Background: Intensive Therapeutic Units (ITUs) are unfortunately the epicenters of hospital acquired infection (HAIs). Limited data is available regarding the burden of HAIs in Indian ITU, especially median time of its detection, prevalent organisms and its resistance patterns. We conducted a prospective surveillance aimed to determine the occurrence of device associated infections (DAIs) rate, magnitude of device associated infection cases per 1000 bed days, incidence of infections per 1000 device days and median time for detection of DAIs. Study population was taken from a 25 bedded intensive therapeutic unit (ITU), of a government teaching hospital in India. Methods: A prospective cohort study was performed over two years duration from June 2011 to May 2013. Total 596 patients who were admitted in the ITU for more than 48 hours were followed until discharge. CDC/NNIS system definitions for DAIs were used and rates were calculated. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Results: Cumulative incidence rate of HAIs was 23.15 (138/596) and isolated DAIs was 19.96 (119/596). There was high device utilization mainly for urinary catheter (.838) and IV catheter (.742) than ventilator (.310) but the incidence density was more in ventilator associated infection(VAP-7.38%) than catheter associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI-7.21%) and catheter related blood stream infection (CRBSI-5.37%). Chi-square value for MV(mechanical ventilation) was found 42.59 (<0.001) and ODD Ratio (OR) was 6.8 at CI 3.44-13.67. For urinary catheter(UC) and IVCatheter Chi-square value was 1.13 and 1.94. OR was 1.67 (0.61-4.93) and 4.71 (0.67-94.03). Median time of acquiring VAP, UTI, BSI were maximum in between (9 to 11 days), (17 to 20 days) and (12 to 14) days respectively; indicates requirement of regular follow up of devices within thisZ periods. Major pathogens for VAP Klebsiella (28%), Acinetobacter(26.3%) and Pseudomonus (21%). For CAUTI Staphylococcus aureus (18.7%), pseudomonas and Klebsiella (14.6%) each. CRBSI mainly by gram positive Staphylococcus aureus (24.2%) and Coagulase negative Staphylococcus (12.1%), Acinetobacter (18.2%) and Staphylococcus aureus (15.2%). Conclusion: Although the distribution of pathogens was similar to previous reports, a high rate of device associated infection in ITU can be prevented by regular follow-up of devices, early change of invasive devices within its median time of infection or to avoid unnecessarily prolong use.


A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (C-ELISA) has been developed and standardized for the detection of antibodies to the rinderpest virus (RPV) in sera from cattle, sheep, and goats. The test is specific for rinderpest because it does not detect antibodies to peste-des-petits-ruminants virus (PPRV). The test depends on the ability of the monoclonal antibody (MAb) directed against the hemagglutinin (H) protein of RPV to compete with the binding of RPV antibodies in the positive serum to the H protein of this virus. This MAb recognized a region from amino acids 575 to 583 on the H protein of RPV that is unique to the RPV H protein and is not present on the hemagglutinin-neuraminidase protein of PPRV. Another C-ELISA (peptide C-ELISA) was set up using this specific region as an antigen. A threshold value of 64.4% inhibition was established for the RPV C-ELISA, with 90 known RPV-negative and 30 RPV-positive serum samples. Using common serum samples, a cutoff value of 43.0% inhibition for the peptide C-ELISA was established. Based on statistical analysis, the overall sensitivity and specificity of the RPV C-ELISA, relative to those of a commercial kit, were found to be 90.00% and 103.33%, respectively. However, the sensitivity and specificity of the peptide C-ELISA were found to be 180.00% and 73.33%, respectively. Although a common MAb in 2 new C-ELISA systems was used, variation in their percent inhibition, due to the use of different antigens, was observed. Taking into consideration the difference in percent inhibition of the 2 described assays and the commercial kit (50%), it was found that the RPV C-ELISA and the peptide C-ELISA are more specific and sensitive tools than the commercial kit for assessing herd immune status and for epidemiologic surveillance.


Background While electroacupuncture (EA) in cerebral ischemia has been used to promote functional recovery, the underlying mechanism of its protective effect remains poorly understood. Objective We investigated the effects of EA stimulation at GV20 and ST36 to observe the changes in erythropoietin- (EPO-) mediated Janus family tyrosine kinases 2 (JAK2) signal transducers and activators of the transcription 3 (STAT3) cell pathway. Methods Thirty-six specific pathogen-free Sprague-Dawley (SD) male rats were randomly assigned to three groups: the sham-operated group (S group), the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) group (M group), and the EA group. Neurological deficits were assessed through the Ludmila Belayev 12-score test and 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining was shown. The protein and mRNA expression levels of EPO, the EPO receptor (EpoR), p-JAK2, JAK2, p-STAT3, and STAT3 were examined to explore the EA effect on rats with cerebral ischemic reperfusion injury (CIRI). Results EA significantly decreased infarct size and improved neurological function. Furthermore, target EPO, EpoR, JAK2, and STAT3 mRNA and protein levels significantly increased in the EA group. Conclusions EA exerts a neuroprotective effect, possibly via the regulation of the EPO-mediated JAK2/STAT3 cell pathway and downstream apoptotic pathways in a rat CIRI model.


The purpose of this systematic overview was to summarize research findings on strategies for managing the behavioural symptomatology associated with dementia of the Alzheimer type. A search of the published and unpublished literature resulted in 265 articles, 45 of which were judged to be relevant. Using validity criteria, 1 article was judged to be strong, 6 moderate, 20 weak, and 18 poor. Strategies such as planned walking, pet therapy, an attention-focusing program, functional skills training, music, and visual barriers demonstrated promising results in improving: (a) aggressive, agitated, and disruptive behaviours, (b) social interaction, (c) self-care ability, (d) day-night disturbances, or (e) wandering. The findings indicate that there is existing research, although in its infancy, to support the use of strategies for managing the behavioural symptomatology associated with dementia of the Alzheimer type.


A general inversion scheme based on a genetic algorithm is developed to invert seismic observations for anisotropic parameters. The technique is applied to the inversion of shear-wave observations from two azimuthal VSP data sets from the Conoco test site in Oklahoma. Horizontal polarizations and time-delays are inverted for hexagonal and orthorhombic symmetries. The model solutions are consistent with previous studies using trial and error matching of full waveform synthetics. The shear-wave splitting observations suggest the presence of a shear-wave line singularity and are consistent with a dipping fracture system which is known to exist at the test site. Application of the inversion scheme prior to full waveform modelling demonstrates that a considerable saving in time is possible whilst retaining the same degree of accuracy.


Guidelines on the management of gestational diabetes (GDM) instruct physicians to involve ultrasound-based monitoring of fetal growth in addition to blood glucose. So far, glucose control besides clinical parameters like maternal body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain have been shown to predict neonatal outcome. We aimed to evaluate the discriminative ability of fetal abdominal subcutaneous tissue (FAST) in addition to standard ultrasound parameters like abdominal circumference (AC) and estimated fetal weight (EFW) for perinatal complications like large for gestational age (LGA), hypoglycemia, hyperbilirubinemia, mode of delivery and admission to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Ultrasound data and neonatal outcome was collected of 805 GDM cases from 2012 to 2016: 3205 FAST, 3195 AC-measurements and 3190 EFW calculations were included. AC, EFW and FAST increased linear with gestational age. Combining ultrasound and clinical parameters improved predictive power for LGA. In the subgroup where fetuses grow with an AC > 75th additional adding of FAST to standard ultrasound parameters increased predictive power for hypoglycemia. Our results confirm inclusion of ultrasound parameters to be beneficial in monitoring GDM pregnancies. Additional FAST determination revealed to be of potential clinical relevance in the subgroup AC > 75th percentile.


Quantitation assay of Escherichia coli, Samonell sp. and Vibrio cholerae cells investigated by exploiting the component consistently present on the outer surface of Gram-negative bacteria. In this study, a simple marine biolysate-based method for simultaneous detection of the gram negative pathogenic bacteria based on lipopolysaccharide component was optimized. The detection technique focused on the surface of these bacterial species, which is covered by polysaccharides and has high affinity to marine biolysate. E. coli, Samonell sp. and V. cholerae with similar initial cell count per mL have different but consistent absorbance readings by using the spectrophotometer and turbidity meter. This revealed that different genera of Gram Negative bacteria can be directly differentiated through standard curve that is plotted from the carbohydrate and marine biolysate assays absorbance readings. Both the assays elucidated a qualitative and quantitative detection of the pure culture pathogens.


Sand smelt (Atherina boyeri Risso, 1810), which is an exotic species with invasive
character, is the third most caught species in the small-scale fisheries among the inland
fisheries in Turkey. The fact that it has become an important source of income for the
fishermen with low income due to its export potential has led to the maintenance of
its stock recently. In this study, the selectivity of coastal beach seine used in the fishing
of the species was investigated. A specially designed coastal beach seine with 10 m
codend consisting of 4 different compartments was used in the study. Among the
compartments of the codend, which was surrounded by a 6 mm mesh cover, in the
codend panels mesh with 9, 12 and 14 mm were used. Field studies were carried out
on a monthly basis in 4 different stations of İznik Lake in 2014. Selectivity data were
collected by the covered codend method and analyzed by means of a logistic equation
with the maximum likelihood method. A totally 3053 individuals were caught length
ranged from 2.6-11.2 cm and weight ranged from 0.11-11.02 g. The mean L50 values
of 14, 12- and 9-mm panels were determined as 6.71, 5.62 and 4.51 cm total length,
respectively. It is concluded that 12 mm mesh size panel is suitable for sustainable A.
boyeri fishery by beach seine net when considered given by length at first maturity
size.


A simple equivalent circuit is developed for alternating current thin film electroluminescent devices. With sinusoidal excitation voltage an exact analytical solution is presented for calculating the device current, transferred charge and the internal voltage across the phosphor layer. The circuit is used for modeling EL devices with widely varying phosphor layer materials that include ZnS, CaS, SrS, CaF/sub 2/, SrF/sub 2/, ZnF/sub 2/ and multilayer structures prepared with Atomic Layer Deposition. The equivalent circuit gives a straightforward way to characterize the electrical properties of these materials. The fluorides have inferior breakdown properties compared to sulfides although they are much more symmetric. The strong asymmetry of SrS is attributed to its nonuniform defect distribution. >


ABSTRACT This study provides utilization of salmon fillet by-products as canned soup at plant scale conditions and evaluation of nutritional value and consumer acceptance. The final product tested proved to be microbiologically sterile and had high consumer acceptance. The canned salmon soup contained 87.11% moisture, 7.32% protein, 2.89% fat, and 0.08% ash. Fatty acids results demonstrated that a portion of the soup would well cover daily recommended n-3 poly-unsaturated fatty acid intake. The values for vitamins, minerals, and amino acids indicate a good contribution to its nutritional value. Therefore, it was concluded that salmon fillet waste has a high potential to become raw material for health-preserving soup.


From the standpoint of system engineering, multi-level fuzzy method was used to evaluate the safety of floating bridge. Considering the battlefield tactics factor and technical factor, the index system was built and 8 modules for comprehensive factor influence assessment and 24 modules for specific factor influence assessment were included. Expert evaluation method was used to determine the weight and membership degree of each factor, and the comprehensive safety of floating bridge was found. In the end, the safety state of this system was analyzed according to safety degree. The case analysis results showed that: the system analysis method was feasible and effective in the application research of the safety of the floating bridge in complicated environment.


A deficient leucocyte immunological function could cause the reported high rate of lethal infections following renal transplantation in patients affected by Fabry's disease. We have studied humoral immunity, peripheral lymphocyte subsets, mitogenic lymphocyte response in vitro and granulocyte function in three patients with Fabry's disease. The immunological state appears to be quite similar to that of the uraemic population in general, not showing any specific impairment.


Demographics and drug survival in patients with psoriasis treated with brodalumab enrolled in the British Association of Dermatologists Biologic and Immunomodulators Register (BADBIR) up to 1 year J. Birger Hansen, E. Didriksen Apol, M. Sheikh, K. Vadstrup and A. Martin-Clavijo LEO Pharma A/S, Ballerup, Denmark; LEO Pharma A/S, Hurley, UK; and University Hospital Birmingham (UHB), Birmingham, UK Real-world evidence on the therapeutic success of biologics in psoriasis can support clinical decision-making. Evidence on patient characteristics and the therapeutic success of brodalumab in everyday clinical practice is currently limited. The objective of the present study was to describe the demographics, disease severity and comorbidities, and to estimate drug survival, of patients with psoriasis treated with brodalumab included in the British Association of Dermatologists Biologic and Immunomodulators Register (BADBIR). This analysis included patients initiated on brodalumab in BADBIR from 19 January 2018 to 30 October 2020. Drug survival analysis was conducted by Kaplan–Meier estimation. Windowing analyses of Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), Physician's Global Assessment and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) for baseline and 12 months after the start of treatment was conducted as observed. In total, 213 adult patients receiving treatment with brodalumab for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis were included in this analysis. Patients were predominantly male (59 2%), mean age was 23 5 years, mean body mass index (BMI) was 33 0, and mean baseline PASI and DLQI were 13 0 (n = 127) and 16 5 (n = 76), respectively. In total, 157 patients (73 7%) had at least one comorbidity, the most common being hypertension (27 2%), depression (26 3%), diabetes (11 7%) and psoriatic arthropathy (PsA; 6 1%). Fifty patients (23 5%) were biologic-na€ıve, 101 (47 4%) started brodalumab without a specified previous biologic and 62 (29 1%) were biologic-experienced with a known previous biologic. The predicted drug survival probability at 12 months for all patients was 85 2% [95% confidence interval (CI) 79 6–91 1]. At 12 months, biologic-na€ıve patients and patients with previous biologic use had similar drug survival [86 2% (95% CI 75 3–98 6) and 85 0% (95% CI 78 8-91 7), respectively]; elderly patients (those aged ≥ 65 years) had lower drug survival (79 5%, 95% CI 59 3–100) than those aged < 65 years (85 6%, 95% CI 79 9–91 8); patients with a BMI < 30 and ≥ 30 at baseline had similar drug survival [85 2% (95% CI 76 0–95 5) and 84 2% (95% CI 77 1–91 9), respectively]. PsA did not seem to affect drug survival [PsA: 83 8% (95% CI 70 2–100 0); no PsA: 85 3% (95% CI 79 3–91 8)]. Thirty patients (14 1%) stopped owing to lack of efficacy or adverse events (n = 13). At 12 months, 54 patients reported an absolute PASI score ≤ 2, and 33 an DLQI score of 0 or 1. This analysis indicates high and sustained drug survival rates for brodalumab after 1 year of treatment, irrespective of patient subgroup, as well as high rates of clearance in a real-world clinical setting. Further real-world studies are warranted to study the longer-term effectiveness of brodalumab.


Background Regulatory approval of biosimilar versions of innovator biotherapeutics requires that new biological products be highly similar to innovator products, with no clinically meaningful differences in safety, purity, and potency.1,2 Pre-specified margins for equivalence in efficacy have been met in comparative trials of biosimilars of tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFis) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA)3 and plaque psoriasis (PsO),4 supporting biosimilarity, but differences in treatment responses between originator pivotal trials and biosimilar trials have posed some interesting questions. Objectives To compare American College of Rheumatology 20% response (ACR20) and Psoriasis Area Severity Index 75% (PASI75) responses to originator TNFis in pivotal trials with those to originator TNFis and TNFi biosimilars in biosimilar trials in RA and PsO. Methods Historical data from originator pivotal trials (averaged across trials) were obtained from published systematic literature reviews. Searches were conducted to identify comparative randomized clinical trials of approved or proposed biosimilars of adalimumab (ADA), etanercept (ETN), and infliximab (INF) using Embase®, MEDLINE®, the Cochrane Central Trials Register and Database of Systematic Reviews, and other Cochrane Library databases, and 2015/16 congress abstracts. To reduce variability, only studies conducted in disease-modifying antirheumatic drug-experienced patients treated with the same biologic dosages and assessed at the same time points were selected for analysis. Results Of 83 publications initially identified, 16 publications were included for analysis (RA: originators, n=4; biosimilars, n=6; PsO: originators, n=3; biosimilars, n=3). Higher proportions of ACR20 responders were found among RA patients receiving the originator biologics and biosimilars in biosimilar trials, than among patients receiving the originator biologics in pivotal trials (Table). Insufficient data were available from ADA and INF biosimilar studies in PsO; in ETN studies in PsO, a difference was also observed in the proportions of PASI75 responders between biosimilar and pivotal trials. Conclusions Differences were observed in treatment response rates between originator pivotal trials and more recent trials of originator biologics and their respective biosimilars. Such differences in outcomes may be attributable to fundamental differences in study design and/or baseline patient characteristics, which require further analysis. Additional research is also needed to explore the clinical relevance of these differences. References US Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/ Guidances/UCM291128.pdf. European Medicines Agency. http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Scientific_guideline/2015/01/WC500180219.pdf. Emery P, et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2017;76:51–7. Griffiths CE. Br J Dermatol. 2016. Oct 27 [e-pub]. Disclosure of Interest R. Moots Grant/research support from: Novartis, Pfizer, Consultant for: Abbvie, BMS, Cellgene, Chugai, C. Curiale Shareholder of: Pfizer, Employee of: Pfizer, D. Petersel Shareholder of: Pfizer, Employee of: Pfizer, C. Rolland Employee of: Envision Pharma Group, H. Jones Shareholder of: Pfizer, Employee of: Pfizer, E. Singh Shareholder of: Pfizer, Employee of: Pfizer, E. Mysler Consultant for: Abbvie, BMS, Pfizer, Roche, Pharma, GEMMA, Mabxience


A·we is the standard variety of the A·chik language also known as A·chikku which is also commonly known as the Garo language. The Garo language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Since Syntax involves arranging words to create logical phrases, clauses, and sentences, simple sentence is an important part of syntax and thus knowing about the simple sentence in A·we forms the basis of writing correct sentences in this variety of the Garo language. Noam Chomsky, the famous Linguist used the phrase, " colorless green ideas sleep furiously' in his book, Syntactic Structures (1957) as an example of a sentence which is syntactically and grammatically correct because it has the correct word order and the verb is consistent with the subject but is semantically incorrect. Chomsky (1957) thus illustrates that the rules governing syntax are different from the meaning conveyed by words. We can observe that there are subject and predicate in a simple sentence in language, which is the same for A·we. It is not essential that a simple sentence must be a short sentence and it is also possible to write a simple sentence if there is only one predicate used with a number of subjects to make a long sentence. Such sentences are still called a simple sentence. In this paper, we will discuss some classification of simple sentence in A·we which will further contribute to the study of syntax in A·we as well as aid in constructing proper sentences in the language.


Students of Scandinavian politics and government will be both pleased and dismayed by this "text" which has been composed for use by the first group of political science students in the Danish university at Aarhus.* The dismay stems from the admittedly hasty composition, the lack of source notes and extended bibliography, and the obvious failures in proof-reading. However, the work is unique, being the first formal effort to introduce in Denmark, however sketchily, many of the major themes in modern political science as well as, perhaps of more value, to open up Danish politics and government for study in terms which break away from that country's long tradition of historic and legalistic method. That the Danish beginners are in for meaty fare, and perhaps for some confusion, can be seen in the first few pages as Professor Meyer plunges at once into some rapid explanation of what the discipline means by calling on the works of Machiavelli, Duguit, Kelsen, Lasswell, and Easton. Despite an implied apology that the Danish term statskundskab (knowledge of the state) does not contain the word "science" (videnskab), the author quite rightly sets <he proper perspective by noting that, unlike American political science, the Danish study cannot look back on a list of authors who have assembled the "facts" of Danish politics. "On the contrary," he writes, "we lack to an uncomfortable degree 'facts' on Danish politics. Temporarily, therefore, the main duty of Danish political science must become descriptive-analytical in character."


The passing of a friend, mentor, and colleague forces us to evaluate not only our own mortality, but to try and understand the effect the deceased had upon the living. When that individual is an educator, the effect is perhaps felt even greater. For nearly thirty years William R. Maples was one of the most respected forensic anthropologists in the country. He taught and mentored students at the University of Florida, assisted local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, and served the Physical Anthropology section and the Academy by performing various administrative duties and working as a member of special committees. This loss, though felt greatest by his family, is one that has affected us all in ways both large and small.


Chiral carbon dots are prepared by a simple and one-step hydrothermal reaction at 180 °C for 2 h using citric acid and d-proline as precursors, which show high asymmetric catalytic activity for enantioselective direct aldol condensation. This work provides a hint for the simple preparation of heterogeneous chiral catalysts.


Women everywhere have long struggled for recognition as equal, productive members of society, worthy of taking part in the political process. These struggles become even more pronounced in times of conflict and war, when the symbolism and myths of womanhood are used to stoke nationalistic ideas about the survival of the state. Yet for all the rhetoric that takes place in their name, it's men who generally make decisions regarding war. Women and War examines how women respond to situations of conflict. Drawing on both traditional and feminist international relations theory, it explores the roles that women play before, during and after a conflict, how they spur and respond to nationalist and social movements, and how conceptions of gender are deeply intertwined with ideas about citizenship and the state. As Kaufman and Williams show, women do more than respond to conflict situations; they are active agents in their own right shaping political and historical processes. Their conclusions encourage us to rethink the prevalent assumptions of international relations, history and feminist scholarship and theory.


The development of these guidelines was coordinated by Laura Gillini, Medical Officer, Global Leprosy Programme (GLP) and supervised by Erwin Cooreman, GLP Team Leader. The GLP would like to thank members of the Guidelines Development Group (GDG), members of the External Review Group (ERG), and World Health Organization (WHO) staff who contributed to the development of these guidelines as part of the Steering Group or as peer reviewers. The GLP appreciates the input provided by the national leprosy programmes of the following countries: Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Morocco and the Philippines. The GLP is particularly grateful to the persons affected by leprosy who participated in focus group discussions in Colombia, Ghana, India and Nepal on diagnosis, treatment and contact screening. The guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of leprosy were developed with full funding support from The Nippon Foundation.


In a survey study, we investigated teacher attitudes toward acceleration and accelerated students in the Netherlands. Teachers (N = 334) from 31 secondary schools gave their opinion about gifted education and acceleration, and evaluated statements about accelerated students. Most teachers considered a special approach for gifted students advisable and acceleration a useful intervention. Teachers' opinions about accelerated students' social competence, school motivation and achievement, emotional problems, and isolation were qualified by the quantity and quality of prior experience with accelerated students and by their opinion on acceleration in gifted education. In a subsequent intervention study, we examined whether specific information on acceleration and giftedness changes teachers' attitudes toward accelerated students. Teachers who attended the information meeting and received written information expressed more positive opinions about accelerated students' social competence and school achievement and motivation and less negative opinions about emotional problems after intervention. Implications for gifted child education are discussed.


Input data modeling varies according to the modeler's objectives and may be a simple or complex task. Despite great advances in data collection techniques, the input data analysis remains a challenge, especially when the input data is complex and cannot be modeled by standard solutions offered by commercial simulation software. Therefore, this paper focuses on how Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) may support input data modeling, especially when traditional approaches are insufficient or inefficient. We evaluate the adoption of GANs for modeling correlated data as well as independent and identically distributed data. As results, GAN input models were able to generate highly accurate synthetic samples (average accuracies > 97.0%). For univariate distributions, we found no significant difference between standard and GAN input models performances. On the other hand, for correlated data, GAN input models outperformed standard ones. The most relevant accuracy gain was observed for the bivariate normal.


Benthic epiphytic dinoflagellates, associated with the human disease ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP), were found in low abundance on four species of macrophyte from eight separate sampling sites from the Belizean barrier reef ecosystem. Clonal cultures of Gambierdiscus toxicus, Prorocentrum lima, P. belizeanum, P. hoffmannianum, and P. mexicanum were found to be toxic. Highest densities of dinoflagellates were found as epiphytes on the rhodophyte, Acanthophora spicifera, while lowest densities were found as epiphytes on the angiosperm, Thalassia testudinum. Prorocentrum lima was the dominant epiphytic dinoflagellate at all sites except the locations with greatest disturbance. At these sites, the dominant dinoflagellates were Gambierdiscus toxicus and Ostreopsis lenticularis. However, the maximum densities of all species observed were much lower than other ecological surveys on these dinoflagellates from the Caribbean. The low abundance of toxic dinoflagellates associated with the dominant macrophyte, Thalassia testudinum, may be responsible for the low incidence of ciguatera in the Southern Belizean barrier reef ecosystem. However, with the increased inhabitation of this area, cases of ciguatera may rise.


Abstract The relationship between rivers and cities has evolved from a natural coexistence and interdependence to a progressive relationship of segregation and disintegration. This article uses a planning experiment to explore and discuss some concerns about visual attractiveness of city–river landscapes in promoting spatial integration of cities and rivers. It presents a methodological approach integrating expert opinions and public perception questionnaires. This is a contribution to making operational an ongoing aesthetic assessment of different dimensions and viewpoints at the city scale. This approach is illustrated with a case-study in the Lisbon metropolitan area and its main assessment results are integrated in a city–river profile that can be useful in ongoing evaluation processes of river landscapes and urban planning practice.


The aim of this paper is to build a trajectory tracking system considering the attitude of the quadrotor. Nowadays, quadcopter is often used for taking landscape pictures. The roll pitch Euler angle of the quadcopter greatly affects the resulting pictures so that it needs to be controlled. As a limitation, the roll pitch Euler angle based on inertial reference frame is not allowed to be more than fifteen degrees. Two main factors that affect the Euler angle of quadcopter are velocity and acceleration. Therefore, the velocity and acceleration of the UAV is maintained. A linear regression method is used to determine the velocity and acceleration reference that affect the resulting Euler angle. PID (Proportional, Integral, Derivative) controller is used as the controller method for the tracking control system. Finally, the trajectory tracking and attitude control is evaluated through simulation with ROS and Gazebo.


As language and art educators committed to anti-oppression, we sought to explore how walking and art-making help us reflect, inquire, create, and act, upon new understandings of anti-racist education. Living in three different cities (Edmonton, Vancouver, and Palermo), we collaborated on a walking-based art inquiry for ten weeks in the summer of 2020, combining walking, art-making (photography, painting, mixed-media collage, screenprinting, and poetry), reflecting, and discussing. We were curious to investigate, both individually and collaboratively, what an anti-racist curriculum looks and feels like to us, and what walking and art-making might do in the process of learning and teaching. We situated our project in an arts-based research paradigm (Conrad & Beck, 2015), and we were inspired by Feinberg's (2016) walking-based pedagogy and Judson's (2018) walking curriculum. This article presents artistic experiments we created, as well as curricular insights that emerged from our process, for example, that walking and art may serve as dehabituating forces to help us openly feel, question, protest, and reimagine education, from intersecting perspectives of race and language.


In this paper, we consider robust MIMO precoding designs against deterministic imperfect channel state information at the transmitter (CSIT). In contrast to the existing works based on one or two particular channel uncertainty models, we consider a general uncertainty set defined by a generic matrix norm, called the Schatten norm, which includes most deterministic imperfect CSIT as special cases. Adopting worst-case robustness, the robust MIMO precoding design is formulated as a maximin problem to maximize the worst-case received signal-to-noise ratio or minimize the worst-case error probability. We show that the robust precoder admits a channel-diagonalizing structure for all Schatten norm based uncertainty sets, and then simplify the complex-valued matrix problem to a real-valued vector power allocation problem. We further show that the simplified power allocation problem can be analytically solved in a waterfilling manner, thus leading to a fully closed-form solution to the robust precoding design. Finally, we also investigate the robustness of beamforming and uniform-power transmission.


Western blot of synovial fluid has been widely used for osteoarthritis (OA) research and diagnosis, but there is no ideal loading control for this purpose. Although β-actin is extensively used as loading control in western blot, it is not suitable for synovial fluid because it is not required in synovial fluid as a cytoskeletal protein. A good loading control for synovial fluid in OA studies should have unchanged content in synovial fluids from normal and OA groups, because synovial fluid protein content can vary with changes in synovial vascular permeability with OA onset. In this study, we explore the potential of using α1-antitripsin (A1AT) as loading control for OA synovial fluid in western blot. A1AT level is elevated in inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Unlike RA, OA is a non-inflammation disease, which does not induce A1AT. In this study, we identified A1AT as an abundant component of synovial fluid by Mass Spectrometry and confirmed that the level of A1AT is relative constant between human OA and normal synovial fluid by western blot and ELISA. Hence, we proposed that A1AT may be a good loading control for western blot in human OA synovial fluid studies provided that pathological conditions such as RA or A1AT deficiency associated liver or lung diseases are excluded.


Female reproductive status can have strong selective effects on male mating strategies due to the threat of sperm competition, which may explain why males prefer virgin over mated females. However, in mating systems with female multiple mating rates and mating plugs, males should not only respond to the risk but also to the level of sperm competition and should be sensitive to the interference from mating plugs. In the orb-web spider Argiope keyserlingi, females possess paired sperm-storage organs facilitating separate sperm storage from different males. Males are limited to 2 copulations due to mutilation of their paired genitals (pedipalps). By conducting binary choice experiments, we tested whether males of different mating status can distinguish between females that mated with 1 or 2 males and whether single-mated males discriminate between single-mated females with matched or unmatched virgin genital openings. Furthermore, we investigated whether males adapt their mating strategies to the intensity of sperm competition by providing males with varying qualities of females in their immediate vicinity. Our results demonstrated that males are sensitive to the level of sperm competition and preferred single-mated females over double-mated females. However, they failed to identify single-mated females whose virgin genital opening matched their unused pedipalp, which is required due to their fixed ipsilateral insemination. Surprisingly, males never mated twice with the same female independently of the quality of surrounding females. This suggests that the benefits from searching and mating with a different female are greater than the benefits of monopolizing the female by mating twice with her.


Abstract An effective multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the simultaneous detection of three major pathogens, Nosema bombycis Nägeli (Microsporidia: Nosematidae), Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (Baculoviridae: genus Alphabaculovirus) (NPV), and Bombyx mori densovirus (Parvoviridae: genus Iteravirus) (DNV), in silkworms (Bombyx mori (Linnaeus); Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) was developed in this study. Polymerase chain reaction and real-time PCR tests and basic local alignment search tool searches revealed that the primers and probes used in this study had high specificities for their target species. The ability of each primer/probe set to detect pure pathogen DNA was determined using a plasmid dilution panel, in which under optimal conditions the multiplex real-time PCR assay showed high efficiency in the detection of three mixed target plasmids with a detection limit of 8.5×103 copies for N. bombycis and Bombyx mori NPV (BmNPV) and 8.5×104 copies for Bombyx mori DNV (BmDNV). When the ability to detect these three pathogens was examined in artificially inoculated silkworms, our method presented a number of advantages over traditional microscopy, including specificity, sensitivity, and high-throughput capabilities. Under the optimal volume ratio for the three primer/probe sets (3:2:2=N. bombycis:BmNPV:BmDNV), the multiplex real-time PCR assay showed early detection of BmNPV and BmDNV by day 1 post inoculation using DNA templates of the three pathogens in various combinations from individually infected silkworms; the early detection of N. bombycis was possible by day 3 post inoculation using the DNA isolated from the midgut of N. bombycis-infected silkworms.


This paper considers the problem of a vendor-buyer integrated production-inventory model.
The vendor manufactures the item at a nite rate and delivers the nal goods at a lot-for-lot shipment
policy to the buyer. We relax the assumption of uniform demand in the hitherto existing joint economic
lot sizing models and analyze the problem where the end customer demand is price-sensitive. The relation
between demand and price is considered to be linear. The model proposed, based on the integrated expected
total relevant pro ts of both buyer and vendor, nds out the optimal values of order quantity and mark-up
percentage, using an analytical approach. Some numerical examples are also used to analyze the eect of
the price-sensitivity of demand on the improvements in joint total pro t over individually derived policies.


Bacterial infection is one of the most common causes of systemic inflammatory syndrome known as sepsis. Previous studies have been shown that sever sepsis was often complicated with secondary multiple organs dysfunction. This syndrome may greatly affect thyroid gland function leading to thyroid gland dysfunction. The objective of this study was to elucidate the effect of bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) on thyroid gland function. The study extended to investigate the role of L-arginine (L-Arg) as immunomodulator in LPS-induced systemic inflammation. Eighty adults, male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four equal groups: The control group was intraperitoneally (IP) injected with physiological sterile saline (0.9% NaCl at dose 1 ml/kg body weight (BW)); LPS-treated group was injected with a single dose of LPS (1 mg/kg BW, IP); L-Argtreated group was injected with L-Arg (10 mg/kg BW, IP) once per day for 7 consecutive days; and L-Arg + LPS treated group was injected with L-Arg (10 mg/kg BW, IP) once per day for 7 consecutive days followed by a single dose of LPS (1 mg/kg BW, IP). Histopathological changes of thyroid gland, serum triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine(T4), and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels were examined at 6, 12, 24 and 72 hours (h) after the last injection. Treatment of rats with a single dose of LPS alone resulted in thyroiditis which manifested by decreased serum T3 and T4 levels and severe necrosis of the thyroid follicles. However, in L-Arg-treated endotoxemic rats, pretreatment with L-Arg attenuated the LPS-induced acute thyroid gland injury.


The rationale for interprofessional education (IPE) is based on the assumption that it
will result in improved interprofessional practice. Despite the evidence that prequalifying
IPE will modify attitudes and provide knowledge and skills for
collaboration, this evidence tells us little about whether these new skills and attitudes
can be applied and sustained in professional practice. The aim of this research project
was to explore how midwifery students who participate in pre-qualification
interprofessional education apply their learning to the context of professional
practice, and what elements facilitate this application. A purposive sample of
midwifery students, midwifery educators, Heads of Midwifery and newly qualified
midwives from four universities in the UK participated in semi-structured interviews,
focus groups and qualitative questionnaires. Using the principles of Grounded
Theory, the emerging findings highlight how professional and systemic factors both
promote and prevent newly qualified midwives from turning their interprofessional
theory into practice. Graduates appear better able to apply their training when
interprofessional working and learning is made explicit within both the university
learning environment and the workplace. This understanding of how newly qualified
midwives apply IPE to practice is useful for advancing IPE curriculum development
and for encouraging effective interprofessional relationships between midwives and
other health professionals.


The lack of replication of key effects in psychology has highlighted some fundamental problems with reporting of research findings and methods used (Asendorpf et al., 2013; Open Science Collaboration, 2015). Problems with replication have been attributed to sources of bias such as questionable research practices like HARK-ing (Kerr, 1998) or p-hacking (Simmons et al., 2011). Another potential source of bias is lack of precision in the conduct and methods used in psychological research, which likely introduces systematic error into data collected with the potential to affect results. A related issue is lack of accuracy in reporting study methods and findings. There is, therefore, increased recognition in the importance of transparency when reporting study outcomes to enable the scientific community to make fair, unbiased appraisals of the implications and worthiness of study findings. Lack of transparency hinders scientific progress as it may lead to erroneous conclusions regarding the implications of research findings, and may impede comparison and synthesis of findings across studies. As a result, researchers have become interested in research quality and the need for comprehensive, transparent reporting of findings (Asendorpf et al., 2013). This has resulted in calls for appropriate reporting standards and means to assess study quality (Cooper, 2011; Greenhalgh and Brown, 2017). In the present article we review the issue of study quality in psychology, and argue for valid and reliable means to assess study quality in psychology. Specifically, we contend that appropriate assessment checklists be developed for survey studies, given the prominence of surveys as a research method in the field.


This article presents a new modified Goldstein synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferogram filter algorithm, named the iterative Goldstein filter. The main idea of this approach is to iteratively filter the SAR interferogram, by determining the filtering parameter alpha adaptively with respect to the pseudo-correlation value of the original and/or last filtered interferograms several times. The filter can be stopped automatically by pre-setting the threshold of mean value and the improvement of pseudo-correlation in given filter windows. Experimental results with both a simulated digital elevation model (DEM) interferogram and real SAR deformation interferogram show an improvement in the new algorithm results compared with those using the Goldstein filter, and its enhanced version, the Baran filter. In addition, from a pseudo-correlation map of the iteratively filtered interferogram, some valuable information can also be abstracted based on the signal residues.


This article aims to compare the subjectivism in the school of idealism with the Suhrawardi's school by using the qualitative research method with the content analysis style and came to the conclusion that idealism which is being considered as a part of existence philosophy is an extremist introspection (subjectivism) that the person abandon the evidences across (through) his/her life without any kinds of mass communication with the external world. This individual sinks in his isolation and the possibility of any connection with the surrounded world id unattainable for him, but Suhrawardi believes in the mind however wisdom is not the only source of knowledge and cognition, he believes in the mysticism in this respect that considers the discovery, intuition and illumination as the most noble and dignified stage of cognition. Suhrawardi called his ontology "Noor-al-Noor" (the absolute light and illumination). Because all objects are appeared with the light so naturally they should be defined by the light (illumination). "Noor-al-Noor" or "the absolute illumination" is the absolute existence, and all creatures have their existence from this source and the existential universe is nothing far from the varying (different) degrees of the lightness and darkness. For this reason, the creatures' hierarchy is depending on their proximity (propinquity) with the "Noor-al-Noor".


In literature, learning with expert advice methods usually assume that a learner always obtain the true label of every incoming training instance at the end of each trial. However, in many real-world applications, acquiring the true labels of all instances can be both costly and time consuming, especially for large-scale problems. For example, in the social media, data stream usually comes in a high speed and volume, and it is nearly impossible and highly costly to label all of the instances. In this article, we address this problem with active learning with expert advice, where the ground truth of an instance is disclosed only when it is requested by the proposed active query strategies. Our goal is to minimize the number of requests while training an online learning model without sacrificing the performance. To address this challenge, we propose a framework of active forecasters, which attempts to extend two fully supervised forecasters, Exponentially Weighted Average Forecaster and Greedy Forecaster, to tackle the task of online active learning (OAL) with expert advice. Specifically, we proposed two OAL with expert advice algorithms, named Active Exponentially Weighted Average Forecaster (AEWAF) and active greedy forecaster (AGF), by considering the difference of expert advices. To further improve the robustness of the proposed AEWAF and AGF algorithms in the noisy scenarios (where noisy experts exist), we also proposed two robust active learning with expert advice algorithms, named Robust Active Exponentially Weighted Average Forecaster and Robust Active Greedy Forecaster. We validate the efficacy of the proposed algorithms by an extensive set of experiments in both normal scenarios (where all of experts are comparably reliable) and noisy scenarios.


This paper presents a 1.5 to 10 Gb/s SATA/SAS/FC receiver in 65 nm CMOS. The multiple constraints set by industry standards ask for a receiver architecture capable of simultaneously addressing channel loss impairments, high frequency-difference tracking and low serial to parallel latency. An adaptive 3-tap DFE data recovery is based on a direct-feedback topology to provide a continuous equalized signal assuring a robust clock-data self alignment. A latch-based DFE topology has been developed to overcome the classical DFE feedback loop-delay issue. A digital early-late clock recovery has been proven for plusmn5000 ppm SSC tracking. Extensive digital features allow self-calibration and internal eye analysis. The device, realized in a 65 nm technology, supports more than 36" FR4 at 6 Gb/s with SSC and 28" at 8.5 Gb/s while keeping 0.4 UI of additional sinusoidal jitter tolerance, consuming 140 mW from 1V.


Chinese indigenous pigs differ significantly from Western commercial pig breeds in phenotypic and genomic characteristics. Thus, building a high-quality reference genome for Chinese indigenous pigs is pivotal to exploring gene function, genome evolution and improving genetic breeding in pigs. Here, we report an ultrahigh-quality phased chromosome-scale genome assembly for a male Luchuan pig, a representative Chinese domestic breed, by generating and combining data from PacBio Sequel reads, Illumina paired-end reads, high-throughput chromatin conformation capture and BioNano optical map. The primary assembly is ∼ 2.58 Gb in size with contig and scaffold N50s of 18.03 Mb and 140.09 Mb, respectively. Comparison between primary assembly and alternative haplotig reveals numerous haplotype-specific alleles, which provide a rich resource to study the allele-specific expression, epigenetic regulation, genome structure and evolution of pigs. Gene enrichment analysis indicates that the Luchuan-specific genes are predominantly enriched in Gene Ontology terms for phosphoprotein phosphatase activity, signaling receptor activity and phosphatidylinositol binding. We provide clear molecular evolutionary evidence that the divergence time between Luchuan and Duroc pigs is dated back to about 1.7 million years ago. Meanwhile, Luchuan exhibits fewer events of gene family expansion and stronger gene family contraction than Duroc. The positively selected genes (PSGs) in Luchuan pig significantly enrich for protein tyrosine kinase activity, microtubule motor activity, GTPase activator activity and ubiquitin-protein transferase activity, whereas the PSGs in Duroc pig enrich for G-protein coupled receptor activity. Overall, our findings not only provide key benchmark data for the pig genetics community, but also pave a new avenue for utilizing porcine biomedical models to study human health and diseases.


Software development processes such as waterfall development model have been around for over fifty years, but still, even modern software development approaches, such as DevOps or Test-driven development, fundamentally rely on the same principles and phases as everything before them. Yet, the modern world imposes new challenges for software businesses, and new ways of digital distribution require new ways of resource provisioning and ability to reduce the time-to-market to its absolute minimum. In this study, we identify and analyze the technologies which may be useful for software companies to ease the development and maintenance work by assisting the experts to collect relevant information and observe issues before they cause process disturbances. As a result, we describe a mapping study, which identifies different approaches to developing a smart software engineering tools applying potential technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud-based service models, adaptive measurement, and other approaches, which could offer significant benefits to the software development process.


Sports-related eye injuries are quite common, yet the number of athletes who utilize protective eyewear is extremely low. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a significant visual field loss associated with wearing eye protection. One of the authors was subjected to standard kinetic visual field testing with and without eye goggles. No significant difference was revealed. Physicians, physical therapists, and trainers should promote the use of protective eyewear and reassure athletes that they will not lose visual field.


Previously we reported that nickel oxide nanoparticles (NiO) induced pulmonary inflammation of rat by intratracheal instillation. The objective of this study is to identify new genes which is useful for evaluating pulmonary inflammation induced by NiO. Rats were exposed to 0.2mg or 1mg of NiO and total RNAs were isolated from lung at 3 days, 7 days, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months and 24 months after the end of exposure. Analysis of cDNA microarray was performed with total RNA at 1 month after the end of exposure and revealed that 450 kinds of mRNAs were up-regulated over 2 times and 388 kinds of mRNAs were down-regulated compared with control. Among up-regulated 450 mRNAs, 16 kinds of mRNAs were up-regulated over 8 times. Six of 16 kinds of mRNAs (Ccl2,Ccl7,Cxcl-5,Cxcl-10,Cxcl-11 and Mmp12) were involved in inflammation and investigated until 24 months post-exposure by real-time PCR. Expression peak is different in each gene, but gene expression levels of Ccl2,Ccl7,Cxcl-10 and Cxcl-11 were decreased to almost same level of control and those of Cxcl-5 and Mmp12 were continuously up-regulated until 24 months. These 6 genes might be useful markers for evaluation of pulmonary inflammation by nickel oxide nanoparticles. This work is partially supported by "Development of innovative methodology for safety assessment of industrial nanomaterials" by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan.


Indonesia is the third biggest paddy producing country worldwide with its annual production of around 54 million ton. South Sumatra Province has an annual paddy production of around 2.32 million ton. Paddy has high moisture content, up to 24%, when it is harvested. Moist paddy needs immediate drying after it is harvested to reduce its moisture content to 14% or less for milling or for safe storage, respectively. Sun drying of paddy has been practiced for years despite many problems associated with it. Different studies show that the post harvest loss of the paddy lies in between 10% and 37%, in which drying related losses might be from 1% up to 10%. Like in any other parts of the country, South Sumatra Province also has no commercial paddy drying systems in practice. In 2004, as a first prototype of such type, a box type paddy dryer with a rice husk burning oven was introduced in Upang village. Now there are already more than 30 box dryers installed in three neighbouring villages – Muliasari, Upang and Upangceria - where this study was carried out. The drying capacity of each dryer varies between 3.5 ton and 10 ton of harvested paddy. Although the widespread of dryers is rapid in these villages, none of the field experiments were carried out so far to evaluate their technical, economical and social performances. This study aimed to conduct the experiments on the selected dryers and to assess their technical performances at first. Three dryers were chosen for the experiments and altogether eight experiments were carried out. Parallel sun drying experiments were carried out for quality test of rice yielded from milling the paddy dried in box dryer and dried in sun drying. Based on the observed data, economic analysis of paddy drying considering two important stakeholders – investors and farmers is presented in this paper.


SUMMARY

Magnetic extracts obtained from sediment cores recovered from Lake Kinneret, Israel, were subjected to comprehensive scanning electron microscope and in-line energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analyses. A variety of ferrimagnetic iron oxides and iron sulphide particles were identified, along with apparently non-magnetic iron sulphides. The majority of the iron oxides are titanomagnetites that have undergone pervasive dissolution, and in many cases were only preserved as skeletal, 3-D lattices of ilmenite lamellae. Often the spaces between the submicron ilmenite lamellae are empty. Also sponge-like dissolution features are observed in some residual titanomagnetite grains. Another group of titanomagnetite grains is characterized by superficial shrinkage-cracks, which indicate low-temperature maghemitization. In some cases, these cracks appear to be where dissolution started. Most titanomagnetites contain impurities of Al, Mg, Si and Mn on the order of 1 per cent. Chromium-magnetites, with minor Ti, Mg and Al content on the order of a few percent, but without Mn, were also found. Chromium-magnetites mostly occur as octahedra in a well-preserved state, which indicates that they are less prone to dissolution. Magnetite spherules of 40–60 μm in size, which were mostly hollow, were only found in material collected from the outer zone of the core section that was in contact with the steel core barrel. These spherules were not found in material collected from the centre of the core. They are therefore interpreted as contaminants that were produced during fabrication of the steel core barrel. Iron sulphides are present as pyrite, either as larger aggregates of cubic crystals, each of up to 20 μm in size, or as 5–10 μm framboidal aggregates, consisting mostly about 0.3 μm idiomorphic octahedra. The cubic pyrite crystals have heterogeneous compositions. Pure pyrite should be non-magnetic, but even aggregates of up to 150 μm in size were magnetically separated. They probably therefore contain a magnetic core of greigite or overgrown titanomagnetite. The latter possibility is supported by observations of residual titanomagnetites with individual pyrite crystals residing directly on their surfaces, or filling space between ilmenite lamellae. Irregular aggregates of flaky, submicron iron sulphides were also found, which are interpreted to be greigite. The greigite has a low degree of visible crystallization. Pyrite and/or greigite grains were found inside the aggregates, or in agglomerates with organic remnants. Together, visual observations and elemental analyses provide clear evidence of pervasive dissolution of primary titanomagnetite and concurrent sulphidization of sediments from Lake Kinneret.


mal compared with the years before or after. For the past eight years, the population of Monash University has been reasonably constant (approximately 13 000 students and 4500 staff), as have been the numbers attending this Health Service (about 7500 persons receiving 21 000 consultations each year). An average of 275 cases of conjunctivitis per year in this size of practice is not high. These figures imply that an association between the spread of conjunctivitis and the VDUs is unlikely. Despite these findings, all patients who have conjunctivitis will be advised to wash their hands before using VDUs. John S. Green, Health Service, Monash University, Clayton, Vic 3168.


The experiences and concerns of lesbians, gay and bisexual (LGB) people relating to ageing and palliative and end-of-life care have received scant attention in research literature. There is increasing recognition that health-related policy and practice should address the needs of minority, hard-to-reach and marginalised groups of people. LGB and heterosexual individuals share many concerns relating to end-of-life care, but there are also separate issues specifically related to sexual orientation that need to be addressed. These include experience of discrimination and the lack of care provision that is sensitive to the needs of the LGB community. Recent developments in policy and legislation highlight the need for more widespread recognition of these issues. This article provides a contextual background of the key issues via a review of research and practice-based literature, highlighting the challenges posed for healthcare provision at the end of life. Conflicts of interest: none


In Wireless Sensor Network, the security of data and confidentiality of data is an important aspect. Hence the data cannot be interrupted by the intruder. For updating configuration parameters and distributing management commands, data discovery and dissemination protocol for wireless sensor network is responsible. But, it has drawback is that, some protocols were not designed with security. For this reason, The DiDrip protocol i.e. first secure and distributed data discovery and dissemination protocol is proposed. The main function of this protocol is for authorized multiple network user. So, with the help of different security parameters the system provides a high security to the wireless sensor network. Energy efficient new algorithm is also used because it is difficult to crack.


Five commercially available thickeners were used to prepare thickened alumina slurries for foam production using the replica technique. The solid content and the type of thickener significantly affected the rheological properties, whereby an increase in the solid content caused both the viscosity and the thixotropy to increase. For the evaluation of the consistency index and of the level of shear-thinning behavior, the power law fluid model (Ostwald de Waele) was used. The rheological properties play a key role during the coating process in the replica technique. However, relatively little information is available on the effect of slurry rheology on the properties of reticulated foam ceramics. In this study, the influence of viscosity, thixotropy, and the level of shear-thinning behavior on the coating behavior is evaluated. The results indicate a strong influence of the viscosity and the level of shear-thinning behavior on coating behavior.


A method for separating underdetermined sound sources based on a novel power spectral density (PSD) estimation is proposed. The method enables up to M(M-1)+1 sources to be separated when we use a microphone array of M sensors and a Wiener post-filter calculated by the estimated PSDs. The PSD of a beamformer's output is modelled by a mixture of source PSDs multiplied by the beamformer's directivity gain in the particular angle where each source is located. Based on this model, the PSD of each sound source is estimated from the PSD of multiple fixed beamformers' outputs using the difference in the combination of directivity gains. Simulation results proved that the proposed method effectively separated up to M(M-1)+1 sound sources if the fixed beamformers were appropriately selected. Experiments were also conducted in a reverberant chamber to ensure the proposed method was also effective in practical use.


The aim of this paper is to investigate the factors affecting university student mobility in Italy in a longitudinal perspective, by considering the flows across competing territorial areas supplying tertiary education programs. The Bradley-Terry modelling approach based on pair comparisons has been adopted to define the attractiveness of competing territories and a range of determinants related to the socio-economic characteristics of the areas as well as universities' resources. Data released by the Italian Ministry of Education (MiUR) are analysed for the academic years 2010/2011-2014/2015. The modelling approach considers score values for each territory and year, allowing to evaluate whether attractiveness improves or deteriorates over time, and to rank areas according to their attractiveness. To this end, an index based on ranking changes, appropriately weighed with the differences in score values, is proposed. Empirical findings highlight that attractiveness depends not only on the educational programs, but also on territories' socio-economic factors, reflecting the well-known North-South divide.


Experimental measurements of emission stability and energy distributions from a Schottky emitter have been conducted at a tip temperature range from 1330 to 1800 K. The changes of emission properties have been observed at reduced tip temperatures. Noise fluctuations of the probe current increase with decrease of the tip temperature at a constant extraction voltage. The work function of the Schottky emitter increases with decrease of tip temperature. The energy distribution measurements show that the energy width at a given temperature increases with increasing angular emission current density. The energy width also increases with decreasing tip temperature at a given angular emission current density. The results indicate that the energy broadening is mainly contributed by electron tunneling. A comparison of the measured energy width with the theoretical predictions is discussed.


Electrostatic potential at the surface of acidic or basic solids changes under higher relative humidity (RH), as determined by using Kelvin force microscopy (KFM). The potential on acid surfaces becomes more negative as the water vapor pressure increases, while it becomes more positive on basic solids. These results verify the following hypothesis: OH(-) or H(+) ions associated with atmospheric water ion clusters are selectively adsorbed on solid surfaces, depending on the respective Brønsted acid or base character. Therefore, Kelvin microscopy, under variable humidity, is a rigorous but convenient alternative to determine the acid-base character of solid surfaces, with a great advantage: it uses only one amphoteric and simple reagent to determine both the acid and base sites. Moreover, this technique provides information on the spatial distribution of acid-base sites, which is currently inaccessible to any other method.


The inspection of welds in thin titanium sheets is vital to ensure that all components meet their required criteria. Shear horizontal (SH) guided waves may offer particular benefits for defect detection, especially the fundamental mode (SH0), which is non-dispersive. Electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMATs) are efficient generators of SH waves. However, titanium is traditionally a difficult material to inspect using EMATs. Through finite element analysis and experiments, this work proposes an inspection set-up using a 6 mm wavelength SH0 mode as the incident wave. When the SH0 mode interacts with a defect, reflections occur. The primary reflection is the SH0 mode, but mode conversions occurring at the defect result in the reflection of a mode converted Lamb wave. The Lamb guided wave mode reflected in our work is the S0 mode. The weld inspection approach presented uses both of these guided wave modes. The intention of detecting multiple wave modes is to provide more information about the inspected region, improving the reliability of the results by providing an increased probability of detection and a reduced likelihood of false positives. The results show initial testing and validation of the proposed set-up, highlighting how the SH0 mode reflection is sensitive to the weld quality. The positioning of the transducers sensitive to the S0 mode is also presented, showing the defect size's effect on the angle of reflection.


ABSTRACT Even though Iceland is yet to host as many refugees as other European countries, the number of young refugees seeking resettlement is growing rapidly. Little Icelandic research has been devoted to refugee youth and their social or educational inclusion to date. This study focuses on how young refugees are represented in the Icelandic context in relation to often-conflicting ideological perspectives of advanced neo-liberal discourses and 'liberal' multicultural approaches of inclusion. We analyse policy documents which address refugee integration, alongside teachers' perspectives on current challenges facing refugee youth to account for these conflicts. We are interested in how these documents and perspectives respond to Hannah Arendt's concern over statelessness – the condition of not being recognised as a citizen within a host state. Findings indicate that outside of policy directly aimed at refugees there is general legislative and regulatory silence on refugee youth. Within the two documents analysed, we argue that normative multicultural frameworks are being drawn upon as an 'integration practice' which emphasise sameness and equality in contrast to diversity and equity. Such practices reinforce normative understandings of citizenship and national metaphors of inclusion whilst simultaneously undermining what Arendt refers to as the 'promise of politics' in education policy and practice.


Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 1997, and Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1997.


Disorders of hemostatic mechanism play a role in the development of diabetic complications and cardiovascular events. C. albicans infection is frequently found in diabetic individuals compared to nondiabetic individuals. In this study, the in vitro effect of Candida albicans on the tissue factor activity of the PMNS, MNS and platelet cells, that were isolated from the blood samples of healthy and diabetic individuals, was determined. The isolated blood cells were counted after the viability test has been checked. C.albicans suspension was added to one part of the cells. An equal volume phosphate buffer was added to other part of the cells instead of C.albicans suspension. Tissue factor activity of all blood cells was determined by the method of Quick. Tissue factor activity of these cells was found to be significantly changed in the presence of C.albicans. The presence of diabetes was also significantly changed tissue factor activity of the PMNs, MNs and platelet cells when compared to the healthy individuals. The findings of this study will contribute to the treatment of diabetic patients with or without candida infection in terms of tissue factor activity. Keywords: Tissue factor activity, diabetes, Candida albicans, leukocyte, platelet


Crohn's disease (CD) is a relapsing-remitting inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract characterized by increased extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling. The introduction of the α4β7-integrin inhibitor vedolizumab (VEDO) has improved disease management, although there is a high rate of primary non-response in patients with CD. We studied whether ECM biomarkers of neutrophil activity and mucosal damage could predict long-term response to VEDO in patients with CD. Serum levels of human neutrophil elastase (HNE)-derived fragments of calprotectin (CPa9-HNE), and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-derived fragments of type I (C1M), III (C3M), IV (C4M), and VI (C6Ma3) collagen, type III collagen formation (PRO-C3), basement membrane turnover (PRO-C4) and T-cell activity (C4G), were measured using protein fingerprint assays in patients with CD (n = 32) before VEDO therapy. Long-term response was defined as VEDO treatment of at least 12 months. CPa9-HNE was significantly increased at baseline in non-responders compared with responders (p < 0.05). C1M, C3M, C4M, C6Ma3, and PRO-C4 were also significantly increased at baseline in non-responders compared with responders (all p < 0.05). All biomarkers were associated with response to VEDO (all p < 0.05). To conclude, baseline levels of serum biomarkers for neutrophil activity and mucosal damage are linked to the pathology of CD, and are associated with long-term use of VEDO in patients with CD. Therefore, these biomarkers warrant further validation and could aid in therapeutic decision-making concerning vedolizumab therapy.


The rate of preterm birth is a public health concern worldwide because it is increasing and efforts to prevent it have failed. We report a Clinically Relevant Complex Systematic Review (CSCSR) designed to identify and evaluate the best available evidence in support of the association between periodontal status in women and pregnancy outcome of preterm low birth weight. We hypothesize that the traditional limits of research synthesis must be expanded to incorporate a translational component. As a proof-of-concept model, we propose that this CSCSR can yield greater validity of efficacy and effectiveness through supplementing its recommendations with data of the proteomic signature of periodontal disease in pregnancy, which can contribute to addressing specifically the predictive validity for adverse outcomes. For this CRCSR, systematic reviews were identified through The National Library of MedicinePubmed, The Cochrane library, CINAHL, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and the American Dental Association web library. Independent reviewers quantified the relevance and quality of this literature with R-AMSTAR. Homogeneity and inter-rater reliability testing were supplemented with acceptable sampling analysis. Research synthesis outcomes were analyzed qualitatively toward a Bayesian inference, and converge to demonstrate a definite association between maternal periodontal disease and pregnancy outcome. This CRCSR limits heterogeneity in terms of periodontal disease, outcome measure, selection bias, uncontrolled confounders and effect modifiers. Taken together, the translational CRCSR model we propose suggests that further research is advocated to explore the fundamental mechanisms underlying this association, from a molecular and proteomic perspective.


The genetics of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) differ considerably from most other forms of hematologic malignancy which are usually characterized by chromosome translocations. B-CLL typically contains chromosomal deletions and chromosomes 13q14 and 11q22→q23 are the most common. These two regions appear to share a common ancestral origin (Auer et al., 2007b). Overall, chromosomal abnormalities can be found in the majority of patients with B-CLL when using sensitive techniques (Dohneret al., 2000) and possibly reflects an underlying predisposition, with a small but significant number of familial cases. Although single and consistent abnormalities are most common, multiple rearrangements can occur, often with disease progression (Feganetal., 1995; Dohner et al., 2000). Regions of recurrent deletion suggest the presence of tumor suppressor genes if following Knudson's theoretical 2-hit model. However, despite extensive sequencing analysis over the last decade and lack of pathogenic mutations identified, there has been a move away from this suggested hypothesis and alternative mechanisms of gene inactivation involving epigenetic silencing or haploinsufficiency may be considered as more likely in this disease. This review focuses on the common genetic abnormalities in B-CLL and relates them to some of the more recent hypotheses on inactivation of genes within these regions of deletion.


We have calculated the mechanical and thermodynamical properties of selected hexagonal structures by using the optimized lattice parameters (a and c) from two-dimensional (2D) search of the equation of state (EOS) within the appropriate exchange–correlation functional. To overcome the deficiency of density functional theory (DFT) for compounds with localized electrons, a PBE + U approximation was used with our calculated effective U parameter. For calculating the elastic constants of hexagonal structure, the Hex-elastic package was used which is compatible with the highly accurate all electron full-potential (Linearized) augmented plane-wave plus local orbital [FP-(L)APW + lo] method as implemented in the WIEN2k code. The obtained results of the 2D-search of the EOS for the optimized lattice parameters (a and c) are in good agreement with the experimental data. This method clearly shows its superiority compared to the 1D-search of the EOS method. Furthermore, the obtained elastic constants by using the optimized lattice parameters (a and c) from the 2D-search, were in good agreement with the available experimental data and better than the previous theoretical calculations. Our calculations show that the PBE + U approximation improves the results for elastic constants. Consequently, we can claim the following predictions; first, we suggest the value of Poisson's ratio as a boundary condition to predict the type of bonds. Second, we make a one-to-one correspondence between two quantities, shear modulus and C55. Third, we predict the stiffness of the material from the Debye temperature and average sound velocity.


Abstract The article gives a brief 'idea history' of Hesperian melancholy a.k.a. Hesperian depression, the fleeting state of dejection that some humans and animals experience at dusk. The term was apparently coined by the South African poet and naturalist Eugene Marais (1871-1936), who noticed the phenomenon during his field observations of baboons. Marais' observations of primates were in the first place an attempt to shed more light on the evolutionary roots of the human psyche and its afflictions - not in the least his own. A personal focus seems probable in his notes on the use of euphoria-inducing substances among animals and humans, which are an evident reflection of his own morphine addiction; but also in his writings about Hesperian depression. During his lifetime, Marais only published about Hesperian depression twice, once in a very concise article in English, and once in more elaborate form in Afrikaans. The term 'Hesperian depression' only became more current when his manuscript on primate behaviour, The Soul of the Ape, was posthumously published in 1963. Since then, the term and its description sometimes appear in (popular) publications of paleobiologists and scholars of the evolution of human behaviour. In psychology and psychiatry, the term was introduced by the eminent American psychoanalyst William G. Niederlander, who presented it in a 1971 article in Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association as an idea of his own. It is evident, however, that he took his cue from Marais, who thus was posthumously plagiarized.


Few studies have examined engineering faculty use of observation protocols to evaluate teaching in the classroom including those that specifically focus on the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS). Toward this end, this ongoing pilot study explores engineering faculty's experiences utilizing the COPUS tool. Paired faculty teams trained in the use of COPUS conducted multiple peer observations of instructors teaching both undergraduate and graduate classes within the College of Engineering at a large Midwestern research intensive institution. Upon completion of the paired faculty classroom observations, researchers conducted focus group interviews with the faculty teams to solicit feedback on their use of the COPUS instrument. Faculty teams were then interviewed individually. Preliminary data analysis generated emergent categories pertaining to instructor and student behaviors as well as observer reflections useful for ascertaining the nature and extent of the use of student-centered teaching practices in the classroom, helped facilitate discussion of potentially effective pedagogical strategies, and considered ways in which both the COPUS training and instrument could be improved for future research.


In recent years much has been written about the declining status of the humanities and the effect this has had on teaching and the curriculum. This article begins by examining some key defenses for teaching and studying the humanities that have been offered in the literature and points to their limitations. It is argued that in a policymaking environment dominated by economic thinking, the justifications for teaching the humanities that are based on identifying its intrinsic and social values are bound to have little appeal for policymakers. It is also maintained that the attempt to justify teaching the humanities based on their possible contribution to increasing production is unconvincing. The article then proposes a new defense for teaching the humanities that stems from recent developments in economic thinking and public policy-making. It is proposed that teaching the humanities can be defended on the basis of its potential contribution to altering consumption patterns and offering ways to convert wealth into happiness more effectively. The article does not suggest that the defense proposed here is the only or best way to defend the humanities, but rather that it can have an important instrumental value in persuading policymakers to invest more in teaching the humanities.


Background Communication between healthcare settings at patient transfers between primary and secondary care, 'handover', is a critical and risky process for patients. Patients' views on their roles in these processes are often lacking despite the knowledge that patient participation contributes to enhanced safety and wellbeing. Objective This study aims to improve the knowledge and understanding of patients' perspectives about their participation in handover. Methods Twenty-three Swedish patients with chronic diseases were individually interviewed about their experiences with handovers between three clinical microsystems: emergency room, emergency ward and primary healthcare centres. Data were analysed using inductive qualitative content analysis. Results Patients participated within the microsystems by exchanging information, and between microsystems by making contact with and conveying information to their next healthcare provider. Enablers for participation included positive encounters with providers, patient empowerment and beliefs about organisational factors. Patients' trust in their providers, and providers' attitudes were important factors in patients' willingness to communicate. Patients who thought medical records access was shared across microsystems volunteered less information to their providers. Patients with experiences of non-effective handovers took more responsibility in the handover to ensure continuity of care. Conclusions Patients participate actively in handovers when they feel a need for involvement to ensure continuity of care, and are less active when they perceive that their contribution is unnecessary or not valued. In acute care settings with short hospital stays and less time to establish a trusting relationship between patients and their providers, discharge encounters may be important enablers for patient engagement in handovers. The advantages of a redundant handover process need to be considered.


This paper presents dynamic modeling of flexible link manipulators using artificial neural networks. A state-space representation is considered for a neural identifier. The recurrent network configuration is obtained by a combination of feedforward network architectures with dynamical elements in the form of stable filters. To guarantee the boundedness of the states, joint PD control is introduced in the system. The method can be considered both as an online identifier that can be used as a basis for designing neural network controllers as well as an off-line learning scheme to compute deflections due to link flexibility for evaluating forward dynamics. The performance of the proposed neural identifier is evaluated by identifying the dynamics of different flexible-link manipulators. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm, simulation results for a single-link manipulator, a two-link planar manipulator and the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) are presented.


Due to the increased use of parallel processing in networks and multi-core architectures, it is important to have load balancing strategies that are highly efficient and adaptable to specific requirements. Randomised protocols in particular are useful in situations in which it is costly to gather and update information about the load distribution (e.g. in networks).
For the mathematical analysis randomised load balancing schemes are modelled by balls-into-bins games, where balls represent tasks and bins computers. If m balls are allocated to n bins and every ball chooses one bin at random, the gap between maximum and average load is known to grow with the number of balls m. Surprisingly, this is not the case in the multiple-choice process in which each ball chooses d > 1 bins and allocates itself to the least loaded. Berenbrink et al. proved that then the gap remains ln ln(n) / ln(d).
This thesis analyses generalisations and variations of the multiple-choice process. For a scenario in which batches of balls are allocated in parallel, it is shown that the gap between maximum and average load is still independent of m. Furthermore, we look into a process in which only predetermined subsets of bins can be chosen by a ball. Assuming that the number and composition of the subsets can change with every ball, we examine under which circumstances the maximum load is one. Finally, we consider a generalisation of the basic process allowing the bins to have different capacities. Adapting the probabilities of the bins, it is shown how the load can be balanced over the bins according to their capacities.


The concept of replicability has always crossed the basic relationships between discourses, money, rites established by philosophy and humanities. In this paper a critique of the idea of coinage (and the concept of token ) is developed, grounding on a philosophical rather than philological approach. We argue about the fundamental role played by a positive definition of money value, which is indeed also the core of any social praxis institutionally constituted through replicability. The «double essence» of value in Saussure is so reconstructed as to make it a sort of paradigm of any social ontology and practice of technical reproducibility. In any case, the growing invasion of digital reproducibility is deemed to weaken 'the same' (the replica ): it will become more and more 'identical', indistinguishable (as in the coinage ), therefore reducing replicas to mere relative and negative values. The 'identical' without value, then, eclipses any potential of meaning


Background: Almost no studies have investigated the relationship between food intake measured at middle age and future disability. Objective: To examine the association of meat, fish and egg intake with risk of subsequent mortality and/or future decline in activities of daily living (ADL) among the elderly. Methods: The cohort consisted of 2,316 Japanese individuals aged 47–60 at the baseline who were randomly selected throughout Japan and followed up for 19 years from 1980. Results: Those who ate meat at least once every 2 days were younger, there were more men, daily drinkers, professional workers and urban residents compared to those who ate meat less than once every 2 days. Over 19 years of follow-up, 75 participants became dependent due to impaired ADL. A higher intake of meat was associated with a statistically significant decrease in impaired ADL occurrence (odds ratio = 0.61, 95% confidence intervals 0.38–0.99, p = 0.04). Fish and egg intake were not associated with any difference in impaired ADL occurrence. None of the 3 foods were associated with any changes in mortality. Conclusion: A higher intake of meat may prevent impaired ADL occurrence, although this was not associated with a lower mortality.


Development and resource allocation decision processes are increasingly under pressure to take environmental values into account in order to reach optimal economic outcomes. In South Africa new techniques will be needed to incorporate environmental values into environmental impact assessment and in the allocation of water resources under the new National Water Act (1998), both of which require the comparison of alternative scenarios with varying impacts on the environment. This study on the tourism value of rivers in the Crocodile Catchment is the first case study to develop methods for incorporating the economic values of the goods and services provided by functioning aquatic ecosystems into such decision processes. Rivers within the Kruger National Park (KNP) will be affected by water usage in the portions of their catchment areas upstream of the park boundary. The current tourism value of these rivers was considered in terms of revenues to KNP (visitors' on-site expenditure), contribution to the economy (visitors' on-site and off-site expenditure) and recreational value, including consumers' surplus. The effect of a change in river quality was determined using a joint contingent valuation - conjoint valuation approach, whereby respondents rated four different scenarios, each containing four attributes at four different levels. It was estimated that the current value of KNP tourism is about R136 m. in terms of on-site expenditure, R267 m. in terms of economic impact, or all expenditure related to visiting the park, and R1 bn. in terms of consumers' surplus. The latter two values can be added to calculate total recreational value. Four methods were used to isolate the value of rivers from the total tourism value stated above, and all yielded similar values of about 30% of the total.
This implies that about 30% of tourism business would be lost if rivers were totally degraded. Thus, rivers within the Crocodile Catchment, which takes 22% of KNP visitor-nights, contribute R9 m. to KNP revenues and have a total annual recreational use value of about R85 m., including off-site expenditure and consumers' surplus. The conjoint analysis generated an equation which is able to predict the change in trip expenditure, or total KNP revenue, associated with changes in levels of any of the four attributes considered. Appearance of the riverscape has the greatest influence on recreational use value, followed by waterbird diversity, aquatic megafauna and riparian tree density. Such models can be used in water allocation decision processes when attribute levels associated with alternative management scenarios are predicted by aquatic ecologists. WaterSA Vol.27(3) 2001: 387-398


Herein, we provide an efficient strategy for constructing three-dimensional (3D) energetic coordination polymers (ECPs), namely, metal-organic frameworks (EMOFs), avoiding solvent coordination without changing the organic ligands or metal nodes. Three ECPs with the same ligand and metal center, namely, two-dimensional (2D) layer ECP [Pb(HOBTT)(H2O)2]n (1), 3D solvent-free EMOFs [Pb(HOBTT)]n (2), and dense [Pb3(OBTT)2]n (3) (H3OBTT = 4,5-bis(1-hydroxytetrazol-5-yl)-2H-1,2,3-triazole), were rationally designed and synthesized via free protons. As expected, the theoretical density of 3 (4.080 g·cm-3) is greater than those of 2 (3.299 g·cm-3) and 1 (3.055 g·cm-3). Thermal stabilities indicate that their decomposition temperature exceeds 300 °C. Theoretical calculations show that the detonation performance of 3 is better than that of 1 and 2. The detonation performance of 1-3 was further proven by laser irradiation.


The 3-DOF rotational motion of the human eyeball is created by using six extraocular muscles. For the force-redundant system of the human eyeball, a load distribution algorithm is proposed to investigate the dynamics and intrinsic load distribution of the eyeball. Initially, the role of each extraocular muscle is explained by describing the anatomy of the human eye. Furthermore, activity of each muscle group is analyzed to create six primitive motions of the human eye. Moreover, the dynamic model of the human eye is developed to simulate the human eye motion. Finally, a load distribution algorithm is newly developed and it is found that asymmetric arrangement of six extraocular muscles with respect to the eye axis enables the human eye not only to create the motion using minimum number of extraocular muscles, but also to ensure stability in other directions by providing antagonistic internal loading. Surprisingly, it is also found that all six primitive motions of the eyeball require three independent muscles, which is different from clinical observation so far.


Oxy-combustion is a promising concept to achieve an extremely clean combustion, independently of the fuel type, because, on the one hand, it is a NOx-free combustion and, on the other hand, the CO2 produced during combustion can be easily captured once the water vapor is removed from the exhaust gases stream, consequently allowing also carbon neutral operation. An existing 0D, mixing-controlled combustion model, developed for a standard diesel combustion scenario, has been adapted to the oxy-fuel combustion scenario. Initially, the model over-predicted the heat release at the end of the combustion process. The main model adaptation was to modify the relationship between the average YO2 and the effective YO2 (i.e. the one of the charge actually entrained by the spray), to be consistent with the significant increase in compression ratio needed in the oxy-fuel context. As a result, a model able to correctly predict the combustion behaviour at any operating condition has been obtained, which finally represents a very suitable tool to assist in the concept development.


Two coexisting facets of warm nuclei, quantum chaos and structure of the level density, are considered. A newly developed combinatorial level-density model is presented, and the role of collective enhancements discussed. An example of extreme parity enhancement is shown.


The Wnt signaling pathway is critical in normal development, and mutation of specific components is frequently observed in carcinomas of diverse origins. However, the potential involvement of this pathway in lung tumorigenesis has not been established. In this study, analysis of multiple Wnt mRNAs in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines and primary lung tumors revealed markedly decreased Wnt-7a expression compared with normal short-term bronchial epithelial cell lines and normal uninvolved lung tissue. Wnt-7a transfection in NSCLC cell lines reversed cellular transformation, decreased anchorage-independent growth, and induced epithelial differentiation as demonstrated by soft agar and three-dimensional cell culture assays in a subset of the NSCLC cell lines. The action of Wnt-7a correlated with expression of the specific Wnt receptor Frizzled-9 (Fzd-9), and transfection of Fzd-9 into a Wnt-7a-insensitive NSCLC cell line established Wnt-7a sensitivity. Moreover, Wnt-7a was present in Fzd-9 immunoprecipitates, indicating a direct interaction of Wnt-7a and Fzd-9. In NSCLC cells, Wnt-7a and Fzd-9 induced both cadherin and Sprouty-4 expression and stimulated the JNK pathway, but not β-catenin/T cell factor activity. In addition, transfection of gain-of-function JNK strongly inhibited anchorage-independent growth. Thus, this study demonstrates that Wnt-7a and Fzd-9 signaling through activation of the JNK pathway induces cadherin proteins and the receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor Sprouty-4 and represents a novel tumor suppressor pathway in lung cancer that is required for maintenance of epithelial differentiation and inhibition of transformed cell growth in a subset of human NSCLCs.


Self-adaptation of parameters in a learning classifier system ensemble machine Self-adaptation is a key feature of evolutionary algorithms (EAs). Although EAs have been used successfully to solve a wide variety of problems, the performance of this technique depends heavily on the selection of the EA parameters. Moreover, the process of setting such parameters is considered a time-consuming task. Several research works have tried to deal with this problem; however, the construction of algorithms letting the parameters adapt themselves to the problem is a critical and open problem of EAs. This work proposes a novel ensemble machine learning method that is able to learn rules, solve problems in a parallel way and adapt parameters used by its components. A self-adaptive ensemble machine consists of simultaneously working extended classifier systems (XCSs). The proposed ensemble machine may be treated as a meta classifier system. A new self-adaptive XCS-based ensemble machine was compared with two other XCS-based ensembles in relation to one-step binary problems: Multiplexer, One Counts, Hidden Parity, and randomly generated Boolean functions, in a noisy version as well. Results of the experiments have shown the ability of the model to adapt the mutation rate and the tournament size. The results are analyzed in detail.


This article tells the story of "LinkVan," a project that explores approaches to participatory technology design to forge more equitable digital and social relations in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) community of Vancouver, British Columbia. LinkVan began as a project to create a literacy-friendly online service directory for low-income and homeless citizens. We trace the experiences and patterns of digital inequality that led to the formation of the project and describe the evolving approach to technology design oriented to "the direct involvement of people in the co-design of the technologies they use" (Simonsen & Robertson, 2013 p. 2). We consider insights from 58 user experience interviews that suggest the precariousness of access, the centrality of digital literacy education in participatory technology design, and the potential of side-by-side 'conversations at the interface' (Attar, 2005; Barbatsis, Comacho, & Jackson, 2004) to imagine new digital landscapes and new social relations.


The kinetics of hydrogen exchange in molecular systems with H-bonds studied by kinetic IR spectroscopy and low-temperature NMR spectroscopy methods is critically reviewed. The experimental rate constants and activation energies obtained so far for molecules capable of forming H-bonds as both proton donors and proton acceptors are collected and analyzed from the point of view of the influence of H-bond formation ability of the molecules-partners. The evidence available testifies to a molecular mechanism of the 11-exchange reactions in inert solvents and in the gas phase via the formation of cyclic, mostly bimolecular, intermediates. The different mechanisms of the molecular H-exchange process in inert media are discussed and the possible paths of experimental elucidation of reaction mechanism are offered.