OBJECTIVE
To explore the increasing effect of blocking Chk1 and /or Chk2 gene by Chk1 or Chk2-specific antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (AsODN) on apoptosis in HeLa cell line after irradiation and its mechanism of action.

METHODS
Asynchronized HeLa cells were exposed to (60)Co-irradiation at different dosage to activate G(2)/M checkpoint arrest. The cell cycle profiles were observed in HeLa cells after irradiation at a range of various doses and different time points by flow cytometry. In the experimental groups, Chk1/2 sODN and AsODN alone or in combination were transfected into HeLa cells, and the cells were exposed to (60)Co-irradiation at 24 h after transfection. The changes of Chk1/2 protein expression were assayed by Western blot and confocal laser scanning microscopy (Confocal), and the cell cycles, apoptosis rates and cell cycle specific apoptosis were detected by annexin V-PI labeling and flow cytometry.

RESULTS
Apoptotic response was significantly increased in the Hela cells after G(2)/M arrest and was inversed to activation of G(2)/M checkpoint. Either Chk1 or Chk2-specific AsODN consistently enhanced DNA damage-induced apoptosis by 90% approximately 120%, compared to corresponding sODN control (P < 0.05). Unexpectedly, combined use of Chk1- and Chk2-specific AsODN did not produce synergistic effect as compared to treatment with Chk1- or Chk2-specific AsODN alone (P > 0.05). While irradiated HeLa cells underwent apoptosis preferentially in G(1)-phase, apoptosis occurred in either of G(1)-, S- or G(2)/M -phase in the presence of Chk1 and/or Chk2 AsODN.

CONCLUSION
The radioresistance is mainly induced by activating the cell cycle checkpoint signal transduction pathway after irradiation, and abrogating of the key effector Chk1 and Chk2 may increase the apoptotic sensitivity to irradiation due to changes of the pattern of cell cycle specific apoptosis.


>The Significance of Fear in Personality Development<: Fear is a part of life, of the developmental curve followed by human life. When it takes a concrete form, as specific fears, it indicates a threat to human life and launches survival strategies. Rainer Funk shows that without facing down fear there can be no human development. But fear is also a primary feature of psychic ailments. By means of case studies, Hans Hufnagel elucidates the full spectrum of fear-related ailments and goes on to show how pathologies in the capacity for objective relationships by those afflicted are at the root of phobic and fear-rooted neurotic ailments.


The rhodium dicarbonyl {PhB(OxMe2)2ImMes}Rh(CO)2 (1) and primary silanes react by oxidative addition of a nonpolar Si-H bond and, uniquely, a thermal dissociation of CO. These reactions are reversible, and kinetic measurements model the approach to equilibrium. Thus, 1 and RSiH3 react by oxidative addition at room temperature in the dark, even in CO-saturated solutions. The oxidative addition reaction is first-order in both 1 and RSiH3, with rate constants for oxidative addition of PhSiH3 and PhSiD3 revealing kH/ kD ∼ 1. The reverse reaction, reductive elimination of Si-H from {PhB(OxMe2)2ImMes}RhH(SiH2R)CO (2), is also first-order in [2] and depends on [CO]. The equilibrium concentrations, determined over a 30 °C temperature range, provide Δ H ° = -5.5 ± 0.2 kcal/mol and Δ S ° = -16 ± 1 cal·mol-1K-1 (for 1 ⇄ 2). The rate laws and activation parameters for oxidative addition (Δ H⧧ = 11 ± 1 kcal·mol-1 and Δ S⧧ = -26 ± 3 cal·mol-1·K-1) and reductive elimination (Δ H⧧ = 17 ± 1 kcal·mol-1 and Δ S⧧ = -10 ± 3 cal·mol-1K-1), particularly the negative activation entropy for both forward and reverse reactions, suggest the transition state of the rate-determining step contains {PhB(OxMe2)2ImMes}Rh(CO)2 and RSiH3. Comparison of a series of primary silanes reveals that oxidative addition of arylsilanes is ca. 5× faster than alkylsilanes, whereas reductive elimination of Rh-Si/Rh-H from alkylsilyl and arylsilyl rhodium(III) occurs with similar rate constants. Thus, the equilibrium constant Ke for oxidative addition of arylsilanes is >1, whereas reductive elimination is favored for alkylsilanes.


The reduction of the losses related to credit outstanding payment is very necessary in the micro finance institutions in general, and the SME of micro finance MIGEG* S.A in particular. Here, we carried out a study concerning the management of micro credits risk which result to losses due to non-refund. The method that was proposed in this study is that of the financial diagnosis which operates in two phases. The first phase involves the use of the data collected during the interview to analyze the morality of the customer (Phase 1), while the second phase involves the use of the financial and accounting quantitative data to analyze the financial health of the customer (Phase 2).The diagnosis method considered is that of Dupont which allows us to considerably reduce the percentage of credits outstanding payment. Consequently, it also helps to improve the company's funds. The proposed method will help the managers to detect the risks of application for credit. The bank will thus grant only the credit bonds related to the highest refunds. This, however, will further lead to the following results: For MIGEG S.A to be viable, it must insist on the ratio of the assets. This refers to the sales of the credits to promote refunds without risk. On the other hand, MIGEG S.A will insist on the ratio of the financial lever, debt and assets, in order to promote the prefinancing of the risk credits. Therefore, it will help to avoid credits related to the guarantees such as the land certificate, inheritance etc.


In this context, clinical trials of oestrogen therapy in climacteric depression should be judged on the precision of the psychiatric criteria employed. Estab lished diagnostic procedures for depressive illness should be used, for example, those outlined in DSM III—R(American Psychiatric Association, 1987). Furthermore, the severity of psychiatric morbidity and its response to any form of treatment needs to be assessed by standard psychiatric rating scales. At least in one study, which utilised the Beck Depression Rating Scale, no significant difference was demon strated between oestrogen (Premarin) and placebo (Campbell, 1976). On the other hand, Studd et a! quote one of their own papers (Montgomery et a!, 1987) on a placebo controlled study of the beneficial effect of oestradioi implants on depression, in a group of women attend ing their menopausal clinic. However, the measuring instrument for depression that they used was the SRD-30 (self-rating scale of distress; Keilner & Sheffield, 1973), which is little known to psycho pharmacology research workers. Whether or not it represents a valid measure of depressive illness is debatable, since the following items which would be considered indispensable in most psychiatric depression rating scales are missing: suicidal tendencies, retardation, loss of libido, somatic gas tric symptoms, weight loss, hypochondria, insight, and diurnal variation (although many believe the last named to be a diagnostic criterion rather than a measure of severity). These are all items to be found in the universally accepted Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), which is that most fre quently employed internationally for the measure ment of severity of depressive illness. The relief of menopausal misery has been revol utionised by the introduction of HRT, but it is not a universal panacea. When depression occurs at the menopause, whether idiopathic or iatrogenic, specific antidepressant drug therapy should not be spurned. As Studd et al(1990) have so rightly empha sised, there is a considerable need for properly controlled clinical trials with both hormones and antidepressants, or even a combination of both. DAVID WHEATLEY The Stress Clinic The Maudsley Hospital London SE5 8AZ


Background: Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion or insulin action, or both. Diabetes and its complications have become a major public health problem in the world and its prevention has become a public health priority. Hepcidin, a 25-amino-acid antimicrobial peptide, is the central regulator of iron homeostasis. Under normal circumstances, hepcidin expression and subsequent release into plasma prevents further absorption of iron from the duodenal enterocytes by preventing the efflux of iron by ferroportin channels, hence reduced amounts of iron delivery via transferrin to hepatocytes. In response to iron loading, hepcidin expression increased to prevent the further uptake of iron. Conversely, during iron deficiency, hepcidin expression decreased. Aim of the Study: Was to assess the possible changes of serum hepcidin that may occur in patients with type 2 diabetes. Objectives: Was to evaluate changes of serum hepcidin level in type 2 diabetes, assess possible relationships of serum hepcidin, iron status, hepcidin: Ferritin ratio and HOMA-IR in type 2 diabetes patients. Methods: This study consisted of randomized eighty subjects divided into four groups: Group 1: Included 20 patients with impaired glucose tolerance (pre-diabetes), Group 2: Included 20 patients with controlled diabetes, Group 3: 20 patients with uncontrolled diabetes, Group 4: Included 20 healthy volunteers. Results: Hepcidin: Ferritin ratio was statistically high in impaired glucose tolerance and low in uncontrolled diabetes with (p-value <0.001*) and normal in controlled diabetes and healthy volunteers. Significant negative correlation between hepcidin: ferritin ratio and HOMA-IR in impaired glucose tolerance with (p-value=0.009*) was found. Conclusion: Serum hepcidin affected by multiple factors so cannot be used for screening of type 2 diabetes. But hepcidin: Ferritin ratio could be a novel marker for early screening of patients with type 2 diabetes.


Abstract Introduction. Modern particle therapy facilities enable sub-millimeter precision in dose deposition. Here, also ionization chambers (ICs) are used, which requires knowledge of the recombination effects. Up to now, recombination is corrected using phenomenological approaches for practical reasons. In this study the effect of the underlying dose distribution on columnar recombination, a quantitative model for initial recombination, is investigated. Material and methods. Jaffé's theory, formulated in 1913 quantifies initial recombination by elemental processes, providing an analytical (closed) solution. Here, we investigate the effect of the underlying charged carrier distribution around a carbon ion track. The fundamental partial differential equation, formulated by Jaffé, is solved numerically taking into account more realistic charge carrier distributions by the use of a computer program (Gascoigne 3D). The investigated charge carrier distributions are based on track structure models, which follow a 1/r2 behavior at larger radii and show a constant value at small radii. The results of the calculations are compared to the initial formulation and to data obtained in experiments using carbon ion beams. Results. The comparison between the experimental data and the calculations shows that the initial approach made by Jaffé is able to reproduce the effects of initial recombination. The amorphous track structure based charge carrier distribution does not reproduce the experimental data well. A small additional correction in the assessment of the saturation current or charge is suggested by the data. Conclusion. The established model of columnar recombination reproduces the experimental data well, whereas the extensions using track structure models do not show such an agreement. Additionally, the effect of initial recombination on the saturation curve (i.e. Jaffé plot) does not follow a linear behavior as suggested by current dosimetry protocols, therefore higher order corrections (such as the investigated ones) might be necessary.


Flavonoids, one of the most-described group of plant "specialized metabolites", consist of more than 10,000 structurally diverse compounds. Most flavonoids accumulate in plant vacuoles as glycosides, with some released by the roots into rhizospheres. These flavonoids are involved in biological communications with rhizobia, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, pathogens, nematodes, and other plant species. Both aglycones and glycosides of flavonoids are found in root exudates and in soils. This review describes researches on the mechanisms of flavonoid secretion and the fate of flavonoids released into rhizospheres. This review also discusses the direction of future research that may elucidate the specific roles of flavonoids in biological communications in rhizospheres, enabling the utilization of flavonoid activities and functions in agricultural practice.


Background Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic autoimmune-related disease that causes inflammation of the intestine. Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a common extraintestinal complication of UC involving the sacroiliac joint. However, the pathogenesis of AS secondary to UC has not been studied. This study aimed to investigate the shared pathways and potential common biomarkers of UC and AS. Methods Microarray data downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database were used to screen differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the UC and AS datasets. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was performed to identify co-expression modules related to UC and AS. Shared genes were then further analyzed for functional pathway enrichment. Next, the optimal common biomarker was selected using SVM-RFF and further validated using two independent GEO datasets. Finally, immune infiltration analysis was used to investigate the correlation of immune cell infiltration with common biomarkers in UC and AS. Results A total of 4428 and 2438 DEGs in UC and AS, respectively, were screened. Four modules were identified as significant for UC and AS using WGCNA. A total of 25 genes overlapped with the strongest positive and negative modules of UC and AS. KEGG analysis showed these genes may be involved in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. GO analysis indicated that these genes were significantly enriched for RNA localization. PAN3 was selected as the optimal common biomarker for UC and AS. Immune infiltration analysis showed that the expression of PAN3 was correlated with changes in immune cells. Conclusion This study first explored the common pathways and genetic diagnostic markers involved in UC and AS using bioinformatic analysis. Results suggest that the MAPK signaling pathway may be associated with both pathogeneses and that PAN3 may be a potential diagnostic marker for patients with UC complicated by AS.


A Taylor rule captures the historical behavior of the federal funds rate better when it also includes a partial-adjustment factor. Typically, the type of partial adjustment added is consistent with the FOMC avoiding large jumps in the level of the funds rate. We add another type of partial adjustment—consistent with the FOMC avoiding changes in the pace of change—and improve the rule's historical fit.


In this theoretical paper we are concerned with the problem of learning a value function by a smooth general function approximator, to solve a deterministic episodic control problem in a large continuous state space. It is shown that learning the gradient of the value-function at every point along a trajectory generated by a greedy policy is a sufficient condition for the trajectory to be locally extremal, and often locally optimal, and we argue that this brings greater efficiency to value-function learning. This contrasts to traditional value-function learning in which the value-function must be learnt over the whole of state space. It is also proven that policy-gradient learning applied to a greedy policy on a value-function produces a weight update equivalent to a value-gradient weight update, which provides a surprising connection between these two alternative paradigms of reinforcement learning, and a convergence proof for control problems with a value function represented by a general smooth function approximator.


We show that a spacelike surface with zero mean curvature in a Lorentzian 4-manifold satisfying the null convergence condition is locally a stable minimum for the area functional when compared with nearby surfaces having isotropic (null) mean curvature vector.


Background: Oesophageal cancer is the most common malignancy encountered in South African males, especially in the Eastern Cape and surrounding region of South Africa. There are a number of risk factors and predisposing conditions that have been implicated in the aetiology of the disease. The tylosis oesophageal cancer (TOC) gene, localised to a small region on chromosome 17q25, has been shown to be associated with oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Aim: To investigate loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and microsatellite instability (MSI) in the region of the TOC locus. Methods: In 74 oesophagectomy specimens for squamous cell carcinoma, microsatellite PCR was performed using five fluorescently labelled TOC markers. The PCR products were analysed and the data correlated with clinicopathological findings. Results: LOH ranged from 25% to 60%. LOH for the individual markers was as follows: D17S1839, 25%; D17S1864, 36%; D17S1817, 38%; D17S785, 47.8%; and D17S579, 60%. MSI ranged from 4.1% to 6.8% for the five loci in the 17q region. MSI was 4.1% for the markers D17S579, D17S785 and D17S1817. Marker D17S1864 showed MSI to occur in 4 cases (5.4%) and marker D17S1839 in 5 cases (6.8%). Conclusion: No significant relationship between genetic and clinical parameters was observed; however, aberrations in poorly differentiated tumours were high for markers D17S579 and D17S1864 (25% and 37%, respectively), indicating that these markers may have an underlying role in the molecular pathogenesis of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma. In addition, 63% of patients who died showed LOH for the markers D17S579, D17S1864 and D17S1817.


Interactions between water and flavour molecules have been widely studied and are characterized by the hydrophobicity and volatility. The influence of different types of sugar should be known in case of they are part fromthematerial. Flavour release fromcomplex foodmatrices is difficult to predict and solubility data would be helpful. Thus, interactions between flavour molecules and other compounds are often investigated in binary and ternarymodel systems (e.g., water, flavour compounds, carbohydrates) to characterize specific release mechanisms. In this paper, the solubility of butyl acetate from pure water and various low-viscosity aqueous solutions (D-Sucrose, D-Glucose, D-Fructose), at 10-30 gL-1, was investigated. Static isothermal method was used and concentrations of the aroma or flavour compound at thermodynamic equilibrium were monitored by analyzing liquid samples using gaseous chromatography. Experiments were carried out at temperature range of 278.2 - 298.2 K. Flavour solubility frommixtures decreased with increasing temperature and decreased with molecular superficial area of the sugar compound. The flavour compound was retained more extensively in the presence of glucose agent, compared to in pure water, while an increase in the solubility was observed in presence of sucrose and fructose. All aqueous solutions had similar behavior as sugar concentration was increased, although it was expected that sugar molecular weight tended to have influences in the equilibriumconcentration.Acorrelation between temperature or sugar concentration and butyl acetate solubility in the low-viscosity solutions was evident.


The world and everything in it is comprised of cells. Cells can be defined as the smallest unit of life, as well as the building blocks to all living organisms. Though all cells have some similarities, there are two broad types into which they are categorized: eukaryotic and prokaryotic. All animal and plant cells are classified as eukaryotic cells , or cells that are composed of organelles surrounded by a cell membrane. The organelles that are bound by a membrane perform different functions within the cell. Prokaryotic cells are unicellular organisms that lack a membrane-bound nucleus and membrane-bound organelles, such as bacteria or archaea.


This analysis demonstrates that changing the assumptions used to develop emission inventories can confound attempts to show that a region is making progress toward attainment. Ambient carbon monoxide data and four different estimates of the regional emissions in the California South Coast Air Basin from 1990 through 1995 are used to estimate rollback relationships. Mixed models are specified to the ambient concentration data and estimated emissions, allowing the calculation of the expected increase in ambient concentration per ton of carbon monoxide emitted under each emissions inventory scenario. Statistically significant differences are found between rates of expected change in carbon monoxide concentration among the four scenarios tested. Existing guidance for conformity determinations is found to be insufficient.


In this representation, the red background is the cytosol, and ribosomes are in light green. tRNAs are the purplish blue blobs. Some tRNAs are in the cytosol and others are bound to the green ribosomes. The mRNAs are represented in yellow. The thin purple strand coming out the other side of the ribosomes (and into the ER lumen) is the protein. The big thick black lines in the bottom left corner represents the lipid bilayer of the ER membrane. Credit: Sara Aton


This paper shows that the observed output of any market, placed within the confine of a quadratic map, can characterize the state of that market. Such an approach explains the process of market share's growth and its pitfalls, the consequences of broken symmetry of scaling, as well as the limits of firms' competition for market shares


We present a man who was diagnosed with coarctation of the aorta (CA) at the age of 76. He had developed an extensive collateral circulation for maintaining the circulation below the CA. This compensatory mechanism was highly effective, since the patient had remained asymptomatic and in good health during most of his life. He died from intrahospitalary pneumonia, unrelated to CA. Long-term survival in patients with untreated CA is exceptional, with only 11 patients living into their 70s being previously reported. A review of these cases is included.


We fabricated a coated conductor 7.5 m long and 9 mm wide using a biaxially textured Ni tape. The standard buffer layers, CeO2/Y SZ/CeO2, were used. A thick Sm1Ba2Cu3O7 (SBCO) film was deposited using the co-evaporation method, followed by in situ deposition of an Ag protection layer. The whole length of SBCO film was deposited in a single batch process, which took 7 h. We checked the distribution of critical currents (Ic) by I–V measurements in all the sections comprising the tape. Ic at 77 K was 90–130 A in most parts of the whole length.


PURPOSE
Bisretinoids form in photoreceptor cells and accumulate in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) as lipofuscin. To examine the role of these fluorophores as mediators of retinal light damage, we studied the propensity for light damage in mutant mice having elevated lipofuscin due to deficiency in the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter Abca4 (Abca4(-/-) mice) and in mice devoid of lipofuscin owing to absence of Rpe65 (Rpe65(rd12)).

METHODS
Abca4(-/-), Rpe65(rd12), and wild-type mice were exposed to 430-nm light to produce a localized lesion in the superior hemisphere of retina. Bisretinoids of RPE lipofuscin were measured by HPLC. In histologic sections, outer nuclear layer (ONL) thickness was measured as an indicator of photoreceptor cell degeneration, and RPE nuclei were counted.

RESULTS
As shown previously, A2E levels were increased in Abca4(-/-) mice. These mice also sustained light damage-associated ONL thinning that was more pronounced than in age-matched wild-type mice; the ONL thinning was also greater in 5-month versus 2-month-old mice. Numbers of RPE nuclei were reduced in light-stressed mice, with the reduction being greater in the Abca4(-/-) than wild-type mice. In Rpe65(rd12) mice bisretinoid compounds of RPE lipofuscin were not detected chromatographically and light damage-associated ONL thinning was not observed.

CONCLUSIONS
Abca4(-/-) mice that accumulate RPE lipofuscin at increased levels were more susceptible to retinal light damage than wild-type mice. This finding, together with results showing that Rpe65(rd12) mice did not accumulate lipofuscin and did not sustain retinal light damage, indicates that the bisretinoids of retinal lipofuscin are contributors to retinal light damage.


This study draws on qualitative interviews with regularised, semi-documented and undocumented migrant workers in seven EU countries, each with a different experience of implementing regularisations as a policy tool to manage undocumented migration. The article examines the relationship between a regularised or documented status and work conditions, including access to employment and social rights. It sheds light on the importance of labour market structures in creating opportunities or otherwise for those with newly acquired legality in the host country. The complex impact of migrant status alongside the importance of a strong industrial relations system to enforce rights at work is revealed.


Standard ellipsometry is usually applied for the evaluation of an optical isotropic system, but it is insufficient to analyze light reflected from an anisotropic system such as a liquid crystal (LC) cell. In order to analyze the light reflected from the LC cell, the standard ellipsometry system combined with the photo elastic modulator was extended to renormalized ellipsometry by introducing the definition of the renormalized reflection coefficients without any modification of the conventional experimental procedure. The experimental results such as the ellipsometric angles versus the rotation angle of the LC cell and the dependence of the ellipsometric angles on the applied electric field were in good agreement with the theoretical results based on renormalized ellipsometry. From these results, it was confirmed that renormalized ellipsometry was quite a useful technique to analyze the totally reflected light from the LC cell.


An extremely rare disorder of methionine cycle and sulfur amino acid metabolism characterized by increased urine excretion of beta-mercaptolactate-cysteine disulfide (due to deficiency of mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase activity in erythrocytes), leading to a positive cyanide nitroprusside test. Association with intellectual disability, congenital lens dislocation, and behavioral abnormalities has been reported, however the causal link remains to be established. T here have been no further descriptions in the literature since 1981. Qeios · Definition, February 10, 2020


Hypertrophic scars (HS) result from an imbalance between collagen biosynthesis and matrix degradation during wound healing. In this study a proteomics approach was used to compare the protein profiles of skin tissue obtained from patients with HS and healthy controls. One of the epidermal proteins, galectin-7 was markedly down-regulated in HS. Serum levels of galectin-7 in 27 patients with HS were less than 1/3 of those in 15 healthy controls. Tissue protein expression was subsequently evaluated using immunohistochemical staining on HS tissue and on serially-obtained control tissue during wound healing. Weaker galectin-7 immunoreactivity was detected along the cytoplasmic membrane of basal and suprabasal cells in samples from HS. In addition, galectin-7 was stained in the extracellular space of the upper papillary dermis in HS tissue. Ablative laser treatment, used to induce wound healing of healthy control tissue, demonstrated marked galectin-7 expression at the cytoplasmic membrane on days 3, 5, 14 and 21. Pronounced galectin-7 staining at the upper papillary dermis was detected on days 1, 3 and 10. These results suggest that the differences in galectin-7 expression and subcellular and extracellular distribution may be crucially involved in the pathogenic process of HS.


Despite a growing interest, researchers and practitioners still struggle to transfer the blockchain concept introduced by Bitcoin to market-oriented application scenarios. To shed light on the technology's usage in markets with asymmetric information, this study analyzes the effect of the blockchain's public transparency paradigm on behavioral patterns and market outcomes. In line with prior research, our findings indicate that the blockchain's shared record mitigates adverse selection effects and reduces moral hazard of good market participants (plums). In addition, we identify an incentive for bad market participants (lemons) to behave opportunistically in the presence of perfect quality information. More specifically, the disclosed information allows them to learn about quality differences between plums and lemons, deceive their counterparties, and move to a new equilibrium with increased utility. As a result, the market collapses despite a welfare gain and future generations are denied market access. In addition, plums and lemons are committed to inefficient equilibria following irrational behavior. In total, this study aims to provide initial guidance for blockchain adoption in the context of markets with information asymmetries and highlights risks that arise from competition, the exposure to irrational behavior, and the implementation of services on the infrastructure level.


Radiocesium, accumulated in the soil by nuclear accidents is a major environmental concern. The transport process of cesium (Cs+) is tightly linked to the indispensable plant nutrient potassium (K+) as they both belong to the group I alkali metal with similar chemical properties. Most of the transporters that had been characterized to date as Cs+ transporters are directly or indirectly linked to K+. Using a combinatorial approach of physiology, genetics, cell biology and root uptake assay, here we identified two ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) proteins, ABCG37 and ABCG33 as facilitators of Cs+ influx. The gain-of-function mutant of ABCG37 (abcg37-1) showed hypersensitive response to Cs+-induced root growth inhibition, while the double knock out mutant of ABCG33 and ABCG37 (abcg33-1abcg37-2) showed resistance. Single loss-of-function mutant of ABCG33 and ABCG37 did not show any alteration in Cs+ response. Short term uptake experiment with radioactive Cs+ revealed reduced Cs+ uptake in abcg33-1abgc37-2 compared with wild type in presence or absence of K+. Potassium response and content were unaffected in the double mutant background confirming that Cs+ uptake by ABCG33 and ABCG37 is independent of K+. Collectively, this work identified two ABC proteins as new Cs+ influx carriers, which act redundantly and independent of K+ uptake pathway.


Increased awareness of non-classical presentations and more reliable screening tests have led to higher detection rates for coeliac disease in elderly adults. Clinical presentations are influenced largely by the long-standing course of the subclinical disease before diagnosis. In the majority of elderly patients, weight loss, diarrhoea and iron deficiency anaemia are present. With a delay in diagnosis, there are increased risks of associated autoimmune diseases, of neoplasms (mostly small bowel lymphoma) and of metabolic bone diseases. Thyroid disease is the most common autoimmune disease. Lymphoma may be the initial presentation or may complicate the clinical course of well established coeliac disease. Osteopenia is very common at presentation, can be clinically severe and require specific therapy in addition to the gluten-free diet. The high risk of complications in elderly patients with coeliac disease warrants a systematic approach in their investigation and management.


The inhibitive action of polyvinyl alcohol –sodium nitrite (PVASN) composite on the corrosion of mild steel in simulated cooling water (SCW) has been investigated by weight loss and potentiodynamic polarization. The effect of composite concentration (PVA/SN) , pH, and exposure time on corrosion rate of mild steel were verified using 2 levels factorial design and surface response analysis through weight loss approach, while the electrochemical measurements were used to study the behavior of mild steel in (SCW) with pH between 6 and 8 and in absence and presence of (PVA) in solution containing different concentration of NaNO2. It was verified that all three main variables studied were statistically significant while their interaction is less pronounced.


Festivals are an adventure of the emotional and physical senses and can create unforgettable, exciting and thrilling memories of unfamiliar and unique experiences. With music festivals in particular, there is an additional emphasis on the chance to experience live music by often idolised musicians within a temporary community of shared musical interests. However, whilst a music festival may attract visitors through advertising an attractive and appealing line-up of popular acts, this far from guarantees a happy customer. There are many other elements that contribute to and impact upon the experience of the festival-goer (Morgan, 2008: 83). If these elements are managed well, this can result in benefits for both the consumer, through positive emotional and cognitive experiences, and for the organisation through repeat custom, recommendations and increased sales. However, if the festival fails and disappoints the consumer, this in turn can generate negative perceptions and an undesired reputation, hence reducing future attendance and sales. Thus, in order for festival organisers to achieve organisational success, they must respond and react to the needs and desires of their festival-goers.
Therefore, this thesis aims to provide an exploratory analysis of the festival-goer and their experience at UK music festivals. More specifically, it examines who the festival-goers are and what experiences they seek. In doing so, the study aims to develop an experience value model, depicting the relationship between festival-goer characteristics and the value of experience attributes at UK music festivals. This research adopts a pragmatist philosophy and mixed-methods approach which is carried out across three phases: (i) interviews with festival-organisers; (ii) an online quantitative survey of festival-goers; and (iii), on-site interviews with festival-goers. The research results are analysed using appropriate methods including thematic coding, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and linear regression.
The results identify common socio-demographic and psychographic characteristics amongst festival-goers to UK music festivals, whilst also indicating a distinction between those at rock or niche, and pop or mainstream festivals. The value of experience attributes is identified in seven areas: music, other entertainment, services, engagement, added value, ethics and image, all of which may influence the overall experience. The festival atmosphere is the most important experiential attribute; however, this research also demonstrates the significance of engagement and co-creation throughout the festival-goers' journey. Most importantly, the results show that festival-goers' socio-demographic and psychographic characteristics determine the value of experience attributes. Therefore, this research provides an original contribution to both theory and practice through the development of an experience value model, and by providing critical


Spectator resonant Auger electron spectra with the Si 1s photoexcitation of Cl3SiSi(CH3)3 have been measured using an electron spectroscopic technique combined with undulator radiation. The transition with the highest intensity in the total ion yield (TIY) spectrum, coming from excitation of a Si 1s electron on the Cl-side into a vacant valence orbital, generates the resonant Auger decay in which the excited electron remains in this valence orbital. Photoexcitation of 1s electrons into some Rydberg orbitals induces Auger shake-down transitions, because higher-lying Rydberg orbitals in the two Si atoms closely positioned hold spatially overlapping considerably. A broad TIY peak slightly above the 1s ionization thresholds appreciably yields resonant Auger decays in which a slow photoelectron is re-captured into a higher-lying Rydberg orbital. The normal Auger peak shape at this photon energy is distorted due to a post-collision interaction effect. These findings provide a clear understanding on properties of the excited orbitals which are ambiguous in the measurement of the TIY only.


A unidirectional ring network is considered. A node may transmit at most one packet per slot to its downstream neighbor. Potentially all nodes may transmit at the same slot. The achievable performance is studied and policies are proposed for both the evacuation mode and continual operation. In the evacuation mode each node has initially an amount of packets destined for every other node of the ring, and no more packets are generated later. It is shown that the furthest destination first (FDF) policy, that gives priority to the packet with the longest way to go at each node, minimizes the time until every packet reaches its destination. Furthermore it is shown that the closest destination first (CDF) policy, that gives priority to the packet with the shortest way to go at each node, minimizes the average packet delivery time. A formula for the optimal evacuation time is obtained. The continual operation of the ring is considered then where packets are generated according to some arrival process. For any arrival sample path, the PDF maximizes the fraction of the time at which the ring is empty. The performance analysis of individual origin-destination traffic streams under FDF is facilitated based on the following. For each traffic stream, a single server priority queue is identified such that the average sojourn time of the traffic stream in the ring is equal to the aggregate transmission time plus the queueing delay of the low priority stream in the queue. Formulas for the sojourn time are obtained for iid arrivals. The performance of CDF and FIFO in continual operation is studied by simulation. It turns out that the CDF, minimum delay policy for the evacuation, has the worst performance in continual operation. >


A system for direct interaction with a video projection screen using a laser pointer is presented. The laser point on the screen is captured by a video camera, and its location recognized by image processing techniques. The behavior of the point is translated into signals sent to the mouse input of the computer causing the same reactions as if they came from the mouse. More complex interaction paradigms are composed from the elementary operations "switch on/off" and pointing of the laser pen.


The transforming growth factor beta superfamily encompasses a large family of ligands that are well conserved across many organisms. They are regulators of a number of physiological and pathological processes. The model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been instrumental in identifying key components of the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) pathway. In C. elegans, the TGFβ homolog DAF-7 signals through the DAF-1 Type I and DAF-4 Type II receptors to phosphorylate downstream R-SMADs DAF-8 and DAF-14. These R-SMADs translocate into the nucleus to inhibit Co-SMAD DAF-3. Many of the roles of the canonical DAF-7 pathway, involving both DAF-1 and DAF-3, have been identified using targeted genetic studies. Few have assessed the global transcriptomic changes in response to these genes, especially in adult animals. In this study, we performed RNA sequencing on wild type, daf-1, and daf-1; daf-3 adult hermaphrodites. To assess the overall trends of the data, we identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and performed gene ontology analysis to identify the types of downstream genes that are differentially expressed. Hierarchical clustering showed that the daf-1; daf-3 double mutants are transcriptionally more similar to wild type than daf-1 mutants. Analysis of the DEGs showed a disproportionally high number of genes whose expression is increased in daf-1 mutants, suggesting that DAF-1 acts as a general repressor of gene expression in wild type animals. Gene ontology analysis of the DEGs produced many significantly enriched terms, including Molting Cycle, Response to Topologically Incorrect Protein, and Response to Biotic Stimulus. Understanding the direct and indirect targets of the DAF-7 TGFβ pathway through this RNA-seq dataset can provide insight into novel roles of the multifunctional signaling pathway, as well as identify novel genes that may participate in previously reported functions of TGFβ signaling.


OBJECTIVE
To measure the lipid peroxidation and endogenous antioxidant enzyme status in oral carcinoma and the protective role of exogenous antioxidants.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
20 new cases of histologically proven oral squamous cell carcinoma, 20 of leukoplakia and 20 age and sex matched healthy conrols were included. Intra oral pH of patients and controlled were measured by quantitative litmus paper test and serum was analysed for malonialdehyde (MDA), super oxide bismutase (SOD), catalase and glutathione peroxidase (GP). Patients with leukoplakia were treated with exogenous antioxidants for 3 months and the same were reassessed.

RESULTS
Oral pH of oral cancer patients was neutral (PH-7) but that of leukoplakia and controls were mildly acidic (6.64 and 6.58 respectively). Serum malonialdehyde levels were highest in oral cancer group. With antioxidant enzymes super oxide bismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase different pattern was noticed. Antioxidant enzymes remained almost the same (P > 0.005 each) in patients with leukoplakia after 3 months of vitamin A,C and E. but there was marginal increase in catalase level (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION
This study shows the positive benefit of vitamin (A,C,E) and nutrition supplementation on the antioxidant enzyme defense system hence prevention of oral carcinogenesis in patients with leukoplakia.


BACKGROUND
The proportion of penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates and associated risk factors varies by geographic area in the United States. We conducted a retrospective study to determine the extent of penicillin-nonsusceptible S pneumoniae bacteremia and associated risk factors in a tertiary care medical center in San Diego.

METHODS
Patients with S pneumoniae bacteremia at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center from September 15, 1991, through July 31, 1998, were identified by hospital-based computerized microbiology records. Hospital records included demographic information, patient data, and antibiotic prescription records for patients with bacteremia as a result of S pneumoniae. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to determine risk factors for penicillin-nonsusceptible S pneumoniae bacteremia.

RESULTS
Of 281 isolates of S pneumoniae identified, 192 (68%) were from hospitalized patients. After controlling for other factors, patients from 1 to 5 years of age (P = .01; odds ratio [OR] = 3.96; 95% CI, 1.50 to 10.44), 6 to 18 years of age (P =.04; OR = 6.42; 95% CI, 1.13 to 36.51), and HIV seropositive patients (P =.002; OR = 5.12; 95% CI, 1.83 to 14.32) were more likely to have penicillin-nonsusceptible S pneumoniae bacteremia. There was a significant increasing trend of penicillin-nonsusceptible S pneumoniae bacteremia from 14% in 1991 to 42% in 1998 (P = .001; OR = 1.42; 95% CI, 1.16 to 1.73); this included only 2 isolates that were highly resistant to penicillin. There was no increase in mortality in patients who had penicillin-nonsusceptible S pneumoniae bacteremia.

CONCLUSION
With the increase in S pneumoniae resistance to penicillin, it is important to continue surveillance of infections caused by S pneumoniae. Hospital-based studies are useful for tracking epidemiologically important pathogens.


Urban water management policy in Japan, with examples from Fukuoka city, is described and the potential for sustainability of Fukuoka's urban water system is discussed. A framework of the qualitative characteristics of a sustainable system (including social, environmental and economic factors) is developed and used in the analyses presented here. The Fukuoka example shows that technically advanced solutions for use of reclaimed water and rainwater in buildings can be practically and economically feasible. Regarding the organization it is shown that the wastewater sector has a somewhat lower status than the water sector. It is argued that merging the water and wastewater sectors could stimulate the development of a holistic approach to urban water management, contribute to increasing resources availability for the wastewater sector and, in this way, the overall sustainability of the urban water system. Tackling water shortages through controlling water demand, investments in increasing water distribution efficiency and utilization of reclaimed water and rainwater in Fukuoka are all in line with increasing sustainability of the urban water system.


Since Doctors had only the 2D Image Data to visualize the tumors in the MRI images, which never gave the actual feel of how the tumor would exactly look like . The doctors were deprived from the exact visualization of the tumor the amount of the tumor to be removed by operation was not known, which caused a lot of deformation in the faces and structure of the patients face or skull. The diversity and complexity of tumor cells makes it very challenging to visualize tumor present in magnetic resonance image (MRI) data. Hence to visualize the tumor properly 2D MRI image has to be converted to 3D image. With the development of computer image processing technology, three-dimensional (3D) visualization has become an important method of the medical diagnose, it offers abundant and accurate information for medical experts. Three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction of medical images is widely applied to tumor localization; surgical planning and brain electromagnetic field computation etc. The brain MR images have unique characteristics, i.e., very complicated changes of the gray-scales and highly irregular boundaries. Traditional 3-D reconstruction algorithms are challenged in solving this problem. Many reconstruction algorithms, such as marching cubes and dividing cubes, need to establish the topological relationship between the slices of images. The results of these traditional approaches vary depending on the number of input sections, their positions, the shape of the original body and the applied interpolation technique. These make the task tedious and time-consuming. Moreover, satisfied reconstruction result may not even be obtained when the highly irregular objects such as the encephalic tissues are considered. Due to complexity and irregularity of each encephalic tissue boundary, threedimensional (3D) reconstruction for MRI image is necessary. A Literature survey is done to study different methods of 3D reconstruction of brain images from MRI images.


Traditionally, shore protection revetments are designed by limit equilibrium method developed by Pilarczyk (Pilarczyk, et.al, 1998; Breteler, et.al, 1998; Pilarczyk, 2003). The method is also applicable for determining thickness of concrete mattress required to withstand a certain height of waves. However, the method cannot predict deformation of concrete mattress subjected to repetitive wave loads. This paper elaborates the modeling of concrete mattress against the dynamic loading of waves by means of Finite Element Method (Plaxis 2D). It is found that the conventional method is adequate in determining thickness of concrete mattress required against wave height with a factor of safety against lift off in the order of 3.5. The movement of the concrete mattress can be assessed by simulating the wave loads as a concentrated sinusoidal dynamic load at the point of wave impact.


This paper presents the findings of a study that evaluates a procedure that uses available computer tools to assess the luminance distribution of spaces using High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography. We tested available software packages to create a series of HDR images with different exposure (f-stops), resolution, digital cameras, wide-angle lenses, luminance ratios, lighting levels, and type of lighting systems (daylighting and electric lighting) that were used for comparison. The HDR images were then imported into the RADIANCE lighting simulation program, to be converted into the human visual sensitivity, false color and iso-contour images, where a more comprehensive set of luminance distribution can be displayed. The results of the evaluation indicated that the measured luminance distribution generated with Photosphere and the RADIANCE lighting software were similar to the spot luminance measurements taken in an existing space with a Minolta LS-100 Luminance meter. The differences between the measured luminance values and the generated ones with HDR photography and the RADIANCE program varied between -0.7 to 3.5% of the average luminance measurement, which makes it an ideal procedure to use for the evaluation of the lighting quality of indoor and outdoor spaces.


We aim to report the latest incidence, mortality, and disability‐adjusted life‐years (DALYs) between 1990 and 2019, by age, sex, sociodemographic index (SDI), and provide predictions to 2035. We use estimates from Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2019 to analyze the incidence, mortality, and DALYs. All the estimates were shown as counts and age‐standardized rates (ASR). In 2019, there were more than 176,501 (156,046 to 199,917) incidence cases, with ASRs of 2.1 (1.9 to 2.4). Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) accounted for 71,610 (65,442 to 77,625) deaths, with ASRs of 0.9 (0.8 to 0.9). NPC was also responsible for 2.34 million (2,139,753 to 2,536,657) DALYs, with ASRs of 28.0 (25.7 to 30.4). The count of all the new cases increased from 1990 to 2019. At the regional level, the highest age‐standardized incidence rates were found in East Asia, the highest age‐standardized death and DALY rates were shown in Southeast Asia. At the national level, the age‐standardized incidence rates were highest in Singapore, and the age‐standardized death and DALY rates were highest in Malaysia. The total numbers and rates of all the estimates were significantly higher among males than females across most of the age groups. The considerable burden of NPC was attributable to alcohol use, smoking, and occupational exposure to formaldehyde. A total of six GBD regions and 88 countries are projected to experience an increase in NPC ASRs between 2019 and 2035, respectively. Despite the current decline in age‐standardized mortality and DALY rates globally, the age‐standardized incidence rate has increased from 1990 to 2019, and continues to increase between 2020 and 2035, indicating that nasopharyngeal cancer remains a major health challenge worldwide. Prevention strategies should focus on modifiable risk factors, especially among males in East Asia.


The unique structural feature of the dilysine (Lys206-Lys296) pair in the transferrin N-lobe (hTF/2N) has been postulated to serve a special function in the release of iron from the protein. These two lysines, which are located in opposite domains, hydrogen bond to each other in the iron-containing hTF/2N at neutral pH but are far apart in the apo-form of the protein. It has been proposed that charge repulsion resulting from the protonation of the dilysines at lower pH may be the trigger to open the cleft and facilitate iron release. The fact that the dilysine pair is positively charged and resides in a location close to the metal-binding center has also led to the suggestion that the dilysine pair is an anion-binding site for chelators. The present report provides comprehensive evidence to confirm that the dilysine pair plays this dual role in modulating release of iron. When either of the lysines is mutated to glutamate or glutamine or when both are mutated to glutamate, release of iron is much slower compared to the wild-type protein. This is due to the fact that the driving force for cleft opening is absent in the mutants or is converted to a lock-like interaction (in the case of the K206E and K296E mutants). Direct titration of the apo-proteins with anions as well as anion-dependent iron release studies show that the dilysine pair is part of an active anion-binding site which exists with the Lys296-Tyr188 interaction as a core. At this site, Lys296 serves as the primary anion-binding residue and Tyr188 is the main reporter for electronic spectral change, with smaller contributions from Lys206, Tyr85, and Tyr95. In iron-loaded hTF/2N, anion binding becomes invisible as monitored by UV-vis difference spectra since the spectral reporters Tyr188 and Tyr95 are bound to iron. Our data strongly support the hypothesis that the apo-hTF/2N exists in equilibrium between the open and closed conformations, because only in the closed form is Lys296 in direct contact with Tyr188. The current findings bring together observations, ideas, and experimental data from a large number of previous studies and shed further light on the detailed mechanism of iron release from the transferrin N-lobe. In iron-containing hTF/2N, Lys296 may still function as a target to introduce an anion (or a chelator) near to the iron-binding center. When the pH is lowered, the protonation of carbonate (synergistic anion for metal binding) and then the dilysine pair form the driving force to loosen the cleft, exposing iron; the nearby anion (or chelator) then binds to the iron and releases it from the protein.


Results: Two hundred ninety-four (294) over 309 (95%) children were included in the study (Average age: 8.64 ± 9.0 years; male: 50%). The mean 6MWT distance (6MWT-D) was 548.0 ± 57.0m. The 6MWT-D was lower in overweight or obese (OW&OB; n = 100) children as compared to normal weight (NW; n = 194)) children (mean difference (OW&OB-NW): -18.0 ± 7.0m, p = 0.07). The post 6MWTRate Pressure Product (RPP = HR*SBP, mean = 10783.9 ± 2282.4 bpm*mmHg) were signifi cantly higher in the OW&OB group with respect to the NW group (mean difference = 1227.1 ± 272.1bpm*mmHg, p = 9E-6). A better performance in the 6MWT-D was associated to higher RPP values (b = 0.006, SE:0.001, p = 3.2E-5), adjusting for age, sex and height. This association is maintained in the NW group (b = 0.010, SE:0.002, p = 4.2E-7) but not in the OW&OB group (b = 0.004, SE:0.002, p = n.s.). Children classifi ed as highly sedentary in PAQ-C score have higher values of delta RPP respect to the more active group (mean difference (post6MWT-pre6MWT) = 1159.8 ± 434.7 bpm*mmHg, p = 0.02).


Abstract There is an extensive research literature on the association between personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and risk of future violent and sexual offences. Several studies have found an elevated prevalence of personality disorder diagnoses amongst those individuals with severe mental illness and criminal populations. While there has been some work on the prevalence of personality disorder among intellectual disability populations, it has been criticised as being unreliable and inconsistent. The present authors have taken account of these criticisms and recommendations in this comparison of 164 offenders with intellectual disability across three settings – community, medium/low secure, and high secure. In Study 1, DSM-IV diagnoses were made on the basis of four information sources: file review, interview with clinician, observations by care staff, and the Structured Assessment of Personality Interview. Across the samples, total prevalence of PD was 39.3%. The most common diagnosis was antisocial personality disorder. There was a higher rate of diagnosis in the high security setting, with no significant differences between the other two settings. There was no diagnosis of dependent PD, indicating that assessors were not overly influenced by the developmental disability itself. In Study 2 it was found that increase in severity of PD (as indicated by PCL-R scores and/or the number of PD diagnoses) showed a strong lawful relationship with instruments predicting future violence (VRAG, RM 2000/V) and a weaker relationship with instruments predicting future sexual offences (Static-99, RM 2000/S). The results indicate the utility of PD classification in this client group and that a number of individuals with PD classification are being managed successfully in community settings. These findings have considerable implications for staffing, both in terms of which individuals can be treated by these services and staff training.


E-learning programs are increasing in number and becoming one of the most important new trends in education. These programs, delivered using current technologies, provide new ways for students to learn and a variety of methods for facilitating interaction and help in solving many educational problems.Today''s students face many educational and employment challenges, and many of them grow disheartened with school because they find little relevance in education and their life outside school. So, online course may present alternative solutions for these challenges.


Myxoma is the most common type of primary cardiac tumors. Majority of cardiac myxomas are solitary and benign. It usually occurs in the left atrium and has a pedicle attached to the interatrial septum around the fossa ovalis. It is associated with different clinical symptoms of mechanical intracardiac obstruction, embolism or positional disturbances but may rarely remain asymptomatic for a long time as in our case. Pulmonary hypertension is a rare clinical condition associated with myxomas. In this paper, we present a large, immobile, left atrial myxoma filling the whole left atrium and causing pulmonary hypertension. Key words: Myxoma; Echocardiography.


Aim:

This discussion paper aims to offer an overview and working definition of translational research, appropriate to health. Method:

Using scholarly and applied literature, the paper first identifies key challenges in achieving evidence-based policy and practice. It highlights international policy interest in new approaches to evidence translation and the barriers to achieving sound evidence translation. The paper offers an explicit definition of translational research and explains why it is important to have such a definition. It then elaborates on this definition by identifying and exploring seven distinctive research practices that could be associated with translational research. Findings and Conclusions:

Translational research is research with a sense of place. Its hallmark is excellence in evidence for a specific context or sphere of action, whether that is health policy for the World Health Organisation or service design for a local non government organisation. If research is to be translated at all, it needs to be meaningful to many specific contexts, including small and regional contexts. The best promise that translational research offers is of exciting new techniques to achieve rigour and systemacy for such localised 'real world' policy, service and practice contexts.


Treatment of a benzyl substituted meso-ditriflate with boronic acids in the presence of palladium acetate, triphenylphosphine and caesium fluoride results in intermolecular Suzuki coupling followed by vinyl triflate-arene cyclisation to provide, in high yields, single regioisomers of tricyclic-carbocycles.


Upon reading Pietgen and Richter's The Beauty of Fractals [1] for the first time, I used my programming skills and a long-forgotten set of notes on complex numbers to reproduce most of its pictures based on Julia set fractals, Yang Lee singularities and Newton's method for complex polynomials. The book also contains an interesting discussion concerning the nature of art and science (page 20), particularly with regard to the lack of choice and human concern. This discussion intrigued me into experimenting with something more than just conventional use of colour to represent the speed of convergence. This paper is limited to examples from Newton's method for solving polynomials. To improve the graphic possibilities up to a hundred roots was allowed.


Introduction: This study explores burden and social and professional support in families of young patients with muscular dystrophies (MDs) in Italy. Methods: The study was carried out on 502 key relatives of 4‐ to 25‐year‐old patients suffering from Duchenne, Becker, or Limb‐Girdle MD who were living with at least 1 adult relative. Results: A total of 77.1% of relatives reported feelings of loss, 74.0% had feelings of sadness, and 59.1% had constraints in leisure activities. Burden was higher among relatives of patients with higher disability and who spent more daily hours in caregiving. Practical difficulties were higher among relatives who perceived lower help in patient emergencies and less practical support by their social network. Psychological burden was higher in those relatives who were unemployed, those with poorer support in emergencies, and those with lower social contacts. Conclusions: Caring for patients with MDs may be demanding for relatives even in the early stages of these disorders, especially when social support is poor and the patient's disability increases. Muscle Nerve 52: 13–21, 2015


We propose a collection of three shift-based primitives for building efficient compact CNN-based networks. These three primitives (channel shift, address shift, shortcut shift) can reduce the inference time on GPU while maintains the prediction accuracy. These shift-based primitives only moves the pointer but avoids memory copy, thus very fast. For example, the channel shift operation is 12.7x faster compared to channel shuffle in ShuffleNet but achieves the same accuracy. The address shift and channel shift can be merged into the point-wise group convolution and invokes only a single kernel call, taking little time to perform spatial convolution and channel shift. Shortcut shift requires no time to realize residual connection through allocating space in advance. We blend these shift-based primitives with point-wise group convolution and built two inference-efficient CNN architectures named AddressNet and Enhanced AddressNet. Experiments on CIFAR100 and ImageNet datasets show that our models are faster and achieve comparable or better accuracy.


Plant oils are a very valuable agricultural commodity. They are currently mainly used (>80%) for food and animal feed but, increasingly, they have utility as renewable sources of industrial feedstocks or biofuel. Because of finite agricultural land, the best way to increase availability (in order to match demand) is by improving productivity. To do this requires a knowledge of metabolism and its regulation. Various methods have been used to provide information but only systems biology can yield quantitative data about complete metabolic pathways. We have used metabolic control analysis to provide information about major oil crops such as oilseed rape, oil palm, olive, and soybean. Such knowledge has then been used to inform genetic manipulation for crop improvement.


The main stream of the Tarim River in China is typical of ecologically sensitive areas that have been heavily disturbed by human activities; as such, the monitoring of the quality of its eco-environment constitutes an important task for researchers. By using GlobeLand30 data and applying the disturbance degree model and revised ecosystem service value (ESV) model, the study presented in this paper undertook a quantitative estimation of the effects of the disturbance impacts of human activities on the eco-environment of this area in the period of 2000 to 2020. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) disturbance index values, which reflect disturbance to the local ecosystem by human activities, increased over the study period. Further, cultivated land experienced the largest increase, which, in turn, brought about the most significant disturbance to the eco-environment. High disturbance index values presented a patchy distribution in the west of the main stream of the Tarim River and formed bands and dots in the east; the area of land characterized by high and moderate disturbance index values increased, with growth areas taking on a scattered distribution of patches, bands, and dots without significant spatial continuity. (2) The total ESV increased, indicating the quality of the eco-environment improved. The increase of cultivated land offset the increase in ESV, which counteracted the effects of ecological governance measures. Areas with high ESV values were mainly located in the western and central parts of the study area, while low values were found in the middle east and east. Areas with higher increases in ESV were mainly located in the western and the western part of the middle reaches and took on a zonal distribution, while areas of decrease followed a scattered distribution, presenting as dots or patches. Using the quantitative analysis methods and high-resolution remote sensing data to evaluate the changes in the eco-environment was considered as the innovation of this study, and the findings are useful in exploring the influence of human activities on ecosystems and evaluating the eco-environment in the minor watershed of an arid area. This piece of quantitative research contributes to the task of monitoring eco-environmental changes using remote sensing techniques in ecologically sensitive areas.


The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts the Census of Agriculture every five years to estimate the number of U.S. farms, as well as other agriculturally related population totals. NASS applies a Dual-System Estimation (DSE) methodology on data collected from the Census and the June Area Survey (JAS) to estimate the number of farms in the U.S.. Traditional multinomial-based capture-recapture methodology requires a model to estimate the probability of capture for every captured operation on either survey. Of course, the selection probabilities associated with the JAS area frame design are different from those associated with the Census. Such a difference makes it difficult to compute the exact JAS selection probabilities for farm records captured only by the Census. For this reason, we propose and compare three methods for estimating the overall capture probability. The first two methods in-volve approximating the JAS selection probabilities and the third conditions them out. We compare these three techniques to investigate their precision through a simulation study.


An important technique used for the suppression of surface flashover on high voltage DC ceramic insulators as well as for RF windows is that of providing some surface conduction to bleed off accumulated surface charge. We have used metal ion implantation to modify the surface of high voltage ceramic vacuum insulators to provide a uniform surface resistivity of approximately 5/spl times/10/sup 10/ /spl Omega//square. A vacuum arc ion source based implanter was used to implant Pt at an energy of about 135 keV to doses of up to more than 5/spl times/10/sup 16/ ions/cm/sup 2/ into small ceramic test coupons and also into the inside surface of several ceramic accelerator columns 25 cm I.D. by 28 cm long. Here we describe the experimental set-up used to do the ion implantation and summarize the results of our exploratory work on implantation into test coupons as well as the implantations of the actual ceramic columns.


Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is increasingly used for ensuring security and privacy in complex organizations such as healthcare institutions. In RBAC, access permissions are granted to an individual based on her defined roles. Much work has been done on the specification of RBAC models for enforcing access control; however, in order to arrive at appropriate choices of access control for particular roles and individuals in an organization, we need models at the requirements level to support elicitation and analysis. Crook et al. [3] have provided a requirements level model for RBAC, defining access to an information asset based on role, responsibility, operation, and context. We extend the Crook model to include a purpose hierarchy in order to meet the needs of privacy requirements. Access to health records is used as the example domain.


The American Art Therapy Association, Inc. (AATA) surveys its members biennially in order to obtain general information about current AATA members. These surveys include demographic data, work status, and various other features. The current survey also included items regarding Continuing Education Credits and the use of CPT codes for billing. Approximately 5,639 survey forms were mailed from the AATA National Office and 1,176 were returned, resulting in a 20.9% return rate. The results of the survey presented in this report provide a general overview and graphic representations of a sample of 2001-2002 AATA members. Longitudinal trends are also discussed to more accurately project developments relative to AATA members and, more importantly, the field of art therapy in general.


Introducing a C(4)-like pathway into C(3) plants is one of the proposed strategies for the enhancement of photosynthetic productivity. For this purpose it is necessary to provide each component enzyme that exerts strong activity in the targeted C(3) plants. Here, a maize C(4)-form phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC, EC 22.214.171.124) was engineered for its regulatory and catalytic properties so as to be functional in the cells of C(3) plants. Firstly, amino acid residues Lys-835 and Arg-894 of maize PEPC, which correspond to Lys-773 and Arg-832 of Escherichia coli PEPC, respectively, were replaced by Gly, since they had been shown to be involved in the binding of allosteric inhibitors, malate or aspartate, by our X-ray crystallographic analysis of E. coli PEPC. The resulting mutant enzymes were active but their sensitivities to the inhibitors were greatly diminished. Secondly, a Ser residue (S780) characteristically conserved in all C(4)-form PEPC was replaced by Ala conserved in C(3)- and root-form PEPCs to decrease the half-maximal concentration (S(0.5)) of PEP. The double mutant enzyme (S780A/K835G) showed diminished sensitivity to malate and decreased S(0.5)(PEP) with equal maximal catalytic activity (V(m)) to the wild-type PEPC, which will be quite useful as a component of the C(4)-like pathway to be introduced into C(3) plants.


The coronavirus has caused significant disruption to people's everyday lives, altering how people live, work, and study. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) reacted very quickly to suppress the spread of the virus even before the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in the country. In the education sector, all face-to-face activities at public and private schools and universities were suspended, as they switched from traditional to distance learning for the entire 2020 academic year. This study collected 1,846,285 tweets to analyze the public's dynamic opinions towards distance education in the KSA during the 2020 academic year. Several classical machine-learning models and deep-learning models, including ensemble random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), adaptive boosting (AdaBoost), multinomial naïve Bayes (MNB), convolutional neural network (CNN), and long short-term memory (LSTM), were tested on this data, and the best-performing models were selected to analyze the public stance towards distance education. Additionally, I correlated my analysis with the major events that were announced by the Ministry of Education (MOE). I observed that people in the KSA took some time to react and express their stances at the start of the academic year. Regarding the news, I observed that any exam-related topic attracted high engagement. In-favor stances increased when news headlines covered the topic of exams compared to other topics. The results show that the primary Saudi public stance favored distance education during the 2020 academic year.


Family history is considered a risk factor for many diseases because it implicitly captures shared genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors. Finland's nationwide electronic health record (EHR) system spanning multiple generations presents new opportunities for studying a connected network of medical histories for entire families. In this work we present a graph-based deep learning approach for learning explainable, supervised representations of how each family member's longitudinal medical history influences a patient's disease risk. We demonstrate that this approach is beneficial for predicting 10-year disease onset for 5 complex disease phenotypes, compared to clinically-inspired and deep learning baselines for Finland's nationwide EHR system comprising 7 million individuals with up to third-degree relatives. Through the use of graph explainability techniques, we illustrate that a graph-based approach enables more personalized modeling of family information and disease risk by identifying important relatives and features for prediction.


This article describes an electrochemical study on the use of RuSe2 + δnanotubes as a catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Uniform RuSe2 + δnanotubes were synthesized via a facile template-engaged reaction between Ru(acac)3 and t-Se nanowires at 80 °C, followed by selective removal of the unreacted t-Se cores. The resultant RuSe2 + δnanotubes were ∼55 nm in outer diameter, together with a wall thickness of ∼9 nm. These nanotubes were active for ORR and displayed high tolerance to 0.1 M methanol. While the mass-specific ORR activities at 0.7 V were ∼30 times lower than those reported for commercial Pt/C (TKK) catalysts, no detrimental effect over the ORR activity was observed upon the addition of 0.1 M methanol. In the presence of 0.1 M methanol, the mass-specific ORR activity for RuSe2 + δ was ∼12 times lower than that for Pt/C (TKK) at 0.7 V. Durability tests by chronoamperometry showed that 0.1 M methanol led to significant performance loss for Pt/C (TKK), while RuSe2 + δ was completely tolerant to 0.1 M methanol even after 1,800 s of operation.


Objective To evaluate the clinical value of Tru-cut needle examination (Tru-cut), colour Dopple flow image (CDFI), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and the combined use of them in the surveillane of 30 renal allognaft.Methods Thirty patients with renal transplantation were randomly selected. The diagnostic results from Tru-cut biopsy, CDFI, SPECT and the combined use of them respectively were compared with each other in 30 renal transplantation recipients. Results The diagnostic accuracy was 82% for Tru-cut, 73% for CDFI, 79% for SPECT and 91% for the combined use of them (P<0.05).Conclusions The combined use of Tru-cut, CDFI and SPECT could be used as a routine detecting means.


Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is a well-known geophysical method applied to geological, hydrogeological and geoenvironmental research. To date, 2D ERT is still used much more than 3D ERT, thanks to its greater immediacy, survey speed and lower complexity in processing and inversion. However, the assumption of two-dimensionality of the underground structures can mean that the effects of 3D structures on the 2D ERT can sometimes lead to gross errors in interpretation. This work aims to evaluate these effects by testing synthetic and experimental models. Numerical simulations are performed starting from different resistivity models, and from the results, 2D data sets are derived to study and quantify the effects of 2D inversion on 3D structures. Tests simulating prismatic resistive blocks with a vertical square section are presented. Prisms extend orthogonally to the survey line. Depending on their length, they range from a minimum equal to the length of the section (cubic resistive block) to infinity (2D prism). On these models, 2D and 3D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys are simulated. The results show that resistive blocks with a limited extension orthogonal to the profile are not effectively resolved by 2D ERT. Additionally, resistivity values obtained from a 2D ERT inversion on a 3D resistive prism are underestimated more than those obtained on the corresponding 2D prism when compared with the true value. This underestimation increases with the three-dimensional characteristics. Furthermore, resistive blocks located near the survey line but not crossed by it create artifacts that can lead to erroneous interpretations. A field test performed on a calcarenite quarry, of which the three-dimensional geophysical model was reconstructed, confirmed the results obtained by the synthetic tests, highlighting that the effects of three-dimensionality can lead to the identification of artifacts in the vertical section or produce strong errors in the estimation of depth and size, thus causing misleading statements.


A defect-tolerant large area integrated circuit 16 cm/sup 2/ in size was implemented. It contains the test and configuration frame for a MIMD (multiple instruction, multiple data) multiprocessor architecture for video signal processing. The emphasis was on the development of a new automatic configuration network for the interconnection of functional modules. The straightforward test and configuration approach avoids external online computation of patterns to be applied. To solve the problem of getting access to the modules, the bring-up procedure of the networks is performed automatically by a defect-tolerant scan test under defect-tolerant control, followed by randomly performed configuration trials. This procedure has been shown to be highly effective. By using a fail-safe design of vital hardware components, like configuration nodes and control units, their fault susceptibility was decreased by a factor of three.<<ETX>>


Objective: This study aims to investigate the influence of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) with two equations (and by one or two separate measurements), on the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and its association with blood pressure, and cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors. Methods: Between January 2010 and October 2011, the Ibermutuamur CArdiovascular RIsk Assessment project included 128 588 workers (77.2% men, mean age 39.3 years, range 16–75), who underwent two consecutive yearly medical check-ups and had information for eGFR according to the MDRD-IDMS and CKD-EPI equations (serum creatinine was measured by a isotope-dilution mass spectrometry traceable method in a single central laboratory). CKD was defined by an eGFR less than 60 ml/min per 1.73 m2. Subclinical (occult) renal disease was defined as an eGFR less than 60 ml/min per 1.73 m2 in patients with serum creatinine below 1.3 mg/dl and below 1.2 mg/dl in men and women, respectively. Results: In this working population, prevalence of CKD was very low, but two to six times lower when two separate eGFRs below 60 ml/min per 1.73 m2 were used. The prevalence of CKD was significantly lower with the CKD-EPI compared to the MDRD-IDMS equation. The same applies to occult CKD. In male workers, occult CKD was practically nonexistent. Multivariate analyses show that blood pressure, total serum cholesterol, and serum glucose (positively), and high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein (negatively) were associated with CKD, with both equations. Another metabolic factor (waist circumference) was only associated (positively) with CKD defined by the CKD-EPI equation, which appears to be associated with most components of the metabolic syndrome. Conclusions: The CKD-EPI formula, calculated on the basis of two reported blood samples, may provide the most specific definition of CKD.


Is a bank that provides cross-border services into aforeign country without being physically present in such country required to comply with such countrys banking laws? Domestic legislatures in many countries have not addressed this issue, and the competentjudicial and administrative authorities tend to rule on a case-by-case basis applying approaches that not only lack consistency and predictability, but also appear to be unfounded if not arbitrary. This article attempts to analyze the problem in accordance with nationally and internationally acknowledged principles of legal methodology. It combines the interpretive guideline drawn from the purposes of banking regulation with the implications of the territoriality principle. Thereby, it develops a staggered solution that is flexible enough to embrace the relevant circumstances of the case at issue and clear enough to provide for a high level of legal predictability.


An empirical formula which has been shown to give good values for ring bending strain in small rings has been applied to infrared bending vibrations. The derived dynamics are of a ?pendulum? character, and reasonable agreement is obtained in calculating the C-C-C bending force constant from the empirical formula constant. Resultant anharmonicities are calculated from the ?pendulum? dynamics, and good agreement is obtained with experimentally determined levels up to the 060 level of CO2 and 040 for HCN.


Oxidative mechanisms in tribological processes are commonly related with temperature and the real contact area. In this article, a lumped parameter dynamic model was developed to predict friction-generated oxide thicknesses in dry sliding conditions. The proposed model is based on conservative principles and causal equations applied to a pin-on-disk configuration in order to calculate the flash temperature with base on the heat transfer phenomena. Also, a mass balance was proposed to estimate the amount of hematite (Fe2O3), magnetite (Fe3O4), and wüstite (FeO) formed by friction heat. A new equation was proposed to predict the thicknesses of the oxides generated, and the model was validated based on experimental data available in specialized literature.


This chapter addresses the need for hybrid magnetoencephalography (MEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems. The importance of combining MEG with MRI was realized early. The most important benefit of MEG over the widely available electroencephalography (EEG) is its ability to locate brain activity. To relate the location coordinates to individual anatomy, structural MRI is needed. In addition, structural MRI can help constrain the estimated source currents to the cortex, making the three-dimensional source volume a two-dimensional layer. Later, after the invention of functional MRI (fMRI), it was realized that the new kind of data could be used as additional information to help solve the MEG inverse problem. Thus, structural MRI benefits MEG data interpretation in three main ways: first, MEG localization results can be displayed on top of anatomical images; second, one obtains geometrical information for the analysis of the inverse problem, for example, in beamforming; third, a priori information regarding source locations will be more accurate. Since MEG and MRI are normally done separately, the two data sets have to be combined. This requires co-registration of the MEG and MRI coordinate systems.


Abstract
Popular writing has brought about an image of Hindu deities that are seen as a part of Hinduism only and Hinduism is also seen as a religion of the Indian subcontinent. While this may be largely true in many cases, it forces us to look at Hinduism in very Semitic terms as a closed religion. On the contrary we see that there was a considerable travel of gods and goddesses from other religions into Hinduism and vice versa. And thus negates the idea of Hinduism as a closed system. This therefore brings us to the problem of defining Hinduism which is by no means an easy task as there is no agreement on any singular definition. Pre-modern India had more contacts with her neighbours and thus central Asia and south East Asia emerge as some of the main regions where Indian influence is seen in many aspects of life. Even to a casual observer of both central Asia and South East Asia we see that there striking Indian influences in culture, religion and other aspects of life. All of them are not part of the textual literature that has become very nationalistic in the recent past and this tends to also dismiss the earlier writings as western Eurocentric. It is true that there is a great element of eurocentricism in the earlier writings but one point that needs to be highlighted is that these earlier writings also faithfully portrayed many aspects like iconography etc. in a very descriptive manner that focused on the measurements, likeness, colour and other associated characteristics of the statues. Such trends are clearly visible in the writings of Jas Burgess,E.B Havell etc. who were influenced by the dominant paradigm in contemporary Europe of the 1850"s where the duty of the historian was to just record. Such an approach was informed by the writings of the German philosopher Leopold Von Ranke. Though there are certain value judgments at the end of the chapter, the main narrative is a dry as dust and it is easy to decipher the characteristics or reconstruct the iconographic programme in any shrine and by extension the religious practices. In the modern period , where the dominant forms of anti-colonial struggles led to a writing of nationalist history succeeded by Marxist influenced social histories in many parts of Asia, the identification of the national boundaries and national cultures also extended to religions and many aspects were either muted or totally obliterated in history writing to present a homogenous picture. Thus, we have a picture of Hinduism and Buddhism that fits in with the national narratives. Such a collapse of categories is there in the borderland of India where the cultural boundaries are not clearly marked as also h religious boundaries. One single example that illustrates this assertion is the portrayal of Sri Lanka as a Sinhala Buddhist region with the Tamil regions of Sri Lanka marked off as separate entity and both being largely exclusive. In the Buddhist temples of Sri Lanka, one finds firstly the statue of Ganesha and later the images of Karthikeya and also the god Shani or Saturn. This image of a Buddhist monastery sharply contrasts with the highly buddhistic space of a Sinhala Buddhist temple where non-Buddhist elements are not found.


Successful students who are immigrant language minority students (ILMS) and who were once identified as ESL learners tend to standout in the Greater Vancouver area since academic achievement tends to be the exception rather than the rule for these students. Only a small proportion appears to graduate from high school and/or pursue studies at a post-secondary level (Gunderson, 2000). If one believes that, in general, all children have what it takes to discover and learn about the world that surrounds them, and how to become an active participant in it, then one has to wonder why so many are failing. Moreover, one can ask what the few who are making it are actually doing that allows them to "beat the odds". This study attempted to explore this question through a series of qualitative iridepth interviews with fifteen 'ex-ESL students' from the Greater Vancouver area. The interviews focused on their perceptions of the factors having influenced their successful academic achievement and integration process as defined by their ability to enter a Canadian university. The importance of the special challenges that the education of ILMS presents for all involved is stressed, followed by a discussion of how these challenges were perceived, faced and overcome by the ILMS in this study. Special emphasis is put on the importance of sociocultural aspects such as the establishment of a strong sense of selfworth, strong relationships with family and friends, the preservation of home language(s) and culture(s) and prior school experiences as keys to social and academic achievement. This thesis also identifies interesting paradoxes in the way the informants perceived their educational experiences. Informants commented, for example, on the safe, yet segregating ESL classrooms and the importance of both individual and collective effort. In summarizing and discussing the comments and advice given by ILMS it is hoped that more people may gain a greater understanding of what ILMS have to face and what it takes to help make success the rule rather than the exception.


This paper proposes a new method to detect mouth in color image. Instead of segmenting images based on lip color (like other methods often do), we segment images based on skin. After that, we add some specific techniques to approach the mouth in color image efficiently to determine mouth candidates quickly and then classify mouth candidates by neural network. Therefore, the runtime of method is improved remarkably and the result is good (about 85.5%). Moreover, this method allows robust mouth detection under different light conditions and with any particular make-up.


Background Discordances between glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels and glycemic control are common in clinical practice. We aimed to investigate the consistency of the glycation gap with the hemoglobin glycation index (HGI). Methods From 2016 to 2019, 36 patients with type 2 diabetes were enrolled. HbA1c, glycated albumin (GA), and fasting blood glucose levels were simultaneously measured and 72-hour continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) was performed on the same day. Repeated tests were performed at baseline and 1 month later, without changing patients' diabetes management. The HGI was calculated as the difference between the measured HbA1c and the predicted HbA1c that was derived from CGM. The glycation gap was calculated as the difference between the measured and GA-based predicted HbA1c levels. Results Strong correlations were found between the mean blood glucose (MBG)-based HGI and the prebreakfast glucose-based HGI (r=0.867, P<0.001) and between the glycation gap and the MBG-based HGI (r=0.810, P<0.001). A close correlation was found between the MBG-based HGI at baseline and that after 1 month (r=0.729, P<0.001), with a y-intercept of 0 and a positive slope. Conclusion The HGI and glycation gap were highly reproducible, and the magnitudes of repeated determinations were closely correlated. Patients with similar mean glucose levels may have significantly different HbA1c levels.


The determination of particle size is an important quality control measurement for feed manufacturers, nutritionists, and producers. The current approved method for determining the geometric mean diameter by weight (d) and geometric standard deviation (S) of grains is standard ANSI/ASAE S319.4. This method controls many variables, including the suggested quantity of initial material and the type, number, and size of sieves. However, the method allows for variations in sieving time, sieve agitators, and the use of a dispersion agent. The objective of this experiment was to determine which method of particle size analysis best estimated the particle size of various cereal grain types. Eighteen samples of either corn, sorghum, or wheat were ground and analyzed using different variations of the approved method. Treatments were arranged in a 5 × 3 factorial arrangement with 5 sieving methods: 1) 10-min sieving time with sieve agitators and no dispersion agent, 2) 10-min sieving time with sieve agitators and dispersion agent, 3) 15-min sieving time with no sieve agitators or dispersion agent, 4) 15-min sieving time with sieve agitators and no dispersion agent, and 5) 15-min sieving time with sieve agitators and dispersion agent conducted in 3 grain types (ground corn, sorghum, and wheat) with 4 replicates per treatment. The analytical method that resulted in the lowest d and greatest S was considered desirable because it was presumably representative of increased movement of particles to their appropriate sieve. Analytical method affected d and S ( ≤ 0.05) measured by both standards. Inclusion of sieve agitators and dispersion agent in the sieve stack resulted in the lowest d, regardless of sieving time. Inclusion of dispersion agent reduced d ( ≤ 0.05) by 32 and 36 µm when shaken for 10 and 15 min, respectively, compared to the same sample analyzed without dispersion agent. The addition of the dispersion agent also increased S. The dispersion agent increased the quantity of very fine particles collected in the pan; therefore, S was significantly greater ( ≤ 0.05). Corn and sorghum ground using the same mill parameters had similar d ( > 0.05), but wheat ground using the same mill parameters was 120 to 104 µm larger ( ≤ 0.05) than corn and sorghum, respectively. Both sieve agitators and dispersion agent should be included when conducting particle size analysis. The results indicate that 10 and 15 min of sieving time produced similar results.


Self-esteem is an essential component of every individual's life, which depends on the individuals' mindset. This study examined the influence of parental achievement orientation on self-esteem and academic achievement of secondary school students in Imo State. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study utilized Ex-post-facto research design. Seven hundred and twenty-one participants from senior secondary school students in Imo State participated in the study. Parental Achievement Orientation Questionnaire (PAOQ) and Students Self Esteem Scale" (SSES) were completed by the participants. The data collected were analyzed using Mean, Standard Deviation and t-test statistics. Results revealed that: positive parental achievement orientation significantly influences participants' selfesteem and academic achievement than the negative parental achievement orientation. The outcomes of the study suggest that Parental Achievement Orientation is relevant for enhancing secondary school students' self-esteem to overcome negative mindset associated with decision making in life situations. Based on the findings, the following recommendations were made: It would be relevant and helpful if further studies on parental achievement orientation on other psychological constructs be examined in secondary school and other higher institutions in Nigeria and other countries both national and internationally.


The transcription profile of chipmunk parvovirus (ChpPV), a tentative member of the genus Erythrovirus in the subfamily Parvovirinae of the family Parvoviridae, was characterized by transfecting a nearly full-length genome. We found that it is unique from the profiles of human parvovirus B19 and simian parvovirus, the members in the genus Erythrovirus so far characterized, in that the small RNA transcripts were not processed for encoding small non-structural proteins. However, like the large non-structural protein NS1 of the human parvovirus B19, the ChpPV NS1 is a potent inducer of apoptosis. Further phylogenetic analysis of ChpPV with other parvoviruses in the subfamily Parvovirinae indicates that ChpPV is distinct from the members in genus Erythrovirus. Thus, we conclude that ChpPV may represent a new genus in the family Parvoviridae.


The effect of bivalent cations on NaCl-stimulated ATPase activity in rabbit small intestinal mucosa was studied. Unlike Ba2+ and Zn2+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ added to the incubation medium at a concentration of 0.25 mM completely change ATPase activity. Histamine considerably reduces the inhibitory effect of Ca2+ and Mg2+ on NaCl-stimulated and oligomycin-inhibited ATPase activity. Possible mechanisms of the enzyme activity control in the cell are discussed.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine liquidity risk in Pakistani banks and evaluate the effect on banks' profitability. Design/methodology/approach – Data are retrieved from the balance sheets, income statements and notes of 22 Pakistani banks during 2004-2009. Multiple regressions are applied to assess the impact of liquidity risk on banks' profitability. Findings – The results of multiple regressions show that liquidity risk affects bank profitability significantly, with liquidity gap and non-performing as the two factors exacerbating the liquidity risk. They have a negative relationship with profitability. Research limitations/implications – The period studied in this paper is 2004-2009, due to availability of the data. However, the sample period does not impair the findings since the sample includes 22 banks, which constitute the main part of the Pakistani banking system. Moreover, only profitability is used as the measure of performance. Economic factors contributing to liquidity risk are not covered in this paper. Originality/value – This is the first paper addressing the liquidity risk faced by the Pakistani banking system. Past researchers and practitioners have not given the proper attention to liquidity risk. This paper helps in understanding the factors of liquidity risk and their impact on the profitability of the banking system. The authors emphasise contemporary risk managers to mitigate liquidity risk by having sufficient cash resources. This will reduce the liquidity gap, thereby reducing the dependence on repo market.


VETERINARY surgeon Carl Boyde, who has given 60 years of service to the RSPCA, was recognised by the charity recently, when he was presented with its Lord Erskine Silver award. The award recognises individuals who have made important contributions to the field of animal welfare. Mr Boyde, from Chertsey in Surrey, has, the society reports, provided vital support to RSPCA investigations into allegations of animal cruelty. The RSPCA describes its awards as 'an opportunity to recognise and honour all those people and organisations that help to make the lives of animals better; through kindness, courage, determination and innovation'. Awards are given 'for bravery, outstanding service and to recognise exceptional contributions to animal welfare'. Dermot Murphy, interim assistant director of the RSPCA's inspectorate, said: 'The RSPCA has a proud history of dedication to ending animal cruelty and preventing suffering. It is a history that will continue long into the future thanks to the magnificent work of our inspectors and front line staff. However, there is no doubting the enormous role played by other organisations, campaigners and tireless individuals to furthering the cause of animal welfare. The honours recognise those people from both inside and outside the RSPCA who have gone above and beyond in their contribution to protecting and helping animals. It is thanks to them that thousands of animals are able to lead happy and healthy lives today.'