Background of Study: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a series of symptoms and signs because of pressure on the median nerve in a small space in the wrist called carpal tunnel. In diagnosing CTS, it is required anamnesis and thorough physical examination which includes CTS provocation test, for instance Phalen test, Prayer test, and Tinel sign. The aim of this study is to reveal the diagnostic accuracy of Phalen test and Prayer test in diagnosing CTS. Methods: The samples that fulfilled inclusion criteria were 19 subjects went through Phalen test, Prayer test, and nerve conduction study using CSI in Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Dr. Soetomo General Hospital Surabaya, Indonesia. The nerve conduction study using CSI was conducted by EMG Cadwell equipment. The data analysis was conducted by using SPSS software. Result of the Study: The sensitivity of the Phalen test and Prayer test combination in diagnosing CTS was 94.1 %. The specificity of Phalen test and Prayer test combination in diagnosing CTS was 100%. The positive predictive value was 100% while the negative predictive value was 66.7%. The result of person chisquare examination was obtained asymp. Sig value of 0.001 < ? 0.05. Conclusion: There was a correlation between the combination of Phalen test and Prayer test with CTS.


With the genesis of the internet and the world wide web, we have seen an enormous growth of data and information on the web, as well as an increase in digital or textual opinions, sentiments and attitudes that have been remarked upon in reviews. More reviews in document-level have expressed a high-dimensional in feature space. The main task of feature selection and feature reduction is a reduction dimension in feature space while, at the same time, ensuring that is no loss in the minimum of accuracy. There are several factors to consider in reduction dimension of a term - document matrix of feature space. It can lead to removal of irrelevant and useless features; including as a result, more efficient categories, easier analysis more accurately of sentiment after reduction. For this aim, we have proposed a novel feature reduction method using standard deviation based on more variation or dispersion of features in feature space. We used three popular classifiers, namely: Naive Bayes, Maximum Entropy and Support Vector Machine for sentiment classification and ensemble of these classifiers. We then compared our proposed method with other feature reduction methods used on book and music reviews. Results show that classification by using the novel method improved the accuracy of sentiment classification.


Adrenal medullary hyperplasia and neoplasia occur both enzootically and epizootically in untreated laboratory rats. The lesions are typically chromaffin-negative and are found incidentally in animals that have died from unrelated causes or have been killed at the end of long-term toxicity/ carcinogenicity tests. Urinary excretion of catecholamines is not usually increased. Environmental, particularly dietary, factors are seemingly much more important than genetic ones as determinants of the incidence of proliferative lesions. Recent observations of enhancement of adrenal medullary proliferative disease in rats by the feeding, in high dietary concentration, of certain polyols (sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, lactitol), or of lactose, suggested that increased absorption of calcium from the gastrointestinal tract may be a risk factor. This evidence is reported and discussed in the light of other evidence linking disturbed calcium homeostasis with adrenal medullary function in the rat. In man, adrenal medullary proliferative disease is relatively rare and there is no evidence of any relation between the hypercalcaemia associated with hyperparathyroidism and increased risk of phaeochromocytoma. Adrenal medullary proliferative disease in rats is usually seen against a background of multiple endocrine neoplasia, with the pituitary gland, the pancreatic islets and the thyroid C-cells being most commonly affected in addition to the adrenal medulla. A parallel between this situation and Sipple's disease in humans has previously been suggested. We now stress the possible importance of three factors as determinants of enzootic and epizootic adrenal medullary proliferative disease in rats: excessive food intake, excessive dietary levels of calcium and phosphate and excessive intake of other food components, such as vitamin D and poorly absorbable carbohydrates, which predispose to increased calcium absorption.


Increasing the bandwidth until the physical limit of the optical medium itself (fiber optics) has always been the striving goal in designing an optical fiber communication system. Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) and its dense version (DWDM) are widely accepted as the best approaches thus far. In this paper, a study on the sub-carrier multiplexing at radio frequency (RF) bands is proposed as a complementary technique to increase the transmission bandwidth. Two channels (each at 155 Mbps rate) and eight channels (each at 622 Mbps rate) of pseudo-random bit sequence of the NRZ-encoded data were tested. The channels were sub-carried by two RF signals at 500 MHz and 1 GHz respectively, while the eight channels system were sub-carried by 1 GHz, 2 GHz, 3 GHz and 4 GHz over each of the two wavelengths. The simulations were carried out over a fiber distance of 70 km. The effect of transmission native rate on the selection of the sub-carrier frequency is also presented.


BACKGROUND
Chronic renal failure patients have a high cardiovascular disease burden, low numbers and impaired function of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). We hypothesized that enhanced uraemic toxin removal restores EPCs in haemodialysis patients.

METHODS
In a prospective, randomized, cross-over trial, 18 patients were subjected to 4 weeks of each low-flux haemodialysis, high-flux haemodialysis and haemodiafiltration differing in uraemic toxin removal. EPCs were determined at baseline and at the end of each 4-week period. A cohort of 16 healthy volunteers served as control. EPCs were studied after culture on fibronectin (CFU-Hill) and collagen-1 (ECFC).

RESULTS
Dialysis patients had a lower number of ECFCs than in healthy controls (P < 0.001) and a reduced fraction of vital ECFCs (P < 0.05), whereas the formation of endothelial cell colonies (ECCs) was increased (P < 0.05). Different middle molecular uraemic toxin removal had no effects on EPC numbers. The number of prototypical EPCs (CD34( +)/VEGFR2-KDR( +)/CD45( -) ECFCs) was similar between patients and controls. Correlations of plasma C-reactive protein with ECC count, CFU-Hill colony count and CD34( +)/VEGFR2-KDR( +)/CD45( -) subpopulation of both ECFC and CFU-Hill cells were observed.

CONCLUSIONS
Different middle molecule removal has no effect on EPCs. Reduced vitality and enhanced ECC formation suggest growth induction of impaired EPCs in chronic renal failure and are associated with inflammation.


The root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita has a wide host range and it is one of the most economically important crop parasites worldwide. Biological control has been a good approach for reducing M. incognita infection, for which many nematophagous fungi are reportedly applicable. However, the controlling effects of Phanerochaete chrysosporium strain B-22 are still unclear. In the present study we characterized the parasitism of this strain on M. incognita eggs, second-stage juveniles (J2), and adult females. The highest corrected mortality was 71.9% at 3 × 108 colony forming units (CFU) mL-1 and the estimated median lethal concentration of the fungus was 0.96 × 108 CFU mL-1. Two days after treatment with Phanerochaete chrysosporium strain B-22 eggshells were dissolved. A strong lethal effect was noted against J2, as the fungal spores developed in their body walls, germinated, and the resulting hyphae crossed the juvenile cuticle to dissolve it, thereby causing shrinkage and deformation of the juvenile body wall. The spores and hyphae also attacked adult females, causing the shrinkage and dissolution of their bodies and leakage of contents after five days. Greenhouse experiments revealed that different concentrations of the fungal spores effectively controlled M. incognita. In the roots, the highest inhibition rate for adult females, juveniles, egg mass, and gall index was 84.61%, 78.91%, 84.25%, and 79.48%, respectively. The highest juvenile inhibition rate was 89.18% in the soil. Phanerochaete chrysosporium strain B-22 also improved tomato plant growth, therefore being safe for tomato plants while effectively parasitizing M. incognita. This strain is thus a promising biocontrol agent against M. incognita.


Bile acids (BAs) are a family of hydroxylated steroids secreted by the liver that aid in the breakdown and absorption of dietary fats. BAs also function as nutrient and inflammatory signaling molecules, acting through cognate receptors, to coordinate host metabolism. Commensal bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract are functional modifiers of the BA pool, affecting composition and abundance. Deconjugation of host BAs creates a molecular network that inextricably links gut microtia with their host. In this review we highlight the roles of BAs in mediating this mutualistic relationship with a focus on those events that impact host physiology and metabolism.


Three natural enemies naturally present in southern California avocado groves were evaluated against different stages of the avocado lace bug, Pseudacysta perseae (Heidemann), in the laboratory. The natural enemies tested were adult females of a predatory thrips, Franklinothrips orizabensis , second instar green lacewing larvae, Chrysoperla rufilabris , and a predaceous mite, Neoseiulus californicus . The most promising natural enemy from laboratory and subsequent greenhouse evaluations was C. rufilabris. In addition to natural enemies, insecticides were evaluated for P. perseae control. The contact impact of less persistent materials on nymphs in the laboratory was assessed. The most effective insecticides based on residual impact studies were carbaryl, imidacloprid, and fenpropathrin, and 2 materials commonly used on avocados in California, abamectin and spinosad, which were ineffective. Among the insecticides evaluated based on contact activity, a pyrethrin mixture was the best treatment followed by petroleum oil and potash soap. The contact insecticides were evaluated for their impact on second instars of C. rufilabris . The pyrethrin mixture was less toxic to C. rufilabris , and because of its low mammalian toxicity this insecticide may be suitable for use with natural enemy releases for homeowners to manage P. perseae populations on backyard avocados.


A taboo is an "unthinkable" action, that is, even the thought of violating it triggers social punishment. Taboos are the social "thought police," discouraging individuals from considering certain type of actions. We consider a simple model in which taboos are part of the definition of one's identity. Deliberating over breaking the taboo adds the action to the individual's choice set and provides information on possible private benefits but is costly because it contradicts one's identity. The strength of the taboo is endogenously determined by the number of individuals that obey it without any consideration of its violation. We model stable taboos and examine how they can change and disappear over time as a result of changes in the distribution of private benefits gained from its violation. We assume that individuals are heterogeneous with respect to their attitudes towards social punishment. We then analyze the relationship between social heterogeneity and the strength as well as effectiveness of taboos, i.e., are taboos stronger in homogenous or heterogeneous societies? We extend our analysis and examine societies in which individuals may choose among several identities, characterized by different taboos or varying strengths of taboos. Having such a choice defines an evolutionary process with respect to identity: Some identities disappear while others flourish. We examine the characterization and the conditions giving rise to a multi-identity society.


RheinRuhr as a polycentric "space of places" in a "space of flows". Concepts of polycentricity and networks take a central place in current thinking about the restructuring and revaluation of urban structures. This academic discourse will be sketched in view of the search for synergies within polycentric urban regions such as RhineRuhr. This notion of synergy, which suggests to make the whole network of cities more than the sum of its parts, will be discussed in the light of the urban region's role as a node in the space of flows. This will be followed by some empirical results of the recently finished research project POLYNET. In an internationally comparative perspective, the functional polycentricity of RhineRuhr will be explored by taking on board some findings from social network analysis in order to measure the connectivity of some main cities at different spatial scales. At the end we will argue that the activation of the latent synergetic potentials within RhineRuhr should gain much more weight in strategic regional development debates than it is currently the case.


The fabrication of a strongly coupled organic semiconductor light emitting diode (OLED) is described. The device is characterised through angle‐resolved photoluminescence and electroluminescence spectroscopy, with the efficiency of the polariton OLED being compared to that of an equivalent weakly coupled device. The external emission efficiency of the polariton OLED is approximately 6 times smaller than that of the OLED; an effect that is attributed to the relatively slow scattering of excitons towards states at the bottom of the lower polariton branch. The temporal responses of the polariton and standard OLED devices are measured under pulsed voltage excitation, and device dynamics are found to be limited by charge transport and recombination.


The use of noise barrier is being increased to reduce the environmental noise in these days. Also, many noise reducers installed at the top of noise barrier are developed for improving the efficiency of noise reduction. So we evaluate the performance of the noise reducers and compare the results among the others. Results of field tests show that the insertion loss due to the noise reducers is up to 10.6 dB.


The moderate enantioselectivity of wild form baker's yeast can be considerably increased either by using continuous feeding to maintain a low substrate concentration throughout the reaction, or by the selective inhibition of competing enzymatic pathways. The reduction of ethyl 3‐oxobutyrate to ethyl (S)‐3‐hydroxybutyrate was used as a model reaction. With the substrate feeding method, the enantioselectivity could be increased from 75 % to as high as 98 %. The increased selectivity originates from the much higher substrate binding constant of the (R)‐specific enzymes, so that these enzymes remain essentially inactive if a low concentration of ethyl 3‐oxobutyrate is maintained in the bioreactor. Alternatively, the enantioselectivity of baker's yeast can be improved by selectively blocking competing enzymatic pathways. It was found that vinyl acetate is a selective inhibitor for the (R)‐specific enzymes. Ethyl (S)‐3‐hydroxybutyrate with an enantiomeric excess of 98 % was obtained by pre‐incubation of baker's yeast in 100 mM of vinyl acetate solution for 1 h. These results suggest that by selecting appropriate process conditions, natural baker's yeast can be a competitive biocatalyst for the large‐scale production of chiral secondary alcohols.


We report a 15 years old girl who admitted to our hospital with signs of recurrent torticollis after two failed operations and consistent pain at the side of surgery. The past operations were performed at 1 and 6 years of age and she has been suffering pain from previous incisions with neck movements. At physical examination, the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle behaved like a fibrous band, restricting the neck movements and resulting in pain. The operation was indicated for the fibrotic SCM. At operation two separate incisions were performed on each end of the SCM to remove all of the fibrotic muscle. The histopathological examination demonstrated a traumatic neuroma which respectively correlates with the pain symptoms. The patient discharged on the second postoperative day and physiotherapy was started. The patient is symptom free one year after the surgery. This case demonstrates a rare occurrence of traumatic neuroma after torticollis surgery, which can manifest with pain.


The aim of present study is to investigate weekly habits of students to play violin in terms of some variables like preparation before performance, playing techniques and musicality and to determine the inefficiencies. The study is a qualitative study and observation was preferred to be a study method. During a week, students were video – recorded to determine their daily working habits in free working hours. Field experts evaluated daily video records through expert evaluation form. Behavioural differences for 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 2-3, 2-4, 3-4 grades were evaluated using Mann-Withney U test and its significance level. It was found from this significance level that as the grade increases significant differences were found between behaviours positively. In addition, for all grades, level of grades was effective on behavioural differences and it was found that none of 20 behaviours was performed completely at four grades. Planning and developing individual working habits in details in violin education will improve and advance students in playing instrument.


Abstract  Research and development in the area of paraproteinemic demyelinating peripheral neuropathy is slower than for some of the other inflammatory neuropathy syndromes. However, 2007–2008 has produced developments in the understanding of the pathogenesis of the neuropathy and the paraprotein, a potential new animal model, easier diagnostics, and two randomized controlled trials with the results of others awaited. This short review summarizes these publications.


The Lagos lagoon is a major geographical feature in Lagos Metropolis and is the largest of the network of lagoons that stretch from the Republic of Benin through to the Nigerian Niger Delta. Some parts of the Lagos lagoon waterfront has degenerated into a slum with non-distinctive housing, mainly shanties at various points, wood processing, sand dredging, markets and commercial fishing activities. Water-based tourism is a proven revenue earner globally, usually providing revenue for the government and a source of enjoyment, employment and recreation to the residents and visitors alike. The tourism potentials of the lagoon remain largely untapped. To determine the place of landscape features of the Lagos Lagoon in its suitability for tourism, the paper evaluates its landscape characteristics and compares the perception of users of water-based recreation destinations along the its waterfront with those of users of similar tourist attractions along the Lagos coast. The aim of the study is to answer questions of landscape perception and assessment of the area and to identify other factors which may be of relevance to its tourism development. Using structured questionnaires with pictures of the landscape features of the lagoon, field survey and interviews, the study identified the communities, problems, and factors influencing tourism at three venues on the lagoon waterfront and three water tourism venues along the Lagos coast. Results show that the landscape characteristics of the lagoon have a very significant effect on tourism in the area. It also identified the major factors influencing the tourism development of the Lagos Lagoon. The outcome of the research will be of benefit to property owners in the area, architects, landscape architects, tourists, visitors, industry practitioners and policy makers in determining appropriate facilities and land-use planning options in developing the natural resource.


1-(tert-Butyldimethylsilyl)oxy-3,3-bis(tributylstannyl)propene (5), a versatile gem-dimetallic allylic synthon accessible through various synthetic routes, has been condensed with (trimethylsilyl)propiolaldehyde to give the fully functionalised acyclic vinyltin compound 9h, which is a precursor of the complex dihydroxycyclopentene sub-unit of neocarzinostatin chromophore (NCS) 1. Subsequent transformation into the geminal (E)-alpha-chloro-(Z)-alpha-iodovinylic intermediate 20, followed by a palladium-catalysed carbometallation/cyclisation reaction including in situ trapping with either (tributylstannyl) acetylene or the more functionalised 3,3-diethoxy-1 1-(tributylstannyl) prop-1-yne delivered the corresponding alkyne-substituted 4-chloro-1,2-bis(silyloxy)cyclopent-3-enes 21 or 22, respectively. Chlorocyclopentene 21 was subsequently easily transformed into the target dienediyne adduct 23 by Sonogashira condensation with trimethylsilylacetylene. This diastereoselective process is efficient with only six steps and an overall 26 % yield from the allylic ditin precursor 5. More than just an NCS building block, the final acyclic dihydroxycyclopentene-based dienediyne is also a seco analogue of the NCS chromophore. ((c) Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2006).


The rate and mechanism of nitrate removal along and between groundwater flow paths were investigated using a series of well nests screened in an unconfined sand and gravel aquifer. Intensive agricultural activity in this area has resulted in nitrate concentrations in groundwater often exceeding drinking water standards. Both the extent and rate of denitrification varied depending on the groundwater flow path. While little or no denitrification occurred in much of the upland portions of the aquifer, a gradual redox gradient is observed as aerobic upland groundwater moves deeper in the aquifer. In contrast, a sharp shallow redox gradient is observed adjacent to a third‐order stream as aerobic groundwater enters reduced sediments. An essentially complete loss of nitrate concurrent with increases in excess N2 provide evidence that denitrification occurs as groundwater enters this zone. Electron and mass balance calculations suggest that iron sulfide (e.g., pyrite) oxidation is the primary source of electrons for denitrification. Denitrification rate estimates were based on mass balance calculations using nitrate and excess N2 coupled with groundwater travel times. Travel times were determined using a groundwater flow model and were constrained by chlorofluorocarbon‐based age dates. Denitrification rates were found to vary considerably between the two areas where denitrification occurs. Denitrification rates in the deep, upland portions of the aquifer were found to range from <0.01 to 0.14 mM of N per year; rates at the redoxcline along the shallow flow path range from 1.0 to 2.7 mM of N per year. Potential denitrification rates in groundwater adjacent to the stream may be much faster, with rates up to 140 mM per year based on an in situ experiment conducted in this zone.


Diuretics are frequently used in preterm infants in various situations such as patent ductus arteriosus, respiratory distress syndrome, bronchopulmonary dysplasia or neonatal renal insufficiency. However, the beneficial effects reported in the literature are usually transient, without any obvious effect on important parameters such as duration of oxygen dependency, ventilator dependency, length of hospital stay, long-term outcome, or mortality. Moreover, these drugs may induce water-electrolyte disorders especially when used for a long-term period. Thus, we recommend a systematic analysis of the beneficial/risk ratio before any use of these drugs.


Elite occupations are characterised by the magnitude of income accumulation which has been particularly exacerbated in the financialisation process. This paper however shows that the cumulative effects on group earnings is a pattern visible across the labour force. The case studies on the US and UK labour force in the financialisation era in effect show that elitist earnings are a group phenomenon for a dominant group, mainly white male or female, at the expense of other racial, ethnic, and gender groups. Learning from such group behaviour on financial accumulation and drawing on Sen's rules of legitimacy (1981) in market interactions, the discussion then looks at the possibility of "sustainable earning" trends that feed into the financial needs for the green transition. The paper concludes that economic actors should be aware of the group legitimacy to financial flows, but that the group boundaries should be based on ecological-based entitlements rather than social-based entitlements to financial flows.


In this paper we present four different parallel implementations of the popular LM OSEM medical image reconstruction algorithm. While two of them use libraries such as MPI, OpenMP, or Threading Building Blocks (TBB) directly, the other two implementations use algorithmic skeletons of the Munster Skeleton Library Muesli to hide the parallelism. We compare the implementations w.r.t. runtime, efficiency, and programming style and show the resulting benchmarks which have been conducted on a multi-processor, multi-core cluster computer.


Abstract Intercultural communication has been a popular topic both in and outside academic studies, yet most researches in this field have been conducted with the methodology of comparative anthropology while the studies on the dynamic process of intercultural communication have been limited, which serves as the primary motivation to write this paper. The thorniest obstacle to conduct the study is to find a feasible and applicable methodology for the analysis of the process of intercultural communication, which deflated and even impaired the author's confidence to do the study from time to time. Fortunately, months of meditation finally saw the enlightenments from semiotics, a profound science that can provide insights into various humanity and social sciences. A thorough introduction to semiotics is impossible in an MA paper; therefore, only the related theories helpful to study intercultural communication are presented, including the dichotomy theory by Saussure, trichotomy theory by Peirce, theory of cultural semiotics by Lotman, and the semiotic concept of code by scholars such as Eco and Barthes. With this semiotic theoretical framework, the present paper elaborates the definitions of culture and communication and explains their semiotic features from different perspectives. Culture is semiotic in that it refers to not only the metaphysical existence but also the psychological traces, both of which are related with sign. The semiotic feature of communication is explained by identifying the sign as the carrier of information and semiosis as the realization of meaning. In this sense, intercultural communication as a subject based on culture and communication should be understood via semiotics as well. Limited by the size of the present paper, this study focuses exclusively on the process of intercultural communication. The ingredients involved in the process are figured and their roles are identified to the semiotics theories, based on which a semiotic model of intercultural communication is established. This model as the core of the present paper is described in detail and the mechanism of intercultural communication revealed by the model is explained accordingly. The relationship between the semiospheres, the nature of representamen, and the psychological processes as interpretant, are three most significant factors affecting intercultural communication. The findings of this paper explain the humanity subject of intercultural communication in a scientific view, which provides new understandings as well as indicates new research methods.


Tourism is affected by social, political, economic, technological and environmental changes at all scales. Population growth, redistribution of wealth, geopolitical changes and conflicts, rising fuel costs, climate change and its consequences, new technologies and work patterns, and all forms of social fashion influence who wants to travel where, for how long, to do what, and at what prices. Here, we examine six large-scale exogenous trends for the global tourism sector over the next 30 years: (1) The social, economic and environmental consequences of gradual warming and of extreme weather events associated with climate change; (2) The effects of higher fuel costs and social concerns on mass long-haul travel; (3) The role of new technologies, including social media, in marketing, managing, experiencing and monitoring tourism; (4) Economic growth and social change in the highly populous and newly wealthy BRICS nations, especially India and China; (5) The consequences of armed conflict and geopolitical negotiation for tourism, and the use of tourism as a tool for geopolitical interests; (6) The increasing linkages, and also conflicts, between tourism and conservation in many countries. Improved understanding of these megatrends, and the interactions between them, are priorities for future tourism research.


Dynamical phase transition (DPT) characterizes the abrupt change of dynamical properties in nonequilibrium quantum many-body systems. It has been demonstrated that extra quantum fluctuating modes besides the conventional order parameter field can drastically change the properties of equilibrium phase transitions. However, the counterpart phenomena in DPTs have rarely been explored. Here, we study the DPT in the Dirac system after a sudden quench, and find that the fermion fluctuations can round a putative first-order DPT into a dynamical critical point, which is referred to as a fermion-induced dynamical critical point (FIDCP). It is also a nonthermal critical point, in which the universal short-time scaling behavior emerges despite the system goes through a first-order transition after thermalization. In the novel scenario of FIDCP, the quantum Yukawa coupling $g_q$ is indispensable for inducing the FIDCP albeit irrelevant in the infrared scale. We call these variables {\it indispensable irrelevant scaling variables}. Moreover, a dynamical tricritical point which separates the first-order DPT and the FIDCP is discovered by tuning this indispensable irrelevant scaling variable. We further mention possible experimental realizations.


AIMS
Individuals with diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at high risk for cardiovascular disease. In these analyses of the ADVANCE trial, we assessed the effects of a fixed combination of perindopril-indapamide on renal and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes according to baseline CKD stage.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Patients with type 2 diabetes were randomized to perindopril-indapamide (4 mg/1.25 mg) or placebo. Treatment effects on cardiovascular (cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke) and renal outcomes were compared in subgroups defined by baseline Kidney Disease Outcome Quality Initiative CKD stage. Homogeneity in treatment effect was tested by adding interaction terms to the relevant Cox models. The study included 10 640 participants with known CKD status, of whom 6125 did not have CKD, 2482 were classified as CKD stage 1 or 2, and 2033 as CKD stage ≥3. The relative treatment effects on major cardiovascular events were similar across all stages of CKD, with no heterogeneity in the magnitude of the effects for any outcome. In contrast, the absolute treatment effects approximately doubled in those with CKD stage ≥3 when compared to those with no CKD. For every 1000 patients with CKD stage ≥3 treated for 5 years, active treatment prevented 12 cardiovascular events when compared with six events per 1000 patients with no CKD.

CONCLUSION
The treatment benefits of a routine administration of a fixed combination of perindopril-indapamide to patients with type 2 diabetes on cardiovascular and renal outcomes, and death, are consistent across all stages of CKD at baseline. Absolute risk reductions are larger in patients with CKD highlighting the importance of blood pressure-lowering in this population.


Southeast Asia, which includes the emerging economies of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam as well as the developed economy of Singapore, represents one of the most rapidly growing regions globally. Entrepreneurship has played a major role in this impressive growth. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, the population of these countries shows an above average intention to become entrepreneurs. But in spite of impressive economic growth and entrepreneurial activity, there have been very few studies on the impact of business angel (BA) financing. This lack of research arises because many BAs operate in the informal economy and hence prefer a low profile, making them even more invisible compared to their Western counterparts. In the chapter the author reviews the studies that have been conducted on the BA markets in Southeast Asia. He argues that BAs in Southeast Asia exhibit differences as well as similarities to their counterparts in Western economies. There are apparent similarities as most BAs are experienced and hands-on investors, actively use their networks and co-invest with other BAs. However, there are obvious differences, notably in terms of the absence of a fully developed institutional framework to support BA investing. Singapore is the exception in this respect with a business environment supported by well-developed institutions. The response of many BAs is to focus more strongly on family relationships, and be more socially focused in their investment strategy. An additional issue raised by the author is the definition of BAs. The traditional way of defining a BA seems to fit, except in Thailand and for the Chinese Filipinos who make what are more family-like investments. This raises concerns about the definition of a BA in studies that are conduced outside Western countries.


Although, in many organisms, genotypes are adapted to specific environmental conditions, the identification of the ecological factors explaining patterns of local adaptation is not a trivial task. In relation to the cosmopolitan barn owl (Tyto alba), its plumage varies from white to dark pheomelanic and shows a difference in the number and size of black spots located at the tip of ventral feathers. The expression of these traits is strongly heritable and weakly sensitive to variation in body condition. Therefore, if owls located in cold or rainy regions are differently plumaged compared to owls living in warm or dry regions, this may not be a result of climate affecting the expression of plumage traits. Instead, different plumages might be selected under different environmental conditions. We have found that, on the British Isles, comparatively larger spots are present on barn owls found in regions that are cooler in summer. This is similar to the findings of a previous study performed in North America and on continental Europe, raising the possibility that larger-spotted barn owls better cope in cold temperatures during the rearing period or that they are better adapted to some environmental factors prevailing in cooler summers.


This study investigates the role of tutors in face-to-face as well as computer-mediated problem-based learning. This study examined whether or not a tutor should use his or her expertise in facilitating small group problem discussion practiced in classroom or in synchronous computer-mediated communication. In one experimental condition, the tutor acted as a moderator providing no information regarding the presented problem. In the second condition, the tutor contributed his expertise, corrected wrong statements, or answered directly to questions. Results suggest that learners assessed the setting more positively and achieved higher scores in a final test when the tutor imparted his knowledge. After the sessions, learners were asked how confident they feel regarding their status of knowledge in the learning domain. Results showed that they were more confident in the moderated condition. The outcomes suggest that intensive tutoring can help to overcome several problems in computer-mediated distance education.


Rapeseed is rich in vitamins and fatty acids. The Edible Rapeseed oil is extracted from rapeseed seeds. The cake produced by rapeseed oil usually accounts for 60% of rapeseed oil. Rapeseed meal contains a certain amount of cellulose, crude fat, minerals and vitamins, such as folic acid and vitamin B.In this paper, the authors analysenutritional valueof rapeseed and comprehensive budget management of food processing enterprises.At present, the food processing industry is facing fierce market competition. How to optimize the budget management directly determines whether the enterprise can get the function optimization and get better development. In view of this, this paper takes the food industry as the research object, in-depth analysis of its overall budget management problems and puts forward specific countermeasures.Budget management is an important part of financial management, which plays a key role in the optimization and sustainable development of internal functions of enterprises.


The effect of the dislocation density on yield strength and subsequent plastic deformation of ultrafine-grained metals was investigated in large-scale atomistic simulations. Polycrystalline models were constructed and uniaxial tension and compression were applied to elucidate the heterogeneous plastic deformation and the Bauschinger effect. The initial yield becomes heterogeneous as the dislocation density decreases owing to a wide range of Schmid factors of activated slip systems in each grain. A different mechanism of the Bauschinger effect was proposed, where the Bauschinger effect of ultrafine-grained metals is caused by the change in dislocation density in the process of forward and backward loadings.


Reexamination of 19 reconstructive operations for common injuries of the median and ulnar nerves performed during 15 years was carried out. The localization of the injuries, the joined injuries, the method of nerve reconstruction and the treatment of the other injuries are given in details. 13 patients could be reached for the late follow-up, their clinical, EMG and ENG results are described.


We showed that Vibrio parahaemolyticus was able to naturally and reversibly switch between wrinkly and smooth phenotypes and disclosed the gene expression profiles related to wrinkly-smooth switching, showing that the significantly differentially expressed genes between the two colony morphology phenotypes were involved in various biological behaviors, including virulence factor production, biofilm formation, metabolism, adaptation, and colonization. ABSTRACT Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a causative agent of seafood-associated gastroenteritis, undergoes opaque-translucent (OP-TR) colony switching associated with capsular polysaccharide (CPS) production. Here, we showed that V. parahaemolyticus was also able to naturally and reversibly switch between wrinkly and smooth phenotypes. More than 1,000 genes were significantly differentially expressed during colony morphology switching, including the major virulence gene loci and key biofilm-related genes. The genes responsible for type III secretion system 1 (T3SS1), type VI secretion systems (T6SS1 and T6SS2), and flagellar synthesis were downregulated in the wrinkly spreader phenotype, whereas genes located on the pathogenicity island Vp-PAI and those responsible for chitin-regulated pili (ChiRP) and Syp exopolysaccharide synthesis were upregulated. In addition, we showed that the wrinkly spreader grew faster, had greater motility and biofilm capacities, and produced more c-di-GMP than the smooth type. A dozen genes potentially associated with c-di-GMP metabolism were shown to be significantly differentially expressed, which may account for the differences in c-di-GMP levels between the two phenotypes. Most importantly, dozens of putative regulators were significantly differentially expressed, and hundreds of noncoding RNAs were detected during colony morphology switching, indicating that phenotype switching is strictly regulated by a complex molecular regulatory network in V. parahaemolyticus. Taken together, the presented work highlighted the gene expression profiles related to wrinkly-smooth switching, showing that the significantly differentially expressed genes were involved in various biological behaviors, including virulence factor production, biofilm formation, metabolism, adaptation, and colonization. IMPORTANCE We showed that Vibrio parahaemolyticus was able to naturally and reversibly switch between wrinkly and smooth phenotypes and disclosed the gene expression profiles related to wrinkly-smooth switching, showing that the significantly differentially expressed genes between the two colony morphology phenotypes were involved in various biological behaviors, including virulence factor production, biofilm formation, metabolism, adaptation, and colonization.


Reinforcing the construction of the Party's execufive power is currently an important eontent and primary task of the great praject which is to promote the Party's construction. This paper systematically autlines all the research on it since 2005 in order to trace its researchal movement.


Oil palm breeding at the Oil Palm Research Institute, Kusi in Ghana, has gone through the first and second cycles of selection. In the second cycle of selection, the highest yielders in the first cycle of selection were the standard crosses. Eighty-eight (88) Dura x Pisifera, Dura x Tenera and Tenera x Dura crosses were evaluated for yield in ten progeny trials established from 1987 to 1994 as part of the second cycle of selection. The design for these trials was a randomized complete block. The results indicated improved fresh fruit bunch yield over the standard crosses used as controls. The newly selected standard crosses were K1: 3749D x K3.782P, K4. 373D x 851.805P and K4. 621D x 851.805P which had FFB yields of 14.74, 13.24 and 12.82 tonnes per hectare per year respectively. These yields were higher than the previous standard crosses of K1.3747D x K3.880P and K1.3747D x K3. 734T which had FFB yields of 12.29 and 11.69 tonnes per hectare per year respectively. The three crosses from the second cycle of selection were se-lected due to their superior performance over the second cycle standard crosses and will serve as the new standard crosses for the third cycle of selection.


Escalation of commitment to a failing course of action is a problem in behavioral decision making that occurs across a wide range of social contexts. In this research, we show that examining escalation of commitment from a goal setting theory perspective provides fresh insights into how goal difficulty influences escalation of commitment. Specifically, through a series of two experiments, we found a curvilinear relationship between goal difficulty and post-feedback goal commitment, which was mediated by valence and expectancy associated with goal attainment. In turn, it is commitment to goals that leads individuals to continue a previous course of action despite negative feedback.


We describe a new open-source Python-based package for high accuracy correlated electron calculations using quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) in real space: PyQMC. PyQMC implements modern versions of QMC algorithms in an accessible format, enabling algorithmic development and easy implementation of complex workflows. Tight integration with the PySCF environment allows for a simple comparison between QMC calculations and other many-body wave function techniques, as well as access to high accuracy trial wave functions.


This plenary presentation provides a big-picture perspective on the role of NDT/NDE technologies in addressing infrastructure needs, and NDE technology application opportunities in the National Technology Policy context. I will then focus on the Research and Special Program Administration regulatory responsibilities and research coordination activities relevant to the subject of NDE. Finally, on behalf of the Department of Transportation, I will discuss our strategic priorities in R&D and infrastructure renewal. Other DOT participants in this conference--representing the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Rail Administration, and our maritime modes--will provide a window on the diverse NDE-related research and technology programs related their missions.


Abstract by B. Goswami: "Transparency and Confidence-Building Measures (TCBMs) for Space Security are being debated at international level to simply eliminate all apprehensions of potentially harmful activities in outer space. However, the idea of TCBMs has two polarized positions, first being advocated by China and Russia, who press upon creation of a legally binding treaty against placement of weapon and use or threat of force in outer space, while on the other side, European Union has initiated a Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities, which is intended to be a soft law. The U.S. has entered into discussions relating to TCBMs for Space Security at international level, but it stringently opines that it will not enter any arrangement in form of soft or hard law, which restricts freedom of its actions in outer space. With such polarised opinions and lack of political will on the issue of TCBMs, in near future there are bleak chances of having an international instrument for space security. This article covers initiatives taken by various states or international bodies towards space security and presents the current standing of TCBMs for Space Security with suggestion for possible future outcomes."


By some inexplicable accident of literary history, The Orchard of Syon, in the nearly five hundred years of its existence, has not found its critical editor, nor is there any study of it available to readers. The first to rescue it from oblivion was Sir Richard Sutton, steward of Syon Monastery in the early sixteenth century, who, as Wynkyn de Worde informs us, found it 'in a corner by it selfe' and deemed it worthy of costly publication. Although it belongs to a body of medieval literature which has been in recent years the object of much critical research by medievalists, the work has, so far as modern readers are concerned, continued for over four centuries to lie 'in a corner by it selfe.' The energetic surge of vernacular devotional prose in the fourteenth century, not only in England, but in Italy, Germany, and Flanders — countries whose spiritual climate must have been especially favorable to mysticism — did not recede in the fifteenth century. Following upon the age of Chaucer, this century may seem to some present-day scholars literarily poor and unproductive, but it was a great age of English prose; an age, that is, when translations and experiments with original prose in the vernacular were building on the past, borrowing from other languages to meet the needs of the present, and shaping the prose of the future. The Orchard of Syon is an important specimen of this emerging prose, as well as of current devotional literature. Its connection with Syon Monastery, renowned in the history of England and of the Church, gives it added prestige.


The bifurcation behavior of the CO coupling reactor was examined based on the one-dimensional pseudo-homogeneous axial dispersion dynamic model. The method of finite difference was used for solving the boundary value problem; the continuation technique and the direct method were applied to determine the bifurcation diagram. The effects of dimensionless adiabatic temperature rise, Damkohler number, activation energy, heat transfer coefficient and feed ratio on the bifurcation behavior were investigated. It was shown that there existed static bifurcation and the oscillations did not occur in the reactor. The result also revealed that the reactor exhibited at most 1-3-1 multiplilicity patterns within the range of practical possible parameters and the measures, such as weakening the axial dispersion of reactor, enhancing heat transfer, decreasing the concentration of ethyl nitrite, were efficient for avoiding the possible risk of multiple steady states.


It has been suggested by various investigators that observed interspecies correlations of carcinogenic potency estimates based on bioassays are to a degree due to tautologous aspects of experimental designs. Some authors have even suggested that carcinogenic potency estimates derived from chronic bioassays are little more than experimental design artifacts. In this paper it is argued that constraints imposed by the use of the one-hit model to estimate carcinogenic potency are more restrictive than potential experimental design constraints.


This study was carried out to investigate the effect of addition of selected S. cerevisiae yeasts on cv. Kalecik karasi wines. Kalecik karasi grown in Middle Anatolia is a native grape variety of Vitis vinifera . Inoculation with the selected yeasts produced higher amounts of ethanol compared to spontaneous fermentation and repressed the non- Saccharomyces yeasts earlier. The total concentration of flavour compounds increased by using selected wine yeasts. Higher alcohols were abundant compounds and isoamyl alcohol levels varied from 75 to 132 mg/l. The addition of S. cerevisiae yeasts produced higher concentrations of 4-vinyl phenol and isoamyl acetate. Wines were also analysed by sensory evaluation. Those obtained with selected yeasts differed from the control wine in triangle test. The most preferred wine was the one produced by commercial S. cerevisiae in the ranking test.


While there have been significant gains in the field of automated video description, the generalization performance of automated description models to novel domains remains a major barrier to using these systems in the real world. Most visual description methods are known to capture and exploit patterns in the training data leading to evaluation metric increases, but what are those patterns? In this work, we examine several popular visual description datasets, and capture, analyze, and understand the dataset-specific linguistic patterns that models exploit but do not generalize to new domains. At the token level, sample level, and dataset level, we find that caption diversity is a major driving factor behind the generation of generic and uninformative captions. We further show that state-of-the-art models even outperform held-out ground truth captions on modern metrics, and that this effect is an artifact of linguistic diversity in datasets. Understanding this linguistic diversity is key to building strong captioning models, we recommend several methods and approaches for maintaining diversity in the collection of new data, and dealing with the consequences of limited diversity when using current models and metrics.


The current observation reports the anomalies involving the occipital condyles in a 38 years old male as seen during dissection. Both condyles presented with a transverse cleft measuring about 2mm wide that divided the occipital condyles into rostral and caudal segments. The caudal segments were oval-cuboidal in shape and on average they measured 1.8cm long and 1.5cm wide. The rostral segment appeared elongate in shape and measured 0.5cm wide and 2cm long. Unlike the left occipital condyle the right occipital condyle contained an additional oblique cleft that separated the left caudal occipital segment into the inner main portion and the outer accessory articular surface. The accessory articular surface was concave in shape and covered with the articular cartilage. The exact mechanism that resulted into formation of reported anomalies are not known and awaits future research. The craniovertebral junction is embryologically very dynamic region and subject to variations that can give rise into different types of congenital anomalies. Anomalies of the occipital condyles and other elements of craniovertebral junction are in many cases associated with neurological symptoms, therefore, continued documentation of such anomalies remains to be important not only for anatomists but also to clinicians.


This article defines cyberdemocracy within the framework of a digital and social space. It places this emerging practice in the context of the displacement of political power and action, and a range of visions for digital technologies in general. A number of dimensions of the 'digital divide' are explored. Representative theological perspectives on technology are used to develop a theological digital technology that identifies it as a dimension of giftedness instantiated in human co-creativity with God. In this article the bifurcation of 'spiritual' and 'technology' is rejected in favour of a model that encourages the celebratory and ethical aspects of digital technology. It finds contemporary predilections for multiple 'data-images' in our online presence promiscuous and inhibiting to relationality when viewed from a Christian perichoretic perspective. Finally, the article draws conclusions that encourage political responses to the ideology of interactivity and that contend for both state and civil society to be in partnership in addressing the multiple factors of the 'digital divide'.


Background Postoperative adverse events (AEs) following pulmonary resection enormously impact patient well-being, length of stay (LOS) and healthcare costs. Standardised AE data collection can be used to identify positive outliers demonstrating positive deviance (PD) who may be helpful to inform the best practice. Here, we describe our initial experience of a novel quality improvement process using PD to reduce LOS and AEs. Methods AE rates and LOS were collected from four centres (2014–2020) using a common dictionary. Surgeons repeatedly participated in 60 to 90 min seminars consisting of the following process: identify outcome and procedure targeted, review relevant best evidence literature, view all data anonymised by surgeon or centre (if multicentre), choose and reveal identity of best performance PD outliers, who discuss their management principles while all receive self-evaluation reports, followed by collegial discussion to generate consensus recommendations, voted by all. We assessed overall impact on AEs and LOS using aggregate data in a before/after analysis. Results A total of 131 surgeons (average 12/seminar) participated in 11 PD seminars (8 local and 3 multicentre), yielding 85 consensus recommendation (average 8/seminar). Median LOS following lobectomy decreased from 4.0 to 3.0 days (p=0.04) following local PD seminars and from 4.0 to 3.5 days (p=0.11) following multicentre seminars. Trends for reductions in multiple AE rates were also observed. Conclusion While limited by the longitudinal design, these findings provide preliminary support for this data-driven, collegial and actionable quality improvement process to help standardise and improve patient care, and merits further more rigorous investigation.


Character education is an education that is oriented not only to the mastery of teaching science (knowledge) but also the noble character (good character). The purposes of the study was to investigate the effect of character education which is integrated in financial accounting teaching and learning process to the students' ethical attitudes. The results of the study showed that character education doesn't affects students' ethical attitudes (Sig 0.65 > 0.05). Therefore, it can be concluded from this study that character education integrated in financial accounting teaching and emotional intelligence affects the students' ethical attitudes. The suggestions derived from the results of this study are: (1) For Accounting Department, State University of Malang, character education should be integrated explicitly on the whole subject of accounting department. (2) For lecturers, it is suggested to be willing and actively integrate character education in accounting teaching. (3) For other researchers, further research to examine the relationship between two independent variables is needed to be conducted. Therefore, it can be known whether one of the variables serve as a mediating or moderating variable.


In three experiments the acute effects of clonidine administration upon locomotor and rearing behaviour of mice pretreated with the selective noradrenaline (NA) neurotoxin, DSP4 (1 x 75 mg/kg, i.p.) 10-12 days previously, were studied. Clonidine (0.01, 0.05, 0.25, 1.25 and 3.0 mg/kg, i.p.) induced a dose-dependent reduction of motor activity during the initial 30 min of testing in both DSP4-treated and control mice; this effect was attenuated by DSP4 treatment in the 0.01, 0.05, 0.25 and 3.0 mg/kg dose groups. By the third 30-min period of testing (60-90 min), each clonidine dose group, except the highest (3.0 mg/kg) dose for locomotion and the two highest (1.25 and 3.0 mg/kg) doses for rearing, induced increases in motor activity in the control mice. In DSP4-treated mice, a large increase in locomotor counts was produced by the 0.05 mg/kg dose of clonidine with lesser increases induced by the 0.01 mg/kg dose group, whereas a lesser effect of the 0.05 mg/kg group (30-60 min) was obtained for rearing but a larger effect of the 0.25 mg/kg group (60-90 min). Yohimbine (0.5 mg/kg, i.p., 15 min before clonidine) attenuated the suppressive effects of clonidine (0.01 and 0.05 mg/kg) during the initial 30 min of testing and markedly increased locomotor and rearing counts, both by itself and in combination with each dose of clonidine, in both DSP4-treated and control mice over the following 90 min of testing. Yohimbine treatment attenuated the large increase in locomotor counts induced by the 0.05 mg/kg dose of clonidine in the NA-denervated mice. Dihydroergotamine (0.5 mg/kg, i.p., 15 min before clonidine) did not antagonise either the initial suppressive effect or the later supersensitivity effect of the 0.05 mg/kg dose of clonidine. DSP4 treatment by itself reduced motor activity. The effects of clonidine, dose- and time-dependently, by itself or in co-administration with alpha-adrenoceptor antagonists, in DSP4-treated or control mice displayed denervation-induced supersensitivity that appear to reflect mainly postsynaptic alpha2-adrenoceptor mediation.


structing the implicit nature of narrative criminology in biography and autoethnography. Kester Aspden then identifies the process of reflecting on his own experiences as a youth offender. Chapter Ten closes this selection with the cultural legitimacy of tax evasion in Italy and the shift from justification to condemnation. This collection offers a diverse and thoughtful examination of a commonly used but often overlooked area in cultural criminology and provides a useful methodological tool for fieldwork, as well as a theoretical foundation for inquiry.


Aortic valve disease is frequently associated with ascending aorta dilatation and can be treated either by separate replacement of the aortic valve and ascending aorta or by a composite valve graft. The type of surgery is depending on the exact location of the aortic dilatation and the concomitant valvular procedures required. The limited evidence for elective aortic surgery in elderly high-risk patient remains challenging and therefore alternative strategies could be warranted. We describe an alternative strategy for the treatment of ascending aortic aneurysm and aortic valve pathology with the use of a sutureless, collapsible, stent mounted aortic valve prosthesis.


The study assessed the profitability of yoghurt processing with a view of determining its potentials for reducing poverty in Maiduguri Metropolitan Area. Data were collected from a survey of 10 yoghurt processing firms in Maiduguri and analysed using profit model and descriptive statistics. Results revealed that yoghurt proprietors in the study area were mostly males (70%) who were in their active age group of 36-45 years. Profitability analysis revealed that yoghurt processing was profitable with mean profit value of N9,612.47k per 25kg of milk processed, and that it reduces the poverty level as it provides employment opportunities for 5 persons per firm as at he time of the study. Keywords: Profitability, poverty reduction, yoghurt, processing, employment


This paper is a report on a preliminary empirical investigation where the objective was to find out the degree of proficiency of basic English grammar among the students of Engineering in one particular college in Andhra Pradesh. It takes some social variables like Gender, Caste, Region of origin (Urban, Semi-Urban, Rural), Religion, Medium of instruction, Frequency of reading English newspapers and Parental educational background.


This paper proposes a new critical chain scheduling method in project management. The authors have already proposed a theoretical model, which provides an optimal total size of dummies to be inserted in the initial project schedule. Dummies, which are occasionally referred to as buffer, are useful to absorb schedule delays caused by a variety of uncertainties. Given the total size of dummies, this study explores for some useful rules under which we should allocate the dummies in the initial project schedule to generate buffered schedule. Some computational experiments derives several important properties of buffered schedules with a view to demonstrating the effectiveness of those rules particularly in critical chain scheduling.


When a transport protocol segment arrives at a receiving system, the receiving system must determine which application is to receive the protocol segment. This decision is typically made by looking up a protocol control block (PCB) for the segment, based on information in the segment's header. PCB lookup (a form of demul-tiplexing) is typically one of the more expensive operations in handling inbound protocol segments Fel90]. Many recent protocol optimizations for the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) Jac88] assume that a large component of TCP traac is bulk-data transfers, which result in packet trains JR86]. If packet trains are prevalent , there is a high likelihood that the next TCP segment is en route to the same application (i.e. uses the same PCB) as the previous TCP segment. In these environments a very simple one-PCB cache like those used in BSD systems yields very high cache hit rates. However, there are classes of applications that do not form packet trains, and these applications do not perform well with a one-PCB cache. Examples of such applications are quite common in the area of heads-down data entry into on-line transaction-processing (OLTP) systems. OLTP systems make heavy use of computer communications networks and have large aggregate-packet-rates but are also characterized by large numbers of connections, low per-connection packet rates, and rather small packets. This combination of charac-teristcs results in a very low incidence of packet trains. This paper uses a simple analytic approach to examine how diierent PCB lookup schemes perform with OLTP traac. One scheme is shown to work an order of magnitude better for OLTP traac than the one-PCB cache approach while still maintaining good performance for packet-train traac.


The Graph BLAS effort to standardize a set of graph algorithms building blocks in terms of linear algebra primitives promises to deliver high performing graph algorithms and greatly impact the analysis of big data. However, there are challenges with this approach, which our data analytics miniapp miniTri exposes. In this paper, we improve upon a previously proposed task-parallel approach to linear algebra-based miniTri formulation, addressing these challenges and describing a Kokkos/Qthreads task-parallel implementation that performs as well or slightly better than the highly optimized, baseline OpenMP data-parallel implementation.


Dictyostelium discoideum homogenates contain phosphatase activity which rapidly dephosphorylates Ins(1,4,5)P3 (D-myo-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate) to Ins (myo-inositol). When assayed in Mg2+, Ins(1,4,5)P3 is dephosphorylated by the soluble Dictyostelium cell fraction to 20% Ins(1,4)P2 (D-myo-inositol 1,4-bisphosphate) and 80% Ins(4,5)P2 (D-myo-inositol 4,5-bisphosphate). In the particulate fraction Ins(1,4,5)P3 5-phosphatase is relatively more active than the Ins(1,4,5)P3 1-phosphatase. CaCl2 can replace MgCl2 only for the Ins(1,4,5)P3 5-phosphatase activity. Ins(1,4)P2 and Ins(4,5)P2 are both further dephosphorylated to Ins4P (D-myo-inositol 4-monophosphate), and ultimately to Ins. Li+ ions inhibit Ins(1,4,5)P3 1-phosphatase, Ins(1,4)P2 1-phosphatase, Ins4P phosphatase and L-Ins1P (L-myo-inositol 1-monophosphate) phosphatase activities; Ins(1,4,5)P3 1-phosphatase is 10-fold more sensitive to Li+ (half-maximal inhibition at about 0.25 mM) than are the other phosphatases (half-maximal inhibition at about 2.5 mM). Ins(1,4,5)P3 5-phosphatase activity is potently inhibited by 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate (half-maximal inhibition at 3 microM). Furthermore, 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate also inhibits dephosphorylation of Ins(4,5)P2. These characteristics point to a number of similarities between Dictyostelium phospho-inositol phosphatases and those from higher organisms. The presence of an hitherto undescribed Ins(1,4,5)P3 1-phosphatase, however, causes the formation of a different inositol bisphosphatase isomer [Ins(4,5)P2] from that found in higher organisms [Ins(1,4)P2]. The high sensitivity of some of these phosphatases for Li+ suggests that they may be the targets for Li+ during the alteration of cell pattern by Li+ in Dictyostelium.


Background Over the past decade, drug resistance pattern has worsened for many of the uropathogens due to overuse of antibiotics for empiric treatment. The burden of extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Enterobacteriaceae associated urinary tract infections (UTI) has become increasingly more common, limiting treatment options among children presenting with febrile UTI. We investigated the burden and correlates of ESBL producing Enterobacteriaceae associated UTI among children and antibacterial resistance pattern. Methods 284 midstream urine specimens were collected using standard aseptic techniques from 284 children who were diagnosed with suspected UTI. Urine culture and bacteria isolation were performed following standard bacteriological techniques. The Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion technique and the double-disc synergy test were used to investigate antibiotic susceptibility and presence of ESBL production. Results UTI was confirmed using a positive urine culture for a relevant pathogen in 96/284 (33.8%) of the cases. Enterobacteriaceae accounted for 75% (72/96) of etiologies of UTI in children. The most frequent Enterobacteriaceae spp. were E. coli, 44.4% (32/72) and K. pneumonia, 27.8% (20/72). The overall multidrug resistance rate was 86.1% (62/72). ESBL-producers accounted for 41.7% (30/72) of the isolated Enterobacteriaceae. ESBL producing K. pneumonia and E. coli isolates accounted for 70% (14/20) and 37.5% (12/32), respectively. History of UTI in the past 1 year (adjusted odds ratio (AoR) = 0.08, 95%CI (0.01 − 0.57)) and medium family wealth index (AoR = 0.03, 95%CI (0.00 − 0.27)) protected from infection with ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae. Conclusion. ESBL production was more common in K. pneumonia and appeared to be a major factor contributing drug resistance UTI in children. The findings call for the need to incorporate ESBL testing in the routine clinical practice. The resistance level to commonly prescribed first-line antibiotics observed within Enterobacteriaceae was alarming calling for strengthened antimicrobial stewardship.


The 9-years dynamic of Chernobyl-derived radionuclides in the vegetation and soil covers of the forest ecosystems of the European part of the CIS is considered. The quantitative estimation has been done for main fluxes of Cs-137 in the forests of automorphic landscapes: influx to the vegetation, return with the litterfall, stem flow and throughfall, vertical migration in the soil profile (including intrasoil flow), and redistribution within the system of geochemically connected landscapes.


Ion-pair formation in gaseous nitromethane (CH(3)NO(2)) induced by electron transfer has been studied by investigating the products of collisions between fast potassium atoms and nitromethane molecules using a crossed molecular-beam technique. The negative ions formed in such collisions were analysed using time-of-flight mass spectroscopy. The six most dominant product anions are NO(2)(-), O(-), CH(3)NO(2)(-), OH(-), CH(2)NO(2)(-) and CNO(-). By using nitromethane-d(3) (CD(3)NO(2)), we found that previous mass 17 amu assignment to O(-) delayed fragment, is in the present experiment may be unambiguously assigned to OH(-). The formation of CH(2)NO(2)(-) may be explained in terms of dissociative electron attachment to highly vibrationally excited molecules.


--This review provides a survey of shunt active power filter based on inverter in three phase four wire system. These topologies are applied to solve problem due to non linear load in power system network such as a power quality issue, reactive power compensation and harmonic current suppression. In making a review it should be noted that this paper will not attempt to give an all encompassing review of most of the published references. It will rather make an attempt to survey some promising directions and point to the references that can be used as a comprehensive description of those conditions. In order to accomplish its goal this survey will start with a brief overview of the shunt active power filter and how to increase stability of three phase wire system of the survey. Also mention various types of control strategies. Last but not least, the time span covered by this survey should be noticed for the sake of future updates and future references.


Ileal digestibility in growing pigs fed starch-based diets with inclusion of four tropical leaves in a meal form was studied in a 5 × 5 Latin square design. Five diets were formulated with only casein as protein source in the basal diet (CAS), and casein plus dry cassava (CA) leaves, casein plus dry sweet potato (SP) leaves, casein plus dry cocoyam (CO) leaves and casein plus erythrina (ER) leaves in the other four diets. All diets contained the same amount of CP (14%), either provided by only CAS or a combination of casein and 250 g of leaf meal per kg of diet in the other diets. Leaves were separated manually from stems, and only the leaf part was used. A protein-free diet was fed during a sixth period in order to estimate the endogenous protein losses and calculate the CP- and amino-acid (AA)-standardized ileal digestibility (SID) values. The values for the foliages were calculated according to the difference method, assuming no interaction between the foliage and the casein. The ileal tract apparent digestibility of CP, organic matter and energy was higher in diet CAS than in the other diets (P < 0.05). The SID of CP and AA was close to 0.950 for casein, whereas the SID of AA was markedly lower in the foliages; the SID of indispensable and dispensable AA was highest in CO (0.500 and 0.352) and lowest in ER (0.170 and 0.195); intermediate values were obtained for SPs (0.367 and 0.349) and CA (0.232 and 0.242) leaves. Accordingly, the SID of lysine was highest (0.538) for CO leaves and lowest (0.126) in ER leaves; intermediate values were measured for CA and SP leaves. These low SID values in foliage meals must be related to the high levels of dietary fibre and the presence of secondary metabolites (tannins). These results suggest that it is only possible to replace a fraction of the conventional protein sources such as soyabean meal by tropical foliages in growing pig diets with a preference for CO leaves.


Whereas Soviet communism is receding further and further into the past, scholarly interest in it is far from diminishing. Writing the history of the Soviet Union is a flourishing pursuit. Since the opening of many of the archives in the early 1990s, the subject can now, for the first time, be studied in a comparatively ''normal'' way. Better access to Russia and to other successor states also has widened the scope for oral history. In the past, the quality of scholarly Soviet studies often suffered greatly from lack of sources. The lacunae in knowledge were being filled in by speculation that was not always well founded. Now, the quality of the historical work being produced compares very well with that on the Nazi regime. Michael Geyer and Sheila Fitzpatrick's Beyond Totalitarianism, with separate chapters each of which is written jointly by a Stalinism and a Nazism specialist, highlights this process.


The PowerSkin conference series is a biennial event organised cooperatively between TU München, TU Darmstadt, and TU Delft, which is already in its fourth edition, having started in 2017. This coming edition of PowerSkin has also been supported and organised with the support of RWTH Aachen. The conference addresses the role of building skins in accomplishing a carbon-neutral building stock. Therefore, integrating the environmental dimension of material and construction into the design phase is increasingly essential. This is done primarily by considering the energy and emissions linked to the building fabric's fabrication and its ability for reuse and recycling.
For this reason, the focus of the PowerSKIN Conference 2022 is the building fabric with its environmental potential to unlock. Therefore the theme is: "Build in stock – renovation strategies: inorganic, circular materials vs organic, compostable materials".
This theme is discussed through the following sub-themes:

Envelope: the building envelope as an interface for interacting between indoor and outdoor environments, new functionalities, technical developments and material properties.
Energy: new concepts, accomplished projects, and visions for the interaction between building structure, envelope and energy technologies.
Environment: Façades or elements of façades which aim to provide highly comfortable surroundings where environmental control strategies, energy generation and/or storage are an integrated part of an active skin.
This special issue of the Journal of Façade Design and Engineering dedicated to PowerSKIN 2022 showcases the conference's most prominent and relevant papers, aiming to enhance their visibility for a larger audience.


3D Point clouds are a rich source of information that enjoy growing popularity in the vision community. However, due to the sparsity of their representation, learning models based on large point clouds is still a challenge. In this work, we introduce Graphite, a GRAPH-Induced feaTure Extraction pipeline, a simple yet powerful feature transform and keypoint detector. Graphite enables intensive down-sampling of point clouds with keypoint detection accompanied by a descriptor. We construct a generic graph-based learning scheme to describe point cloud regions and extract salient points. To this end, we take advantage of 6D pose information and metric learning to learn robust descriptions and keypoints across different scans. We Reformulate the 3D keypoint pipeline with graph neural networks which allow efficient processing of the point set while boosting its descriptive power which ultimately results in more accurate 3D registrations. We demonstrate our lightweight descriptor on common 3D descriptor matching and point cloud registration benchmarks [76], [71] and achieve comparable results with the state of the art. Describing 100 patches of a point cloud and detecting their keypoints takes only 0.018 seconds with our proposed network.


Hypertension is the most frequent non-rejection complication after transplantation of the kidney. It is encountered in 60 to more than 80% of recipients, depending on the investigated population and the definition of hypertension. It develops also in recipients who were normotensive before transplantation. While in dialyzed uraemic patients in the pathogenesis the most important part is played by hypervolaemia, after transplantation most frequently immunosuppressive treatment plays a part. The objective of our study was to assess the incidence of hypertension in the 1st and 2nd year after transplantation resp., the achieved blood pressure level (BP) the method of hypertension therapy in the group of recipients having immunosuppression treatment with corticoids, cyclosporin A (CyA) and mycophenolate mofetil (MFM). The group comprises 58 recipients of cadaverous renal grafts, 35 men (mean age 44.4 +/- 10.7 years and 23 women (mean age 44.8 +/- 12.6 years). 53 recipients (91.4%) had a graft for the first time, 5 recipients (8.6%) had already a second renal transplantation. Thirteen men (37%) and 8 women (35%) had a functioning graft for at least two years. The blood pressure was assessed by the auscultation method during every ambulatory control examination, with the patient sitting, on the upper extremity on the contralateral extremity with an arteriovenous fistula. The rate of ambulatory check-up examinations depended on the time after discharge from hospital following transplantation: in the first month 1x a week, in the second to third month 1x in two weeks, from the 4th month usually once a month. The BP reading at the end of the first and second year resp. after transplantation was obtained by calculating the mean value of three consecutive readings: from the ambulatory check-up at the end of the 1st and 2nd year resp. after transplantation and the preceding and subsequent check-up examination. Hypertension was defined as a BP exceeding 130/85 mm Hg or a median arterial pressure (MAP) higher than 100 mm Hg. MAP was calculated from the mean value of the SBP and DBP according to the formula: MAP = DBP + 1/3(SBP-DBP).


Introduction: The long consolidation phase of patients undergoing distraction osteogenesis (DO) causes a high risk of side effects and contributes to high costs. Thus, the development and evaluation of treatments that accelerate the bone consolidation process is of great interest. Evidence suggests that recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (rhBMP-2) increases the mechanical integrity of the callus. However, the potential benefits of rhBMP-2 on trabecular microarchitecture during DO have not been investigated up to date. In this study the regenerate microarchitecture was assessed using 3D micro-computed tomography (CT). Methods: Mid-diaphyseal osteotomies were created in the right limb of twenty-four skeletally mature sheep, which were stabilized with an external fixator. After a latency period of 4 days, the tibiae were distracted at a rate of 1.25 mm daily over a period of 20 days. The operated limbs were randomly assigned to three treatment groups and one control group: (A) triple injection of rhBMP-2/NaCl, (B) single injection of rhBMP-2/Hydroxylapatite, and (C) single injection of buffer/Hydroxylapatit, (D) no injection. Groups A and C were injected at day 27. Group B was injected on days 3, 10 and 17. The animals were sacrificed after 74 days. The tibiae were analyzed by CT and for bone volume/total volume (BV/TV), trabecular number (Tb.N), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th.), trabecular separation (Tb.Sp.) and Connectivity. The BV/TV was maesured for the total volume of the distraction zone (BV/TVtotal) respectively in a subvolume with emphasize on the cortical bone region (BV/TVcortical). All other microarchitecture parameters were measured in the cortical weighted subvolume. Results: The stereologic evaluation revealed a significant higher BV/TVcortical, Tb.N and Connectivity in the triple rhBMP-2 injected group A than in the control (D). Furthermore, the Tb.Sp. in group A was significant lower than in group D. The single injections of rhBMP-2/carrier in group B showed a significant higher BV/TVcortical, Tb.N and Connectivity than the control (D). Although the BV/TVcortical was increased in group A and B, there was no significant difference in BV/TV total between the rhBMP-2 treated groups (A, B) and the control (D). Discussion: In this DO model a triple injection of rhBMP-2 has been demonstrated to induce significant changes in trabecular microarchitecture. RhBMP-2 does not increase the total amount of newly formed bone, but it enhances the formation of the corticalis. The microstructural changes in the cortical volume: increase of Tb.N and Connectivity, decrease of Tb.Sp., are discussed to be biomechanically highly relevant. This study suggests that rhBMP-2 optimizes the trabecular microarchitecture, which might explain the advanced mechanical integrity of newly formed bone under rhBMP-2 treatment.


Objective: To investigate the efficacy of oral proboiotics and prove the high proportion of cure and satisfaction levels of post-treatment patients with a combination of antimicrobial-probiotic oral Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14 compared to a combination of antimicrobial-placebo in the treatment of reproductive aged patients with vaginal discharge in the outpatient obstetrics and gynecologic clinic in Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta, Indonesia and Arifin Achmad Regional Hospital Pekanbaru, Riau, Indonesia.
Methods:This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving50 subjects consisting of reproductive aged women. Data were collected using syndromic approach, probiotics were given as an adjuvant for standard antimicrobial therapy versus placebo as control, response was recorded 4 weeks later, for cure proportion and satisfaction level. Statistical analysis was performed to assess the variables. Interim analysis with conditional power assesment and futility testing were performed at midway due to insufficient sample size. Research was approved by Ethics Commitee for Health Researches Faculty of Medicine University of Indonesia-Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in March 2016.
Results: A total of 50 subjects participated in this study. and analyzed (25 subjects in each group), cure proportion 56%(14) of the treatment and 60%(15)on the control group, with relative risk of 1.1, Chi-square test p value (0.77, 95% CI; 0.57 to 2 , 11). High satisfaction level (score ≥67) was higher in the placebo (52,6%, 10 subjects) compared to probiotic group (47,4%, 9 subjects), p value 0,65 (≥0,05). Conditional power and futility testing curve, revealed Z = -0.2865, conditional power 0.11 to 0.13, and futility index of 0.87 to 0.88, equals to low possibility of statistical significance with full sample size (84).
Conclusion: There was no clinical and statistical difference in the proportion of cure rate and the level of satisfaction in patients of probiotics vs placebo groups after treatment for 4 weeks. The initial hypothesis of higher proportion of the cure ratein the treatment group still cannot be excluded, due to insufficient samples.
Keywords: bacterial vaginosis, , lactobacillus reuteri RC-14, lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1, randomized double blind controlled trial, trichomoniasis , vaginal discharge,  vulvovaginal candidiasis.


This research sought to understand meanings and implications of the stigma related to bipolar disorder in relation to social processes and local cultural value systems. Seven semidirected individual interviews were performed with psychiatrists (from Belo Horizonte city, Minas Gerais State, Brazil) and analyzed with referential from the Medical Anthropology. Some potential stigmatizing views about bipolar disorder patients were endorsed by respondents related to biomedical model of bipolar disorder. They claimed about the extreme trivialization of this diagnosis nowadays and observed that, in spite of the mitigation of stigma related to bipolar disorder over time, it remains an important issue, especially at labor fields and as a cause of refusal of treatment.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate whether males with testicular cancer treated with chemotherapy including cisplatin (Qt-C) develop an increase in serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels and in the body mass index (BMI), which might pose a cardiovascular risk.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Fifty-six male patients with the previous diagnosis of testicular carcinoma, and apparently cured now, were studied. Thirty-six were Qt-C treated. The median age was 28 years and the median follow-up 81 months. The other 20 patients, with testicular cancer stage I and who did not require Qt-C, did not differ in mean age nor in the median of follow-up. Twenty healthy males were also studied, and their cholesterol and triglyceride levels and BMI were compared with those in patients treated with Qt-C at the end of follow-up; both group were of similar age. In all patients (prior to diagnosis and yearly up to the end of the study) and in healthy subjects total serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels were measured, as well as BMI (weight/height2).

RESULTS
Levels of cholesterol, triglycerides and BMI were not different at diagnosis of testicular cancer, both in patients treated with Qt-C and those not receiving such therapy. When comparing yearly cholesterol and triglyceride levels in both groups of patients during the first 6 years of evolution, no significant differences were observed. Again, no differences were observed between patients treated and not treated with Qt-C at the end of the follow-up period regarding cholesterol (211 +/- 41 vs 219 +/- 44 mg/dl; p = 0.51), triglyceride (128 +/- 57 vs 129 +/- 51 mg/dl; p = 0.94) and BMI (25.7 +/- 3.3 vs 25.5 +/- 3.4 kg/m2; p = 0.86) values. No significant differences were observed in the three parameters between parameters in patients treated with Qt-C at the end of follow-up and in healthy males.

CONCLUSIONS
In males with testicular cancer treated with Qt-C, no long term increase in cholesterol, triglyceride, and BMI values was detected, which might predispose to the development of cardiovascular diseases.


W- and Mo-oxides form an interesting class of materials, featuring structural complexities, stoichiometric flexibility, and versatile physical and chemical properties that render them attractive for many applications in diverse fields of nanotechnologies. In nanostructured form, novel properties and functionalities emerge as a result of quantum size and confinement effects. In this topical review, W- and Mo-oxide nanosystems are examined with particular emphasis on two-dimensional (2D) layers and small molecular-type clusters. We focus on the epitaxial growth of 2D layers on metal single crystal surfaces and investigate their novel geometries and structures by a surface science approach. The coupling between the oxide overlayer and the metal substrate surface is a decisive element in the formation of the oxide structures and interfacial strain and charge transfer are shown to determine the lowest energy structures. Atomic structure models as determined by density functional theory (DFT) simulations are reported and discussed for various interface situations, with strong and weak coupling. Free-standing (quasi-)2D oxide layers, so-called oxide nanosheets, are attracting a growing interest recently in the applied research community because of their easy synthesis via wet-chemical routes. Although they consist typically of several atomic layers thick—not always homogeneous—platelet systems, their quasi-2D character induces a number of features that make them attractive for optoelectronic, sensor or biotechnological device applications. A brief account of recently published preparation procedures of W- and Mo-oxide nanosheets and some prototypical examples of proof of concept applications are reported here. (MO3)3 (M = W, Mo) clusters can be generated in the gas phase in nearly monodisperse form by a simple vacuum sublimation technique. These clusters, interesting molecular-type structures by their own account, can be deposited on a solid surface in a controlled way and be condensed into 2D W- and Mo-oxide layers; solid-state chemical reactions with pre-deposited surface oxide layers to form 2D ternary oxide compounds (tungstates, molybdates) have also been reported. The clusters have been proposed as model systems for molecular studies of reactive centres in catalytic reactions. Studies of the catalysis of (MO3)3 clusters in unsupported and supported forms, using the conversion of alcohols as model reactions, are discussed. Finally, we close with a brief outlook of future perspectives.


Cell signalling events in mesothelial cells elicited by asbestos Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is a major health problem as it is an invariably fatal disease resulting from occupational exposure to asbestos. The long latency period of this disease means that death rates will continue to rise for 10-20 years before improved exposure regulations take effect. The studies described here were designed to explore mechanisms by which asbestos exposure elicits this malignancy. Cell signalling events germane to malignant transformation were investigated in rat (4/4 RM4) and human (MET5A) mesothelial cells in vitro following exposure to asbestos. The activation state of the MAPK family and Akt were probed, because these pathways are pivotal in determining death or survival of the cell. The results suggest that extracellular signal regulated protein kinase (ERK), p38 and Akt are activated by asbestos exposure. For the former two, at least, this activation depended on oxidative stress. A selective inhibitor of EGFR tyrosine kinase, PKI166, inhibited asbestos-mediated Akt and ERK activation. Asbestos-mediated Akt activation was also inhibited by LY294002, an inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K). The effect of events triggered by asbestos downstream of these kinases, on the transcription factors activator protein (AP) -1 and nuclear factor-KB (NF-kB) were investigated. Pharmacological inhibition of either the ERK pathway by U0126 or the p38 pathway by SB203580 ameliorated crocidoliteinduced AP-1 activation. Inhibition of the Akt pathway by LY294002 or PKI166 reduced crocidolite-induced NF-kB translocation. The same panel of inhibitors were used to investigate the role of these pathways in defined endpoints characteristic of asbestos exposure i.e. cell death and survival/proliferation. In both cell lines the p38 pathway was involved in cell death and the Akt pathway in survival. In 4/4 RM4 cells activation of the ERK pathway also induced cell death. In contrast, in MET5A cells ERK appeared to be involved in survival. Taken together these findings suggest that asbestos elicits a complex array of interacting cell signalling events, the balance of which may steer the cell onto the fateful route leading ultimately to MM.


For pt.I see ibid., vol.1, p.6181 (1989). Expressions for the energy current density correlation function and the thermal conductivity have been derived using a continued-fraction representation of correlation function. A secant hyperbolic, a Gaussian and an exponential form of the memory function have been used. The parameters appearing in the memory function are determined from the zeroth-, second- and fourth-frequency sum rules of the energy current density correlation function. For the time dependence of the energy current density correlation function and the thermal conductivity, the results obtained for the Lennard-Jones fluids, have been compared with recent computer simulation data. Overall good agreement has been obtained over a wide range of densities and a wide range of temperatures.


Tea leaf spot caused by Didymella bellidis can seriously reduce the productivity and quality of tea (Camellia sinensis var. sinensis) leaves in Guizhou Province, southwest China. Analysis of the relationship between messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) of tea could provide insights into the plant-pathogen interaction. In this study, high-throughput sequencing of mRNAs and lncRNAs from tea leaves during infection by D. bellidis was conducted using the Illumina Novaseq 6000 platform. Infection by D. bellidis hyphae resulted in up- or downregulation of 553 and 191 of the differentially expressed mRNAs (DEmRNAs), respectively. As the S gene number (total number of genes with significantly differential expression annotated in the specified Gene Ontology [GO] database), three were enriched with respect to the defense response to the fungus at the biological process level. Expression of the DEmRNAs peroxidase 21 (TEA000222.1) and mcht-2 (TEA013240.1) originating from tea leaves were upregulated during challenge by D. bellidis hyphae, whereas expression of the LRR receptor-like serine/threonine-protein kinase ERECTA (TEA016781.1) gene was downregulated. The infection of D. bellidis hyphae resulted in up- or downregulation of 227 and 958 of the differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs). The DEmRNAs associated with uncharacterized LOC101499401 (TEA015626.1), uncharacterized protein (TEA014125.1), structural maintenance of chromosomes protein 1 (TEA001660.1), and uncharacterized protein (TEA017727.1) occurred as a result of cis regulation by DElncRNAs MSTRG.20036, MSTRG.3843, MSTRG.26132, and MSTRG.56701, respectively. The expression profiling and lncRNA/mRNA association prediction in the tea leaves infected by D. bellidis will provide a valuable resource for further research into disease resistance.


The actual status of the progress and the main aspects of diatom studies in Brazil remain unknown. This paper describes a survey of published studies addressing material of Brazilian origin in non-marine aquatic environments. Our objectives are to (1) summarize and categorize diatom research topics, (2) to describe how related studies evolved and developed over time, as well as respective journals, (3) to identify the most studied regions and environments, and (4) to indicate the main institutions and works addressing diatom research and related interactions. We conducted a systematic review selecting 478 studies. Since the early studies, the approach on diatom floristic exclusively was the most frequent, even though, ecological studies have been increasing since the 2000s. However, these concentrate in the southern and southeastern. It was only in the last decades that other Brazilian regions became the setting of more extensive samplings, thus reflecting on the interactions between authors and institutions from the collection sites. However, the actual biodiversity scenario of diatoms in Brazil still seems to be underestimated, which may influence further conservation measures. Finally, we indicate some suggestions aimed at filling the sampling gaps presented/highlighted in this study.


Non-line-of-sight (NLOS) imaging is a light-starving application that suffers from highly noisy measurement data. In order to recover the hidden scene with good contrast, it is crucial for the reconstruction algorithm to be robust against noises and artifacts. We propose here two weighting factors for the filtered backprojection (FBP) reconstruction algorithm in NLOS imaging. The apodization factor modifies the aperture (wall) function to reduce streaking artifacts, and the coherence factor evaluates the spatial coherence of measured signals for noise suppression. Both factors are simple to evaluate, and their synergistic effects lead to state-of-the-art reconstruction quality for FBP with noisy data. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed weighting factors on publicly accessible experimental datasets.


Abstract. Biokarst-forms on limestone coasts are developed and arranged according to the bionomic zonation. The development of biokarst is the result of bioerosion, a synergistic effect of biological corrosion by endoliths and biological abrasion by grazers.

The cumulative effect of biogenic carbonate destruction leads to coastal destruction with a resulting highly profiled morphology on the limestone surfaces along the coastal profile. Under the influence of environmental factors a zonation of organisms develops which brings in turn a zonation of erosion rates (0.1-1.1 mm a-1) resulting in biokarst-forms such as rock holes, rock pools and notches.

Products of bioerosion on limestone coasts are dissolved carbonate (by biological corrosion, 10–30% of the decomposed limestone) and particulate carbonate (by biological abrasion, 70–90% of the decomposed limestone) both of which contribute directly or indirectly to nearshore sedimentation. Size and shape of the bioerosional grains are determined by the boring pattern of the endoliths. The fine-grained sediments (maximum within the fraction 20–63 μm) contribute 3–25 % to the nearshore sediments.

Drastic changes in the biological zonation (like the mass invasion of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus in the Northern Adriatic since 1972 which eliminated nearly the entire macrophyte zone) due to unknown factors or pollution can have a profound effect on the bioerosion rates, altering them by as much as a factor of ten.


To promote the practicality of magnesium (Mg)-phyllosilicate as a potent carbonation agent, two inexpensive cotton and nylon fabrics are selected and examined to assess their feasibility for use as supporting media of Mg-phyllosilicate. Mg-phyllosilicate is coated onto the fabrics via a sol-gel method, whose mechanism is explained. The characteristics of the Mg-phyllosilicate coated cotton, along with those of the carbonation products, are explored. Mg-phyllosilicate is found to mediate the carbon dioxide (CO2) mineralization process actively, even on cotton of a supporting material. Conclusively, the obtained results clearly support the potential of mineralization as a feasible option for capturing CO2, in particular with the abiotic catalyst of Mg-phyllosilicate coated onto flexible cotton.


This thesis analyzes the effect of corporate tax rates on the purchasing-power-parity (PPP) doctrine. The data used to test this hypothesis are drawn from the U. S., the U. K., the Federal Republic of Germany, Canada, and Japan. The first chapter introduces the reader to the concepts of the PPP doctrine and states the hypothesis. Chapter 2 reviews the literature on the PPP doctrine. Chapter 3 specifies a model of the PPP doctrine including tax rates. Chapter 4 reports and interprets the findings. The study is summarized and conclusions are drawn in chapter 5. In this study it is shown that tax rates are significant only in the case of the U. S. dollar/Canadian dollar exchange rate.