Objective: To present the survey methods and instruments used to characterize a geographically and professionally diverse rural practice-based research network (PBRN). Methods: A cross-sectional study of Oregon PBRN (ORPRN) member practices and clinicians using a 3-part survey including a survey of the practices, of clinician members, and an anonymous survey of clinician satisfaction. Results: A total of 31 of 32 (97%) participating ORPRN practices completed the practice survey, 96 of 129 (74%) clinicians within these practices completed the clinician member survey, and 81 of 129 (63%) clinicians completed an anonymous survey of clinician satisfaction. The survey provided a detailed description of the structure of member practices, patient and clinician demographics, services provided by the practices, and access to specialty and ancillary services. Conclusions: Survey tools that describe the network practices and individual clinician characteristics contribute to an understanding of the research capacity of an individual PBRN.


Irrespective of the intent, malicious or benign, behind the origin of non-human traffic on sponsored advertising pages, failure to detect such unwanted traffic results in deterioration of advertiser performance metrics. Invalid (i.e., robotic) ad traffic is frequently driven by IP addresses (or address ranges) that are exclusively dedicated to VPNs, hosting or proxy services, Tor networks, as well as by unknown or residential IPs that comprise of bot networks set up to inflict maximum damage on a targeted group of advertisers. Sophisticated invalid traffic distributes ad activity across millions of IPs, switches back-and-forth between residential IPs with extremely short-lived dwell time, and disguises behind genuine human traffic to operate from compromised or mixed (sending both human and bot traffic) IPs. In order to mitigate rapidly evolving bot IP traffic, we propose an unsupervised model to generate robust IP embeddings from a mixture of autoencoder network experts, which can be segregated by basic heuristics for flagging entirely invalid IPs. Our contribution further includes the development of a new proxy label and a supervised network harnessing IP, search query and product embeddings, for the purpose of detecting mixed IPs sourcing invalid traffic only to specific sponsored searchor product listing pages. Our proposed two-component IP detection system enhances suspicious IP traffic detection rate by 25% over a classical supervised model baseline.


Protease 2A (2Apro) of coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) plays a major role in viral replication. In case of infection, viral proteins are being synthesized from viral mRNA using host biosynthesis machinery. 2Apro of virus, after being synthesized, exhibits two critical functions, cleavage of viral proteins and breaking eukaryotic initiation factor 4G. The enzyme plays an essential role in viral replication and cellular damage. To understand pathogenicity of infection and also developing potent and selective inhibitors against picornavirus infection, it is necessary to prepare pure 2Apro enzyme. cDNA of 2Apro was synthesized using in vitro infection of permissive host through reverse transcription process and was cloned in pET22b(+). Since 2Apro is a toxic product, its expression will act on host before induction and damages the cells. For this reason, different hosts were checked and finally BLR(DE3)pLysS, which carries an extra-plasmid for lysozyme expression, that minimizes unwanted target protein products (leakage) was selected. By employing such expression system we could minimize the unwanted expression of 2Apro. Though it is not possible to avoide it, but seems negligible. Hence, this system is useful for expression of toxic proteins in sensitive hosts in order to prevent bacterial damage. The product was confirmed by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblot analysis. Iran. Biomed. J. 9 (4): 149-153, 2005 Keyword: Protease 2A (2Apro), Cloning, Coxsackievirus


The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of serotypes and antibiotic resistance in Shigella spp. isolated from patients admitted to Bouali hospital, Tehran, Iran during 1999 to 2001. All cases of shigellosis that were diagnosed according to their clinical pictures and microbial cultures were included in current study. Patients' age ranged from 12 to 89 years. Overall, 52 patients (56%) and 41(44%) were males and female, respectively. From a total of 90 Shigella isolates, 40 strains were identified as S. sonnei (45%), 26 as S. flexneri (27.9%), 3 as S. boydii (3%) and 21 as S. dysenteriae (24%). More than 95% of the isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone and ceftizoxim, 70% to nalidixic acid and less than 50% to co-trimoxazole, tetracycline, ampicillin and fourazolodon.


An investigation into the interaction between two plasma clouds expanding in vacuum and background gas (10>p>10-4 Torr) is described. The spatial structure of the radiation emitted by the interacting plasma clouds was determined. The radiation was in the form of spectral lines due to Be I-III and Al I-III ions and it was found that the radiation emitted by ions with a given degree of ionization was localized. A mathematical model of the process was developed and used to obtain dynamic, ionization and optical characteristics of the interacting clouds. Qualitative agreement between calculation and experiment has been achieved.


To increase the intake of calcium in elementary school children, 20 high calcium dishes (HCD) were developed. The pictures of HCD with the calories, calcium content, and the price per serving were given for the evaluation of HCD to 118 school dietitians. Along with the evaluation, a questionnaire concerning the perception on calcium nutrient and calcium fortified foods (CFF), the use of school milk and CFF, and the need and their endeavor for HCD was administered. Over 90% of subjects were aware of the importance of calcium in school lunch menu and 80% of them recognized the necessity for exploring HCD, though their endeavor remained at a 30% level. HCD that reached the requirement of calcium for the school lunch was 3 and the preference response over 4 (maximum 5) was 2 HCD with better acceptance by younger subjects. 70.3% of subjects were aware of CFF and their response on them were diverse as a positive conception 42%, negative 33% and willing to use 40%, not to use 40%. The dietitians who provided school milk or willing to develop HCD were more positive to use CFF. These results indicate that school milk is the most important calcium source and further pursue for HCD and CFF is needed to achieve the calcium requirement for the elementary school lunch.


Bitstream reverse engineering is traditionally associated with Intellectual Property (IP) theft. Another, less known, threat deriving from that is bitstream modification attacks. It has been shown that the secret key can be extracted from FPGA implementations of cryptographic algorithms by injecting faults directly into the bitstream. Such bitstream modification attacks rely on changing the content of Look Up Tables (LUTs). Therefore, related countermeasures aim to make the task of identifying a LUT more difficult (e.g. by masking its content). However, recent advances in FPGA reverse engineering revealed information on how interconnects are encoded in the bitstream of Xilinx 7 series FPGAs. In this paper, we show that this knowledge can be used to break or weaken existing countermeasures, as well as improve existing attacks. Furthermore, a straightforward attack that re-routes the key to an output pin becomes possible. We demonstrate our claims on an FPGA implementation of SNOW 3G stream cipher. The presented results show that there is an urgent need for stronger bitstream protection methods.


In this concise yet poignant research review paper, looking at several Chinese war strategies of Old China [although there are many], the academic-practitioners seek to gather key lessons of strategic leadership. One such key lesson, for example, is that it is better not to have any war at all, and that (peace and non-violence) is the greatest victory (win-win) for all. These success principles can in fact be applied not only in the battlefield but also in one's daily dealings and life at the workplace. Such wisdom will not only increase one's ability to respond to problems, but also, be victorious in one's life, mission and responsibilities while having invaluable peace of mind.


Of all the great composers of the eighteenth century, Handel was the supreme cosmopolitan, an early and extraordinarily successful example of a freelance composer. For thirty years the opera house was the principal focus of his creative work and he composed more than forty operas over this period. In this book David Kimbell sets Handel's operas in their biographical and cultural contexts. He explores the circumstances in which they were composed and performed, the librettos that were prepared for Handel and what they tell us about his and his audience's values, and the music he composed for them. Remarkably no Handel operas were staged for a period of 170 years between 1754 and the 1920s. Th e fi nal chapter in this book reveals the diff erences and similarities between how Handel's operas were performed in his time and ours.


Budgetary constraints on the public purse have led Australian Federal and State governments to focus increasingly on the efficiency of public institutions, including Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes. In this study, we define efficiency as the relationship between financial and administrative inputs and educational outputs. We employ stochastic frontier analysis in determining the efficiency of Australian TAFE institutes using data sourced from institutional annual reports, the Student Outcomes Survey and administrative databases. We found significant economies of scale effects and conclude that increasing institutional size for very small institutions may result in increased efficiencies.


The study analysed farmers' adoption of cassava agronomic practices and intercrop technologies in Abia and Imo States, Nigeria. Purposive and multi-stage random sampling techniques were used to select two hundred and forty (240) cassava farmers (120 each for Abia and Imo states). Data were collected with a structured questionnaire and analysed using percentage, Probit regression and Z–test analysis. Results revealed that farmers sourced information on cassava production technologies mostly from radio programmes (91%) and 90% respectively in Imo and Abia, extension agents (80%) across the states and fellow cassava farmers (79.1%) in Abia and (77%) in Imo. Results also showed that Abia farmers had adoption index of 86% and 80% (Imo farmers) of cassava agronomic practices with mean adoption scores of 4.3 and 4.0 respectively. Probit regression result showed that gender (-0.0653), age (0.0581), education (0.3904) and extension contact (0.0652) influenced farmers' adoption of cassava agronomic practices in Abia state, while gender (-0.0525), age (0.0421), household size (0.7211), education (0.2799), farm size (0.6099) and extension contact (0.0597) influenced farmers in Imo state. The coefficients of gender, (0.0534), education (0.0210), farming experience (0.0441), farm income (0.0572) and extension contact (0.0297) influenced farmers' adoption of  cassava intercrop technologies in Abia state whereas gender (0.0438), education (0.0332) and extension contact (0.0017)  influenced farmers in Imo state. The Z- test result showed no  significant difference between group of farmers' adoption of  cassava agronomic practices (0.54) and intercrop technologies (0.14) in Abia and Imo States. Awareness on cassava intercrop technologies to farmers should be intensified in order to facilitate increased adoption.Keywords: Technologies, adoption, cassava, agronomic practices, intercrop, technologies


The authors analyze 100 patients, with thyrotoxicosis, 84 females and 16 males, treated with 131J. The enlargement of the thyroid gland was II degree in 57 per cent and III degree in 34 per cent, and I and II - for the rest of the cases. In 77 per cent the body weight of the patients was below the norm. Exophthalmos was observed in 48 per cent. As a result of treatment an involution of a series of pathological symptoms developed- tachycardia, ECG changes, exophthalmos, degree enlargement of the thyroid gland, blood indicies, weight, capacity for work. Euthyroidism was established in 86 per cent, partial remission in 12 per cent and hypothroidism - in 2 per cent, when followed up during an interval of 2-13 years. No genetic or blastomogenic changes were observed. Observations is recommended in the later periods after the treatment.


In this study, ratiometric fluorescent glucose and lactate biosensors were developed using a ratiometric fluorescent oxygen-sensing membrane immobilized with glucose oxidase (GOD) or lactate oxidase (LOX). Herein, the ratiometric fluorescent oxygen-sensing membrane was fabricated with the ratio of two emission wavelengths of platinum meso-tetra (pentafluorophenyl) porphyrin (PtP) doped in polystyrene particles and coumarin 6 (C6) captured into silica particles. The operation mechanism of the sensing membranes was based on (i) the fluorescence quenching effect of the PtP dye by oxygen molecules, and (ii) the consumption of oxygen levels in the glucose or lactate oxidation reactions under the catalysis of GOD or LOX. The ratiometric fluorescent glucose-sensing membrane showed high sensitivity to glucose in the range of 0.1–2 mM, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.031 mM, whereas the ratiometric fluorescent lactate-sensing membrane showed the linear detection range of 0.1–0.8 mM, with an LOD of 0.06 mM. These sensing membranes also showed good selectivity, fast reversibility, and stability over long-term use. They were applied to detect glucose and lactate in artificial human serum, and they provided reliable measurement results.


We developed a real time/automated system based on Hi-net seismic array that can offer fast and reliable source information, for example, source extent and rupture velocity, for earthquakes that occur at distance of roughly 30- 85 degrees with respect to the array center (Figure 1).? We perform continuous grid search on a Hi-net real time data stream to identify possible source locations (following?Nishida, Kawakatsu, and Obara, 2008, JGR). Earthquakes that occurred off the bright area of the array (30- 85 degrees with respect to the array center) will be ignored. Similarity of the waveforms, and location variations of the local maxima from neighboring windows are used to verify the occurrence of large earthquakes. Once a large seismic event is identified successfully, back-projection will be implemented to trace the source propagation and energy radiation using pre-calculated station corrections derived from nearby earthquakes that occurred previously. An inversion will be then applied to get the detailed high frequency energy distribution. The time required is mainly due to the travel time from the epicenter to the array stations, so we can get the results between 6 to 13 min depending on the epicentral distances. This system can offer fast and robust estimates of source information for large earthquakes, which may be useful for disaster mitigation, such as tsunami evacuation, emergency rescue, and aftershock hazard evaluation.


To analyse the management of open paediatric tibial fractures treated at a children9s Major Trauma Centre (MTC), comparing fixation methods, union and complications. We retrospectively identified all patients admitted to RMCH with an open tibia fracture between 2008 – 2016. Demographics, mechanism, inpatient stay and follow-up management were reviewed. There were a total of 44 patients, with an average age = 10 years (3–15). 93% of cases were caused by road traffic accidents, commonly pedestrian versus car. Older children were more likely to sustain higher grade injuries, requiring increased length of stay. 35 patients had primary / delayed wound closure, 1 patient required fasciotomies and 4/44 needed skin grafts and/or flap. 7 patients were treated in plaster, 9 by elastic nailing, 15 had mono-lateral fixators and 12 with circular frame. The average number of surgeries = 3 (1–7) with older children having increased risk of revision surgery. Monolateral fixators were the most common primary fixation method (n=15), however 60% required revision to ring fixator due to displacement or delayed union. The main risk factor for displacement was inadequate fracture reduction in theatre, as well as those fracture patterns involving butterfly fragments. Union (defined as RUST score = 3 on >3 cortices) was achieved in all patients (ave 6 months). Delayed union was associated with higher grade injuries, those treated with elastic nails demonstrated the longest union time (ave 7.3 months). 21/44 (47.7%) patients had complications, with pin site infection being the most commonly seen. 18% patients suffered a major complications needing further surgery. Various fixation methods can be successfully used to treat these fractures. They demonstrate a high complication rate and often require multiple surgeries, with union taking an average of 6 months. Mono-lateral fixators demonstrate a high revision rate, particularly if the fracture is not well reduced.


Purpose To assess the correlation between post-void residual urine ratio (PVR-R) and pathological bladder emptying diagnosed by pressure-flow studies (PFS) in males with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Materials and Methods PVR-R and PVR urine were evaluated in 410 males underwent PFS for LUTS. PVR-R was the percentage of PVR to bladder volume (voided volume+PVR). Schafer and International Continence Society (ICS) nomograms, Bladder Contractility Index (BCI) were used to diagnose bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) and detrusor underactivity (DUA). We subdivided the cohort in 4 groups: Group I, BOO+/DUA+; Group II, BOO-/DUA+; Group III, BOO+/DUA−; Group IV, BOO−/DUA− (control group). We subdivided the 4 groups according to PVR-R strata: (1) 0%–20%; (2) 21%–40%; (3) 41%–60%; (4) 61%–80%; (5) 81%–100%. Results Group I had a greater median PVR-R (50%) with a >40% in 61.4% of the cohort. Median PVR-R was 16.6% in Group II, 24% in Group III, and 0% in the control Group. According to ICS nomograms and BCI, median PVR-R and PVR were significantly higher (p<0.001) in obstructed and underactive males. PVR-R threshold of 20% allowed to recognize males with voiding disorders with high sensibility, specificity, PPV, and NPV. A PVR-R cut-off of 40% identified males with associated BOO and DUA and more severe voiding dysfunction. Conclusions A higher PVR-R is related to a more severe pathological bladder emptying, and to the association of BOO and DUA. PVR-R may have a clinical role in first assessment of males with LUTS and severe voiding dysfunction.


The paper proposes a systematic approach to the question of choosing new framework conditions for ESIs in transition economies. The likely impact of ownership, structure and regulation on six chosen assessment criteria is analysed in a simple matrix model illustrating objective trade-offs. When the model is applied to the case study of the transformation of the East German ESI, it suggests a particular weakness in the area of allocative efficiency. The empirical analysis confirms the prediction of excessive price increases and highly ineffective price regulation.


Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the antiproliferative agent 5-Fluorouracil (5FU) over inhibition of spinal bone formation in an experimental rat model.
Methods: The study included 30 6-month-old Sprague-Dawley rats divided into 3 groups. Aggressive periosteal denuding was performed by scalpel to induce punctuate bleeding in the posterior elements of the L4-L5 vertebrae in the spontaneous fusion model. Spinous processes were fixated by wires and no graft substitute was applied. Adcon-L was applied in Group 1, single-touch technique 5FU in Group 2. Group 3 was the control group. Rats were sacrificed at 4 weeks and specimens acquired for histological examination.
Results: 5FU substantially inhibited fibroblast and inflammatory cell densities as well as bone formation compared to the control group. 5FU was considerably superior to Adcon-L with regard to inhibition of bone formation and inflammatory cells (p=0.0001).
Conclusion: 5FU can inhibit fusion, fibrosis and unwanted scar tissue in spinal surgery. We believe that after further studies on its local delivery dose, it can be used in humans for inhibition of unintended fusion.


In this paper, we describe an exploration system that was implemented by the search-advertising team of a prominent web-portal to address the cold ads problem. The cold ads problem refers to the situation where, when new ads are injected into the system by advertisers, the system is unable to assign an accurate quality to the ad (in our case, the click probability). As a consequence, the advertiser may suffer from low impression volumes for these cold ads, and the overall system may perform sub-optimally if the click probabilities for new ads are not learnt rapidly. We designed a new exploration system that was adapted to search advertising and the serving constraints of the system. In this paper, we define the problem, discuss the design details of the exploration system, new evaluation criteria, and present the performance metrics that were observed by us.


We propose and describe new error control algorithms for redundant residue number systems (RRNSs) and residue number system product codes. These algorithms employ search techniques for obtaining error values from within a set of values (that contains all possible error values). For a given RRNS, the error control algorithms have a computational complexity of t · O(log 2 n + log 2 m ) comparison operations, where t denotes the error correcting capability, n denotes the number of moduli, and m denotes the geometric average of moduli. These algorithms avoid most modular operations. We describe a refinement to the proposed algorithms that further avoids the modular operation required in their respective first steps, with an increase of  log 2 n  to their computational complexity. The new algorithms provide significant computational advantages over


We consider nilpotent Lie groups for which the derived subgroup is abelian. We equip them with subRiemannian metrics and we study the normal Hamiltonian flow on the cotangent bundle. We show a correspondence between normal trajectories and polynomial Hamiltonians in some euclidean space. We use the aforementioned correspondence to give a criterion for the integrability of the normal Hamiltonian flow. As an immediate consequence, we show that in Engel-type groups the flow of the normal Hamiltonian is integrable. For Carnot groups that are semidirect products of two abelian groups, we give a set of conditions that normal trajectories must fulfill to be globally length-minimizing. Our results are based on a symplectic reduction procedure.


Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is a chronic, cholestatic, autoimmune liver disease that can progress to end-stage liver disease and its complications. A previous expert review panel collaborated on a consensus document for gastroenterologists and other healthcare professionals regarding the care of patients with PBC. Subsequently, there have been several recent important developments in the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of patients with PBC. These include updates to prognostic models on risk stratification, new noninvasive tools for staging of disease, updates to the appropriate use of and long-term treatment results with obeticholic acid as a second-line treatment, the emerging therapeutic role of fibrates, and the advancement of investigational agents for managing PBC. In this updated expert consensus document, we provide updates on staging, the use of noninvasive prognostic tools, and a treatment algorithm to provide evidence-based and practical tools for clinicians who manage PBC, with the ultimate goal to improve the long-term outcomes for patients with this chronic liver disease.


We study the combination of probability and non-determinism from a categorical point of view. In category theory, non-determinism and probability are represented by suitable monads. However, these two monads do not combine well as they are. To overcome this problem, we introduce the notion of indexed valuations. This notion is used to define a new monad that can be combined with the usual non-deterministic monad via a categorical distributive law. We give an equational characterisation of our construction. We discuss the computational meaning of indexed valuations, and we show how they can be used by giving a denotational semantics of a simple imperative language.


Immunoscreening of a cDNA library from bovine skin led to isolation of clones coding for an allergen named BDA11. Sequence analysis of the clones revealed that they can encode a protein of 11.6 kDa with a predicted pI of 5.19. Allergenicity of BDA11 was verified by the IgE reactivity in cattle-allergic patients' sera with the recombinant protein produced in Escherichia coli. A biochemically purified native allergen of 11 kDa from bovine dander was identified as BDA11 by peptide sequencing. Homology comparisons showed that BDA11 had a 63.4% amino acid identity with human psoriasin. Psoriasin is a calcium-binding protein expressed in keratinocytes, and it is strongly up-regulated in psoriatic skin. BDA11 also had segments homologous with calcium-binding proteins from three other species.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Bone loss is a common complication of human inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but its mechanisms are not understood completely. We investigated bone metabolism in interleukin-10-deficient ( IL-10-/- ) mice, an animal model with IBD features.

METHODS
IL-10-/- male mice (8- and 12-weeks-old) and their age-matched wild-type counterparts (C57BL/6J) were studied. Bone mass of the femur was determined by ashing. Tibial cancellous and cortical bone mass and formation was measured by static and dynamic histomorphometry. Biomechanical strength of the femur was tested. Primary bone marrow stromal cell cultures were used to assess osteoblast generation. Serum levels of 25-OH vitamin D 3, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), parathyroid hormone, osteocalcin, and deoxy-pyridinoline cross-links were measured. The presence of colitis was determined histologically, and by IL-12 and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) secretion from cultured colonic explants.

RESULTS
Eight- and 12-week-old IL-10-/- mice developed osteopenia of both cancellous and cortical bone, evidenced by lower femoral ash weight, cancellous bone area and surface, trabecular number, and decreased cortical bone area and width. Osteopenia was associated with mechanical fragility, manifested by decreased stiffness and mechanical load at fracture, and was caused by suppressed bone formation, indicated by decreased cancellous double-labeled surface, mineralizing surface, serum osteocalcin level, and mineralized nodule number in bone marrow stromal cell cultures. IL-10-/- mice with colitis had significantly less bone mass compared with IL-10-/- mice without colitis.

CONCLUSIONS
IL-10-/- mice develop the hallmarks of osteoporosis, that is, reduced bone mass, increased mechanical fragility, and suppressed bone formation. The presence of colitis is an important contributor to osteoporosis in IL-10-/- mice.


Detecting microarchitectural attacks is critical given their proliferation in recent years. Many of these attacks exhibit intrinsic behaviors essential to the nature of their operation, such as creating contention or misspeculation. This study systematically investigates the microarchitectural footprints of hardware-based attacks and shows how they can be detected and classified using an efficient hardware predictor. We present a methodology to use correlated microarchitectural statistics to design a hardware-based neural predictor capable of detecting and classifying microarchitectural attacks before data is leaked. Once a potential attack is detected, it can be proactively mitigated by triggering appropriate countermeasures.Our hardware-based detector, PerSpectron, uses perceptron learning to identify and classify attacks. Perceptron-based prediction has been successfully used in branch prediction and other hardware-based applications. PerSpectron has minimal performance overhead. The statistics being monitored have similar overhead to already existing performance monitoring counters. Additionally, PerSpectron operates outside the processor's critical paths, offering security without added computation delay. Our system achieves a usable detection rate for detecting attacks such as SpectreV1, SpectreV2, SpectreRSB, Meltdown, breakingKSLR, Flush+Flush, Flush+Reload, Prime+Probe as well as cache-attack calibration programs. We also believe that the large number of diverse microarchitectural features offers both evasion resilience and interpretability—features not present in previous hardware security detectors. We detect these attacks early enough to avoid any data leakage, unlike previous work that triggers countermeasures only after data has been exposed.


OBJECTIVE
In a previous study, the authors showed that the migration of Schwann cells (SCs) through end-to-side (ETS) neurorrhaphy promotes axonal regrowth within an acellular nerve graft. In the present study, the authors investigated whether a similar strategy using an artificial nerve (AN) would allow reconstruction of a long nerve gap (20 mm) in rats.

METHODS
Forty-eight 8- to 12-week-old Sprague Dawley rats were divided into control (AN) and experimental (SC migration-induced AN [SCiAN]) groups. Prior to the experiment, the ANs used in the SCiAN group were populated in vivo with SCs over a 4-week period by ETS neurorrhaphy onto the sciatic nerve. In both groups, a 20-mm sciatic nerve defect was reconstructed in an end-to-end fashion using 20-mm ANs. Sections from the nerve graft and distal sciatic nerve in both groups underwent assessments at 4 weeks for SC migration by immunohistochemical analysis and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. At 16 weeks, axonal elongation was assessed by immunohistochemical analysis, histomorphometry, and electron microscopy. The number of myelinated fibers was counted, the g-ratio was calculated, and myelin sheath thickness and axon diameter were measured. Furthermore, functional recovery was evaluated at 16 weeks using the Von Frey filament test for sensory recovery and by calculating the muscle fiber area for motor recovery.

RESULTS
The area occupied by SCs at 4 weeks and by axons at 16 weeks was significantly larger in the SCiAN group than in the AN group. Histomorphometric evaluation of the distal sciatic nerve revealed a significantly greater number of axons. At 16 weeks, plantar perception in the SCiAN group was significantly better, demonstrating improvement in sensory function. However, no tibialis anterior muscle motor improvement was observed in either group.

CONCLUSIONS
The induction of SC migration into an AN by ETS neurorrhaphy is a useful technique for repairing 20-mm nerve defects in rats, with better nerve regeneration and sensory recovery. No motor recovery was observed in either group; however, motor recovery might require a longer period of time than the lifespan of the AN used in this study. Future studies should investigate whether structural and material reinforcement of the AN, to lower its decomposition rate, can improve functional recovery.


ABSTRACT The presence of enterococci in lake and seawater in an 18-month survey comparing molecular (PCR and quantitative PCR) and culture methods was evaluated, as well as the possibility that zooplankton could act as reservoirs for enterococci. Samples of both water and zooplankton were collected monthly from a Lake Garda site and an Adriatic Sea site. In lake water, the positive samples numbered 13 of 54 (24%) by culture and 32 of 54 (59%) when PCR was applied. In seawater, they numbered 0 of 51 by culture and 18 of 51 (35%) by PCR. Enterococci were found either totally bound to plankton or totally in water, depending on the presence or absence of plankton, respectively. These results clearly indicate that the PCR assay is a powerful tool for detecting fecal indicators and pathogens in the environment, thus providing a much more sensitive method than culture.


Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) are important in the regulation of diverse cellular functions including proliferation, migration and invasion; aberration of these cellular events is crucial for the development and progression of cancer. PTPs family comprises of two groups, classic PTPs and dual specificity phosphatases. The classic PTPs include both non-transmembrane PTPs and transmembrane receptor-like PTPs (RPTPs). RPTPs are composed of extracellular regions, transmembrane domains and intracellular phosphatase domains. The extracellular regions of RPTPs are similar to cell adhesion molecules and can interact homophilically and heterophilically. There are eight subgroups in the RPTPs separated according to the differences in their extracellular regions. PTPRK and PTPRM belong to the R2B subfamily of RPTPs and both perform homophilic interactions and regulate cell-cell aggregation and adhesion. Furthermore, both PTPRK and PTPRM can interact with the catenin/cadherin complex to regulate cell proliferation and migration. The current review discusses the present knowledge on RPTPs and their potential implication in the development and progression of cancer.


The screening and testing of fuel cell electrocatalysts often involves comparisons under conditions that do not closely match their use in membrane electrode assemblies. We compared the activities of several commercial and homemade Pt and PtRu catalysts for electrochemical methanol oxidation by four different techniques; disk electrode linear sweep voltammetry in aqueous methanol/ sulfuric acid solutions, optical fluorescence detection in aqueous methanol solutions containing a fluorescent acid-base indicator, steady-state voltammetry in a 25 electrode array fuel cell with a large common counter electrode, and steadystate voltammetry in a conventional direct methanol fuel cell. The fluorescence detection method, which is a high-throughput technique developed for large arrays of electrocatalysts, can distinguish active from inactive catalysts, but it does not accurately rank active catalysts. Both the disk electrode and array fuel cell methods gave a reliable ranking of the catalysts studied. The best agreement occurred between the array fuel cell and single electrode fuel cell catalyst rankings. A wide range of catalytic activities was found for PtRu catalysts of the same nominal composition that were prepared by different methods.


Previous work has shown that blocking the deep veins to produce venous stasis at the site of healing results in an increased callus formation and accelerated bone repair. This is a useful procedure in treating delayed union of fractures.

Obstruction of the lesser saphenous vein has no influence on the healing of the fibula.

Blocking the arterial circulation by ligation of the main trunk has no effect because of the rapid development of collateral circulation. When the main artery and its branches are removed, there is delay in bone repair but healing eventually takes place.

Removal of the lumbar sympathetic trunk and ganglia makes very little change in the process of bone repair in the extremity.


Many protocols used in mobile ad hoc networks rely on the broadcasting capability, especially when performing a route discovery process. However, an efficient broadcasting protocol should be devised to reduce the unnecessary redundant rebroadcasting at some nodes (redundancy) as well as to increase the coverage area as much as possible (reachability). A few approaches have been developed in the literature. We propose a bounding algorithm, which is known to be an efficient candidate to accommodate the two goals, that is to increase reachability while limiting redundancy.


Rubella is a contagious viral infection, which in pregnant women leads to infection of a developing fetus causing fetal death or Congenital Rubella Syndrome. A cross-sectional study involving 180 women was carried out between June and August 2012 to determine the seroprevalence of IgM antibody to rubella in their serum using ELISA. The women comprised 160 pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria and 20 no pregnant women of childbearing age studying at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Prior to sample collection, structured questionnaires were administered to gather relevant medical information, obstetrical and socio-demographic characteristics from the women. IgM antibody was detected in 62 (38.8%) of the pregnant women and 8 (40%) of the nonpregnant women. The majority (33: 53.2%) of the pregnant women who were positive were in their second trimester while 11 (17.7%) were in their first trimester. Infection with Rubella virus was not significantly associated with age, clinical symptoms and the possible risk factors studied (p>0.05). The level of awareness and knowledge of rubella and its transmission was extremely low for both population and uneducated pregnant women had the highest prevalence (54.5%: 6/11). The study showed seroprevalence higher than any previous reports in Nigeria with almost equal rate amongst the two populations. The high prevalence suggests that an outbreak might have occurred during the time of the study and emphasizes the need for the initiation of a national rubella vaccination program in Nigeria.


The patient reported here was seen with periapical cemental dysplasia (PCD) superimposed on chronic inflammatory periodontal disease. Various aspects of the diseases and their relationships are reviewed, including the diagnosis of PCD, its significance, and suggestions for therapy.


Systems of Bose particles with both repulsive and attractive interactions are studied using the Skyrme-like mean-field model. The phase diagram of such systems exhibits two special lines in the chemical potential-temperature plane: one line which represents the first-order liquid–gas phase transition with the critical end point, and another line which represents the onset of Bose–Einstein condensation. The calculations are made for strongly interacting matter composed of α particles. The phase diagram of this matter is qualitatively similar to that observed for the atomic 4He liquid. The sensitivity of the results to the model parameters is studied. For weak interaction coupling, the critical point is located at the Bose-condensation line.


Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) therapy has shown potential benefits in multiple diseases. However, their clinic performance is not as satisfactory as expected. This study aimed to provide an alternative explanation by comparing MSCs' fates in different liver diseases. The distribution and therapeutic effects of human MSC (hMSCs) were investigated in acute liver injury (ALI) and chronic liver fibrosis (CLF) mice models, respectively. The two models were induced by single or repeated injection of carbon tetrachloride separately. The increase of hMSCs exposure in the liver (AUCliver 0–72 hour) were more significant in ALI than in CLF (177.1% versus 96.2%). In the ALI model, the hMSCs exposures in the lung (AUClung 0–72 hour) increased by nearly 50%, whereas it decreased by 60.7% in CLF. The efficacy satellite study indicated that hMSCs could significantly ameliorate liver injury in ALI, but its effects in CLF were limited. In the ALI, suppressed natural killer (NK) cell activities were observed, while NK cell activities were increased in CLF. The depletion of NK cells could increase hMSCs exposure in mice. For mice MSC (mMSCs), their cell fates in ALI were very similar to hMSCs in ALI: mMSCs' exposure in the liver and lung increased in ALI. In conclusion, our study revealed the distinct cell pharmacokinetic patterns of MSCs in ALI and CLF mice, which might be at least partially attributed to the different NK cell activities in the two liver diseases. This finding provided a novel insight into the varied MSCs' therapeutic efficacy in the clinic. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Currently, there is little knowledge about the PK behavior of cell products like MSCs. This study was the first time investigating the influence of liver diseases on cell fates and efficacies of MSCs and the underneath rationale. The exposure was distinct between two representative liver disease models, which directly linked with the therapeutic performance that MSCs achieved. The difference could be attributed to the NK cells–mediated MSCs clearance.


A 68-year-old woman underwent surgical treatment for renal cell carcinoma associated with tumor thrombus extending into the right atrium. Although the tumor thrombus reached the level of the right atrium, there were no other apparent metastases. Combination therapy with interferon alfa plus tegafur/uracil (UFT) was attempted with the expectation of reducing the tumor thrombus, but there was no change. Successful management was achieved with right radical nephrectomy, right auriculotomy, and partial cavectomy using cardiopulmonary bypass under high-grade hypothermia. After removal of the tumor and thrombus, blood loss was 13,900 ml during the patient's recovery. She had mild heart failure for about two weeks after the operation, but recovered. She was discharged on the 40th day after the operation. Proper preparation for blood transfusion is the key point of this operation.


The susceptibility of Porphyromonas gingivalis to amoxicillin, doxycycline and metronidazole was determined by a standardized method taking into account the biofilm mode of growth of subgingival bacteria. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 48-h biofilms of P. gingivalis established on membrane filters in a Modified Robbins Device were determined by agar dilution. The results were compared to (i) conventional MIC determinations, (ii) the susceptibility of planktonic cultures with cell numbers equal to those of the biofilms, and (iii) results for detached biofilm cells. The MICs of the biofilms of the six reference strains and clinical isolates containing 107-8 cells/filter were much higher than the conventional MIC values. However, the MIC of planktonic cultures of equal cell numbers also increased, indicating that an inoculum effect is part of the explanation of the increased resistance of biofilms. Still, the MBCs of biofilms were 2-8 times, and those for doxycycline up to 64 times, greater than the MBC values for planktonic cultures.


Summary Currently geophysical electromagnetic exploration for metal ores is facing some problems such as shallow probing depths, low accuracy and resolution, and poor anti-interference ability. To solve these difficulties, it is a feasible approach to make use of the existing mine tunnels, the electromagnetic transmitter on the ground and the recorders at the underground (borehole) or ground (prefecture) to compose a quasi-three-dimensional arrangement of measurement technology. This combination method of ground exciting and underground receiving can carry out observations from different directions to obtain subsurface electrical conductivity of the large amounts of information, and conduct quasi-three-dimensional imaging, allowing us to increase detection depth and resolution, and to reduce non-uniqueness in data interpretation and provide a new method for metallic ore exploration. The high-power single-frequency transmitter developed by our work can provide a single or multi-frequency inverter square wave, launching the signal frequency from DC to 9600Hz; the maximum emission voltage of 700V, and power supply current of 60A. This apparatus uses the GPS clock and real-time clock (RTC) module to ensure a regular and on time launching at scheduled frequencies. It can also make use of wireless Bluetooth and serial communication interface to control transmitting operation and edit the control parameter file and acquire a variety of supplementary status information. The experiment proves that the equipment is stable and reliable and can meet the requirements of conventional electromagnetic exploration and "tapping the deep and blind exploration of successive resources" for the exhausted mines.


Does mass shooting event influence gun control attitudes? Previous research conducted by Rogowski and Tucker (2019) suggests that attitudes towards gun control remained unchanged following the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Given this finding's counterintuitive nature and significance, we further investigate gun control attitudinal change using an exogenous event. Here, we employ a similar method while using the 2016 Orlando shooting as a new case to explore the extent to which the previously reported null effect holds. By leveraging the pre- and post-shooting responses for wave 55 of The American Panel Survey, we show that American's gun control attitudes are unmalleable and deeply entrenched following mass shooting events. Our null finding has meaningful implications for the deadlocked gun control issue in the US.


With a large sample (N = 5,769) of university students obtained over a 23-year period (1990–2012), which represented three decades of first sexual intercourse experiences, the present study examined gender differences in pleasure, anxiety, and guilt in response to first intercourse. Men reported more pleasure and anxiety than women, and women reported more guilt than men. Anxiety decreased over the three decades for men; pleasure increased and guilt decreased for women. As a result of these changes, the differences between men and women in emotional reactions decreased slightly over time. The magnitude of the gender differences overall and in the most recent years of data collection, however, suggests that emotional responses to first sexual intercourse should be included in a small list of sexuality variables that are exceptions to Hyde's (2005) gender similarities hypothesis.


We report the development of a programmable surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based micro-network gradient platform to simultaneously detect two different types of DNA oligomer mixtures. The utility of this platform was demonstrated by quantitative analysis of two breast cancer-related (BRCA1) DNA oligomer mixtures. To generate on-demand concentration gradients, the microfluidic circuit was designed using an electric-hydraulic analogy. Then a multi-gradient microfluidic channel was fabricated based on the theoretical design of the concentration control module. These micro-network structures automatically produce a series of different concentration gradients by continuously mixing Cy3-labeled DNA oligomers (BRAC1-Mutation) with TAMRA-labeled DNA oligomer (BRAC1-Wild). The SERS signals for different ratios of duplex DNA oligomer mixtures, adsorbed on the surface of silver nanoparticles, were measured under flowing conditions. Total analysis time from serial mixing to SERS detection takes less than 10 min because all experimental conditions are automatically controlled inside the exquisitely designed microfluidic channel. This novel SERS-based DNA sensing technology in a micro-network gradient channel is expected to be a powerful analytical tool to simultaneously detect multiple DNA oligomer mixtures.


The prevalence of keel bone damage as well as external egg parameters of 2 pure lines divergently selected for high (H) and low (L) bone strength were investigated in 2 aviary systems under commercial conditions. A standard LSL hybrid was used as a reference group. Birds were kept mixed per genetic line (77 hens of the H and L line and 201 or 206 hens of the LSL line, respectively, per pen) in 8 pens of 2 aviary systems differing in design. Keel bone status and body mass of 20 focal hens per line and pen were assessed at 17, 18, 23, 30, 36, 43, 52, and 63 wk of age. External egg parameters (i.e., egg mass, eggshell breaking strength, thickness, and mass) were measured using 10 eggs per line at both 38 and 57 wk of age. Body parameters (i.e. tarsus and third primary wing feather length to calculate index of wing loading) were recorded at 38 wk of age and mortality per genetic line throughout the laying cycle. Bone mineral density (BMD) of 15 keel bones per genetic line was measured after slaughter to confirm assignment of the experimental lines. We found a greater BMD in the H compared with the L and LSL lines. Fewer keel bone fractures and deviations, a poorer external egg quality, as well as a lower index of wing loading were found in the H compared with the L line. Mortality was lower and production parameters (e.g., laying performance) were higher in the LSL line compared with the 2 experimental lines. Aviary design affected prevalence of keel bone damage, body mass, and mortality. We conclude that selection of specific bone traits associated with bone strength as well as the related differences in body morphology (i.e., lower index of wing loading) have potential to reduce keel bone damage in commercial settings. Also, the housing environment (i.e., aviary design) may have additive effects.


Bernard Shaw has been a well-known writer in the Spanish-speaking world since Julio Broutá introduced his works in Spain at the beginning of the twentieth century. This article assesses two of the six translations of his play Pygmalion into Spanish, those of Julio Broutá (1919) and Floreal Mazía (1952), focusing specifically on the rendering of Cockney. Both target authors maintain the dialectal distinction in their works, by translating Cockney as Cheli and Lunfardo, dialects spoken by the lower classes of Madrid and Buenos Aires, respectively.


In order to quantify the paramagnetic sources such as oxygen and deoxyhemoglobin in lung and other tissues with MRI of hyperpolarized helium and xenon nuclear spins it is important to understand the relaxation law of these hyperpolarized spins. By means of quantum mechanical calculations we found that the conventional spin relaxation equations are not valid for the hyperpolarized spins. We observed that that the hyperpolarization and spin-coupling result in the multipole spin orders. These multipole spin orders cross-relax each other. New longitudinal relaxation equations for the dipole-dipole coupled hyperpolarized spins at room temperature have been derived. These new equations predict that the longitudinal magnetization relaxation of hyperpolarized spins is, in general, bi-exponential decay instead single exponential decay. The potential applications of the findings in quantitative MRI with hyperpolarized helium and xenon are discussed


Bitstream compression is important in reconfigurable system design since it reduces the bitstream size and the memory requirement. It also improves the communication bandwidth and thereby decreases the reconfiguration time. Existing research in this field has explored two directions: efficient compression with slow decompression or fast decompression at the cost of compression efficiency. This paper proposes a novel decode-aware compression technique to improve both compression and de compression efficiencies. The three major contributions of this paper are: 1) smart placement of compressed bitstreams that can significantly decrease the overhead of decompression engine; 2) selection of profitable parameters for bitstream compression; and 3) efficient combination of bitmask-based compression and run length encoding of repetitive patterns. Our proposed technique outperforms the existing compression approaches by 15%, while our decompression hardware for variable-length coding is capable of operating at the speed closest to the best known field-programmable gate array-based decoder for fixed-length coding.


Mullets are objects of fishery in Vietnam; some of them are raised in rice paddies. Intensive development of fish mariculture in this country, as well as a large proportion of hydrobionts in the population diet, requires knowledge not only of the species composition of parasites, but also of their life cycles, pathogenicity, medical and epizootiological significance. The fauna of marine myxosporeans in this area has been studied very poorly. Totally 36 species of Myxosporea in freshwater fishes of Vietnam are known and 10 are not identified; 7 species of myxosporeans are found in marine fishes and 9 are not identified. In March – April of 2018 in the Nha Trang Bay (Vietnam, South China Sea, which the Vietnamese call the East Sea) 71 specimens of 7 species of Mugilidae fish were examined for identifying myxosporeans by the method of incomplete parasitological autopsy (4 specimens Chelon planiceps, 25 specimens Valamugil speigleri, 10 specimens V. formosae, 1 specimen Planiliza subviridis, 19 specimens Paramugil parmatus, 9 specimens Mugil cephalus, 3 specimens Moolgarda seheli). All organs were examined under Olympus SZ61 binocular microscope at magnification from ×15 to ×25. Smears from the tissues of various fish organs were examined under Olympus CKX53 microscope with phase contrast at magnification ×400 and under Olympus CX41 microscope with the Olympus SC50 digital camera and phase contrast at magnification ×800. Myxosporeans were fixed in glycerol-gelatin according to the standard technique. Parasite measurements were based on 20 Myxobolus spinacurvatura spores, 25 Sphaerospora dicentrarchi spores, and 10 Henneguya sp. spores. All measurements were carried out by the standard method. To assess the number of parasites, data on prevalence and intensity of invasion were used. The first data on Bivalvulida myxosporeans of Mugilidae fish in Nha Trang Bay were obtained: Myxobolus spinacurvatura was found in the gallbladder and intestine of 78 % Mugil cephalus with the intensity of invasion of unit spores in the gallbladder smear and 5–11 cysts in the intestine; Sphaerospora dicentrarchi was found in the gallbladder of 5 % Paramugil parmatus, 12 % Valamugil speigleri, 20 % V. formosae and 56 % Mugil cephalus with the intensity of invasion of unit spores in the smear; Henneguya sp. was found in the gallbladder of 8 % V. speigleri and 10 % V. formosae with the intensity of invasion of unit, tens of spores in the smear. Description of the revealed species was made. Their distribution in other regions of the World Ocean was considered. S. dicentrarchi turned out to be a new species for the fauna of the East Sea and Vietnam. This species was found not only in Mugil cephalus, the typical host in other regions, but also in new hosts Paramugil parmatus, Valamugil speigleri, and V. formosae. Myxobolus spinacurvatura was first found in the Nha Trang Bay. Since Myxobolus spinacurvatura and Sphaerospora dicentrarchi are known in Mugil cephalus not only in the Pacific Ocean basin but also in the Atlantic Ocean one, taking into account the connection of these water bodies in ancient times, it is assumed that each of these parasites had a common large distribution area in the past, which was then broken due to powerful geological transformations of our planet.


ABSTRACT In chelonids, oxygen is primarily stored in the lungs during a dive. Therefore, management of blood oxygen transportation to peripheral tissues by cardiovascular adjustments during submergence is crucial to maximize their dive duration, and consequently, the time spent for ecological activities such as foraging. However, the cardiac response to exercise has rarely been examined in sea turtles. In this study, heart rate and its relationship with exercise during voluntary dives were determined in six captive green turtles (19.4±1.5 kg) by simultaneously recording depth, acceleration and electrocardiogram. Our results demonstrated that the heart rate of green turtles was generally low (11.1±0.4 bpm) during resting dives, but they often exhibited instantaneously extreme tachycardia (up to 78.4 bpm). Green turtles elevated their heart rate up to 39.8±1.5 bpm during ventilation after resting dives, while up to 33.1±1.4 bpm after active dives. The heart rate immediately elevated with onset of exercise, and increased linearly with exercise. This result may indicate that turtles immediately need to transport oxygen from the lungs to peripheral tissues by pulmonary and systemic circulations to meet the metabolic demands of exercise because they mainly store oxygen in their lungs. Summary: Green turtles showed immediate cardiac response to exercise during submergence, presumably because they store oxygen primarily in the lungs and need blood circulation to meet the metabolic demand.


The antioxidants (ascorbic acid and total phenolics) activity was evaluated as a comparative study regarding the influence of selected systemic fungicides, CuSO4 mixture and acetylsalicylic acid on tomato fruits. Experimental crop consisted of two tomato varieties on which three types of treatments were applied. The antioxidants analysis was performed by spectrophotometric methods both for ascorbic acid and total phenolics determination. Our results showed significant differences regarding the antioxidants level in the experimental tomato crops.


The skip-lot sampling program can be used for reducing the amount of inspection on a product that has excellent quality history. Thus skip-lot sampling plans are designed to reduce inspection costs. Moreover, the skip-lot concept is sound and useful and is economically advantageous to use in the design of sampling plans. Hence, a new system of skip-lot sampling plans designated as the SkSP-V plan is developed in this paper. The proposed plan requires a return to normal inspection whenever a lot is rejected during sampling inspection, but has a provision for a reduced normal inspection upon demonstration of superior product quality. A Markov chain formulation and derivation of performance measures for this new plan are presented. The properties of SkSP-V plan are studied with single sampling plan as the reference plan. Advantages of this new plan are also discussed. Finally, certain cost models are given for the economic design of the SkSP-V plan. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Recent rulings in the ongoing litigation over the pari passu clause in Argentinian sovereign debt instruments have generated considerable controversy. Some official-sector participants and academic articles have suggested that the rulings will disrupt or impede future sovereign debt restructurings by encouraging holdout creditors to litigate for full payment instead of participating in negotiated exchange offers. This paper critically examines this claim and argues that the incentives for holdout litigation are limited because of (1) significant constraints on creditor litigation, (2) substantial economic and reputational costs associated with such litigation, and (3) the availability of contractual provisions and negotiating strategies that mitigate the debtor's collective action problems. It also argues that the fact-specific equitable remedy in the Argentina case was narrowly tailored to Argentina's unprecedented disregard for court opinions and for international norms of negotiating sovereign debt restructurings and is therefore unlikely to be used in future debt restructurings.


Recent years have seen an increasing number of deep subway stations, and many of the existing stations have been made progressively barrier free. This has been accompanied by the installation of more and more escalators, and often existing stairways have been converted to escalators. This has resulted in fewer egress paths in an emergency case. Considering this background, firstly, a crowd walking experiment using stopped escalators was conducted in order to get the base data, for example, on obtained walking speed, for the parameters in the evacuation simulation of several fire scenarios in a typical subway station. Secondly, a smoke movement simulation of the metro fire scenarios was conducted to demonstrate the applicability of the smoke model in a two‐layer zone model. Finally, based on the results of the evacuation and smoke simulations of the chosen subway station, we examined the availability and the issues of evacuation using stopped escalators. As a result, it was found that the evacuation potential of passengers on a platform is considerably improved if escalators are permitted in addition to stairs for emergency evacuation. Several issues to be considered for the safe operation of escalators are identified. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The potential for receiving zakat, infaq and alms funds in Tulungagung is growing rapidly. This shows that the level of trust in the management of zakat, infaq and alms funds is quite high. This study aims to examine the suitability of the application of PSAK 109 in the National Zakat Agency Tulungagung Regency. The method used in this research is a descriptive qualitative approach. Sources of data used are interviews, observation and documentation. The results showed that the accounting treatment at National Zakat Agency Tulungagung Regency included the receipt and expenditure of zakat, infaq and alms which was recognized as the amount of cash received and disbursed, presented and disclosed on the financial statements. Recognition and measurement of accounting treatment at National Zakat Agency Tulungagung Regency are in accordance with PSAK 109, while its presentation and disclosure are not fully in accordance with PSAK 109. The main obstacle faced is the limited qualified human resources and still uses a manual system in making financial reports.


Abstract Traumatic cardiac injuries are an uncommon diagnosis in the pediatric population. Of the traumatic cardiac injuries, more than 95% are contusions. Traumatic ventricular aneurysms are exceptionally rare, and most are detected during long-term follow-up. They are usually successfully managed medically but can require emergent surgical intervention. We report the case of a 6-year-old boy who was in a motor vehicle collision. He was found to have profound sinus bradycardia during initial resuscitation with hypotension. An electrocardiogram showed complete heart block. A cardiologist was consulted, and an echocardiogram was performed, which revealed a ventricular septal aneurysm. The case is followed by a review of the literature on traumatic cardiac injuries and ventricular septal aneurysms in the pediatric population.


Thirty-two dogs subjected to 4 min of ventricular fibrillation were equally divided into four treatment groups: (a) immediate defibrillation (control); or 30 min of (b) standard CPR (SCPR), (c) simultaneous ventilation-compression CPR (SVC-CPR), or (d) open-chest CPR (OCCPR). After 30 min of CPR, restoration of spontaneous circulation was attempted using drug therapy and countershocks and the animals maintained for 24 h or until refractory hypotension occurred. During CPR, OCCPR yielded higher mean arterial and lower central venous pressures than either external method. Circulation was restored in all control dogs, and by 24 h they had nearly normal neurologic deficit scores. In the SCPR group, the heart was restarted in six dogs. Five of these dogs had severe neurologic damage and did not survive 24 h. The animal that survived 24 h, however, was nearly normal neurologically. Although circulation was restored in five SVC-CPR dogs, all were brain-dead and none survived 24 h. In the OCCPR group, seven animals survived 24 h and their neurologic deficit scores were not significantly different from control values. We conclude that OCCPR is greatly superior to SCPR and SVC-CPR with respect to preservation of the brain during resuscitation.


In the treatment of summer diarrhea in children, artificially fed, it is generally agreed that there are three important requisites, namely, clean milk, fresh air, and intelligent care. It is also agreed that in the prevention of diarrhea the utmost vigilance must be observed during the hot months, particularly in cities. How to provide all these conditions is one of the problems in medicine, the solution of which is imperative. This paper has to do with the efforts of the Hartford (Conn.) Medical Society to solve this problem in its locality. During the summer of 1907 a camp was maintained in one of the city parks by a committee of the society. This camp was suggested at a meeting of the milk commission of the Hartford County Medical Association. It is easily seen that the production of certified milk is not sufficient alone to materially reduce the high mortality of


Abstract This paper explores the paradox of US policy on dual-use technology cooperation with China in the face of resistance from a strong section of the security establishment. The paper examines the factors contributing to the current level of dual-use technology business between the two countries. It finds that the US Cold War grand strategy of co-opting China by dividing the socialist bloc has resulted in embedded commercial interests that have been further bolstered by the strategic need for ties with China. To neutralise piqued interests, the United States is constantly engaged in the business of devising safety valves in the form of export controls.


Previous work on adversarially robust neural networks requires large training sets and computationally expensive training procedures. On the other hand, few-shot learning methods are highly vulnerable to adversarial examples. The goal of our work is to produce networks which both perform well at few-shot tasks and are simultaneously robust to adversarial examples. We adapt adversarial training for meta-learning, we adapt robust architectural features to small networks for meta-learning, we test pre-processing defenses as an alternative to adversarial training for meta-learning, and we investigate the advantages of robust meta-learning over robust transfer-learning for few-shot tasks. This work provides a thorough analysis of adversarially robust methods in the context of meta-learning, and we lay the foundation for future work on defenses for few-shot tasks.


This study examines the effect of exercise in reducing stress and improving well-being in Irish adults. A total of 160 participants completed a questionnaire which evaluated each of these variables. The sample was divided into 3 groups; high, moderate or low exercise group according to their reported levels of physical activity. The study was cross-sectional, correlational and quantitative in nature, using a between-participants design. The results of a one-way analysis of variance showed that those participants who exercised at a high level reported significantly less stress and higher psychological well-being than those who exercised at a low level. No significant difference was found with the moderate exercise group. In conclusion, results obtained suggest that higher levels of exercise reduce stress and improve psychological well-being in adults.


Dilemma scenarios and knowledge of social values support engaging and believable narrative gameplay. Previous work in dilemma generation has explored scenarios involving utility payoffs between two to three people. However, these models primarily require character relationships as preconditions, and do not extend to more complex choices that relate only to causes and values. This paper builds upon past work to create an expressive model of dilemma categorization for player and non-player characters.


Poultry farming in Indonesia is still not successful in meeting some of the domestic needs, including being vulnerable to attacks by dangerous animal diseases. People are also restless because of dangerous diseases from chickens that can be transmitted to humans due to consuming chicken meat that has been infected with the disease. The case study in conducting research to diagnose free-range chicken disease was carried out at the Bang Ari Chicken Farm on Jalan Jamin Ginting Pamen Complex No.14 Padang Bulan, Medan Baru District, Medan City. The required criteria data is the type of disease and symptoms of the disease that attacks native chickens as well as the treatment actions that will be taken against the diseased chickens according to the disease experienced. This study aims to build a web-based expert system in diagnosing free-range chicken diseases using the certainty factor method. From the case example, the results of the calculation of certainty factor on the symptoms of free-range chickens, the disease that has the largest percentage value is P 7, namely Chronic Cough Disease of 97.50%. The system for diagnosing free-range chicken disease was built using a web-based programming language and MySQL database.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
The potential of the Escherichia coli-expressed recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (ErhBMP-2) to support new bone formation/maturation using a block-type of macroporous biphasic calcium phosphate (bMBCP) carrier was evaluated in an orthotopic and ectopic rat model.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Critical-size (Φ 8 mm) calvarial defects and subcutaneous pockets in 32 Sprague-Dawley rats received implants of rhBMP-2 (2.5 μg) in a bMBCP carrier or bMBCP alone (control). Implant sites were evaluated using histological and histometric analysis following 2- and 8-wk healing intervals (eight animals/group/interval).

RESULTS
  ErhBMP-2/bMBCP supported significantly greater bone formation at 2 and 8 wk (10.8% and 25.4%, respectively) than the control at 2 and 8 wk (5.3% and 14.0%, respectively) in calvarial defects (p < 0.01). Bone formation was only observed for the ErhBMP-2/bMBCP ectopic sites and was significantly greater at 8 wk (7.5%) than at 2 wk (4.5%) (p < 0.01). Appositional and endochondral bone formation was usually associated with a significant increase in fatty marrow at 8 wk. The bMBCP carrier showed no evidence of bioresorption.

CONCLUSION
ErhBMP-2/bMBCP induced significant bone formation in both calvarial and ectopic sites. Further study appears to be required to evaluate the relevance of the bMBCP carrier.


The Swedish oceanographer Vagn Walfrid Ekman (1874-1954, see Figure 1) is best known for his work on shallow ocean circulation, especially his 1905 paper 'On the influence of the Earth's rotation on ocean currents'. My paper examines Ekman's early work in its contemporary context, outlines his later work (after 1923) on horizontal circulation of ocean currents, and ends with a brief account of his contribution to oceanographic instruments, especially current meters.


This paper presents two effective wakeup designs that improve the speed, power, area, and scalability without instructions per cycle (IPC) loss for dynamic instruction schedulers. First, a wakeup design is proposed to aim at reducing the power consumption and wakeup latency. This design removes the read of the destination tags from the wakeup path by matching the source tags directly with the grant lines. Moreover, this design eliminates the redundant matches during the wakeup operations by matching the source tags with only the selected grant lines. Next, the second design explores a metric called wakeup locality to further reduce the area cost of the wakeup logic. By limiting the wakeup ranges for the instructions in the issue window, this design not only reduces the area requirement but also improves the scalability. The experimental results show that this range-limited-wakeup design saves 76%-94% of the power consumption and reduces 29%-77% in the wakeup latency compared to the conventional CAM-based scheme with only 5%-44% of the area cost in a traditional RAM-based scheme. The results also show that this design scales well with the increase of both the issue width and the window size


Objective: Antipsychotic medication non-adherence has detrimental effects on patients' clinical outcome. It is unclear which risk factors affect adherence most and which interventions are effective at improving adherence to antipsychotic medication. The aim of this systematic review is to summarize evidence exploring risk factors of non-adherence to antipsychotic treatment and effectiveness of intervention to improve adherence in patients with psychotic spectrum disorders. Methods: We conducted a systematic search in PubMed from 1994 to 2019 using a structured search strategy. Studies were quality assessed, and studies reporting on possible risk factors and intervention strategies were synthesized. Results: We reviewed 26 studies on factors related to antipsychotic medication adherence and 17 studies on interventions to improve adherence in patients with psychosis spectrum disorders. Risk factors of non-adherence included younger age, poor illness insight, cannabis abuse, and the presence of severe positive symptoms. Antipsychotic medication adherence was associated with positive attitude toward medication of both patients and their family, family involvement, and illness insight. Somewhat consistent evidence was found for interventions involving family and technology-based interventions and strategies combining depot medication with psychoeducation. However, given the wide range of heterogeneous interventions and methodological limitations, findings must be interpreted with caution. Conclusion: Despite much effort invested in the research area of antipsychotic medication adherence, the heterogeneity in study design and outcome, adding to confounding effects and possible biases, and methodological restraints complicate comparability of the results. Future research in this field should therefore be conducted on patient-tailored interventions, considering risk factors affecting the patient and implementing well-validated, standardized assessment methods. Accordingly, this systematic review seeks to facilitate endeavors improving adherence to antipsychotic treatment by identifying modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors, outlining effective intervention strategies, and proposing recommendations to enhance adherence strategies.


It is shown that estimating the coherence bandwidth (/spl beta//sub c/) of a static WLAN channel from frequency domain snapshot measurements using the complex autocorrelation function, commonly reported in the literature, is wrong and meaningless. In such cases the channel is time invariant or non-fading but time variant theories are mistakenly applied. An alternative parameter that estimates the distortionless transmission bandwidth (DTB) of the non-fading channel is proposed and used to characterise a line of sight, indoor microcell, at millimetre waves.


In Sicily wastewater is being regarded as a supplemental source of water, especially for agricultural use, which represents the greatest demand at present and in the future. That is because water demand is already approaching total usable resources, and severe shortage is experienced almost everywhere and in every sector. To help overcome possible implementation problems due to high salinity and pollutant concentrations, lack in monitoring capabilities, and emotional public perception of possible health risks, major field research programs have been undertaken, including an experimental station with a pilot plant and a series of field plots.


The Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME) Sea Area (RSA) in the northern Indian Ocean, which comprises the Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the northern Arabian Sea, already experiences naturally extreme environmental conditions and incorporates one of the world's warmest seas. There is growing evidence that climate change is already affecting the environmental conditions of the RSA, in areas including sea temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and sea level, which are set to continue changing over time. The cumulative impacts of these changes on coastal and marine ecosystems and dependent societies are less well documented, but are likely to be significant, especially in the context of other human stressors. This review represents the first regional synthesis of observed and predicted climate change impacts on marine and coastal ecosystems across the ROPME Sea Area and their implications for dependent societies. Climate-driven ecological changes include loss of coral reefs due to bleaching and the decline of fish populations, while socio-economic impacts include physical impacts from sea-level rise and cyclones, risk to commercial wild capture fisheries, disruption to desalination systems and loss of tourism. The compilation of this review is aimed to support the development of targeted adaptation actions and to direct future research within the RSA.


Major commemorative activities can carry and transmit the content of ideological and political education, with distinct political nature, extensive participation and strong characteristics of the times. Therefore, major commemorative activities have the function of ideological and political education. The ideological and political education function of major commemorative activities is mainly manifested in strengthening political identity, condensing value consensus and enhancing mission responsibility. By enriching the forms of practical activities, widely using new media and realizing the organic unity of family, school and society, we will give full play to the ideological and political education function of major commemorative activities, so as to cultivate qualified builders and reliable successors for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.


Pointing is a fundamental task within many interactions in current computer applications. It is incorporated into everything from selecting buttons to dragging files or positioning objects in a virtual environment. Thus, understanding, modeling and predicting pointing performance is crucial to the design and evaluation of many computer interfaces. Fitts's Law (1954) is the basis for modeling human pointing performance in the international standard on pointing device evaluation (ISO 9241-400:2007). However, while it is extremely robust for many standard desktop applications, previous work by Shoemaker et al. (2012) has suggested that Fitts's Law may not be robust enough to accurately model pointing at more extreme levels of gain and has proposed alternatives to Fitts's Law based on earlier work by Welford (1968). This thesis extends preliminary research by Rajendran (2012) that further examined these alternatives to Fitts's Law for distal pointing. Distal pointing is common in virtual and augmented reality interfaces. We first reänalyze results reported by Rajendran using a variety of Welford-style models to explore the relationship between target depth and a parameter k that was first suggested by Kopper et al. (2010) but is inherent in Welford's model. We then present a new experiment that removes the confound of system latency from Rajendran's approach. Our analyses provide evidence that k varies monotonically (possibly linearly) with target depth, which further supports the claim by Shoemaker et al. that Welford-style two-part models are preferable to Fitts-style one-part models in some situations. Our analyses also challenge Kopper et al.'s suggestion that angular measures of task difficulty are superior to linear measures for pointing models. We close with a discussion of how our findings about the variation of k with target depth might be used in calibration procedures for virtual environments.


In 2008, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), under contract to the US Department of Energy (DOE), conducted a manufacturing readiness assessment (MRA) of fuel cell systems and fuel cell stacks for back-up power and material handling applications (MHE). To facilitate the MRA, manufacturing readiness levels (MRL) were defined that were based on the Technology Readiness Levels previously established by the US Department of Energy (DOE). NREL assessed the extensive existing hierarchy of MRLs developed by Department of Defense (DoD) and other Federal entities, and developed a MRL scale adapted to the needs of the Fuel Cell Technologies Program (FCTP) and to the status of the fuel cell industry. The MRL ranking of a fuel cell manufacturing facility increases as the manufacturing capability transitions from laboratory prototype development through Low Rate Initial Production to Full Rate Production. DOE can use MRLs to address the economic and institutional risks associated with a ramp-up in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell production. In 2010, NREL updated this assessment, including additional manufacturers, an assessment of market developments since the original report, and a comparison of MRLs between 2008 and 2010.


Running economy (RE) at an intensity above the lactate threshold (LT) is reported to be the most important aerobic capacity for estimating 1,500-m running performance. The reason that the RE at intensity better reflects the energy metabolism during a 1,500-m run, is that it is performed above the LT intensity running. This study clarified the relationship between an 800-m run, which is performed above the LT intensity, and aerobic capacities, including the RE measured at intensities below and above the LT. This study included 12 well-trained male middle-distance runners (800-m velocity: 25.5 ± 0.5 km·h−1, LT intensity: 79.7 ± 5.1% maximal oxygen uptake [VO2max]). Both the RE of below and above the LT intensity were calculated at 65%VO2max (RE65) and 90%V O2max (RE90). The 800-m velocity was not related to the VO2max or the LT intensity (r = -0.16 and -0.10, respectively). This velocity correlated with both RE90 and RE65, with the correlation coefficient being higher for RE90 (r = -0.80 vs -0.75). Furthermore, the coefficient of determination for the 800-m velocity determined from VO2max, LT intensity and RE90 was higher than that determined from V O2max, LT intensity and RE65 (R2 = 0.522 vs 0.428, P = 0.03 vs 0.06). Based on these results, we concluded that the RE at an intensity above the LT might be better than other aerobic capacities for estimating the 800-m running performance, and more than 50% of this performance can be explained by VO2max, LT intensity and RE at an intensity above the LT.


The Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite, onboard the Curiosity rover, has been analyzing the martian environment since August 05th 2012, as one of the main tools of the Mars Science Laboratory mission.
This suite is composed of three independent but interoperable instruments, namely a Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer, a
Tunable Laser Spectrometer and a Gas Chromatograph, plus a sophisticated Sample Manipulation System.
SAM is used to analyze soils, rocks and atmosphere. For instance, it detected in situ martian complex organics for the first time, provide us with a several years survey of the atmospheric composition and helped understand how the martian environment evolved
through the planet history. At 40 kg, it represents half of the scientific payload weight of Curiosity and is one of the two analytical instruments of the mission. This instrument suite is the result of an international collaboration between the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a consortium of French laboratories supported by the Center National d'Etudes Spatiales (the French space agency).
This contribution will present the organization of the SAM operational workflow from the ground infrastructure, to flight operations and
laboratory supporting work. It will also describe how the CNES hosts and supports the SAM team during this exciting mission.


Academic culture in distance occurs in the academic setting where non native English-speaking students and native English-speaking teachers might have different expectations/attitudes toward what good learning/teaching is. Many researchers have argued for the need of exploring the mismatching belief/ expectation about learning and teaching between ESL/EFL students and their native English-speaking teachers. This study aimed to investigate if there are mismatches between EFL Taiwanese students' learning expectation/preference and their native English-speaking teachers' teaching objective/approach in the English conversation class. It further explored what are the Taiwanese college students' learning strategies and adjustment in their native English-speaking teacher's class. Six hundred seventeen Taiwanese English major students from six target colleges of technology in central Taiwan were the participants. The researcher-developed questionnaire was filled out by the six hundred seventeen students. The results of this research yielded positive evidence that academic culture in distance between Taiwanese students and their native English-speaking teachers existed in the classroom. In addition, certain learning strategies related to the student's adjustments to the culture differences were identified. Based on the findings, this research provides not only a framework for understanding Taiwanese students' culture of learning, but also useful suggestions for education in the field of TESL as well as in cross-cultural studies.


Long Short-Term Memory Recurrent Neural Networks (LSTMs) are good at modeling temporal variations in speech recognition tasks, and have become an integral component of many state-of-the-art ASR systems. More recently, LSTMs have been extended to model variations in the speech signal in two dimensions, namely time and frequency [1, 2]. However, one of the problems with two-dimensional LSTMs, such as Grid-LSTMs, is that the processing in both time and frequency occurs sequentially, thus increasing computational complexity. In this work, we look at minimizing the dependence of the Grid-LSTM with respect to previous time and frequency points in the sequence, thus reducing computational complexity. Specifically, we compare reducing computation using a bidirectional Grid-LSTM (biGrid-LSTM) with non-overlapping frequency sub-band processing, a PyraMiD-LSTM [3] and a frequency-block Grid-LSTM (fbGrid-LSTM) for parallel time-frequency processing. We find that the fbGrid-LSTM can reduce computation costs by a factor of four with no loss in accuracy, on a 12,500 hour Voice Search task.


The Agulhas Current, like all western boundary currents, transports salt from the subtropics toward the poles and, on average, acts as a barrier to exchange between the open ocean and continental seas. Uniquely, the Agulhas jet also feeds a leakage of relatively salty waters from the Indian Ocean into the Atlantic Ocean. Despite its significance, the signals and drivers of water mass variability within the Agulhas Current are not well known. To bridge this gap, we use 26 months of moored observations to determine how and why salinity—a water mass tracer—varies across the Agulhas Current. We find that salinity variability is driven by both shifting (i.e., changes in location) and pulsing (i.e., changes in strength) of the current. Shifting of the current causes heave and diapycnal mixing of subtropical, central, and intermediate waters. Diapycnal mixing between central and intermediate waters explains most of the variability, creating salinity anomalies between −0.4 and +0.1 psu. Pulsing of the current drives heave and, to a lesser extent, along-isopycnal mixing within the halocline. This cross-stream mixing results in salinity anomalies of up to 0.3 psu. The mean and standard deviation of Agulhas Current volume and salt transports are −76 and 22 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) and −2650 and 770 Sv psu. Transport-weighted salinity has a standard deviation of 0.05 psu. We estimate that O(1013) kg yr−1 of the salt transported southwestward leaks into the fresher Atlantic Ocean. On the basis of our observations, the variability of the Agulhas Current could alter this salt leakage by an order of magnitude.


Abstract : This final report for the Office of Naval Research Grant NOOOl4-92-J-117O concerns further VPI&SU research to develop and refine active structural acoustic control (ASAC) with active/adaptive structures. The focus is on the development and demonstration of advanced system design and optimization techniques for complex structures and disturbances, and realistic system implementations. This required a highly coordinated analytical and experimental research effort in the three areas of structural acoustics, actuators and sensors and control algorithms. These efforts include further development and refinement of promising new directions from a previous Grant. Significant progress and innovations have been made in structural acoustics, actuators, sensors, control approaches, and related design optimization techniques. Due to the coupled nature of the problem, considerable effort has been given to the interaction of these areas with each other, and their integration for realistic disturbances and applications The investigations have focused on the use of distributed control forces (e.g., distributed piezoelectric strain actuators) and sensors (PvDF), and DSP controllers. Demonstrated technology advancements are highly applicable to acoustic quieting in advanced naval vessel designs in the low frequency range from 10 Hz to 1 kHz.


Land managers are concerned with maintaining crop, forest, and range production. If erosion losses from moderately deep or shallow soils occur faster than the soil is replenished by weathering from underlying bedrock or consolidated sediments, productivity will decline. Therefore, rates of soil formationf can be considered constraints on tolerable soil losses from relatively shallow soils; their long-term soil-loss tolerances can be equated with their rates of formation from bedrock or consolidated sediments. There are few data for determining rates of soil formation, however. Data from small, nonagricultural watershed studies in which the inputs and outputs of silica and the major cations have been measured can be utilized for this purpose. Rates of soil formation, based on these data from 18 watersheds with noncarbonate lithologies, range from 0.02 to 1.9 Mg/ha yr. The rates are most highly dependent on (1) the volume of run-off water and (2) the soil-to-rock ratio, where this ratio is a mass of soil divided by the mass of bedrock weathered to produce that mass of soil. An equation developed to predict rates of soil formation from these two parameters has a very high coefficient of determination, R2 = 0.94.


Streptozotocin-induced diabetes caused an increase in AP and reactivity to noradrenaline in perfused caudal artery of normotensive rats (WKY). In spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) diabetes led to an increase in reactivity not only to noradrenaline but also to alpha 1-agonist phenylephrine; a response to endothelium-dependent agent acetylcholine was decreased. Alterations in function of the vascular endothelium may be one of the factors causing elevation of vasoconstriction in diabetes mellitus.


During treatment of winery and distillery wastewater by natural evaporation in ponds, formation of malodorous compounds induces harmful olfactory effects. In this work, we studied the origin of malodorous compounds and methods to prevent and treat odours. The formation of volatile fatty acids (VFA) from pure substrates (glycerol, lactic and tartaric acids, ethanol) and complex media (winery and distillery wastewater) was studied. Various anaerobic bacteria ferment the glycerol and produce butyric or propionic acid. Valeric and caproic acids were observed at lower concentrations than butyric and propionic acids, but their malodorous intensities were higher. Microflora produce butyric, valeric, caproic, heptanoic and octanoic acids from ethanol, the main component of winery wastewater. When nitrate (an electron acceptor) is added, catabolism leads to an anaerobic respiration phenomenon (denitrification). The organic compounds are oxidised to CO2 and the nitrate is reduced to N2 (odourless compounds), without VFA formation. The preventive treatment of odours by nitrate addition was tested on an industrial scale in winery and distillery ponds. Furthermore, the study took the effect of nitrate on VFA degradation into consideration. The results make it possible to consider using nitrate for the curative treatment of pond odours.


Lamellar ichthyosis (LI) is a rare genetic condition that affects the skin, with an incidence of less than 1:300 000 in different parts of the world. This report describes a case of a 5-year-old girl with LI and rickets presenting with premature loss of 51, 52, 61, 62 and 71, grade II mobility in 72, 73, 81, 82 and 83 along with loss of supporting bone with 53, 63, 72, 73, 82 and 83. This is the first report describing oral manifestations of this combination of LI and rickets.


Our study was focused on the possibility of using essential oils (EOs) in the prevention of biofilm development by microorganisms isolated from patients with diabetic foot. Dominant microorganisms with a strong production of biofilms and effects of EOs on them are presented on the Table. Growth of biofilms was carried out in polystyrene microplates at 37°C for 24 hours. The EOs were extracted from following plants: Matricaria chamomilla (Asteraceae) (MCEO), Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) (EEO), Tanacetum fruticulosum (Asteraceae) (TFEO), Thymus marschallianus (Labiatae) (TMEO) and Artemisia sieversiana (Asteraceae) (ASEO). Serial dilutions of EOs were prepared with dimethyl sulfoxide (1:1 v/v) and then in Mueller-Hinton broth with 0.5% Tween 20. The EOs were diluted to the following dilutions: 12.5%, 6.25%, 3.13%, 1.56%, 0.78%, 0.39%, 0,195%, 0,097%, 0,048%, and 0,024%. The EOs were deposited in wells of microplates with bacterial suspensions at 37°C for 24 hours and then we determined minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) of EOs by OD (optical density) reading at a wave length of 600 nm. According to our study, strong effects of MCEO on gram-positive and gram-negative microbes were shown. The moderate effects were detected for other investigated EOs. Our results encourage research related to the application of essential oils to fight diabetic complications. Disclosure A.B. Nikolayeva: None. S.B. Akhmetova: None. M.A. Gazaliyeva: None. V.B. Sirota: None. V.A. Zhumaliyeva: None. S.R. Zhakenova: None.


While developing boron-catalyzed glycosylations using glycosyl fluoride donors and trialkylsilyl ether acceptors, competing pathways involving productive glycosylation or glycosyl exchange were observed. Experimental and computational mechanistic studies suggest a novel mode of reactivity where a dioxolenium ion is a key intermediate that promotes both pathways through addition to either a silyl ether or to the acetal of an existing glycosidic linkage. Modifications in catalyst structure enable either pathway to be favored, and with this understanding, improved multicomponent iterative couplings and glycosyl exchange processes were demonstrated.


Phytohemagglutinin (PHA), the seed lectin of the common bean, accumulates in protein storage vacuoles of storage parenchyma cells in cotyledons. When expressed in yeast, PHA is efficiently targeted to the yeast vacuole [Tague and Chrispeels (1987). J. Cell Biol. 105, 1971-1979]. To identify vacuolar sorting information in PHA, a series of 3' deletions of the PHA gene were fused in-frame to a truncated yeast invertase gene. An amino-terminal portion of PHA composed of a 20-residue signal sequence and 43 residues of the mature protein efficiently targeted invertase to the yeast vacuole. Internal deletions in a short PHA-invertase fusion showed that targeting information exists between residues 14 and 23 of mature PHA. Based on examinations of three-dimensional structures of related lectins, only a portion of these residues would be available on the surface of PHA for interaction with a putative receptor. Amino acid replacements at these positions in a PHA-invertase hybrid caused secretion of the invertase. The results indicate the presence of a vacuolar targeting domain in PHA that is centered at position 19 of the mature protein. This sequence of PHA also shows sequence identity to a vacuolar sorting domain characterized in yeast carboxypeptidase Y. Single amino acid alterations in a short PHA-invertase hybrid protein that caused the highest levels of secretion introduced a glycosylation site at position 21 of PHA. This observation suggests that glycan addition may interfere with recognition of a sorting determinant. These same amino acid changes did not dramatically increase secretion in a long PHA-invertase fusion or in PHA itself. Thus, a second domain of PHA may function in concert with the first one to bring about correct targeting of PHA.


In this paper, a mathematics-based economic decision model for erecruiting technology investment is introduced to evaluate the economic impact of various e-recruiting technologies. A classical economic order quantity (EOQ) model was extended to include costs uniquely associated with recruiting activities such as staffing and coordination costs. We derive a minimum employment level for an optimal investment in erecruiting technologies. The model suggests that the optimal investment cost increases rapidly near the minimum number of employees to be recruited, but the growth of the optimal e-recruiting technology investment cost slows down as the total number of employees to be recruited becomes greater than the minimum number of employees to be recruited.


Rivers are contaminated constantly by heavy metals from the atmosphere. Considering this fact, the World Health Organization and Environmental Protection Agency recommended qualitative and quantitative assay of heavy metals in drinking water. Although many studies on heavy metals in water have been conducted in other countries, little has been done in Pakistan in this regard. The perspective of this study was to determine Chromium, Copper, Lead, Cadmium, Zinc, Manganese, Iron, Nickel and some light metals, Sodium, Potassium, Calcium and Magnesium levels in the water of Chublat River Hassan Abdal (Pakistan). For this purpose six water samples were collected from the river. Batch mode of studies was performed to evaluate the indigenous properties of the collected samples. Then the concentrations of the metals in water samples were determined by using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. The concentration of some heavy metals such as Chromium, Cadmium, Iron and Nickel in the waters samples were above the permissible levels established by the WHO, Pak-EPA, US-EPA and Canadian limits for drinking water.