One's Subjective Well-Being (SWB) is influenced by an array of both external and internal factors, and personality factors have an important role. The current study explores the SWB of nurses in relation to their personality. The objective was to determine the nature of personality orientations of staff nurses and, to compare these with respect to their SWB. Demographic proforma, Eysenck's Personality Questionnaire- (Revised) and Subjective Well-Being Inventory (SUBI) were administered to 157 nurses who were selected through convenience sampling technique from a selected Medical College Hospital. One-way ANOVA evaluating the relationship of personality dimensions on SWB showed that there were significant differences in SWB between the high and low groups of extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism dimensions. While high extraverts had greater SWB, nurses who were high on neuroticism and psychoticism had lower levels of SWB. Findings reveal the possible significant influence of one's predominant personality trait on SWB and emphasize the need to plan and implement measures to improve nurses' well-being. It is essential to consider personality and SWB during pre-employment screening, career guidance of novices in the field, and while evaluating their job satisfaction.


Determinations of skeletal muscle and liver glycogen concentration and active a and total t phosphorylase activities were made in bats ( Myotis lucifugus ) hibernating at 3°–5° and 20 hours after arousal at room temperature. After arousal, liver glycogen was decreased by half and muscle glycogen was increased over twofold. Concomitantly, muscle phosphorylase a was increased, phosphorylase t was unchanged and the ratio a/t was increased. In the liver, phosphorylase a , t and the ratios were increased upon arousal (calculated per unit of wet weight and per mg N). Epinephrine treatment was ineffective in the torpid hibernating bats, but in aroused bats, it decreased muscle and liver glycogen but increased muscle phosphorylase activity ratios only slightly. Histamine was ineffective in the aroused bats. Stimulating aroused bats to fly for short periods consistently resulted in lower muscle glycogen levels and in no change in muscle phosphorylase activity ratios. It is concluded that a ) at least part of the increased muscle glycogen in the aroused bats comes from the liver, b ) the changes in glycogen levels and phosphorylase activity are in some manner related and c ) liver phosphorylase changes upon arousal, unlike that in muscle phosphorylase, involves an increase in total enzyme potential.


The Mālikī jurists of the Maghrib, or Islamic West, applied the ḥadīth, "no harm shall be inflicted [on anyone] or reciprocated [against anyone]" (lā ḍarar wa-lā ḍirār fī-l-Islām ). This axiom called for the exercise of the muftī's independent reasoning (ijtihād) in matters that were not explicitly clear from the text (naṣṣ) of the Qurʾāan or sunnah. Mālikī jurists used this axiom, which was open to various interpretations, as a basis for rendering legal opinions (fatāwā) in domestic conflicts arising from infractions relating to the socio-spatial world.


Objective: This study aimed to assess health-promoting lifestyles among university medical students and to investigate whether such lifestyles are associated with students' academic achievement. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive investigative study was performed on 576 medical college students of King Saud University (KSU) in March 2019. Data were collected using the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP II) scale, which includes six dimensions (health responsibility, spiritual growth, physical activity, interpersonal relationships, nutrition, and stress management). The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics at a significance level of P < 0.05. Results: A mean score of 3.39 for total health-promoting behaviors was reported. The highest mean score was reported for spiritual growth (3.75) and the lowest was reported for health responsibility (3.23). The mean body mass index (BMI) of the students was 24.9 ± 6.4 kg/m2. An analysis of variance identified an association between a student's GPA and the spiritual growth dimension (P = 0.014). Based on the Pearson matrix correlation coefficient, there was a statistically significant and positive relationship between the HPLP II dimensions (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Since the HPLP scores were good, there is a need to enhance and promote healthy behaviors in students. The BMI data indicated that one-third of male students were overweight or obese; thus, health program planning, particularly involving physical activity and nutrition, is recommended.


Background: Better control of blood sugar and reduction of diabetes complications through insulin therapy could convince people to choose this method. However, patients might refuse insulin therapy due to its painful injection, limitations in daily activities, and hypoglycemia. Thus, insulin therapy could have both positive and negative effects on patients′ quality of life (QOL). Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the QOL of insulin recipient and insulin refusal patients with type 2 diabetes. Materials and Methods: This study was a descriptive and comparative research conducted on 126 patients; 63 were insulin recipients and 63 had refused insulin therapy. Participants were under the care of the Endocrine and Metabolism Research Center of Isfahan, Iran. Data were gathered using the Diabetes Quality of Life (DQOL) questionnaire. In this tool, higher scores indicated lower QOL in patients. Data were analyzed using independent t-test, analysis of covariance, Mann-Whitney, Chi-square, and Pearson and Spearman′s correlation. Results: There was a significant difference (P < 0.001) between insulin recipient patients (mean = 2.02, SD = 0.31) and insulin refusal patients (mean = 1.74, SD = 0.41) in terms of mean QOL score. In addition, men and participants with higher educational levels reported a better QOL (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Results showed that insulin refusal patients had a better QOL. It seems that QOL is associated with the acceptance or refusal of insulin therapy. Therefore, enhancement of QOL could be related to all aspects of the disease, especially its treatment method and solving the therapeutic problems.


The popular Food and Beverages (F&B) franchises in Tea products are recently Teh Poci, Good Tea, Teh MU. This research used an online selected decision support system of tea franchise outlet which may be feasible for franchisee. The study used an AHP method. Online application is made on PHP programming language, and have been uploaded publicly on the website namely www.waralabateh.com. This uploaded application has been tested by 97 respondent who are already the partners of 3 tea franchises, namely : Teh Poci, Good Tea, Teh MU, and 10 would-be partners. This system incorporates 4 criteria including initial franchise fee, continuing franchisee fee, franchisor size, and franchisor reputation. The options are Teh Poci, Good Tea, and Teh MU. The results indicated the results benchmarked from partners wew as follows the first choice was Teh Poci 47.9%, the second choice was Teh MU 29.81%, and the third choice wass Good Tea 22.3%. The results of would-be partners can be summed as follows the first choice was Teh Poci 43.31%, the second choice Good Tea was 29.21%, and the third choice was Teh MU 27.56%.

Keywords : decision support system, AHP, tea franchise selection


During mouse gastrulation, the primitive streak is formed on the posterior side of the embryo. Cells migrate out of the primitive streak to form the future mesoderm and endoderm. Fate mapping studies revealed a group of cell migrate through the proximal end of the primitive streak and give rise to the extraembryonic mesoderm tissues such as the yolk sac blood islands and allantois. However, it is not clear whether the formation of a morphological primitive streak is required for the development of these extraembryonic mesodermal tissues. Loss of the Cripto gene in mice dramatically reduces, but does not completely abolish, Nodal activity leading to the absence of a morphological primitive streak. However, embryonic erythrocytes are still formed and assembled into the blood islands. In addition, Cripto mutant embryos form allantoic buds. However, Drap1 mutant embryos have excessive Nodal activity in the epiblast cells before gastrulation and form an expanded primitive streak, but no yolk sac blood islands or allantoic bud formation. Lefty2 embryos also have elevated levels of Nodal activity in the primitive streak during gastrulation, and undergo normal blood island and allantois formation. We therefore speculate that low level of Nodal activity disrupts the formation of morphological primitive streak on the posterior side, but still allows the formation of primitive streak cells on the proximal side, which give rise to the extraembryonic mesodermal tissues formation. Excessive Nodal activity in the epiblast at pre‐gastrulation stage, but not in the primitive streak cells during gastrulation, disrupts extraembryonic mesoderm development.


The effects of several growth factors on the proliferation of fibroblastic colony-forming units (CFU-F) were studied. In the present study CFU-F colonies were found to consist of fibroblasts, macrophages, and endothelial cells. Growth factors, including interleukin 3 (IL-3), interleukin 1 alpha (IL-1 alpha), epidermal growth factor (EGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and buffalo rat liver cell-conditioned medium (BRL-CM) were tested for stimulation of the proliferation of CFU-F in a standard culture in both 2% and 15% serum. Overall, the colony numbers produced in 15% serum were much higher than in 2% serum with or without growth factors. However, the influence of several growth factors on CFU-F cultured in 2% serum was relatively greater than in 15% serum when compared to controls. The stimulation of CFU-F by FGF only occurred in culture with 15% serum, and the stimulation by PDGF only occurred with 2% serum. Overall, the strongest stimulations were produced by PDGF, IL-3, and BRL-CM. Combining the other growth factors with IL-3, PDGF, or IL-1 alpha enhanced their effects only modestly. The stimulation by growth factors included increases of the cell numbers between and within colonies as well as an increase in the number of colonies. The study produced results that suggest a complex interaction mediated by growth factors between fibroblasts and other stromal cells within the CFU-F colonies and within the bone marrow itself.


Background and Aim: Skilled and expert manpower is essential for quick and proper response to accidents and fast and accurate relief and rescue operations. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge of the Red Crescent Society's rapid reaction teams on rescue equipment in the prevalent natural and man-made disasters. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the first half of 2017. A sample of 120 respondents from the Red Crescent Society of Tehran, Iran was selected based on the Cochran's formula. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data and SPSS18.0 software was used to analyze data. Results: A total of 84 (74%) of the participants in the study were in the range of 20-30 years old. A total of 61 (50.44%) had a bachelor's degree. The results indicated that the mean rank of knowledge status is 21.45 points higher than average. People who have been involved in more than 16 operations were more knowledgeable about rescue equipment. People with experience of one to ten maneuvers had a lower score than those with experience of more than ten maneuvers. Also, people who have taken part in training courses scored higher grades. Conclusion: In general, the knowledge of the Red Crescent Societies' rapid response teams to rescue equipment in the natural and man-made disasters in the city of Tehran, Iran is in an acceptable status but far from ideal. Achieving this goal is possible through powerful manpower, proper organization, continuing education and training, adequately equipping search and rescue teams and providing the opportunity to benefit from the experiences of the United Nations and experienced countries.


AbstractSince the 2008 Malaysian general election the Chinese vote has swung overwhelmingly to the opposition, and this trend has continued in the 2013 general election. When announcing the results of the 2013 general election, Prime Minister Najib labelled it as a 'Chinese tsunami'. Taking the case of Kepong, this article attempts to explain the reasons for the urban Chinese voters' continuing support for the Democratic Action Party.


Abstract Although railway systems have been widely used in public transportation for several years, crew scheduling research focuses on airline operations. Since the crew costs constitute the critical part of the operational costs in railway public transportation, the crew scheduling problem gains more importance. Crew scheduling aims to assign all trips to duty packages in a timeline while satisfying several labour working rules, company requirements, and operational restrictions. Because of the complexity of real-world conditions, crew scheduling problems are NP-complete. In this study, the crew scheduling problem was addressed, and a constraint programming based column generation algorithm was proposed as a solution approach. A column generation algorithm was employed to solve problems having a considerable number of variables. In this study, the master problem was designed as a set partitioning problem that aimed to assign all trips to duty while minimizing the cost. In the subproblem, new column(s) satisfying all constraints were generated and added to the master problem to reduce the cost. To analyse the performance of the proposed approach, an integer programming model of the problem was developed. An extensive computational study is presented to compare the results of these two modelling approaches via different real-life problem instances.


Electronic Clinic Journaling: The Use of Weblogs to Support Evidence-Based Practice in Doctor of Audiology Students Gayle B. Neldon Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a strategy for the provision of high quality health care. The use of journals to document clinical experiences and reflection has been used in speech-language pathology as well as nursing and psychology. This study uses qualitative analysis to study what AuD students learn about evidence-based practice from writing and reading clinic Weblogs, as well as to investigate AuD students' reactions to writing and reading these Weblogs and evidence-based practice as they have experienced it. The value of sharing evidence supporting clinical practice via electronic clinic journals in the form of Weblogs among peers was explored. Analysis of Weblog content during the study period suggested that students learned very little about evidence based practice. However, interview data from students who had participated in the Weblog assignment indicated that students believed that they learned to find evidence to support clinical practices, could discuss evidence, and improved their abilities to consume research literature. Recommendations for modeling evidence-based practice and teaching students to read and understand research literature were made.


A method is proposed for predicting the radiation pattern of rectangular apertures on a finite rectangular ground plane. This method includes an accurate description of single, double and vertex diffraction mechanisms. The first step of the analysis is the full-wave estimation of the aperture field. To this end, the external and the internal regions are separated by replacing each aperture with a metallic plug with equivalent magnetic currents on its external and internal sides; these currents are of equal amplitude and of opposite sign to ensure the continuity of the electric tangential field through the aperture. Then, an integral equation is formulated, that represents the continuity of the tangential H-field through the apertures. To solve the internal-external coupling, the external flange is initially treated as an infinite ground plane. After the determination of the magnetic currents, these currents are considered as radiating on the finite ground plane. For the sake of simplicity, but without loss of generality, a single horn is considered. The internal region of the corrugated horn is analyzed by using a generalized admittance matrix method.


It has been suggested that countries which export in especially risky sectors will experience higher output volatility. This paper develops a measure of the riskiness of a country's pattern of export specialization, and illustrates its features across countries and over time. The exercise reveals large cross-country differences in the risk content of exports. This measure is strongly correlated with terms-of-trade and output volatility, but does not exhibit a close relationship to the level of income, overall trade openness, or other country characteristics. We then propose an explanation for what determines the risk content of exports, based on the theoretical literature exemplified by Turnovsky (1974). Countries with comparative advantage in the safe sectors or strong enough comparative advantage in the risky sectors will specialize, whereas countries whose comparative advantage in the risky sectors is not too strong will diversify their export structure to insure against export income risk. We use both non-parametric and parametric techniques to demonstrate that these theoretical predictions are strongly supported by the data.


Aims Large synovial out-pouching is a rare complication in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). This case series aims to review the clinical presentation, differential diagnosis and investigation of this rare complication. Methods Retrospective review of the clinical notes and diagnostic procedures of five patients with a diagnosis of JIA and large synovial out-pouching. Results The authors reviewed the case notes of five patients with large synovial out-pouching from our cohort of patients with JIA. Three patients had a diagnosis of JIA systemic onset, one patient had JIA oligoarthritis and one patient had JIA undifferentiated arthritis. Two patients with systemic onset had large out-pouching from the hips. The 3rd patient with systemic onset had it from both hips, from both shoulders and from the ankle. The patient with oligoarthritis had it from the shoulder and the patient with undifferentiated arthritis had it from the knee. Other diagnoses in the patients were short stature, immunosupression, chronic anterior uveitis and diplegic cerebral palsy. Three patients presented with sudden non-tender swelling over the affected joint. One patient presented with pain of the affected joints. Another patient presented with restriction of movements of the affected joints. Three patients have had joint injections 1 to 4 months before the diagnosis of the large synovial out-pouching. All but one had a diagnostic MRI with gadolinium. One was diagnosed by USS. USS was the first imaging tool used but did not always help establish the diagnosis. Conclusions Large synovial out-pouching may occur in any type of JIA. It tends to present suddenly and it is important to differentiate from other causes of sudden swelling. We have only described large synovial out-pouching in large joints. Previous joint injections may or may not be related to the appearance of the large out-pouching. MRI with gadolinium is the most accurate diagnostic investigation.


Increasing integration of renewable energy sources, distributed generation, smart grid technologies and other power electronic devices into the grid has given rise to numerous challenges in the electricity transmission and distribution system operations domain. Due to the increasing complexity in electricity market processes, control of active power in steady state time frame is becoming infeasible to system operators at normal state of operation. Whereas, steady state control of reactive power is still viable to system operators. System operators control reactive power resources in steady state time frame to maintain a good voltage profile within their power system. Currently, this steady state voltage control is performed manually for the Dutch transmission system by control engineers with minimum real-time computational assistance or no intelligent decision making tool. This master thesis focuses on the feasibility study conducted for employing an intelligent control system that can be used for secondary (or steady state) voltage control scheme in the Dutch transmission system. The feasibility study included literature reviews on hierarchical voltage control schemes of other European transmission systems, the approach of secondary voltage control in the national control center and several artificial intelligence techniques available for coordinated voltage control. In this study, a rule based controller was developed to initialize a reactive power optimization problem (with multiple objectives) for a mixed integer linear programming solver. Rule based controller was preferred mainly due to its simplicity, adaptability and ease of mapping expertise of control engineers (& requirements of transmission system operators) as rules. Simulation based studies were performed using this controller on an 80-bus test system and snapshot scenarios of the Dutch transmission system after defining multiple areas within them.'


Magnetic resonance studies allow us to distinguish paramagnetic, ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic phases in Ga1-xMnxAs. The transition from ferromagnet to ferrimagnet is correlated with a metal to insulator transition. The analysis of spin wave resonance spectra, which occur in the ferrimagnetic phase, allows us to estimate the magnitude and the distance dependence of exchange coupling. The experimentally evaluated long range of exchange causes an effective averaging of the fluctuation of exchange interactions. As a consequence, in the semimetallic phase both spin subsystems coherently precess forming the ferrimagnetic structure. In the insulating phase, fluctuations of the local exchange field lead to a fast decoherence of the carrier spins and only the localized Mn spins form the ferromagnetic moment. (Less)


The rising interest in Network Function Virtualization (NFV) requires Virtual Machines (VMs) to operate with diversified networking workloads, from traditional, bulk TCP transfers to novel ones featuring extremely high packet rates. In response, researchers have explored and proposed new solutions for high performance VM networking, including optimizations to virtual network adapters (such as VirtIO) to support high speed bulk traffic, and alternative frameworks for userspace networking and physical or virtual passthrough. To date, we are still missing a comprehensive solution that supports such extreme workloads across multiple operating systems and hypervisors, while at the same time addressing other requirements such as ease of configuration, operating system independence, scalability and isolation. In this paper we present ptnet, an approach to network I/O virtualization that provides high performance for both traditional TCP/IP and high packet rate applications. ptnet leverages the features of the netmap framework (including virtualization and passthrough support), and defines a simple yet performant network device model that can be easily supported in different operating systems and hypervisors. We prove the effectiveness of our approach by comparing ptnet's performance with one of the state of the art I/O virtualization solutions, namely VirtIO on Linux and QEMU/KVM. ptnet is available under a BSD license as part of the netmap distributions on github.


The need to find new therapeutic interventions in patients diagnosed with psychiatric disorders is supported by the data suggesting high rates of relapse, chronic evolution, therapeutic resistance, or lack of adherence and disability. The use of pre-, pro-, or synbiotics as add-ons in the therapeutic management of psychiatric disorders has been explored as a new way to augment the efficacy of psychotropics and to improve the chances for these patients to reach response or remission. This systematic literature review focused on the efficacy and tolerability of psychobiotics in the main categories of psychiatric disorders and it has been conducted through the most important electronic databases and clinical trial registers, using the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. The quality of primary and secondary reports was assessed using the criteria identified by the Academy of Nutrition and Diabetics. Forty-three sources, mostly of moderate and high quality, were reviewed in detail, and data regarding the efficacy and tolerability of psychobiotics was assessed. Studies exploring the effects of psychobiotics in mood disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, substance use disorders, eating disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), neurocognitive disorders, and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) were included. The overall tolerability of the interventions assessed was good, but the evidence to support their efficacy in specific psychiatric disorders was mixed. There have been identified data in favor of probiotics for patients with mood disorders, ADHD, and ASD, and also for the association of probiotics and selenium or synbiotics in patients with neurocognitive disorders. In several domains, the research is still in an early phase of development, e.g., in substance use disorders (only three preclinical studies being found) or eating disorders (one review was identified). Although no well-defined clinical recommendation could yet be formulated for a specific product in patients with psychiatric disorders, there is encouraging evidence to support further research, especially if focused on the identification of specific sub-populations that may benefit from this intervention. Several limitations regarding the research in this field should be addressed, i.e., the majority of the finalized trials are of short duration, there is an inherent heterogeneity of the psychiatric disorders, and the diversity of the explored Philae prevents the generalizability of the results from clinical studies.


The timeframes involved in nuclear waste management often speak to the imagination, and even transcend it: what does it mean to isolate and contain human-made materials for periods up to hundreds of thousands or even a million years? In this article, we reflect on the role played by the HADES underground research laboratory in making the distant future comprehensible today. Our argument starts by focusing on the pioneering role HADES played and plays in knowledge production on geological disposal. It highlights the heterogeneous nature of scientific experiments and experiences, and the performative role these play in defining matters of concern for research and development. Second, attention is directed to how HADES contributes to the defining of what is considered possible and imaginable, and how it therefore not only renders the future more predictable, but also contributes to the making of that future. We end the paper with a reflection on the implications of what 'making the future' could entail from an ethical perspective, discussing how the intergenerational responsibilities that come with these future-making capacities could be handled.


Solitary fibrous tumor of the liver is a rare neoplasm. Thirty-nine cases have been described in the English literature. Its immunohistochemical positivity for CD34 and vimentin is believed to be unique. It is known to be usually benign and only one case of metastasis is reported. We report an additional case. A 71-year-old woman presented with fatigue and weight loss. CT scan showed a solid mass occupying the left lobe of the liver. Left lobectomy was performed. Pathological examination showed spindle cell and fibroblast-like cells within the collagenous stroma. On immunohistochemical staining, these spindle tumor cells showed diffuse CD34 and vimentin positive reactivity. The post-operative course was uneventful. Solitary fibrous tumors of the liver, although rare, need to be considered in the differential diagnosis of mesenchymal lesions of the liver.


The various problems of the overland traveller are discussed, as are the necessary immunization procedures, the seriousness of falciparum malaria and the various bowel disorders. The necessity for treating minor injuries and abrasions is stressed. Psychological problems, veneral disease and the problem of drug abuse are mentioned.


This paper considers tax expenditures from two related perspectives. First, it analyzes how the incentives on Congress to use a tax expenditure change when principal agent problems are considered. For example, it considers whether tax expenditures can reduce moral hazard or adverse selection problems created by delegations to expert agencies. Second, it considers the condition under which tax expenditures should be expected to be redundant with direct expenditures, as many are. The two, principal agent problems and redundancy, are related because redundancy is often seen as a solution to the principal agent problem. The paper concludes that both principal agent concerns and redundancy might lead to an increase in the use of tax expenditures, although the circumstances in which we should expect this are relatively narrow. The paper then examines the example of the low income housing tax credit, concluding that the credit should be replaced with a direct expenditure in the form of increased tenant vouchers.


This paper addresses the problem of key phrase extraction from sentences. Existing state-of-the-art supervised methods require large amounts of annotated data to achieve good performance and generalization. Collecting labeled data is, however, often expensive. In this paper, we redefine the problem as question-answer extraction, and present SAMIE: Self-Asking Model for Information Ixtraction, a semi-supervised model which dually learns to ask and to answer questions by itself. Briefly, given a sentence $s$ and an answer $a$, the model needs to choose the most appropriate question $\hat q$; meanwhile, for the given sentence $s$ and same question $\hat q$ selected in the previous step, the model will predict an answer $\hat a$. The model can support few-shot learning with very limited supervision. It can also be used to perform clustering analysis when no supervision is provided. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms typical supervised methods especially when given little labeled data.


The renormalization of the energetic spectrum of paraexcitons in the presence of the Bose- Einstein condensate of orthoexcitons, or at least of their saturation, is studied. Due to the conversion of a pair of orthoexcitons into a pair of paraexcitons an absolute instability in the energy spectrum of paraexcitons appears. The paraexcitons that appeared can be downscattered by optical phonon (Gamma) 5-(88 cm-1) in a state above the bottom of the paraexciton band. This could be the reason for the observed peculiarities in the paraexciton luminescence band. On this basis a new explanation of the extra peak appearance in the luminescence spectrum of the uniaxially stressed Cu2O crystal is suggested. It has the same origin as the bump of the luminescence band in unstrained crystal. The spectral positions of the extra peak and of the bump differ due to the diminution of the ortho-para splitting in uniaxially stressed crystals. The difference of their widths is due to different densities of the condensed orthoexcitons in stressed and unstrained crystals.


We present a new approach for matching regular surfaces in a Riemannian setting. We use a Sobolev type metric on deformation vector fields which form the tangent bundle to the space of surfaces. In this article we compare our approach with the diffeomorphic matching framework. In the latter approach a deformation is prescribed on the ambient space, which then drags along an embedded surface. In contrast our metric is defined directly on the deformation vector field and can therefore be called an inner metric. We also show how to discretize the corresponding geodesic equation and compute the gradient of the cost functional using finite elements.


Background: Gossypium hirsutum (upland cotton) is one of the principal fiber crops in the world. Cotton yield is highly affected by abiotic stresses, among which salt stress is considered as a major problem around the globe. Transgenic approach is efficient to improve cotton salt tolerance but depending on the availability of salt tolerance genes. Results: In this study we evaluated salt tolerance candidate gene ST7 from Thellungiella halophila, encoding a homolog of Arabidopsis aluminum-induced protein, in cotton. Our results showed that ThST7 overexpression in cotton improved germination under NaCl stress as well as seedling growth. Our field trials also showed that ThST7 transgenic cotton lines produced higher yield under salt stress conditions. The improved salt tolerance of the transgenic cotton lines was partially contributed by enhanced antioxidation as shown by diaminobenzidine (DAB) and nitrotetrazolium blue chloride (NBT) staining. Moreover, transcriptomic analysis of ThST7 overexpression lines showed a significant upregulation of the genes involved in ion homeostasis and antioxidation, consistent with the salt tolerance phenotype of the transgenic cotton. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that ThST7 has the ability to improve salt tolerance in cotton. The ThST7 transgenic cotton may be used in cotton breeding for salt tolerance cultivars.


Abstract This study employs an administrative dataset containing high-frequency transaction records for approximately four million smart transit cards used by Singaporean residents in order to study the travel preferences of public transport commuters. We examine the impact of service attributes, including travel time, reliability and travel cost, on commuters' transportation mode choices and estimate the implied value of travel time (VOT) and value of reliability (VOR) for different types of public transit commuters. The results show significant heterogeneity in the transport preferences of commuters, with adult transit commuters having higher VOT and VOR relative to senior citizens, students and children. Within the adult group, commuters who frequently switch their transportation modes have significantly higher VOT and VOR. These results have important implications for policymakers in formulating strategies to improve the efficiency of the public transport system, and having flexible and customized transport services could increase the utility and satisfaction levels of public transit commuters.


Natural sciences have experienced important developments when the insights into both matter and its interaction with the environment advanced to the next scale in space and time – irrespective whether the direction was towards larger or smaller scales. A landmark advance took place at the end of the 19th century when the understanding of matter as composed of atoms eventually outranged the perception of matter as an energetic continuum. Although physical and mathematical discontinuities always pose serious problems, the atomistic perception of matter had the advantage of providing a valuable microscopic aside to thermodynamics, a new perspective to study the interaction between matter and radiation, and a better understanding of numerous properties of solids and liquids. Additionally, the concept of atoms has been proven to be a key to understand and quantify the kinetics of chemical reactions. The atomic age had begun. However, the advances derived from the idea of atoms not only led to new insights into matter, they also made it necessary to develop new models for the reactions of a solid composed of atoms (i.e. composed discontinuously) with a liquid phase composed of the same or a different component (i.e. melt or solvent). Among the reactions that can occur between a solid and a liquid, growth and dissolution are ubiquitous and very important to understand. Growth can be described as the formation of a (crystalline) solid from a liquid phase whereas dissolution can be perceived as the decomposition of a solid and the transfer of its constituents into a liquid phase.


Antenatal services, according to standards, are services provided to pregnant women, given four times during pregnancy. According to RISKESDAS Data, the province's antenatal care proportion in Indonesia was 2013 at 95.2% and 2018 at 96.1% over the past ive years. This study was designed to describe pregnant women against antenatal mediation in Kebon Kalapa Village, Cisarua District, Sumedang, West Java, 2019. This research is a descriptive-analytic study. Sampling using purposive sampling technique and obtained a total sample of 22 respondents. The results showed signi icant differences between pregnant women's knowledge, attitudes, and practices about the regulation of antenatal care in Kebon Kalapa Village, Cisarua District, Sumedang, West Java, in 2019. The research studies showed that there was a signi icant difference between knowledge, attitudes and antenatal care practices in Kebon Kalapa Village, Cisarua District, Sumedang, West Java, 2019 with an overview of good knowledge is nine people (40.9%) and suf icient knowledge of 4 people (18.2%). An overviewof a good attitude is 21 people (95.5%), and an overviewof good practice is 17 people (77.3%). The overview of antenatal care is 18 people (81.8%). Most pregnant women in Kebon Kalapa Village, Cisarua District, Sumedang Regency, West Java In 2019 have good knowledge, and most pregnant women in Kebon Kalapa Village, Cisarua District, Sumedang District, West Java, 2019 have a positive attitude. Most pregnantwomen in Kebon Kalapa Village Cisarua Sumedang Regency, West Java 2019 have positive practice, and most pregnant women in Kebon Kalapa Village, Cisarua Sub-District, Sumedang District, West Java, 2019 are obedient to antenatal care.


The aim of this comparative descriptive design study was to explore older persons' perceptions of the staff caring process and to describe whether differences exist among ethnic groups and by gender. Subjects were recruited from a diverse group of older persons who attended the Mercy Living Independently for Elders (LIFE) Program in Philadelphia. Total scores on the Caring Behaviors Inventory for Elders (CBI-E) were compared by ethnic group; scores did not differ at a statistically significant level. When total CBI-E scores were compared by gender, no statistically significant difference was found. Additional testing of the CBI-E is called for to continue to establish its psychometric properties.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the correlations between vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms, and bone mineral density (BMD) as well as osteocalcin.

METHODS
We used PCR-RFLP and Southern hybridization analysis to determine VDR genotypes in 202 Chinese women. BMD was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and serum osteocalcin level was determined by radioimmunoassay. Analysis of covariance was used to test differences in mean BMDs across genotypes.

RESULTS
We realized that VDR genotype frequencies in Chinese women were apparently different from those of Caucasians. In group of postmenopausal women, "bb" or "aa" genotype was related to lower BMD in Femoral Neck and Trochanter. No association was found between VDR genotypes and the serum osteocalcin level.

CONCLUSION
There was some association between VDR genotypes and BMD in Chinese women. Its function in predicting osteoporosis still requires further study.


The study was conducted to measure the effect of baseline serum calcium levels on the stage of nephrotoxicity caused by Gentamicin therapy for neonates' patients in teaching hospital, highlight the mechanism(s) behind this type of toxicity and setting a therapy regimen to minimize or delay such toxicity caused by Gentamicin. Retrospectively, the renal function indicators values such as BUN, Srcr and BUN-to-Srcr ratio were collected for all different groups of neonatal patients receiving Gentamicin from September 2008 to September 2009 in the Teaching Hospital of King Khalid University and Hospital of King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Collected data were analyzed and evaluated. Total of 237 neonate patients profiles were reviewed and classified to three groups based on serum calcium baseline level to normo, hypo and hypercalcemic patient. Hypocalcemic group has the highest rising rate for BUN, Srcr and BUN-to-Srcr ratio values. The protection effect of calcium was obvious. The findings revealed that baseline serum calcium level has some effect on the decline and maintaining of kidney function in neonate patient under Gentamicin therapy. The possible mechanism (s) has been discussed and a Gentamicin therapy protocol was proposed to minimize or delay nephrotoxicity in neonate patients under Gentamicin therapy.


Dry eye disease (DED) is a multifactorial disease of tears and ocular surface that results in various symptoms with the potential damage to the ocular surface. It can range from mild to severe signs and symptoms and may affect patient's quality of life. Various techniques and methods have been developed to evaluate DED for initial examination or regular follow up. The simple evaluations that can be performed in clinic include eyelid examination, tear break-up time, and ocular surface stainings; while the advanced ones may require certain devices or laboratory equipment. Careful and thorough examinations are important to guide the clinician to assess and evaluate dry eye.


ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to compare the image quality, contrast enhancement behavior, and diagnostic value of bilateral 3-dimensional dynamic contrast-enhanced breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with high spatial and temporal resolution, at 3 and 7 T, in the same patient group. Materials and MethodsTwenty-four consecutive patients (mean [SD] age, 57 [17] years) were included in this prospective institutional review board–approved study. Written informed consent was obtained from all patients. T1-weighted 3-dimensional sequences (time-resolved angiography with stochastic trajectories) were optimized at 3 and 7 T, with high temporal (both 14 seconds) and spatial resolution (1.1 × 1.1 × 1.1 mm3 [3 T], 0.7 × 0.7 × 0.7 mm3 [7 T]): echo time/repetition time, 2.84/6.01 milliseconds (3 T) and 2.5/4.75 milliseconds (7 T); acquisition time, 9 minutes (3 T/7 T). Dotarem® (gadoterate meglumine, Guerbet, Roissy CdG, France) contrast agent was injected intravenously as a bolus (0.2 mL/kg of body weight) after 3 baseline images. The images were rated according to breast imaging-reporting and data system by 2 radiologists in consensus. Signal-to-noise ratio and average enhancement ratios were measured quantitatively by means of region of interest analysis. In addition, B1 mapping was done in the same 5 healthy subjects at both field strengths. ResultsTwenty-eight enhancing lesions were detected in the 24 patients at both field strengths (16 malignant, 12 benign). At 7 T, higher contrast than that at 3 T and good image quality were achieved. With the high spatial isotropic resolution of 0.7 mm at 7 T, images with more detailed information could be acquired when compared with those acquired at 3 T. Sensitivity was 93.75% and 100%, at 3 and 7 T, respectively. Specificity was 91.67% at both field strengths. The signal-to-noise ratio at both field strengths was comparable, but at 7 T, the spatial resolution was 3.2-times higher than that at 3 T. A signal-to-noise ratio decrease toward prepectoral breast regions due to B1 inhomogeneities was observed at both field strengths but was stronger at 7 T (51%) than at 3 T (19%)(P = 0.0002). At 7 T, B1+ dropped by 20.7% and 32.8% in the prepectoral and lateral region of the breast in healthy subjects. ConclusionsOur comparison study shows that 7-T DCE-MRI provides simultaneous high temporal and spatial resolution that is significantly improved compared with lower field strengths, but further technical improvements are necessary to overcome B1 inhomogeneity problems at 7 T to fully unfold the potential of breast MRI at 7 T.


This study assesses to what extent natural disaster hazards are addressed in the conservation planning for cultural heritage places that are not part of national parks and other protected areas. Surveyed were all conservation management plans written between 1987 and 2003 for heritage properties in NSW and Victoria, as well as all heritage studies completed between 1985 and 2003 for local government areas in Victoria. Despite much public exposure as part of the UN International Decade of Disaster Reduction, natural disasters are not considered a threat that should be planned for. While conservation action to combat slow-acting decay is addressed in all cases, less than 10% of conservation management plans make any mention of natural disasters. Yet such events can destroy a heritage place in a matter of hours or even seconds. The extent to which those studies address the hazards is also very varied. There is much room for improvement if heritage is to have a future in the face of disasters. The nature of adequate risk assessment and disaster management planning is discussed and suggestions for plan content are made. Recent developments in Victoria, mandating risk assessments in conservation management plans, are a step in the right direction.


English speaking skills are important in global communication and interaction. To speak English effectively at an acceptable level for a non-native speaker, various sub-skills are considered such as lexical resources, grammatical structures, pronunciation, rhythm, intonation, and the like. Nevertheless, a vast number of remote learners at Ho Chi Minh City Open University (HCMCOU) seemed to struggle in representing their thoughts and speaking sub-skills. Thus, this study aims to explore the challenges encountered by remote learners, the effectiveness of Project-Based Learning (PBL) applied in teaching speaking skills online, and learners' attitudes towards the applied project. To do this, a mixed research method was employed. Twenty-two remote learners participated in responding to the survey questionnaire, and five of them were randomly selected for interview in depth. The finding shows that the most of remote learners had problems of speaking sub-skills, inadequate environments for speaking practice, communication, and interaction. Also, PBL is found as a unique method that enables learners to solve their existing problems, and improve their speaking skills, and all remote learners expressed their positive attitudes of towards PBL applied in their learning process.


We propose request-based dynamic bandwidth allocation
(DBA) of gigabit passive optical network (GPON). The optical line terminal (OLT)
in GPON grants bandwidth to optical network units (ONUs). ONUs report request
bandwidth which depends on queue lengths of traffic containers (TCONTs) to the
OLT. In the OLT, DBA of GPON supports a request-based polling order to allocate
bandwidth. Our request-based dynamic bandwidth allocation focuses on weight
assignments in the request-based polling order. Weight assignments allocate
bandwidth in proportion to guaranteed and request bandwidth. We use the C
program to simulate results. Simulated results indicate improved performance in
queueing delay when total offered loads are or are not shared uniformly to
TCONTs.


The forced-choice (FC) item formats used for noncognitive tests typically develop a set of response options that measure different traits and instruct respondents to make judgments among these options in terms of their preference to control the response biases that are commonly observed in normative tests. Diagnostic classification models (DCMs) can provide information regarding the mastery status of test takers on latent discrete variables and are more commonly used for cognitive tests employed in educational settings than for noncognitive tests. The purpose of this study is to develop a new class of DCM for FC items under the higher-order DCM framework to meet the practical demands of simultaneously controlling for response biases and providing diagnostic classification information. By conducting a series of simulations and calibrating the model parameters with a Bayesian estimation, the study shows that, in general, the model parameters can be recovered satisfactorily with the use of long tests and large samples. More attributes improve the precision of the second-order latent trait estimation in a long test, but decrease the classification accuracy and the estimation quality of the structural parameters. When statements are allowed to load on two distinct attributes in paired comparison items, the specific-attribute condition produces better a parameter estimation than the overlap-attribute condition. Finally, an empirical analysis related to work-motivation measures is presented to demonstrate the applications and implications of the new model.


Polymeric carbon nitrides (PCNs) have emerged as promising heterogeneous photocatalysts for organic transformations as they are metal-free, inexpensive, and possess suitable bandgaps, and excellent chemical- and photo-stability. However, current application of PCNs in organic synthesis is rather limited to several well-established materials, which limits the scope of reaction patterns and efficiency. We herein report the synthesis and fabrication of two new PCN nanosheets by incorporating nanostructure construction, element doping, and vacancy engineering into one hybrid platform. The heteroatom doped PCN nanosheets with vacancies feature highly porous structures with extremely large substrate-catalyst interface areas, enhanced charge separation, and improved lipophilicity. The generated heterogeneous catalysts demonstrate impressive photoredox catalytic performances in a variety of organic transformations (e.g., defluoroborylation, [2+2] cycloaddition, C-N, C-S, and C-O cross couplings), providing efficiencies comparable to reported optimized homogeneous catalysts and exceeding those with commonly utilized PCNs.


Background & Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory neurological disorder that affects the central nervous system (CNS) and causes individuals to experience a variety of cognitive and physical problems. As proven by two decades of clinical experience with immunomodulatory therapies for MS, the disease progresses and relapses through several immunological pathways. New medicines aimed at remyelination and neurodegeneration are being developed; however, they need stronger evidence before being introduced into routine clinical care. The purpose of this study was a thorough assessment of MS immunopathology and predictive biomarkers. Methods: Immunotherapy, immunopathogenesis, and prognostic biomarkers were all parts of the search method. Only publications in English were considered for inclusion in the study. For that purpose, we went through the current state of knowledge around MS immunopathology and related biomarkers. Immunology, as well as the identification of increased inflammation as an important component of neurodegeneration, shaped our understanding of this disease aetiology. The relevant sources examined covered the years 2015-2021. Conclusion: We found biomarkers in the cerebrospinal fluid and blood that might be used for the prediction and diagnosis of MS, as well as for measuring treatment response and adverse effects. Many variables, including the role of some infectious organisms and the impact of environmental and social factors, might contribute to the immunological dysfunctions seen in MS. Patients with MS may benefit from better therapy options if a better understanding of MS biomarkers and immune response mechanisms would be obtained.


We analyze the Kuramoto model of phase oscillators with natural frequencies distributed according to a unimodal asymmetric function g(omega) . It is obtained that besides a second-, also a first-order phase transition can appear if the distribution of natural frequencies possesses a sufficiently large flat section. It is derived analytically that for the first-order transitions the characteristic exponents describing the order parameter and synchronizing frequency near the critical point are equal to those for the order parameter in the corresponding symmetric case. Stability analysis of the incoherent phase shows that the synchronizing frequency at the onset of synchronization equals the perturbation rotation velocity at the border of stability. The analytic and numerical results are in agreement with numerical simulations.


Background The modified 2010 ACR criteria for fibromyalgia shifted the role of somatic symptoms assessment from the physician to the patient and allowed subjects to rate specific self-reported symptoms. Yet, fibromyalgia patients need further assessment in particular for associated co-morbidities and impact of the disease on the patient's life. Objectives To assess the validity, reliability and responsiveness to change of a patient self-reported questionnaire combining the Widespread Pain Index and the Symptom Severity Score as well as construct outcome measures and co-morbidities assessment in fibromyalgia patients. Methods The PROMs was conceptualized based on frameworks used by the WHO Quality of Life tool and the PRO measurement information system (PROMIS). Initially, cognitive interviews were conducted with 51 fibromyalgia patients (diagnosed according to modified ACR criteria 2010), with a range of severity to identify item pool of questions. Item selection and reduction was achieved based on patients as well as an interdisciplinary group of physicians, nurses, and health educators, in addition to clinometric and psychometric methods. The latter included Rasch and internal consistency reliability analyses. The questionnaire included the modified ACR criteria main items (symptoms severity score and widespread pain index); in addition to assessment of functional disability, quality of life, review of the systems, falls and cardiovascular risks, as well as self-helplessness. In addition, every patient completed SF-36 and Euro QoL 5D questionnaires. Results A total of 146 fibromyalgia patients and 101 subjects suffering from widespread pain completed the questionnaire. The modified ACR criteria were satisfied by 91.2% of fibromyalgia patients with and by 10.8% of subjects who had widespread pain (sensitivity and specificity are 91.2% and 89.2%, respectively). The PROMs questionnaire was reliable as demonstrated by a high-standardized alpha (0.893-0.967). Content construct assessment of the PROMs-functional disability and QoL revealed significant correlation (p<0.01) with both SF-36 and Euro QoL. Changes in functional disability, quality of life as well as self-helplessness scores showed significant (p<0.01) variation with diseases activity status and response to therapy. Mean time to complete the questionnaire was 8.04 ± 0.92 min.There was higher prevalence of autonomic symptoms in fibromyalgia patients (cold hands, p=0.039; flatulence, p=0.022; tiredness, p=0.001); CVS risk (44.8%, p=0.01), sexual dysfunction (64.4%, p=0.01) and falling (61.6%, p=0.01). Conclusions The diagnosis of fibromyalgia can be self-reported of the typical symptom complex. The developed PROMs questionnaire is a reliable and valid instrument for assessment of patients suffering from fibromyalgia. Being short, rapid and comprehensive, this adds more to its applicability. The data support the value of completion of the simple 2 pages patient questionnaire, which provides a quantitative written documented record by the patient, at each visit to the clinic. A phased treatment regimen depending on the severity of FMS as well as preferences and comorbidities of the patient is the best approach to tailored patient management. Disclosure of Interest : None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.1405


Abstract The reliable detection of paraprotein in serum and urine is the primary purpose of electrophoretic procedures in clinical laboratories. Screening immunofixation electrophoresis (sIFE) employs a single application of antisera directed against heavy and light chains that facilitates the detection of paraproteins that migrate in the non-γ region or that are below the detection limit of protein electrophoresis. These paraproteins that are missed by routine electrophoresis occur in up to 27.3% of newly investigated and 13.6% of monitored patients. Small paraproteins missed by conventional electrophoretic techniques are clinically important in the diagnosis and monitoring of malignant plasma and B-cell disorders. The superior diagnostic performance of sIFE makes it suitable as the initial laboratory procedure to investigate paraproteins in complex serum and urine matrices.


The PI3K/AKT pathway plays a central role in regulating cellular growth and survival. This pathway is activated by signals derived from various receptors and is tightly regulated through the action of several phosphatases, including SHIP and PTEN, which hydrolyze the PI3K product PIP3, and the recently identified PHLPP, which directly dephosphorylates AKT. Hyperactivation of the PI3K/AKT pathway has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many types of cancer, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and B-cell lymphoma. In addition, gene expression profiling and real-time RT/PCR analysis have recently shown differential expression of PHLPP mRNA in CLL subsets classified according to the presence of the 13q14 abnormality, with many CLL cases demonstrating absent PHLPP expression altogether. These findings prompted us to compare the levels of PHLPP expression in primary CLL B-cells (n=17) with normal tonsillar B-cells (n=4) and various lymphoma cell lines, including the diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL) DHL-4, DHL-6, DHL-8, DHL-10, WSU, Toledo, Ly1, Ly3, Ly7 and Ly18, the Burkitt's lymphoma BJAB and the prolymphocytic leukemia MEC1. Immunoblotting analysis revealed abundant and uniform expression of PHLPP in normal B-cells and in 7 out of 12 investigated lymphoma cell lines. Higher levels were observed in the BJAB, Ly1 and Ly18 cell lines, whereas PHLPP was undetectable in the DLBCL cell lines WSU and Toledo. Remarkably, PHLPP was either not expressed or was expressed at markedly reduced levels in all of the investigated CLL samples, with levels of expression ranging from 0 to 10% of the levels in normal B-cells. In contrast, the levels of expression of the phosphatase SHIP were relatively similar between CLL and normal B-cells. To determine what are the consequences of reduced PHLPP expression on signaling through AKT in malignant B-lymphocytes, we downregulated PHLPP in BJAB and DHL-4 cells by RNA interference. A significant reduction in the levels of PHLPP was achieved in both cell lines, which amounted to 20–40% of the levels in cells transfected with the control siRNA. Immunoblotting analysis of protein extracts from cells transfected with PHLPP and control siRNA did not show a difference in AKT phosphorylation on Ser473 and Thr308, indicating that a reduction in PHLPP expression is not sufficient to augment basal AKT activity. To determine the effects of PHLPP downregulation on agonist-induced AKT activation, we investigated phosphorylation on Ser473 and Thr308 in BJAB and DHL-4 cells stimulated through the B-cell receptor. In both cell lines downregulation of PHLPP resulted in more than a 50% increase in BCR-induced AKT phosphorylation. In contrast, phosphorylation of other signaling molecules that are also activated by BCR crosslinking, such as PLCγ2 and ERK, appeared unaffected by PHLPP downregulation. These data confirm the functional relevance of PHLPP in AKT regulation in B-lymphoid cells and implicate reduced or absent PHLPP expression in CLL B-cells as a potential determinant of BCR-induced AKT signaling in CLL.


Nowadays developments are things that will occur in an area, such as in the Sidem Beach of Tulungagung. This development has caused population growth to increase, increasing community needs will increase as it is bent on land use and also a mismatch between land use and its designation plan. This phenomenon caused changes in land use such as the seashore used for fishing settlement and that design area is not in accordance with the function. This problem has an impact on the narrowing of tourist areas on the coast, irregular parking locations and lack of clarity of access to coastal areas and surrounding areas. The study begins with an understanding relating to research that is about the urban design especially those located in coastal areas. This study uses description and triangulation analysis. This function is to obtain the truth of information and a complete picture of certain information. The researcher will use a semi-structured interview method with stakeholders and observation in actual data collection to improve the process of formulating specific criteria. The results of this study are designs with 10 aspects which are divided into two subjects, that is connectivity and land use with zoning, regional circulation, landscape arrangement, materials, and building integration. This is to solve the problem and to protect the environment from the destruction of assets that become the foundation of coastal tourism.


Video games are a wonderful way to pass the time. When done in moderation, they can lead to increased hand-eye coordination, higher critical thinking skills, and can even expand social circles. Online video games, however, are a modern parent's worst nightmare. Multiplayer video games with an ESRB rating of Teen or even Everyone can easily turn out to have Mature situations because of one simple reason: players must interact with total strangers in order to enjoy the game. Toxic environments are generated through a combination of relying on ELO for player self-identification and various scenarios created by problem players. Although competitive video games can be directly related to sports in many cases, including issues with problem players, the same deterrents and punishments may not be applicable.


It is advisable to plan the treatment of every patient according to his clinical and eventually biological data, in order to enhance the efficacy and to lessen the risks of rehydration. This paper begins with a brief review of physiological data and clinical symptoms which make the basis to evaluate the needs of each patient in water and electrolytes. The second part gives some rules of management of the parenteral rehydration, depending on the degree and the type of fluid disturbance either hyper, or iso or hyponatraemic dehydration.


Recent motion-capture measurements of violin bowing revealed an interesting coordination behavior in fast repetitive bowing patterns involving bow changes and string crossings; bow changes were consistently lagging behind string crossings, and the relative timing appeared to be an integral part of the bow-movement patterns. The aim of the current study was to investigate if there might be a perceptual explanation for the observed coordination behavior. For this purpose a virtual violin was used, controlled by simulated bowing gestures. A simplified coordination model is presented, which was implemented to allow real-time control of complex bowing patterns. This synthesis approach was employed in a perceptual experiment in which the participants were asked to optimize the sound by adjusting a slider controlling the main coordination parameters. It was found that the resulting coordination patterns were similar to those observed in performance, implying that complex bowing trajectories for an important part emerge from auditory-motor interaction. Further analysis of the responses shed light on temporal and spatial constraints of the simulated gestures associated with the note transitions. The results raise interesting questions with regard to auditory-motor interaction in complex instrumental control gestures.


Initiation of translation at the correct position on messenger RNA is essential for accurate protein synthesis. In prokaryotes, this process requires three initiation factors: IF1, IF2, and IF3. Here we report the crystal structure of a complex of IF1 and the 30S ribosomal subunit. Binding of IF1 occludes the ribosomal A site and flips out the functionally important bases A1492 and A1493 from helix 44 of 16S RNA, burying them in pockets in IF1. The binding of IF1 causes long-range changes in the conformation of H44 and leads to movement of the domains of 30S with respect to each other. The structure explains how localized changes at the ribosomal A site lead to global alterations in the conformation of the 30S subunit.


In order to obtain higher productivity under unmanned operations in end milling, a reliable technique for process monitoring and control is required. This paper presents a monitoring method of cutting forces by using high-accuracy displacement sensors installed in a spindle of a machining center. Its estimation performance is experimentally investigated by machining tests on carbon steel under different cutting conditions. It is found that the estimation error is caused mainly by the drift in the displacement sensor output. With its compensation scheme implemented, the experimental result shows that the monitoring of small and medium scale cutting forces is possible, if cutting process is intermittent.


Uniformly coated particles were obtained when dispersions of colloidal ellipsoidal hematite in manganese(II) 2,4-pentanedionate (MP), manganese(II) methoxide (MMO), and manganese sulfate/urea (MSU) solutions were aged under optimum experimental conditions. The shell formed in the hematite-MP system was amorphous, while those prepared with the other two manganese compounds were identified as crystalline MnO/MnO2 and MnCO3, respectively. On calcination at 750°C, amorphous and MnCO3 coatings converted to Mn2O3, whereas MnO/MnO2 acquired only higher crystallinity without significant change in the morphological features of the particles. Electrophoretic measurements indicated that in all cases, shells significantly decreased the isoelectric point as compared to bare cores. The aging of the coating solutions of MP, MMO, and MSU in the absence of hematite resulted in uniform dispersed particles of Mn3O4/Mn2O3, MnO/MnO2, and MnCO3, respectively. On treating Mn3O4/Mn2O3 dispersions with a 30% solution of H2O2 for 72 h, partial oxidation to Mn2O3/MnO2 took place with simultaneous aggregation of the original particles to much larger spheres of narrow size distribution.


Class Ascetosporea (Rhizaria; Endomyxa) comprises many parasites of invertebrates. Within this group, recent group‐specific environmental DNA (eDNA) studies have contributed to the establishment of the new order Mikrocytida, a new phylogeny and characterization of Paramyxida, and illuminated the diversity and distribution of haplosporidians. Here, we use general and lineage‐specific PCR primers to investigate the phylogenetic "gap" between haplosporidians and their closest known free‐living relatives, the testate amoeba Gromia and reticulate amoeba Filoreta. Within this gap are Paradinium spp. parasites of copepods, which we show to be highly diverse and widely distributed in planktonic and benthic samples. We reveal a robustly supported radiation of parasites, ENDO‐3, comprised of Paradinium and three further clades (ENDO‐3a, ENDO‐3b and SPP). A further environmental group, ENDO‐2, perhaps comprising several clades, branches between this radiation and the free‐living amoebae. Early diverging haplosporidians were also amplified, often associated with bivalves or deep‐sea samples. The general primer approach amplified an overlapping set of novel lineages within ENDO‐3 and Haplosporida, whereas the group‐specific primer strategy, targeted to amplify from the earliest known divergent haplosporidians to Gromia, generated greater sequence diversity across part of this phylogenetic range.


HLA-C gene products are the most poorly understood of the HLA class I molecules because they express at low level on the cell surface compared to HLA-A and -B. However, recent evidence shows that HLA-C molecules are functionally competent in eliciting T-cell responses and in controlling NK-cell recognition. Approximately 20 to 50% of HLA-C alleles type "blank" in most populations. To provide a better definition of the HLA-C alleles, we analyzed 98 extensively characterized B-cell lines from the 10th International Histocompatibility Workshop. Selective HLA-C-specific DNA amplification of exons 2 and 3 from DNA prepared from the cell panel was achieved with the use of two sets of locus-specific primers. We used 64 sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes (SSOPs) complementary to variable sites in exons 2 and 3 to generate hybridization patterns. Twenty-five alleles were found among these patterns, including seven new alleles in the homozygous cell lines and seven potential new alleles in heterozygous cell lines. Differences between the new alleles and known alleles were generally small. Five major groups were identified in the Cw "blank" cells by the SSOP patterns. In addition, linkage between HLA-B specificities and HLA-C alleles was similar to previous observations. The present study demonstrated that SSOP typing was effective in identifying new alleles in homozygous typing cells but not in the heterozygous cells. Also, DNA typing can facilitate the identification of all HLA-C alleles, including those that serologically type as blanks. The HLA-C locus may be more polymorphic than was previously recognized.


Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs) have received a great deal of attention from the wireless communication community due to their powerful ability to improve the wireless communication environment. Dual-band RIS enables aperture to share two bands, improving spectrum utilization in wireless communications and thus expanding communication capacity. However, most of the reported dual-band RISs cannot achieve independent controls of the dual-band phases, which greatly limits their practical application in wireless communications. In this paper, we propose a dual-band 3-bit RIS to achieve independent controls of the reflection phases in two frequency bands by designing two tunable structures without raising the profile. It also exhibits low sensitivity to incident angles between 0° and 50°. Thereafter, the beam steering ability of the proposed RIS is further investigated with experiments under normal and oblique incidences at two frequencies, which demonstrates the powerful potential of RISs to manipulate the electromagnetic wave propagation environment.


Objectives
 The relationship between visual function and social determinants of health in pediatric ophthalmology patients is unclear. Our study evaluated the feasibility of screening for social determinants of health in ophthalmology clinics, assess the prevalence of these risk factors, and to clarify the relationship between social determinants of health and visual function.
Methods
 An institution approved survey on social determinants of health risk factors was completed by 145 patients from five pediatric ophthalmology outpatient clinics in British Columbia. Medical charts of survey participants were reviewed to determine diagnoses and level of visual function. Descriptive statistics, univariate, and multivariate analysis were performed.
Results
 Socioeconomic risk factors were present in all pediatric ophthalmology settings. 56% (n=81) of participants reported having at least one risk factor. Characteristics of poverty, including annual household income, size of support network, adverse childhood experiences, and level of parental education, were not associated with level of visual function. Food insecurity, housing instability, low income, and lack of social support were all associated with a higher adverse event scores (p<0.05). Patients who experienced food insecurity were more likely (OR 7.14, 95% CI 1.47-38.44) to have an adverse childhood experience score of four or more compared to patients who did not have any risk factors.
Conclusions
 Our study found no relationship between the level of visual function and social determinants of health risk factors. Given that all pediatric ophthalmology populations experience socioeconomic poverty, the need to establish social screening and social work support is pertinent in all pediatric ophthalmology clinics.


PURPOSE
To study the effect of number of pinholes for a novel Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) system for onboard molecular and functional imaging.

METHODS
Comparison studies were performed using simulation for the 49-pinhole SPECT system and a series of reductions in number of pinholes. Trajectories about the breast of a supine patient were considered. Minimum distances, radii of rotation (RORs), were determined by requirements to fully view the region of interest (ROI) and to avoid collision between the detector and the patient. Reductions in RORs translate into improvements in sensitivity. Starting from the 49-pinhole system, pinholes were removed pod by pod. The furthest two end pods in the Sup-Inf direction were removed first for their higher likelihood of alleviating the collision avoidance criteria. After iterating through different combinations of pinhole pods, and selecting three combinations, the corresponding RORs were used to analytically calculate sensitivities.

RESULTS
Based on the Methods procedure, 3 combination of pods removal were identified: 1) Superior peripheral pod 2) Inferior peripheral pod 3) both pods. RORs were reduced at only one multi-pinhole stop. Analytic calculation showed that sensitivities were reduced from 0.032 for the 49-pinhole system to 0.028 for 42-pinhole and to 0.023 for 39-pinhole system respectively. The sensitivity per pinhole detector was approximately the same for all three cases.

CONCLUSION
For the trajectories considered, only minimal improvements in RORs were identified by removing pinhole pods. Consequently, sensitivities decreased in proportion to the number of pinholes. Studies of other anatomical sites are needed to determine if in some cases sensitivity per pinhole can be improved by removing some pinholes. PHS/NIH/NCI grant R21-CA156390-01A1.


This research project was conducted to study the possibility of using calcite powder as a calcium supplement for livestock feeding. Samples of calcite powder procured from different parts of India were analyzed for dry matter (DM), total ash, acid insoluble ash and major and trace minerals using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer followed by determination of ruminal solubility of calcium carbonate, calcite, dolomite, lime stone powder and di-calcium phosphate powder as source of calcium. The results showed that samples of calcite powder procured from different parts of India, varied in Ca content (%) from 39.0 to 41.3 with an average of 40.03 ± 0.27%. These values were comparable to the Ca content of calcium carbonate samples (39.17 ± 0.3%). However, P and Mg contents of calcite powder were higher than that of calcium carbonate. Mn content of both the calcium sources was similar, but Cu and Zn contents of calcite powder were higher than in calcium carbonate. Levels of toxic minerals like lead and cadmium were lower in calcite powder than in calcium carbonate but the fluorine content in the later was lower than in calcite powder indicating that calcite powder has the potential to be used as a source of calcium in the animal ration. Solubility of the calcium sources studied was low at pH 7 and ranged from 1.74 ± 1.36 in Dolomite to 2.94 ± 0.95 percent in Dicalcium phosphate (DCP). Reducing the pH of the ruminal buffer at 6 increased their solubility and the pattern was almost similar to that recorded at pH 7. Further reduction of pH of ruminal buffer to 2.5, increased their solubility significantly (up to 72.63%), however, Ca solubility of calcium carbonate and dolomite was lower than other calcium supplements. It was concluded that calcite and lime stone powders may be good source of Ca under the conditions when ruminal pH is towards lower side.


The reliability and proper function of data-driven applications hinge on the data's continued conformance to the applications' initial design. When data deviates from this initial profile, system behavior becomes unpredictable. Data profiling techniques such as functional dependencies and denial constraints encode patterns in the data that can be used to detect deviations. But traditional methods typically focus on exact constraints and categorical attributes, and are ill-suited for tasks such as determining whether the prediction of a machine learning system can be trusted or for quantifying data drift. In this paper, we introduce data invariants, a new data-profiling primitive that models arithmetic relationships involving multiple numerical attributes within a (noisy) dataset and which complements the existing data-profiling techniques. We propose a quantitative semantics to measure the degree of violation of a data invariant, and establish that strong data invariants can be constructed from observations with low variance on the given dataset. A concrete instance of this principle gives the surprising result that low-variance components of a principal component analysis (PCA), which are usually discarded, generate better invariants than the high-variance components. We demonstrate the value of data invariants on two applications: trusted machine learning and data drift. We empirically show that data invariants can (1) reliably detect tuples on which the prediction of a machine-learned model should not be trusted, and (2) quantify data drift more accurately than the state-of-the-art methods. Additionally, we show four case studies where an intervention-centric explanation tool uses data invariants to explain causes for tuple non-conformance.


We consider mixed-integer linear programs where free integer variables are expressed in terms of nonnegative continuous variables. When this model only has two integer variables, Dey and Louveaux characterized the intersection cuts that have infinite split rank. We show that, for any number of integer variables, the split rank of an intersection cut generated from a rational lattice-free polytope L is finite if and only if the integer points on the boundary of L satisfy a certain "2-hyperplane property." The Dey--Louveaux characterization is a consequence of this more general result.


Considering the nodes with different anti-attack abilities in scale-free networks,we investigated the probabilistic behaviors of malware propagation in scale-free complex networks. Using the cellular automata,we proposed a model of malware propagation in complex networks with the nodes having different anti-attack abilities. In particular,a vulnerability function related to node's degree is firstly introduced into the model to describe the different anti-attack abilities of nodes. Then,the epidemic threshold and time evolution of malware propagation are investigated through analysis and simulation for the various vulnerability functions. The results show that different anti-attack abilities of nodes can produce significant effects on the behaviors of propagation. For example,different anti-attack abilities of nodes can change the value of epidemic propagation,and slow down the spreading speed of malware. Finally,it is pointed out that the vulnerability function is very important for adopting appropriate immunization strategies to control the malware propagation.


Background A role for type I interferon (IFN) activity is suggested in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). While the mechanism of induction of the IFN activity in SLE is rather known, this remains to be determined for RA. This study aims to characterise the source of IFN activity in RA serum. Methods Healthy PBMCs were exposed to serum from RA (n = 18) or SLE (n = 25) patients. IFNα protein production was measured in an immunoassay after 20 h incubation with 5% patient serum. Samples were also co-cultured with apoptotic or necrotic cell material, as this has proven to enhance IFNα production by SLE serum. Moreover, expression of IFN response genes (IRGs), IFNα and IFNβ mRNA was determined by qPCR after 4 h and 8 h incubation with 25% patient serum. To study the involvement of new protein synthesis, part of the samples was co-cultured with 2 µg/ml cycloheximide. All cultures were performed with healthy donor serum (NHS) as a negative control. Results As expected, SLE serum induces more IFNα protein production compared to NHS (p = 0.0006). This increases even further in the presence of dead cell material. RA serum does not show more IFNα protein inducing activity than NHS, although a small, nonsignificant increase was observed in the absence of dead cell material. With respect to IRG induction, both RA and SLE sera induced higher levels compared to NHS. SLE serum showed IRG induction at 4 h, which remained high after 8 h. The IRG induction at 8 h was not decreased by CHX treatment, indicating that it occurs independently of new protein synthesis, supporting a proposed direct effect by IFNα. RA serum induced IRG induction only after 8 h, which was inhibited upon CHX treatment, suggesting an indirect induction process. The IRG induction by RA serum was positively correlated with IFNβ mRNA induction at 4 h and 8 h (p = 0.0023 and p = 0.0130, respectively), but not with IFNα mRNA induction. Conclusions Altogether, these results indicate different mechanisms underlying the induction of type I IFN activity between SLE and RA.


Zinc is a constituent of enzymes such as alkaline phosphatase and is an essential trace element involved in bone formation. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of low levels of zinc intake on bone density and the area of cortical and trabecular bone in rat mandibles during the growth stage with peripheral quantitative computed tomography. The cartilaginous ossification in the femur was also measured. In the mandible, the low-zinc group showed significantly lower trabecular bone density compared with the control group, whereas the zinc-deficient group showed significantly lower levels of cortical bone density and trabecular bone density in the area. On the other hand, in the femur, both the zinc-deficient group and the low-zinc group showed a significantly lower value in cortical bone density and trabeculae bone density when compared with those of the control group. Moreover, the area of cortical bone and trabecular bone in the zinc-deficient group showed significantly lower values than those of the control group, whereas the low-zinc group only showed a significantly lower area of cortical bone than that of the control group. These results suggested that changes in zinc intake might exert an effect on the osseous tissue of the mandible and femur, and the femur was more sensitive to change of dietary zinc content than mandibles.


Context and Method in Australian Law takes an innovative approach to introductory teaching and learning for first year law students. The approach is based on inquiry-guided learning and emphasises higher-order, creative and critical thinking skills because these transferrable skills underpin student learning, legal analysis and future legal practice. Context and Method in Australian Law develops these fundamental, transferrable skills through a comprehensive and innovative coverage of the historical, institutional, analytical and statutory context of law in Australia. This title includes a chapter on legal research and legal writing contributed by Dr Narrelle Morris, a Senior Lecturer with Curtin Law School.


Our investigation observe and identify a correlation between the change in pH levels and dissolved oxygen based on the change in environmental temperature in the water in which our algal specimens grow. We started by creating three samples for each desired environmental temperature of 25°C and 37°C and measured the dissolved oxygen and pH level before placing them in an incubator, which had a constant light source, for four total weeks. We then recorded the dissolved oxygen and pH levels again in the following weeks. The results of our experiment indicate that there was a constant increase in pH levels, with an average difference of +0.90 and + 0.72 at the temperatures of 25°C and 37°C, respectively, while there was a decrease in dissolved oxygen in the water samples, with an average difference of -0.01 mg/L and -0.30 mg/L at the respective temperatures. The results of our experiment indicates that there is no direct effect of pH and dissolved oxygen on the growth of algae in a water environment but rather a collateral effect from the growth of algae in different temperatures.


The carriage rate of a range of virulence genes was compared between resident and transient Escherichia coli strains obtained from the rectal flora of 22 home-delivered Pakistani infants 0–6 months old. Genes for the following virulence factors were assessed using multiplex PCR: P, type 1 and S fimbriae, three P fimbrial adhesin varieties, Dr haemagglutinin, K1 and K5 capsule, haemolysin and aerobactin. The E. coli strains examined here differed from those previously obtained from hosts in Western Europe in a lower prevalence of genes for P, S and type 1 fimbriae, K1 capsule and haemolysin. Nevertheless, genes for P fimbriae, the class II variety of papG adhesin, and aerobactin were significantly more common among resident than transient strains, as previously observed in a Swedish study. The results suggest that P fimbriae and aerobactin, previously implicated as virulence factors for urinary tract infection, might contribute to persistence of E. coli in the normal intestinal microflora.


Cross-docking is a logistics management concept in which products are temporarily unloaded at intermediate facilities and loaded onto output trucks to be sent to their final destination. In this paper, we propose an approximate nonstationary queuing model to size the number of docks to receive the trucks, so that their unloading will be as short as possible at the receiving dock, thus making the cross-docking process more efficient. It is observed that the stochastic queuing process may not reach the steady equilibrium state. A type of modeling that does not depend on the stationary characteristics of the process developed is applied. In order to measure the efficiency, performance, and possible adjustments of the parameters of the algorithm, an alternative simulation model is proposed using the Arena® software. The simulation uses analytic tools to make the problem more detailed, which is not allowed in the theoretical model. The computational analysis compares the results of the simulated model with the ones obtained with the theoretical algorithm, considering the queue length and the average waiting time of the trucks. Based on the results obtained, the simulation represented very well the proposed problem and possible changes can be easily detected with small adjustments in the simulated model.


Anxiolytic drugs are a class of drugs that reduce the anxiety levels in the individuals by nonspecifically binding to the GABAα located throughout the central nervous system. The aim of this study was to compare the anxiolytic effects of diazepam and Zolpidem in patients undergoing extraction. This was a cross-sectional study conducted at a university setting, with a sample size of 100 patients, of the age group 25-45 years. 50 patients were administered with Tab. Diazepam and 50 patients with Tab. Zolpidem one hour before the surgical procedure. The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A Scale) was used to record the patient's anxiety levels before and during the extraction procedure. These data were then recorded in MS Excel Sheet and imported to SPSS for statistical analysis. From this study, it can be seen that most of the patients were females and mainly between the age group 25-35 years. Diazepam had significantly lesser post sedation anxiety levels in comparison with its post sedation levels than zolpidem with, a statistically significant difference (p<0.001). Therefore, it can be concluded that diazepam had better post sedation effects than zolpidem in patients undergoing extraction as patients presented with lesser severity in their anxiety levels. Original Research Article Deepak et al.; JPRI, 32(18): 178-187, 2020; Article no.JPRI.59810 179


The Closterium peracerosum–strigosum–littorale (C. psl.) complex is the best characterized charophycean alga with respect to the processes of sexual reproduction. We examined the effect of concanavalin A (Con A) on physiological and ultrastructural changes during the conjugation of the C. psl. complex. Two heterothallic gametangial cells formed a sexual pair as usual; however, the release of gametes was completely blocked by the addition of Con A. Fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled Con A bound to the outermost layer of the conjugation papillae of paired cells. In the absence of Con A, the disruption of outer cell walls on the conjugation papillae and the secretion of fibrous materials from the conjugation papillae were observed using a transmission electron microscope, but Con A-treated cells did not show these changes. Instead, a highly electron-dense layer was observed in the outermost papillae, and the excess fibrous materials remained at the inside of the layer. These results suggest that an unknown molecule(s) recognized by Con A is essential for the diffusion of fibrous materials at the conjugation papillae, which is an indispensable step for gamete release during conjugation of the C. psl. complex.


This study investigated the role of nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide anions in modulating the renal nerve‐dependent increases in proximal tubular fluid reabsorption (Jva). Renal nerve stimulation at 0.75 and 1.0 Hz (15 V, 0.2 ms) in anaesthetized Wistar rats had no effect on glomerular filtration rate but decreased urine flow and sodium excretion in a frequency‐related manner, reaching 39 and 49% at 1.0 Hz, respectively (P < 0.01) and increased Jva by 11 and 31% (P < 0.01). In the stroke prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP), basal mean blood pressure was higher (123 ± 2 versus 99 ± 2 mmHg, P < 0.001), glomerular filtration rate, urine flow, sodium excretion and proximal tubular fluid reabsorption (Jva) were lower (all P < 0.001) than in the Wistar rats. Renal nerve stimulation in the SHRSP did not change glomerular filtration rate but decreased urine flow, and sodium excretion by 18 and 34% (P < 0.05) at 1.0 Hz which was less (P < 0.05) than that in the Wistar rats. Under these conditions, Jva was increased at 0.75 Hz by 27%, and to a comparable extent at 1.0 Hz, which was a pattern very different from the frequency related rises reported in the Wistar rats. In the SHRSP, intratubular Nω‐nitro‐L‐arginine methyl ester (L‐NAME) had no effect on baseline Jva or the pattern of response to renal nerve stimulation which contrasted with earlier reports in the Wistar rat. Intraluminal superoxide dismutase (SOD) had no effect on basal Jva in the Wistar rats but increased it in the SHRSP (P < 0.05) while the pattern of change in Jva during nerve stimulation was unaltered in both rat strains. By contrast, in the SHRSP, intraluminal sodium nitroprusside (SNP) resulted in a frequency related increase in Jva comparable to that obtained in the vehicle treated Wistar rats. These data suggest that in the hypertensive rats, superoxide anion production is raised which depresses Jva and interacts with NO preventing a normal Jva response to renal nerve stimulation.


Determining the properties of mutations is fundamental to understanding the mechanisms of adaptive evolution. The major goal of this thesis is to investigate the mechanisms of bacterial adaptation to new environments using experimental evolution. Different types of mutations were under investigations with a particular focus on genome rearrangements. Adaptive evolution experiments were focused on the development of bacterial resistance to antibiotics.In paper I, we performed stochastic simulations to examine the role of gene amplification in promoting the establishment of new gene functions. The results show that gene amplification can contribute to creation of new gene functions in nature. In paper II, the evolution of β-lactam resistance was studied by evolving S. typhimurium carrying a β-lactamase gene towards increased resistance against cephalosporins. Our results suggest that gene amplification is likely to provide an immediate solution at the early stage of adaptive evolution and subsequently facilitate further stable adaptation. In paper III, we isolated spontaneous deletion mutants with increased competitive fitness, which indicated that genome reduction could be driven by selection. To test this hypothesis, independent lineages of wild type S. typhimurium were serially passaged for 1000 generations and we observed fixation of deletions that significantly increased bacterial fitness when reconstructed in wild type genetic background. In paper IV, we developed a new strategy combining 454 pyrosequencing technology and a 'split mapping' computational method to identify unique junction sequences formed by spontaneous genome rearrangements. A high steady-state frequency of rearrangements in unselected bacterial populations was suggested from our results. In paper V, the rates, mechanisms and fitness effects of colistin resistance in S. typhimurium were determined. The high mutation rate and low fitness costs suggest that colistin resistance could develop in clinical settings. In paper VI, a novel Metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) with low resistance against β-lactam antibiotics was employed as the ancestral protein in a directed evolution experiment to examine how an enzyme evolves towards increased resistance. For most isolated mutants, in spite of their significantly increased resistance, both mRNA and protein levels were decreased as compared with the parental protein, suggesting that the catalytic activity had increased.


Purpose: to study the features of eye hydrodynamics in patients with thyroid dysfunctions. Patients and methods . The material for this study was the results of a survey of 43 patients (86 eyes) with thyroid dysfunctions: 23 people (46 eyes) with primary untreated hypothyroidism (PGT) and 20 people (40 eyes) with primary untreated thyrotoxicosis (PTT). There weren't ophthalmic hypertension and glaucoma There weren't signs of ophthalmic hypertension and glaucoma in the patients included in this study at the stage of primary ophthalmologic diagnostics. Results . Correlation analysis revealed a causal relationship between the ratio of T4 / TSH hormones, on the one hand, and indicators of secretion of aqueous humor per unit of time and ease of outflow, on the other hand. In the group of patients with hypothyroidism, a weak linear inverse correlation was found between the ratio of free thyroxine and thyroid stimulating hormone and the minute volume of aqueous humor: according to the regression model, an increase in the ratio of T4 / TSH hormones by 1 was accompanied by a decrease in the minute volume of aqueous humor by 3 units. In patients with thyrotoxicosis, a statistically significant inverse linear correlation was found between the ratio of the T4 / TSH hormones and the coefficient of ease of outflow. According to the regression model, with an increase in the ratio of hormones T4 / TSH by 1, the coefficient of lightness of outflow decreases by 5 units. The presence of thyroid receptors in the cytoplasm and nuclei of the endothelium cells of the trabecular apparatus, the nuclei of fibroblasts forming the stroma of the trabeculae, as well as in the nuclei of the pigment and non-pigment epithelium of the processes of the ciliary body substantiates the molecular basis of the causal connection of thyroid dysfunctions with hydrodynamic disorders The conducted studies confirm the modern concept that the control of regulation of the tissue and organ homeostasis is carried out by the coordinated interaction of 3 systems: nervous, endocrine, and immune. Regression modeling clearly shows a pronounced causal relationship between thyroid dysfunctions and hydrodynamic processes in the eye. Conclusion . The results of clinical studies demonstrate the fact of controlling regulation by hydrodynamic processes at the eye level by the endocrine system, explain the possible mechanism on a morphological basis, and reveal the potential of a new therapeutic strategy.


Many countries of the world are characterized by the use of two or more languages, and qualitative research is usually conducted in indigenous languages; however, bilingual facilitators often do not have any experience in research studies or in conducting focus group discussions. This article presents a 4-day skill-training workshop for local facilitators in which they learn the role of moderator, recorder, and observer and acquire research skills during role playing and during a pretest of the study population. Developed over several years of field experience, this technique has proven successful in collecting reliable data in situations when time is limited, when participants speak indigenous languages, and when bilingual facilitators have no background in research and lack focus group skills. The advantages of this training are that it is low cost and fast and permits a careful translation of the data. Moreover, because facilitators are involved in the collecting and analyzing of the data, their input provides the investigator with a valuable understanding of the findings from an emic perspective.