Through allele-segregation and loss-of-heterozygosity analyses, we demonstrated loss of the translocation-derivative chromosome 3 in five independent renal cell tumors of the clear-cell type, obtained from three members of a family in which a constitutional t(2;3)(q35;q21) was encountered. In addition, analysis of the von Hippel-Lindau gene, VHL, revealed distinct insertion, deletion, and substitution mutations in four of the five tumors tested. On the basis of these results, we conclude that, in this familial case, an alternative route for renal cell carcinoma development is implied. In contrast to the first hit in the generally accepted two-hit tumor-suppressor model proposed by Knudson, the familial translocation in this case may act as a primary oncogenic event leading to (nondisjunctional) loss of the der(3) chromosome harboring the VHL tumor-suppressor gene. The risk of developing renal cell cancer may be correlated directly with the extent of somatic (kidney) mosaicism resulting from this loss.


Advances in high-precision dielectric spectroscopy have enabled access to non-linear susceptibilities of polar molecular liquids. The observed non-monotonic behavior has been claimed to provide strong support for theories of dynamic arrest based on the thermodynamic amorphous order. Here, we approach this question from the perspective of dynamic facilitation, an alternative view focusing on emergent kinetic constraints underlying the dynamic arrest of a liquid approaching its glass transition. We derive explicit expressions for the frequency-dependent higher-order dielectric susceptibilities exhibiting a non-monotonic shape, the height of which increases as temperature is lowered. We demonstrate excellent agreement with the experimental data for glycerol, challenging the idea that non-linear response functions reveal correlated relaxation in supercooled liquids.


Automating the execution of workflows (or business processes) on computer resources has been the subject of much research. However, many workflow scenarios still require human involvement, which introduces additional authorization concerns. Role-Based Authorization Control (RBAC), under which the users are assigned to certain roles while the roles are associated with prescribed permissions, is a popular authorisation control scheme. When we allocate resources for workloads and plan system capacities, it is often assumed that when a task is allocated to a resource, the resource will accept the task and start the execution once the processor becomes available. However, the authorization policies impose further constraints on task executions, and therefore may incur performance penalty and affect both application- and system-oriented performance. This paper investigates the issue of allocating resources for running workflows under the role-based authorization control. The resource allocation strategies are developed in this paper for both human resources and computing resources. The allocation strategy for human resources takes into account the authorization constraints and establishes the optimization equation subject to the constraint of the budget available to hire human resources. Then the optimization equation is solved to obtain the number of human resources allocated to each authorization role. The allocation strategy for computing resources also takes into account authorization constraints, calculating not only the number of computing resources, but also the proportion of processing capacity in each resource allocated to serve the tasks assuming each role. The simulation experiments have been conducted to verify the effectiveness of the developed allocation strategies. The experimental results show that the allocation strategy developed in this paper outperforms the traditional allocation strategies, which do not consider authorization constraints, in terms of both average response time and resource utilization.


Social media (i.e., Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube) and other tools and services with user- generated content have made a staggering amount of information (and misinformation) available. Some government officials seek to leverage these resources to improve services and communication with citizens, especially during crises and emergencies. Yet, the sheer volume of social data streams generates substantial noise that must be filtered. Potential exists to rapidly identify issues of concern for emergency management by detecting meaningful patterns or trends in the stream of messages and information flow. Similarly, monitoring these patterns and themes over time could provide officials with insights into the perceptions and mood of the community that cannot be collected through traditional methods (e.g., phone or mail surveys) due to their substantive costs, especially in light of reduced and shrinking budgets of governments at all levels. We conducted a pilot study in 2010 with government officials in Arlington, Virginia (and to a lesser extent representatives of groups from Alexandria and Fairfax, Virginia) with a view to contributing to a general understanding of the use of social media by government officials as well as community organizations, businesses and the public. We were especially interested in gaining greater insight into social media use in crisis situations (whether severe or fairly routine crises, such as traffic or weather disruptions).


This paper describes the evolution of the teaching of electrical engineering to mechanical engineering students based on motivation and a pedagogical strategy incorporating interdisciplinary mechatronics projects in a learning studio environment. Implementation of student projects within the curriculum has been demonstrated to be highly motivational and educational and has even evolved from "play and learn" into industry-inspired green energy applications as a platform for multiple student competitions. Several examples of successful student projects are discussed. These modules can be used as motivation instruments to gradually enhance the interest of current and future engineering students in mechatronics. In this paper, a summary of student feedback is provided, and benefits, challenges, and lessons learned from this initiative are discussed.


The novel violet-blue-emitting electroluminescent polymer I was blended at three different weight ratios with the green-emitting polymer II, providing materials which have been studied in terms of their absorbance, photoluminescence, electroluminescence, and morphology. The absorption and PL spectra in dilute solution and in the solid state were compared. Substantial red shifts were observed in photoluminescence from the solid state, which were attributed to intermolecular interactions in the films. Only green emission was obtained from films of the polymer blends and from corresponding double-layer LEDs, indicating an almost complete Forster energy transfer from I to II. Morphological studies indicate that the immiscibility of the two polymers and their differences in CHCl 3 solubility result in submicron phase separation during film preparation. In a blend with a high concentration of I, large domains of I were responsible for an incomplete energy transfer, especially noticeable in the solid-state photoluminescence. In double-layer LEDs, both PPV and polyethylene dioxythiophene/polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT/ PSS) were used as hole-transport layers to increase device efficiency. At 8 V bias, bright green emission (2700 cd/m 2 ) was observed in an ITO/PEDOT/II/Ca device with an external quantum efficiency of 0.69%. The effectiveness of the two hole-transport materials was compared.


The development of a new technique for the measurement of conduction electron g-factors from the de Haas-van Alphen effect is reported. The technique is based on analysis of the harmonic content in the oscillation waveform and has been used to study the g-factor of the neck orbits in the noble metals. The results in copper have been combined with earlier spin-splitting zero data for the belly orbits to determine for the first time the anisotropy of the local ^-factor g(k) over the Fermi surface. Some preliminary g-factor measurements in potassium are also described. The results show a large (/-shift from the free electron value which is attributed to the presence of many body effects, giving a value of — 0.296 ± 0.02 for the Landau coefficient B0.


In recent years, plant-based milk products, commonly called as non-dairy milk alternatives have gained high popularity due to concerns associated with bovine milk like lactose intolerance, allergies, hypercholesterolemia, and pesticide and antibiotic residues. Important strategies for manufacture of non-dairy milk alternatives involve disintegration of plant materials in aqueous medium; its homogenization and addition of some additives to attain a consistency and appearance similar to that of bovine milk. Different range of ingredients are added to non-dairy milk alternatives such as oils, emulsifiers, thickeners, antioxidants, minerals etc. The main problem associated with non-dairy milk alternatives is generally linked with its stability. Stability is a crucial factor that governs the sensory properties and overall acceptance of non-dairy milk alternatives. Differences in processing parameters and molecular interaction mechanisms affect the stability of emulsions as well as the stability of non-dairy milk manufactured thereof. Various treatments like thermal treatment, non-thermal processing (ultra high pressure homogenization, pulsed electric field, ultrasonication), addition of emulsifiers are effective in achieving the stability of non-dairy milks. The present chapter aims to summarize the various factors contributing to the physical stability of non-dairy milk alternatives like appearance, consistency, emulsion stability, and the approaches required to maintain it.


ABSTRACT
 In addition to being used increasingly as a model system in modern molecular biology studies, the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (Maupas, 1900) is an important pathogen in fungi and straw mushrooms. In this study, Bacillus thuringiensis strain 010 was found to have significantly detrimental activity against C. elegans. To further characterize this activity, the toxicological mechanism was elucidated at molecular level. Genes encoding for crystal protein and chitinase were isolated, cloned, and sequenced. However, the toxicity was detected only in the chitinase. Under transmission electron microscopy, change in the body wall and gut structures of C. elegans was observed, and thus degeneration of body wall and gut in the worms was also investigated. Further bioassay also confirmed the mortality of C. elegans fed with Escherichia coli TB1 strain. These observations suggest great potential for B. thuringiensis 010 as a biocontrol agent against C. elegans and other nematodes.


In this paper the effect of electron-beam radiation on polysilicon-gate MOSFET's is examined. The irradiations were performed at 25 kV in a vector scan electron-beam lithography system at dosages typical of those used to expose electron-beam resists. Two types of studies are reported. In the first type, devices fabricated with optical lithography were exposed to blanket electron-beam radiation after fabrication. In the second, discrete devices from a test chip, fabricated entirely with electron-beam lithography, were used. It is shown that in addition to the threshold voltage shift, caused by the accumulation of radiation-induced positive charge in the gate oxides, these charged centers and additional uncharged (neutral) electron traps lead to an increase in the electron trapping in irradiated oxides. Temperatures above 550°C are shown to be required to anneal both the positive and neutral traps completely from the oxide underlying polysilicon after exposure to radiation. Annealing of the radiation-induced positive charge from the oxide is shown to depend on the metallurgy overlying the gate insulator during heat treatment. Annealing treatments which remove the charged centers from aluminum-gated MOS structures are demonstrated to leave small (about 5 × 1010cm-2) but significant amounts of charge in certain polysilicon-gate structures. The dependence of positive and neutral trap densities on direct electron-beam exposure was studied in the range between 10 and 200 µC/cm2. Studies on the electron-beam fabricated devices indicate that indirect exposure of the gate oxide by electrons scattered from the primary beam during lithography in areas away from the gate oxide is sufficient to cause appreciable damage. After postmetal annealing at 400° C for 20 min, the minimum residual charge density found in the electron-beam fabricated devices is 4 × 1010cm-2.


Ruthenium complexes with three bipyridyl ligands, one of which is modified by attaching one or two hydroxamic acids groups (Ru-1 and Ru-2, respectively), were synthesized. Using EPR spectroscopy, we have found that photoexcitation leads to formation of nitroxyl radicals. The nitroxyl radical concentration in Ru-2 increased dramatically in the presence of spin traps DMPO (5,5'-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide) and PBN (N-tert-butyl-α-phenylnitrone) characterized by strong affinity to superoxide radicals. We have attributed this behavior to the formation of a cage complex between Ru-2 and the superoxide radical. This paper concerns the study of cages formed between ruthenium complexes and molecular oxygen and the effect of functional groups attached to modified bipyridyl ligands on cage formation. The complex between Ru-2 and O_2 was formed in the ground state, probably with participation of the hydroxamic acid groups. The equilibrium constant of this complex was determined by EPR as K_(eq) ∼ 3 M^(-1). The formation of the Ru-2−O_2 complex is supported by the temperature-dependent rate of appearance of the EPR signal in the presence of PBN. Additional evidence comes from observation of paramagnetic shifts of the peaks in the 1H NMR spectrum of specific aromatic protons in the substituted bipyridyl ring upon exposure to O_2. Similar shifts were observed in the spectrum of Os-2, with osmium replacing ruthenium. Model compounds with functional groups that replace the hydroxamic acid or compounds without the metal center, but with the two hydroxamic acids, were synthesized. No shifts in the ^1H NMR spectra of these derivatives were observed in the presence of O_2. These results lead to the conclusion that both metal ions, Ru(II) or Os(II), and hydroxamic acid groups are essential components for the formation of the oxygen cage.


The production of tomatoes in greenhouses, in addition to its relevance in nutrition and health, is an activity of the agroindustry with high economic importance in Spain, the first exporter in Europe of this vegetable. The technological updating with precision agriculture, implemented in order to ensure adequate production, leads to a deployment planning of wireless sensors with limited coverage by the attenuation of radio waves in the presence of vegetation. The well-known propagation models FSPL (Free-Space Path Loss), two-ray, COST235, Weissberger, ITU-R (International Telecommunications Union—Radiocommunication Sector), FITU-R (Fitted ITU-R), offer values with an error percentage higher than 30% in the 2.4 GHz band in relation to those measured in field tests. As a substantial improvement, we have developed optimized propagation models, with an error estimate of less than 9% in the worst-case scenario for the later benefit of farmers, consumers and the economic chain in the production of tomatoes.


The nature of the primary functional events of nephron induction is still unknown, making it impossible to completely understand the mechanism of tissue interaction between collecting duct ampulla and the surrounding nephrogenic mesenchyme. Soluble morphogenic substances are known to be exchanged in the process and it is assumed that nephron induction requires close contact between both tissues involved. Contrasting with that assumption our previous investigation revealed a thick fibrous meshwork separating nephron inducer and mesenchyme. Our present investigation focused on the molecular characterization of the mab CDAmp1 antigen, which is found only in this meshwork. The protein was shown immunohistochemically to be located exclusively at the embryonic collecting duct ampulla and could be clearly distinguished from other extracellular matrix proteins such as collagen type IV, laminin, reticulin, and fibronectin. Two-dimensional electrophoresis of the soluble form of PCDAmp1 showed a molecular weight of 87,000 and an isoelectric point of 4.3–4.4. Results from N-terminal sequencing indicated a partial sequence homology of PCDAmp1 to collagen type IV α2-chain precursor but additionally yielded unknown sequences. Thus PCDAmp1 is a novel, collagen-related protein, restricted to the fibrous meshwork at the mesenchymal–epithelial interphase, which is the site of primary epithelial–mesenchymal interaction.


Introduction: The most common umbilical disorders in infants is umbilical granuloma. To date, various therapeutic methods have been proposed to treat umbilical granuloma. This study aimed to compare the clinical results of salt therapy with surgery in the treatment of umbilical granuloma in infants. Materials and Methods: In a clinical trial study, 50 infants with umbilical granuloma visited at the Children Educational-Medical Hospital of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences were selected and randomly allocated into two groups. In the first group, 25 patients were treated with sterile salt, and in the second group; 25 patients underwent surgery using electro cauterization. Patients were followed for three months, and the cure rate, relapse rate, and side effects of each method were evaluated. Results: Results showed that cure rate in the salt therapy group was 96.0% but in the surgery group it was 100%. There was no statistically significant difference between the two group regarding the cure rate (p=1.000). No relapse or side effects were seen in any of the study groups. Conclusion: Based on the findings of the present study, salt therapy is a safe and effective method in the treatment of umbilical granuloma which can be an alternative to surgical methods in this regard.


Given the growing pressures on our planet through the current food system, it is increasingly important to understand the transformative potential of urban food systems and their capacity to build pathways to sustainability. According to the United Nations, more than half of the world's population now lives in urban areas with predictions that this proportion will increase to approximately two thirds by 2050. Given current lifestyle and consumption practices, people living in urban areas monopolize three-quarters of all natural resources and account for 60-80% of global GHG emissions (Unep, 2011). But if cities concentrate sustainability problems, they are also places of innovation that can contribute to building more sustainable food systems. Both urban government and citizen food initiatives flourish in Northern and Southern cities and offer new ways of feeding cities and connecting actors of urban and rural territories around food issues (Blay-Palmer et al.2018, Robineau & al. 2016, Viljoen & Wiskerke 2012). Largely supported by civil society or local governments, these initiatives are usually seen as alternatives to the dominant food system (Moragues-Faus and Marsden 2017, Lang 1999) and ways to contest industrial capitalism. However, research has not yet delivered a clear understanding about the innovations in play and how they influence the sustainability of the resulting food systems. Initiatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals with the emphasis on indicators privilege technocratic approaches, while case studies can be limited in terms of their transferability. Within this context, understanding how to move towards increasingly sustainable food systems in cities and their regions is a challenge. The research programme URBAL builds from existing work on sustainable food system assessment (e.g. RUAF 2017, FAO 2017, Bricas 2014), impact pathway mapping (e.g. Padilla et al. 2002, Hainzelin et al., 2017) and innovation with an emphasis on social innovation (Westley and Antadanze 2009). The Urbal project uses participatory research to build and test a holistic approach that integrates all dimensions of urban food system sustainability to give managers, grassroots organisations and policy-makers a common overview of innovation impact pathways. The sustainability framework developed by Bricas (2014) is at the core of our research approach so that we include economic, environmental, socio-cultural, food security and nutrition and governance considerations as central to our research and look for innovations that include two or more of these sustainability dimensions. The goal is to develop a methodology that uses mapping workshops to make impact pathways apparent and to assess how innovations are taken up and enable practitioners to bring about change. By testing this holistic methodology through various Urban Food Innovation Labs (UFILs) including sites in the Global South and North, this project aims to provide decision-makers with actionable information about which urban-driven innovations can help build more sustainable food systems.


Abstract Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a universal chronic nonspecific intestinal inflammatory disease of unknown etiology. Although 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) is used as a first-line treatment for mild-to-moderate UC, some patients do not react well to it. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) plays a complementary role in the management of UC. A large number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have shown that TCM has a significant effect in the treatment of mild-to-moderate UC. However, due to the diversity of TCM treatments, its relative effectiveness and safety remains unclear. Therefore, we aim to compare the effectiveness and safety of TCM for mild-to-moderate UC by implementing a Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) and provide a reference for clinical treatment. Methods: According to the Cochrane Handbook, PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, CINAHL, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CHKD-CNKI), Chinese Biomedical Literature database (CBM), and WANFANG database will be searched. Related randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared one TCM intervention with another or with 5-ASA (placebo) for mild-to-moderate UC from inceptions to February 2019 will be included. Two authors will screen the literature and extract data independently based on predesigned rules, and evaluate the risk of bias of included studies using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. Both classical pair-wise meta-analysis and Bayesian NMA will be conducted using R-3.4.4 and WinBUGS-1.4.3 software. The ranking probabilities for all interventions will be estimated and the hierarchy of each intervention will be summarized as surface under the cumulative ranking curve. The consistency within network will be evaluated with Cochrane Q statistic and net-heat plot. The quality of evidence will be assessed by the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Results: The study results will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed journal publication or conference presentation. Conclusions: The findings will provide a systematic evidence-based medical evidence of TCM interventions in the treatment of UC and help clinical practitioners, UC patients, and policy-makers make more informed choices in the decision-making. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval and informed consent are not required since this is a protocol for a network meta-analysis based on published studies. The findings will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed journal publication or conference presentation. Registration: PROSPERO CRD42019133962.


Mitomycin C was reviewed in this journal 25 years ago and an update of its clinical usefulness is appropriate. The current review is based on representative publications covering clinical trials performed throughout the world. Single agent activity in each of the major neoplastic diseases has been reassessed when possible and the most important combinations evaluated. It is concluded that mitomycin C has a definite place in the treatment of localized bladder cancer, is active, but needs to be redefined, in the context of newer regimens for breast, head and neck, and non-small cell lung cancers, is active in, but is being displaced by, other drugs in cervical, gastric and pancreatic cancers, and is probably no longer of therapeutic value in colon cancer. It is also recognized that as many newer treatments have clinical success, the therapeutic role of mitomycin C will require continuing re-investigation.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the protective effect of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (tadalafil) on the testis following testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.

METHODS
Eighty-four healthy adult male SD rats were randomly and equally divided into groups A (sham operation), B (testicular torsion + low-dose tadalafil), C (testicular torsion + high-dose tadalafil), and D (testicular torsion + placebo). Models were established in the latter three groups by 7200 torsion of the right testis for 2 hours. The animals in groups A and B were treated by gavage with tadalafil at the dose of 0. 5 mg per kg per day, those in group C at 2 mg per kg per day, and those in group D with saline at the same dose. After 3, 7, and 14 days of treatment, the torsioned testes were harvested for evaluation of the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content in the testis tissue. The pathological changes in the testis were observed under the light microscope.

RESULTS
At 3, 7, and 14 days, the SOD activity was (254.46 +/- 7.43), (278.49 +/- 8.33), and (317.99 +/- 3.31) nU/mg prot in group B, and (277.12 +/- 8.80), (309.40 +/- 2.14), and (320.39 +/- 4.72) nU/mg prot in group C, all obviously higher than in D ([223.21 +/- 4.65], [231.45 +/- 4.16] and [248.28 +/- 5.74] nU/mg prot), while the MDA content was lower in the former two groups than in the latter. At 3 and 7 days, the SOD activity was significantly higher and the MDA level significantly lower in group C than in B (both P < 0.01) , while at 14 days, neither showed any remarkable differences between the two groups (P > 0.05). No obvious histopathological change was observed in the testis tissue of group A. At 3 and 7 days, pathological examination of the testis tissue revealed significant differences in the number of seminiferous epithelial layers, testicular histological score, and seminiferous tubule diameter in group B (P < 0.01), but the three indexes at 14 days in group B and at 7 days in group C exhibited no remarkable differences from those at 14 days in group A.

CONCLUSION
Tadalafil can alleviate testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury following testis torsion/detorsion in a time- and dose-dependent manner.


Morphological changes in thin film patterns of a positive-tone electron beam resist induced by sequential infiltration synthesis and solvent annealing were revealed by atomic force microscopy for the fabrication of silica imprint molds with sub-15 nm trenches. In sequential infiltration synthesis, the wiggling of 40-nm-thick resist film patterns was attributed to decreasing the widths of the resist terraces and baking at 100 °C rather than exposure to a vapor of trimethylaluminum. Reducing the thickness of the resist film from 40 nm to 20 nm prevented the wiggling of resist film patterns after sequential infiltration synthesis. Solvent annealing with a toluene vapor at 20 °C increased mouse-bite defects appearing at the line edges of the resist film patterns, and significantly increased mouse-bite and line-break defects of silica imprint molds after dry etching. These results suggest that the polymer/substrate interface had a significant impact on the morphological fidelity of resist film patterns during electron beam lithography procedures.


In this work, we focus on the role of Information Management to create additional sources of competitive intelligence that can  help to prepare the organizations  for sustainable growth in the long term. First, we discuss the dynamics of Information Technology and the ability to generate innovations with a direct impact on business. Then we present the need for greater balance between goals of short and long term on IT projects. In the third part, we discuss how these new technologies have helped to increase the competitiveness  as well as to enhance decision-making process and the satisfaction of the end customers and stockholders. To conclude, it is presented the main challenges that the organizations will have to face in relation to the management of their information technology infrastructure, consolidation and simplification of their processes within their computing environments, aiming to increase, productivity, competitiveness, and develop agile environments that allow the organizations to meet the demands of Information Technology Governance. Keywords: Competitive Intelligence. Information Management.  Information Technology Governance.


Spectral graph convolutional networks (GCNs) are particular deep models which aim at extending neural networks to arbitrary irregular domains. The principle of these networks consists in projecting graph signals using the eigen-decomposition of their Laplacians, then achieving filtering in the spectral domain prior to back-project the resulting filtered signals onto the input graph domain. However, the success of these operations is highly dependent on the relevance of the used Laplacians which are mostly handcrafted and this makes GCNs clearly sub-optimal. In this paper, we introduce a novel spectral GCN that learns not only the usual convolutional parameters but also the Laplacian operators. The latter are designed"end-to-end"as a part of a recursive Chebyshev decomposition with the particularity of conveying both the differential and the non-differential properties of the learned representations -- with increasing order and discrimination power -- without overparametrizing the trained GCNs. Extensive experiments, conducted on the challenging task of skeleton-based action recognition, show the generalization ability and the outperformance of our proposed Laplacian design w.r.t. different baselines (built upon handcrafted and other learned Laplacians) as well as the related work.


The aim of this study was to explore the antimicrobial activity of human follicular fluid (HFF), to test the hypothesis that different strains of the same bacterial species could display different patterns of susceptibility to antimicrobial action of HFF, and to preliminarily investigate the possible mechanism of antimicrobial action of this fluid. Antimicrobial activity of 60 samples of HFF toward 30 Streptococcus agalactiae strains was determined by the agar diffusion method and broth dilution method. To explore the mechanism of antimicrobial activity, biochemical analyses were performed with selected fluid samples. The obtained results indicate that 38.3% fluid samples did not inhibit bacterial growth, 53.3% showed moderate and 8.3% high antimicrobial activity. The tested effect of HFF on S. agalactiae strains was bactericidal and was not strain dependent. Lysozyme activity was detected in HFF exhibiting antimicrobial activity. There were no statistically significant differences in concentrations of estradiol, progesterone, transferrin, iron, total protein and albumin levels among tested samples regardless of the different rate of antimicrobial activity. The obtained results indicate that lysozyme is most probably a crucial antibacterial agent in this fluid; however, some other still unidentified factors may contribute to it.


Developing dopant-free hole transporting materials (HTMs) and passivating defects in perovskite films are two significant themes to realize efficient and stable perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Compared to various individual endeavors for either of them, enabling both via a single material is more interesting but certainly challenging. In this report, we develop dopant-free polymer HTMs bearing amino pendants as passivating groups for improved efficiency and stability of PSCs. The bifunctional polymers present simultaneous main-chain (donor–acceptor conjugated backbone) hole extraction/transport and side-chain (amino group) defect passivation at the perovskite/HTM interface. Moreover, with an increased content of amino pendants, the polymers exhibit enhanced hole mobility and defect passivation ability, advancing device efficiency and stability. As a result, PSCs using the dopant-free polymer HTM achieve an efficiency approaching 19%, with impressive stability when testing at a relative humidity of 85%, by heat at 80 °C, or under continuous light illumination. This work demonstrates that amino functionalization at the side chain of polymers is a promising method to develop dopant-free HTMs accompanied by defect passivation effects for high-performance and durable PSCs.


Similar to other elasmobranchs, the smalltooth sawfish Pristis pectinata is slow growing, matures late in life, and produces relatively few young, all factors that have contributed to its sensitivity to dramatic population declines from overfishing and habitat loss. Currently, the physiological stress response of these fish to capture or to other physiological challenges such as habitat loss, climatic changes, or pollution is unknown. In the absence of these data, conservation plans may be less effective, making populations susceptible to further declines. We examined basic stress physiology over ontogeny and as a function of capture using different fishing gears. We also examined stress parameters to test whether degraded habitat and water quality from altered habitats may have resulted in chronic stress in juveniles. Results suggested that the stress response to capture by all methods was low, particularly for blood lactate, compared to other elasmobranchs examined to date. Metabolic stress was found to change over ontogeny, with young of the year (YOY) eliciting the highest responses. Glucose, pCO2, bicarbonate, potassium, and hematocrit indicated that gillnet capture induced greater stress responses than longline capture. Significantly higher metabolic stress was observed in YOY and juveniles captured in the 2 nurseries most influenced by anthropogenic activities, the Peace and Caloosahatchee rivers, than in the 2 relatively pristine nurseries in Everglades National Park. Overall, the low physiological stress responses to all capture methods investigated in this study suggest that this species is resilient, which should promote optimism for recovery of the population.


This paper presents the path planning/control method of a car-like mobile robot. The proposed two-stage path planner consists of the global path planner and the local path planner. The global path planner finds collision-free paths from an environmental map, which features universal consideration of the topological configuration of all obstacles by the method of Maklink Graph. The local path planner/controller linearises the robot dynamics by using the chained form and accomplishes a closed-loop control. This satisfies the nonholonomic constraints and obtains robustness toward model errors, drift and disturbances. Obstacle avoidance experiments show that the proposed method can successfully plan a collision-free path in a cluttered environment and navigate the robot to the goal with high trajectory accuracy.


This paper provides an assessment of the conceptual basis of community forestry from around the world, based on case studies presented in the literature, mainly over the last decade. More than 400 documents were examined for this comprehensive qualitative meta-study (meta-theory, meta-analysis, meta-method, and meta-synthesis) of community forestry. An overall conclusion is offered regarding the extent to which community forestry can be adapted to foster practices that enhance livelihoods, particularly for poverty populations, in rural United States communities. Special attention is paid to signifiers of community empowerment and reflexivity as well as other elements of success suggested in the literature.


In order to improve the global search ability and the convergence speed of the Artificial Fish Swarm Algorithm (AFSA), a novel Quantum Artificial Fish Swarm Algorithm (QAFSA) which is based on the concepts and principles of quantum computing, such as the quantum bit and quantum gate is proposed in this paper. The position of the Artificial Fish (AF) is encoded by the angle in [0, 2π] based on the qubit's polar coordinate representation in the 2-dimension Hilbert space. The quantum rotation gate is used to update the position of the AF in order to enable the AF to move and the quantum non-gate is employed to realize the mutation of the AF for the purpose of speeding up the convergence. Rapid convergence and good global search capacity characterize the performance of QAFSA. The experimental results prove that the performance of QAFSA is significantly improved compared with that of standard AFSA.


Preincubation of Swiss 3T3 cells with the tumor promoter 12‐0‐tetradecanoyl‐phorbol‐13‐acetate (TPA) at 37°C is observed to cause only a small (approximately 10%) decrease in maximal binding of 125l‐platelet‐derived growth factor (125I‐PDGF), and does not affect the affinity of 125I‐PDGF binding to these cells. Under the same conditions, the affinity of the epidermal growth factor receptor is greatly reduced, possibly resulting from phosphorylation by protein kinase C. TPA is also shown to have no effect on the kinetics of internalization or degradation of bound 125I‐PDGF. Although TPA has little or no effect on these properties of the PDGF receptor, it was found to act in a synergistic fashion with low, but not high, concentrations of PDGF to increase DNA synthesis by 3T3 cells. Since TPA has previously been shown to activate protein kinase C, these findings suggest that protein kinase C does not regulate the ligand‐binding properties of the PDGF receptor, and that the observed synergism between TPA and PDGF in stimulating mitogenesis reflects effects of TPA on other processes in the mitogenic pathway.


The market for corporate control that has arisen in the last two decades is generating large benefits for shareholders and for the economy as a whole. The corporate control market generates these gains by loosening the control over vast amounts of resources and making it possible for those resources to move more quickly to their highest-valued use. This occurs through takeovers (both hostile and friendly), divestitures, spin-offs, split-ups, leveraged buyouts, and going-private transactions. We are seeing a normal healthy market in operation, both on the takeover side and on the divestiture side. The total benefits have been huge as reflected in gains of $40 billion to stockholders of acquiring firms in 260 tender offers alone in the last four and a half years (as estimated by the office of the chief economist of the SEC). The market for corporate control is best viewed as a major component of the managerial labor market. It is the arena in which alternative management teams compete for the rights to manage corporate resources. Understanding this is crucial to understanding much of the rhetoric that takes place about the effects of hostile takeovers. Managers formerly protected from competition for their jobs by antitrust constraints that prevented takeover of the nation's largest corporations are now facing a much more demanding environment and a more uncertain future. It is not surprising that many of them would like relief from this competition.


This study aims to determine various relationships between liver, gonad and body weights of the two pipefish species caught in two breeding seasons from the Bafa Lake (Muğla) coasts between 2014 -2016. Using beach seine-net in the lake, a total of 208 pipefish specimens (79 Synathus abaster and 129 Synathus acus) were sampled. L-W relationship and Fulton condition factor were W = 2E - 0.94.01, 0.035 ± 0.009 in S.abaster specimens. Also LW relationships and condition factor were W = 8E-0.93.83 , 0.033 ± 0.01 in S. acus. On the other hand mean ± SD of HSI and GSI values were 2.18 ± 1.65 and 7.69 ± 7.12 respectively. In S.acus values 3.22 ± 3.13 and 5.49 ± 5.12 as well. The decrease in HIS and K values, provides sufficient information to claim that species in the lake spend all energy requirement obtained with proper feeding to growth and gonad development.


Wnt signaling pathways play important roles in tumorigenesis and are initiated by binding of Wnt to various receptors including frizzleds (FZDs). FZDs are one of several families of receptors comprised of FZD/LRP/ROR2/RYK in the Wnt signaling pathway. Expression of some FZD receptors are up regulated, thereby activating the Wnt signaling pathway and is correlated with cancer malignancy and patient outcomes (recurrence and survival) in many cancers. The FZD family contains ten genes in humans and their function has not been completely examined including the regulatory mechanisms of FZD genes in cancer. Knockdown of FZDs may suppress the Wnt signaling pathway resulting in decreased cell growth, invasion, motility and metastasis of cancer cells. Recently a number of microRNAs (miRNAs) have been identified and reported to be important in several cancers. MiRNAs regulate target gene expression at both the transcription and translation levels. The study of miRNA is a newly emerging field and promises to be helpful in understanding the pathogenesis of FZDs in cancer. In addition, miRNAs may be useful in regulating FZDs in cancer cells. Therefore, the aim of this review is to discuss current knowledge of the functional mechanisms of FZDs in cancer, including regulation by miRNAs and the potential for possible use of miRNAs and FZDs in future clinical applications.


The present study was designed to investigate the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of the ethanolic extract of pseudarthria viscida Linn (EEPV). Acetic acid-induced writhing and hotplate tests were used to determine analgesic effect. Anti-inflammatory activity of EEPV was demonstrated with Wistar rats using carrageenan induced edema of the hind paw of rats. It has been shown that the EEPV (200/400 mg/kg, p. o.) significantly reduced acetic acid-induced writhing response, as well as significantly increase the hot-plate pain threshold in mice. In the Carrageenan induced mouse paw edema test, the group treated with indomethacin showed the strongest inhibition of edema formation by 62.50% in the third hour after carrageenan administration, while EEPV (200/400 mg/kg) showed 42.69% and 55.76% respectively. The extract did not produce any mortality up to the dose of 2000 mg / kg. Preliminary Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of flavonoids, proteins, tannins, and phenolic compounds. The result justifies the traditional uses of Pseudarthria viscida for the treatment of fever, inflammatory and painful conditions.


We consider an electron, spin 1/2, minimally coupled to the quantized radiation field in the nonrelativistic approximation, a situation defined by the Pauli-Fierz Hamiltonian $H$. There is no external potential and $H$ fibers as $\int^\oplus H_p dp$ according to the total momentum $p$. We prove that the ground state subspace of $H_p$ is two-fold degenerate provided the charge $e$ and the total momentum $p$ are sufficiently small. We also establish that the total angular momentum of the ground state subspace is $\pm1/2$ and study the case of a confining external potential.


OBJECTIVES
To study the clinical features of intestinal polyps and the risk factors for secondary intussusception in children.

METHODS
A retrospective analysis was performed for the medical data of 2 669 children with intestinal polyps. According to the presence or absence of secondary intussusception, they were divided into two groups: intussusception (n=346) and non-intussusception (n=2 323). Related medical data were compared between the two groups. The multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the risk factors for secondary intussusception.

RESULTS
Among the children with intestinal polyps, 62.42% were preschool children, and the male/female ratio was 2.08∶1; 92.66% had hematochezia as disease onset, and 94.34% had left colonic polyps and rectal polyps. There were 346 cases of secondary intussusception, with an incidence rate of 12.96% (346/2 669). Large polyps (OR=1.644, P<0.001), multiple polyps (≥2) (OR=6.034, P<0.001), and lobulated polyps (OR=93.801, P<0.001) were the risk factors for secondary intussusception.

CONCLUSIONS
Intestinal polyps in children often occur in preschool age, mostly in boys, and most of the children have hematochezia as disease onset, with the predilection sites of the left colon and the rectum. Larger polyps, multiple polyps, and lobulated polyps may increase the risk of secondary intussusception, and endoscopic intervention is needed as early as possible to improve prognosis.


Increased intraluminal pressure may help maintain vasodilation in a dependent arm even after hypothermia triggers centrally mediated thermoregulatory vasoconstriction. We therefore tested the hypotheses that the threshold (triggering core temperature) and gain (increase in vasoconstriction per degree centigrade) of cold-induced vasoconstriction is reduced in the dependent arm during anesthesia. Anesthesia was maintained with 0.4 minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration of desflurane in 10 volunteers in the left-lateral position. Mean skin temperature was reduced to 31°C to decrease core body temperature. Fingertip blood flow in both arms was measured, as was core body temperature.The vasoconstriction threshold was slightly, but significantly, less in the dependent arm (36.2°C ± 0.3°C, mean ± sd) than in the upper arm (36.5°C ± 0.3°C). However, the gain of vasoconstriction in the dependent arm was 2.3-fold greater than in the upper arm. Consequently, intense vasoconstriction (i.e., a fingertip blood flow of 0.15 mL/min) occurred at similar core temperatures. In the lateral position, the vasoconstriction threshold was reduced in the dependent arm; however, gain was also increased in the dependent arm. The thermoregulatory system may thus recognize that hydrostatic forces reduce the vasoconstriction threshold and may compensate by sufficiently augmenting gain.


We describe an experimental investigation of the waveforms of free and forced oscillations of electrical and mechanical systems. Computer control of data-taking facilitates accurate measurements and the study of transients when the sine wave is switched on.


An accurate and efficient method for solving the Boltzmann equation for electron swarms in gases is proposed. The method utilises the conventional two-term expansion and a Galerkin technique for solution of the Boltzmann equations in an amalgamated form; the first two terms of the Legendre polynomial expansion of the electron energy distribution are obtained by the two-term method while the third and higher-order terms are deduced by the Galerkin method. Although a relaxation procedure has to be used for connecting the solutions and making them self-consistent by the two methods, the present amalgamated method can reduce the size of the matrix for the Galerkin technique, which may serve to make the computational time shorter. The present technique is applied to deduce the electron energy distribution and swarm parameters in methane gas, and good agreement with those calculated by Monte Carlo simulation is obtained. This shows the validity of the proposed method. The computational time of the present method is estimated to be roughly of the order of the geometric mean of those by the two-term expansion and Monte Carlo methods.


EVI-1 (ecotropical viral integration site 1) was first described as a common locus of retroviral integration in myeloid tumors found in AKXD mice (Mucenski et al., 1988). Cloning of chicken cDNA corresponding to this locus revealed that the EVI-1 gene encodes a transcription factor belonging to the zinc-binding family located on chromosome 9 of the chicken genome. EVI-1 expression, displayed by in situ hybridization, was localized in the brain and intermediate mesoderm at stage 13 of chicken embryos. In the head of later stages, EVI-1 expression was situated in all pharyngeal arches with the most prominent expression in the second and the third pharyngeal arch. Furthermore, EVI-1 was expressed adjacent to the apical ectodermal ridge. As this structure is a source of FGFs, we tested whether endogenous FGF signaling was necessary to maintain EVI-1 expression.


This case study is the story of the secrets of a woman who was adopted at birth. It is about how this woman's experiences, her perceptions, her fantasies, and her realities were all colored by the fact of her being adopted. It is the story about a woman who was victimized from childhood and how her perceptions of herself as a victim, unloved, uncared for, and alone, caused her to draw people to her to continually repeat the abandonment and victimization she suffered when she was given up for adoption by her birth parents.


Background: patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) who perform regularly physical activity (PA) have a lower risk of hospital admissions and mortality due to COPD. But the relation between PA and number of moderate exacerbations (ME) is unclear. The aim of this study is to analize the association between PA and number of ME. ME has been defined as an exacerbation which required only, antibiotic and/or orally corticosteroids. Methods: 21 male patients with estable COPD (FEV1 56±12) have been included. After 12 months, they were asked to report the number of ME they had experienced. None of all had been admitted to hospital due to COPD exacerbation. At this time, physical activity has been measured for 1 week with Actigraph® accelerometer. We compare patients with no ME (no exacerbated group) with patients with one or more ME (exacerbated group) . Conclusions: 1. Patients with more number of ME have less PA than patients with no exacerbations in spite of same age and pulmonary function. 2. There are no differences about symptoms in both groups. 3. Encourage to practice regularly exercise in COPD could prevent ME.


EDITOR, - Heloise Buys and colleagues have shown that suprapubic aspiration of urine in neonates and young children is a safe procedure and yields good quality specimens.1 Their study confirms the value of bacteriuria as a predictor of urinary tract abnormality in this age group. Analysis of their data also supports our view that pyuria is a poor predictor of urinary tract infection. Thus of 545 specimens examined, 439 were sterile and contained no pus cells and 60 were sterile but contained pus cells; of the 46 that were positive on culture, 24 contained pus cells. The sensitivity of pyuria for detecting bacteriuria is 52% (24/46); the specificity is 88% (439/499). Only 24 of 84 pyuric samples were bacteriuric. The positive predictive value of pyuria for bacteriuria in this study is therefore 29% (24/84), indicating that in this population pyuria is a poor predictor of …


ABSTRACT Students with autism spectrum disorder often require social supports to function well in a mainstream class setting. Researchers have demonstrated the effects of social skills training for students with autism, but their work has focused primarily on topographically defined outcomes, such as increasing the frequency of social behaviours. More research is needed to address the functional impact of social skills training on social experiences, such as improvements in the quality of life for students with autism. This study examined the effects of a behavioural skills training form of social skills intervention on the social interactions of students with autism in an inclusive school setting. The intervention increased participants' social behaviour. However, its mixed results in the quality of peer responses may be a more meaningful indicator of its effect on the quality of social lives of the participants. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for current practice and future research.


Recently, several forms of unsupported gold were shown to display a remarkable activity to catalyze oxidation reactions. Experimental evidence points to the crucial role of residual silver present in very small concentrations in these novel catalysts. We focus on the catalytic properties of nanoporous gold (np-Au) foams probed via CO and oxygen adsorption/co-adsorption. Experimental results are analyzed using theoretical models represented by the flat Au(111) and the kinked Au(321) slabs with Ag impurities. We show that Ag atoms incorporated into gold surfaces can facilitate the adsorption and dissociation of molecular oxygen on them. CO adsorbed on top of 6-fold coordinated Au atoms can in turn be stabilized by co-adsorbed atomic oxygen by up to 0.2 eV with respect to the clean unsubstituted gold surface. Our experiments suggest a linking of that most strongly bound CO adsorption state to the catalytic activity of np-Au. Thus, our results shed light on the role of silver admixtures in the striking catalytic activity of unsupported gold nanostructures.


Tbe .pblication of an English version of Dr. Tixemnt's work is timely, as English-speakiw ecclesiastical studerits had no convenient texk-bmk of patrology since Bardenhewer-Shahan went out of print. .The present work supplies the need admirably. T h e author follows rather clclsely the ordcr of Rardenhewer, but has compressed his subject into about half the space crcupicd by the latter. He has cut down very much the lists of "editions" and "versions" found in the older h a n d b c d , retaining only references to the best and most up-tmdate wqkg. H e also omits all but the .bricfcst reference to Patristic works n a w lmt : and he further ecmomiscs space by reducing to a minimum the arguments for and against the suggested authorship, da te or place ar origin of disputed works. His purpose in such cases is t o give the etudent precise information a s to tlie conclusions established by the best scholarship; and that is about all that the beginner requires. H i s general discussion of the n-arks of tlic various Fathers is briefer and mcre succint than that of Eardenhewar, but the ariiount of positive information cunvqed is not seriously affected. T h e general bibliography a t the 'beginning of the volume, and the shorter ones given aa I&-notes a re carried dowri to the year before the war. T h e volume L well turned a r t , and will prove a God-send a s a text-bouk f w English@ing seminaries.


This paper conducts an analysis of Macau's strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) as related to its gaming development strategy in the wake of its issuance of multiple gaming licenses. The analysis shows that copying the Las Vegas style is non-optimal for Macau because it will force Macau to compete with Las Vegas and other Las Vegas-style Asian gaming destinations for casino visitors and fight with Hong Kong for non-gaming tourists in the future. Furthermore, this approach will change Macau's current market position as a gamblers' destination and cut into operation profits. Taking advantage of its cultural heritage and unique market segmentation, Macau may develop Chinese- and/or Portuguese-theme casinos heavily leaning toward gaming activities. By creating its own gaming model, Macau may not only maintain its market niche in the future but also develop its gaming industry in a more profitable way.


ABSTRACT Flexible electronics with great functional characteristics have proved to be a stepping stone in the field of wearable devices. Amongst all, gesture-sensing techniques have been widely studied for human-machine interfaces. In this paper, we propose a self-powered gesture-sensing system attached to the back of the hands, which has the capability of distinguishing hand gestures by measuring the triboelectric nanogenerator output signal. By attaching the sensor on the back of the hand, we can sense the displacement of tendons to detect the gestures. In addition, humidity resistance and durability of the device were tested and validated. Furthermore, we have established a set of rules to define the relationship between gestures and corresponding English letters. Therefore, the proposed sensor can further serve as an electronic sign language translator by converting gestures into words. Finally, we can integrate this system into gloves to enhance the applicability and utility. Overall, we have developed a real-time self-powered back-of-hand sensing system which can recognize various hand gestures. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


The LIGA process, which combines deep X-ray lithography with electroforming and polymer molding, is a main fabrication method for producing MEMS. And hot embossing is one of the main processing techniques for polymer microfabrication, which helps the LIGA (UV-LIGA) technology to achieve low cost mass production. And electroforming of LIGA mold insert with lower surface energy and friction coefficient is required for demolding process during hot embossing to obtain better polymer replicas. In this paper, the Ni-PTFE compound material mold inserts is fabricated by special treated galvanic bath and operation conditions. And the results show that it is a robust Ni-PTFE composite micro-electroforming and basically changes the interaction property when demolding for producing high quality polymer replicas.


Tuberculosis is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, one of the most successful and deadliest human pathogen. Aminoglycosides resistance leads to emergence of extremely drug resistant strains of M. tuberculosis. Iron is crucial for the biological functions of the cells. Iron assimilation, storage and their utilization is not only involved in pathogenesis but also in emergence of drug resistance strains. We previously reported that iron storing proteins (bacterioferritin and ferritin) were found to be overexpressed in aminoglycosides resistant isolates. In this study we performed the STRING analysis of bacterioferritin & ferritin proteins and predicted their interactive partners [ferrochelatase (hemH), Rv1877 (hypothetical protein/probable conserved integral membrane protein), uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase (hemE) trigger factor (tig), transcriptional regulatory protein (MT3948), hypothetical protein (MT1928), glnA3 (glutamine synthetase), molecular chaperone GroEL (groEL1 & hsp65), and hypothetical protein (MT3947)]. We suggested that interactive partners of bacterioferritin and ferritin are directly or indirectly involved in M. tuberculosis growth, homeostasis, iron assimilation, virulence, resistance, and stresses.


The increasing demand for linguistic resources consisting of substantial amounts of data, such as large corpora, presents the challenge of building computational infrastructures capable of handling unprecedented amounts of information. One possible solution is the sharing of high-level, linguistically motivated and carefully balanced corpora for building one large language resource accessible worldwide. The most feasible way of integrating such widely distributed resources seems to be the construction of an infrastructure to connect various sites by interfacing local presentation formats, access methods and policies in a global network to automatically manage access procedures to widely distributed and diversified materials. Grid computing systems are designed to meet these requirements. This paper presents work in progress on an experiment for building a distributed corpus structure prototype. A small web portal was designed to perform global queries in the distributed corpus and collect the results of the same query applied to each local corpus forming part of the grid. Moreover, other computational services such as an online POS tagger and a morphological analyser/generator were inserted into the Grid to show the feasibility of such scenario.


In this paper, we report "carbamate protected" 2-aminopyrimidinedione-based Janus G-C nucleobases (2-APD Janus G-C nucleobases) featuring polymerizable groups and self-complementary triple H-bonding motifs DDA and AAD as building blocks for developing smart polymers and self-healing materials. The carbamate-masked H-bonding motif, cleavable under acidic (BOC group) or photocleavable (O-nitrobenzyl group) conditions, would facilitate the synthesis of smart polymers by alleviating aggregation during polymerization which in turn would exclude self-assembly-assisted solubility issues. Ready accessibility in excellent yields coupled with the possibility for facile introduction of polymerizable groups would make these building blocks excellent candidates for diverse polymerization applications.


BackgroundSARS-CoV and MERS-CoV are two coronaviruses that received great attention due to their high pathogenicity and mortality rates in human populations. While SARS was controlled, MERS continues to be a global public health concern. To examine differences in the epidemic patterns of these two viruses, we collected all available sequences to compare the different evolutionary characteristics of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. Notably, almost all of the human infection cases occurred in the Middle East, and cases that occurred outside of the Middle East involved travelers from this region, while African infections have so far not been reported. It is not clear that genetic differences between Africans and Arabs lead to differences in susceptibility.ResultsIn this study, we compared their evolutionary dynamics to provide a One Health perspective of their different results of disease control. The phylogenetic network of SARS-CoVs showed that human isolates gathered into a "super-spreader" cluster, and were distinct from civet isolates. In contrast, dromedary camel- and human-isolated MERS-CoVs were clustered together. Thus, most clades of MERS-CoV can infect humans, and MERS-CoVs seem easier to spill over from animal-to-human interface. Although MERS-CoVs are endemic to dromedary camels in both the Middle East and Africa, all human infections are linked to the Middle East. The nucleotide sequences of the MERS-CoV receptor gene--dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) from 30 Egyptians, 36 Sudanese, and 34 Saudi Arabians showed little difference.ConclusionsOur study reveals the reason why MERS-CoV is not easily controlled. Analysis of genetic differences between Africans and Arabs suggest that human population differences in DPP4 might not be the reason for their different MERS prevalence, raising the possibility that other reasons, such as poorer disease surveillance in Africa, might explain these observations.


Summary

This study reports length–weight relationships and growth parameters for Chriodorus atherinoides from La Carbonera, a karstic tropical coastal lagoon on the northwestern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. A total of 667 specimens were collected between April 2009 and March 2010. The length-weight relationship obtained was W = 0.0034Lt3.22. This study presents the first estimation of the model parameters of the von Bertalanffy growth equation (L∞ = 27.30 cm, k = 0.76 year−1 and t0 = −0.178 years), the instantaneous total mortality (2.51 year−1) and the maximum length record (26.0 cm total length), which is greater than previously recorded.


Abstract This article summarizes the current knowledge and treatment for a specific phobia of vomiting (SPOV). It is relatively uncommon compared to other specific phobias but may have been misdiagnosed in catchment-area surveys. The differential diagnosis of SPOV includes obsessive–compulsive disorder, hypochondriacal disorder and anorexia nervosa. I discuss the following: a model that is linked to past aversive experiences of vomiting; conducting a clinical assessment; making a formulation; psycho-education, engagement and therapy. The strategies employed depend on the formulation but are likely to include: exposure in vivo to cues of vomiting, exposure in imagination and role-plays of vomiting, imagery re-scripting, behavioural experiments; and dropping of safety-seeking behaviours.


In this paper, a model of a multi-agent system for modelling and optimising supply chains is presented. The most pop- ular methodologies of developing multi-agent systems and selected applications of the agent approach to modelling and optimisation of supply chains are described in brief. A pilot realisation of such a system is also presented, together with a selection of the subsequent experimental results obtained.


We performed three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations of shear Alfven waves in a full field line system with magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling and plasma non-uniformities. Feedback instability of the Alfven resonant modes showed various nonlinear features under the field line cavities: (i) a secondary flow shear instability occurs at the magnetic equator, (ii) trapping of the ionospheric Alfven resonant modes facilitates deformation of field-aligned current structures, and (iii) hybrid Alfven resonant modes grow to cause vortices and magnetic oscillations around the magnetic equator. Essential features in the initial brightening of auroral arc at substorm onsets could be explained by the dynamics of Alfven resonant modes, which are the nature of the field line system responding to a background rapid change.


In the UK supply market, customers can purchase electricity from any supplier regardless of size and location. Accordingly there is special interest in understanding the nature of variations in load shape, to devise better competitive tariff structures and facilitate aggressive niche marketing. Utilities have databases of half-hourly loads too large to be interpreted by hand and eye; potentially valuable information is hidden therein which is not revealed by coarse statistics. The heterogeneity of response, the large number of predictors, and the sheer size of these databases impose severe theoretical and computational difficulties on load shape modeling. Data mining refers (in part) to the use of adaptive nonparametric models (which vary their strategy according to the local nature of the data) for efficiently discovering knowledge in just such databases. A method centering on adaptive decision tree clustering of load profiles is presented, and results utilising an actual database are discussed.


Abstract Are China and India emerging as innovative technological powerhouses in the twenty-first century? This essay reviews the interdisciplinary debate that has been inspired by this question in recent years. It begins by considering recent studies that are relatively impressed with China's and India's recent accomplishments and potential in this regard. Next, it reviews works that are less impressed with their track records and prospects. It then considers a series of more equivocal studies that remain more or less undecided about China's and India's technological trajectories. The final section evaluates the debate as a whole and proposes new directions for scholarship in this field.


The possibility that topically-applied minoxidil might affect the growth cycle of hair follicles was studied in inbred Herston white mice and HRA/Skh1 hairless mice. In the normal follicular cycle, the anagen or growth phase can be followed by autoradiographic demonstration of [3H]thymidine uptake in proliferating matrical cells, and the catagen or regression phase can be recognised, using light microscopy, by the presence of greatly increased death of matrical cells by apoptosis. Using these two markers, the effects of topically-applied minoxidil on follicular kinetics were studied, during neonatal hair growth and the spontaneous wave of hair loss that occurs 16 to 17 days after birth. Minoxidil at strengths of either 1% or 3%, applied daily to the dorsal skin of newborn mice from birth until 25 days of age, was found to have no recognisable effect. Despite this negative result, however, the study does show the potential for the use of apoptosis as a marker for catagen in research in dermatopathology.


From May 1985 to December 1989, while doing blood counts on hospitalized children in Bombay, over 300 blood smears showed an impressive number of activated monocytes (AMs) and hemophagocytes (HPs). Many AMs resembled macrophages. The AM-HPs were visible in blood for 1-10 days, accompanied by a neutrophilia and a marked thrombocytopenia. Clinical features associated with these smears were fever, unresponsiveness to antibiotics, symptoms referable to the CNS and respiratory and/or gastrointestinal tracts, and bleeding. Ninety percent of affected children were under 2 years of age. The illness resolved completely or was fatal in 30%, with bleeding or respiratory failure, within 2 weeks. Children older than 2 years had underlying illness and high fever, and 40% died. Surgical candidates had obstructive gastrointestinal pathologic findings, from the stomach to the ileum. Babies under 1 month of age died, with clinical signs of deterioration and bleeding. Bone marrows were unremarkable. Few or no AM-HPs were seen. The fibrin split product tests were positive. Liver function test results were normal. Autopsies on six cases revealed edema and bleeding or thrombosis in the lungs, brain, and gastrointestinal tract. Only one neonate had a mild histiocytic infiltration in the lungs and liver. Features in common with and differences from virus-associated hemophagocytic syndromes are discussed.


Within the context of higher education for science or engineering undergraduates, we present an inquiry-driven learning path aimed at developing a more meaningful conceptual understanding of the electron dynamics in semiconductors in the presence of applied electric fields. The electron transport in a nondegenerate n-type indium phosphide bulk semiconductor is modelled using a multivalley Monte Carlo approach. The main characteristics of the electron dynamics are explored under different values of the driving electric field, lattice temperature and impurity density. Simulation results are presented by following a question-driven path of exploration, starting from the validation of the model and moving up to reasoned inquiries about the observed characteristics of electron dynamics. Our inquiry-driven learning path, based on numerical simulations, represents a viable example of how to integrate a traditional lecture-based teaching approach with effective learning strategies, providing science or engineering undergraduates with practical opportunities to enhance their comprehension of the physics governing the electron dynamics in semiconductors. Finally, we present a general discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of using an inquiry-based teaching approach within a learning environment based on semiconductor simulations.


To improve visual disturbance, optic nerve decompression can be performed via transcranial or tran-sphenoidal approaches. Although the surgical exposure in transcranial approach is favourable, yet the optic nerve's presence in the field may make it vulnerable to damage. Of fighty patients with different types of pituitary adenomas, 35 cases with medium-sized (1-3 cm) tumors have been studied in a randomized clinical trial during a three year period, to compare the applicability of these approaches. While short hospital stay with better visual outcome was observed in fifteen trans-sphenoidal cases, in comparison to 20 trans-cranial cases, however the preoperative visual status and underlying disorders were similar in both groups. Decompressing the optic apparatus, trans-sphenoidally, seems beneficial, where there are no contraindications for the procedure in medium-sized pituitary adenomas


The backoff algorithm is a part of Media Access Control (MAC) protocol which used to avoid collision in the Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET). When the nodes in the network try to access the channel, one of these nodes gains access the channel while the other nodes still contend for a time period. Many backoff algorithms have been proposed to improve network performance. One of these algorithms is Fibonacci increment backoff (FIB), FIB algorithm achieves higher throughput than the exponential backoff that is used by the standard IEEE 802.11 when it used in a mobile ad hoc network. The Pessimistic Linear-exponential Backoff (PLEB) is another proposed backoff algorithm which uses a combination of two increment behaviors; Exponential backoff and Linear backoff this scheme merges the advantages of the two increment behaviors. Exponential increments give enough backoff time to enhance the network throughput by reducing the number of transmission failures, and the linear increment reduces the average packet delay. Ad hoc On demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing protocol use a demand-driven route establishment procedure. AODV maintain the route table at each node. This paper uses different backoff algorithms at different values of rebroadcast probability.


Objective: To observe the effect of OM-85BV on airway inflammation in mice with asthma. Methods: Mice were randomly divided into 6 groups. The groups andthe process of makingthe animal model are available in the figuer .Lungs were lavaged with and the cell cytokines levels were detected. Parts of lung were for histological and thymuses were prepared for immunohistochemistry examination. The expression of TGF-β 1 mRNA and Foxp3 mRNA in spleen were detected. Results: Compared with groups a and b, lung tissue biopsies, total cells and the number of eosinophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, cell cytokine in BALF and in serum from group c showed obvious airway inflammation. The situation of groups d, e and f was significantly improved than group c. TGF-β 1 in blood serum, TGF-β 1 mRNA and Foxp3 mRNA from group c were significantly lower than a and b, which in d and f were improved than c ( P . Conclusions: OM-85BV helps regulate the balance between Th1/Th2 in asthmatic mice and prevent the development of airway inflammation. Key Words: asthma; Broncho-Vaxom; airway inflammation; regulatory T cells.


Clinical significanoce of airway inflammation was assessed in 28 patients with bronchial asthma, and the results were compared with those in 9 patients with chronic obstructive bronchiolitis (COB). 1. Total cell number in bronchoalveolar lavage(BAL) fluid was markedly increased in patients with COB (51.0×10(6)), which was significantly greater than that in those with bronchial asthma (9.6×10(6)
). 2. The proportion of BAL macrophages was significantly higher in patients with bronchial asthma than in those with COB. However, the, absolute number of BAL macrophages was not significantly different between them. 3. The proportion of BAL lymphocytes was higher in patients with bronchial asthma than in those with COB, but this difference was not signifcant. In contrast, the absolute number of BAL lymphocytes was significantly greater in patients with COB than in those with bronchial asthma. 4. The proportion and the number of BAL neutrophils were markedly increased in patients with COB compared to those with bronchial asthma. 5. The proportion and the number of BAL eosinophils were higher in patients with bronchial asthma than in those with COB, although these defferences were not significant. The results suggest that airway inflammation in bronchial asthma is not so intensive as that in COB.


While a number of new imaging techniques have been introduced during the last few years, diagnostic ultrasound has proved to be one of the most clinically useful. The technique involves the use of high frequency, relatively low intensity sound waves for imaging of deep organs of the body. Two formats of information are obtained by ultrasound. Static image scanners create a single, large field-of-view image of a portion of the anatomy, whereas real-time scanners produce a live-action or fluoroscopiclike image. The latter technique has the advantage of ease of operation and visualization of dynamic activity and the disadvantage of a smaller field of view than conventional "B-scan" or staticimage scans. Both techniques use similar instrumentation, beginning with a transducer that "rings" with a characteristic frequency when a voltage is applied. For conventional diagnostic purposes, frequencies in the range of 2.5 to 7.5 million cps (megahertz) are used. The audible range


Large data analysis problems often involve a large number of variables, and the corresponding analysis algorithms may examine all variable combinations to find the optimal solution. For example, to model the time required to complete a scientific workflow, we need to consider the impact of dozens of parameters. To reduce the model building time and reduce the likelihood of overfitting, we look to variable selection methods to identify the critical variables for the performance model. In this work, we create a combination of variable selection and performance prediction methods that is as effective as the exhaustive search approach when the exhaustive search could be completed in a reasonable amount of time. To handle the cases where the exhaustive search is too time consuming, we develop the parallelized variable selection algorithm. Additionally, we develop a parallel grouping mechanism that further reduces the variable selection time by 70%.As a case study, we exercise the variable selection technique with the performance measurement data from the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) workflow. The application scientists have determined that about 50 variables and parameters are important to the performance of the workflows. Our tests show that the Sequential Backward Selection algorithm is able to approximate the optimal subset relatively quickly. By reducing the number of variables used to build the model from 50 to 4, we are able to maintain the prediction quality while reducing the model building time by a factor of 6. Using the parallelization and grouping techniques we developed in this work, the variable selection process was reduced from over 18 hours to 15 minutes while ending up with the same variable subset.


Husserl's work contains a central ethical question: the creation of a personal order in relation to values and their cognition. An order in which the fundamental structure of the actual idea of a person is revealed: that of being the essential tie between feeling, motivation of volition and logical-argumentative coherence. This value is felt emotionally but the true understanding of the value only occurs in rational choice, when feeling is concretely translated into value; only when the intellect recognises what has become manifest in emotional acts, does the value actually become such and can act as a motivation for rational action. As its consequent result, the ability of evaluation makes use of the understanding of the meaning of the personal unit: the actual faculty of self-evaluation and selfdetermination, of self-regulation towards the good and right. It is the theme of centrality that the process of self-formation as the education of the self assumes in Husserlian ethical discourse as the capacity to relate the general norm to one's own order of values, to one's best, that corresponds to the very question of personal vocation according to Husserl. This is certainly an individual ideal but at the same time, also a social ideal since the actual life of a community can take on the form of an ethical life characterised by collective renewal, but only on the basis of the capacity for individual renewal.


Abstract : An Environmental Assessment (EA) was prepared to evaluate potential environmental impacts of the Proposed Action and Alternatives for development of access roads and an associated interior road at Ellsworth Air Force Base (EAFB) in South Dakota. Hunt Development proposes to construct new access roads and an associated interior road that would provide off-base access to former base housing as per the requirement of the Ground Lease between Hunt Development and EAFB. The proposed access roads and the associated interior road will provide access to the former base housing known as Centennial Estates. Two access points are requested by the City of Box Elder due to the size of the Centennial Estates development. Currently, 283 military housing units are present at EAFB. Current plans indicate that the new access points and roads for Centennial Estates housing allow base personnel and their families access without passing through base security points. Centennial Estates was constructed during the early 1990s as part of a lease agreement with Hunt Development and the United States Air Force under the auspices of Public Law 98-115, Section 801, and Public Law 99-167. Eight hundred twenty-eight (828) military housing units were constructed for occupation by active duty military members and their dependents. Military family housing units replaced Korean War era units that did not meet existing Air Force standards. Hunt Development was granted a 40-year lease to construct 828 units. The first twenty years of the 40-year lease required the units to be leased to the Air Force for use as military family housing. During the second twenty years, Hunt Development has the option of operating Centennial Estates as residential units. The lease requires that Hunt Development separate Centennial Estates from EAFB by constructing a fence, obtaining utilities from off-base providers and accessing Centennial Estates from off-base. The initial 20-year lease expired on August 1, 2011.


The present study was undertaken to evaluate the cardioprotective effect of Avena Sativa Linn. seeds in rats. Isoproterenol at a dose level 5.25 on 11th day and 8.5 mg/kg s.c. on 12th day had been utilized to induce Myocardial infarction in Rats. The animals were pretreated with ASSAE (125, 250 and 500 mg/kg/day, oral) for period of 10 days and Isoproterenol (ISO) was injected on 11th and 12th day. The blood was collected after 24 hours through retero-orbital plexus for the estimation of biochemical parameters. The histopathological studies were also performed. The infarct size in heart was evaluated using TTC staining. The administration of ASSAE significantly increased GSH level and lowered the level of the alkaline phosphatase (ALP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), TBARS levels, creatinine phosphokinase (CK-MB) as well as significantly changed haemodynamic parameters in the Isoproterenol Induced myocardial necrosis. The integrity of the myocardial cell membrane and inflammatory cell infiltration and reduced muscle separation were promptly improved in the histopathological studies of the ISO-induced myocardium. These results presented here clearly demonstrated the cardioprotective activity of the ASSAE against Isoproterenol induced myocardial infarction in rats. The effect of climatic conditions on the chemical constituents responsible for the cardioprotective activity can also be explored.

Keywords: Avena sativa, Cardioprotective agents, Isoprotenenol, Myocardial infarction.


We consider probabilistic diagnosis in multiprocessor systems. Processors can test one another; fault-free processors give correct test results, while faulty testers are unpredictable. Processors fail independently with constant probability p<1/2 and the goal is to identify correctly the status of all processors, based on the set of test results. A diagnosis algorithm is globally optimal if it has the highest probability of correctness among all (deterministic) diagnosis algorithms. We give fast globally optimal diagnosis algorithms for a class of test assignments including complete directed graphs and directed acyclic graphs. This is the first time that globally optimal diagnosis is given in a probabilistic model without any assumptions on the behavior of faulty processors.


OBJECTIVE: To study the possible association between interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) gene polymorphism and allergic rhinitis (AR). METHODS: Six independent single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP, rs729302, rs4728142, rs3807306, rs2070197, rs11770589, rs2280714) were analyzed. The genotype and allele frequencies were detected in 110 AR patients and 101 healthy controls in Singapore Chinese population by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). RESULTS: Rs729302 was rejected as it was not polymorphic. For others SNP, no statistically significant difference was detected in genotype between AR and healthy control group (χ(2) value were 0.21, 5.02, 0.01, 2.91, 0.37, all P > 0.05). No statistically significant difference was detected in allele frequencies between AR and healthy control group (χ(2) value were 0.00, 2.78, 0.01, 2.31, 0.00, all P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: No association is observed between IRF5 and AR in Singapore Chinese population.


ABSTRACT 1. H-FABP (heart-type fatty acid-binding protein) is an important fatty acid-binding protein that participates in the metabolism and intracellular transportation of lipids. This study was designed to study the H-FABP gene expression and genetic association with meat quality traits in domestic pigeons. 2. The spatio-temporal expression patterns showed that H-FABP was widely expressed in all eleven tissues in birds from hatching to 4 weeks of age, and the expression level in the liver was the highest, and spleen and subcutaneous fat showed relatively high levels at all time points, and increased markedly as squabs became older. 3. Nine novel SNPs were found; three of them (g.42 C > T and g.123 C > T in exon 1 and g.3128 C > T in exon 2) were synonymous mutations, and six of them (g.3304 T > C, g.3305 G > A, g.3313A>G, g.3343 C > T, g.3372A>C, g.3410 T > C in exon 3) were located in the 3ʹ untranslated region (UTR). In addition, four haplotypes and six diplotypes were formed and showed weak linkage disequilibrium. Association analysis showed that in the SNP of g.3305 G > A, the AB genotype showed higher (P < 0.05) inosinic acid concentrations in breast muscle than the BB genotype. In the SNP of g.3313A>G, the AA and AB genotypes showed significantly higher (P < 0.01) inosinic acid concentrations than the BB genotype, AA showed the highest intramuscular fat content, and the relative mRNA expression level of the AA genotype was the highest (P < 0.05). 4. Association analysis of diplotypes showed no correlation with meat quality traits. Moreover, correlation analysis indicated that the H-FABP mRNA expression level was tightly related to intramuscular fat content (P < 0.01). 5. This study suggested that the H-FABP gene may be a candidate gene in marker-assisted selection of pigeons for high-quality meat.


Antioxidant activities of aqueous extracts prepared from powdered leaves and stems of Salacia reticulata, a Salacia plant that grows in Sri Lanka, were investigated. Lipid peroxide levels and some hepatic injury markers in plasma, liver and/or kidney of mice treated with ferric nitrilotriacetate (Fe-NTA) were increased as compared to those of control mice. Oral preadministration of extracts of Salacia leaves and stems at doses of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight prevented the elevations of lipid peroxides and injury markers in a dose-dependent manner. Decrease of antioxidant activity in plasma of mice treated with Fe-NTA was also prevented by administration of these extracts. In in vitro study, well-known polyphenol components exhibited antioxidant activities, but other effective components were also present in these extracts. The results of this investigation indicate that the extracts of leaves and stems of S. reticulata could be beneficial as health foods for the prevention of oxidative stress-related disorders.


Abstract: Soil water repellency affects soil water movement during infiltration significantly. The HYDRUS software has been popularly applied in soil water dynamics simulation for many years, but its performance in water-repellent (WR) soils has not been assessed thoroughly. Our objectives are to assess the performance of HYDRYUS-1D for cumulative infiltration (CI), wetting front (Zf), and volumetric soil water content (θv) during horizontal imbibition and vertical infiltration in wettable, slightly WR, and strongly WR soils. The key parameters of α and n in water retention curves were inversely estimated by RETension Curve software. The α and n were calibrated inversely until the observed data fitted the simulated values well enough. The α and n were then used for validation using three statistical parameters including relative root-mean-square error, R2, and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient. The performances of calibration and validation for wettable, slightly, and strongly WR soils were good enough to be used for further simulations (RRMSE ≤20.2% for calibration and ≤21.1% for validation). Soil water movements for strongly WR soils of variable ponded depth during vertical infiltration were simulated. For Lou soil, as the ponded depth increased from 4 to 10 cm, the CI and Zf increased 2.08 and 5.5 cm, respectively. The simulations for the other three soils also showed gradually increased CI and Zf values. In conclusion, the performances of HYDRUS-1D in four different soil types with changing WR levels were good, which confirmed the application of HYDRUS-1D in WR soils.


OBJECTIVE
This study aims to estimate the cost-effectiveness of combined physical and cognitive programs designed to prevent community-dwelling healthy young-old adults from developing dementia.

METHODS
The analysis was conducted from a public healthcare and long-term care payer's perspective. Quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and expenses for health services and long-term care services were described in terms of effectiveness and cost, respectively. A thousand community-dwelling healthy adults aged 65 years were generated through simulation and analyzed. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of adults with preventive program intervention compared to those with nonintervention was simulated with a 10-year cycle Markov model. The data sources for the parameters to build the Markov models were selected with priority given to higher levels of evidence. The threshold for assessing cost-effectiveness was set as less than 5,000,000 Japanese yen/QALY.

RESULTS
The ICER was estimated as -5,740,083 Japanese yen (US$-57,400)/QALY.

CONCLUSION
A program targeting community-dwelling healthy young-old adults could be cost-effective.


The effective conductivity of composite materials with random position n 2,n ∈ N, and the cylindrical identical inclusions inside periodic cells is considered. We compare the results for symmetric and nonsymmetric cases of location of the inclusions in the cells and find that a symmetric structure provides a minimum for the effective conductivity among all the structures having n 2 inclusions of such conductivity and sizes.


The twelfth in a series of national surveys on community attitudes to road safety was conducted in May/June 1999 on behalf of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. This report contains a summary of results from the survey and, where appropriate, provides comparative findings in relation to previous surveys. Issues examined include: perceived causes of road crashes, exposure to random breath testing, attitudes to speed, perceptions of police enforcement, reported usage of seat belts, and involvement in road crashes. (a)


In order to address many of the challenges and bottlenecks currently experienced by traditional charge based technologies, various alternatives are being actively explored to provide potential solutions of device miniaturization and scaling in the more-than-MOORE era. Amongst these alternatives, spintronics physics and devices have recently attracted a rapidly increasing interest by exploiting the additional degree of electron's spins. For example, magnetic domain-wall racetrack-memory and logic devices have been realized via manipulating domain-wall motion. As compared to domain-wall based devices, magnetic skyrmions have the advantages of ultra-small size (typically 5-100 nm in diameter), facile current-driven motion, topological stability and peculiar emergent electrodynamics, promising for next-generation electronics applications in the more-than-Moore regime. In this work, a magnetic meron diode, which behaves like a PN-junction diode, is demonstrated for the first time, by tailoring the current-controlled unidirectional motion of edge-merons (i.e., fractional skyrmions) in a nanotrack with interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. The working principles of the meron diode, theoretically expected from the Thiele equation for topological magnetic objects, are further verified by micromagnetic simulations. The present study reveals topology-independent transport property of magnetic objects, and is expected to open the vista toward integrated composite circuitry, with unified data storage and processing, based on a single magnetic chip, as the meron diode can be used either, as a building block, to develop complex logic components or, as a signal controller, to interconnect skyrmion, domain-wall, and even spin-wave devices.


The maximum logq likelihood estimation method is a generalization of the known maximum log likelihood method to overcome the problem for modeling non-identical observations ( inliers and outliers). The parameter $q$ is a tuning constant to manage the modeling capability. Weibull is a flexible and popular distribution for problems in engineering. In this study, this method is used to estimate the parameters of Weibull distribution when non-identical observations exist. Since the main idea is based on modeling capability of objective function p(x; ʘ) = logq [f(x; ʘ)], we observe that the finiteness of score functions cannot play a role in the robust estimation for inliers . The properties of Weibull distribution are examined. In the numerical experiment, the parameters of Weibull distribution are estimated by logq and its special form, log , likelihood methods if the different designs of contamination into underlying Weibull distribution are applied. The optimization is performed via genetic algorithm. The modeling competence of p(x; ʘ) and insensitiveness to non-identical observations are observed by Monte Carlo simulation. The value of $q$ can be chosen by use of the mean squared error in simulation and the $p$ -value of Kolmogorov - Smirnov test statistic used for evaluation of fitting competence. Thus, we can overcome the problem about determining of the value of $q$ for real data sets.


Jorge da Silva, a researcher with the Faculdade Latina‐Americana de Ciencias Sociais, examines the intersections of crime, police violence, and race in Rio de Janeiro. In The Favelados in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; de Silva critiques what he calls Brazil's 'myth of racial democracy,' exposing Rio's economic and racial divisions. Most proposals for police reform, he argues, are insufficient because of their failure to take these crucial issues into account. He goes on to question the centralization and militarization of the police force, and concludes by identifying opportunities for reform.


Abstract Background: Migraine and tension-type headache often occur comorbid with temporomandibular disorder; occlusal splint therapy is the most common treatment for temporomandibular disorder. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of occlusal splint therapy on headache symptoms in patients with migraine and/or tension-type headache comorbid with temporomandibular disorder. Methods: Sixty adult patients with migraine and/or tension-type headache and comorbid temporomandibular disorder were randomly assigned to individualized occlusal splint therapy applied during day- and nighttime plus usual care (n = 30) or usual care alone (n = 30). Primary outcome was the change in current pain intensity on a 100 mm visual analogue scale from week 1 to week 12. Secondary outcomes included changes in headache days and headache hours assessed by headache diaries over a 2-week period, health-related quality of life (SF-36), and adverse events from week 1 to week 12 and (in the occlusal splint plus usual care group only) to week 24. Results: No group differences in changes in pain intensity from week 1 to week 12 were found. The number needed to treat was 3.8. Physical quality of life reduced stronger in the usual care group than in the occlusal splint plus usual care group. In the occlusal splint plus usual care group, headache intensity significantly decreased and physical quality of life significantly increased from week 1 to week 12 and to week 24 (all P < .001). No adverse events were reported. Conclusions: A day- and night-time occlusal splint therapy in addition to usual care was not superior to usual care alone in patients with chronic headache and comorbid TMD. Four patients need to be treated to induce a minimal clinically relevant improvement in one patient. The small sample size and lack of power limit these findings.


In Mexico, deforestation of forests have placed a wide variety of species of flora and fauna in danger of extinction. This impact generates large emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This work analyzed the dynamics of change in coverage and land use in the central region of the Sierra Madre Oriental, particularly in the Huasteca region. Three Landsat satellite images (1986, 1990 and 2000) and one Spot 2015 satellite image were interpreted and classified. Deforestation rates will be calculated using the method proposed by FAO. Future scenarios were developed with the DINAMICA EGO Software, to know the trends of change in land cover and uses up to 2030 and 2050. The carbon potential is estimated in two fragments of tropical mountain cloud forest (TMCF) in the municipalities of Tlanchinol and San Bartolo through the NDVI method and based on INFYS from CONAFOR for the implementation of a future REDD + strategy. The results indicated for the Huasteca region, the annual deforestation rates range between 0.7% and 4.5% and for the tropical mountain cloud forest fragments between 1.3% and 1.5%, which are transformed for agricultural areas. The estimated amount of carbon for both fragments of bosque was 13,539. 84 tons per hectare for the municipality of Tlanchinol and 4,363.02 tons of carbon per hectare for the municipality of San Bartolo. For this reason, REDD + would slow down the advance of deforestation in Huasteca and the fragments TMCF in the central region of the Sierra Madre Oriental. However, it is necessary to involve studies such as that of this work for the construction of a future strategy aimed at a comprehensive management of the territory in a sustainable way.