Background
Influenza viral infections lead to a wide range of respiratory diseases which have an annual pattern and are responsible for significant morbidity and mortality among children. It was found that influenza among children has significant rates of mortality and morbidity. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of Pediatric Risk of Mortality (PRISM) III scoring system in children with influenza for clinical outcomes of patients.
Materials and Methods
In this cross-sectional study, 50 children referred to the Children's Hospital of Tabriz (Iran) with flu symptoms who were admitted to the ward or pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) were evaluated through the PRISM III model.
Results
In this study, 50 children (48% female and 52% male) with a mean age range of 70.28 ±22.46 months with the flu were studied. The mean PICU of patients' hospitalization was 34.2 ±36.5 days and the mortality rate was 16%. There was no statistically significant relationship between patient mortality and the variables of age, gender, length of hospitalization in PICU and the length of general hospitalization (P<0.05). However, only a statistically significant inverse relationship was observed between blood urea nitrogen (BUN) level and patient mortality among other variables evaluated in the PRISM III model (p = 0.016). In addition, there was a statistically significant relationship between PRISM III model score and mortality in the studied patients (p = 0.002).
Conclusion
In the present study, considering the cut-off point 14, the sensitivity and specificity of the PRISM III model in estimating the mortality of children with influenza are equal to 87.5% and 85.7%, respectively; so the PRISM III model had excellent diagnostic and estimation power.


The use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) has been widely restricted. They have been replaced with hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in order to protect the ozone layer. However, the leakage of refrigerant into the air from active or end-of-life air conditioners is a serious environmental issue owing to the high global warming potential (GWP) of HFCs. Therefore, replacing HFCs with low-GWP refrigerants has been recognized as a reasonable solution to the problem. In Japan, low-GWP refrigerants such as R1234yf, R1234ze, and R32 have been considered as alternatives to conventional HFC refrigerants. However, these low-GWP refrigerants are often flammable. When refrigerants leak into a space, they tend to accumulate above the floor if they are heavier than air. The refrigerant may ignite if the refrigerant concentration is higher than the low flammable limit (LFL), there is an ignition source, and the air velocity is lower than the burning velocity. When leakage occurs from an air conditioner, there is always a region where the refrigerant concentration is higher than the LFL because the refrigerant concentration is 100% near the outlet from the air conditioner. Thus, understanding the refrigerant diffusion phenomena of low-GWP refrigerants is important to acquiring sufficient information for developing safety standards to assess the risks of using these refrigerants. Numerical analysis is an effective tool because it is very difficult to measure the diffusion of a refrigerant in a large space. In this study, diffusion phenomena were numerically analyzed when a refrigerant leaked slowly from a room air conditioner (RAC) and package air conditioner (PAC) and rapidly from a chiller into a large space. Based on the calculation results, the refrigerant concentration distributions, the volumes and positions of the flammable regions, and their changes in time were examined.


Bio-oil has been recognized as a promising renewable energy resource and important feedstock for valuable chemicals. Unfortunately, bio-oil needs upgrading before it can be used as fuel or sources of downstream chemicals. This is due to the complex properties of the bio oil and variable compositions encountered over time. The fractionation of bio oil by traditional distillation quit often leads to form a solid residue of coke and gums consequently formed from polymerization of the mixture components. The use of microbubble distillation is a novel approach used for the distillation of bio oils to avoid the decomposition characteristics observed using traditional methods. In this study a mixture of water, acetic acid, cyclohexanone and salicylaldehyde was chosen as the representative of bio-oil components. The separation extent of water and acetic acid from mixture was observed during the experiment, while varying liquid level and sparge air temperature, showing the effect on the performance of microbubble distillation. The results showed the minimal liquid temperature rise was achieved during the experiment, consequently, no solid residue or polarization between the components was observed in all experiments. In addition, by reducing of the liquid level the evaporation rate increase for both water and acetic acid. At a liquid level of 2mm, the mixture was free of water after 60 min and 70% of acetic acid was removed. Increasing the air temperature by 30C, 86% of acetic acid was removed. Keywords—Microbubble distillation, bio oil, bio oil model


The Kingdom of Bahrain is one of the few countries that has significant numbers of terrorist investigations, which has allowed our scientists to develop expertise in the forensic examination of post and pre-blast explosive exhibits. This paper presents a review of forensic investigations into improvised explosive device (IED) cases in the Kingdom of Bahrain from 2011. A total of four IED investigations were reviewed (i.e Directionally focused charges (DFC), Directional Focused Fragmentation Charge (DFFC) and Explosively formed penetrator/ projectiles (EFP). DNA recovery utilized different collection methods, such as swabbing, tape lifting, wiping and direct cutting of certain separated parts of the IEDs. Samples were extracted and purified with magnetic beads chemistry and quantified. Low copy DNA extracts were subjected to different concentration steps, and DNA extracts were amplified and processed for detection to obtain reliable results. Using the results of the study, we have developed the concept of Forensic DNA Intelligence, which involves the extraction of human cells deposited in low copy number in challenging areas within the evidence which can lead to significant results. This article will be very useful and informative to assist the forensic community in terrorism cases applications worldwide. Continued efforts must be made to re-evaluate standard operating protocols with empirical studies.


Introduction Acute lung injury (ALI) and its more severe form, the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), are serious conditions resulting from direct or indirect lung injury that occur in critically ill patients and are associated with an unacceptable mortality of up to 40%. A key biological event in the pathogenesis of ALI/ARDS is the dysfunction of the lung endothelium (EC), which is triggered by a variety of inflammatory insults leading to damaged EC, vascular leak, and excessive inflammation. Recently, we demonstrated that an Abl family tyrosine kinase inhibitor, imatinib, protects against LPS-induced endothelial dysfunction by inhibiting c-Abl kinase through mechanisms that remain largely unknown. In the present study, we identified parkin, a novel c-Abl substrate, as a critical mediator of endothelial dysfunction in ALI. Methods In vitro Human pulmonary artery endothelial cells (EC) were transfected with siRNA for parkin and then challenged with LPS (1 µg/ml, 3 hrs). Inflammatory mediators were determined in cell lysates and supernatants by Western blotting and ELISA respectively. In vivo C57BL/6 (WT) and parkin deficient (PARK2 KO) male mice (8–12 wks, n=5–8) were subjected to LPS (intratracheally, 1 mg/kg) or PBS (controls), and allowed to recover prior to harvest 18 hrs later. Leakage of proteins into the alveolar space was assessed by measuring the protein levels in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). To assess lung inflammation, neutrophil cell counts, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, and IL-6 levels were determined in BAL. Results In human lung EC, down-regulation of parkin by siRNA reduces LPS-induced VCAM-1 expression (adhesion molecule involved in neutrophil adhesion to EC) (by 35%, p<0.05), IL-8 (neutrophil chemoattractant) (by 59%, p<0.01), and IL-6 (inflammatory cytokine) release (by 79%, p<0.01). PARK2 KO mice exhibit less ALI after LPS compared to WT. In PARK2 KO, BAL protein levels were reduced by 27% (p=0.0024) compared to WT mice. LPS-induced neutrophil recruitment into the alveoli of PARK2 KO was attenuated by 47% compared to WT (p=0.0019). BAL MPO activity (marker of neutrophil activation) and BAL IL-6 levels were also significantly lower in PARK2 KO by 52% (p=0.03) and 28% (p=0.0061) respectively. Conclusion These results suggest that endothelial parkin mediates EC activation and neutrophil adhesion/migration after LPS, and therefore it may represent a new potential therapeutic target in ALI/ARDS.


We demonstrate a new, highly sensitive evanescent field sensor using silicon-on-insulator (SOI) photonic wire waveguides. Theoretical analysis shows that thin SOI waveguides can provide higher sensitivity over devices based in all other common planar waveguide material systems for the probing of both thin adsorbed biomolecular layers and bulk homogeneous solutions. A Si photonic wire waveguide was incorporated into a Mach-Zehnder interferometer based sensor, configured to monitor the index change of a homogeneous solution. High effective index change of 0.31 per refractive index unit (RIU) change of the solution was measured, confirming theoretical predictions


A microfluidic technology was developed and used to probe epigenomic differences between prefrontal cortex and cerebellum. Extensive effort is under way to survey the epigenomic landscape of primary ex vivo tissues to establish normal reference data and to discern variation associated with disease. The low abundance of some tissue types and the isolation procedure required to generate a homogenous cell population often yield a small quantity of cells for examination. This difficulty is further compounded by the need to profile a myriad of epigenetic marks. Thus, technologies that permit both ultralow input and high throughput are desired. We demonstrate a simple microfluidic technology, SurfaceChIP-seq, for profiling genome-wide histone modifications using as few as 30 to 100 cells per assay and with up to eight assays running in parallel. We applied the technology to profile epigenomes using nuclei isolated from prefrontal cortex and cerebellum of mouse brain. Our cell type–specific data revealed that neuronal and glial fractions exhibited profound epigenomic differences across the two functionally distinct brain regions.


The story is a form of human expression that is very likable to the soul, and it manifests the various attitudes and emotions, by recounting a particular incident, in a manner that attracts people in their deliberations and conversations. The story is not new in our Literature, the Arabs in Pre-Islamic Period were commonly using it in their councils and in their spare time, such as refereeing for their wars and heroism, infect these stories were aimless and purposeless, as they were only for spare time. And they narrate them on different themes & topics. After the emergence and spread of Islam, the story became purposeful and aim full. The first aim was to take good ethical lessons from these stories especially of old and previous nations, for examples stories of the Allah's Prophets, or unjust kings like Pharaoh, Qarun, and Shaddad And the story of Joseph peace be upon him from which we take love and innocence, and stories of Paradise and hell, and stories of the owners of hells. Since then, they benefit writers with different types of stories in their literary products such as trips and speeches. Among them were the nomadic writers who have made the story a method and a way to express their feelings and emotions and accidents witnessed in their journeys. In this brief research I will talk about the storytelling style in the Hijazi trips such as Ibn Jubayr, Ibn al-Abdari, Ibn Battuta's trip to Hijaz and other ancient and modern journeys. The research is divided into the following main points: 1. Methodology of Hijaz trips. 2. The narrative tendency in the Hijazi trips. 3. Conclusions and recommendations


FeS and FeS2 nanosheet films were selectively synthesized on iron substrates through one-step hydrothermal treatment of iron foil and sulfur powder in the presence or absence of hydrazine. The resulting FeSx (x = 1, 2) nanosheet films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and used as novel photocathodes in tandem solar cells with dye-sensitized TiO2 nanorod films as the corresponding photoanode. The photovoltaic properties of the tandem dye-sensitized solar cells were carefully studied. We found that the performance of the FeS nanosheet film photocathode was better than that of the FeS2 one in the tandem dye-sensitized solar cells. In the case of the FeS nanosheet film photocathode, a short circuit photocurrent (Isc) of 2.53 mA/cm2, an open circuit photovoltage (Voc) of 0.60 V, a fill factor (FF) of 0.31, and conversion efficiency (η) of 1.32% were obtained under an illumination of 100 mW/cm2. This study suggests that ...


NORTH AMERICAN blastomycosis, a chronic fungus disease caused byBlastomyces dermatitidis, may rarely involve the ocular structures either by direct extension from lesions involving the face and eyelids1,2or by hematogenous dissemination from a primary pulmonary lesion. Churchill and Stober,3in 1914, reported the first case of "metastatic" or endogenous endophthalmitis, and since then three additional cases with intraocular involvement have been reported (Table). The purpose of this paper is to report a case of endogenous blastomycotic panophthalmitis, clinically unsuspected, that developed in a patient who presented no evidence of systemic or cutaneous disease when enucleation was performed because of a painful, blind eye. Report of Case A 73-year-old white man began to complain of pain in his left eye on Oct 15, 1965. During the following week the eye became increasingly painful and inflamed, and all useful vision was lost. He was started on topical steroids and


Aim: The hospitalized children with Mycoplasma pneumonia (M. pneumonia) infection caused by respiratory tract infection in Chengdu were studied and analysis of the epidemiological characteristics was carried out to provide a theoretical basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment.Method: 22882 hospitalized children with respiratory tract infections between January 2014 and December 2020 were collected M. pneumonia IgM antibody was detected by indirect immunofluorescence method and passive agglutination method. Demographic characteristics, clinical diagnose and laboratory data of these children were analyzed.retrospectively.. Result : The 4213 specimens with M. pneumonia were tested positive, the total positive rate was18.41%(18.30% in male and 22.72% in female). Higher positive rates were found in female children,Look from the statistical analysis results, the consistency between the two sets of data is low(x2=198.078、P<0.01). The results of different age patients with contrast different M. pneumonia infection degree were statistically significant(F=162.7532、P<0.01),there was higher M. pneumonia positive rate in Preschoolers and school-age children ,33.98% and 32.98%, respectively.The incidence rate of M. pneumonia in 2017 and 2019 was significantly higher than average (F=538.95, P<0.01)The difference of incidence rate of M. pneumonia was not significant in different months in 2014, 2015 and 2020 (P>0.05). But the probability of M .pneumonia infection patients was much higher from April to May and September to October in2016,2017,2018 and 2019(P<0.05). There was no correlation about M. pneumonia infection with temperature and humidity( P>0.05),there was negative correlation with PM2.5(R=0.09362, P<0.01)and PM10.(R=0.1185, P<0.01).There was no difference about constituent ratio of case of M. pneumonia infection between 2014 and 2019 (F=32.34,P>0.05).The Common respiratory diseases of M. pneumonia infection, bronchopneumonia accounts for the highest proportion,followed the exacerbation of asthma and severe pneumonia.There was significantly difference about constituent ratio of case of M. pneumonia infection between in 2020 and in other years (F=159.35,P<0.01) .The Common respiratory diseases of M. pneumonia infection, bronchopneumonia accounts for the highest proportion,followed the acute bronchitis and exacerbation of asthma.Conclusion:The distribution and epidemiological trend of M. pneumonia in patients with respiratory tract infection showed the risk of inflammation was connected with the gender, age, year and month, no relationship with temperature and humidity in Chengdu,.Higher M. pneumonia positive rate was shown in the children with bronchial pneumonia and exacerbation of asthma.The prevention measures which controlled the COVID-19 disease had effectively controlled the infection rate of M. pneumonia.


Objective: To summarize the nursing experience of a home-based patient with fear of medical operation during insertion of ureter. Methods: The home visiting nurses carefully observed and comprehensively assessed the patient's condition, excluded other confounding factors, and promptly identified the patient's fear of medical procedures. Results: The process of reinsertion went smoothly and the patient did not complain of pain. The patient and her family expressed satisfaction. Conclusion: Nurses' nursing activities in the home environment carry certain unknown medical risks. Nurses need to assess patients thoroughly, identify problems and take interventions in time to prevent undesirable conditions. *Correspondence: Weiju Chen, School of Nursing, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China. Received: 19 June 2020; Accepted: 14 July 2020


With the development of fast, and low-cost analog-digital converters (ADCs) and new mathematical procedures for waveform description, e.g., time encoded signal processing and recognition (TESPAR), novel approaches to detect and locate internal defects in the insulation of power transformers become feasible if the following requirements are fulfilled: the equivalent circuit of the insulating system, suitable for the fast partial discharge (PD) signals with risetimes of approximately 10 ns, is known; the response of the insulating system to PD signals injected at least at three different sites of each winding (top, center, bottom) is calculated, or measured at the signal tap-off points (i.e., bushings); and the pattern matrix of all calculated or measured signals exists: e.g., encoded and signal processes with TESPAR as a reference. The above mentioned requirements are examined for quasi-simultaneous detection and location of internal defects in power transformers. The method is applied to PD measurements on power transformers. >


Patients with metastatic prostate cancer frequently develop bone metastases that elicit significant skeletal morbidity and increased mortality. The high tropism of prostate cancer cells for bone and their tendency to induce the osteoblastic-like phenotype are a result of a complex interplay between tumor cells and osteoblasts. Although the role of osteoblasts in supporting prostate cancer cell proliferation has been reported by previous studies, their precise contribution in tumor growth remains to be fully elucidated. Here, we tried to dissect the molecular signaling underlining the interactions between castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) cells and osteoblasts using in vitro co-culture models. Transcriptomic analysis showed that osteoblast-conditioned media (OCM) induced the overexpression of genes related to cell cycle in the CRPC cell line C4-2B but, surprisingly, reduced androgen receptor (AR) transcript levels. In-depth analysis of AR expression in C4-2B cells after OCM treatment showed an AR reduction at the mRNA (p = 0.0047), protein (p = 0.0247), and functional level (p = 0.0029) and, concomitantly, an increase of C4-2B cells in S-G2-M cell cycle phases (p = 0.0185). An extensive proteomic analysis revealed in OCM the presence of some molecules that reduced AR activation, and among these, Matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) was the only one able to block AR function (0.1 ng/ml p = 0.006; 1 ng/ml p = 0.002; 10 ng/ml p = 0.0001) and, at the same time, enhance CRPC proliferation (1 ng/ml p = 0.009; 10 ng/ml p = 0.033). Although the increase of C4-2B cell growth induced by MMP-1 did not reach the proliferation levels observed after OCM treatment, the addition of Vorapaxar, an MMP-1 receptor inhibitor (Protease-activated receptor-1, PAR-1), significantly reduced C4-2B cell cycle (0.1 μM p = 0.014; 1 μM p = 0.0087). Overall, our results provide a novel AR-independent mechanism of CRPC proliferation and suggest that MMP-1/PAR-1 could be one of the potential pathways involved in this process.


Though the electronics industry is nearing the 3-year anniversary marking the ban of lead from electronics products, several challenges still remain with existing lead-free materials for certain applications. The commonly used and accepted SnAgCu (tin-silver-copper, also known as SAC) alloy has proven to be a suitable material for the production of many devices but, for those applications that require extremely high reliability, current SAC materials are less than ideal. In particular, devices that will find end use in automotive and military/aerospace products require a lead-free material that can withstand the higher temperatures operation life (e.g. automotive under-the-hood conditions), offer vibration resistance not commonly associated with traditional SAC alloys and deliver high temperature (> 125C) thermal cycling reliability levels beyond those available with current commercialized SAC materials.


The paper presents a study of existing methods for motion and face detection algorithms and their application to the on-board miniature Raspberry Pi computer. The algorithms realized by OpenCV functions were modified to optimize their operation on the mentioned platform, which could be used as an embedded surveillance system. The paper also mentions the training of a custom classifier for hand detection, what could be further used as a basis for detecting hand gestures.


There have been numerous reports as well as case presentations, in the field of clinical research since Fukuyama type congenital muscular dystrophy (FCMD) was first reported by Fukuyama et al. as a peculiar form of congenital progressive muscular dystrophy (CMD). Toda et al. localized the FCMD gene locus to chromosome 9q31-33 using genetic linkage analysis. Clinical application of molecular genetic studies is a new and exciting aspect of FCMD research. The author reviewed the literature and discusses herein: [1] the classification of CMD and the position of FCMD, [2] researches on the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of FCMD, [3] DNA diagnosis using polymorphism analysis (carrier diagnosis and prenatal diagnosis), [4] approaches to clinical heterogeneity in FCMD, [5] the difference between FCMD and Walker-Warburg syndrome. In addition, data accumulated by the authors are presented.


Extreme precipitation events in Central Alberta have overwhelmed hydraulic structures several times in recent years, and it is generally expected that rainfall intensity in this region will continue to increase over the next several decades. Accurate rainfall projections are thus needed to assess future flood risks and to mitigate the possible impacts of these changes. Such data may be obtained through the use of regional climate models (RCMs), and one in particular, the fifth‐generation NCAR/Penn State mesoscale atmospheric model (MM5), is investigated here. MM5 is used to dynamically downscale European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) ERA‐Interim reanalysis data to evaluate its ability to accurately simulate rainfall in Central Alberta over two consecutive summers that represent contrasting precipitation regimes. It is determined that in complex terrain, different RCM preprocessing settings can result in vastly different input data which are used for the model simulation. After optimal preprocessing settings are identified, precipitation data from the resulting simulations are compared with data from Edmonton's local rain gauge network and a High Resolution Precipitation Product (HRPP), Climate Prediction Center (CPC) MORPHing technique (CMORPH). Precipitation data generated by MM5 reveal that this RCM can indeed distinguish between wet (2010) and dry (2009) years, but that simulated rainfall totals tend to be too high during May of both precipitation regimes, particularly during the dry year. This bias is partially attributed to the RCM's inaccurate simulation of available moisture in the presence of local terrain effects, and should be taken into consideration when making projections regarding possible changes to future precipitation conditions in Central Alberta and in other regions with similar climatology.


The flea beetle faunae associated with three cruciferous plants, Dentaria diphylla Michx., Barbarea vulgaris R.Br. and Brassica oleracea L. were investigated in the field near Ithaca, N.Y. The flea beetles were sampled regularly from these plants both in their natural habitats and in cultivated plots. The samples were taken either by visually counting the insects or with a D'Vac vacuum net. The behavior and microhabitat preferences of the beetles were determined by making quantitative observations and counting the individuals on vertical layers of the hosts and on host plants growing in different habitats. The flea beetle loads were calculated on the basis of dry weights of plants and flea beetles. Six flea beetle species were found on these three crucifers. On each plant species there was a dominant flea beetle species which constituted over 60 % of the total specimens collected. When the plants were grown in identical cultivated plots in an open field, the relative abundances of flea beetle species attacking them were greatly altered from the situation found in the natural habitats of the hosts. These results, together with the data on the seasonal abundances, behavior and microhabitat selection of the flea beetles, showed that the phenology and habitats of the plants greatly influence their utilization by different flea beetle species and partially determine the distinctiveness of the crucifer-beetle associations.


A synthetic gene encoding the platelet-derived factor, connective tissue activating peptide-III (CTAP-III) (Castor, C.W., Miller, J.W., and Walz, D.A. (1983) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 80, 765-769), has been expressed and secreted from Saccharomyces cerevisiae by using a yeast expression vector and an alpha-factor leader segment. Mitogenic activity reported for naturally derived CTAP-III has been demonstrated here for recombinant CTAP-III. Active CTAP-III has been purified to apparent homogeneity. Structural studies have confirmed its identity. A general approach for the facile synthesis of genes is presented which has permitted the assembly of the entire structural gene and flanking regions (280 base pairs) from 20 oligomers in a single annealing and ligation reaction pool.


This paper begins with an introduction to government portal websites, then design a framework of province-level information system of the development and reform commission. Some related technologies are discussed. Several application systems may be integrated into the framework, form an intelligent local government information system and decision support system.


As a global phenomenon, English as a lingua franca (ELF) has been rigorously researched in many fields but
 completely ignored in translation studies. Based on a previous study, this study accordingly sets out to investigate the ELF
 phenomenon in the fansubbing culture with a specific focus on the notes and comments by fansubbers, arguing that fansubbing as a
 practice creates a space for dialogue between fan translators and their viewers that leads to the 'empowerment' of fansubbers as
 linguistic and cultural mediators. By examining specific screenshots of headnotes and comments by amateur translators with regard
 to six seasons of the TV series Rizzoli & Isles, this paper discusses background reasons for ELF applied by
 fansubbers, the implications of the ELF phenomenon in fansubbing culture, and the potential effects of fansubbing upon the
 audience in contradistinction to the effects of commercial subtitling and upon the translation profession as a whole.
 Finally, this article hopes to shed light on Chinese fansubbers who in fact blur the traditional distinction between professional
 and amateur subtitling, and concludes that the specific language practices fansubbers are engaged in show – as both fans and
 translators – an unlimited degree of latitude from mainstream subtitling.


The chronicity of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection relates to both viral factors and host factors. HBV could result in persistent infection and even serious liver disease, including chronic hepatitis B (CHB), cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although the HBV vaccine can effectively prevent HBV infection, chronic HBV infection still endangers human health and results in a large social burden. Moreover, the mechanisms underlying the HBV-mediated imbalance of the immune response and persistent infection are not fully understood. Exosomes are extracellular vesicles (EVs) 40-160 nm in size that are released from many cells and transfer specific functional RNAs, proteins, lipids and viral components from donor to recipient cells. These exosome nanovesicles are associated with various biological processes, such as cellular homeostasis, immune response and cancer progression. Besides, previous studies on exosomes have shown that they take part in viral pathogenicity due to the similarity in structure and function between exosomes and enveloped viruses. Moreover, exosome as a novel immunomodulatory carrier plays a significant role in viral immunology. In this review, we focus on the latest progress in understanding the role of exosomes in HBV transmission as well as their vital roles in immune regulation during HBV infection. Furthermore, we discuss the potential clinical applications of exosomes in hepatitis B infection, including the use of exosomes in the auxiliary diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis B.


Geophysical and geological data for the Central Lau Basin have been interpreted to constrain the tectonic evolution of the Lau Basin since 6 Ma. Seafloor morphology, residual magnetic anomaly lineations, and variations in seafloor acoustic backscattering indicate that two ridge propagation events have been responsible for the formation of the eastern floor of the basin. The earlier propagator formed the Eastern Lau Spreading Center and progressed into a horst-and-graben-dominated extensional terrain derived from the fragmenting Lau-Tonga composite arc. According to our interpretation of recompiled magnetic data, this propagating ridge probably initiated around 5.5 Ma at the southeastern end of a structure that became the Peggy Ridge. At present, the propagator has a tectonic rift tip at the southern end of the Valu Fa Ridge (23°S). This tip has advanced southward at a rate of 120 mm/yr, more than twice the rate reported for most other "open ocean" propagating ridges. The later propagator, referred to as the Central Lau Spreading Center, began from the southeastern limit of the Peggy Ridge between 1.2 and 1.5 Ma and has its present rift tip at 19°22'S. The western floor of the Lau Basin is dominated by irregular ridges and troughs, and our interpretation of the topography is that this crust, originally adjacent to the waning Lau Ridge arc, experienced a protracted period of extensional rifting and local easterly migrating arc magmatism before the advance from north to south of the first propagator. Backarc extension then transferred largely to the new spreading axis. Basement recovered from only two of the backarc sites (836 and 837) has unequivocal (and unmixed?) affinities to the present Central and Eastern Lau axial lithologies; all of the other basin sites have complex parentages. Sidescan sonar data suggest the persistence of some minor present-day extension within the western-rifted portion of the basin; thus, off-axis magmatism and/or extension outside of the present axis is not precluded.


The discursive reconstruction of Eurasia has brought about structural changes, which have strengthened Russia's position internationally, and fortified its soft power. As such, the Eurasian project reflects Russia's broader approach to parties including BRICS and the EU. Russia's political elite routinely promotes specific conceptions of Russia's international identity and role with different partners as a means to facilitate cooperation. This creates significant geographical and policy overlaps and breeds inconsistency and competition, but nonetheless contributes to Russia's preferred low-cost, low-commitment version of co-operation. The Eurasian project therefore represents just one (albeit important) example of the Russian leadership's conversion of ideas about the international arena into political realities. By balancing competing roles and relationships, Russia maintains a 'multi-vector' foreign policy that is flexible, unencumbered by restrictive alliances, and oriented towards sovereignty, great power and strength.


At the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the author focused on animal viruses and was the first to isolate a polymerase encoded by an animal virus. His research for the past twenty-eight years has focused on the molecular mechanisms underlying the replication of a cryptic human virus, adeno-associated virus (AAV). Although all of us are infected by AAV, the virus has never been associated with any human disease and thus was little known until recently. It was not discovered until 1965, when it was found as a contaminant of supposedly pure preparations of adenovirus, a common human pathogen. It was quickly shown that AAV required coinfection with an adenovirus for productive infection in cell culture. On purification the complementary strands would anneal to form duplex DNA. Virus particles containing normal-density DNA were mixed with particles containing heavy-density DNA. When the DNA was purified, the double-stranded DNA we isolated had a hybrid density. As it does not cause disease, AAV was not initially of great medical interest; this situation changed with the recognition that the virus could integrate its genome. Coupled with the virus's persistence, this characteristic made it a strong candidate to serve as a vector for human gene therapy. Now clinicians and entrepreneurs in large numbers are interested.


This article presents a comprehensive design procedure for isolated microgrids with a high penetration of nonlinear loads. The proposed microgrid planning approach simultaneously determines the sizes, locations and types of distributed generators (DGs) and shunt capacitor banks (CBs). The presence of nonlinear loads along with the capacitors of CBs or DGs' output filters may cause severe voltage distortions. To consider this issue, a harmonic power flow tool tailored for planning applications is developed that takes into account the specific features of isolated microgrids. Given the necessity of supply continuity for isolated microgrids after a contingency, the proposed planning approach takes into consideration the reliability to increase the probability of building successful islands. Unlike previous methods, the proposed approach does not rely merely on supply adequacy, and takes into account the fact that the voltage provision requirement can only be fulfilled through dispatchable DGs. The intermittent natures of loads and renewable DGs are modelled probabilistically. The effectiveness of the proposed planning approach has been validated using the PG&E 69-bus system, and the followings are observed: 1) the significance of applying suitable fundamental-power-flow and harmonic-power-flow algorithms for isolated microgrids, and 2) the possibility of avoiding a severe voltage distortion by utilizing an appropriate planning method and only small increase in the cost.


Singly-clamped micron-sized cantilevers actuated by optical radiation pressure exerted by a laser are analyzed. An expression for optimum point of actuation giving the maximum amount of deflection is obtained.


We propose a simple saving-based measure of the cyclical component in GDP. The measure is motivated by the prediction that the represenative consumer changes savings in response to temporary deviations of income from its stochastic trend, while satisfying a present-value budget constraint. To evaluate our procedure, we employ the bivariate error correction model of Cochrane (1994) to the member countries of the G-7 and Australia. Our estimates reveal, that to a close approximation, the stochastic trend component of GDP is consumption and the transitory component is the error correction term, which justifies the use of our saving-based measure.


The initial stages of graphitization on 4H- and 6H-SiC (000-1) under ultrahigh vacuum at temperatures of 1125–1175°C have been studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and reflected high energy electron diffraction. A progressive coverage of the surface by graphene has been observed depending on the time and temperature of annealing. Graphene growth mainly starts from the step edges, although it sometimes nucleates in the middle of a SiC terrace. Comparison of the topographic and phase AFM images shows that the latter are the most efficient for identifying graphene before complete coverage of the surface.


With the increase interest in adopting a form of happiness to policy goals, a wide range of studies on subjective well-being (SWB) have become available. Leisure is a key component of our daily life which can affect SWB. Leisure activities is said to reduce stress and promote health. It can be a social activity that provides a sense of belonging or the time can be used for self-development. There is a wide range of leisure activities such as sports, hobbies, volunteer participation and socializing. This paper examines the underlying characteristics of leisure activities by conducting a principal component analysis across leisure related variables by using cross section data for 47 prefectures in Japan. The main results find that regions with greater active/external type tend to have higher levels of SWB, and regions with greater self-development type tend to have lower levels of SWB.


This article considers several issues raised by the Supreme Court's opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller. One question is whether Heller requires the constitutionalization of self-defense decisions in tort and criminal law. If the Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms for immediate self-defense purposes, as Heller holds, it arguably also protects the right to use firearms for self defense purposes. Put simply, does it make sense to interpret the Second Amendment to protect to the means to exercise self-defense without extending some level of protection to the act of self-defense itself?Answering this question in the affirmative leads to other issues. The privilege or excuse of self-defense is grounded on an ad hoc evaluation by juries of the reasonableness of the defendant's conduct. That analysis may be appropriate for tort or criminal law purposes, but it is arguably much more problematic as a constitutional standard. There is also the question of whether a constitutionally required determination as to the reasonableness of defendant's conduct must be independently reviewed by appellate courts.Heller may influence tort law in another way. Gun owners are often held liable for negligence if they store a firearm in a location where a child gains access to it and injures themselves or others with the weapon. The same safeguards that prevent a child from obtaining a firearm, however, such as storing it in a locked drawer, may make the weapon less available for immediate self-defense. Thus, state courts may need constitutional guidance as to how these negligence lawsuits should be resolved in order to avoid the substantial burdening of a gun owner's Second Amendment rights.The article addresses other issues as well, such as the role of so-called prefatory clauses in developing doctrine for the protection of enumerated rights.


In heat-shocked human cells, heat shock factor 1 activates transcription of tandem arrays of repetitive Satellite III (SatIII) DNA in pericentromeric heterochromatin. Satellite III RNAs remain associated with sites of transcription in nuclear stress bodies (nSBs). Here we use real-time RT-PCR to study the expression of these genomic regions. Transcription is highly asymmetrical and most of the transcripts contain the G-rich strand of the repeat. A low level of G-rich RNAs is detectable in unstressed cells and a 104-fold induction occurs after heat shock. G-rich RNAs are induced by a wide range of stress treatments including heavy metals, UV-C, oxidative and hyper-osmotic stress. Differences exist among stressing agents both for the kinetics and the extent of induction (>100- to 80.000-fold). In all cases, G-rich transcripts are associated with nSBs. On the contrary, C-rich transcripts are almost undetectable in unstressed cells and modestly increase after stress. Production of SatIII RNAs after hyper-osmotic stress depends on the Tonicity Element Binding Protein indicating that activation of the arrays is triggered by different transcription factors. This is the first example of a non-coding RNA whose transcription is controlled by different transcription factors under different growth conditions.


Abstract The modelling of multilayer reactive injection moulding is studied. After presenting the equations describing the process, two important aspects are dealt with in more detail. These are particle tracking and the modelling of the flow front. First results demonstrate the possibilities of the modelling and show satisfactory agreement between predictions of numerical simulations and experimental results, concerning particle tracking in the whole flow domain and the break-through of layers in sequential two component moulding.


During the negotiations for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), the Argentinean and Mexican labour movements exhibited contrasting responses to the proposed free trade agreement. While Argentinean labour staged an aggressive anti-FTAA campaign, its Mexican counterpart displayed relative quiescence. This work applies the political opportunity structures model to determine if it can explain the differing patterns of mobilization of Argentinean and Mexican labour. This work examines the structures of opportunity that emerged after the 1982 debt crisis and those created by the process of Latin American economic integration. Such process has created national and transnational opportunity structures, allowing national movements to engage in transnational activism. An analysis of the suitability of the opportunity structures model to account for the mobilization of Argentinean and Mexican labour, should shed light on the model's capacity to analyze movements that are becoming increasingly transnational. This work should be especially useful to students of social movements and to anyone interested in Latin American regional economic integration.


The continuous wavelet transform (CWT) has been used in radar-based vital signs detection to identify and to remove the motion artifacts from the received radar signals. Since the CWT algorithm is computationally heavy, the processing of this algorithm typically results in long processing time and complex hardware implementation. The algorithm in its standard form typically uses software processing tools and is unable to support high-performance data processing. The aim of this research is to design an optimized CWT algorithm architecture to implement it on Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) in order to identify the unwanted movement introduced in the retrieved vital signs signals. The optimization approaches in the new implementation structure are based on utilizing the frequency domain processing, optimizing the required number of operations and implementing parallel processing of independent operations. Our design achieves significant processing speed and logic utilization optimization. It is found that processing the algorithm using our proposed hardware architecture is 48 times faster than processing it using MATLAB. It also achieves an improvement of 58% in speed performance compared to alternative solutions reported in literature. Moreover, efficient resources utilization is achieved and reported. This advanced performance of the proposed design is due to consciously implementing comprehensive approaches of multiple optimization techniques that results in multidimensional improvements. As a result, our achieved design is suitable for utilization in high-performance data processing applications.


Background Psychological therapy groups for people with dementia are widely used, but their cost-effectiveness has not been explored. Aims To investigate the cost-effectiveness of an evidence-based cognitive stimulation therapy (CST) programme for people with dementia as part of a randomised controlled trial. Method A total of 91 people with dementia, living in care homes or the community, received a CST group intervention twice weekly for 8 weeks; 70 participants with dementia received treatment as usual. Service use was recorded 8 weeks before and during the 8-week intervention and costs were calculated. A cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted with cognition as the primary outcome, and quality of life as the secondary outcome. Cost-effectiveness acceptability curves were plotted. Results Cognitive stimulation therapy has benefits for cognition and quality of life in dementia, and costs were not different between the groups. Under reasonable assumptions, there is a high probability that CST is more cost-effective than treatment as usual, with regard to both outcome measures. Conclusions Cognitive stimulation therapy for people with dementia has effectiveness advantages over, and may be more cost-effective than, treatment as usual.


Lucian of Samosata's True Stories (alethondiegematon) is, in part, a parody of Greek allegorical writing and of Greek allegorical interpretation. The parody works through a bizarre narrative that has been said to be the world's first science fiction story. Before the narrative begins, Lucian announces that he is lying, but is more honest than other liars because he tells you that he is lying. Lucian then plays on various paradoxes without committing himself to a paradoxical content. Using a Gricean account of meaning, which distinguishes between semantic and pragmatic meanings, I explain how Lucian evades paradox while satirising pseudo-profound paradox mongers.


The basis of the pathogenesis of male infertility is the processes of peroxide oxidation of biological substrates, especially lipids and proteins. By destroying the sperm membrane, toxic peroxidation products reduce its motility and ability to fertilize the egg, which is determined by a decrease in the number of motile sperm in the ejaculate. These changes lead to complete or partial male infertility. The authors of the review found that is accompanied by a damaging effect on the structural and functional activity of the gonads and is manifested, in particular, by an imbalance in the hormonal background of the male body. Similar effects are characteristic of an increase in the content of reactive Nitrogen species and its metabolites, which cause nitrosative stress, which is also the cause of male hypofertility and is inseparable from the state of oxidative stress. In scientific work it is determined that the accumulation of harmful peroxidation products leads to damage and destruction of sperm DNA, reduced activity of acrosomal enzymes and mitochondrial potential of sperm, reduced overall antioxidant activity. This makes it impossible for an adequate response of the body. Multi component antioxidant defense system resists stress. It is represented by enzymatic and non-enzymatic links, which can neutralize harmful radicals and peroxidation products. It contributes to the full manifestation of reproductive function. The presence of powerful antioxidant properties of catalase, superoxide dismutase, and enzymes of the thiol-disulfide system, which form the enzymatic system of antioxidant protection, as well as selenium, zinc, copper, other trace elements, retinol, tocopherol, ascorbic acid, and vitamins as parts of the non-enzymatic system is shown. The efficiency of registration is substantiated thin biochemical shift detectors or complex methods, such as total antioxidant status of sperm or sperm plasma, mitochondrial membrane potential, etc along with simple markers of oxidative stress, such as diene conjugates, malonic dialdehyde, and metabolites of the Nitrogen Oxide cycle. Given the leading role of oxidative stress in the development of male hypofertility, the prospect of further research is the search for modern means for correction, especially among substances with pronounced redox activity


The persistent MAl2O4:Eu 2+ , Dy 3+ (M may be Ca or Ca+Ba or Ca+Mg) blue light emitting nanophosphors were prepared by rapid facile gel combustion technique. For the syntheses of present series of phosphors, urea was used as an organic fuel and boric acid was used as a flux in presence of air. Photoluminescence properties were studied by excitation and emission spectra. The phosphors showed blue luminescence (λmax= 454-458nm) under the excitation of UV source, attributed to 4f 6 5d 1 →4f 7 transitions of the Eu(II) ion. The effect on photoluminescence intensity and decay time was also studied for varying metal ions in different ratio (Ca or Ca+Ba or Ca+Mg). The existence of divalent europium ions in the synthesized lattices was confirmed by the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The crystal phase and size of the prepared materials were analyzed with X-ray diffraction patterns. The surface morphology of phosphors was studied with scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy techniques revealed the average size of the prepared materials between the 30-50 nm. The prepared nanophosphors had bright optoelectronic properties that could be efficiently applied in various solid state white light emitting display devices. Copyright © 2016 VBRI Press.


The effect of ethanol (ETOH) on muscle metabolism was assessed in both normal (NC) and noninsulin-dependent (NIDDM) subjects in the basal state and during isoglycemic hyperinsulinemia (450 pmol/L) clamp studies carried out either with systemic (NC, n = 5; NIDDM, n = 5) or intrabrachially (NC, n = 5; NIDDM, n = 5)ETOH infusion. On a repeat study, each subject underwent the same experimental procedures, except that saline was infused instead of ETOH. Systemic ETOH significantly decreased whole body glucose disposal in both NC and NIDDM patients. In NC, ETOH infusion decreased basal forearm glucose uptake (FGU) from 1.22 +/- 0.20 to 0.32 +/- 0.04 mumol/min.100 mL tissue (P < 0.01), whereas in NIDDM, this decrement was not significant (from 0.95 +/- 0.31 to 0.66 +/- 0.23). With saline infusion, hyperinsulinemia significantly stimulated FGU to 4.09 +/- 0.46 mumol/min.100 mL tissue in NC and to 2.50 +/- 0.76 in NIDDM. During ETOH, FGU was depressed by 81% in NC (delta = 3.32 mumol/min.100 mL tissue) and by 48% (P < 0.05) in NIDDM (delta = 1.21 mumol/min.100 mL tissue). Local ETOH infusion did not affect FGU in either NC (1.18 +/- 0.23 vs. 1.1 +/= 0.11 mumol/min.100 mL tissue in the baseline condition and 4.12 +/- 0.65 vs. 3.97 +/- 0.35 in insulin-stimulated conditions) or NIDDM (1.05 +/- 0.29 vs. 1.1 +/- 0.19 mumol/min.100 mL tissue in baseline condition and 2.72 +/- 0.82 vs. 2.83 +/- 0.51 in insulin-stimulated conditions) subjects. With systemic ETOH, but not local infusion, there was a reduction in baseline plasma free fatty acid level and an increase in blood lactate concentration during isoglycemic hyperinsulinemia. In summary, systemic ETOH infusion impairs both whole body and forearm glucose uptake in NC and NIDDM subjects; this effect was more apparent in NC than in NIDDM at both the whole body and forearm level. On the contrary, intrabrachial ETOH infusion did not affect forearm glucose balance in either group. These results suggest that the reduction in muscle glucose disposal associated with increased systemic ETOH concentrations is not caused by a direct ETOH effect on muscle glucose metabolism.


Problem statement: Cluster microforms are a type of small scale bed-form found in the surface layer of some gravel bed rivers. These bed-forms are comprised of discrete, organized groupings of particles that sit above the average elevation of the surrounding bed. As part of the structural organization of the bed, clusters are believed to impact the local dynamics of the fluvial system through the feedback process involving the flow field, entrainable sediment and stable bed morphology. Approach: In this study, flow and sediment characteristic measured at a laboratory flume and the presence or absence of clusters at each of these tests was recorded. A statistical analysis using logistic regression was performed to examine the correlation between the occurrence of clusters and various non-dimension combinations of measured variables. Results: It was found that the best parameters for predicting the clusters presence are gd2u/hU2avg and gd2u/U2avg. In two parameters analysis it was found that clustering was best predicted by gd2u/U2avg and ?b/?U2avg. Conclusion: It is thought that these parameters work best at predicting the presence of clusters because they are descriptive of hydraulic and sedimentary conditions of tested reach.


The paper presents methods of executable file signature creation based on frequency distributions of their informative features to be applied for program identification. Identification here should be understood as a process of file recognition by establishing its coincidence with a particular program. A new approach to creation of the archive of program signatures, both in terms of byte-frequency distribution of a program's binary code, and in terms of frequency distribution of assembler commands in their disassembler codes, is presented. The new method of executable file identification is offered and the results of experiments on their identification using a statistical criterion of φ * -Fisher and analysis of the slope are provided. The proposed method can be used to audit data-storage medium.


Editors' preface The statute of Virginia for religious freedom 1. The Virginia statute two hundred years later Martin E. Marty 2. Colonial religion and liberty of conscience Edwin S. Gaustad 3. Religious Freedom and the desacralization of politics J. G. A. Pocock 4. The political theory of Thomas Jefferson Thomas E. Buckley, S. J. 5. James Madison, the statute for religious freedom, and the crisis of republican convictions Lance Banning 6. 'The rage of malice of the old serpent devil': the dissenters and the making and remaking of the Virginia statute for religious freedom Rhys Isaac 7. 'Quota of imps' John T. Noonan, Jr 8. Jeffersonian religious liberty and American pluralism Cushing Strout 9. Religion and civil virtue in America: Jefferson's statute reconsidered David Little 10. The priority of democracy to philosophy Richard Rorty 11. Madison's 'detached memoranda': then and now Leo Pfeffer 12. The Supreme Court and the serpentine wall A. E. Dick Howard Index.


Abstract This paper deals with the following problem. Given a finite extension of fields $\mathbb{L}/\mathbb{K}$ and denoting the trace map from $\mathbb{L}$ to $\mathbb{K}$ by $\text{Tr}$ , for which elements $z$ in $\mathbb{L}$ , and $a$ , $b$ in $\mathbb{K}$ , is it possible to write $z$ as a product $xy$ , where $x,y\in \mathbb{L}$ with $\text{Tr}(x)=a,\text{Tr}(y)=b$ ? We solve most of these problems for finite fields, with a complete solution when the degree of the extension is at least 5. We also have results for arbitrary fields and extensions of degrees 2, 3 or 4. We then apply our results to the study of perfect nonlinear functions, semifields, irreducible polynomials with prescribed coefficients, and a problem from finite geometry concerning the existence of certain disjoint linear sets.


The Internet of Vehicles (IoV) is an application of the Internet of things (IoT). It faces two main security problems: (1) the central server of the IoV may not be powerful enough to support the centralized authentication of the rapidly increasing connected vehicles, (2) the IoV itself may not be robust enough to single-node attacks. To solve these problems, this paper proposes SG-PBFT: a secure and highly efficient PBFT consensus algorithm for Internet of Vehicles, which is based on a distributed blockchain structure. The distributed structure can reduce the pressure on the central server and decrease the risk of single-node attacks. The SG-PBFT consensus algorithm improves the traditional PBFT consensus algorithm by using a score grouping mechanism to achieve a higher consensus efficiency. The experimental result shows that our method can greatly improve the consensus efficiency and prevent single-node attacks. Specifically, when the number of consensus nodes reaches 1000, the consensus time of our algorithm is only about 27% of what is required for the state-of-the-art consensus algorithm (PBFT). Our proposed SG-PBFT is versatile and can be used in other application scenarios which require high consensus efficiency.


Immunomodulatory oligosaccharides found on helminths also are found in human milk, and both helminths and milk have been shown to be immunosuppressive. We have been examining the immunomodulatory capabilities of two oligosaccharides expressed in milk and on helminth parasites, lacto-N-fucopentaose III and lacto-N-neotetraose (LNnT). In an attempt to dissect mechanisms that lead to Th2 polarization and immune suppression, we examined the early response in mice to the glycoconjugate LNnT-Dextran (LNnT-Dex). We found that injection of LNnT-Dex expanded a cell population, phenotypically defined as Gr1+/CD11b+/F4/80+, as early as 2 h after injection. Examination of spontaneous cytokine production showed that this Gr1+/F4/80+ population of cells spontaneously produced low levels of proinflammatory cytokines, but higher levels of IL-10 and TGF-β ex vivo, compared to peritoneal cells from mice injected with Dex. Gr1+ cells adoptively suppressed naive CD4+ T cell proliferation in vitro in response to anti-CD3/CD28 Ab stimulation. Suppression of naive CD4+ cells involved cell contact and was dependent on IFN-γ and NO, with a discrete role played by IL-10. Coculture of naive CD4+T cells with Gr1+ suppressor cells did not lead to CD4+ T cell apoptosis, although it did imprint on naive CD4+ T cells a response characterized by lower levels of IFN-γ, coincident with increased IL-13 production. Our results suggest that both human milk and helminth parasites may share a ligand-specific mechanism involved in the generation of anti-inflammatory mediators that suppress Th1-type and inflammatory responses.


This study examines aspects of the structure of Xenakis's Achorripsis, using the fully notated score as its point of departure. Some of the analytical techniques used in this study are adapted from methods for the prolongational analysis of atonal music developed by Fred Lerdahl in his book Tonal Pitch Space. As part of this approach, a hierarchical grouping structure is proposed for the sections in Achorripsis, corresponding to Lerdahl's method of time-span analysis. In addition to the time-span analysis, a pitch-reduction model is proposed, taking into account both the registral extremes and the most frequently repeated pitches in the individual sections and groups of sections. The time-span and pitch-reduction perspectives are considered along with the cumulative densities of the sections to suggest a fruitful strategies for a conceptual organization of the experience of listening to Achorripsis. The conclusion contains suggestions toward the possible extension of this method for the analysis of other stochastic works by Xenakis.


Abstract This article is aiming to provide a comprehensive and understandable statement about the competitiveness of the South African wine industry. A measurement of the competitive performance of the South African wine industry—the WINE COMPETITIVENESS INDEX (WCI)—indicates that South Africa's wines are internationally highly competitive with a sustainable and increasing positive trend over recent years. The wine industry in South Africa also shows positive trends in competitiveness in the long run and it should not lose its competitiveness status in the near future if its dynamic ability to continue to trade is sustained. An analyse of the key success factors that established competitive advantage and constraints that impacted negatively on competitiveness of the wine industry through the—WINE EXECUTIVE SURVEY (WES)—indicates that for the present intense competition in the market, the production of affordable high quality products, stringent regulatory standards in the industry, efficient supporting industries, and the availability of internationally competitive local suppliers of primary inputs are the major success factors to the competitiveness of this industry. The major factors that impact negatively on the competitive success of this industry are the strong Rand, fluctuations in the exchange rate, trust in the political support system, competence of personnel in the public sector, crime, South Africa's labour policy and the growth and size of the local market. These factors should be crafted into a Strategic Plan for the industry.


We report a case of a late-presenting congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) in an otherwise healthy infant initially presenting to the emergency department with wheezing and respiratory distress. Late-presenting CDH can manifest a vast array of clinical symptoms and therefore may frequently masquerade as other more common pediatric entities. Prompt and accurate diagnosis is essential in the management of late-presenting CDH; patients may be critically ill at presentation, and selection of appropriate therapeutic interventions may avoid potentially life-threatening complications. In this case report, we seek to inform emergency physicians about this rare, but serious, disorder.


This article deals with the use of a protocol for analysis of similar methodological analysis related to user experience. For both, were selected articles recounting experiments in the area. They were analyze based on the similar analysis protocol and finally, synthesized and associated.


The fusion glycoprotein precursor of Newcastle disease virus is ubiquitously cleaved in the constitutive secretory pathway if it possesses an oligobasic cleavage motif (RRQR/KR), whereas the precursor is refractory to cleavage if the motif is monobasic (GR/KQGR). We examined the cleavage activity of the mammalian subtilisin-related proteinases furin/PACE, PC2, and PC1/PC3, which are thought to be responsible for proprotein processing in either the constitutive (furin/PACE) or the regulated (PC2 and PC1/PC3) secretory pathway, for the viral precursors with different cleavage motifs. Only furin/PACE was fully capable of cleaving the precursors with the oligobasic motif. PC2 and PC1/PC3 were incapable or only partially capable of cleaving at this motif. None of the proteinases cleaved the monobasic motif. These results suggest involvement of furin/PACE in viral protein processing in the constitutive secretory pathway.


This article is an attempt at reconceptualizing "Anglo-French relations" in seventeenth-century northeastern America by testing the concept of "spiritual geopolitics" (and its limits) in the case of the Anglo-French "interface" in northeastern America. Spiritual geopolitics is defined as the impact of confessional identities on geopolitical thinking and actions. Building on a binary religio-diplomatic context of the 16th and early 17th-century, the article first makes the case for Puritan spiritual geopolitics, consisting in a revision of familiar events through a new geopolitical lens. It then moves on to French anti-Protestant geopolitical thinking applied to North America, in particular in the second half of the century. While the first two sections argue that documentary evidence confirm "spiritual geopolitics" as a legitimate lens, the third section puts forward instances of religious border-crossing that plead in favor of a more nuanced, multilayered, concept of spiritual geopolitics in the period before the beginning of "Imperial Wars".


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background and Purpose: Prediction models for outcome of patients with acute ischemic stroke who will undergo endovascular treatment have been developed to improve patient management. The aim of the current study is to provide an overview of preintervention models for functional outcome after endovascular treatment and to validate these models with data from daily clinical practice. Methods: We systematically searched within Medline, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Science, to include prediction models. Models identified from the search were validated in the MR CLEAN (Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial of Endovascular Treatment for Acute Ischemic Stroke in the Netherlands) registry, which includes all patients treated with endovascular treatment within 6.5 hours after stroke onset in the Netherlands between March 2014 and November 2017. Predictive performance was evaluated according to discrimination (area under the curve) and calibration (slope and intercept of the calibration curve). Good functional outcome was defined as a score of 0–2 or 0–3 on the modified Rankin Scale depending on the model. Results: After screening 3468 publications, 19 models were included in this validation. Variables included in the models mainly addressed clinical and imaging characteristics at baseline. In the validation cohort of 3156 patients, discriminative performance ranged from 0.61 (SPAN-100 [Stroke Prognostication Using Age and NIH Stroke Scale]) to 0.80 (MR PREDICTS). Best-calibrated models were THRIVE (The Totaled Health Risks in Vascular Events; intercept −0.06 [95% CI, −0.14 to 0.02]; slope 0.84 [95% CI, 0.75–0.95]), THRIVE-c (intercept 0.08 [95% CI, −0.02 to 0.17]; slope 0.71 [95% CI, 0.65–0.77]), Stroke Checkerboard score (intercept −0.05 [95% CI, −0.13 to 0.03]; slope 0.97 [95% CI, 0.88–1.08]), and MR PREDICTS (intercept 0.43 [95% CI, 0.33–0.52]; slope 0.93 [95% CI, 0.85–1.01]). Conclusions: The THRIVE-c score and MR PREDICTS both showed a good combination of discrimination and calibration and were, therefore, superior in predicting functional outcome for patients with ischemic stroke after endovascular treatment within 6.5 hours. Since models used different predictors and several models had relatively good predictive performance, the decision on which model to use in practice may also depend on simplicity of the model, data availability, and the comparability of the population and setting.


Metal insulator silicon carbide field-effect transistor sensors, metal-oxide sensors, and a linear Lambda sensor in an electronic nose was used to measure on-line in hot flue gases from a boiler. Flue gas from a 100-MW pellets-fuelled boiler has been used to feed the experimental setup. Several reference instruments, which measure the flue gases in parallel to the sensor array, are connected to the electronic nose. Data was collected during six weeks and then evaluated. Using principal component analysis as the data evaluation method, different operating modes for the boiler have been identified in the data set. The different modes could be described in terms of high or low O/sub 2/ and CO concentration. Furthermore, we have shown that it seems possible to use a sensor array to determine the operating mode of the boiler and, by partial least-squares models, measure the CO concentration when the boiler operates in its optimum mode.


Microsystems packaging is fundamentally dependent on the manufacture of microelectronic, photonic, radio frequency (RF), and MEMS devices. The system-on-package (SOP) approach has been identified as a key strategy for integrating these strategic packaging technologies. Because of rising costs, the challenge before SOP manufacturers is to offset capital investment with greater automation and technological innovation in the fabrication process. To reduce manufacturing cost, several important subtasks have emerged, including increasing fabrication yield, reducing product cycle time, maintaining consistent levels of product quality and performance, and improving the reliability of processing equipment. Because of the large number of steps involved, maintaining product quality in an SOP manufacturing facility requires the control of hundreds of process variables. The interdependent issues of high yield, high quality, and low cycle time are addressed by the ongoing development of several critical capabilities in state-of-the-art computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) systems: in situ process monitoring, process/equipment modeling, real-time process control, and equipment diagnosis. Recently, the use of computational intelligence in various manufacturing applications has increased, and the SOP manufacturing arena is no exception to this trend. Artificial neural networks, genetic algorithms (GAs), and other techniques have emerged as powerful tools for assisting CIM systems in performing various process monitoring, modeling, and control functions. This paper reviews current research in these areas, as well as the potential for deployment of these capabilities in state-of-the-art SOP manufacturing facilities.


The resonance activation of the eigenmodes of a two-dimensional easy-plane ferromagnet of finite size by a circular magnetic field is considered as a basis for theoretical explanation of the mechanism of vortex switching in magnetic nanodots under the influence of such a field. It is shown analytically that in the case of weak easy-plane anisotropy, when the vortex has a nonzero polarization (a total magnetization along the hard axis), the influence of the field on the eigenmodes of the system is of a complicated nature. A circular field acts in a resonance manner on the azimuthal modes of the system, in which the magnetization depends on the azimuthal coordinate (in the form of a direct resonance at the eigenfrequencies of the azimuthal modes). The coupling of the azimuthal and symmetric (independent of the azimuthal coordinate) modes via the external field gives rise to complex parametric resonances at sum frequencies. The results obtained are compared with the data of previous numerical studies.


Increasing penetration of renewable power sources (RESs) is bringing more uncertainties to power systems. Real-time economic dispatch should be able to handle the fluctuations caused by the load as well as RESs, and obtain new optimal operating points after deviating from original generation schedules. This paper proposes a generation adjustment algorithm based on the base point and participation factor method. The objective of the method is to obtain fast adjustments to generators' real power outputs in real-time economic dispatch. The proposed method achieves significant and consistent improvements comparing to the original participation factor method by using a more precise model of transmission losses in the optimization process. The computational burden and execution time of the proposed method is much less than OPF and heuristic economic dispatch methods. The proposed method and its effectiveness are tested using IEEE 30-bus system, IEEE 118-bus system, and GuangDong 1018-bus system. Simulation results are demonstrated with comparisons and discussions.


The recently introduced maximum-likelihood (ML) decoding scheme called guessing random additive noise decoding (GRAND) has demonstrated a remarkably low time complexity in high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regimes. However, the complexity is not as low at low SNR regimes and low code rates. To mitigate this concern, we propose a scheme for a near-ML variant of GRAND called ordered reliability bits GRAND (or ORBGRAND), which divides codewords into segments based on the properties of the underlying code, generates sub-patterns for each segment consistent with the syndrome (thus reducing the number of inconsistent error patterns generated), and combines them in a near-ML order using two-level integer partitions of logistic weight. The numerical evaluation demonstrates that the proposed scheme, called segmented ORBGRAND, significantly reduces the average number of queries at any SNR regime. Moreover, the segmented ORBGRAND with abandonment also improves the error correction performance.


Database outsourcing is a common cloud computing paradigm that allows data owners to take advantage of its on-demand storage and computational resources. The main challenge is maintaining data confidentiality with respect to untrusted parties i.e., cloud service provider, as well as providing relevant query results in real-time to authenticated users. Existing approaches either compromise confidentiality of the data or suffer from high communication cost between the server and the user. To overcome this problem, we propose a dual transformation and encryption scheme for spatial data, where encrypted queries are executed entirely at the service provider on the encrypted database and encrypted results are returned to the user. The user issues encrypted spatial range queries to the service provider and then uses the encryption key to decrypt the query response returned. This allows a balance between the security of data and efficient query response as the queries are processed on encrypted data at the cloud server. Moreover, we compare with existing approaches on large datasets and show that this approach reduces the average query communication cost between the authorized user and service provider, as only a single round of communication is required by the proposed approach.


Akhwal Syakhshiyyah (AS) is the oldest course in the faculty of Syaria STAIN Jurai Siwo Metro and is the founding pioneer of the establishment of STAIN Jurai Siwo Metro in 1997. Scientific knowledge developed by AS is scientific sharia (Islamic law) at a concentration of family law study. The output of AS course, since 1997-2013, was 191 graduates (data recorded), who spread over several districts in Lampung province, and some parts of outside Lampung. To view the extent to which graduates of the AS course can be beneficial to the community in accordance with its core competencies, a tracking study has been conducted. The tracking study was conducted by surveying all graduates in the latest five years, 2009-2013, amounting to 90 alumni. Data were collected through documentation, questionnaire, and observation. The result of the alumni tracking study showed that the AS alumni work in a relatively diverse career ranging from Lecturer, Registrar in PA, KUA Employee, marketing, employees, and teachers. However, alumni who work in the area of core competencies are still very limited; most alumni work in the field of education and Islamic financial institutions. Hence, the relevance and competence in relation to the needs of the working should be reviewed to minimize the gap between the field of higher education with the employment.


Wheat productivity is severely reduced by high temperatures. Breeding of heat tolerant cultivars can be achieved by identifying genes controlling physiological and agronomical traits with high temperature and using these to select superior genotypes, but no gene underlying genetic variation for heat tolerance has previously been described. We completed the positional cloning of qYDH.3BL, a quantitative trait locus (QTL) on bread wheat chromosome 3B associated with increased yield in hot and dry climates. The delimited genomic region contained 12 putative genes and a sequence variant in the promoter region of one gene - seven in absentia, TaSINA. This was associated with the QTL's effects on early vigour, plant biomass and yield components in two distinct wheat populations grown under various growth conditions. Near isogenic lines carrying the positive allele at qYDH.3BL under-expressed TaSINA and had increased vigour and water use efficiency early in development, as well as increased biomass, grain number and grain weight following heat stress. A survey of worldwide distribution indicated that the positive allele became widespread from the 1950s through the CIMMYT wheat breeding programme but, to date, has been selected only in breeding programmes in Mexico and Australia. Significance statement Wheat is the world's most widely grown crop and a staple of human diet. Even brief episodes of high temperature in the growing season cause severe yield reductions. Finding and deploying genes for heat stress tolerance in new varieties is a priority for food security with climate change. We narrowed a genetic locus to a small genomic region where genetic variation was present only in one gene that showed clear differences of expression and improved yield and physiology under stress in the populations. Using diagnostic markers to track the positive haplotype in nearly 750 accessions, we found many regions where the allele could be used in breeding programmes to increase wheat's heat tolerance.


Asset, infrastructure and business can be destroyed in a split seconds. It only takes a minute for natural disasters such as flood, hurricane and others to happen that will stop the business process and destroying the business as well as their assets. Late response towards the disaster will bring disastrous impact not only to the people but also the social and economic of the impacted people and area. It is therefore important for the organization to ensure speedy recovery of the disaster's impact such as the assets in an effort to ensure the business survival and facilitating societal and economic recovery. Therefore this paper examines the state of knowledge in relation to the asset management recovery especially after the disaster. Following to that, this paper will discuss the literatures involves in asset management recovery such as disaster management and business continuity plan (BCP). Towards the end, this paper suggests that the effect of lack of planning in asset management recovery will lead to an untold damage towards the community, organization as well as the business, taking months or even years to rectify. In some cases, businesses are shut down for goods due to loss data as well as other emerge problems cause by the disaster.


In vitro cultured Gypsophila paniculata L. plants were used as a model to evaluate the effect of some cytokinins and anticytokinins on thylakoid surface charge. Influence of the cytokinins N-6-furfurylaminopurine (kinetin) and N1-(2-chloro-4-pyridyl)-N2-phenylurea (4-PU-30), cytokinin antagonists 2-chloro-4-cyclobutylamino-6-ethylamino-1,3,5-triazine and N-(4-pyridyl)-O-(4-chlorophenyl) carbamate on the pigment content, surface charge density (s ), fluorescence induction kinetics and millisecond-delayed light emission was studied. Our results showed that the chlorophyll (a+b) content significantly decreased after the 1st and the 2nd month of G. paniculata growth in the presence of the cytokinins kinetin and 4-PU-30. In our model system, cytokinins enhanced the number of open lateral buds and, as a consequence, more shoots per explant. Hence, chlorophyll synthesis was not inhibited but so-called 'dilution of the pigments' was available. Anticytokinins inhibited the formation of more than one shoot, and the chlorophyll content was not influenced significantly. The phenylurea cytokinin 4-PU-30 and anticytokinins increased the electrophoretic mobility, zeta potential and surface charge density of thylakoids after a longer time of treatment. Making thylakoid membranes more negatively charged, phenylurea cytokinin and anticytokinins increased the aggregation of the complexes and the energization of the membrane. Our results showed that plant growth regulators decreased the primary photochemical activity of photosystem II (estimated by the ratio Fv/Fm) and delayed fluorescence intensity in the 1st month. However, no significant changes were observed in these parameters in the 2nd month.


Abstract The flea beetle genus Lankaphthona Medvedev, 2001 is redescribed and a new species L.yunnantarsellasp. nov. Ruan, Konstantinov & Prathapan is described. Longitarsella Medvedev, 2009, syn. nov. and Philotarsa Medvedev, 2009, syn. nov. are newly synonymized with Lankaphthona. Philotarsalaosica Medvedev, 2009, syn. nov. is synonymized with Lankaphthonaphuketensis (Gruev, 1989). The following new combinations are proposed: Lankaphthonabinotata (Baly, 1876), comb. nov.; Lankaphthonacostata (Medvedev, 2016), comb. nov.; Lankaphthonacyanipennis (Medvedev, 2017), comb. nov.; Lankaphthonanigronotata (Jacoby, 1896), comb. nov.; Lankaphthonanotatipennis (Medvedev, 2009), comb. nov.; and Lankaphthonaphuketensis (Gruev, 1989), comb. nov., status restored. A highly specialized spoon-shaped 'appendage' is discovered on the first abdominal ventrite of males of Lankaphthonabinotata. Aedeagus of the same species has aberrant sheath-shaped phallobase encircling the median lobe. Morphology and possible function of these structures are discussed. Menispermaceae are newly reported as the host plants of the genus.


This report is the first of a two-part volume on poverty in Africa. This study documents the data challenges and revisits the core broad facts about poverty in Africa; the second report will explore ways to accelerate its reduction. The report takes a broad, multidimensional view of poverty, assessing progress over the past two decades along both monetary and nonmonetary dimensions. The dearth of comparable, good-quality household consumption surveys makes assessing monetary poverty especially challenging. The report scrutinizes the data used to assess monetary poverty in the region and explores how adjustments for data issues affect poverty trends. At the same time, the remarkable expansion of standardized household surveys on nonmonetary dimensions of well-being, including opinions and perceptions, opens up new opportunities. The report examines progress in education and health, the extent to which people are free from violence and able to shape their lives, and the joint occurrence of various types of deprivation. It also reviews the distributional aspects of poverty,by studying various dimensions of inequality. To shed light on Africa's diversity, the report examines differences in performance across countries, by location, and by gender. Countries are characterized along four dimensions that have been shown to affect growth and poverty: resource richness, fragility, landlockedness and income status. To conclude, a portion of inequality in Africa can be attributed to inequality of opportunity, circumstances at birth that are major determinants of one's poverty status as an adult.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
To evaluate sleep, sleepiness and excessive need for sleep in patients with craniopharyngioma (a suprasellar tumor which can affect sleep-wake systems).

METHODS
A retrospective study of all adult craniopharyngioma patients referred to the sleep clinic, who received a sleep interview, nocturnal polysomnography, multiple sleep latency tests (MSLT) and 18-hour bed rest polysomnography. Their sleep measurements were compared with those of age- and sex-matched healthy controls.

RESULTS
Of 54 patients screened with craniopharyngioma, 42 were analyzed, 80% of whom complained of excessive daytime sleepiness. Sleep testing revealed that 6 (14.3%) of them had secondary narcolepsy (including one with cataplexy), and 11 (26.2%) had central hypersomnia associated with a medical disorder. Compared with controls, patients were more frequently obese, had a shorter mean sleep latency on MSLT and slept longer on the first night. There was a non-significant trend for patients with (vs. without) narcolepsy and hypersomnia to be younger, to have a higher body mass index, to be more likely to have received radiation therapy and to have more severe damage to the hypothalamus after surgery. Treatment with stimulants (modafinil, pitolisant and methylphenidate) was beneficial in 9/10 patients.

CONCLUSION
Nearly half of the patients with craniopharyngioma and sleep disorders have a central disorder of hypersomnolence (narcolepsy and hypersomnia), which should be investigated and lead to considerations beyond sleep apnea syndrome in these obese patients.


In our Spitzer 24 μm survey of hot white dwarfs (WDs) and archival Spitzer study of pre‐WDs, i.e., central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPNs), we found mid‐IR excesses for ∼15 WDs/pre‐WDs. These mid‐IR excesses are indicative of the presence of circumstellar dust that could be produced by sub‐planetary objects. To further assess the nature of these IR‐excesses, we have obtained Spitzer IRS, Gemini NIRI and Michelle, and KPNO 4 m echelle spectra of these objects. In this paper we present the analysis of these spectroscopic observations and discuss the nature of these IR excesses.


This article analyses fitness professionals' perceptions and understanding of their occupational education and pedagogical pursuance, framed within the emergence of a global fitness industry. The empirical material consists of interviews with personal trainers and group fitness instructors, as well as observations in their working environment. In addition, printed material from different occupational organisations and educational companies has been included. The narratives of the fitness professionals and a case study of Les Mills are presented and analysed through the concept of the McDonaldisation of society, or more specifically of fitness culture. The results show that, even though gym and fitness franchises differ from hamburger restaurant chains, there are crucial similarities, but also differences. One can, for example, discern a tendency towards the construction of predesigned and highly monitored programmes, such as the one developed by Les Mills. Homogenisation is also apparent when looking at the body ideals produced, as fitness professionals work on their own or clients' bodies, which makes it possible to anticipate a global body ideal. The social and cultural patterns of self-regulation and self-government found in gym and fitness culture can be understood and analysed in a global context. What we find is an intriguing and complex mixture of regulation, control and standardisation, on the one hand, and a struggle to express the body, to be 'free' and to transgress the boundaries set by the commercial global fitness industry, on the other.


C. FOUCAUD, D. HEMME AND M. DESMAZEAUD. 2001. To explain the competition for nitrogenous nutrients observed in mixed strain cultures of Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides, the utilization of peptides as a source of essential amino acids for growth in a chemically defined medium was compared in 12 strains of dairy origin. Both species were multiple amino acid auxotrophs and harboured a large set of intracellular peptidases. Lactococcus lactis can use a wide variety of peptides up to 13 amino acid residues whereas Leuc. mesenteroides assimilated only shorter peptides containing up to seven amino acids. Growth was limited by the transport of peptides and not by their hydrolysis. The nutritional value of peptides varied with the strains and the composition of the peptides, L. lactis being advantaged over Leuc. mesenteroides.


The authors present the use of graph-based approaches to discovering anomalous instances of structural patterns in data that represent insider threat activity. The approaches presented search for activities that appear to match normal transactions, but in fact are structurally different. The authors show the usefulness of applying graph theoretic approaches to discovering suspicious insider activity in domains such as social network communications, business processes, and cybercrime. The authors present some performance results to show the effectiveness of our approaches, and then conclude with some ongoing research that combines numerical analysis with structure analysis, analyzes multiple normative patterns, and extends to dynamic graphs.


The aim of this work was to evaluate the nutritional condition of the children in age of preschool in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, and its relation with the perception of the mother respect to their nutritional state, this through of an opinion poll. The result showed an age average of 55.9±3.54 months for the girls and 56.5±3.54 for the boys. For this age the girls showed a BMI average of 14.66±0.83 between the percentiles 5th and 50th with the middle in the percentile 25th which is 14.77. Meanwhile the boys showed a BMI of the 15.53±1.87 just in the middle of the percentile 50th (15.48). This result showed that the boys seem to have better feeding that the girls, maybe promote for cultural and social issues. This was corroborated with the results obtained with the perception of the mother. Meanwhile the values of IBM in the boys had normal levels or higher, the mother had the perception that the boy had weight low. However different situations happen with the girls, the mothers identify the weight low in the girl but with similar values to the boys, even though the girls have reality lower values of IBM that the normal middle, nevertheless the levels of caloric consume seems to be normal.


Background Impairments in language and related social communication skills can be found in children with pervasive developmental disorders (POD) and other developmental language disorders (non-POD). These conditions lead to decision of enrolling children with language disorders to speech therapy despite that it is not the therapy of choice for POD. Objectives To explore the differences in receptive language, verbal expressive language, and non-verbal expressive language between PDD and non-POD children Methods A cross sectional study was performed in October 2008 to January 2009. Questionnaire using the MacArthur communicative development inventory (CDI) was filled by parents whose children were PDD and non-PDD patients aged 1 to 3 years old. The diagnosis ofPDD was based on the diagnostic and statistical manual IV. Results A total of 42 PDD and 42 non-POD subjects were evaluated. There was significant difference between PDD and non POD in receptive language [P= 0.01 (95% CI -170.63 to -24.33) in 12 to 24 month-old subjects and P 24 to 36 month-old subjects] and non-verbal expressive language [P= 0.01 (95% CI -20.96 to -1.96) in 12 to 24 month-old subjects and P 24 to 36 month-old subjects]. Verbal expressive language was not significantly different between POD and non-POD children age 1 to 3 year-old. Conclusions PDD children are more likely to have a delay in receptive language and non-verbal expressive language compare to non-POD children. Verbal expressive language can not be used to differentiate POD and non-POD children.


This paper highlights a collaborative, intercollegiate vertical design charrette that illuminates the potential of short-term service opportunities. Interior design students from two major universities collaborated with a community partner over a 4-hour design charrette to produce preliminary design solutions for an expansion of the partner's residential community farm that houses adults with special needs. Student participants were at varying points in their college careers, and the vertical nature of the charrette experience facilitated extensive peer-to-peer learning. Little research to date has documented the potential of design charrettes as service opportunities. This experience challenges the notion of traditional service-learning as a sustained experience and posits that short-term experiences combined with diverse stakeholder groups can create equally valuable outcomes for both student learners and community partners. Further, including students of all levels in the design program led to organic, student-driven knowledge building throughout the charrette. In this way, students benefited not only from the service aspect of the charrette experience but also from the opportunity to collaborate with peers from another institution, resulting in increased agency over their own learning.


The pharmacological profile of (2S,1'S,2'S,3'R)-2-(2'-Carboxy-3'-phenylcyclopropyl)glycine (PCCG-IV) at metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) subtypes mGluR1a, mGluR2, mGluR4a, and mGluR5 was examined. PCCG-IV potently antagonized glutamate-induced inhibition of forskolin-stimulated cAMP formation in baby hamster kidney cells expressing mGluR2 in a competitive manner (KB = 8.2 +/- 0.4 microM). PCCG-IV was a weak agonist at mGluR4a but inactive at the cloned phosphoinositide-coupled mGluRs (mGluR1a and mGluR5a). PCCG-IV was significantly more potent and selective as an antagonist at mGluR2 compared with previously described mGluR2 antagonists, including alpha-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine. In mice cortical neurons, PCCG-IV antagonized the neuroprotective effects of a selective mGluR2 agonist, (2S,1'R,2'R,3'R)-2-(2,3-dicarboxycyclopropyl)glycine, at low doses (0.2-20 microM), whereas a higher dose of PCCG-IV (80 microM) was similarly neuroprotective to L-2-amino-4-phosphonobutanoate. The neuroprotective effect of PCCG-IV was blocked by an antagonist of mGluR4a, alpha-methyl-4-phosphonophenylglycine. Thus, PCCG-IV is a novel and useful tool for delineating the physiological roles of group II mGluRs in the central nervous system.


AIM
Mouse mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can generate sensory neurons and produce inner ear hair cell-like cells. An equivalent source from humans is highly desirable, given their potential application in patient-specific regenerative therapies for deafness. In this study, we explored the ability of human MSCs (hMSCs) to differentiate into otic lineages.

MATERIALS & METHODS
hMSCs were exposed to culture media conditioned by human fetal auditory stem cells.

RESULTS
Conditioned media induced the expression of otic progenitor markers PAX8, PAX2, GATA3 and SOX2. After 4 weeks, cells coexpressed ATOH1, MYO7A and POU4F3 (indicators of hair cell lineage) or neuronal markers NEUROG1, POU4F1 and NEFH. Inhibition of WNT signaling prevented differentiation into otic progenitors, while WNT activation partially phenocopied results seen with the conditioned media.

CONCLUSION
This study demonstrates that hMSCs can be driven to express key genes found in the otic lineages and thereby promotes their status as candidates for regenerative therapies for deafness.


In spite of the success of the element‐density‐based topology optimization method in many problems including multiphysics design problems, some numerical difficulties, such as temperature undershooting, still remain. In this work, we develop an element connectivity parameterization (ECP) formulation for the topology optimization of multiphysics problems in order to avoid the numerical difficulties and yield improved results. In the proposed ECP formulation, finite elements discretizing a given design domain are not connected directly, but through sets of one‐dimensional zero‐length links simulating elastic springs, electric or thermal conductors. The discretizing finite elements remain solid during the whole analysis, and the optimal layout is determined by an optimal distribution of the inter‐element connectivity degrees that are controlled by the stiffness values of the links. The detailed procedure for this new formulation for multiphysics problems is presented. Using one‐dimensional heat transfer models, the problem of the element‐density‐based method is explained and the advantage of the ECP method is addressed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


was produced and dilated the lower part of the hair follicle, the remnants of the sebaceous gland being squeezed to one side. . In the end, when it reached a certain size-that of a pea-it ceased to function. GUnther mentioned Pringle's case, and others had been described by Bosellini in Italy and Phillipson in Germany. The cysts contained olein and palmitin; there were very few sebaceous cells. Dr. J. H. TWISTON DAVIES said this case reminded him of one which he described a year or two ago' as " multiple horny cysts of the sweat-ducts." There was nothing to indicate the contents of the cyst in the present case, but close by the cyst was a sweat-gland and duct, and he thought that in the lowest part of the sweat-duct, near the coil, there was cornification, i.e., the cells stained deeply with eosin. He asked whether the cyst content had been examined. The point of similarity was that the distribution in this case corresponded with the maximum distribution in his own case; but whereas in his own there was intense pigmentation in the surrounding skin, and the cysts showed up white, in the case now shown there was an intense pigmentation localized to the lesions themselves. Would it be possible to see serial sections of this case 2 His recollection of the description of Pringle's case was that there were large cysts, containing obviously fatty material and dusky-red inflamed areas, and localized to the front of the chest. Dr. MUENDE said the cysts were lined with three or four layers of cells; if they were sweat-ducts they would not be lined with more than two layers. Further, one could see, on one side of the cyst, remnants of rhe sebaceous gland. Its contents were olein and palmitin.