The Niemann–Pick type C disease (NPC) is one of inherited lysosomal storage disorders, emerges the accumulation of unesterified cholesterol in endolysosomes. Currently, 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CyD) has been applied for the treatment of NPC. HP-β-CyD improved hepatosplenomegaly in NPC patients, however, a high dose of HP-β-CyD was necessary. Therefore, the decrease in dose by actively targeted-β-CyD to hepatocytes is expected. In the present study, to deliver β-CyD selectively to hepatocytes, we newly fabricated mono-lactose-appended β-CyD (Lac-β-CyD) and evaluated its cholesterol lowering effects in NPC-like HepG2 cells, cholesterol accumulated HepG2 cells induced by treatment with U18666A. Lac-β-CyD (degree of substitution of lactose (DSL) 1) significantly decreased the intracellular cholesterol content in a concentration-dependent manner. TRITC-Lac-β-CyD was associated with NPC-like HepG2 cells higher than TRITC-β-CyD. In addition, TRITC-Lac-β-CyD was partially localized with endolysosomes after endocytosis. Thus, Lac-β-CyD entered NPC-like HepG2 cells via asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR)-mediated endocytosis and decreased the accumulation of intracellular cholesterol in NPC-like HepG2 cells. These results suggest that Lac-β-CyD may have the potential as a drug for the treatment of hepatosplenomegaly in NPC disease.


What makes consumers buy, or what causes them not to buy, has long been the subject of research, and today it is a well worn topic of conversation. Agricultural economists are professionally concerned with consumers' demand for food and the motivation of their choices. Through the years, fashions in this area of research have changed, as have the phrases used to describe it. Twenty years ago the key phrase was "food habits," later abandoned for "consumer preferences." More recently, it has become "motivation research." No matter what the name, agriculture has a stake in the results. The editors offered Miss Burk the opportunity to review some of the recent contributions to the subject, and what began as a review of several books developed into the discussion that follows.


General purpose computing systems are used for a large variety of applications. Extensive supports for flexibility in these systems limit their energy efficiencies. Neural networks, including deep networks, are widely used for signal processing and pattern recognition applications. In this paper we propose a multicore architecture for deep neural network based processing. Memristor crossbars are utilized to provide low power high throughput execution of neural networks. The system has both training and recognition (evaluation of new input) capabilities. The proposed system could be used for classification, dimensionality reduction, feature extraction, and anomaly detection applications. The system level area and power benefits of the specialized architecture is compared with the NVIDIA Telsa K20 GPGPU. Our experimental evaluations show that the proposed architecture can provide up to five orders of magnitude more energy efficiency over GPGPUs for deep neural network processing.


Myeloproliferative disorders are variable disorders, based on the genetic abnormality present and the cell line progenitors that are affected. In this case, we discuss a novel gene translocation in the subset of PDGFRB mutations, first seen with prominent hyperbasophilia. This case demonstrates the possibility for lower therapeutic doses of imatinib mesylate than previously reported, in order to control leukocyte counts and reverse the genetic mutation.


We discuss the basic concept of compartmental modelling in pharmacoki- netics and demonstrate that all the solutions admitted by multi-compartment mod- els of classical pharmacokinetics are expressed as linear combinations of exponential functions of time. This lends itself to data analysis that depends on fitting exponential functions to finite size sets. A mathematical method developed a long time ago to deal with this type of problem is called Prony's method. We discuss the usefulness of this method in pharmacokinetic modeling and apply it to a particular data set obtained for the drug mibefradil. In spite of the method's power in dealing with well-behaved data sets, we indicate the existence of severe limitations since real concentration curves coming from pharmacokinetic data are seldom purely exponential.


Babesia gibsoni is an intraerythrocytic apicomplexan parasite that causes piroplasmosis in dogs. B. gibsoni infection is characterized clinically by fever, regenerative anemia, splenomegaly, and sometimes death. Since no vaccine is available, rapid and accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment of infected animals are required to control this disease. Over the past decade, several candidate molecules have been identified using biomolecular techniques in the authors' laboratory for the development of a serodiagnostic method, vaccine, and drug for B. gibsoni. This review article describes newly identified candidate molecules and their applications for diagnosis, vaccine production, and drug development of B. gibsoni.


We show a simple, robust, chemical route to the fabrication of ultrahigh-density arrays of nanopores with high aspect ratios using the equilibrium self-assembled morphology of asymmetric diblock copolymers. The dimensions and lateral density of the array are determined by segmental interactions and the copolymer molecular weight. Through direct current electrodeposition, we fabricated vertical arrays of nanowires with densities in excess of 1.9 x 10(11) wires per square centimeter. We found markedly enhanced coercivities with ferromagnetic cobalt nanowires that point toward a route to ultrahigh-density storage media. The copolymer approach described is practical, parallel, compatible with current lithographic processes, and amenable to multilayered device fabrication.


We propose a novel construction of finite hypergraphs and relational structures that is based on reduced products with Cayley graphs of groupoids. To this end we construct groupoids whose Cayley graphs have large girth not just in the usual sense, but with respect to a discounted distance measure that contracts arbitrarily long sequences of edges within the same sub-groupoid (coset) and only counts transitions between cosets. Reduced products with such groupoids are sufficiently generic to be applicable to various constructions that are specified in terms of local glueing operations and require global finite closure. We here examine hypergraph coverings and extension tasks that lift local symmetries to global automorphisms.


Acute alcoholic hallucinosis is a psychotic disorder characterized by a predominance of auditory hallucinations with delusions and affective symptoms in the clinical picture. Classically, it develops as part of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome. The prevalence of acute alcoholic hallucinosis ranks second among alcohol-related psychoses after alcohol delirium. The study aimed to systematize the scientific data on the history of alcoholic hallucinosis, its pathogenesis, clinical presentation, and treatment approaches. A literature search was performed in PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and eLibrary. The following words and combinations were used as search strings: (alcoholic hallucinosis OR alcoholic psychosis OR alcohol-related psychosis OR alcohol-induced psychosis OR alcohol-induced psychotic disorder OR complicated alcohol withdrawal syndrome) NOT (animal OR rat OR mouse). The relevant information concerning the history of acute alcoholic hallucinosis, its pathogenesis, clinical picture, and treatment approaches was systematized and summarized. This review presents relevant findings regarding acute alcoholic hallucinosis. Limitations of the review include the use of heterogeneous and mostly descriptive studies and studies on small cohorts of patients.


ABSTRACT Zarranz Elso, M.; Manent, P.; Luque, A.; Ramdani, M., and Robaina, R.R., 2017. Genetic description and remote sensing techniques as management tools for Zostera noltii seagrass populations along the Atlantic Moroccan coast. Seagrass meadows provide an essential ecological service in coastal ecosystems worldwide, although they are sensitive to many human factors, as a serious global regression has been documented. During sampling along the Atlantic Moroccan coast, five coastal lagoons were found characterized by the presence of intertidal monospecific seagrass Zostera noltii meadows (from south to north, Nayla, Oualidia, Sidi Moussa, Moulay Bousselham, and Larache). Two descriptive methods used to characterize Z. noltii populations could be used as management tools for future monitoring implementations: (1) the estimation of surface area covered by Z. noltii meadows using remote sensing techniques and in situ field surveys, and (2) the genetic characterisation of Z. noltii populations using simple sequence repeats (microsatellites) as molecular markers. Results revealed that the Nayla lagoon showed the largest area covered by Z. noltii (269,868 m2) and the highest coverage rate (5.19%), while presenting the lowest genetic/genotypic diversity values (T = 36, Â = 3.58, G = 50; R = 0.544; He = 0.43). On the other hand, northern populations displayed lower rates of seagrass coverage (∼1%) and higher values of genetic/genotypic diversity. Further genetic characterization also revealed that Z. noltii populations seem to be highly isolated in three geographically independent regions: northern Morocco (R1, Larache and Moulay Bousselham), central Morocco (R2, Oualidia and Sidi Moussa), and southern Morocco (R3, Nayla), which should be considered independent management units. Both seagrass coverage rate and the genetic description of seagrass populations along the Atlantic Moroccan coast seem to be useful management tools that could be used to evaluate changes in seagrass meadows over time to further establish appropriate conservation strategies.


AbstractAim:To have a better understanding of the expression and regulation of versican isoforms in neural precursor cells (NPC) and oligodendrogliogenesis.Methods:By immunocytochemistry, RT-PCR, and real-time PCR, we examined the temporal expression of versican in NPC isolated from embryonic d 16 rats as well as in oligodendrocyte (OL) lineage cells induced to differentiate from NPC, which mimicked the oligodendrogliogenesis in vivo.Results:We found that versican was constitutively expressed in NPC and their lineage cells, including neurons, astrocytes, and OL. In addition, 2 versican isoforms, V1/V0 and V2, were found to express at low levels in NPC, but at significantly higher levels in OL lineage cells. The peak expression of versican V2 was found at the oligo-dendrocyte precursor cell stage. Furthermore, the treatment of 2 pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNF-α and IFN-γ, enhanced the transcription of versican V2 in NPC in a dose-dependent manner, but showed no effect on V1/V0 expression.Conclusion:Taken together, our results demonstrate that versican, particularly the inhibitory V2 isoform, is increasingly expressed in OL lineage cells induced to differentiate from NPC. An increase in versican V2 expression after cytokine stimulation implies the interplay between the injury-induced upregulation of inflammatory cytokines and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan-mediated inhibition of axonal regeneration after central nervous system injury.


Abstract. In order to evaluate the factors that influence the spatial behaviour of border agglomeration inhabitants and to relate them to the geopolitical Situation, attention is given here to three divided towns in the Baltic Sea region: Haparanda-Tornio, Narva-Ivangorod and Valga/Valka. The three cases represent different geopolitical and ethnical configurations. Boundary theory is discussed as part of (inter)action theory, with particular emphasis on the homogenizing role of the State in contrast to the (inter)action possibilities of individuals living in a border area. In the Haparanda-Tornio study case, a homogenous population on the Finnish side is compared to a more diversified ethnie grouping in Haparanda, Sweden. Here, immigrants from Finland are seen to have an action space directed towards Finland, while bilingual locals act as bridge-builders. In Narva-Ivangorod, the same Russian ethnic group lives on both sides of the boundary, but geopolitical restrictions hamper local cross-boundary interaction. Valga/Valka, in contrast, is divided according to ethnic criteria. Little motivation for border crossing appears to be given, except for the Russian speaking population, which at the same time has the greatest formal difficulties in crossing.The internal European Union borders, both recent and older, thus allow ethnie and linguistic factors to influence the action and communication space of inhabitants.The EU/non-EU boundary restricts the possibilities of local cross-boundary interaction even in situations where the population belongs to the same ethnie group.


The use of piezoelectric patches to reduce stress concentration around a hole in an isotropic plate is investigated. The objective of the research is to reduce stress concentration in the vicinity of the hole without exceeding the reduced stress concentration value anywhere else in the plate. Finite-element analysis is performed on a finite plate with a central circular hole under far-field applied tensile load. Piezoelectric patch placement in the tensile and compressive regions around the hole are considered. It is found that application of an electric field to produce inplane expansion of the piezoelectric patch can alter the compressive zone in such a way that it results in reduction of stress concentration in the tensile zone. For the given geometry, a one-third reduction in stress concentration can be achieved. The results demonstrate the feasibility of reducing stress concentration around a hole by active piezoelectric patches.


We describe a new technique for accessing a shared bus in a distributed computing environment. The load balancing bus accessing scheme can be modeled by a new station type that can be incorporated in a BCMP multiple class queueing network model of the distributed system. We show one simple means of implementing the load balancing scheme.


Congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (ccTGA) accounts for less that 1% of cardiac anomalies, and is defined as ventriculoarterial and atrioventricular (AV) discordance. The double discordant connection allows for survival with the right ventricle performing as the systemic ventricle, and the left ventricle as the pulmonary ventricle. We report a case of ccTGA in a 35-year-old male with situs inversus totalis status post repair of a ventricular septal defect (VSD) with a residual VSD, severe systemic AV valve regurgitation, and coronary artery disease who presented with chest pain. He subsequently underwent tricuspid valve replacement and VSD repair, followed by percutaneous coronary revascularization. This case highlights many important issues of adults with congenital cardiac disease, as well as the specific surgical management of anomalies associated with ccTGA. We review the literature and discuss the management of these complicated patients.


Epilepsy, one of the most common conditions affecting the brain, is characterized by neuroplasticity and brain cell energy defects. In this work, we demonstrate the ability of the Escherichia coli protein toxin cytotoxic necrotizing factor 1 (CNF1) to counteract epileptiform phenomena in inbred DBA/2J mice, an animal model displaying genetic background with an high susceptibility to induced- and spontaneous seizures. Via modulation of the Rho GTPases, CNF1 regulates actin dynamics with a consequent increase in spine density and length in pyramidal neurons of rat visual cortex, and influences the mitochondrial homeostasis with remarkable changes in the mitochondrial network architecture. In addition, CNF1 improves cognitive performances and increases ATP brain content in mouse models of Rett syndrome and Alzheimer's disease. The results herein reported show that a single dose of CNF1 induces a remarkable amelioration of the seizure phenotype, with a significant augmentation in neuroplasticity markers and in cortex mitochondrial ATP content. This latter effect is accompanied by a decrease in the expression of mitochondrial fission proteins, suggesting a role of mitochondrial dynamics in the CNF1-induced beneficial effects on this epileptiform phenotype. Our results strongly support the crucial role of brain energy homeostasis in the pathogenesis of certain neurological diseases, and suggest that CNF1 could represent a putative new therapeutic tool for epilepsy.


Coastal dunes are valuable ecological reserves providing a range of ecosystem services from coastal flood defence to recreational amenity. An important feature of dune systems is the slack floors, areas of high ecological value that are closely linked to the prevailing hydrological system in the dunes. Dune slacks are sensitive environments that are impacted by external changes, such as rainfall patterns and foreshore erosion as well as conservation management. Understanding the effects of these influences upon the water balance in a dune system is fundamental to the management of the slacks. Occurrence of seasonal flood depths, area and timing and how far the water table recedes below ground in summer are critical to the flora and fauna that the slacks will support. Change in the hydrological regime directly impacts the ecosystem. Experience is drawn from four sites in Wales and west coast England: Ainsdale on the Sefton Coast, Newborough Warren in North Wales, Whiteford Burrows in South Wales and Braunton Burrows in North Devon. Similarities and differences between the hydroecology of the respective sites highlight common mechanisms and processes and those unique to each site. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Measures in the rivers, their potential to mitigate morphological alterations caused by overflow events of urban drainage structures and their cost-effectiveness have been investigated. The receiving water is seen as part of the urban wastewater system since integrated management of the system has to consider measures in the receiving water as an option for improvement of the system. In this study the measures were evaluated using the software tool REBEKA. It has been found that increase of combined sewer overflow storage volume is less cost-effective than the investigated in-stream measures. Bed paving with coarse material is an effective and cheap method to reduce erosion problems. Reduction of slope required the smallest relative changes but has to be transferred into applicable methods like 'increase of meandering'. The effectiveness of the methods for reduction of slope as well as of the measure 'channel widening' strongly depends on the dimension of the erosion problem- their applicability is limited for huge impacts. Evaluation of measures in different sub systems of the wastewater system with simulation tools can reveal interesting alternatives. Measures in the receiving water can be cost-effective and enhance the ecological quality which is an important aspect in the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive


Handoff has become an essential criterion in mobile communication system especially in urban areas, owing to the limited coverage area of Access Points (AP). Handover of calls between two BS is encountered frequently and it is essentially required to minimize the delay of the process. Many solutions attempting to improve this process have been proposed but only a few use geo-location systems in the management of the handover. Here we propose to minimize the handoff latency by minimizing the number of APs scanned by the mobile node (MN) during each handoff procedure. We consider the whole topographical area as a two dimensional plane. We assume hexagonal coverage area of an AP with the AP situated at the center. By GPS, we can note down the co- ordinates of the MN at any instant. Segmenting the hexagon into 6 segments with 60 0 coverage area for each, we determine the trajectory of the MN by GPS. Hence the direction of motion of the MN can be determined, which in turns gives the AP towards which the MN is heading towards. This reduces the number of APs to be scanned. Thus, on an overall basis, the handoff latency can be reduced by almost half to one third of its value.


Atratoxin, a new alpha-neurotoxin purified to homogeneity by a series of liquid chromatographies from the venom of Naja naja atra (mainland Chinese cobra), is a small single-polypeptide alkaline protein with a pI of about 9.5 and molecular weight of 6952 Da estimated by mass spectrometry. Although the sequencing of the N-terminal 15 residues (LECHNQQTTQQPEGG) shows that this neurotoxic protein contains most of the residues, especially at the conserved positions, of the consensus sequence of short-chain alpha-neurotoxins, the natural mutations in the N-terminal Loop-1 presented by the sequence alignment may have structural or functional implications for the interactions between alpha-neurotoxins and related receptors. Single crystals of atratoxin have been grown from drops containing the necessary Cu(2+) ions by the conventional hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystals diffract X-rays to 1.6 A resolution and belong to space group C222(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 47.36, b = 47.83, c = 91.31 A, corresponding to a volume-to-mass ratio of 1.85 A(3) Da(-1) and two molecules in each asymmetric unit.


Author(s): Trujillo, Larry | Abstract: Capitalist agricultural production in Parlier, California, followed the lead set by mining (industrial in organization and technique) and expeditiously shifted from extensive to intensive production. Each successive transformation was stimulated by technological changes and brought agriculture further in line with industrial production. Parlier's introduction of raisin production as an intensive cash crop is a case in point. Only with the technological innovations of irrigation and refrigerated freight cars was such change possible. This paper shows the role of these technological changes in the emergence of class relations in Parlier. A crucial point of the paper is the fact that intensive cultivation required large capital investments and increased labor. Thus, greater emphasis was placed on the creation of a cheap, exploitable labor force. And, most importantly, this labor force was racial in form.In succession, the Chinese, Japanese, and Mexicans filled the demand for labor. From its beginning, therefore, Parlier's labor force was composed of racial minority workers. The racial stratification created here did have a material basis in the organization of agricultural production and was rationalized or justified by an evolving racial ideology. By the 1960's the steady growth of permanent, and even majority, Chicano population in Parlier led to greater stability and cohesiveness among Chicanos. This, in turn, provided the basis for the type of political mobilization that resulted in the political revolt of 1972. This paper, while presenting a local case study of capitalist agricultural development, also contributes to laying the historical groundwork for understanding why the Chicano political revolt would eventually occur.Note: This working paper was originally published in 1978 by the Institute for the Study of Social Change, now the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues.


Gender, racial, and ethnic gaps in wages are well known, but group disparities in employer-provided benefits, which account for one-quarter of total compensation, are not. We use benefit costs data to study levels and trends in gender, racial, and ethnic gaps in voluntary employer-provided benefits. Analyzing Employer Costs for Employee Compensation microdata on wages and benefit costs for the years 1982 to 2015, matched to Current Population Survey files by wage decile in the industrial sector, we find that (1) benefit gaps were wider than wage gaps for minorities but were narrower for gender, (2) racial and ethnic gaps in benefits increased faster than wage gaps, and (3) the gender gap in benefits decreased faster than the wage gap. We show that these findings reflect the types of jobs women, blacks, and Hispanics have held for the past three decades.


When cells are treated with a toxicant, cytotoxic and DNA damaging effects might appear. In most cases cytotoxic effects and DNA damage are linked, but for some compounds there is no cytotoxic effect but only DNA damage and these agents are of particular interest in risk assessments. Therefore, when evaluating cytotoxicity and genotoxicity, it is important to determine the relationship between those two effects regarding the concentration in which they are detected. The aim of the present study was to use HepG2 cells to evaluate catechol's cytotoxicity and genotoxicity. Cytotoxicity was determined using ATP assay and DNA damage was assessed using comet assay, employing a protocol used by for example AstraZeneca safety assessment. Cytotoxicity can be caused by oxidative stress due to inhibition of mitochondrial activity, depletion of glutathione and production of ROS. DNA damage can be caused by oxidative damage and formation of DNA adducts. Catechol also induces apoptosis.Cells were cultured for 48 hours before exposure to catechol. For the ATP assay, cells were exposed to 1 mM, 2 mM, 3 mM and 6 mM catechol for 24h and luminescence was recorded. Concentrations from 1 mM catechol showed significant cytotoxicity after 24 hours of exposure (P < 0.001). From 3 mM catechol, almost no viability was detected from the cells. To measure DNA damage, cells were exposed to 0.5 mM, 1 mM, 2 mM, 3 mM and 6 mM catechol for 3 hours. Only cells treated with concentrations from 3 mM showed significant DNA damage, compared to untreated cells (P<0,01).HepG2 cells were found to be more sensitive to catechol induced cytotoxicity than to DNA damage because higher concentrations of catechol were needed to induce significant DNA damage. HepG2 cells are known to have low enzymatic metabolism, and since o-benzoquinone, an active metabolite from catechol also induces DNA damage, it can explain why higher concentrations are needed to obtain DNA damage. However, the observed concentration differences are most likely explained by the different exposure times used in the two different assays (3 hours for comet assay and 24 hours for ATP assay).


Asserting that the term "corporatist" is poorly suited and not very useful in describing the Brazilian case, the author employs an institutional approach to propose a typology that is polarized between legislated and contractualist models of labor relations. The argument is that the Brazilian model is characteristically "legislated" and grounded on the analysis of what is called the "three normative spaces of labor relations", that is, the law, collective contracts, and company norms defined unilaterally by the employer. Based on the "division of labor" of these normative spaces, the article shows (a) how the legislated model has reproduced itself and ratified the subordination of social legislation to labor law and (b) how labor laws subordinate and inspire collective contracts (and even informal labor contracts) while also limiting and informing managers' imaginations in the creation of labor norms defined unilaterally by companies.


Initial tests are described of a high-resolution smallangle X-ray scattering apparatus adapted for operation at high photon energies. The energy chosen was 50 keV, and was limited by the available source. All orders of scattering out to the seventh were observed from a sample of 0-9 ~m diameter latex spheres in a 4 h experiment. Phase separation in a binary AI-Li alloy was studied by the observation of spherical AI3Li precipitates. This demonstrates that the use of perfect-crystal collimators and analyzers yields a resolution function which does not depend on photon energy. New sources of high-energy photons will make such an apparatus invaluable for the study of highly absorbing samples, or samples in difficult environments such as ovens or high-pressure cells.


KUTUP-L is a discussion list that emerged in 1991 as the first debate list of our field in our country and is still actively being used. In this study, the topics of the messages sent in the first four months of 2017 to the KUTUP-L list are examined. The findings were compared with Karabulut (2010), which is a similar study on KUTUP-L, in order to find out whether there are any changes in the subjects of the messages. The messages that were sent to IFLA-L, which is a similar international discussion list in the field, in the same period with KUTUP-L were analysed to obtain if the international communication is different. The findings show that both of the lists are actively used for announcement purposes. While the messages most frequently found in KUTUP-L are death / condolence, congratulations, and congratulatory messages, messages that are sent to IFLA-L mostly aims to make conference announcements. The comparison with the Karabulut (2010) study, which analyses the subject of messages that were sent to KUTUP-L almost 10 years ago, shows that the topics that are most frequently sent to the list have not changed. While the percent of non-field messages for the period 2005-2008 was 44%, it was 38% for the year 2017. Findings of this study show that the lists are not used to discuss important or current issues in the area.


Recently research into new terahertz (0.3 to 30 THz) light sources has gained a lot of interest. Especially compact sources capable of delivering high peak fields (?? 1 MV/cm), in a short pulse. To achieve this,we will use short relativistic electron bunches, created by photoemission and accelerated in an rf-photogun, to create THz light by means of coherent transition radiation. Because wavelengths smaller and comparable to the bunch length add up coherently, the intensity scales with N2, with N the number of electrons in the bunch. In the first experiments we expect to create THz light pulses with a bandwidth of 1 THz and 1 µJ per pulse. If such a light pulse is focused on a spot of radius 250 µm, this corresponds to peak electrical fields of 1 MV/cm. The eventual goal is to increase the bandwidth of the source, by creating shorter electron bunches. This will be accomplished by choosing a suitable radial laser profile, leading to ellipsoidal electron bunches, which can be focused and compressed very effectively. Eventually this will lead to THz pulses with a bandwidth of 10 THz and energy of 100 µJ. This corresponds to peak electrical fields of 10 MV/cm and higher.


This paper describes a developmental sequence that allows a humanoid robot to learn about the shape of its body and successively about certain parts of the environment. We equipped the humanoid robot with an initial set of motor and perceptual competencies ranging from simple stereotyped actions to more sophisticated visual routines providing a bottom-up attention system. This initial form of sensorimotor coordination is sufficient to initiate the interaction with the environment and allows the robot to improve its motor and perceptual skills by first constructing a "body-schema" and later by learning about objects. The body-schema allows controlling movements to fixate, reach and touch objects in the environment. The interaction is further used to form a visual model of the objects grasped by the robot which eventually modulate the attention system in a top-down way. In another experiment we show an initial effort to study the acquisition of object affordances. We discuss the importance of sensorimotor coordination as a required step not only for the control of action but also, and more importantly, for perceptual development


The iterates of the real rational function are studied in their dependence on the parameters . The parameter ranges corresponding to regular and chaotic dynamical behaviour of the system are determined. In particular, an analogue of Jakobson's theorem is proved for a two-parameter family of one-dimensional maps close to a certain map with a neutral fixed point.


We have developed and implemented a method which given a three-dimensional object can infer from topology the two-dimensional masks needed to produce that object with surface micromachining. The masks produced by this design tool can be generic, process independent masks, or if given process constraints, specific for a target process. This design tool calculates the two-dimensional mask set required to produce a given three-dimensional model by investigating the vertical topology to the model. The 3D model is first separated into bodies that are non-intersecting, made from different materials or only linked through a ground plane. Next, for each body unique vertical cross sections are located and arranged into a tree based on their topological relationship. A branch-wise search of the tree uncovers locations where deposition boundaries must lie and identifies candidate masks creating a generic mask set for the 3D model. Finally, in the last step specific process requirements are considered that may constrain the generic mask set. Constraints can include the thickness or number of deposition layers, specific ordering of masks as required by a process and type of material used in a given layer. Candidate masks are reconciled with the process constraints through a constrained optimization.


A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into electrical power. Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) is one type of wind turbine where the main rotor shaft is set vertically and it can capture wind from any direction. The aim of this work is to develop a theoretical model for the design and performance of Darrieus type vertical axis wind turbine for small scale energy applications. A small 3 bladed turbine (prototype) is constructed and investigated the performance for low wind velocity. The model is based on NACA 0018 airfoil & light wood is used as blade material. The full scale Vertical Axis Wind Turbine is made for 36 inch height, 24 inch diameter, blade cord length is 3.937 inch & blade height is 24 inch. A 100 watt 24 volt brushless DC motor is used to measure output power. The whirling speed of blade & electric power output for the corresponding speed is measured through Tachometer & Wattmeter. The power curves show the relation between the rotational wind speed of the turbine and the power produced for a range of wind speeds. This approach indicates to develop vertical axis wind turbine with better performance to meet the increasing power demand.


Background The hormone estrogen can prevent osteoclast differentiation and suppress osteoclastic activity, which can prevent tooth relapse movement. Wheat seeds are a natural material containing phytoestrogens with similar characteristics to estrogen. Objective This study intends to determine the influence of wheat seeds in reducing osteoclastogenesis following orthodontic tooth movement (OTM). Materials and methods Forty male Sprague Dawley rats were used in this experimental study. The rats were divided into control and treatment groups (n=20). In both groups, the rat maxillary incisors were moved distally using a 0.012 U stainless steel orthodontic appliance with a 2 mm diameter coil and 5 mm wire length. The treatment group received wheat seeds at a dose of 0.6 gram/day. The animals were sacrificed at days 0, 1, 7, and 14 after using the orthodontic appliance (4 subgroups according to observations of days; n=5). RANKL and OPG expressions were determined from the gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) samples using ELISA analysis. Statistical analysis of the data collected was calculated with the independent sample t-test (P<0.05). Results All the experimental procedures were well-tolerated and did not change the animals' weight. On days 7 and 14, the OTM rate of the treatment group was significantly lower than the control group (P<0.05). ELISA test results showed that the OPG level was significantly higher on days 1, 7, and 14, while the RANKL level was considerably lower on day 14 in the wheat seeds group compared with the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Wheat seeds can promote osteoclastogenesis inhibition and delay OTM.


The literature on counterfactuals is dominated by strict accounts (SA) and variably strict accounts (VSA). Counterexamples to the principle of Antecedent Strengthening were thought to be fatal to SA; but it has been shown that by adding dynamic resources to the view, such examples can be accounted for. We broaden the debate between VSA and SA by focusing on a new strengthening principle, Strengthening with a Possibility. We show dynamic SA classically validates this principle. We give a counterexample to it and show that extra dynamic resources cannot help SA. We then show VSA accounts for the counterexample if it allows for orderings on worlds that are not almost-connected, and that such an ordering naturally falls out of a Kratzerian ordering source semantics. We conclude that the failure of Strengthening with a Possibility tells strongly against Dynamic SA and in favor of an ordering source-based version of VSA.


The article contains brief information from the life and scientific work of the founders of forest breeding, who worked in Voronezh. On the initiative of N.P. Kobranov in 1919, on the basis of Voronezh Agricultural Institute, a forestry department was opened, which was later transformed into the forestry faculty, and since 1930 Voronezh Forestry Institute (now VSUFT) was organized. The main scientific work of N.P. Kobranov is the country's first publication on forest selection - the monograph "Oak selection" (1925), which also outlined possible ways of selection development of forest woody plants in general. Further, his associates and colleagues were engaged in the introduction and selection of forest tree species in the pre-war period: O.G. Kapper ("Study of ecotypes of tree species", 1946; "Conifers", 1954, etc.) and S.A. Samofal (manuscript of his doctoral dissertation "Heredity and variability of forest species and their im-portance for forest growing", 1938, etc.). Then a huge contribution to the development of forest breeding in the country was made by M.M. Veresin ("Forest seed production", 1963; "Centennial experience of afforestation in the Savalsky forestry", 1963; "Forests of Voronezh", 1971; a new program for forest selection for universities, 1966, etc.). He is the author of grandiose experiments on the geographical planting of Scots pine on an area of about 40 hectares, including more than 350 origins. In addition, he created oak, nut, Karelian birch, seed plantations and collections of hybrids of different tree species. He developed a number of new highly productive poplar hybrids. The director of the Voronezh Forestry Institute V.I. Rubtsov, who himself laid large-scale experimental field facilities for Scots pine forest plantations. Vasily Ivanovich played an important role in the creation of Central Institute of Forest Genetics and Breeding in Voronezh. Among the well-known successors of forest selection work in the country is the director of All-Union Scientific Production Association "Soyuzlesselektsiya" A.I


BACKGROUND
Although unique DNA sequences related to gammaherpesviruses have been found in Kaposi's sarcoma lesions, it is uncertain whether this DNA encodes a virus that is able to reproduce.

METHODS
We isolated and propagated a filterable agent whose DNA sequences were found to be identical to those of the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). We obtained early-passage spindle cells from skin lesions of patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) who had Kaposi's sarcoma and cultured them with cells of the human embryonal-kidney epithelial-cell line 293. We characterized the virus according to its effects on cellular morphology and viral replication and its appearance on electron microscopy.

RESULTS
KSHV was cytotoxic to 293 cells and was detected by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in infected cells but not uninfected ones. Cytotoxicity and positive PCR signals were consistently maintained with viral titers of 1 million per milliliter, for about 20 serial infections of 293 cells. The viral copy number was relatively low (1 to 10 copies per cell). Viral replication was confirmed by Southern blot analysis of DNA isolated from the enriched nuclear fraction of infected cells and by a semiquantitative PCR using dilutions of the lysates of infected cells to detect the 233-bp viral DNA fragment originally described in association with Kaposi's lesions. Electron microscopy revealed herpesvirus-like particles in about 1 percent of cells from infected cultures, as compared with none in cells from uninfected cultures.

CONCLUSIONS
A herpesvirus with DNA sequences identical to those of KSHV can be propagated from skin lesions of patients with AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma.


2 Abstract: A study was carried out to evaluate the change in serum biochemical profile of broiler chickens experimentally infected with Ascaridia galli on treatment with powdered leaves of neem and pineapple and with piperazin hydrate. The control and birds treated with piperazine, neem and pineapple show changes in the level of glucose, cholesterol, total protein, albumin, magnesium, potassium and SGPT. The piperazine treated groups can resist better the decreased in the glucose level compare to the groups treated with neem and pineapple. The serum cholesterol level of the control and treated birds shows increased in level while the total protein and albumin contents decreased in control and treated groups. However the decreased in the neem treated group was higher for total protein while the pipeapple treated group shows higher decrease in the level of albumin. The serum level of the potassium and SGPT level also changes in control as well as treated groups.


The basic intent of this study is to reveal existing level of service quality of some Nepalese commercial banks. The customer perception to measure bank services quality within five dimensions; tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy are considered as to service quality model introduced by Parashuranman et. al. in 1988. This study is a descriptive in nature and uses primary data collected through personally administered questionnaire survey with customers of some selected commercial banks including public and private banks. The questionnaire includes 22 questions in total for five dimensions. The sample size of the study is 82 respondents of the banks selected on convenience basis. The analysis consist descriptive statistics and t-test in order to meet the study objectives.


Introduction Treatment possibilities have changed in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We assessed changes in medical treatment and surgery over time and impact of medications on risk of surgery in a population-based cohort. Methods 48 967 individuals were diagnosed with IBD (Crohn's disease (CD), 13 185; ulcerative colitis (UC), 35 782) during 1979–2011. Cumulative probability of receiving 5-aminosalicylic acids (5-ASA), topical, oral corticosteroids, thiopurines, and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) blockers, and of first minor or major surgery according to period of diagnosis, was estimated. Medication use and risk of surgery was examined by Cox regression. Results 5-year cumulative probability of first major surgery decreased from 44.7% in cohort (1979–1986) to 19.6% in cohort (2003–2011) (p < 0.001) for CD, and from 11.7% in cohort (1979–1986) to 7.5% in cohort (2003–2011) (p < 0.001) for UC. Minor surgery risk decreased significantly in CD. From cohort (1995–2002) to cohort (2003–2011), a significant increase in use of thiopurines and TNF-α blockers was observed, paralleled by a significant decrease in use of 5-ASA and corticosteroids. Comparing use of azathioprine (or oral corticosteroids) to never-use, no convincing surgery-sparing effect was found. Comparing use in 3+ months of a given drug with use <3 months, only 3+ months use of oral corticosteroids reduced the risk of surgery in patients with disease duration of >1 year. Conclusions Parallel to an increasing use of thiopurines and TNF-α blockers in IBD over time, a persistent significant decrease in surgery rates was observed along with a significant decrease in use of 5-ASA and corticosteroids. However, no convincing surgery-sparing effect of newer medications was found.


Graphene shows unique super-conductive properties and graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with band gaps are the candidates for a sensing component of highly sensitive strain sensors. Usually, there is a large energy barrier between electrodes and semiconductors which is not suitable for electron transfer. Therefore, ohmic contact between them is indispensable for fabricating electronic applications. In order to achieve the ohmic contact between external electrodes and detective elements in the devices, the dumbbell-shaped structure of GNRs was proposed for the basic structure of the GNR-based strain sensors, dubbed as dumbbell-shape GNR (DS-GNR). It consists of a long narrow GNR at the center of the structure as the sensing element coalesced with two wider GNRs at both ends of the narrow GNR as the contact components to external electrodes. Both narrow and wide segments of DS-GNR consist of only carbon atoms. The effect of the interaction in the vicinity of the junction area between wide metallic and narrow semiconductive GNRs, however, has not been clearly demonstrated. In this study, first-principles calculations were implemented to the analysis of the electronic band structure of the DS-GNR. It was found that the localized distribution of the energy states of electrons exists in the wide segment of DS-GNR. The changes varied from wide to narrow segment is smooth and observable as strong functions of the length and the width of DS-GNRs. The current-voltage characteristics showed curved semiconductive-like electronic properties with a smooth-electron flow in DS-GNR. Therefore, the DS-GNR has great potential for the use of next-generation highly sensitive and deformable strain sensors.


Nanomaterial layer plays a vital role in forming the biological interface between the host and tissue engineered constructs. Size may change the potential interfacial strength of the construct. For the potential treatment of osteoarthritis in the knee, cartilage has been engineered using photopolymerizable, hydrogel-based scaffolding approaches; however there remains a need for enhanced anchorage of the engineered tissue to the underlying subchondral bone. Previous studies have taken approaches based on the principles of mechanical fixation, protein biochemistry and polymer science in order to form novel strategies of integration but have demonstrated limited success in terms of hydrogel retention within the defect space. In this paper, we have demonstrated the integration of a tissue engineered model with the native tissue with the help of a thin layer of bio ceramic hydroxyapatite nanoparticles between the host tissue and the tissue engineered construct.


BACKGROUND
Subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma is as yet a poorly characterized subtype of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. It is difficult to diagnose and lacks a standard treatment protocol.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We report our experience with five such cases in patients with age ranging from 13 to 45 years, wherein we reviewed their clinical presentations, histopathological findings, treatment and clinical outcome.

RESULTS
Three out of the five cases are alive of which two are in complete remission. Our series stresses on the need to be aware of this uncommon entity in a dermatology clinic. Facial and upper extremity skin nodules with involvement of the lower dermis on light microscopical examination and suggestive immunohistochemical findings were frequently observed in our patients in contrast to previously described cases.


The energy storage of Electric Vehicles (EVs) can be utilized by Smart Grid through Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) that allows EVs to feed energy stored in their batteries back to the grid as needed. Combining V2G and the mobility of vehicles, EVs can provide a natural energy transmission system called EV energy network. The main idea of this paper focus on how to schedule and allocate energy from energy sources to places where energy is needed. The features of energy route in EV energy network are analyzed and a greedy algorithm based on the hypergraph is presented. Simulations using real-world transporting data in Manhattan and the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority(PVTA). Simulations show that this method is efficient.


Poverty has long been recognized as a socio-economic problem. Objective analyses of a quantitative nature are a crucial prerequisite to understanding the nature of poverty, where social and personal sentiments play a role of their own, next to political considerations. One of the first comprehensive attempts to assess the nature of poverty with a view to alleviate its consequences was a three volume series by Sir Frederick Morton Eden in 1779 titled The State of the Poor. Next to an evaluation of Morton Eden's significance then and now, this book discusses how perceptions of poverty have developed since that time. A proper understanding of causes of poverty, indispensable for developing policies to alleviate it, requires a quantitative grasp on the subject that only statistics can provide. The present book provides eloquent proofs of this necessity, not from a single, static point of view, but from a variety of legitimate, but differing perspectives.


This paper provides an overview of some studies on image recognition of crops, plants and woodlands. For image recognition in these areas, various methods of preprocessing, computer vision, and deep learning are used. The publications on the recognition, classification of fruits and vegetables in orchards, on the automation of grain harvesting are considered, articles on the recognition of agricultural plants based on leaf images are analyzed. Articles on the development of mobile systems for monitoring and recognizing the process of growing mushrooms based on the "green house" technology for farms are presented. The work on recognition, classification of forests, water resources using hyperspectral analysis of satellite images is described.


In order to elucidate the intrinsic defects of inflammatory cells in adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), 10 ARDS patients, 6 non-ARDS respiratory failure patients and 30 healthy controls were included in this study. The peripheral blood neutrophils (PBNs) were isolated from heparinized venous blood. Human alveolar neutrophils (HANs) were taken during bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Chemiluminescence was then measured with a luminometer (LKB Wallac) and antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) was assayed using a Cr51 cytotoxic assay. The bacterial killing test utilized heparinized PBNs and Staphylococcus aureus. The results showed that the chemiluminescence of PBNs and HANs was higher in ARDS patients than in the normal control group (p < 0.05). However, ADCC levels in the PBNs and HANs of ARDS patients were much lower than in normal subjects (p < 0.01). The bacterial killing ability of PBNs was also impaired in ARDS patients, compared with either the normal control subjects or non-ARDS respiratory failure patients. In conclusion, chemiluminescence is increased in both PBNs and HANs of ARDS patients, which could partly explain the pathogenesis of acute lung injury. Furthermore, the suppression of ADCC in both PBNs and HANs as well as the impaired bacterial killing of PBNs may explain the impaired bacterial defenses and the consequent increase in pulmonary infection among ARDS patients.


This article addresses the research question: How is uncertainty affecting project portfolios managed in dynamic environments? The management of four portfolios was studied in two large multidivisional corporations. The portfolios were characterized by a high degree of uncertainty and many interdependencies between the projects. The results of this research indicate that the sources of change go beyond the two groups identified in The PMI Standard for Portfolio Management (Project Management Institute, 2006), that is, (a) Portfolio Performance and (b) Business Strategy Changes. The sensing mechanisms put in place by both companies primarily addressed uncertainty related to project scope.


In this dissertation, we address three different problems in high-throughput metagenomics and cheminformatics.(1) Metagenomics studies the genomic content of an entire microbial community by simultaneously sequencing all genomes in an environmental sample. The advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies has drastically reduced sequencing time and cost, leading to the generation of millions of sequences (reads) in a single run. An important problem in metagenomic analysis is to determine and quantify species (or genomes) in a metagenomic sample. The problem is challenging due to an unknown number of genomes and their abundance ratios, presence of repeats and sequencing errors, and the short length of NGS reads. We propose two algorithms to address these challenges. First, we present an algorithm for separating short paired-end reads from genomes with similar abundance levels. Second, we propose a method to accurately estimate the abundance levels of species. The algorithm automatically determines the number of abundance groups in a metagenomic dataset and bins the reads into these groups.(2) NGS coupled with metagenomics has led to the rapid growth of sequence databases and enabled a new branch of microbiology called comparative metagenomics. It is a fast growing field that requires the development of novel supervised learning techniques. In particular, the problem of microbial community classification may have useful applications enabling efficient organization and search in rapidly growing metagenomic databases, detection of disease phenotypes in clinical samples, and forensic identification. We propose a novel supervised classification method for metagenomic samples that takes advantage of the natural structure in microbial community data encoded by a phylogenetic tree.(3) In modern drug discovery, ultra-high-throughput screening is applied to millions of drug-like compounds in one experiment. Hierarchical clustering is an important step in the drug discovery process. Standard implementations of the exact algorithm for hierarchical clustering require O(n 2 ) time and O(n 2 ) memory. Even though approximate hierarchical clustering methods overcome this problem, they either rely on embedding into spaces that are not biologically sensible, or produce very low resolution hierarchical structures. We present a hybrid hierarchical clustering algorithm requiring approximately O(n sqrt(n)) time and O(n sqrt(n)) memory while still preserving the most desirable properties of the exact algorithm.


The American Committee on Immunization Practices recommends the use of the oral cholera vaccine (OCV) in international travelers aged 18-64 years who visit areas of active cholera transmission. CDC Travelers' Health Branch currently tracks areas of active cholera transmission and posts this information on their country-specific destination web pages at https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/list. Lessons learned from a webinar conducted among health care providers have led to improvements in how CDC shares information on the OCV. Here, we summarize the major considerations for providers offering the OCV to U.S. travelers and indicate where they can find more information.


SYNOPSIS A total of 52 patients with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of alcohol dependence syndrome underwent successful detoxification. Two to three weeks later they were examined for the presence of abnormal involuntary movements and rated with the abnormal involuntary movements scale (AIMS). They were also assessed with subtests from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAISR), namely, visual reproduction from memory, digit symbols substitution and the vocabulary test. Twenty-nine had evidence of orofacial dyskinesia and the presence of such movements was strongly associated with visuospatial deficits.


A hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testbed for testing and evaluating experimental hydraulic transformers has been developed. The testbed is capable of emulating a variety of loading conditions specified by the desired work cycle operation of various hydraulic machines, such as humanoid robots or excavators. The HIL testbed is a useful research tool as it allows studying the dynamics of many desired loading conditions without having to obtain and reconfigure the said physical hardware for each case. This paper discusses the background, construction, and control of the HIL testbed with the experimental results. Preliminary results demonstrating the functionality of an experimental switch mode hydraulic transformers are also presented.


In this paper we describe time series forecasting which is used for determining future predictions. Any variable that is measured over time in sequential order is called a time series. We analyze time series to detect patterns. The patterns help in forecasting future values of the time series. Many quantities in nature fluctuate in time. Examples are the stock market, the weather, seismic waves, sunspots, heartbeats, and plant and animal populations. Until recently it was assumed that such fluctuations are a consequence of random and unpredictable events. With the discovery of chaos, it has come to be understood that some of these cases may be a result of deterministic chaos and hence predictable in the short term and amenable to simple modeling. Many tests have been developed to determine whether a time series is random or chaotic, and if the latter, to quantify the chaos. If chaos is found, it may be possible to improve the short-term predictability and enhance understanding of the governing process. Forecasting is fundamental to decision-making. There are three main methods:? Subjective forecasting is based on experience, intuition, guesswork and a good supply of envelope-backs.? Extrapolation is forecasting with a rule where past trends are simply projected into the future.? Causal modeling (cause and effect) uses established relationships to predict, for example, sales on the basis of advertising or prices.


When i started thinking of designing a Kunsthaus in
Innsbruck i had a clear idea about presenting art to
the public, but so far i had no picture of an
architectural language in mind, how to translate my
thoughts in the urban context. My educational
background was characterized by european
architecture. Travelling e.g. Los Angeles and Brazil
gave me a completely new and different understanding
of architecture. Finally i got the picture! A white
box entering through a tiny entrance and exit space
does not help. Either a charming exterior skin does
not solve the situation. The theme of i n s i d e &
o u t s i d e, i n t e r a c t i o n and the t r
a n s i t i o n and f l o w of
space led to a promissing result.


The microcommands constituting the microprogram of the control memory of a microprogrammed processor can be partitioned into a number of disjoint sets. Some of these sets are then encoded to minimize the word width of the ROM storing the microprogram. A further reduction in the width of the ROM words can be achieved by a technique known as bit steering where one or more bits are shared by two or more sets of microcommands. These sets are called the steerable sets. This correspondence presents a simple method for the detection and encoding of steerable sets. It has been shown that the concurrency matrix of two steerable sets exhibits definite patterns of clusters which can be easily recognized. A relation "connection" has been defined which helps in the detection of three-set steerability. Once steerable sets are identified, their encoding becomes a straightforward procedure following the location of the identifying clusters on the concurrency matrix or matrices.


The modern Pabelan Islamic boarding school has received awards in relation to community welfare development including the international Aga Khan Award and the Kalpataru Environment national award. The noble values in the pesantren culture that are to be implanted in the Pabelan modern Islamic boarding school require further exploration so that the strengthening of character education (PPK) based on the culture of the pesantren has various alternatives according to the specifics of each, especially those related to the process of cultivating social values in extra-curricular activities. The case study research in a qualitative approach concludes that the internalization of social values in Panca Jiwa, the motto of the boarding school and its educational orientation has been evident in the culture of Pesantren in extracurricular activities of trilingual speech and scouting with active participation of all parties in the pesantren and clear rules and regulations. hence strengthening the interaction between the community and the pesantren is needed by actively involving the community in extracurricular activities as a whole. Collective and individual initial guidance for new santri on societal values also has a positive impact on the internalization of the pesantren culture for each Pabelan Pesantren student on an ongoing basis.


This thesis examines the relationship between gender and the production of geographical
knowledge. It provides a critical analysis of women's positions within Portuguese Geography
from 1955 to 1974, a time when Salazar's dictatorship sought to impose severe restrictions on
women's horizons.
The originality of this work relies not only on the time frame under scrutiny but also in
the fact that a work of this kind has never previously been attempted. In the Portuguese
geographical context, contrary to its Anglo-American counterpart, feminist historiography is
not a well-established field. As such, this study not only intends to incorporate women into the
history of the discipline, making it more inclusive, but also to contribute to a growing interest
and expansion of the field in Portugal.
This study addresses the history of the discipline, questions of gender, patriarchy and
women's positionality through the lenses of critical postcolonial and feminist geographies. It
establishes the need to introduce feminist perspectives into scholarship and teaching about
histories of geographical knowledge. It contributes to a new chapter in the history of Portuguese
Geography and a larger awareness of other voices in the geographical panorama.


Purpose: We wanted to evaluate the value of intravenous contrast enhanced abdomen-pelvis computed tomography (CT) for diagnosing acute appendicitis and we wanted to determine which patients groups will benefit from preoperative CT. Methods: Between January and June 2006, the medical records of 354 patients who had clinically suspected acute appendicitis were retrospectively reviewed. Appendectomy was performed in 260 patients and CT was conducted in 108 patients of the 260 patients. The 5㎜ slice CT scans were evaluated for the presence of appendicitis. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of CT were calculated. The negative appendectomy rate (NAR) was compared between the patients with CT scans and those without CT scans. Furthermore, the patients were classified into the children and adults groups and the male and female groups and the differences of the NARs were analyzed for each group. Results: The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 95%, 93% and 94%, respectively. The NAR was lower for the patients with a CT scan (12%) compared to 27% for those patients without CT scans (P=0.002). The difference of the NAR between the preoperative CT group and the without CT group was statistically significant for the female (P=0.004) and adult groups (P=0.012) (14% vs 36%, 11% vs 26%, respectively). Conclusion: Preoperative intravenous contrast enhanced abdomen-pelvis CT was effective in reducing the negative appendectomy rate in patients who were suspected of having acute appendicitis. Especially, the adults and women benefit more from CT scanning and they had a significantly lower negative appendectomy rate than the children and men, respectively.


A regenerative mechanism is proposed which can lead to unlimited multiplication of disclinations. This mechanism consists of a glissile segment of a disclination pinned by two sessile ``jogs'', and therefore is similar to a Frank‐Read source for dislocations. It is also possible to have a U‐mill, Z‐mill, and L‐mill for disclination multiplication. It is further shown that a single source can give rise to disclinations of opposite signs (and this allows rotation in both directions of that part of the crystal above the source, relative to the part below), depending upon the direction in which the source operates.


Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is a neurological disease characterized by symptoms and signs of increased intracranial pressure (ICP) of unknown cause. Most attention has been given to the role of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) disturbance and intracranial venous hypertension caused by sinus vein stenosis. We previously proposed that key pathophysiological processes take place within the brain at the glia-neuro-vascular interface. However, the relative importance of the proposed mechanisms in IIH disease remains unknown. Modern treatment regimens aim to reduce intracranial CSF and venous pressures, but a substantial proportion of patients experience lasting complaints. In 2010, the first author established a database for the prospective collection of information from individuals being assessed for IIH. The database incorporates clinical, imaging, physiological, and biological data, and information about treatment/outcome. This study retrieved information from the database, asking the following research questions: In IIH subjects responding to shunt surgery, what is the occurrence of signs of CSF disturbance, sinus vein stenosis, intracranial hypertension, and microscopic evidence of structural abnormalities at the glia-neuro-vascular interface? Secondarily, do semi-quantitative measures of abnormal ultrastructure at the glia-neurovascular differ between subjects with definite IIH and non-IIH (reference) subjects? The study included 13 patients with IIH who fulfilled the diagnostic criteria and who improved following shunt surgery, i.e., patients with definite IIH. Comparisons were done regarding magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, pulsatile and static ICP scores, and immune-histochemistry microscopy. Among these 13 IIH subjects, 6/13 (46%) of patients presented with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signs of CSF disturbance (empty sella and/or distended perioptic subarachnoid spaces), 0/13 (0%) of patients with IIH had MRI signs of sinus vein stenosis, 13/13 (100%) of patients with IIH presented with abnormal preoperative pulsatile ICP [overnight mean ICP wave amplitude (MWA) above thresholds], 3/13 (23%) patients showed abnormal static ICP (overnight mean ICP above threshold), and 12/13 (92%) of patients with IIH showed abnormal structural changes at the glia-neuro-vascular interface. Comparisons of semi-quantitative structural variables between IIH and aged- and gender-matched reference (REF) subjects showed IIH abnormalities in glial cells, neurons, and capillaries. The present data suggest a key role of disease processes affecting the glia-neuro-vascular interface.


There has been concern that new General Medical Services (GMS) contract ignores interpersonal aspects of care and threatens continuity of care. We report the results of a survey of general practitioners (GPs) in England and Wales that sought to determine how the new GP contract is perceived to affect the provision of continuity of care. The GPs reported that they would be significantly less likely to be able to provide personal continuity of care and management continuity in future. In contrast, the GPs reported that informational continuity across the primary–secondary care interface would be significantly more likely to improve in future.


At present, the use of non-destructive, non-invasive X-ray-based techniques is well established in heritage science for the analysis and conservation of works of art. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) plays a fundamental role since it provides information on the elemental composition, contributing to the identification of the materials present on the superficial layers of an artwork. Whenever XRF is combined with the capability of scanning an area to provide the elemental distribution on a surface, the technique is referred to as macro X-ray fluorescence (MA-XRF). The heritage science field, in which the technique is extensively applied, presents a large variety of case studies. Typical examples are paintings, ceramics, metallic objects and manuscripts. This work presents an uncommon application of MA-XRF analysis to furniture. Measurements have been carried out with the MA-XRF scanner of the INFN-CHNet collaboration at the Centro di Conservazione e Restauro "La Venaria Reale", a leading conservation centre in the field. In particular, a chinoiserie lacquered cabinet of the 18th century and a desk by Pietro Piffetti (1701–1777) have been analysed with a focus on the characterisation of decorative layers and different materials (e.g., gilding in the former and ivory in the latter). The measurements have been carried out using a telemeter for non-planar surfaces, and with collimators of 0.8 mm and 0.4 mm diameter, depending on the spatial resolution needed. The combination of the small measuring head with the use of the telemeter and of a small collimator has guaranteed the ability to scan difficult-to-reach areas with high spatial resolution in a reasonable time (20 × 10 mm2 with 0.2 mm step in less than 20 min).


In this work, syndiotactic polypropylene/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) nanocomposites, in various concentrations, were produced using melt mixing. The influence of the addition of MWCNT on the morphology, crystalline form, and the thermal and electrical properties of the polymer matrix was studied. To that aim, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and dielectric relaxation spectroscopy were employed. Significant alterations of both the crystallization behavior and the thermal properties of the matrix were found on addition of the carbon nanotubes: conversion of the disordered crystalline form I to the ordered one, increase of the crystallization temperature and the degree of crystallinity, and decrease of the glass transition temperature and the heat capacity jump. Finally, the electrical percolation threshold was found between 2.5–3.0 wt.% MWCNT. For comparison purposes, the results of the system studied here are also correlated with the findings from a previous work on the isotactic polypropylene/MWCNT system.


Controlling the topology of polymer-modified proteins has attracted growing interest. However, one of the main challenges in this field is the lack of efficient and site-specific methods for installing multiple bioorthogonal functionalities on substrate polymers. We report here an orchestrating strategy that provides easy access to various topological protein-poly(amino acid) (PAA) conjugates in high yields. This method features the in situ installation of two "chemical handles", including a thioester for native chemical ligation and a polyglycine nucleophile for sortase A-mediated ligation, at both ends of substrate PAAs. As a result, neither pre-functionalization of initiator or monomer units, nor post-polymerization modification of the resultant polymers, is necessary. Site-specific topological conjugates, particularly circular conjugates, can be conveniently synthesized under mild conditions from the functionalized PAAs. The biomedical utility of our method is demonstrated by the rapid and efficient generation of several therapeutic interferon-α conjugates, which exhibit significantly enhanced protease resistance and thermostability. Given the versatility of both PAAs and proteins, the method offers a convenient approach to producing libraries of conjugates for biological applications.


The pathological features of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) are related to the activity of circulating antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLs) associated with vascular thrombosis and obstetric complications. Indeed, aPLs are not only disease markers, but also play a determining pathogenetic role in APS and exert their effects through the activation of cells and coagulation factors and inflammatory mediators for the materialization of the thromboinflammatory pathogenetic mechanism. Cellular activation in APS necessarily involves the interaction of aPLs with target receptors on the cell membrane, capable of triggering the signal transduction pathway(s). This interaction occurs at specific microdomains of the cell plasma membrane called lipid rafts. In this review, we focus on the key role of lipid rafts as signaling platforms in the pathogenesis of APS, and propose this pathogenetic step as a strategic target of new therapies in order to improve classical anti-thrombotic approaches with "new" immunomodulatory drugs.


ABSTRACT The cytopathic effect evidenced by cells infected with avian reovirus S1133 suggests that this virus may induce apoptosis in primary cultures of chicken embryo fibroblasts. In this report we present evidence that avian reovirus infection of cultured cells causes activation of the intracellular apoptotic program and that this activation takes place during an early stage of the viral life cycle. The ability of avian reoviruses to induce apoptosis is not restricted to a particular virus strain or to a specific cell type, since different avian reovirus isolates were able to induce apoptosis in several avian and mammalian cell lines. Apoptosis was also provoked in ribavirin-treated avian reovirus-infected cells and in cells infected with UV-irradiated reovirions, indicating that viral mRNA synthesis and subsequent steps in viral replication are not needed for apoptosis induction in avian reovirus-infected cells and that the number of inoculated virus particles, not their infectivity, is the critical factor for apoptosis induction by avian reovirus. Our finding that apoptosis is no longer induced when intracellular viral uncoating is blocked indicates that intraendosomal virion disassembly is required for apoptosis induction and that attachment and uptake of parental reovirions are not sufficient to cause apoptosis. Taken together, our results suggest that apoptosis is triggered from within the infected cell by viral products generated after intraendosomal uncoating of parental reovirions.


Pan-Africanism or Pragmatism? Lessons of Tanganyika-Zanzibar Union by Issa G. Shivji. Mkuki na Nyota Publishers in association with OSSREA, ISBN 978-9994- 455-21-8/978-9987-449-99-6
Once again, Professor Shivji has come out with a compelling book that will force all of us to scratch our heads and think, a work so powerful and so insightful that it will be well nigh impossible for anyone who will have read it to engage in any discourse about political and constitutional developments in Zanzibar, or about the nature, history and problems of the Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar, without making reference to it...


INTRODUCTION :
Drug induced liver injury (DILI) is a problem of increasing significance. It is a
long standing concern in the treatment of tuberculosis (TB). Pathogenesis and types of anti-
TB DILI ranges from hepatic adaptation to hepatocellular injury. Hepatotoxicity is the most
serious side effect of anti tuberculosis treatment (ATT) and it causes substantial morbidity as well as mortality and can diminish the efficacy of treatment. Anti-TB DILI can present as
asymptomatic transaminase elevation to serious hepatotoxicity in the form of hepatic failure-
Acute, Sub acute or acute on chronic liver failure. Systematic steps for prevention and
management of TB DILI are recommended. The incidence of ATT induced hepatotoxicity varies from 8-30% in different studies. More serious liver disease induced by ATT occurs in 0.01% to0.03% of patients. Several risk factors for anti-TB DILI have been described, including age, sex, race, pre-existing liver disease, extent of tuberculosis, alcohol consumption, low body mass index, acetylator status, use of hepatotoxic drugs, and a high dosage of ATT in relation to body weight.
International guidelines issued by the American Thoracic Society, the British
Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society Task Force all state that baseline
determination of liver function should be carried out before ATT is started in patients with
TB. Regular monitoring of LFT is advocated in patients with underlying liver disease or
known risk factors for liver disease.
AIMS :
1) To study the clinical profile and to assess the prognostic factors and outcome of anti-TB
Drug induced liver injury
2) To assess risk factors for ATT induced liver failure (compared to ATT induced hepatitis).
CONCLUSION :
In conclusion anti-TB DILI with liver failure is associated with high
mortality(57.1%).Most common presentation in the liver failure group was
SAHF(54.2%).ALF was more common in females and it was associated with very high
mortality(88.9%). The presenting symptoms and complications were similar across the liver
failure groups with longer hospital stay observed in the SAHF group. Majority of patients
who developed anti-TB DILI were on empiric ATT (48.5%) which could have been avoided.
Patients who continued ATT despite having hepatitis symptoms and had duration of ATT
for more than 5 weeks developed features of liver failure .Over all ,in the liver failure group
serum bilirubin more than 13mg/dL, prothrombin time more than 23.3sec and MELD score
above 23 were associated with poor outcome. With the DOTS chemotherapy the risk of
hepatotoxicity is less. So in future we may come across less number of anti-TB DILI.
However in the present study, 4 patients developed liver failure while on DOTS regimen
which is a cause for concern.


In the present study, we determined the effects of long-term exposure to aspirin on the growth and functionality of Lactobacillus rhamnosus . One isolated colony of L. rhamnosus was propagated three times in deMan, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) broth and incubated at 37°C. The active strain was then harvested and washed with 0.1% peptone water. Cells were transferred into 9 mL MRS broth containing approximately 6 mg/mL of aspirin, vigorously mixed and incubated for 4 h. The cells were further harvested, transferred into MRS broth and incubated at 37°C. The exposure protocol was repeated for five sequential transfers a week, and the exposed strain cell was surface plated onto MRS agar containing equal amount of aspirin. One isolated colony of aspirin exposed L. rhamnosus from an aspirin containing agar plate was further activated in MRS broth. This procedure was repeated sequentially for 12 consecutive weeks. Bacterial populations, beta -galactosidase activity ( beta -gal), and protein expression were determined. Bacterial cells unexposed to aspirin were used as the control. Our results showed that L. rhamnosu s could survive after long term exposure to a sub-inhibitory concentration of aspirin. The average beta -gal activity of L. rhamnosus in unexposed cells was 153 ± 2.5 Gal U.; however, beta -gal activity was completely inhibited in exposed cells throughout the exposure period. There was approximately 54% more protein expressed in the long term aspirin-exposed strain compared to the short term exposed (4 h) strain as determined by BCA assay. In addition, the SDS-page gel indicated the synthesis of more protein in the exposed L. rhamnosus . The onset of common or chronic illnesses, especially among the elderly population, is often treated with common medications. However, regular the intake of medical drugs such as aspirin could affect beneficial gut microflora. Therefore, foods containing probiotics such as yogurt and other functional foods are important for the maintenance of optimal gastrointestinal health.


This paper introduces an optimized RBF-Neural Network for breast cancer classification. The study is based on the optimization of the network through three learning phases. In the first phase, K-means clustering method is used to define RBFs centers. In the second phase, Particle Swarm Optimization is used to optimize RBFs widths. In this phase, a pseudo inverse solution is used to calculate the output weights. Finally, in the third phase, the back-propagation algorithm is used for fine-tuning the obtained parameters, namely centers, widths and output weights. The back-propagation is then initialized with the obtained parameters instead of a random initialization. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, tests were performed using the Wisconsin Diagnostic Breast Cancer database. The proposed system was compared with a network trained only with BP and a network trained with K-means + PSO. The results obtained are promising compared to other advanced methods and the proposed learning method gives better results by combining these three methods.


This study aimed to describe the perceived barriers faced by emergency clinicians in utilising mental health legislation in Australian hospital emergency departments. A semi-structured interview methodology was used to assess what barriers emergency department doctors and nurses perceive in the operation of mental health legislation. Key findings from the interview data were drawn in accordance with the most commonly represented themes. A total of 36 interviews were conducted with 20 members of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and 16 members of the College for Emergency Nursing Australasia representing the various Australian jurisdictions. Most concerning to clinicians were the effects of access block and overcrowding on the appropriate use of mental health legislation, and the substandard medical care that mental health patients received as a result of long periods in the emergency department. Many respondents were concerned about the lack of applicability of mental health legislation to the emergency department environment, variation in legislation between States and Territories causing problems for clinicians working interstate, and a lack of knowledge and training in mental health legislation. Many felt that clarification of legislative issues around duty of care and intoxicated or violent patients was required. The authors conclude that access block has detrimental effects on emergency mental health care as it does in other areas of emergency medicine. Consideration should be given to uniform national mental health legislation to better serve the needs of people with mental health emergencies.


The aim of this paper was to develop and validate a PCR method for identification of pork protein DNA in feed. Based on the results obtained, validation parameters were determined. The following values were obtained: 97.5%, accuracy, 96.7% sensitivity, and 100% specificity. The detection limit of the method was determined at a level of 0.1%. The results confirm the usefulness of the method for routine control because it is capable of detecting the presence of pig material at the same level as the reference microscopic method. For this reason, it can be a useful tool in routine control for the presence of pork proteins in feed.


Introduction Biological oscillations are observed in all organisms at widely varying temporal and spatial scales. Oscillations play an important role in maintaining homeostasis and delivering encoded information. Many cellular processes have circadian rhythms, whereas oscillators with time constants from milliseconds to minutes with profound biological consequences include the heart beat and neural oscillations, the glycolytic system of muscle or yeast cells, and widespread calcium ion, inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate and calmodulin oscillations (Goldbeter, 1996; Kearns et al., 2006; Matsu-ura et al., 2006). Many biological oscillators show synchronized oscillations, not because of the presence of an invariant central or controlling clock, but because the independent oscillating systems (normally including an internal negative feedback; Fig. 1A) are coupled. Examples where biological data show the presence of pairs of coupled oscillators are given in Table 1. For most of the cases in Table 1, the coupling between biological oscillators is made through communication via signaling messengers such as hormones and neurotransmitters (Fig. 1A). For instance, Dictyostelium cellular oscillators are coupled by cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), and neuronal oscillators are coupled by neurotransmitters such as glutamate (for excitatory coupling) and g-aminobutyric acid (GABA) (for inhibitory coupling). We found


The article deals with the complex relationship between the religious revolution of late antiquity and cultural changes in the Roman world. It focuses on new attitudes to books, and analyses them in parallel with new conceptions of the self emerging in early Christianity. In particular, it seeks to understand the paradox of the early monks having been at once fierce opponents and carriers of Greco-Roman paideia.


The pervasiveness of popular music and its associated practices in current youth cultures brings into question the relevance and effectiveness of more traditional music pedagogies, and propels a search for a more current and engaging music pedagogy informed by popular music practices. With this as the basis, this study seeks to explore factors that may enable the success and effectiveness of popular music programmes in public schools through the lenses of three Singapore secondary school teachers as they conducted their popular music lessons over seven to ten weeks. In the process, the study also describes how these teachers pragmatically negotiated the execution of these programmes within Singapore's unique educational context. The findings may serve to inform music teachers and school leaders keen to establish similar programmes as a matter of on-going dialogue.


In this paper, we implement the Central Optical Sensor Measurement/Observation System, named COSMOS, with the integrated FBG sensor control device. The COSMOS is a kind of the central management system of FBG sensors. Through this system, all of the sensing information received from widely distributed FBG sensors is managed in central office without any additional expense. Moreover, since the received data is stored into a web-server or a database, we can monitor the specific area and process the monitored data to get results. An integrated FBG sensor control device with the network interface is also designed and implemented. This control device supports 0.5 pm resolution, 3 pm wavelength accuracy and 200 Hz measurement frequency. Since the network device is equipped, the collected data to control device is transmitted to COSMOS. Finally, we show the experimental results of the integrated FBG sensor device and COSMOS.


In this case report, a presumably deliberate oral ivermectin intoxication is described on a veal farm, in the first week after arrival of the calves. All 330 calves, aged between two and four weeks, showed severe depression, sternal to lateral recumbency, tremor and headshaking. Of the calves, 13.6% died. The remaining animals gradually recovered within five to seven days with supportive oral rehydration therapy. The source of intoxication was the milk replacer with an ivermectin concentration of 35 mg/kg. The serum of three affected calves contained ivermectin between 0.75 mg/kg and 1.1 mg/kg. The suspected oral dose of ivermectin was 1.75 mg/kg bodyweight for an average calf (40 kg). This report demonstrates that signs of oral ivermectin intoxication may occur in calves of two to four weeks of age at a dose 8.75 times the registered therapeutic dose for subcutaneous administration in cattle.


This paper considers the navigation of a solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for securing the communication with an intended ground node in the presence of eavesdroppers in urban environments. To complete this task, the UAV needs to not only fly safely in the complex urban environment, but also take into account the communication performance with the intended node and eavesdroppers. To this end, we formulate a multi-objective optimization problem to plan the UAV path. This problem jointly considers the maximization of the residual energy of the solar-powered UAV at the end of the mission, the maximization of the time period in which the UAV can securely communicate with the intended node and the minimization of the time to reach the destination. We pay attention to the impact of the buildings in the urban environments, which may block the transmitted signals and also create some shadow region where the UAV cannot harvest energy. A Rapidly-exploring Random Tree (RRT) based path planning scheme is presented. This scheme captures the nonlinear UAV motion model, and is computationally efficient considering the randomness nature. From the generated tree, a set of possible paths can be found. We evaluate the security of the wireless communication, compute the overall energy consumption as well as the harvested amount for each path and calculate the time to complete the flight. Compared to a general RRT scheme, the proposed method enables a large time window for the UAV to securely transmit data.


Pulmonary veins (PVs) ablation is a valid treatment option for atrial fibrillation. The standard approach for PVs isolation usually requires two catheters or an electroanatomical reconstruction of the left atrium. We describe our initial experience with a single device for mapping and ablating in a patient referred to our center for the relapsing of atrial fibrillation 3 years after a previous ablation procedure. The newly available catheter MESH was safe and effective to quickly isolate two reconnected PVs.


, We show that the strong unique continuation property holds for the inequality I~ul ::; Ivllul, where the potential v(x) satisfies the C Fefferman-Phong condition in a certain range of p values, We also deal with the situation of u(x) vanishing at infinity. These are all consequences of appropriate Carle-man inequalities.


Individuals predisposed to type 1 diabetes (T1DM) carry an adenine allele at rs689, a T-to-A genetic variant located 6 nucleotides upstream of the 3' splice site of INS intron 1. The A allele disrupts the polypyrimidine tract (Py-tract) and impairs splicing, increasing intron retention (IR) levels in mature transcripts. Intron 1-containing messenger RNAs have an extended 5' untranslated region (5'UTR), introducing an upstream open reading frame (uORF) and curtailing translation. IR can be reduced using oligonucleotides complementary to an intronic segment flanked by G-rich sequences, mitigating the splicing defect. To investigate their potential to form G-quadruplex (G4), a G4-specific fluorescent probe, thioflavin T, was used to examine DNA and RNA G-tracts flanking the antisense target region, in vitro. Fluorescence intensity was shown to be specific for G4 structures in DNA and RNA. G4 formation was influenced by the adjacent target region in each direction and by concentrations of K+ and Mg2+. G4s were also detected in RNA transcribed in real time and their formation was influenced by mutations that affected intron 1 removal. To identify proteins binding to this intronic region, in vitro RNA transcripts containing the antisense target region were used in RNA pull-down assays with HeLa nuclear extracts, revealing heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) F and H1 binding to G-rich segments. The G-rich 5' UTRs of representative primate species were also cloned into a dual-luciferase-reporter system to establish primate-specific translation rates. Elimination of the Homoninae-specific uORF significantly increased luciferase translation, demonstrating its importance for INS gene expression. Overall, data obtained in this project has improved the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the allele-specific expression of preproinsulin expression. These results may facilitate development of future preventative strategies for T1DM.


Chasicotatus was originally described as a monotypic genus based on Chasicotatus ameghinoi Scillato-Yane, 1979, from the upper member of Arroyo Chasico Formation (Las Barrancas Member, late Chasicoan). An additional species, Chasicotatus peiranoi, was erected by Esteban and Nasif (1996). This work presents the description of two new species previously recognized but never published by ScillatoYane (1982), with a study and description of the osteoderm's internal structure from three of four species of the genus. On this basis, the genus is revised and expanded diagnoses are provided for the previously known taxa, so that the species are clearly differentiated by internal and external osteodermal features. The geographical distribution of the species of genus Chasicotatus supports advanced palaeoenvironmental hypotheses previously proposed by different authors.


The Iranian-Islamic sources have testified to the importance of Gundishapour as the largest scientific center, having a medical school and one of the largest hospitals of ancient world in which renown physicians and the scholars of age, from various nationalities, were employed to teach, to do research, and to treat patients. In this scientific centre, Greek medicine linked with Indian medicine joined with Persian medicine. Various factors have influenced its growth, namely the Sasanian kings' protection of medical practices as well as physicians, the closure of Edessa school in 489 A.D, and hence the migration of numerous scholars of this centre to Nisibis and Gundishapour and finally the closure of Athens school in 529 A.D by Justinian, leading to the migration of the scholars of Athens school to Iran. In this paper, by drawing on historical and geographical sources and following the descriptive- analytical manner, we have tried to study the impact the protection of Sasanian king of sciences, and that of the closure of Edessa and Athens schools on the growth of Gundishapour.


We describe methods for displaying complex, texturemapped environments with four or more spatial dimensions that allow for real-time interaction. At any one moment in time, a three-dimensional cross section of the high-dimensional environment is rendered using techniques that have been implemented in OpenGL. The position and orientation of the user within the environment determine the 3-D cross section. A variety of interfaces can be used to control position and orientation in 4-D, including a mouse freelook interface for use with a computer monitor display, and an interface that uses a head-tracking system with three degrees of freedom and PINCH gloves in combination with a head-mounted display. The methods avoid the use of projections that require depth buffering in greater than three dimensions and can be used in conjunction with either 2-D or 3-D texture mapping. A computer graphic engine that displays 4-D virtual environments interactively uses these methods, as does a level editor and modeling program that can be used to create 4-D environments.


The solar northern and southern hemispheres exhibit differences in their intensities and time profiles of the activity cycles. The time variation of these properties was studied in a previous article covering the data from Cycles 12–23. The hemispheric phase lags exhibited a characteristic variation: the leading role was exchanged between hemispheres every four cycles. The present work extends the investigation of this variation using the data of Staudacher and Schwabe in Cycles 1–4 and 7–10 as well as Spörer's data in Cycle 11. The previously observed variation cannot be clearly recognized using the data of Staudacher, Schwabe, and Spörer. However, it is more interesting that the phase lags of the reversals of the magnetic fields at the poles follow the same variations as those of the hemispheric cycles in Cycles 12–23, i.e., one of the hemispheres leads in four cyles and the leading role jumps to the opposite hemisphere in the next four cycles. This means that this variation is a long-term property of the entire solar dynamo mechanism, for both the toroidal and poloidal fields, which hints at an unidentified component of the process responsible for the long-term memory.


The aim of this study was to compare the performance between the oral and written speeches of students of the Health area that use active teaching methodologies. Thus, it was designed a study of observational, transversal and analytical nature, comparing the notes of oral and written productions ( portfolios ) of students of a Health course that fully utilizes the active methodologies. The sample consisted of 25 students, 23 female and two male, with an average age of 23 (± 5 years). For statistical analysis we used the Wilcoxon tests and the Pearson correlation test, with 5% significance level. There was a lower student performance in the written speech (6,73 ± 1,87)  when compared to the oral (7,66 ± 2,08), with a statistically significant difference between both of them (p<0,01), with a strong correlation between the average obtained in the two modalities evaluated (R=0,723). It can be concluded that students present more difficulty in written speeches when compared to the oral ones, revealing that even with the use of active methodologies, the improvement of written communication still is necessary between the students of the studied sample.


[1] We propose a simple technique to estimate a roughness parameter, RMS gradient, of a planetary surface. The technique is practiced on A-scope data of radio sounding observation of planet with a simple formula. The formula was derived analytically for the case of Gaussian random rough surface using a geometrical optics model. The technique was examined by simulations of planetary sounding observations which is based on physical optics, and demonstrated to estimate the RMS gradient of the planetary surface in the range from some fraction of degrees to about ten degrees. Finally, the upper limit of valid range of RMS gradient was formulized as a function of observation altitude and the maximum detection range.