera were made in carp. The high specificity of these antisera could be confirmed by inhibition assays. The double paraproteinemia has been proved to be convenient model for testing the idiotypic specificity of anti-Id antisera of carp.


We estimated the allowable annual take of great black-backed gulls Larus marinus, herring gulls L. argentatus, ring-billed gulls L. delawarensis, and laughing gulls Leucophaeus atricilla in the U.S. portion of the Atlantic Flyway to help meet human safety and resource management goals. Gulls can pose a serious threat to aviation, negatively impact other colonial-nesting migratory bird species, and conflict with other human activities. We estimated an annual take limit using a model that incorporated intrinsic population growth rate, minimum population size, and a recovery factor for each species. We estimated intrinsic population growth by combining allometric with life table approaches. We used the recovery factor to restrict the take level of the great black-backed gull beyond that of the other species because of poor data quality and concern about its population status. The herring gull was the only species with comprehensive demographic data. Population sizes used in estimating potential take limit varied greatly among the four species, but estimates of intrinsic population growth rate were similar (range 0.118 to 0.197). The annual potential take limits for the four gull species were 7,963 for herring gulls, 2,081 for great black-backed gulls, 15,039 for laughing gulls, and 14,826 for ring-billed gulls. Comparing average annual take from 2012–2019 to our modeled potential take limit, overharvest has not occurred for great black-backed and laughing gulls, occurred once every 8 y for ring-billed gulls, and occurred over half the time for herring gulls.