Gambling lines provide a rich source of data for Monte Carlo simulations of sports seasons. Since data for complete seasons are available after the seasons are completed, we refer to such simulations as retroactive gambling line simulations. We use the motivating and expository example of comparing the performances of the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (who won a record 73 games) and the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (who held the previous record of 72 wins) and provide a detailed treatment of this application. The more general applicability of the approach is examined by describing the flexibility in building the models and relating this flexibility to a few specific examples. We hope this paper will seed further explorations of retroactive gambling line simulation (and settle the Warriors vs. Bulls comparison along the way).


Lactococcus lactis is one of the lactic acid bacteria species used for fermentation of cheese, quark and buttermilk and determines taste, texture, and the shelf life of a product. Surface properties of microorganisms are determined by the molecular composition of the cell wall and influence the interactions of microbes with their environment. This study was focused on a better understanding of molecular mechanisms involved in interactions between L. lactis and the matrix of fermented dairy products. The results suggest that cell surface alteration should allow modifying starter culture functionality and developing new concepts in formulating fermented products with an altered texture. Another example of a new concept for the application of lactic acid bacteria could be clean label stabilization of oil-in-water emulsions with L. lactis strains via the Pickering stabilization mechanism. In this study we have shown that bacterial cell aggregation is of importance in this respect as it improves the stabilization of oil droplets. In yet another example starter cells could be employed as structure elements such as inert fillers or as structure breakers in fermented food. While the knowledge of the molecular mechanisms determining L. lactis cell surface properties and, subsequently, the microbe-matrix interactions are far from complete, this work and future research on the microbe-matrix interactions certainly holds a potential for improving current manufacturing processes and developing novel products.


Aims at reducing the number of sensors in multi-cell converters by estimating the capacitor voltages using a load current measurement. To achieve this purpose, the authors first present a simple discrete-time model which correctly represents the behavior of the converter in closed loop operation. A discrete Kalman filter (KF) is then detailed for the state estimation in a three-cell converter. Simulation results in the presence of measurement noises are presented to validate this observer. Thereafter, the influence of the sampling period and the process noise covariance matrix in the parametric robustness of the observer is examined.


Edward Gordon Craig (1872-1966) is particularly known among theatre prac-titioners and students of the theatre as a pioneer in what has been referred to as "the new movement in the theatre," commencing with his experimental productions in the early years of the twentieth century and his first book, The Art of the Theatre, published in 1905. Al-though labelled an impractical dreamer by his detractors, he successfully designed and pro-duced a baker's dozen of plays and operas, rang-ing from the amateur Dido and Aeneas in 1900 to the renowned co-production with Constantin Stanislavsky of Hamlet at the Moscow Art Theatre; from the highly revolutionary produc-tion of Ibsen's The Vikings in 1903, under Ellen Terry's management with her appearing as Hiordis, to Ibsen's The Pretenders for The Royal Theatre in Copenhagen in the '20's. However, his greatest influence on the modern theatre was due only in part, to the actual pro-ductions; far greater in importance were his vi-sionary, prophetic approaches to a new theatre in which, for once, all components would be united under the creative artistic impulse of a single person, an approach taken for granted today. Although this is frequently thought to be his major contribution, there were, of course, many others because of Craig's extremely fertile and inventive imagination and devotion to theatre. One little known aspect of his prolific outpouring of books, articles, book reviews, letters, etc. is the consider-able attention he paid to dance in its various manifestations. Gathered here are all the known published writings by Craig on movement and dance: arti-cles, notes, editorials, book-reviews ranging over a wide variety of material from pieces concerning themselves with theory to "classic ballet" (Clerico, Cortesi, Guimard, Lambranzi, Taglioni, Pavlova, Nijinsky, Rubinstein); ethnic and folk dance from the Far East to England, to "modern dance" (Morris, Enters, Duncan, Fuller, St. Den-is, Shawn and Dalcroze). Craig's bete-noire, Diaghilev's Russian Ballet, received considerable attention from him in many pieces for many years. In order to produce so much material Craig not only used his own name but resorted to an earlier subterfuge, that of pseudonyms. In his magazine, The Mask, we find that he used some sixty-six, not all represented here, however, because of the subject limitation. Included here are also a number of short, unsigned pieces which may or may not have served as yet another "mask" for Craig but are assigned to him by the editor to provide a more detailed picture. Omitted are a few articles on dance not written by Craig but by other, "real" people for The Mask. It is hoped this work will bring to the surface another facet of Craig's involvement in "total theatre."


Stroke is among the common causes of chronic disability (Feigin, 2014). Around one-third of stroke survivors are affected by aphasia, a communication disorder affecting the ability to comprehend and express oneself (Dickey, et. al., 2010). Culture is essential to understanding aphasia and providing person-centered care. Philippine cultural identity is reflected via respect for older persons, collectivism in family and community, and devotion to religion (Pe Pua & Protacio-Marcelino, 2000). The Filipino family is a primary support system, and cultural values directly influence caregiving approaches in chronic disability. This single case study examines the life of a Filipino man who has successfully lived with aphasia for over 25 years. Having finished a doctorate from Harvard University, served as the youngest University president, and member of the Philippine government, he suddenly had a stroke and was able to communicate only via single words, gestures, and facial expressions. His life is discussed in the context of the unique, multi-modal communication system which developed through the years with his family. Music and symbolism via watercolor paintings also define his aphasia journey. The value of religion in Filipino culture (Cruz, et. al., 2019) and its role in fostering positivity in his aphasia journey is examined. This study also highlights Filipino collectivism through the support of family and community in addressing communication needs and facilitating meaningful relationships at various stages in life. Cultural values deeply rooted in Filipino caregiving, such as debt of gratitude and filial devotion to parents (Enriquez, 1992), are discussed.


Introduction This paper presents three artists' residencies in a geriatric medicine unit in a teaching hospital. The aim of the residencies was creation of new work of high artistic quality reflecting the lived experience of the person with dementia and greater understanding of service user experience of living with dementia. This paper also explores arts-based research methodologies in a medical setting. Method Arts-based research and narrative enquiry were the method used in this study. Artists had extensive access to service users with dementia, family carers and clinical team. Projects were created through collaboration between clinical staff, arts and health director, artist, patients and family carers. Each performance was accompanied by a public seminar discussing dementia. Evaluations were undertaken following each residency. The process of creating artistic responses to dementia is outlined, presented and discussed. Results The artworks were well received with repeat performances and exhibitions requested. Evaluations of each residency indicated increased understanding of dementia. The narratives within the artworks aided learning about dementia. The results are a new chamber music composition, a series of visual artworks created collaboratively between visual artist and patients and family carers and a dance film inspired by a dancer's residency, all created through narrative enquiry. Discussion and conclusion: These projects support the role of arts-based research as creative process and qualitative research method which contributes to illuminating and exploring the lived experience of dementia. The arts act as a reflective tool for learning and understanding a complex health condition, as well as creating opportunities for increased understanding and public awareness of dementia. Issues arising in arts-based research in medical settings are highlighted, including ethical issues, the importance of service user narrative and multidisciplinary collaboration in arts and health practice and research.


The purpose of this research to analyze errors of students answer to get a conception of learning obstacles in the fraction material in 4th grade of elementary school. This analysis is important as a basis to prepare teaching materials and to predict of student responses and how to anticipate. This research used the qualitative method. The research subjects were 32 student of 5th grade elementary school who had studied fractions in grade IV in Tasikmalaya Regency. Based on the results of analysis of test and interview data, there are several barriers on student learning. First, didactical obstacles were identified from mistake doing the test problems which is caused by how students studied and materials which used by students such as fraction material that did not clearly define how fractions was and emphasize knowledge procedures, then students do not study fractions through the partitioning process, somewhere partitioning will make learning easier. Second, epistemological obstacles as a result from errors in the processing of questions caused by the limited context of knowledge possessed by students. For example, the definition of fractions which are part of the whole, students are limited to that context without paying attention at the parts as equal/more or less. In addition, procedures of student understanding for example fraction simplification, fraction sequencing, and subtraction and addition of fractions are limited to certain questions. When the questions are different than usual, there are students who didn't understand the purpose of the problem.


This article challenges the idea that mixed methods research (MMR) constitutes a coherent research paradigm and explores how different research paradigms exist within MMR. Tracing paradigmatic differences at the level of methods, ontology, and epistemology, two MMR strategies are discussed: nested analysis, recently presented by the American political scientist Evan S. Lieberman, and praxeological knowledge, inspired by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. These strategies address two different epistemological problems, namely, the problem of causal inference and the problem of double hermeneutics. Consequently, the research designs as well as the understandings of the "qualitative component" differ noticeably. Realizing such differences at the ontological, epistemological, and methodological level contributes to discussions on how to move forward MMR, embracing differences instead of imposing homogeneity.


PURPOSE
To investigate the efficacy of a dentifrice containing 0.3% triclosan, 2.0% PVM/MA copolymer, 0.243% sodium fluoride, and specially-designed silica in controlling established dental plaque and gingivitis.

METHODS
Qualifying adult male and female subjects from the West Palm Beach, Florida area were randomly assigned into one of two treatment groups: (1) a dentifrice containing 0.3% triclosan, 2.0% PVM/MA copolymer, 0.243% sodium fluoride, and specially-designed silica (Test Dentifrice); and (2) a dentifrice containing 0.243% sodium fluoride in a silica base (Negative Control Dentifrice). All subjects received an oral soft and hard tissue examination, baseline plaque and gingivitis were assessed, and subjects were dispensed their assigned dentifrice product along with a soft-bristled adult toothbrush for home use. Subjects were instructed to brush their teeth for 1 minute, twice daily (morning and evening), using only the dentifrice provided. Examinations for plaque and gingivitis, and oral soft and hard tissue assessments were repeated after 3 and 6 months of product use.

RESULTS
115 subjects complied with the protocol, and completed the 6-month examination. After 6 months of product use, subjects assigned to the Test Dentifrice group exhibited statistically significant reductions from baseline with respect to Plaque Index, Plaque Severity Index, Gingival Index, and Gingivitis Severity Index scores; and subjects assigned to the Negative Control Dentifrice group exhibited statistically significant reductions from baseline with respect to Gingival Index scores only. Relative to the Negative Control Dentifrice group, the Test Dentifrice group exhibited an 18.8% reduction in Plaque Index; a 50% reduction in Plaque Severity Index; a 19.6% reduction in Gingival Index; and a 60% reduction in Gingivitis Severity Index after 6 months, all of which were statistically significant.


Design of large systems on a chip would be infeasible without the capability to flexibly adapt the system architecture to the application and the re-use of existing Intellectual Property (IP). This in turn requires the use of an appropriate methodology for system specification, architecture selection, IP integration and implementation generation. The goals of this work are: a) verification of the effectiveness of the POLIS HW/SW co-design methodology for the design of embedded systems for telecom applications; b) definition of methodology for integrating system level IP libraries in this HW/SW co-design framework. Methodology evaluations have been carried out through the development of an industrial telecom system design, an ATM node server.


Ethanol causes dysregulated muscle protein homeostasis while simultaneously causing hepatocyte injury. Because hepatocytes are the primary site for physiological disposal of ammonia, a cytotoxic cellular metabolite generated during a number of metabolic processes, we determined whether hyperammonemia aggravates ethanol-induced muscle loss. Differentiated murine C2C12 myotubes, skeletal muscle from pair-fed or ethanol-treated mice, and human patients with alcoholic cirrhosis and healthy controls were used to quantify protein synthesis, mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling, and autophagy markers. Alcohol-metabolizing enzyme expression and activity in mouse muscle and myotubes and ureagenesis in hepatocytes were quantified. Expression and regulation of the ammonia transporters, RhBG and RhCG, were quantified by real-time PCR, immunoblots, reporter assays, biotin-tagged promoter pulldown with proteomics, and loss-of-function studies. Alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenases were expressed and active in myotubes. Ethanol exposure impaired hepatocyte ureagenesis, induced muscle RhBG expression, and elevated muscle ammonia concentrations. Simultaneous ethanol and ammonia treatment impaired protein synthesis and mTORC1 signaling and increased autophagy with a consequent decreased myotube diameter to a greater extent than either treatment alone. Ethanol treatment and withdrawal followed by ammonia exposure resulted in greater impairment in muscle signaling and protein synthesis than ammonia treatment in ethanol-naive myotubes. Of the three transcription factors that were bound to the RhBG promoter in response to ethanol and ammonia, DR1/NC2 indirectly regulated transcription of RhBG during ethanol and ammonia treatment. Direct effects of ethanol were synergistic with increased ammonia uptake in causing dysregulated skeletal muscle proteostasis and signaling perturbations with a more severe sarcopenic phenotype.


This essay reflects critically on Martin Heidegger's remarks about authenticity and death with the aid of Christophe Bouton's Temps et liberte (2002), translated by Christopher Macann as Time and Freedom (2014). It first raises general questions concerning the possible thematic relationship between human endeavoring (action) and the experiences of finitude and freedom. Heidegger's Being and Time is particularly useful for exploring this relationship, but certain problems emerge when using this text for accessing the essay's themes. To wit: there are good reasons for mistrusting readings of Being and Time as a "practical" guide for grounding action. Against the practical reading, the essay wishes to reclaim the ontological-existential significance of Heidegger's text. Although Bouton's treatment of Being and Time excludes its ontological dimensions and is entirely practical, even to the point of disregarding certain theoretical risks inherent in this approach, Bouton's study is indispensable for situating Being and Time in a historical-intellectual context, whereby the experiences of freedom and time are understood within certain metaphysical presuppositions rendering them difficult to establish together on reliable grounds. Following Bouton's lead, the essay shows that the hermeneutic differences between practical and ontological readings of Being and Time can be explored through reflections on what Heidegger might have meant by the term "Moglichkeit" ("possibility"), from which Bouton infers "freedom." It is alleged that Bouton does not fully consider all of Heidegger's assertions regarding Moglichkeit, most problematically the claim that the human being's most essential "possibility" is its "impossibility," that is to say, its death.


Hysterectomy has a variety of medical indications and improves pre-operative symptoms but might compromise the quality of life during recovery due to symptoms such as fatigue, headache, nausea, depression, or pain. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of a standardized extract from French oak wood (Quercus robur) containing at least 40% polyphenols of the ellagitannins class, Robuvit®, on convalescence and oxidative stress of women after hysterectomy. Recovery status was monitored with the SF-36 questionnaire. The supplementation with Robuvit® (300 mg/day) during 4 weeks significantly improved general and mental health, while under placebo some items significantly deteriorated. Oxidative stress and enhancement of MMP–9 activity was significantly reduced by Robuvit® versus placebo. After 8 weeks of intervention, the patients' condition improved independently of the intervention. Our results suggest that the use of Robuvit® as a natural supplement relieves post-operative symptoms of patients after hysterectomy and reduces oxidative stress. The study was registered with ID ISRCTN 11457040 (13/09/2019).


The characterization and understanding of body to body communication channels is a pivotal step in the development of emerging wireless applications such as ad-hoc personnel localisation and context aware body area networks (CABAN). The latter is a recent innovation where the inherent mobility of body area networks can be used to improve the coexistence of multiple co-located BAN users. Rather than simply accepting reductions in communication performance, sensed changes in inter-network co-channel interference levels may facilitate intelligent inter-networking; for example merging or splitting with other BANs that remain in the same domain. This paper investigates the inter-body interference using controlled measurements of the full mesh interconnectivity between two ambulatory BANs operating in the same environment at 2.45 GHz. Each of the twelve network nodes reported received signal strength to allow for the creation of carrier to interference ratio time series with an overall entire mesh sampling period of 54 ms. The results indicate that even with two mobile networks, it is possible to identify the onset of co-channel interference as the BAN users move towards each other and, similarly, the transition to more favourable physical layer channel conditions as they move apart.


Background Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-α has been implicated in the regulation of normal and pathological cellular functions, but the effect of specific gene silencing on PPARα-mediated function is not fully defined. Aim This study evaluated the role of PPARα in hypertensive renal injury induced by nitric oxide withdrawal and high salt (4% NaCl) diet [high salt/Nω-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA)]. Methods Three PPARα siRNA clones, siRNA790–811, siRNA974–995 or siRNA1410–1431, directed at the DNA or ligand binding domain of PPARα mRNA or scrambled siRNA was cloned into plasmid expression vector and was injected (10 μg intravenously) in hypertensive rats. Twenty-four-hour readings of blood pressure and heart rate were taken in conscious rats using radiotelemetry. Kidney injury was evaluated by determining N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase excretion, expression of kidney injury molecule-1 and histopathology. PPARα mRNA and protein expression were also determined. Results High salt/L-NNA increased PPARα mRNA expression three-fold, and this was abolished in rats treated with PPARα siRNA790–811, siRNA974–995 or siRNA1410–1431. High salt/L-NNA also increased blood pressure but reduced heart rate without affecting pulse pressure. However, blood pressure was further increased in rats treated with PPARα siRNA790-811 (37 ± 3%, P < 0.05). High salt/L-NNA also increased N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase excretion and expression of kidney injury molecule-1. However, PPARα siRNA790–811 did not affect N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase excretion but reduced kidney injury molecule-1 expression. Histopathology of kidney tissues in high salt/L-NNA-treated rats revealed global, fibrinoid and tubular interstitial necrosis that was blunted by PPARα siRNA790–811. Conclusion These data suggest that increased PPARα expression is a protective mechanism in hypertensive renal injury induced by nitric oxide withdrawal/high salt diet and that siRNAs targeting the DNA-binding domain of PPARα gene elicited differential effects on hypertension and kidney injury.


This research aims to evaluate The effect of plant extract concentration as antifungal. Fusarium fungus was isolated from the eggplant and cucumber plants that infested them. These were tested for concentrations of the pathogenic fungus Fusarium oxysporum according to the food poisoning method. The inhibition rate was calculated by measuring the diameter of the colony compared to the control. The results showed that in the crude extract of Eucalyptus at a concentration of 12%, the percentage of growth inhibition was 100% on Fusarium oxysporum, compared to the crude extract of Mentha spicata where the percentage of inhibition was 80.11%. At the same concentration, and the percentage of inhibition of Eucalyptus extract At concentrations 3,6, and 9%  ranged between (35.33-79.55) while the inhibition of  Mentha spicata extract ranged between (17.20  - 80.11 ) at the same concentrations.


Despite the clinical success of imatinib in treating chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), patients who develop resistance to available ABL inhibitors remain a clinical challenge. There is compelling evidence to suggest that the bone marrow microenvironment hinders the efficacy of kinase inhibitors, and may eventually lead to overt resistance. We developed a screen of nearly 300 molecules from the microenvironment to evaluate molecules that protect CML cells from imatinib. This screen identified Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 (FGF2) as a factor that mediates kinase inhibitor resistance in the CML cell line K562. Inhibition of FGFR with the selective inhibitor PD173014 attenuated the protective effects of FGF2, and siRNA revealed that FGF2 promotes survival through activation of FGFR3. FGFR3 was found to subsequently activate Ras and the MAPK pathway to promote K562 survival - despite effective inhibition of BCR-ABL by imatinib. More impressively, addition of FGF2 to K562 cells in long-term cultures with imatinib revealed that FGF2 was reproducibly capable of promoting growth and eventual imatinib-resistance in K562 cells (N=5). In contrast, K562 cells cultured in media alone or with other myeloid growth factors, did not develop resistance to imatinib. Sequencing of the kinase domain in resistant cells did not reveal mutations of the ABL kinase domain as a mechanism of resistance. Inhibition of both FGFR and BCR-ABL in the FGF2 imatinib-resistant outgrowths was synergistic in promoting cell death. To evaluate whether FGF2 may be involved in resistance in CML patients, immunohistochemistry of bone marrow samples from imatinib, dasatinib and nilotinib resistant patients revealed increased FGF2 staining compared to normal controls and CML patients at diagnosis, suggesting that FGF2 levels increase over time and promote resistance in vivo. Further evidence that FGFR may be important in kinase resistance is emerging from clinical trials of the novel ABL inhibitor, ponatinib. Although ponatinib was specifically developed to bind BCR-ABL with the T315I mutation, it is also a multi-kinase inhibitor, including inhibition of FGFR in the low nanomolar range. To wit, ponatinib was able to suppress FGF2 imatinib-resistant outgrowths in the low nanomolar range whereas imatinib, dasatinib and nilotinib were ineffective, even at high doses. In clinical trials, ponatinib has proven effective not only against T315I mutated BCR-ABL, but also in patients with minor or even no mutations of the ABL kinase domain (in press). This suggests that stimulation of growth pathways by the microenvironment, such as FGF2, may be an important mechanism of resistance in some CML patients. Moreover, our approach provides a method to predict pathways of resistance in leukemia cell lines and primary patient samples. This strategy has the potential to define rational combinations of kinase inhibitors that can circumvent resistance before it is even clinically apparent. Citation Format: Elie Traer, Nathalie Javidi-Sharifi, Anupriya Agarwal, Jennifer Dunlap, Jeffrey Tyner, Melissa Wong, Brian Druker. FGF2 promotes resistance to ABL kinase inhibitors in CML. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4971. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4971


OBJECTIVES: To analyze the NAS used in two hospitals based on complexity' thinking, one public and one private; Understanding the meaning of the NAS for the staff of the multi-professional team of health care in both institutions. METHODS: The methodology was the Data Fundamental Theory with interview of 15 people. As a result of the central theme: Realizing that the Nursing Assistance Systematization as a complex and interactive phenomenon, derived from two different phenomena as follows: Verifying the possibility of the multi-professional, complementary and interactive patient care and Identifying the lack of articulation among health care practice, knowledge and legislation. This article addresses the second phenomenon. CONCLUSION: The results showed that the implementation of the NAS is still incipient despite its strategies are recommended by theorists, as well as it is addressed in academic disciplines and demanded by professional legislation. It was suggested the use of the thinking complexity and the interdisciplinary for its novelty.


Model catalysts containing disordered CuO and ZnO species in the pores of SBA‐15 were reduced under different conditions (standard: H2, 513 K; severe: CO/H2, 673 K), studied by X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and X‐ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) including operando work and used as catalysts for methanol synthesis at pressures up to 8 bar, where they were comparable with a commercial reference in terms of reaction rates related to Cu surface area. Severe reduction caused significant activation of the Cu sites beyond the sizeable level achieved already after standard reduction. In XRD, which failed to detect most of the active components, owing to small particle sizes, weak indications of alloy formation were found after severe reduction. XAFS, which averages over all species present, showed the interaction of Cu with zinc ions to increase by severe reduction, while formation of Zn0 was below detection limit. On this basis, the promoting interaction of Zn to Cu was ascribed to an interaction of zinc cations with Cu0.


A 59-year-old chronic alcoholic male, with no cardiac past history, was hospitalised with septicemia 5 months after the endoscopic removal of 2 benign intestinal polyps. The diagnosis of tricuspid endocarditis was possible only 2 months later on the basis of echocardiography requested because of the onset of a tricuspid systolic murmur. Blood cultures revealed the presence in succession of streptococcus D fecalis then bovis. Antibiotics, changed several times because of the onset of complications (allergy, agranulocytosis), failed to deal with the problem of infection as shown by the development of several septic pulmonary emboli which finally resulted in total tricuspidectomy with neither immediate nor secondary valve replacement. The authors use this clinical case to review the characteristics of tricuspid endocarditis, the incidence of which is on the increase in certain etiological contexts (staphylococcal endocarditis in drug addicts or secondary to central vascular lines). They stress that the clinical picture is often confusing since the murmur of tricuspid incompetence is absent in 2/3 of cases. Echocardiography must therefore be requested routinely in all septicemias, thus enabling earlier diagnosis and assessment of the risk of pulmonary embolism (risk if vegetation greater than 10 mm). The nature of the organism responsible may be suggestive of certain etiologies. Thus malignant disease of the colon should be sought if the bacterium is a streptococcus D bovis. Apart from antibiotics, treatment must include effective anticoagulation to decrease the risk of embolic recurrence.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


This article focuses on Philo's influence on the interpretation of Cain and Abel given by Didymus the Blind in his Commentary on Genesis . Didymus refers a few times to Philo by name but more places can be detected in which Didymus makes use of Philo. Both Philo and Didymus see in Cain and Abel two different worldviews, which are opposed to each other. Cain is the wicked man, who does not respect God, whereas Abel is the virtuous man, who loves God. Philo bases his interpretation on the translation of Cain as possession and of Abel as referring to God. These translations are absent in Didymus. Philonic elements can be seen, for instance, in Abel as shepherding the senses and in Cain presented as a sophist. It is remarkable that Didymus does not interpret Abel as a type of Christ, as other church fathers do.


Abstract. Transplantation of kidneys results in delayed graft function in as many as 40% of cases. During the organ transplantation process, donor kidneys undergo a period of cold ischemic time (CIT), where the organ is preserved with a cold storage solution to maintain tissue viability. Some complications observed after grafting may be due to damage sustained to the kidney during CIT. However, the effects due to this damage are not apparent until well after transplant surgery has concluded. To this end, we have used spatial frequency domain imaging (SFDI) to measure spatially resolved optical properties of porcine kidneys over the course of 80-h CIT. During this time, we observed an increase in both reduced scattering (μs′) and absorption (μa) coefficients. The measured scattering b parameter increased until 24 h of CIT, then returned toward baseline during the remaining duration of the imaging sequence. These results show that the optical properties of kidney tissue change with increasing CIT and suggest that continued investigation into the application of SFDI to kidneys under CIT may lead to the development of a noninvasive method for assessing graft viability.


This is a reply to Steven D. Smith's Brandeis Lecture, "The Last Chapter?" That lecture is substantially drawn from the concluding pages of his fine recent book, The Rise and Decline of American Religious Freedom. In the lecture and the book, Smith explores what he calls some "vitiating paradoxes" of some of the key concepts that undergird the conventional account of American religious freedom, and argues that those paradoxes may render religious freedom especially vulnerable in an age of increasing liberal egalitarianism. He also offers a competing account of religious freedom, one that involves both a "soft constitutionalism" approach to the Establishment Clause and a revival of some form of "freedom of the church." My reply is basically an internal account, supportive in some respects and critical in others. One of the main contributions that Smith has made to law and religion scholarship over the years is his skillful deployment of critical tools to reveal flaws in the underpinnings of Religion Clause law and theory. He is, I suggest, the charter member of the law and religion branch of a rather small but valuable school: Conservative Critical Legal Studies. In this reply, I take his critical views on board and wonder where, if anywhere, the "potentially vitiating paradoxes" that he identifies in the conventional account of religious freedom end; I also apply Smith's critical framework to the competing account of American religious freedom that he offers. In particular, I question his recommendation of some form of "soft constitutionalism" limited essentially to the Establishment Clause; explore the difficulties involved in what I suggest is a growing reconciliation, including among conservatives, to the Supreme Court's decision in Employment Division v. Smith; and ask whether we might not view arguments for "freedom of the church" as a kind of salvaging device for those who favor a "soft" or jurisdictional reading of the Establishment Clause, and who have come around on Employment Division v. Smith, while still seeking to preserve some measure of church autonomy.


Oscillatory synchronization between somatosensory and motor cortex has previously been reported using field potential recordings, but interpretation of such results can be confounded by volume conduction. We examined coherence between single‐unit discharge in somatosensory/parietal areas and local field potential from the same area as the unit, or from the motor cortex, in two macaque monkeys trained to perform a finger movement task. There were clear coherence peaks at ∼17.5 Hz for cells in the primary somatosensory cortex (both proprioceptive and cutaneous areas) and posterior parietal cortex (area 5). The size of coherence in all areas was comparable to previous reports analysing motor cortical cells and M1 field potentials. Many coherence phases clustered around –π/2 radians, indicating zero lag synchronization of parietal cells with M1 oscillatory activity. These results indicate that cells in somatosensory and parietal areas have information about the presence of oscillations in the motor system. Such oscillatory coupling across the central sulcus may play an important role in sensorimotor integration of both proprioceptive and cutaneous signals.


AIMS
To explore the relationship between blood sampling techniques and haemolysis.

BACKGROUND
Haemolysis rates of blood samples have been thought to be influenced by the method of collection. There is a lack of research evidence available to clearly show the comparative risk of haemolysis across different blood sampling methods, including venepuncture and use of peripheral intravenous cannulas.

DESIGN
A prospective cohort study. Reporting followed the STROBE checklist.

METHODS
A trained observer was used to record blood sampling techniques over a 10-week period between April and June 2019. These records were then linked to pathology haemolysis results. Multivariable logistic regression was used to model patient and blood draw characteristics affecting haemolysis.

RESULTS
Most of the blood samples were not haemolysed (n = 324, 87.1%). Multivariable analysis showed haemolysis was associated with increased tourniquet duration and if the level of tube was less than half full. Univariable analysis showed haemolysis was associated with increased age of the patient, the difficulty of cannulation/ venepuncture and increased number of attempts. No difference was found in the haemolysis rate related to the qualification of the blood collector.

CONCLUSION
There was no significant difference in haemolysis rates associated with sampling blood from a PIVC compared with venepuncture. Research should be undertaken to determine whether education on the factors influencing haemolysis is useful in decreasing haemolysis rates.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
There was no association with increased haemolysis rates when drawing blood via venepuncture compared with a peripheral intravenous cannula. Haemolysis of blood samples was associated with increased tourniquet duration, if level of the tube was less than half-filled, increased age of the patient and difficulty of blood draw. Awareness of the risk of haemolysis associated with specific blood sampling methods may assist clinicians to improve care.


The Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment (TUPE) Regulations aim to protect the interests of employees when the business they work for changes hands, or when their part of an operation is acquired or transferred to another business. They also apply in merger situations, when in-house processes are outsourced, when a contract to provide a service transfers from one provider to another, and when a public sector body such as a local authority 'contracts out' services, or indeed, brings formerly contracted out services back in house. They form a specialised corner of employment law, but one which can be very important for large numbers of people. This chapter discusses core TUPE rights, when TUPE applies, consultation requirements, contractual rights, unfair dismissal rights, sharing of information between transferors and transferees, and TUPE Regulations in respect of the takeover of insolvent businesses.


Cloud Computing and virtualization are largely adopted in the IT world and starts to gain momentum in networking to implement network functions such as switches or routers but also complex network service chains such as end to end security services. Surprisingly, while robustness is the first question that comes when deploying dedicated network infrastructures, cloud infrastructures provide little or no robustness guarantees for virtualized network functions.
As a matter of facts, traditional Cloud infrastructure are several order of magnitude slower than dedicated network infrastructures to react to faults. In this work, we aim at providing robustness guarantees for network functions deployed with OpenStack, the leading open source project for cloud computing.
Multiple options are possible to implement such robustness in OpenStack but we designed an approach that minimizes the changes required in OpenStack in order such that it can be smoothly integrated with the official releases. Our well documented implementation follows the best programming practices to guarantee its correctness and integration in a large open source project. Our tests in a real Open-Stack environment composed of multiple compute nodes validate our choices and prove its usability.


The purpose of this study is to analyze the reliability growth of Open Source Software (OSS) versus software developed in-house (i.e. Closed Source Software, CSS) using Software Reliability Growth Model. This study uses 22 datasets containing failure data of CSS and 18 datasets containing defect data of OSS projects. The failure data are modelled by eight SRGM (Musa Okumoto, Inflection S-Shaped, Goel Okumoto, Delayed S-Shaped, Logistic, Gompertz, Yamada Exponential, and Generalized Goel Model). These models are chosen due to their widespread use. The results can be summarized as follows All selected SRGM fit to defect data of the OSS projects in the same manner as that of CSS. OSS reliability grows similarly to that of CSS. Musa Okumoto and Inflection S-Shaped perform well for CSS, while for OSS Inflection S-Shaped and Gompertz are good performers. SRGM can be used for reliability characterization of OSS projects.


A new real-time architecture for matrix transposition is presented. This architecture exploits the inherent parallelism and pipelining of the transposition operation resulting in an efficient mapping of the operation (algorithm) onto the structure. More importantly, this architecture is a universal implementation of executing matrix transposition because it allows data to flow in and out of the structure in either serial or parallel fashion. This architecture has potentially wide applications in real-time data processing, particularly in the areas of signal processing, FFT computations, multidimensional image processing, robotic-vision, database manipulation etc. A basic cell is defined which represents a matrix element and is capable of handling data K bits in width. For a N*N matrix, N/sup 2/ basic cells are connected in a pipelined fashion along the N rows (N columns) of the matrix with the interconnection between adjacent rows (columns) organised in a serpentine fashion. The architecture has a very small execution time and low communication complexity. The simplicity and regular nature of the structure combined with the local interconnection of the elements makes VLSI implementation of the architecture possible.


Background and aims Open nephrectomy is associated with severe pain and pain-derived morbidity. There are several options for postoperative pain management, each with drawbacks. Since its description in 2016,1erector spinae plane block (ESPB) has been deemed as a safe and effective regional technique. We present one of the few reports of a paediatric open nephrectomy, managed with the novel ESPB. Methods A 1-year-old male, 9,6 kg, ASA I, diagnosed with a left Wilms tumour, was proposed for a total open nephrectomy. Informed consent was obtained. After induction of general anaesthesia and intubation, the patient was positioned in lateral decubitus. A high-frequency linear ultrasound probe was placed longitudinally on the left side, parasagittal to the level of T7-9. Following identification of the erector spinae muscle and transverse process of T8 vertebra, 0,5 ml/kg of ropivacaine 0,2% was injected unilaterally, deep to the erector spinae muscle, with an in-plane needle technique. The cranio-caudal spread of local anaesthetic was tracked to T6-10 level. The intraoperative period was uneventful and multimodal postoperative analgesia was maintained with acetaminophen and metamizole. Results The follow-up on the surgical ward denoted a maximum FLACC score of 2 during the first 24h and of 1 thereafter, until discharge. No rescue analgesia was needed. Thereby, we recognize ESPB as a valuable option for open nephrectomy paediatric cases. Conclusions The current report adds to the scarce body of literature regarding ESPB in infants. Moreover, our results support ESPB as a valid pain management alternative for open nephrectomy in this population. Reference Reg Anesth Pain Med 2016. DOI:10.1097/AAP.0000000000000451.


RATIONALE
Nasal polyps (NPs) are characterized by intense edema or formation of pseudocysts filled with plasma proteins, mainly albumin. However, the mechanisms underlying NP retention of plasma proteins in their submucosa remain unclear.

OBJECTIVES
We hypothesized that formation of a fibrin mesh retains plasma proteins in NPs. We assessed the fibrin deposition and expression of the components of the fibrinolytic system in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS).

METHODS
We assessed fibrin deposition in nasal tissue from patients with CRS and control subjects by means of immunofluorescence. Fibrinolytic components, d-dimer, and plasminogen activators were measured using ELISA, real-time PCR, and immunohistochemistry. We also performed gene expression and protein quantification analysis in cultured airway epithelial cells.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Immunofluorescence data showed profound fibrin deposition in NP compared with uncinate tissue (UT) from patients with CRS and control subjects. Levels of the cross-linked fibrin cleavage product protein, d-dimer, were significantly decreased in NP compared with UT from patients with CRS and control subjects, suggesting reduced fibrinolysis (P < 0.05). Expression levels of tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) mRNA and protein were significantly decreased in NP compared with UT from patients with CRS and control subjects (P < 0.01). Immunohistochemistry demonstrated clear reduction of t-PA in NP, primarily in the epithelium and glands. Th2 cytokine-stimulated cultured airway epithelial cells showed down-regulation of t-PA, suggesting a potential Th2 mechanism in NP.

CONCLUSIONS
A Th2-mediated reduction of t-PA might lead to excessive fibrin deposition in the submucosa of NP, which might contribute to the tissue remodeling and pathogenesis of CRS with nasal polyps.


"To do or not to do" is a fundamental decision that has to be made in daily life. Behaviors related to multiple "to do" choice tasks have long been explained by reinforcement learning, and "to do or not to do" tasks such as the go/no-go task have also been recently discussed within the framework of reinforcement learning. In this learning framework, alternative actions and/or the non-action to take are determined by evaluating explicitly given (overt) reward and punishment. However, we assume that there are real life cases in which an action/non-action is repeated, even though there is no obvious reward or punishment, because implicitly given outcomes such as saving physical energy and regret (we refer to this as "covert reward") can affect the decision-making. In the current task, mice chose to pull a lever or not according to two tone cues assigned with different water reward probabilities (70% and 30% in condition 1, and 30% and 10% in condition 2). As the mice learned, the probability that they would choose to pull the lever decreased (<0.25) in trials with a 30% reward probability cue (30% cue) in condition 1, and in trials with a 10% cue in condition 2, but increased (>0.8) in trials with a 70% cue in condition 1 and a 30% cue in condition 2, even though a non-pull was followed by neither an overt reward nor avoidance of overt punishment in any trial. This behavioral tendency was not well explained by a combination of commonly used Q-learning models, which take only the action choice with an overt reward outcome into account. Instead, we found that the non-action preference of the mice was best explained by Q-learning models, which regarded the non-action as the other choice, and updated non-action values with a covert reward. We propose that "doing nothing" can be actively chosen as an alternative to "doing something," and that a covert reward could serve as a reinforcer of "doing nothing."


MartinW. Öfele's book is the result of vast and meticulous research. Öfele has analyzed not only an impressive array of secondary literature, he also draws on a number of primary sources, some of which have received little or no attention until recently. One of the first things his readers will notice immediately is the bibliography, which is truly exemplary, and which encompasses both the wide fields of German immigrants in the United States as well as Civil War history.


In this work, we address the prediction of speech articulators' temporal geometric position from the sequence of phonemes to be articulated. We start from a set of real-time MRI sequences uttered by a female French speaker. The contours of five articulators were tracked automatically in each of the frames in the MRI video. Then, we explore the capacity of a bidirectional GRU to correctly predict each articulator's shape and position given the sequence of phonemes and their duration. We propose a 5-fold cross-validation experiment to evaluate the generalization capacity of the model. In a second experiment, we evaluate our model's data efficiency by reducing training data. We evaluate the point-to-point Euclidean distance and the Pearson's correlations along time between the predicted and the target shapes. We also evaluate produced shapes of the critical articulators of specific phonemes. We show that our model can achieve good results with minimal data, producing very realistic vocal tract shapes.


We investigated the experiences of 15 parents and their tween children (ages 8-12, n=23) during nature explorations using the NatureCollections app, a mobile application that connects children with nature. Drawing on parent interviews and in-app audio recordings from a 2-week deployment study, we found that tweens' experiences with the NatureCollections app were influenced by tensions surrounding how parents and tweens negotiate technology use more broadly. Despite these tensions, the app succeeded in engaging tweens in outdoor nature explorations, and parents valued the shared family experiences around nature. Parents desired the app to support family bonding and inform them about how their tween used the app. This work shows how applications intended to support enriching youth experiences are experienced in the context of screen time tensions between parents and tween during a transitional period of child development. We offer recommendations for designing digital experiences to support family needs and reduce screen time tensions.


As governments and health care systems direct more attention and resources to treating the rising rates of obesity worldwide, one thing has become very clear: obesity is best treated as a chronic condition. The most effective approach to care is often a behavioral one, in which health care providers and patients rely on teamwork, respect, and conversation to motivate lifestyle change. This collaborative model is essential because decisions about care ultimately rest with the patient. Working together, care providers and patients can help patients learn to make healthy choices throughout their lives. An effective and detailed guide for health care providers, Behavioral Approaches to Treating Obesity embraces this understanding about treating obesity and explains how to help patients direct their own lifestyle change. With this self-directed approach to clinical care, patients assume more responsibility for their treatment plans, whereas care providers learn to take on the role of guide or counselor. In this book, readers will find strategies for encouraging patients and equipping them for lifestyle change. There is practical advice on many issues and helpful guides for any of a number of difficult scenarios. Some of the features of this guide include: arranging the physical environment of a clinic to accommodate obese patientsbuilding a program to meet the needs of patients in a chronic-care treatment plancase studies to illuminate key issues in behavior changecharts and tables to help implement behavioral approaches in treatmentstep-by-step instructions on helping patients begin lifestyle changedescriptions of how to design and organize an obesity treatment programuseful methods of building a collaborative health care team Readers will start at the beginning, learning to understand the problems of obesity and risks it poses to the people who suffer from the condition. Then the methods of treatment for obesity are presented, along with analysis of these methods and their effectiveness. In the end, the authors conclude that a new paradigm of care is needed to successfully treat obesity. The next section spends some time redefining the roles of health care providers in providing a collaborative care model of behavioral change therapy. The authors describe the new roles for health care providers and how to cope with those changes, how to build their team, how to create a supportive environment, and then how to structure the care process. The third and final section provides health care providers with the tools they need to introduce behavioral self-care in the clinical environment. This is a step-by-step process, and each step is further explained using case studies from the authors' experiences. The book is completed with an extensive resources section and an updated reference list to promote further research.


Five power filters and two types of power amplifiers were tested for use with active magnetic bearings for flywheel applications. Filter topologies included low pass filters and low pass filters combined with trap filters at the PWM switching frequency. Two state and three state PWM amplifiers were compared. Each system was evaluated based on current magnitude at the switching frequency, voltage magnitude at 500 kHz, and power consumption. The base line system was a two state amplifier without a power filter. The recommended system is a three state power amplifier with a 50 kHz low pass filter and a 27 kHz trap filter. This system uses 5.57 W. It reduces the switching current by an order of magnitude and the 500 kHz voltage by two orders of magnitude. The relative power consumption varied depending on the test condition between 60 to 130 percent of the baseline.


A uniform circular array with dual orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes is proposed for in-band full-duplex applications. The proposed scheme includes two concentric ring subarrays for transmitting and receiving, respectively, where all elements are operated under the same linear polarization. To suppress the self-interference resulting from the mutual coupling, an OAM mode-selection method related to the proposed configuration is discussed. Results indicate that good isolation performance between the transmitter and receiver can be achieved by using the proposed scheme. To validate the performance, a demonstrator with OAM modes of −1 and −2 at Ku-band is developed, fabricated, and measured. Measurements show a relative bandwidth of 21.3% from 13.5 to 16.7 GHz, referring to a 40 dB suppression level, is achieved and the desired radiations are found.


Analysis of accelerograms recorded at the 20 m range from a buried 5-lb detonation in alluvium revealed wide (as large as 20 dB in the amplitude modulus of the Fourier transform) variations in response for frequencies above 35 Hz. Additional experiments were performed which ruled out source asymmetry or instrumental irregularity as the cause of these variations. The observations suggest that scattering by geologic inhomogeneity is responsible for the frequency-dependent spatial variability in ground motion. A thorough understanding of the physical processes responsible for this variability requires that a quantitative relationship be established between the subsurface material property information and the observed ground motion characteristics. An attempt was made to do this using available standard penetration test data from the test bed where the initial experiment was detonated. Autocorrelations of the blow count data from the standard penetration test were computed and compared with theoretical exponential and Gaussian distributions. The exponential distribution with a scale length between 2.0 and 3.0 m best matches the data. Assuming the Born approximation, a scale length of 2.0 to 3.0 m implies that significant scattering should occur above 10 Hz. The recorded ground motions are, however, coherent out to about 35 Hz, suggesting a scale length on the order of 0.5 to 1.0 m, which is beyond the resolution of the standard penetration test technique. This scale length is, however, not unreasonable in light of the general geologic characteristics of the test area.


Establishing a better coordination between operating parameters and flow channel design is one of the most critical factors in achieving an optimum final performance of a fuel cell, since even a marginal change in any of the parameters can sharply affect the cell's performance. In this study, we report the use of three different acids, viz. sulphuric acid (H2SO4), formic acid (HCOOH) and phosphoric acid (H3PO4) as supporting electrolytes in combination with 2 M methanol fuel, wherein we demonstrated the effects of different combinations of acidic fuels and channel designs on the final cell performance. For this purpose, we made use of four different types of serpentine flow design. In the process, it was observed that an addition of 2 M concentrations of H2SO4 and H3PO4 enhanced the cell performance sharply in terms of current density, reaching values of 210 mAcm−2 and 180 mAcm−2, respectively, when analyzed at 0.2 V potential. This result was a considerable improvement over the current density value of 90 mAcm−2 achieved while using only 2 M methanol analyzed at the same potential. Moreover, the open‐circuit voltage showed a value of greater than 0.6 V for both fuel samples. With a flow channel length of 650 mm (A5SF2) and at an open ratio of 52%, we obtained maximum power values of 42 mWcm−2 and 36 mWcm−2 for fuels containing 2 M H2SO4 (M2S2) and 2 M H3PO4 (M2P2), respectively, when analyzed at 70°C. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


In the neonatal human thymus, early immature precursors co-express CD34 and CD7 cell surface Ags, and we have recently shown that its most primitive CD34+7+1- fraction includes TCR-beta-rearranging cells. Bone marrow and cord blood also contain a CD34+7+ population. Although this population is heterogeneous in terms of both phenotype and differentiation capacities, it may include T cell-committed thymus colonizing precursors (prothymocytes). Recently, it has been shown in the mouse that initiation of TCR-beta rearrangements is not restricted to early thymocytes. In the present study, we examined the TCR-beta and TCR-delta rearrangement and transcription status of cord blood CD34+7- and CD34+7+ subpopulations. RNA and DNA were isolated from these cell subsets purified by two consecutive rounds of fluorescence-activated cell sorting from CD3-depleted cord blood cells. Using D-J(beta) or V-J(beta) primer sets and genomic DNA PCR amplification, we showed that CD34+7+, but not CD34+7-, contained D-J(beta) rearrangements without concomitant V-D(beta) recombination. These partial TCR-beta rearrangements within CD34+7+ progenitors were also confirmed at the transcriptional level. Furthermore, whereas none of the CD34+ cord blood cell fraction expressed TCR-alpha transcripts, mature V(delta)1-C(delta) mRNA could be amplified from the CD34+7+ subset. The TdT gene was also transcriptionally active in CD34+7+ cells, thus confirming their lymphoid progenitor content. These data indicate that cord blood CD34+7+ cells, like CD34+7+1- neonatal thymocytes, can initiate TCR-beta gene recombination, reinforcing the idea that T cell commitment may occur before prothymocyte migration to the thymus.


BACKGROUND
The anticipated increase in access to health care has prompted an interest in where women go for their office-based care. The objectives of this study were to examine which types of office site are chosen by reproductive-aged women for their health care and to compare the reasons for their visits among these sites.

METHODS
This descriptive study involved an analysis of national data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey between 2002 and 2011. We restricted the analysis to a nationally representative group of women between 19 and 39 years old (n=45,133). Interviews with patients were used to identify the patient's demographics, type of physician seen, and main reason for each self-reported office visit (n=208,814).

RESULTS
One in four women did not go to a physician's office each year. Nearly all who sought some sort of office-based care went to family physicians, ob-gyns, or a combination. For the women who did go to a physician's office, going only to a family physician's office was most common (42.6%). In contrast, 28.6% of these women visited only an ob-gyn office, and an additional 21.5% went to offices of a family physician or general internist as well as an ob-gyn physician. Visits only to offices of ob-gyns were highest among women who were married and healthy. Compared with family physicians or internists, the percentages of office visits to an ob-gyn were more likely for pregnancy (57.0% vs. 2.8%), about the same for a general check-up (23.6% vs. 29.2%), and less for diagnosis or treatment (13.7% vs. 55.5%). Those who went to ob-gyn offices were most apt to return for several visits per year.

CONCLUSION
Almost all health care sought by women aged 19 to 39 in a year is to ob-gyns or family physicians, and significant sharing of care exists across these provider groups. While most visits to family physicians were for diagnosis or treatment, the majority of visits to ob-gyn were for pregnancy-related care.


Carotid webs are a rare type of fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD), thought to be a cause of ischaemic stroke. We aimed to review the presentation and outcomes of patients with carotid webs attending our unit over a 12-year period.

 The cohort of patients with carotid webs who presented to our unit between 2010 and 2021 were identified by electronically interrelating imaging reports (CT/MR/angiogram) for the phase "carotid web". Images were re-reviewed to confirm the diagnosis. The electronic records for the cohort were also reviewed.

 60 patients with carotid webs were identified, with an age range of 36 to 92 years (mean age 64 years) and a similar sex distribution (31 male, 29 female). 29 carotid webs were left-sided, 22 were right-sided and 9 were bilateral. None had a pre-event diagnosis of FMD. 27 patients had an ischaemic stroke - 18 in the territory relevant to the web location, 9 in other territories. 1 patient was treated with thrombolysis, 1 with thrombectomy and 1 with thrombolysis and thrombectomy. None underwent carotid intervention. Of the 18 patients with a carotid web on the ipsilateral side to their ischaemic event, none had a repeat event recorded.

 30% of the cohort had an ischaemic stroke event corresponding to the territory supplied by a carotid artery with a web. Current management of carotid webs leans towards conservative management with antiplatelet therapy. However, these data suggest carotid intervention should be considered in selected cases where stroke symptoms correlate to the laterality of the carotid web.


We first perform a two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation of anti-parallel magnetic reconnection to verify that in the electron diffusion region the reconnection electric field is mainly balanced by the gradient of the electron pressure. Then, by following typical electron trajectories in the fixed electromagnetic field of anti-parallel reconnection, we calculate the gradient of the electron pressure. We find that the resulted gradient of the electron pressure is equal to the reconnection electric field. This indicates that in the electron diffusion region the reconnection electric field is balanced by the gradient of the electron pressure, which results from the electron nongyrotropic motions. Our result gives a microphysical explanation of the balance between the reconnection electric field and the gradient of the electron pressure.


Conjugate gradient optimization algorithms depend on the search directions with different choice for the parameter in the conjugate gradient directions.In this paper,conditions are given on the parameter to ensure that the conjugate direction is sufficient descent,and a new conjugate gradient method is present.This algorithm only need a smaller memory and to have the better convergence rate.


We solve for asset prices in a general affine representative-agent economy with isoelastic recursive utility and rare events. Our novel solution method is exact in two special cases: no preference for early resolution of uncertainty and elasticity of intertemporal substitution equal to one. Our results clarify model properties governed by the elasticity of intertemporal substitution, by risk aversion, and by the preference for early resolution of uncertainty. Finally, we show in a general setting that the linear relation between normal-times covariances and expected returns need not hold in a model with rare events.


Summary

The pine wilt disease (PWD) is caused by Bursaphelenchus xylophilus and poses great environmental and economic challenges. Thus, the development of sustainable techniques for the control of this epidemic disease is of major importance. This work aimed at evaluating if the application of different molecular weight (MW) chitosans as a soil amendment could be used to control the PWD in maritime pine (Pinus pinaster, very susceptible to the disease) and stone pine (Pinus pinea, less susceptible). At the end of the experimental period (24 days after inoculation), P. pinaster and P. pinea untreated plants presented ca. 3825 ± 100 and 70 ± 47 nematodes, respectively. In P. pinaster, the high-MW chitosan prompted the most drastic results, inducing a 21.9-fold reduction in nematodes numbers, whereas in P. pinea, the most effective was the low MW chitosan, which reduced nematodes numbers up to 7-fold, compared with untreated plants. P. pinea seems to be highly resistant to the disease, presenting nematode numbers up to 54.6-fold lower than P. pinaster and less severe chlorophyll loss (ca. 2-fold).


Studies of antimatter are important for understanding our universe at a fundamental level. There are still unsolved problems, such as the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe. The AEgIS experiment at CERN aims at measuring the gravitational fall of antihydrogen in order to determine the gravitational force on antimatter. The proposed method will make use of a position-sensitive detector to measure the annihilation point of antihydrogen. Such a detector must be able to tag the antiproton, measure its time of arrival and reconstruct its annihilation point with high precision in the vertical direction. This work explores a new method for tagging antiprotons and reconstructing their annihilation point. Antiprotons from the Antiproton Decelerator at CERN were used to obtain data on direct annihilations on the surface of a silicon pixel sensor with Timepix3 readout. These data were used to develop and verify a detector response model for annihilation of antiprotons in this detector. Using this model and the antiproton data it is shown that a tagging efficiency of 50± 10% and a vertical position resolution of 22 ± 0.5 μm can be obtained.


A PID control method based on BP neural network was proposed,aimming at the temperature control of rollers for calender in Fengsheng Tire Limited Company and the limitations of the conventional PID control which resulted from complicated design,the poorer control accuracy and real-time update complicated parameter.The computer control system was also presented.The experiment results show that the method has the advantage of the high approach precision and self-adaptive,getting more satisfied results.


Summary Dyslexia and L2 appropriation have been extensively documented separately; however, few studies have brought them together. Our research sheds linguistic light on dyslexia in Arabic-speaking bilingual children. The aim is to study phonology, reading and spelling in dyslexic and non-dyslexic children learning French as a second language to better distinguish between what a reading disorder is and what typical appropriation is, with possible transient difficulties related to L2 development. The general hypothesis is that there are specific markers of dyslexia in Arabic-speaking children learning French as a second language. A multiple-case study was conducted. It consisted of four dyads of children aged 8-10 years: two bilingual dyslexic children, two bilingual non-dyslexic children, two monolingual dyslexic children and two monolingual non-dyslexic children. The bilingual children were Arabic speakers who had arrived in France at the age of six. In a diachronic and synchronic approach, spontaneous and experimental data were collected over a period of nine months. The experiment was based on the Phonoludos, Odedys 2, ELFE and ELDP2 tools. Parental questionnaires were also administered to parents. A synthesis of the most important results is presented. A phonological deficit is manifested in all dyslexic subjects by difficulties in speech perception/production, weaknesses in phonemic unit manipulation and decoding. In reading and spelling, atypical phonemic and phonetic errors are found in large numbers, whereas they are absent in non-dyslexics. This study is a first step in understanding how to identify dyslexia in bilingual children. It is now important to extend the study to a larger number of subjects, with a view to adapting tools that will facilitate the identification and assessment of children who speak several languages.


TatiPratiwi :THE INFLUENCE OF LEARNING TRANSLATION ON THE
STUDENTS' COMPREHENSION IN WRITING PROCEDURE
TEXT AT MA SUNAN GUNUNG JATI LOSARI CIREBON
One of the function of learning English as a foreign language to the students'
in our country in any level is to make them be able to read, to write, to listen, and to
speak English, language can exist the written form, written text. To understand the
content of a text it certainly needs the knowledge of translation. This is why students
who learns English or certain language should know the words. The aims of the
research is to find out the influence of learning translation on the students'
comprehension in writing procedur text at MA SunanGunungJatiLosari Cirebon.
According to Brislin(1976:1) explains that translation is the general term
referring to the transfer of thought and ides from one language(source) to another
(target), whether the languages are in written or oral form; the language has
established orthographies or do not have such standardization or wheter one or both
language is based on signs, as with sign languages of the deaf. Learning translation
can also grow the students' enjoy and can give the relationship between the content of
teaching material with the round them life.
The method of the research is quantitative research. The sample of research is
52 students. The research instrument used by the writer are observation and test. In
analyzing the data the writer has used the formulation of Pearson's correlation
product moment.
The writer has given the test and the result of students' ability in learning
translation by using multiple choice. The average score of the test is 6.92 this score
can be rounded into 6.9. It means that the students' learning translation can be
categorized as enough. The average score of the students' comprehension in writing
procedure text as Y variable is 8.4 this score can be rounded into 8. It means that the
students' comprehension in writing procedure text can be categorized as good. The
result of coefficient correlation is 0.47. Based on the value "r" it can be categorized
that there is weak or low correlation between X variable and Y variable. In other
words, there is influence of the students' learning translation in their comprehension
in writing procedure text.
After the result analysis data of test, based on the value that has analyzed
can be said that there is significant influence of the students' learning translation on
their comprehension in writing procedure text at the tenth grade atMA
SunanGunungJatiLosari Cirebon. For the English teacher should better to motivate
the students to use English all time, especially in translation.


Background and objective As of 2016, 43 US states have policies regarding alcohol use during pregnancy. A recent study found that out of eight state-level alcohol/pregnancy policies, six are significantly associated with poorer birth outcomes, and two are not associated with any outcomes. Here we estimate the excess numbers of low birthweight (LBW) and preterm births (PTB) related to these policies and their associated additional costs in the first year of life. Methods Cost study using birth certificate data for 155,446,714 singleton live births in the United States between 1972–2015. Exposures were state- and month/year-specific indicators of having each of eight alcohol/pregnancy policies in place. Outcomes were excess numbers of LBW and PTB and associated costs in the first year of life. Fixed effects regressions with state-specific time trends were used for statistical analyses in 2018. Results In 2015, policies mandating warning signs were associated with an excess of 7,375 LBW; policies defining alcohol use during pregnancy as child abuse/neglect were associated with an excess of 12,372 PTB; these excess adverse outcomes are associated with additional costs of $151,928,002 and $582,698,853 in the first year of life, respectively. Conclusions Multiple state-level alcohol pregnancy policies lead to increased prevalence of LBW and PTB, which cost hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Policymakers should consider adverse public health impacts of alcohol/pregnancy policies before expanding extant policies to new substances or adopting existing policies in new states.


Secondary prevention of venous thromboembolism in antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is usually made using vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) to maintain an international normalized ratio (INR) between 2.0 and 3.0. The optimal intensity of anticoagulation was determined in two prospective randomized controlled trials, both excluding the benefit of more intense anticoagulation. The same regimen is also recommended in patients with APS and arterial thromboembolism as aspirin does not appear to protect against recurrences. The duration of treatment is usually indefinite because of a substantial risk of recurrence.


Rationale: In patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia, underlying chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was independently associated with poor outcome in one study. We assessed the impact of underlying COPD on the outcome of intensive care unit-acquired pneumonia (ICUAP), regardless patients were previously ventilated or not.

Methods: Prospective, observational study on the characteristics, microbiology, systemic inflammatory response and outcomes of 381 consecutive patients with ICUAP clustered according to the presence or not of COPD.

Results: Eighty-two (21.5%) patients had COPD. Patients with COPD were older, had more frequently cardiac co-morbidity, history of solid cancer, and less SOFA score, and longer stay before the onset of pneumonia, compared with non-COPD patients. The rate of etiologic diagnosis was similar between groups, with a trend to higher rate of P. aeruginosa in patients with COPD. Serum levels of interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 at onset of pneumonia were lower in COPD patients. Mortality at 28 days was similar between both groups; however, mortality at 90 days was significantly higher in COPD patients (48, 62% vs. 118, 43%, odds-ratio 2.16, 95% confidence interval 1.29-3.61, p=0.003). After adjusting for possible confounders, the association of COPD with increased mortality at 90 days disappeared (adjusted odds-ratio 1.71, 95% confidence interval 0.88-3.31, p=0.11).

Conclusions: In patients with ICUAP, underlying COPD is associated with decreased systemic inflammatory response. COPD was not related with increased mortality at 90 days after adjusting for potential confounders.


Slow oscillations are a pattern of synchronized network activity generated by the cerebral cortex. They consist of Up and Down states, which are periods of activity interspersed with periods of silence, respectively. However, even when this is a unique dynamic regime of transitions between Up and Down states, this pattern is not constant: there is a range of oscillatory frequencies (0.1–4 Hz), and the duration of Up vs. Down states during the cycles is variable. This opens many questions. Is there a constant relationship between the duration of Up and Down states? How much do they vary across conditions and oscillatory frequencies? Are there different sub regimes within the slow oscillations? To answer these questions, we aimed to explore a concrete aspect of slow oscillations, Up and Down state durations, across three conditions: deep anesthesia, light anesthesia, and slow-wave sleep (SWS), in the same chronically implanted rats. We found that light anesthesia and SWS have rather similar properties, occupying a small area of the Up and Down state duration space. Deeper levels of anesthesia occupy a larger region of this space, revealing that a large variety of Up and Down state durations can emerge within the slow oscillatory regime. In a network model, we investigated the network parameters that can explain the different points within our bifurcation diagram in which slow oscillations are expressed.


The propagation of arbitrary information by electromagnetic and gravitational waves in spatially homogeneous and isotropic cosmological models is examined. The test Maxwellian fields and the gravitational perturbations we study depend upon arbitrary functions in the spirit of Trautman's pioneering analysis. We use the covariant and gauge-invariant approach developed by Ellis and Bruni to study cosmological perturbations under this assumption.


BACKGROUND
Metastatic bone disease (MBD) is a frequent complication in patients with breast cancer and is associated with significant morbidity. This study assessed the pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and safety of odanacatib, a selective Cat K inhibitor, in reducing markers of bone resorption in women with breast cancer and MBD.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Women with breast cancer and MBD were randomized 2:1 (double-blind) to oral odanacatib 5 mg daily for 4 weeks or intravenous (I.V.) zoledronic acid (ZA) 4 mg given once at study initiation. Plasma samples were collected for pharmacokinetic analysis. Bone resorption was assessed by measuring urinary N-telopeptide of type I collagen corrected for creatinine (uNTx; primary objective, pmol BCE/µmol creatinine). Adverse events (AEs) were monitored throughout the 4-week study and up to 14 days after last dose.

RESULTS
A total of 43 patients (mean age, 60 years) received odanacatib (n = 29) or ZA (n = 14); 40 patients completed 4 weeks of treatment. The mean percent change in uNTx values at week 4 was -77% (95% CI, -82 to -71; odanacatib) and -73% (95% CI, -80 to -62; ZA). Mean (standard deviation) plasma concentration of odanacatib was 511.7 (202.9) nM; the range was 63.7-844.8 nM. The most common AEs were nausea, vomiting, headache, and bone pain, which were generally not attributed to study drug.

CONCLUSION
Odanacatib suppressed uNTx similarly to ZA after 4 weeks of treatment in women with breast cancer and MBD. Odanacatib was generally safe and well tolerated. These results suggest that Cat K inhibition is a potentially important, novel therapeutic approach for treating MBD.


Medium-duty vehicles are used in a broad array of fleet applications, including parcel delivery. These vehicles are excellent candidates for electric drive applications due to their transient-intensive duty cycles, operation in densely populated areas, and relatively high fuel consumption and emissions. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) conducted a robust assessment of parcel delivery routes and completed a model-based techno-economic analysis of hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle configurations. First, NREL characterized parcel delivery vehicle usage patterns, most notably daily distance driven and drive cycle intensity. Second, drive-cycle analysis results framed the selection of drive cycles used to test a parcel delivery HEV on a chassis dynamometer. Next, measured fuel consumption results were used to validate simulated fuel consumption values derived from a dynamic model of the parcel delivery vehicle. Finally, NREL swept a matrix of 120 component size, usage, and cost combinations to assess impacts on fuel consumption and vehicle cost. The results illustrated the dependency of component sizing on drive-cycle intensity and daily distance driven and may allow parcel delivery fleets to match the most appropriate electric drive vehicle to their fleet usage profile.


Recent work has proposed a variation of pair programming called side-by-side programming, wherein two programmers, sitting next to each other and using different workstations, work together on the same task. We have defined a distributed approximation of this idea and implemented it in both a compiled and interpretive environment. Our experiments with these implementations provide several new preliminary results regarding different aspects of (distributed) side-by-side programming.


Restoration of hearing is associated in many cases with resocialisation of those affected and therefore occupies an important place in a society where communication is becoming ever faster. Not all problems can be solved surgically. Even 50 years after the introduction of tympanoplasty, the hearing results are unsatisfactory and often do not reach the threshold for social hearing. The cause of this can in most cases be regarded as incomplete restoration of the mucosal function of the middle ear and tube, which leads to ventilation disorders of the ear and does not allow real vibration of the reconstructed middle ear. However, a few are also caused by the biomechanics of the reconstructed ossicular chain. There has been progress in reconstructive middle ear surgery, which applies particularly to the development of implants. Implants made of titanium, which are distinguished by outstanding biocompatibility, delicate design and by biomechanical possibilities in the reconstruction of chain function, can be regarded as a new generation. Metal implants for the first time allow a controlled close fit with the remainder of the chain and integration of micromechanical functions in the implant. Moreover, there has also been progress in microsurgery itself. This applies particularly to the operative procedures for auditory canal atresia, the restoration of the tympanic membrane and the coupling of implants. This paper gives a summary of the current state of reconstructive microsurgery paying attention to the acousto-mechanical rules.


Cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) was measured in normal rat pancreatic islet cells using the intracellular Ca2+ indicator fura 2. Glucose induced an initial decrease followed by a secondary rise in [Ca2+]i. The secondary rise probably resulted from an increase in Ca2+ inflow into the cells, while the initial decrease displayed several characteristics of the well known initial decrease in 45Ca efflux induced by glucose in prelabelled pancreatic islets. It is concluded that glucose may exert both an inhibitory and a stimulatory effect on [Ca2+]i in normal isolated islet cells.


BOSTON—Analyses of results of a trial of a failed HIV vaccine have prompted some prominent scientists to urge the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to retreat from testing candidate vaccines of questionable value and to return to the laboratory to develop new approaches. Whether or not the agency will move to scale back vaccine trials, scientists agree that with no prospect of an effective vaccine to curb the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the foreseeable future, expanding the repertoire of prevention tools is all the more important. New findings from studies of varying prevention strategies, including male circumcision and the use of antiretroviral drugs to curb HIV transmission during breastfeeding by mothers in resource-poor settings, were presented here at the 15th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.


Animal models of myocarditis are of great value for studying the pathophysiology of the disease. To clarify the key factors for determining the severity of myocarditis, we analyzed immunohistological surface markers of myocardial infiltrating cells in various animal models, and the relationship between myocardiogenic antigens and abnormal behaviours of infiltrating cells was discussed. Myocarditis was induced in mice and rats by cardiotropic viruses and by porcine cardiac myosin. Animals were sacrificed at the peak of their disease. Pathological examinations were performed, and the severity of the lesions was scored semiquantitatively. There were striking differences in the severity of viral and autoimmune giant cell myocarditis among different animal models. However, the majority of myocardial infiltrating cells were comprised of macrophages and CD4+ T cells. Different immunological behaviours of myocardial infiltrating cells were demonstrated in these models of myocarditis. However, the development of severe myocardial lesions may depend on the macrophage-CD4 cell lineage in these animal models.


This paper examines the effects of accelerated weathering on samples of aircraft covering prepared using the Grade-A cotton with Randolph dope, Ceconite with Randolph dope, Cooper Superfliie 11, Air-Tech Coatings, and Stits Poly-Fiber processes. The results indicate that although Air-Tech and Superflite processes were the heaviest, both maintained excellent gloss retention over the accelerated weathering cycle. Ceconite with Randolph dope was the least stable in yellowing degradation while Stits was the best performer. Strength degradation was most pronounced in the Superflite process. Thermal stress testing showed all processes exhibited heat and flame resistance loss due to weathering.


Alzheimer's disease is one of the diseases which is identified by progressive memory loss and cognitive deficits leading to a decline in the lifespan of the patients. The drugs used in the clinic show palliative properties and they are unable to modify disease progression. In this study, N-(4-(N-(diaminomethylene)sulfamoyl)phenyl)-2-(substituted-benzamido)benzamide derivatives were synthesized and evaluated towards acetylcholinesterase (AChE, E.C.126.96.36.199) enzyme which is the most studied enzyme regarding Alzheimer's disease. The inhibition constants (Ki) of the compounds synthesized towards the AChE enzyme were in the range of 15.51 ± 1.88 - 41.24 ± 10.13 nM. The most effective compound with the lowest Ki = 15.51 ± 1.88 nM, 2-benzamido-N-(4-(N-(diaminomethylene)sulfamoyl)phenyl)benzamide 6, can be reported as a lead compound of this study. Bioactivity results obtained by this study may provide useful information on the development of novel and potent inhibitors targeting Alzheimer's disease.


Experimental abrasion of river‐bed materials has been widely undertaken, producing 'downstream' fining rates that generally are believed to be much less than those observed in the field. A conclusion commonly adopted has been that sorting processes are more effective than abrasion processes. A comparative evaluation of results from an abrasion tank and a tumbling barrel are presented, which show that abrasion patterns and rates differ according to the equipment used, clast size and shape, the clast charge (barrel) and water velocity and bed material (tank). Abrasion is a composite process, and the effects achieved appear to be dominated by percussion in the tank and grinding in the barrel. Breakage, crushing and sandblasting are not modelled effectively, nor are effects achieved on clasts when they form part of the bed. Comparisons are made with other equipment used, the very limited amount of direct field abrasion monitoring, and with the probable suite of processes that may occur under field conditions. Also reviewed are the problems that arise when laboratory weight‐loss abrasion coefficients are used or converted into ones of size diminution, as usually derived from field observations of down‐channel trends. It is concluded that field abrasion rates generally have been underestimated, as the processes involved are at best only selectively represented by the experimental equipment so far used, and because the results obtained experimentally are capable of misinterpretation when related to field trends. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


To obtain market financing for an infrastructure project, a private operator needs to be able to provide potential investors assurance that revenue flows to the project will be reliable. Where those revenue flows consist in part of government output-based aid (OBA) subsidy payments, providing that assurance can be problematic. Many governments are considered unreliable payers and therefore assigned a low credit rating by financial markets and investors. In these cases the credit quality of OBA payments needs to be enhanced if they are to help attract investment financing to the project. The World Bank offers guarantee instruments that can enhance the creditworthiness of such payments. There are two main options: partial risk guarantees to mitigate the risk of a government failing to make OBA payments for individual projects, and partial credit guarantees to help governments raise financing for a subsidy pool providing OBA payments to multiple project.


BACKGROUND
Yersiniosis is one of the three leading foodborne zoonoses in Lithuania, and the incidence of 12.86 per 100,000 population was the highest among EU member states in 2010. Contaminated pig carcasses and subsequently undercooked pig meat are considered to be the primary transmission vehicle of enteropathogenic Y. enterocolitica to consumers. With the aim of evaluating pigs as a possible source of human yersiniosis in Lithuania, this study investigated the genetic diversity of Y. enterocolitica isolated from pigs and human cases of yersiniosis. In addition, the antimicrobial resistance of selected isolates from both sources was compared.

RESULTS
In total, 83 Y. enterocolitica strains were characterised using pulsed field gel electrophoresis. Overall, 68% of Y. enterocolitica 4/O:3 pulsotypes found in human clinical samples were identical to 81% of pulsotypes found in the pig production chain. Yersinia enterocolitica pulsotype II was confirmed as the dominant pulsotype in the pig production chain and was identical to nine of 19 Y. enterocolitica strains found in humans. All tested Y. enterocolitica 4/O:3 strains were resistant to ampicillin and erythromycin and sensitive to ciprofloxacin. Of the strains studied, 5% were resistant to tetracycline and streptomycin.

CONCLUSION
This study showed that pigs may be the main source of human yersiniosis in Lithuania. In addition, Y. enterocolitica 4/O:3 strains isolated from the pig production chain and from yersiniosis patients shared similar resistance to different antimicrobials.


Achieving high energy gain in laser fusion will require the use of moderately-thin pellet shells. But thinner shells are expected to be more susceptible to break-up from the Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Calculations and experimental data thus far indicate that the growth rate of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability is reduced well below the classical value when the surface of the pellet shell is directly ablated by laser light. In addition, the "mix" of the cold DT shell with the hot ignitor may only slightly degrade the pellet yield. It may therefore be possible to successfully implode these moderately thin shells and produce gains of a few hundred, using a few-megajoule KrF laser driver.


The transmittance and reflectance spectra of films of PbSe and PbSe doped with 2 mol% Cd grown by two different non-equilibrium growth techniques, laser-assisted deposition and electron-beam evaporation, on KCl and BaF2 substrates are measured from 400 to 4000 cm-1 in the temperature range 80-300 K. The energy gaps of the metastable CsCl-type phases of PbSe and PbSe:Cd and their temperature coefficients are determined from the interference spectra. The energy profiles of the films are also obtained.


Photosynthesis converts light energy to chemical energy vital to life on earth. The light energy is harvested by antenna pigments and transferred to reaction centers (RCs) to drive electron transfer (ET) reactions. All typical RC structures have been determined except RC from Acidobacteria. Here we present the RC structures from a microaerophilic Chloracidobacterium thermophilum (CabRC) at resolutions of 2.22 Å -2.61 Å by cryo-electron microscopy. The structure revealed binding of two different cytochromes, the inverted binding of acceptor protein between homodimeric RC from anoxygenic photosynthesis and heteromeric RC from oxygenic photosynthesis, an ET chain of heme-(Zn-bacteriochlorophyll a)-(chlorophyll a)-F 4 S 4 , and a hybrid antenna containing both bacteriochlorophylls a and chlorophylls a, and has the largest number of subunits among homodimeric type I RCs. Our results provide a solid structural basis for understanding the excitation energy and electron transfer within CabRC and offer evolutionary insights into the origin and adaptation of photosynthetic RCs.


 Abstract — Over the past few years, the idea of adaptive buildings and specifically, adaptive building energy management systems (ABEMS) has become popular. Well-performed management in terms of energy is to create a balance between energy consumption and user comfort; therefore, in new energy management models, efficient energy consumption is not the sole factor and the user's comfortability is also considered in the calculations. One of the main ways of measuring this factor is by analyzing user feedback on the conditions to understand whether they are satisfied with conditions or not. This paper provides a comprehensive review of recent approaches towards energy management systems based on users' feedbacks and subsequently performs a comparison between them premised upon their efficiency and accuracy to understand which approaches were more accurate and which ones resulted in a more efficient way of minimizing energy consumption while maintaining users' comfortability. It was concluded that the highest accuracy rate among the presented works was 95% accuracy in determining satisfaction and up to 51.08% energy savings can be achieved without disturbing user's comfort. Considering the growing interest in designing and developing adaptive buildings, these studies can support diverse inquiries about this subject and can be used as a resource to support studies and researches towards efficient energy consumption while maintaining the comfortability of users.


: This article argues that the Islamic finance (IF) industry, in its ideological foundations is very similar to the stakeholder and Business ethics theory in western though. The paper further argues that the principles of Maqasid al sharia and Maslaha form the basis of the Islamic finance jurisprudence and need to be applied throughout the Industry via regulatory standards. However, industry practices of the IF industry do not always follow the Maqasid and Maslaha principles primarily because of the lack of regulation and standard setting at the international level. This article examines the different regulatory framework that are being utilised in different jurisdictions to regulate the Islamic finance Industry. This article takes the examples of Pakistan, Kuwait and the UK as representing three different regulatory frameworks in practice around the globe and then suggests the best possible method of incorporating the Maqasid and Maslaha into the regulation and practice of Islamic finance via a principle based Meta regulatory framework. We take an example from the Basel accord on banking best practices and argue that the Islamic finance industry also needs an International Meta regulatory framework like Basel, which can cater to the specific needs of the IF industry globally, even where jurisdictions do not accept Islamic law as a valid source of law so that the IF industry can incorporate the Maqasid of financial intermediation i.e. to ensure socio-economic justice in society.


The growth of technology in the world is the highest achievement of present-day civilization, but it is bringing us into a type of life and unifying our style of living, clothes, behavior and even language. Technology has replaced live communication, and this seems to be marring the borderline between diverse cultures as people become more and more technologically dependent. Smaller nations in this globalized world are gradually losing their cultures and languages, their unique inherited family values, which have been with them through many centuries and through the countless experiences of hundreds of generations. The family, once a source for each family member, has become only a tick on the documents, and it does not play the same role as it did before. Nevertheless, there are a few groups who try to keep their close family relationships and their own family concept for the next generation. Living in large extended families, they show that the family really is a small community, but from the family begins the society and the state. In this article I will refer to some family values of native American tribal peoples and Nomadic Kyrgyz tribal peoples from Central Asia. These two divergent groups have much more common between them and there is much to be shared.

 Key words: Family concept, Native American tribes, Kyrgyz, customs and traditions


Rats immunized with sheep erythrocytes were stressed by repeated restraint and/or treated with a precursor of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptophan, 5-HTP) or with an inhibitor of serotonin synthesis (parachlorophenylalanine, PCPA). As expected, repeated stress reduced the plaque-forming cell (PFC) response. Treatment with 5-HTP also reduced the PFC response, and potentiated the immunosuppressive effect of stress. This was accompanied by increased metabolism of serotonin in the brain, as indicated by increased concentration of its metabolite, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in cerebral tissue. Treatment with PCPA also suppressed the PFC response, but this suppression was accompanied by decreased levels of brain serotonin and of 5-HIAA. Plasma corticosterone levels were elevated, reaching statistical significance, in rats treated with PCPA. Both drugs suppressed the in vitro PFC response of peripheral blood lymphocytes. Thus, although 5-HTP and PCPA altered serotonin metabolism in the brain in a diametrically opposite manner, their effects on the immune response were the same. Putative central effects of the drugs on serotoninergic regulation of the immune response were apparently obscured by their effects on corticosterone secretion as well as by their direct effects on immunocompetent cells.