Received: Revised: Accepted: November 01, 2013 July 03, 2014 August 01, 2014 A German warmblood horse with severe soft tissue swelling of the fetlock joint showed a minimal weight-bearing during the motion and at rest and presented with pain on palpation. Ultrasonography was used to evaluate soft tissue including tendons and ligaments, but the assessment by sonogram was unproductive due to poor skin contact and severe acoustic attenuation. On low-field MRI, severe multiple chronic tendinopathy, desmopathy and sesamoiditis with skin thickening of affected extremity was evidently apparent. In this case, most of the major lesions including tendon, ligament, and connective tissues were successfully evaluated using low-field MRI, while the sonographic examination is not possible due to the extensive skin problems. Low-field MRI was performed for more reliable imaging modality to examine equine fetlock joint with severe chronic lesions. ©2014 PVJ. All rights reserved


The plaintiff was a pregnant woman just under the age of 36 who consulted her physician on having an amniocentesis performed because of her age. Her physician advised her against this, emphasizing the danger to the fetus and the fact that she had just had a healthy child and that her present pregnancy was progressing well. When the plaintiff subsequently gave birth to a child suffering from Down's syndrome, she sued the physician for maintenance of the child claiming that she would have had an abortion had she known that the child was defective. The Federal Court of the Federal Republic of Germany reversed the decision of the lower court and dismissed her claim. It held that she had not proved that she had been inadequately counselled by the defendant since he had counselled her about the dangers of Down's syndrome during her previous pregnancy sufficiently for her to have obtained a second opinion about having the amniocentesis performed and since it was standard practice not to perform an amniocentesis on women who were under the age of 36.


Cultural Sources of Law and Conditions of Political Power. Internal Colonialism and the Case of Legal Acculturation of Silesians The article addresses legal pluralism, namely the interaction of norms resulting from either custom or law, which takes place in the face of emancipation processes in Polish Silesia. It concerns legal conceptualizations of regional autonomy and the negotiations of the legal status of the regional group that aims at a higher level of sovereignty. Namely, investigating the relationship between cultural and legal norms, I analyse the judicial procedure regarding the way of adjudicating and defining Silesianness. Considering the existence of multiple parallel ethnic identities in Poland, I strive to illuminate the question of the legal definition of Polishness and the normative dimension of legal definition. I bring to light the making of the adjudication in the Polish justice system, and thus highlight the mechanisms present in the legislative process and rationalisations operating wherein. I am interested in the consequences of these processes for establishing the legal and the factual status of different groups. The conception of identity used by modern jurisdiction derives from the definition of the dominant group (of Poles) and works towards strengthening its status against the status of other, parallelly existing groups whose self-identities do not fall squarely within the hegemonic construction. My hypothesis is that the process of interpreting the law in force in Poland follows subjective ideas and is often drafted in programmatic terms.


The retina has a high rate of oxygen consumption, and the retinal vessels are knoion to constrict with increased arterial oxygen tension and dilate ivhen arterial oxygen falls. In 10 subjects, measurement of retinal venous oxygen saturation by a photographic technique has shown an increase from 55 ± 8 per cent saturation breathing air to 82 ± 9 per cent breathing 100 per cent Os. This increase was accompanied by a 12 ± 6 per cent decrease in retinal arterial size and a decrease of 15 ± 3 per cent in venous diameter. This 27 per cent increase in oxygen saturation is significantly greater than the expected maximum increase of 15 per cent. Unlike the cerebral vessels, the retinal vessels showed no significant vasodilatation following inhalation of 10 per cent COS21 per cent Ot. However, there was a significant increase (p < .005) in retinal venous oxygen saturation, suggesting that a flow change had occurred. The inhalation of 10 per cent COs90 per cent O» significantly reduced the vasoconstrictor effect of oxygen alone while significantly increasing the retinal venous oxygen saturation to 88 ± 9 per cent from 82 ± 9 per cent found with Ot inhalation alone. From the decrease in retinal arteriovenous O2 difference, it appears that retinal blood fiow can alter without changes in visible vessel diameter. It is possible that vessel diameter is changing in vessels which are too small to be measured by the present technique. Carbon dioxide appears to be capable of significantly reducing the vasocotistrictor response to oxygen.


This paper proposes a novel robust speed control method for induction motor drives based on a two-layered neural network plant estimator (NNPE) and a two-layered neural network PI controller (NNPIC). The NNPE is used to provide a real-time adaptive estimation of the unknown motor dynamics. The widely used projection algorithm is used as the learning algorithm for these neural networks to automatically adjust the parameters of the NNPIC and to minimize the differences between the motor speed and the speed predicted by the NNPE. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed robust control scheme can improve the performance of an induction motor drive and reduce its sensitivity to parameter variations and load disturbances.


Ethernet ring redundancy is becoming a commodity in Industrial Ethernet environments. There are many ring redundancy protocols in existence, both standardized and proprietary. They all share the common disadvantage, that they can sustain only one fault in the network structure. A second fault results in parts of the network being unavailable. In this paper, we propose a mechanism which enhances well-known ring redundancy protocols with the capability of tolerating more than a single fault. This is achieved by installing secondary network paths and adding health monitoring to the ring clients. Protocol operation has been tested through simulation and prototypical implementation and is intended to be part of a future major software release of Hirschmann switches. A main advantage of this new protocol is the straightforward network design approach that enables to specifically protect vulnerable ring segments, based on availability calculations.


The author considers that discipline orientated courses in physical science are not the most appropriate science based degree level course for polytechnics to offer. A cross disciplinary course is defined as a course of study concerned with the solution of existing cross disciplinary problems, and a mission orientated or problem solving approach to teaching is appropriate.


Employing a neoclassical growth model with a constant elasticity of substitution production function, we develop a comparative static and dynamic analysis of the effects of the elasticity of substitution between inputs on the steady state growth path, growth threshold, speed of convergence and savings rates. Unlike earlier studies along these lines, we incorporate human capital, along with physical capital and raw labor, as a third input in the production function. We prove that a higher elasticity of substitution between inputs can lead to a higher steady state level for income per effective unit of labor. To illustrate the quantitative significance of the elasticity of substitution, we consider two ways in which human capital enters the production function. Employing cross country data, we find estimates for the normalized CES production functions with human capital to be significantly below unity.


Cross sections of RF sputtered MoS2 thin films are investigated using lattice resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction. The results are compared with X-ray diffraction measurements. The films have a (001) texture (type II) in the first nanometres near the interface and a conventional (100) texture (type I) in the upper part.


The paper shows the characteristics of important immune cells, which are natural killer (NK) cells. Those are the cells which carry different roles in immunity, as well in physiology and diseases. Natural killer cells have a huge cytotoxical potential and are able to "kill" other types of cells. Moreover, they have cytotoxic granules and secrete many cytokines and chemokines, what improves immunity caused by NK cells. An interesting data concerning the division of NK cells' subsets have been provided, as those data evaluated over last couple of years. Nowadays, the division is made on the basis of phenotypic, functional and anatomical properties, and such subpopulations can be enumerated: CD56dim CD16+, CD56brightCD16–, CD56+/NKp46+ and NKT (natural killer T) cells and among uterine NK (uNK) cells, endometrial NK (eNK) and decidual NK (dNK) cells. Taking into account the fact that the population of NK cells is growing, their functions are also wider. There are several roles that have been studied in this paper, such as anti-infection and anti-cancer immunity, as well as their pivotal role dur-


AIM
Assessment of PCR procedure for proving of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato DNA in nerve and skin forms of Lyme borreliosis.

METHODS
DNA from plasma, urine and CSF was isolated by QIAamp DNA mini kit. PCR was designed as two-step amplification (nested-PCR). Each sample was tested in PCR for five target sequences: two were specific for plasmide genes encoding OspA and OspC proteins and three correlated with genes for 16SrDNA, flagellin and p66 protein.

RESULTS
Borrelial DNA was proved in 41 patients suffering from neuroborreliosis out of 56 (77.4 %), among 48 patients with erythema migrans (EM) were found 26 positive (54.2 %). After treatment the specific DNA was detected in 22 patients with neuroborreliosis (41.5 %) and 16 patients with EM (38.1 %). Three months after the treatment 23 patients were positive in both of groups (28.7 %) and next 3 months later the specific DNA was found in 6 (9.5 %). The highest rate of positive results was manifested by 16SrDNA target, lower and comparable results were obtained by OspA, C and flagellin primers, the lowest rate was in p66 system.

CONCLUSION
The tested PCR proved specific DNA in all tested biological fluids in both of the clinical forms of Lyme borreliosis with a relatively high sensitivity. The proving of DNA can not be used for the assessment of the effect of treatment due to the long persistence of PCR positivity after antibiotic treatment. To achieve a sufficient diagnostic sensitivity of PCR it is desirable to use minimally two amplification systems in parallel.


Introduction: Tumor stem cells have shown resistance to conventional cancer therapy and may be a cause for recurrent cancer, making tumor stem cell targeted therapy attractive. The fungal metabolite galiellalactone is suggested to be a Stat3 specific inhibitor and we have previously shown that galiellalactone inhibits prostate cancer (PCa) cell growth, both in vitro and in vivo, in PCa cells expressing phosphorylated Stat3 (Hellsten et al, 2008). Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) has shown promise as a marker of cancer stem cells and in this study we investigated the ALDH activity in human PCa cell lines and the effects of galiellalactone on ALDH+ PCa cells. Methods: The human PCa cell lines DU145, LNCaP, and long-term interleukin-6 stimulated LNCaP (LNCaP-IL6) cells were used. Galiellalactone was prepared by synthesis (Johansson & Sterner, 2002). PCa cells were subjected to Aldefluor assay followed by flow cytometry to detect ALDH+ subpopulations. WST-1 proliferation assay was performed to study the effect of galiellalactone on proliferation of ALDH+ and ALDH- cells sorted from LNCaP-IL6 cells. Results: In DU145 cells 2 ± 0.25% of the cells were ALDH+ and in LNCaP-IL6 cells, 2 ± 0.36% were ALDH+. No ALDH+ cells were detected in LNCaP cells. Treatment with 5, 10, 25 or 50 µM galiellalactone for 24h decreased the ALDH+ cell population in DU145 and LNCaP-IL6 cells in a dose dependent manner: 25 µM galiellalactone decreased the ALDH+ population in DU145 cells by 40% and by 75% in LNCaP-IL6 cells. In LNCaP-IL6 cells a dose dependent decrease in ALDH+ cells was observed after 72h (65% decrease at 25 µM galiellalactone). However, in DU145 cells no difference in the relative amount of ALDH+ cells was observed in galiellalactone treated DU145 cells compared to untreated control cells after 72h. The proliferation was decreased by galiellalactone in a dose dependent manner in all cell populations isolated from LNCaP-IL6 cells. The proliferation of ALDH+ cells isolated from LNCaP-IL6 cells was inhibited by 75%, ALDH- cells by 75% and unsorted LNCaP-IL6 cells by 80% after treatment with 25 µM galiellalactone for 48h. Conclusions: ALDH+ subpopulations, possibly representing tumor stem cell populations were detected in human PCa cell lines, and were clearly inhibited by galiellalactone. ALDH is associated with cell growth and drug resistance, and targeting ALDH+ PCa cells with galiellalactone may be a novel potent treatment against therapy resistant PCa. The effect and mechanism of galiellalactone treatment of ALDH+ PCa cells will be further investigated. Note: This abstract was not presented at the AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010 because the presenter was unable to attend. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3554.


We demonstrated a novel bandpass filter of which bandwidth can be controlled from 0.1 nm to 2.89 nm using a pair of chirped fiber Bragg gratings and a fiber stretcher based on piezoelectric transducer.


On January 2, 1940 Heinrich Himmler's SS Ancestral Inheritance established a so-called Kulturkommission, then sent 14 working groups into South Tyrol, Italy. Special, over-proportional emphasis was put on collecting the full range of the Volkskunde canon and conducting dialect studies, by professionally trained folklorists, dialectologists, photographers, and filmmakers. For the Nazi "scholars"—many of whom were SS—the underlying assumption was that these were survivals of ancient Germanic traditions and language. Arguably, it is one of the largest folklore/linguistic field investigations in history. This present study addresses one particular aspect of this enormous undertaking: the underlying ideology, the search for Nordic sources in South Tyrol. The project has not been overlooked in Germany and Austria, but there seems to be little or no knowledge of it outside the German world.


Objective: Previous research has shown age-related decline in functioning, but little is known regarding the effect of age on purported parietal lobe abilities. Therefore, we looked at the performance of people aged 50 to 79 on a number of tests purported to assess different areas of the brain. In particular wewere interested in how the performances of right posterior tasks compare to that of left frontal (executive) tasks as one gets older. Executive tasks tend to be more fluid, and should deteriorate with age, the (right parietal) gestaltic functioning tasks, being more crystalline, should not. Method: A series of frontal (Trail Making Tests A and B, Trails C, Letter Naming Test) and parietal (Street Completion Test and Gestalt Closure Test) neuropsychological tests was admi-nisteredto124normalhealthyparticipantsaged50to79.Results:Parietal(gestaltic)functioning holdsthroughthe60s.TheStreet Completion Test showed minimal decline over the ages. The Gestalt Closure task, however, showed significant decline in the 70s. Executive functioning shows a continuous decline as assessed though the Trailmaking B, but Trails C showed no significant decline until the 70s. Letter Naming, unlike other executive tasks, showed little decline across the ages, though scores in the 70s were worse than those in the 50s. Conclusion(s): These hypotheses were only partially supported. The parietal data yielded mixed results, with the Street proving to be a "hold" task. The frontal data supported a decline ("no hold"), especially as one reaches their 70s.


Sport, Culture and Ideology (RLE Sports Studies)-Jennifer Hargreaves 2014-04-24 Sport celebrates basic human values of freedom, justice and courage. This collection of essays probes beneath those assumptions in order to illuminate how sport is intimately related to power and domination. Topics include the media treatment of sport, drug-taking in sport and the controversial and problematic relationship between sport and politics in Russia and South Africa.


Mechanistic features of several processes involved in the idling-turnover reaction catalyzed by the large (Klenow) fragment of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I have been established. The exonuclease----polymerase activity switch involved in the excision/incorporation mode of idling-turnover occurs without an intervening dissociation of the enzyme from its DNA substrate. Comparative studies on the pyrophosphorolysis kinetics of related DNA substrates indicate a significant dependence of the reaction rate upon the DNA sequence within the duplex region upstream of the primer-template junction. Finally, a gel electrophoretic analysis of the products of the idling-turnover reaction has provided direct evidence for an alternative DNA sequence-dependent misincorporation/excision pathway.


We have previously demonstrated that osteogenic differentiation is inhibited and angiogenic expression is enhanced in murine preosteoblasts (MC3T3-E1) cultured on three-dimensional (3D) poly-L-lactide-co-glycolide (PLGA) scaffolds when compared to two-dimensional (2D) PLGA films. In the present work we investigated the role of the extracellular signal-related kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) pathway in modulating osteogenic and angiogenic differentiation in 2D and 3D systems made of two distinct biomaterials-type I collagen and PLGA. The addition of a third dimension, regardless of biomaterials, substantially increased ERK1/2 activation as demonstrated by an increase in phosphorylated ERK1/2. Western blot analysis showed significant increases in phosphorylation of ERK1/2 in cells grown in 3D versus 2D cultures at day 4 (5- and 7.7-fold increases 3D vs. 2D in collagens and PLGA, respectively) and day 7 (4.7- and 4.6-fold increases 3D vs. 2D in collagen and PLGA, respectively). Using an ERK-specific inhibitor, PD 98059, we established a correlation between ERK activation and inhibited osteogenic differentiation. Inhibition of ERK activation in 3D cultures significantly enhanced osteogenic differentiation. It in fact restored osteogenic differentiation to a level equal to that of 2D cultured cells. Inhibition of ERK1/2, however, showed little effect on angiogenic gene expression, indicating that two distinct mechanisms are involved in osteogenic and angiogenic differentiation. Taken together, these results allow us to report a mechanistic model in MC3T3-E1 cells in which distinct activation of ERK1/2 in 3D culture has an inhibitory effect on osteogenic differentiation.


The fifteen groundbreaking essays contained in Monstrous adaptations: Generic and thematic mutations in horror film address the concept of adaptation in relation to horror cinema. Adaptation is not only a key cultural practice and strategy for filmmakers, but it is also a theme of major importance within horror cinema as a whole. Horror film s history is full of adaptations that have drawn from fiction or folklore, or that have assumed the shape of remakes of pre-existing films. However, the horror genre itself also abounds with its own myriad transformations and transmutations. This collection of essays many written by leading authorities in the discipline of cinema studies demonstrates the significance of the adaptative process in the theory, practice and thematics of horror film. The essays within this volume engage with an impressive range of horror texts, from the earliest silent horror films by Thomas Edison and Jean Epstein through to important contemporary phenomena, such as the western appropriation of Japanese horror motifs. Classic works by Alfred Hitchcock, David Cronenberg, and Abel Ferrara receive cutting-edge re-examination, as do unjustly neglected works by Mario Bava, Guillermo del Toro and Stan Brakhage. The collection also offers significant insights into cinematic adaptations of horror literature by H. P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, and Clive Barker, as do mythical figures such as the Gorgon and some of the most pervasive urban legends.


Estuaries are dynamic environments in which human and natural disturbances can result in clearing or smothering of soft-sediment communities. Hydrodynamic models simulating organism transport predict that recovery potential of benthic communities will be affected by: (1) location within an estuary, (2) proximity to the source of colonists and (3) the relative buoyancy and life-history strategies of colonists. To test these predictions, we deployed sediment traps daily at 7 locations for 7 d across a range of habitat types within a tidally dominated estuary, to estimate the pool of available colonists. Our results confirmed model predictions in that location strongly influ- enced the number of trap colonists. In particular, sandflat sites received more trap colonists than tidal creek sites. Most trap colonists were either juvenile or adult life stages. Species collected in traps differed from the benthic communities in the surrounding sandflat in that bivalves were over- represented and polychaetes were under-represented. Most bivalve colonists were collected as post- settlement juveniles, indicating post-settlement dispersal (byssal-thread drifting or bedload transport) as a primary means of transport. Polychaetes with adult swimming stages were collected in the traps, while tube-dwelling polychaetes were rarely collected. Organism transport and sediment deposition were highest during a wind-wave event. This research demonstrates the value of linking biology and hydrodynamic modelling to predict the potential pool of colonists available for recoloni- sation, and thus determine thresholds in the recovery from disturbance on an estuary-wide scale.


Early B-physics experiments have left us with a number of puzzles in heavy flavour physics. New lattice calculations (with a greater understanding of QCD effects in the Standard Model) will be needed to support the increase in experimental precision to be achieved by upcoming experiments such as Belle II. We extend the CSSM/UKQCD/QCDSF studies of SU(3) flavour breaking effects by presenting new results for the decay constants $f_B$ and $f_{B_s}$.


A one-step many-parameter optimisation scheme for phase modulated proton homonuclear decoupling sequences in solid-state NMR is presented. Phase modulations, parameterised by DUMBO Fourier coefficients, were optimised using a Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution Strategies algorithm. Our method, denoted EASY-GOING DUMBO, starts with featureless spectra and optimises proton–proton decoupling, during either proton or carbon signal detection. Optimisations at moderate sample magic angle spinning (MAS) frequencies and medium radio-frequency (rf) field strengths resulted in solutions closely resembling (e)DUMBO. Application of EASY-GOING DUMBO for optimisation at very high 680 kHz rf field strength, 12.5 kHz MAS on a 400 MHz NMR spectrometer resulted in a new solution, with competitively resolved proton spectra.


For each $n,k \in\mathbb{N}$, let $Y_{i}=(Y_{i1},Y_{i2}, \ldots, Y_{ik}$), $i=1,2,\ldots,n,$ be independent random vectors in $R^{k}$ such that $Y_{ij}$ are independent for all $j=1,2,\ldots,k$. Without assuming the existence of the third moments, a uniform Berry-Esseen bound for multidimensional central limit theorem on a closed sphere is presented in this paper.


A major obstacle to the treatment of gliomas is the subversion of the immune system by the tumor to facilitate proliferation and malignant degeneration of tumor cells. Immune suppression is thought to play a major role in the aggressive nature of gliomas and their resistance to current therapies. Genomic profiling of glioblastomas (GBMs) has shown that at least four genotypic subtypes exist, with two being dominant (proneural and mesenchymal), each correlating with significant differences in patient survival. Despite a marked immunosuppressive microenvironment, a retrospective analysis of a dendritic cell immunotherapy clinical trial demonstrated that patients with the mesenchymal subtype were more likely to be clinical responders to immunomodulatory treatments. Although this finding tends to contradict what is thought about the immune suppressive nature of mesenchymal gliomas with respect to aggressiveness and poor patient survival, it suggests that mesenchymal gliomas may be more immunogenic and more responsive to immunotherapy. We analyzed mRNA expression levels of immune system genes relative to the other genes among the various glioblastoma subtypes using the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database to ascertain if there are alterations in antigen expression, the pattern of immune suppression, and effector response genes within glioblastoma subtypes that accounts for this apparent paradox. The glioblastoma cancer study set from the TCGA database of defined glioblastoma subtypes of proneural (n=56), mesenchymal (n=56), classical (n=54) and neural (n=29) was used as the source data available through the open access cBio Cancer Genomics Portal at www.cbioportal.org. To analyze mRNA expression of a comprehensive list of immune-associated genes in the four subtypes of glioma, the z-score for all genes (the number of standard deviations above the mean expression level of the selected gene) was set to > 1 for each of the subtypes (e.g.: IL10: EXP>1). Our results demonstrate a marked and preferential enrichment of genes associated with antitumor proinflammatory responses, including both adaptive and innate immunity as determined by mRNA overexpression of immune effector-associated genes in the mesenchymal subtype of glioma. This analysis also demonstrated an association of mRNA expression of immune suppression-associated genes such as PD-L1, CTLA-4, IL-10, and TGF-β, within the mesenchymal subtype. Furthermore, distinct glioma antigens demonstrated preferential expression within distinct subtypes. Cumulatively, our data suggest that analysis of these selected immune effector and suppressor genes may provide a way to programmatically prioritize different types of potentially competing immune therapeutic strategies and rapidly assess the prognostic impact of select genes on patient outcome. Additionally, these results may help to identify subsets of patients that may be particularly responsive to a particular strategy and thus selectively enrich for potential responders during early or small-scale clinical trials. Citation Format: Tiffany Doucette, Ganesh Rao, Kenneth Aldape, Jun Wei, Kristine Dziurzynski, Arvind Rao, Li Shen, Mark R. Gilbert, Amy B. Heimberger. Immune signatures of glioblastoma subtypes: Extrapolation from the Cancer Genome Atlas. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Tumor Immunology: Multidisciplinary Science Driving Basic and Clinical Advances; Dec 2-5, 2012; Miami, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(1 Suppl):Abstract nr B82.


among the operations which lead to a partial rerouting of the systemic venous return into the pulmonary arteries, the bidirectional cavopulmonary anastomosis is frequently utilised in the staged surgical management of patients with functionally univentricular hearts. whereas some surgeons insist on closing any other source of pulmonary blood flow while performing a bidirectional cavopulmonary anastomosis, others maintain patency of either a stenosed native pulmonary outflow tract, or of a systemic-to-pulmonary arterial shunt. it remains controversial as to whether an additional source of pulmonary arterial blood flow can safely and usefully be left at the time of the bidirectional cavopulmonary anastomosis to increase systemic saturation, or whether it should be eliminated to reduce the volume load on the ventricle.


Objective: Poor diet quality and low socio-economic position (SEP) have been associated with hypertension in high income and urban populations. However, limited evidence exists for the relationship between diet, SEP and blood pressure in disadvantaged rural populations. We aimed to assess the impact of SEP and diet on hypertension in a disadvantaged rural South Indian population. Design and Method: In a case-control study of hypertension, conducted in 58 villages in rural Andhra Pradesh, 300 cases were matched 1:1 by age and sex. Blood pressure and anthropometry were measured using a strict protocol. Sodium and potassium were measured from 24-hour urine samples. Participants were interviewed to obtain socio-demographic, lifestyle and dietary information. Conditional logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with hypertension (blood pressure ≥ 140/90 mmHg). Results: The median age was 60 years (interquartile range 20); 56% were men. Median salt intake did not differ significantly between cases and controls (7.2 vs. 7.3 grams/day, P = 0.9). The median sodium-to-potassium ratio was greater in cases than controls (8.4 vs. 8.1, P = 0.007). In multivariable analyses, high SEP (odds ratio (OR) 3.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.4–7.7, P = 0.008) and physical inactivity (OR 3.0, 95% CI 2.0 − 4.6 P < 0.001) were associated with a greater odds of hypertension. Polygamy (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.2–7.2, P = 0.02) and consuming alcohol (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.2–3.8, P = 0.008) were associated with a greater odds of hypertension in men, whereas obesity (OR 2.6, P = 0.05) was associated with hypertension in women. Conclusions: The main drivers of hypertension in this population are poor diet, SEP and lifestyle factors such as physical inactivity and consuming alcohol. Therefore strategies to improve diet quality and lifestyle behaviors may help reduce the burden of hypertension in this disadvantaged Indian population.


The Fuegian thrust-fold belt (TFB) forms the thin-skinned outer wedge of the Andes in Tierra del Fuego. Using subsurface and outcrop data from two areas (Western and Eastern) of the TFB front in Argentina we aimed to verify and characterize the apparent structural variations along the strike. Both areas reveal pro- and retro-vergent faultrelated folds detached at similar horizons, with a youngest early to middle (?) Miocene deformation age. However, the Western Area has gentle, large-wavelength folds whereas the Eastern Area is characterized by a very tight structural geometry, with closer fold geometries. This difference manifests itself in the shortening of analogous structures: below 5.5% in the west as against ~22% in the Eastern Area. Our findings verify structural style variations along the strike and suggest that the Eastern Area endured higher strain. We evaluate two possible causes of this strain gradient, assuming homogeneous regional shortening: (i) lateral rheological variations at the base of the thrust wedge, namely the occurrence of more competent beds which would have restrained the propagation of the detachment toward the east; and (ii) the effect of strong buttressing in the eastern TFB exerted by the Rio Chico arch basement promontory during deformation. Published results, together with our current subsurface and outcrop data, rule out significant rheological gradients in a preferred direction along the TFB. On the other hand, we present evidence of the nucleation of frontal thrusts above basement steps at the Rio Chico arch western margin, which comprise local buttresses. We speculate that this buttressing was mantained along the TFB front and is enhanced toward the east, where forward TFB propagation was hindered due to the southern projection of the Rio Chico promontory. This would explain the higher strain and more complex structural style in the Eastern Area.


We examine in detail the implementation of a project that is non-harmful for all agents as well as a project that is harmful for some agents through a unit-by-unit contribution mechanism. For a project that is non-harmful for all agents, efficient implementation is supported at one regular Nash equilibrium and several refined Nash equilibria that are stable against coalition deviations. In this sense, this mechanism works well. On the other hand, when the project is harmful for some agents, this mechanism may not have a Nash equilibrium with efficient implementation of the project. Even when such a Nash equilibrium exists, it may not be selected by any of the refined Nash equilibria. Thus, in this case, this mechanism does not work. Our result shows that the merit of the unit-by-unit contribution mechanism reported in the literature is partially extensible to the implementation of a public project.


This paper is an attempt to probe the interactions of economic restructuring and labour-market development in the process of industrial development in contemporary Hong Kong. The discussion is mainly divided into two parts. First is an examination of the development of the Hong Kong economy in the context of the changing world economy and, in particular, the effects of the structuring of the global division of labour on changes in the economic structure of Hong Kong in the 1980s. The growth of the tertiary sector and the concomitant process of deindustrialisation stand out as the two most important features of the Hong Kong economy in the 1980s and the years to come. Second the kinds of labour-market strategy developed in response to changes in the economic structure are examined. The recent debate on the importation of labour and the growing concern of industrial relocation reflect the developing pattern of labour-market adjustment. It is contended that in order to grasp the dynamics of the structuring of labour-market strategies, the interactions among the international economic environment, state policy, the formation of industrial capital, and the bargaining power of labour must be probed. The case of Hong Kong is one characterised by the dominance of small local manufacturing establishments, a noninterventionist state, underdeveloped shop-floor or labour organisations, and an industrial economy heavily dependent on exports. All these factors contribute to the constitution of the 'Hong Kong way' of continuing labour-intensive production and making adjustments in labour-market strategies to cope with the process of economic restructuring.


'Diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT)' acts as a key rate-limiting enzyme that catalyzes the final step of the de novo biosynthesis of triacylglycerol (TAG). The study was to characterize the function of the DGAT3 gene in Paeonia rockii, which is known for its accumulation of high levels of unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs). We identified a DGAT3 gene which encodes a soluble protein that is located within the chloroplasts of P. rockii. Functional complementarity experiments in yeast demonstrated that PrDGAT3 restored TAG synthesis. Linoleic acid (LA, C18:2) and α-linolenic acid (ALA, C18:3) are essential unsaturated fatty acids that cannot be synthesized by the human body. Through the yeast lipotoxicity test, we found that the yeast cell density was largely increased by adding exogenous LA and, especially, ALA to the yeast medium. Further ectopic transient overexpression in Nicotiana benthamiana leaf tissue and stable overexpression in Arabidopsis thaliana indicated that PrDGAT3 significantly enhanced the accumulation of the TAG and UFAs. In contrast, we observed a significant decrease in the total fatty acid content and in several major fatty acids in PrDGAT3-silenced tree peony leaves. Overall, PrDGAT3 is important in catalyzing TAG synthesis, with a substrate preference for UFAs, especially LA and ALA. These results suggest that PrDGAT3 may have practical applications in improving plant lipid nutrition and increasing oil production in plants.


MiaE [2-methylthio-N(6)-isopentenyl-adenosine(37)-tRNA monooxygenase] isolated from Salmonella typhimurium is a unique non-heme diiron enzyme that catalyzes the O2-dependent post-transcriptional allylic hydroxylation of a hypermodified nucleotide (ms(2)i(6)A37) at position 37 of selected tRNA molecules to produce 2-methylthio-N(6)-(4-hydroxyisopentenyl)-adenosine(37). In this work, isopentenylated tRNA substrates for MiaE were produced from small RNA oligomers corresponding to the anticodon stem loop (ACSL) region of tRNA(Trp) using recombinant MiaA and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate. Steady-state rates for MiaE-catalyzed substrate hydroxylation were determined using recombinant ferredoxin (Fd) and ferredoxin reductase (FdR) to provide a catalytic electron transport chain (ETC) using NADPH as the sole electron source. As with previously reported peroxide-shunt assays, steady-state product formation retains nearly stoichiometric (>98%) E stereoselectivity. MiaE-catalyzed i(6)A-ACSL(Trp) hydroxylation follows Michaelis-Menten saturation kinetics with kcat, KM, and V/K determined to be 0.10 ± 0.01 s(-1), 9.1 ± 1.5 μM, and ∼11000 M(-1) s(-1), respectively. While vastly slower, MiaE-catalyzed hydroxylation of free i(6)A nucleoside could also be observed using the (Fd/FdR)-ETC assay. By comparison to the V/K determined for i(6)A-ACSL substrates, an ∼6000-fold increase in enzymatic efficiency is imparted by ACSL(Trp)-MiaE interactions. The impact of substrate tRNA-MiaE interactions on protein secondary structure and active site electronic configuration was investigated using circular dichroism, dual-mode X-band electron paramagnetic resonance, and Mössbauer spectroscopies. These studies demonstrate that binding of tRNA to MiaE induces a protein conformational change that influences the electronic structure of the diiron site analogous to what has been observed for various bacterial multicomponent diiron monooxygenases upon titration with their corresponding effector proteins. These observations suggest that substrate-enzyme interactions may play a pivotal role in modulating the reactivity of the MiaE diiron active site. Moreover, the simplified monomeric (α) protein configuration exhibited by MiaE provide an unparalleled opportunity to study the impact of protein-effector interactions on non-heme diiron site geometry and reactivity.


Knowledge about atomic scale motions is essential to the understanding of dynamical phenomena on surfaces, such as diffusion, phase transitions, and epitaxial growth. We demonstrate that the addition of a very small number of Pb atoms to a Ge(111) surface reduces the energy barrier for activated processes, thus allowing one to observe concerted atomic motions and metastable structures on this surface near room temperature using a tunneling microscope. The activation energy for surface diffusion of isolated substitutional Pb atoms in Ge(111)-c(2×8) was measured by observing individual atomic interchanges from 24°C to 79°C. We also observed the formation and annihilation of metastable structural surface excitations, which are associated with large numbers of germanium surface atoms in one row of the c(2×8) reconstruction shifting along that row like beads on an abacus. The effect provides a new mechanism for atomic transport on semiconductor surfaces and can explain a number of other observed phenomena associated with Ge(111) surfaces, including the surface diffusion of Pb atoms.


This paper aims to analyze a serious crime named trafficking that has affected millions of people all over the world. The paper discusses its major elements, the various factors, its forms, and the targets. It explains that trafficking is described as a highly organized crime, and the traffickers work in big networks of sex-trade, forced labor, forced prostitution, or other forms of bigger crimes including money laundering, etc. That has extended to their own countries and abroad as well. The paper primarily focuses on trafficking and the system to deal with victims of crime in the United Kingdom. The paper mainly aims to draw attention to the situation of victims, actions taken against trafficking or improvements did so far in this area against traffickers, and for the protection of victims of modern slavery. Thereafter, it seeks to highlight the challenges faced by the victims of the crimes and the failures of the system to bring up solutions to overcome the crime. By analyzing the current situation, concerns, improvements done so far, the paper point out the gaps that need to be filled for the benefits of the victims of modern slavery. The paper intends to draw attention to every concern and challenges that are being faced by the survivors of crime, even after they are back in society. The current criminal justice system fails to deal with the issues that are the fate of the victimsand the government should re-build, reform, and improve its system and provide appropriate support to them, shelters, and provision of medical and health care so they can trust again on authorities, come out of the traumatic situation, integrated into society and provide effective evidence against criminals.


The article deals with the problems concerning the implementation of Federal State Edu-cational Standards in a preschool education system; basic requirements to the structure, conditions of realization and the results achieved in the field of «Artistic and Aesthetic Development» in the framework of the basic educational programs are examined. According to Fede-ral State Educational Standard of preschool education, formation of value system is one of the key objectives of artistic and aesthetic development. In this regard, conditions considered as necessary for the formation of moral valuable orientations of the senior preschool children in the process of artistic and aesthetic development were distinguished and analyzed in the frame of the research. The fulfillment of the conditions introduced will result in achievement of the purposes denoted in Educational Standards, which refer to acquirement of knowledge in the field of primary moral values by preschool children, as well as use of this knowledge and skills in their activity. Purpose. In the article the prospective conditions of moral valuable orientations formation in the process of the artistic and aesthetic development of the preschool children are analyzed. Methodology. The results of the research described in this article are based on the analysis of the contents of the artistic and aesthetic development of the preschool children in the education institutions with reference to Federal State Educational Standard. Results. In a course of the research the following conclusions were made. Orientation on the primary moral values, implementation of the program of artistic and aesthetic development as well as elaboration of instructions for teachers and parents are the main objectives of the educational process; they serve basic and indispensible requirements for the effective process of value system formation in a process of artistic and aesthetic development. Practical implications. It is expected that the activity of the pre-school educational institutions will be focused on the formation of moral value orientations of the younger generation. This work will be carried out in the framework of artistic and aesthetic education field.


The expansion of metro system can bring varying degrees of impact to the surrounding environment. To study this complex system problem, this paper discusses the temporal and spatial impact by metro system from the perspective of land use change simulation and scenario analysis. The traditional cellular automata (CA) model can realize the simulation of land use change under various scenarios through system dynamics or Markov chain to control the long-term demand forecasting. However, this type of model ignores the filtering of noise data from imageries and increases uncertainty of the system. Therefore, based on the Future Land Use Simulation (FLUS) model, this paper integrates Kalman filter to control the stochastic process of the state-space system, and predicts the spatio-temporal evolution of land use change impacted by metro system in Nanjing from 2019 to 2035. The results show that: (1) The proposed CA-Kalman filter model can realize the optimized simulation of land use change with good accuracy; (2) Urban patches impacted by metro system will emerge from the existing urban boundaries at the cost of occupation of cultivated land, although there is still significant expansion of urban land and construction land, it will reach the upper limit in 2050.


SUMMARY Evidence is presented here that P wave amplitudes contain additional information on the Earth's heterogeneity and must be considered in future tomographic interpretations. We analyse the reliability and the variance of teleseismic P wave amplitudes recorded at well calibrated broadband Global Seismic Network (GSN) stations from intermediate to deep earthquakes (depth >46 km). The dataset contains 217 earthquakes with mb between 5.6 and 7.6, from 1993 January to 2000 May. Using pairs of closely located events with similar focal mechanisms as well as data recorded at the closely spaced MOMA seismic array we demonstrate the consistency of observations. We deduce that the magnification of the GSN instruments generally drifts by at most 2 per cent per year, and likely much less. P wave amplitudes have variations due to focusing/defocusing with a standard deviation of at least 38 per cent. This reduces to 19 per cent if only periods in excess of 10 s are considered. Tomographic P wave models with mantle velocity anomalies of the order of 1 per cent are unable to reproduce such large variations.


To characterize tissues in atherosclerotic plaque, we have developed a method, namely, the phased tracking method, for measuring the strain (change in wall thickness) and elasticity of the arterial wall. However, some types of tissue, such as lipids and blood clots, cannot be discriminated from each other based only on elasticity because of the small difference in their elasticity. For more precise tissue characterization, we are attempting to measure the regional viscoelasticity. To obtain the viscoelastic property, in this paper, elastic moduli at multiple frequencies were obtained by generating the change in internal pressure due to remote cyclic actuation.


Abstract Anomalous origin of coronary artery originating from the pulmonary artery in conjunction with the aorticopulmonary window (APW) is a rare but a significant anomaly in the era of congenital cardiac diseases. The occurrence of anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the pulmonary artery among the associated anomalies is less than 5%. The severity of the clinical condition of these patients depends on the degree of left–right shunt and compromise of the pulmonary blood flow. We report surgical management of a case of a 45-day-old infant with APW, ventricular septal defect, and anomalous origin of coronary artery originated from the pulmonary artery.


Background and aims: Inflammatory microenvironment plays a critical role in promoting hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression. Among the factors secreted by cancer-associated inflammatory cells, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) has been identified as a master regulator of inflammation and a potential mediator in inflammation-related cancers. Forkhead box M1 (FoxM1) is a key cell cycle regulator of the transition from the G1 to the S phase and the progression to mitosis. We previously reported that FoxM1 promotes metastasis and indicates poor prognosis in HCC. However, the critical regulatory mechanism linking TNF-α to FoxM1 activation in inflammation-induced HCC progression remains unclear. In this study, we aim to investigate the mechanism by which FoxM1 is regulated by TNF-α, and the potential role of FoxM1 in inflammation-associated HCC. Methods: Luciferase reporter, chromatin immunoprecipitation, and electrophoretic mobility shift assays were used to measure the transcriptional regulation of FoxM1 promoter by TNF-α. The clinical significance of TNF-α/ROS/HIF-1/FoxM1 pathway in a cohort of 406 HCC patients who underwent curative resection was assessed by Kaplan-Meier analysis and Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model. Results: TNF-α induced FoxM1 expression and transactivated its promoter activity in hepatoma cells. Serial 5′ deletion and site-directed mutagenesis revealed that the induction of FoxM1 expression by TNF-α was dependent upon the HIF1-1 and HIF1-3/4 binding sites within the FoxM1 promoter. Furthermore, at the transcriptional level, the stabilization of HIF-1α via reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation led to the binding of HIF-1α to the FoxM1 promoter and resulted in increased FoxM1 expression. The inhibition of both HIF-1α expression and ROS generation significantly decreased TNF-α-induced FoxM1 expression. Consequently, the upregulation of FoxM1 promoted the proliferation of hepatoma cells and enhanced their resistance to TNF-α-induced apoptosis, whereas downregulation of FoxM1 dramatically attenuated these effects. TNF-α expression was positively correlated with HIF-1α and FoxM1 expression in human HCC tissues. Patients with positive coexpression of TNF-α and FoxM1 had shorter overall survival and higher recurrence rates than those with negative coexpression of TNF-α and FoxM1. Simarily, patients with HIF-1(+)/FoxM1(+) expression had shorter overall survival and higher recurrence rates than those with HIF-1(-)/FoxM1(-) expression. Conclusions: We report a new molecular mechanism by which FoxM1 expression is regulated by the TNF-α/ROS/HIF-1 pathway, and this mechanism results in the proliferation of hepatoma cells and their resistance to apoptosis. Thus, TNF-α/ROS/HIF-1/FoxM1 pathway may provide a target for clinical intervention in HCC. Citation Format: Limin Xia, Daiming Fan, Yongzhan Nie, Kaichun Wu. The TNF-α/ROS/HIF-1-mediated upregulation of FoxM1 expression promotes proliferation, resistance to apoptosis and indicates poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2862. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-2862 Note: This abstract was not presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 because the presenter was unable to attend.


The authors proposed an anatomy-based methodology for human modeling to enhance the visual realism of human modeling by using the boundary element method (BEM) and axial deformation approach. To model muscle deformation, a BEM with linear boundary elements was used. The significance of tendons in determining skin layer deformation is also discussed. The axial deformation technique is used to allow for quick deformation. To control tendon deformation, the curve of the axial curve is changed. Each vertex of the skin layer is linked to the muscles, tendons, and skeletons beneath it. The skin layer deforms in response to changes in the underlying muscle, tendon, and skeleton layers. This chapter made use of human foot modeling as the case study. Results have illustrated that the visual realism of human models can be enhanced by considering the changes of tendons in the deformation of the skin layer. The lower computational complexity and enhanced visual realism of the proposed approaches can be applied in human modelling for virtual reality (VR) applications.


How do precarious workers employed in call-centres, universities, the fashion industry and many other labour markets organise, struggle and communicate to become recognised, influential political subjects? "Media Practices and Protest Politics; How Precarious Workers Mobilise" reveals the process by which individuals at the margins of the labour market and excluded from the welfare state communicate and struggle outside the realm of institutional politics to gain recognition in the political sphere.

In this important and thought provoking work Alice Mattoni suggests an all-encompassing approach to understanding grassroots political communication in contemporary societies. Using original examples from precarious workers mobilizations in Italy she explores a range of activist media practices and compares different categories of media technologies, organizations and outlets from the printed press to web application and from mainstream to alternative media.

Explaining how activists perceive and understand the media environment in which they are embedded the book discusses how they must interact with a diverse range of media professionals and technologies and considers how mainstream, radical left-wing and alternative media represent protests. Media Practices and Protest Politics offers important insights for understanding mechanisms and patterns of visibility in struggles for recognition and redistribution in post-democratic societies and provides a valuable contribution to the field of political communication and social movement studies.


Research is of little value to clinical practice if the findings are not appropriately integrated into that practice. While publishing the results of research is essential for translating findings into practice, Marilyn Oermann and colleagues suggest that work is not done until the findings are disseminated for use by clinicians and others who need the research results to guide their practice


Objective: Bariatric procedures, such as the gastric bypass and the biliopancreatic diversion, have evidenced to induce long term remission of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in morbidly obese patients. In recent years, new procedures are developed. We have previously published a novel food-diverting operation, sleeve gastrectomy plus side-to-side jejunoileal anastomosis (SJA). The positive results obtained from this procedure in reducing the excess weight, but most importantly in controlling the co-morbid conditions particularly T2DM in morbidly obese patients, led us to study the feasibility of SJA without sleeve gastrectomy to control T2DM, in non-obese diabetic Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats. Design and method: Seventeen 14-week-old male GK rats were divided into 3 groups: SJA bypassing 60% of the small bowel length, sham-operated jejunoileal bypass (Sham group) and control animals. Rats were observed for 10 weeks after surgery. The fasting blood glucose (FBG), serum cholesterol and triglycerides levels were measured and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), were performed. Results: Animals in SJA group experienced significant loss of weight from the first and up to 4 weeks after the operation (% Total Weight Loss 7.2%). The weight of the rats in this group was stabilized thereafter, but remained reduced comparing with the pre-operative values (p < 0.001). There was no significant weight loss in the 2 other groups. Compared with sham-operated rats and controls, the fasting glucose levels were significantly lower in the SJA group from the 1st postoperative week and continued to be within normal range up to the 10th week. Prior to the procedures, no difference in OGTT was found among all groups. However, all rats in SJA group showed a significant improvement in OGTT, compared with sham-operated and control groups, at 3 and 8 weeks postoperatively. Serum cholesterol and triglycerides levels had no difference prior to surgery among all experimental groups. No significant differences in those parameters were observed following SJA or Sham procedures. Conclusions: A simple SJA, diverting the food and biliopancreatic secretion to the distal small bowel, was able to normalize both FBG levels and OGTT in a non-obese diabetic rat model.


The aim of the study was to examine grammatical sentence understanding (TROG-2) in 6-9 year old children with cochlear implants (CI), and compare their performance to age-matched children with normal hearing (NH). Receptive vocabulary, picture naming, semantic feature knowledge, word fluency, non-word discrimination (phonology), word learning and non-verbal cognitive ability were examined as possible predicting factors for TROG-2. Age at implantation, hearing age, and speech recognition were also investigated in children with CI. For TROG-2, 6-7 year old children with CI performed similar to controls, and 50 % of them reached one year or more above the age-equivalent norm level. Speech recognition and age at 2nd implantation were associated with better results on TROG-2. Non-verbal cognitive ability and picture naming predicted grammatical sentence understanding in children with CI. Earlier age at implantation and a shorter period between 1st and 2nd implantation might also have a positive influence on TROG-2 for younger children with CI. The predicting factors of grammatical sentence understanding in the group of children with NH were related to non-word discrimination and breadth and depth in receptive vocabulary.


Background The 6-min walking test (6-MWT) is probably the most widely used test to measure the functional capacity in cardiac rehabilitation. Although the American Thoracic Society recommends testing on a flat surface, treadmills are also used for testing. Therefore, we want to investigate the interchangeability of results of treadmill and hallway 6-MWT in a population of patients participating in a cardiac rehabilitation programme. Design Preexperimental design. Setting University hospital Department of Cardiology and Physiotherapy. Participants Patients entering the cardiac rehabilitation programme of the Maastricht University Cardiology Department. Main outcome measure Agreement in 6-min walking distance between the hallway and treadmill test results were calculated by taking the mean difference between the two methods and the 95% confidence interval of the difference and plotting this against the average of the two test results. A Bland and Altman plot was constructed, showing the mean difference and the 95% limits of agreement between the two methods. Results Sixty-nine patients participated in this study. Mean difference between walking on a treadmill and walking in a hallway was 9 m in favour of the hallway test. The 95% limits of agreement were ± 118 m. Conclusion Results of the 6-MWT conducted in a hallway or on a treadmill are not interchangeable, because of large between-test variations in the distances walked by individual participants.


We report the magnetic properties of single crystals of NaxCoO2 (x=0.42, 0.82, and 0.87). The magnetic susceptibility measurements revealed considerable anisotropy along H parallel to ab and H parallel to c for the as-grown single crystals. It was found that an antiferromagnetic transition with a Neel temperature T-N=21 K occurred for the x=0.82 sample, and there was a paramagnetic phase for the x=0.87 sample over a wide temperature range from 2 to 300 K, but the sample with x=0.42 shows a monotonic increase of chi with increasing temperature above similar to 100 K. In addition, the x=0.82 sample has the largest derived anisotropic g-factor ratio (gab/gc-1.30), whereas the sample with x=0.42 is nearly isotropic (gab/gc-0.96).


Detailed laboratory measurements of the wave and current field induced by bi-chromatic waves incident on an artificial surfing reef are presented. Strong wave focussing occurs on the surfing reef. Both PTV and in-situ measurements are reported that show the presence of a strong rip current flowing oblique off-shore. Observed water level set-up and set-down indicate the locations of feeder currents, driving the rip current. Wave-current interaction between the incoming bi-chromatic waves and the outgoing rip-current are apparent in the measurements. The stochastic character of meandering of the rip current is shown by the variance of the low pass filtered time-averaged local velocities. The vertical velocity distribution could not be determined reliably due to limitations in the test set-up and measurement devices. The dispersion relationship is utilized to connect the PTV surface measurement with the underlying velocity field obtained by in-situ measurements. The total dataset gives a detailed synoptic view of the wave-current field that can be used for model verification and validation.


An age group classification system for gray-scale facial images is proposed in this paper. Four age groups, including babies, young adults, middle-aged adults, and old adults, are used in the classification system. The process of the system is divided into three phases: location, feature extraction, and age classification. Based on the symmetry of human faces and the variation of gray levels, the positions of eyes, noses, and mouths could be located by applying the Sobel edge operator and region labeling. Two geometric features and three wrinkle features from a facial image are then obtained. Finally, two back-propagation neural networks are constructed for classification. The first one employs the geometric features to distinguish whether the facial image is a baby. If it is not, then the second network uses the wrinkle features to classify the image into one of three adult groups. The proposed system is experimented with 230 facial images on a Pentium II 350 processor with 128 MB RAM. One half of the images are used for training and the other half for test. It takes 0.235 second to classify an image on an average. The identification rate achieves 90.52% for the training images and 81.58% for the test images, which is roughly close to human's subjective justification.


I present a new analytical model describing the dynamics and luminosity evolution of Fanaroff-Riley type I and II radio active galactic nuclei (AGN), and the transition between these classes. The galaxy environments of a volume-limited low redshift (0:03 ≤ z ≤ 0:1) sample of observed AGN are quantifed using a semi-analytic galaxy formation model, and the model applied to these objects to determine their distribution of jet powers and active lifetimes at the present epoch. This technique is refined for radio sources in the 3C survey with multi-frequency spectral coverage by including a constraint on the magnetic field strength. Further, the ability of the model to correct for selection biases in future surveys is investigated by performing detailed modelling of the spatial distribution of synchrotron electrons within the radio lobes. Finally, I apply the model to simulated and observed extended radio galaxies to construct standardisable candles.
Results of this AGN evolution model show that radio sources in massive galaxies remain active for longer, spend less time in the quiescent phase, and inject more energy into their hosts than their less massive counterparts. The jet power is independent of the host stellar mass within model uncertainties, consistent with the maintenancemode AGN feedback paradigm. The environments of these AGN are in or close to long-term heating-cooling balance. I also examine the properties of high- and lowexcitation radio galaxy sub-populations. The HERGs are younger than LERGs by an order of magnitude, whilst their jet powers are greater by a factor of four on average. The Eddington-scaled accretion rates and jet production effciencies of these populations are consistent with LERGs being powered by radiatively ineffcient advection dominated accretion flows (ADAFs), with HERGs being fed by a radiatively efficient accretion mechanism.
Kinetic jet power estimates based exclusively on observed monochromatic radio luminosities are highly uncertain due to confounding variables and a lack of knowledge about some aspects of the physics of radio AGNs. I present a new methodology to calculate the jet powers of the largest, most powerful radio sources based on combinations of their size, lobe luminosity and shape of their radio spectrum. An improvement on existing models is in parametrising the magnetic field strength in the radio lobes. The derived magnetic field strengths are inconsistent with equal energy in the particles and the fields at the 5σ level. Further, I find that jet kinetic power and field strengths can be reasonably well estimated even for unresolved sources, whilst source ages require an accurate size measurement.
Numerical simulations capture complex dynamics while analytical models are good at describing synchrotron loss processes. I combine these two approaches by implementing numerical dynamics for the flow of synchrotron electron packets whilst modelling their emissivity analytically. I have developed a lossy synchrotron emissivity model which traces the evolutionary histories of individual fluid particles. The limitations of future radio surveys when measuring AGN energetics are quantifed using this model. In particular, the observed size of FR-I sources is found to depend on the survey sensitivity. At least some sources in the emerging class of FR0 objects (comprising GPS and CSS sources) can potentially be explained by a population of low-powered FR-Is.
Bright radio-loud AGNs provide an opportunity to construct standard candles detectable to high (z ⪆ 2) redshifts. I present a new technique for creating standardisable candles, based on radio-frequency observations of the most powerful AGNs; specifcally their radio flux density, lobe angular size, and radio spectrum. This technique is used to measure the distances to radio sources in the 3C and HeRGE surveys. These radio AGN standardisable candles are shown to be inconsistent with a non-accelerating universe at greater than the 6σ level, but are consistent with a flat universe. Dark energy and matter densities of Ωm = 0:289 ± 0:012 and = ΩΛ 0:711 ± 0:012 are obtained, consistent with those found from baryon acoustic oscillations, CMB measurements and JLA type 1a supernovae. I further show that this distance measure provides accurate photometric redshifts for radio AGNs based exclusively upon multi-frequency radio observations.


Many species of the genus Astragalus have been long used in folk medicine because of their biological properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the antibacterial and cytotoxic activities of extracts from the leaves of wild Astragalus gombiformis Pomel. Antibacterial activity was assayed against several common human pathogenic bacterial strains using the paper disk-agar diffusion method. Cytotoxicity was measured against human lung carcinoma cells using the colorimetric MTT assay. The strongest cytotoxic activity against the human A549 lung epithelial carcinoma cell line was detected for dichloromethane extracts at IC50 = 85 ± 21.7 µg/mL. The best incubation time for this extract was 48 h. Most of the tested extracts were active against the tested bacterial strains. The methanol extract was found to be the most active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhimurium. This study is the first report on the biological activity of leaf extracts of Astragalus gombiformis with respect to antibacterial activity as well as cytotoxicity.


We rule out a certain nine-dimensional algebra over an algebraically closed field to be the basic algebra of a block of a finite group, thereby completing the classification of basic algebras of dimension at most 12 of blocks of finite group algebras.


It was shown in our previous work that, in the noise-free case, the whitening-rotation (WR)-based MIMO channel estimation algorithm is subject to a signal perturbation error, justifying that the WR-based method is efficient only in the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) case. In this paper, a very efficient signal-perturbation-free WR-based approach is proposed for semiblind channel estimation of MIMO systems. A novel transmit scheme is developed based on the eigenvalue decomposition of the correlation matrix of the transmitted signal. The new scheme is to send a small volume of data bearing the information of the correlation matrix to the receiver for the cancellation of the signal perturbation error so as to improve the performance of the WR-based method in the case of high SNRs. Then, a perturbation analysis of the proposed WR-based semiblind method with the new transmit scheme is conducted, leading to a closed-form expression for the mean square error (MSE) of the channel estimate. Computer simulations show that the proposed approach significantly outperforms the original WR-based method as well as some other channel estimation methods for all SNR levels.


Singular Value Thresholding Algorithms for Low-rank Matrix Completion Jianfeng Cai, University of California at Los Angles, USA Low-rank matrix completion refers to recovering a low-rank matrix from a sampling of its entries. It routinely comes up whenever one collects partially filled out surveys, and one would like to infer the many missing entries. Matrix completion is a natural extension of compressed sensing. Candes and his co-authors proved that one can solve the low-rank matrix completion problem exactly by minimizing a nuclear norm (the L1-norm of the vector of singular values) function subject to linear constraints. In this talk, I will present singular value thresholding algorithms for the nuclear norm minimization arising from low-rank matrix completion. A Robust and Fast Combination Algorithms of Split Bregman Method for Deblurring and Denoising Qianshun Chang, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China In this paper, we propose two efficient algorithms for split Bregman method for deblurring and denoising. The split Bregman method is used to convert nonlinear TV model into linear systems. Then, the FFT method is applied to solve the linear system with the blurring operator. Another method is to combine algorithm of algebraic multigrid method and Krylov acceleration method for deblurring and denoising. For the linear system, we have deduced convergence analysis to determine an auxiliary linear term that significantly stabilizes and accelerates the outer iteration of the linear system. The inclusion of the linear stabilizing term plays a crucial role in our combination algorithm. The iterative convergence is proved. The two algorithms are efficient and robust. Our algorithms also prove to work efficiently over a wide range of parameters. We have conducted extensive numerical experiments. The result shows that our algorithms are efficient and robust for μ ranging from O(1) to the pure blurring limit μ = 100 and various strong blur operators such as the out of focus and truncated Gaussian. The results of numerical experiments are given and compared with some published papers. Nonhomogeneous Wavelet Systems and Frequency-based Framelets Bin Han, University of Alberta, Canada Linked with discretization of continuous wavelet transforms, most wavelets (including framelets) studied in the literature are homogeneous wavelet systems generated by square integrable functions. However, in this talk, we show that nonhomogeneous wavelet systems, in particular with wavelet generators being distributions in the frequency domain, play a fundamental role by naturally linking many aspects of wavelet analysis together. For example, we show that every dual framelet filter bank is naturally associated with a pair of frequency-based nonhomogeneous dual framelets in the distribution space, for which we have a complete and simple characterization. Directional framelets in high dimensions will be also mentioned in this talk.


This paper presents a Multi-Agent System (MAS) to model and enable an active power management in a multiple microgrids system consisting of batteries, photovoltaic and diesel micro sources in islanded or grid-connected operation. The multi-agent system was developed in JADE (Java Agent DEvelopment Framework), a Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPA) and a compliant open source multi-agent platform. All the six case studies presented in this paper were modeled using JADE. The cases were chosen considering the real life possible scenarios, such as: discharging the battery (boost mode), energy export from the microgrid, charging the battery (buck mode), energy import from diesel generator, energy import from the grid and the system halt. However, considering that the results for the first two cases can demonstrate the performance and features of the proposed MAS, this paper focuses on the results of these cases. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithms, necessary for coordinated control and power management, and show the possibility of autonomous built-in operation of a microgrid with a multi-agent system using JADE.


An atmospheric noise model for analyzing the performance of modulation/demodulation systems operating at VLF frequencies is presented. Performance analyses of various modems based on this noise model are compared with experimental measurements. Theoretical and experimental results are categorized by long integration time, short integration time, and nonlinear IF processing.


Background Preterm birth significantly affects the neonates' survival. It also increases the risk of neonatal complications, prolongs the hospitalization period, and imposes high costs on the public health system. This study is aimed to assess the risk factors of the preterm birth. Materials and Methods This case-control study was carried out at a maternal referral hospital in Hamadan. The participants consisted of 470 preterm infants born in less than 37 weeks of gestational age (case group), and 470 term infants with normal gestational age (control group). Several variables including the neonatal birth weight, gestational age, type of delivery, the maternal age, history of infertility, birth order and maternal disease were compared in both groups. The collected data was extracted from the medical file and recorded in a pre-designed checklist; they were then analyzed using SPSS software (version 16.0). Results Mean gestational age (34.4±3.34 vs. 39.1±1.09 weeks, p=0.001), and mean neonatal weight (2475.43±683.28 vs. 3122.64±409.89 gr, p=0.001) were lower in the case group compared to the control group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed a statistically significant association between the preterm birth and older maternal age (OR: 1.07), history of infertility (OR: 0.5), mother exposure to smoking (OR: 2.4), intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) (OR: 0.99), C-section delivery (OR: 0.39) and maternal diseases (OR: 0.96). Conclusion This study showed that older maternal age, history of infertility, mother's exposure to smoking, IUGR, C-section delivery, and maternal disease were independent risk factors for preterm birth. The identification of these factors is essential in reducing the risk of preterm birth.


The general introduction to the session had been written in advance by Professor Dowson. When giving his verbal presentation he placed particular emphasis on three areas. He felt that early studies had given too much attention to the main bearings, to the almost complete exclusion of the piston rings and valve-train assembly. Recent studies had shown that over half the friction losses came from these and that they deserved a proportional amount of effort. It was possible to both measure and calculate the oil film thicknesses in these components. It should thus be possible to model their working in future engine designs. Secondly, he said that he wished to emphasize the importance of parametric investigations and gave some examples. It was more important to know the way in which the friction or oil-film thickness changed rather than trying to calculate the absolute values. Finally, he put in a plea for more information to be got out of routine engine tests. He cited the example of piston-ring profiles being taken before and after testing as an example of the type of things he had in mind.


Mobility gains more and more importance from a technological as well as social perspective. On the one hand, mobility is required from the personal and professional environment in order to keep pace with the developments in a global world. On the other hand, the existence of wireless networks and the success of cell-phones enable a wide usage of mobile communication infrastructure. While mobile devices (especially cell-phone) are becoming more and more a general vehicle to perform a wide spectrum of applications like internet browsing, etc. many, many issues are still unsolved in order to provide a technologically solid and well accepted mobile infrastructure. In the following, we focus on the term of robustness as a mean to achieve this goal. No only the general possibility to communicate via mobile devices using wireless networks is the question, but the reliable, secure, and finally simple way of doing it must be the core research in the context of mobile environments.


In Mexico, the nopal (Opuntia spp.) for human consumption as vegetable and for production of prickly pear fruits is cultivated in several thousands of hectares. This crop has been associated to our culture since the pre-Hispanic age and its demand has increased in the last years due to its remarkable nutraceutical potential and to the content of some key nutrients such as calcium, iron and vitamin C, among others. Nopal is a crop with a high capacity of adaptation to different environmental conditions, mainly arid and semiarid. It represents a very good alternative for the agriculture in these areas, where the soils are poor or are becoming poor and result in very low yield of traditional cultivars. This crop is increasing its economical value in exportations and is becoming a very important alternative for the people who live in the production areas. However, the plant still has undesirable characteristics such as mucilage and spines, pathogen sensitivity, and high number of seeds in its fruits with a poor postharvest life that limits the production and consumer acceptance. We herewith review the efforts that have been done in order to improve the nopal characteristics and its fruit through biotechnology.


The radiant time series method (RTSM) is a cooling load calculation procedure developed by ASHRAE as a simplified companion to the rigorous heat balance procedure. The RTSM was initially verged for a large parametric set of zone configurations by comparing cooling loads predicted by the RTSM with cooling loads predicted by the heat balance method. The experimental results reported in this paper demonstrate the validity of the previous parametric studies and confirm the significance of the so-called "adiabatic zone assumption, " which results in underprediction of conduction losses by the RTSMfor highly glazed spaces: The investigation also demonstrated the importance of calculating the reflected solar radiation incident on the interior surfaces of the windows. The expected error in the RTSM for highlyglazed spaces can be reduced up to 80% by accounting for reflected visible radiation leaving the space . Including a reflected solar radiation calculation in the RTSMresulted in predicted cooling loads within 15% of measured data for passive sun spaces with well-defined zone configuration parameters . Consequently, thestudy notonly demonstrates the validity of the RTSMfor standard zone configurations, but it also suggests that the RTSM can be used to obtain a first order estimate ofcooling loads forsolar heatgain dominated spaces.


A 75-year-old woman, Gladys, was brought to the psychiatric clinic in a manic state by her concerned sister. The patient was disheveled, dehydrated, and having difficulty expressing her thoughts. Vital signs included a blood pressure of 200/94 mm Hg; pulse, 88 beats/min; temperature, 98.4°F; and respiratory rate, 20 breaths/min. Psychiatric history included a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder with inconsistent adherence to treatment regimens, particularly mood stabilizers; and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, for which she took methylphenidate regularly. Medical history was significant for asthma, osteoporosis, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and hypothyroidism. Gladys tended to become involved in personal relationships that adversely affected her mental health. This, in fact, had just happened: A "friend" had taken advantage of her kindness and then abruptly moved away, triggering the patient's current decompensation. She was referred for admission for psychiatric evaluation and treatment. During the three-week hospitalization, Gladys was diagnosed with bipolar I disorder. She agreed to take mood-stabilizing medication primarily to alleviate her insomnia during manic episodes. She was discharged on a multidrug regimen for her coexisting conditions (see Table 1, next page). Of note, her blood pressure at discharge was 148/66 mm Hg. At outpatient follow-up five days later, the patient reported feeling better and stronger. However, five weeks after discharge, Gladys returned with complaints of tiredness during the day (though sleeping well at night), severe dry mouth, aching joints, and poor appetite. Her blood pressure was 100/50 mm Hg. She denied abdominal pain or change in the color of her urine or stool. She also denied use of alcohol, illicit drugs, or OTC medications. Laboratory results revealed 75-Year-Old Woman With Elevated Liver Enzymes


Abstract All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) has demonstrated notable success in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) by inducing granulocytic differentiation. The underlying mechanisms of ATRA therapeutic effects have not been entirely clarified. Here, we reported that the regulation of neddylation, a ubiquitination-like post-translational modification, was involved in the treatment of ATRA on APL. Treating APL cells with ATRA led to the degradation of UBA3, a subunit of neddylation E1. Lysosome–autophagy pathway but not proteasome pathway was responsible for the degradation of UBA3. Neddylation suppression in APL cells was capable of inducing apoptosis, differentiation and proliferation inhibition, suggesting a pivotal role of neddylation in APL cells. ATRA treatment also led to UBA3 degradation in primary APL cells. Taken together, our findings indicated that neddylation was important to maintain the malignant features of APL cells, and suppression of neddylation was involved in the effects of ATRA on APL cells.


Morbidity and mortality statistics are an important resource for research and
informing policy in any country as it reflects on the public health status. Majority of
the mortality in the medical wards occur within the first few days following
admission. Factors such as age, sex, diagnosis, co-morbidities, social-economic
factors and duration of hospital stay have been show to affect mortality. There is a
paucity of such studies in Kenya.
Objective: This study sought to describe the causes and circumstances around early
mortality among inpatients in the KNH Medical Wards.
Design: An observational cohort study comprising of a retrospective and prospective
arm.
Methodology: The study was conducted from 7th April to 18th June 2014. The
retrospective arm reviewed the files of patients who had died within seven days of
admission to the medical wards six months prior to the study onset. The purpose of
this arm was to determine the overall mortality and case specific mortality rate. The
prospective arm followed up patients for seven days to ascertain the seven-day
mortality rate and associated factors. Post mortems were conducted in a proportion of
these patients.
Results: 695 files were reviewed in the retrospective arm while 193 patients were
recruited into the prospective arm. The mean age of the participants in the
retrospective and prospective arms were 46.7 years (Range 15-107 years) and 44.5
years (Range 15-100 years) respectively. The overall mortality rate was 29.6%. The
seven-day mortality rate was 17.6%. Malignant neoplasms at 12.5% were the leading
cause of death followed by congestive heart failure at 10.5%. The leading comorbidity
was HIV at 42%, followed by hypertension at 18.8% and diabetes at 8.7%.
The median Karnofsky's Score at admission and the mean duration of stay in hospital
in days were the two variables strongly associated with risk of dying.
Conclusion: The 7 day mortality rate was high. Malignancies were the commonest
cause of death. Most of the early deaths were preventable.


The Indian stock market has witnessed several peaks and troughs in the span of last few years. It has now become a serious concern among the economists, traders and policy developers to deal with such volatility. The stock market volatility impacts over the economic stability of the country. So it is necessary to understand the movement of stock market. Several researches in this field deals with different opinion amongst which random walk theory and efficient market theory is of great apprehension. In the world of speculation, is the market efficient enough to reflect the price movement? This paper is an attempt to test the market efficiency theoretically and empirically with respect to the publicly or privately available information and simultaneously effort has been made whether, the prices can be predicted through past data. The major finding using 14 years monthly average data of BSE Sensex ranging from January 2000 to May 2014, via autocorrelation test and student t test (whether public news have any impact over the stock price) after applying unit root test reveals that the stock prices are random in nature. The past data set has no reflection over the security prices in the capital market. Simultaneously the public news too has no significant impact over the security prices and thereby the market becomes inefficient in terms of available information.


The role of oxygen free radicals (OFR) generated early during myocardial reperfusion in the genesis of myocardial necrosis was studied in 26 pigs submitted to transient coronary occlusion followed by one of three different reperfusion protocols. In group A, a selective intracoronary infusion of a Ringer solution was started after 60 min of coronary occlusion, and reperfusion was performed 4 min later. The infusion was maintained during the first 6 min of reperfusion at a rate of 3 ml/min. In group B, the Ringer solution administered during reperfusion contained a high concentration (2.778 U/ml) of superoxide dismutase (SOD). In group C, reperfusion was performed after 60 min of coronary occlusion with no intracoronary infusion. Twenty-four hours later the heart was excised and the area at risk and infarct size were measured by in vivo fluorescein injection and triphenyl-tetrazolium chloride staining respectively. The area at risk was similar in the 3 groups: 15.03 +/- 2.6%, 13.26 +/- 3.3% and 16.34 +/- 6.7% of ventricular mass in groups A, B, and C, respectively (p = 0.42). No differences between groups were observed in infarct size, either when measured as a percent of ventricular mass (10.04 +/- 3.8%, 9.31 +/- 3.8% and 10.1 +/- 2.4% in groups A, B, and C, p = 0.91) or as a percent of the area at risk (64.63 +/- 18.5%, 67.81 +/- 16.1%, and 61.35 +/- 6.7%, respectively, p = 0.72). Thus, the intracoronary administration of SOD during the early reperfusion has not beneficial effect on infarct size. This results suggest that the early burst of OFR is not a major determinant of infarct size in the pig.


This article identifies the two currents that have divided the Left over the Zimbabwe question. It argues that in the course of the radicalisation of the Zimbabwean state, 'Two Lefts' emerged, the so-called 'internationalist' and the 'nationalist', to take up opposite positions over a series of political questions, most notably the agrarian question and the national question. The article defends the nationalist Left and offers a critique of the 'internationalist' Left through a discussion of contemporary imperialism, the neocolonial state, and civil society.


Objective: To determine the management of primary Pterygium with intralesional Bevacizumab (AVASTIN) Injection.
Study Design: Quasi-Experimental Study
Place and Duration of Study: Armed Forces Institute of Ophthalmology, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Oct 2019 to Mar 2020.
Methodology: Sixty patients of Primary Pterygium with Grades 1, 2, and 3 were included. Pre-Intralesional injection evaluation includes the Ocular surface disease Index (OSDI), grading of Pterygium and ophthalmic examination, refraction,slit lamp bimicroscopy, fundoscopy, tonometry, and corneal topography. After four weeks of intralesional injection,reassessment was done.
Results: A total of 60 participants with the mean age of the participants was 44.06±14.83 years were included in the study. In 26(43.3%) patients, grittiness, epiphora, redness, and photophobia were reported, and 16(26.6%) patients reported blurring of vision that improved in 100% of patients after intralesional injections. There was statistical significance (p-value ≤0.05) in means of K1, Sim K astigmatism, Surface asymmetry index, Surface Regularity Index, Grade of Pterygium, and Ocular surface disease index before and after the intralesional injection of Bevacizumab. However, no significant difference was recorded in Uncorrected Visual Acuity, Best Corrected Visual Acuity, and K2 parameters in pre and post-injection states (p-value ≥0.05).Only 7(11.6%) patients reported subconjunctival haemorrhage after the procedure.
Conclusions: Treatment of Primary Pterygium with intralesional Bevacizumab injection successfully improves symptoms,Ocular Surface Disease Index, and reduces corneal astigmatism with minimum complications.


This concise and practical resource book aims to equip the nurse to effectively address the physical and psychosocial needs of patients with ostomies and continent diversions in a variety of care settings. The focus is on the nurse's role in educating the patient and family before the surgery, during the hospital stay, at discharge and during follow-up. The text presents specific guidelines for nursing care, incorporating recent research and clinical findings. The author reviews anatomy and physiology of the GI and GU tracts and describes the surgical procedures and equipment used in constructing all types of GI and GU diversions to familiarize readers with nursing care responsibilities. There is a separate chapter on indications, construction and nursing management, and a section on oncology. The book also considers potential peristomal and stomal complications and provides learning objectives and self-evaluation sections to facilitate self-directed learning.


Fanaei , H. R., M. Galavi, M. Kafi, A. Ghanbari Bonjar, and A. H.Shirani-Rad 2009. Effect of potassium fertilizer and irrigation levels on grain yield and water use efficiency of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) and Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.) species. Iranian Journal of Crop Sciences. 11 (3): 271-289 (in Persian). To study the effect of potassium fertilizer under different irrigation levels on grain yield and water use efficiency of two rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) and Indian mustard ( Brassica juncea L.) a field experiment was conducted in a factorial experiment using randomized complete block with three replications at Zahak field station, Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center of Sistan in 2007-2008 cropping season. Three irrigation levels including (S1=irrigation after 50 percentage depletion of soil water (control), S2 =irrigation after 70 percentage depletion of soil water and S3 =irrigation after 90 percentage depletion of soil water), two Brassica species (Hyola401 Hybrid and a landrace of Indian mustard) and three levels of potassium fertilizer (K0=0 ,K1=150 and K2= 250 kg.ha K2SO4) comprised the experimental factors. Results showed that the effects of irrigation levels, Brassica species and potassium fertilizer on grain yield, number of silique.plant, number of grain.silique, number of aborted silique. Plant, 1000 grain weight and water use efficiency was significant. Considering grain yield and water use efficiency Hyola401 performed better than Indian mustard landrace by 17% and 15%, respectively. Production efficiency of rapeseed was higher in this experimental condition. With increasing stress intensity, grain yield reduced and water use efficiency increased significantly. Grain yield in severe water stress treatment (S3 ) was 27% lower than the control (S1), however, water use efficiency increased by 16%. Increasing water use efficiency reduced water used in S2 and S3 treatments by 7% and 39% as compared with control (S1). With increasing potassium application rate, negative effect of water stress on grain yield was ameliorated and grain yield improved. Application of 250 kg.ha of potassium increased grain yield and water use efficiency by 21% and 22%, respectively. Interaction of irrigation × potassium application was significant for grain yield, water use efficiency and number of aborted silique.plant, but not for the other traits. The results also showed that in S3 treatment differences between lowest grain yield at K0 and highest grain yield at K2 was 779 kg.ha which was 52% greater than the control. Results of this study showed that potassium application can positively affect grain yield and water use efficiency of rapeseed in severe and mild stress conditions. It is concluded that potassium application was effective on plant growth and formation of economic yield in conditions of Sistan region by ameliorating damages caused due to water stress.


Peculiarities of non-disjunction of chromosomes in the first meiosis of maturation of oocytes in mice heterozygous in the Robertsonian and nonuniform reciprocal translocations have been determined. Mice, heterozygous in one Robertson's translocation, had general frequency of chromosomal non-disjunction in the 1st meiosis of oocyte maturation equal to 17%; by two Robertsonian translocations the total frequency of genetically deficient oocytes amounted to about 77%, in case of unequal reciprocal translocation--to 50%. In two latter cases genetic disturbances were due to unbalanced euploid chromosome sets.


A new approach to performing resource allocation in autonomous distributed computer systems is explored. As opposed to previous work which is based on interprocessor cooperation, the distributed system is modeled as a competitive society of microeconomic agents. The model is applied to the problem of managing distributed, replicated data objects. In this economy, jobs and transactions submitting read/write operations on data objects pay the processors to perform the operations. The processors use the revenue they earn to lease copies of data objects on which they can make a profit. The data objects themselves are active agents and set the prices for leasing copies. The economy is evaluated by a simulation study. The experiments show that the economy can substantially improve performance by varying the placement and number of copies of each data object.<<ETX>>