To understand better the mechanisms involved in the transduction of a calcium signal into an intracellular response via multiple calcium‐modulated proteins, we have examined the calcium‐modulated proteins, S100 and calmodulin, and their intracellular targets in rat C6 glioma cells. Subconfluent, confluent, and postconfluent C6 cells contain predominantly, if not exclusively, the S100β polypeptide. The level of S100β in C6 cells increases approximately 20‐fold from subconfluency to postconfluency whereas the level of calmodulin increases only about twofold. The subcellular distribution of S100β and calmodulin in mitotic cells is similar. However, the subcellular distribution of these proteins in interphase cells is different and appears to change with cell density. Gel overlay analysis demonstrated that the S100– and calmodulin‐binding protein profiles are significantly different and that some of the binding proteins appear to change in intensity with cell density. These data demonstrate that S100β is the predominant S100 polypeptide in C6 cells and suggest that changes in S100β and S100β‐binding proteins may be involved in regulating S100‐mediated intracellular processes in C6 cells. Our studies also suggest that the levels of S100 and calmodulin may be differentially regulated in C6 cells.


In this paper, we tackle the problem of spatial interpolation for distributed estimation in Wireless Sensor Networks by using a geostatistical technique called kriging. We present a novel Distributed Iterative Kriging Algorithm (DIKA) which is composed of two main phases. First, the spatial dependence of the field is exploited by calculating semivariograms in an iterative way. Second, the kriging system of equations is solved by an initial set of nodes in a distributed manner, providing some initial interpolation weights to each node. In our algorithm, the estimation accuracy can be improved by iteratively adding new nodes and updating appropriately the weights, which leads to a reduction in the kriging variance. As a consequence, each cluster is constructed adaptively by the set of nodes that achieves the best estimation over the sub-area covered by them. We analyze the most influential parameters to implement this algorithm. Finally, we evaluate the performance of our algorithm and we also analyze its complexity.


Abstract:  Palaeophis maghrebianus belongs to the Palaeophiinae (Palaeophiidae). This snake subfamily is relatively poorly known, and it is mainly represented by disarticulated vertebrae and ribs and by a few vertebral segments. Its intracolumnar variability remains also poorly understood. The discovery of new isolated vertebrae and vertebral segments of Palaeophis maghrebianus in the Ypresian (Lower Eocene) Phosphates of Morocco enables us to provide a more detailed diagnosis of this species and to describe its intracolumnar variability. Moreover, the new material reveals that this species could reach gigantic size being, with Palaeophis colossaeus, one of the two longer palaeophiids. The microanatomical and histological analysis of some vertebrae illustrating diverse positions along the vertebral column reveals the presence of osteosclerosis, especially in the anterior and mid‐precloacal regions. The occurrence of this osseous specialization implies a role in buoyancy and body trim control in this taxon, which is considered a shallow marine dweller based on its anatomical features and geological data. Palaeophis maghrebianus also displays a dense vascular network suggesting a growth speed, and thus a metabolic rate, much higher than in the biggest extant snakes.


Graduate Institute of Medical Engineering designs the curriculum to fit students from diverse backgrounds in order to fulfill the needs of medical engineering in the future. The Institute has 23 members of University faculty, full-time or jointly appointed from various departments. They are internationally well known in their individual fields such as biomaterials, drug delivery, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, biosensing, biophotonics, industrial engineering and ergonomics. Many of them receive distinguished awards from the National Science Council and other foundations. In accordance to national development of biotechnology industry and the Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park, this institute integrates university-wise efforts to focus and engage in teaching, research and development of three important fields of medical engineering: nano-biomedical technology, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, and intelligent biomedical systems. In nano-biomedical technology, the goal is to promote integrated research efforts in the forefront of biosensing, nano-materials, biophotonics and liver tissue chips. In tissue engineering and regenerative medicine field, we will put together technology in biomaterials, drug delivery, gene therapy and stem cell technology into integrated products or procedures. These will in turn promote applications in the regeneration of cardiovascular, cornea, neural, cartilage and bone tissues. Intelligent biomedical systems will combine materials, ergonomics and industrial engineering to focus on the development of novel treatment and health care systems, medical information systems, man-machine interfaces and medical devices that based on biomechanics, automation and biosensing technologies.


This paper presents the findings from simulations of the introduction of publicly funded Medical Savings Accounts in the province of Ontario, Canada. The analysis exploits a unique data set linking population-based health survey information with individual-level information on all physician services and hospital services utilization over a four year period. The analysis provides greater detail than have previous analyses regarding: the distributional impacts of publicly funded MSAs across individuals of differing health statuses, incomes, ages and current expenditures; the impact of differing degrees of risk-adjustment for MSA contributions; and the impact of MSA funding over multiple years, incorporating year-to-year variation in spending at the individual level. In addition, it analyses designs for publicly funded MSAs than existing studies. Government uses information available from period t-1 to allocate its budget for year t between MSA contributions and catastrophic insurance in a manner that is actuarially fair for the public sector: the government first withholds funds equal to expected catastrophic insurance payments under the MSA plan, and then allocates only the balance to individual MSA accounts. The government captures the savings associated with reduced health care utilization under MSAs and we examine deductibles that vary by income rather than current health care expenditures. The impacts on public expenditures under these designs are more modest than existing studies and under plausible assumptions MSAs are predicted to decrease public expenditures. MSAs, however, are predicted to have unavoidable negative distributional consequences with respect to both public expenditures and out-of-pocket spending.


Abstract Assessing the population status and dynamics of species is an important component of monitoring efforts aimed at improving understanding of relationships between freshwater mussels (Bivalvia:Unionidae) and their environment. Most freshwater mussel population assessments are conducted using raw count (density, abundance) or presence/absence data but relatively few studies account for potential biases associated with incomplete detection of individuals or species during sampling. We conducted a capture-mark-recapture study over 7 y to assess survival and recapture probabilities of three federally endangered freshwater mussels in a small southeastern U.S. stream. Although similar numbers of mussels were collected among sampling occasions, only a small proportion of the individuals present within the sampling site were collected on any given occasion. Mean apparent survival was 0.81 and did not vary among species or among years. Modeling results indicated that recapture probabilities varied among species, through time, and among individuals as a function of shell length. Recapture probabilities for Pleurobema pyriforme and Medionidus penicillatus increased with increased shell length, whereas recapture probabilities for Hamiota subangulata decreased with increasing shell length. Under the generally accepted assumption of constant recapture among sampling occasions, apparent survival estimates ranged from 0.89 to 0.99 among the three species and decreased for H. subangulata with increased shell length. Our study demonstrates that failure to account for incomplete recapture of freshwater mussels could bias inferences regarding the status and trajectory of mussel populations, which may in turn result in the implementation of ineffective management and conservation strategies.


While machine learning approaches have shown remarkable performance in biomedical image analysis, most of these methods rely on high-quality and accurate imaging data. However, collecting such data requires intensive and careful manual effort. One of the major challenges in imaging the Shoot Apical Meristem (SAM) of Arabidopsis thaliana, is that the deeper slices in the z-stack suffer from different perpetual quality related problems like poor contrast and blurring. These quality related issues often lead to disposal of the painstakingly collected data with little to no control on quality while collecting the data. Therefore, it becomes necessary to employ and design techniques that can enhance the images to make it more suitable for further analysis. In this paper, we propose a data-driven Deep Quantized Latent Representation (DQLR) methodology for high-quality image reconstruction in the Shoot Apical Meristem (SAM) of Arabidopsis thaliana. Our proposed framework utilizes multiple consecutive slices in the z-stack to learn a low dimensional latent space, quantize it and subsequently perform reconstruction using the quantized representation to obtain sharper images. Experiments on a publicly available dataset validate our methodology showing promising results. Our code is available at github.com/agupt013/enhancedRec.git.


Tool construction requires sophisticated cognitive function and is only observed in higher mammals and a few avian species. In this paper, we will examine the spontaneous emergence of tool construction during the simulated evolution of a two-degree-of-freedom articulated limb controller in a reaching task environment. The limb controller is a recurrent neural network with a topology evolved using the NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies (NEAT) algorithm. First, we show how broad fitness criteria such as distance to target, number of successful reaches, number of steps to reach the target, and number of instances holding the correct length tool are enough to give rise to tool construction. Second, we analyze how the number of tools and their location in the environment during evolution affect the evolved neural circuits' ability to detect tool affordances and employ the optimal decision strategy. We expect our results to help us understand the implications of tool use capability and the environmental conditions that may facilitate its development.


Regular patterns in the exploitation of lowland resources can be perceived in the prehistoric and historic records. On the basis of these patterns the lowlands can be divided into two economic zones. The zone of high arable potential is characterised by cereal-based economies and high population levels. The zone of low arable potential supports animal-based economies and low population levels. Economic development has increased the productivity of each of the zones, but the fundamental patterns of exploitation have remained unchanged.


Abstract Ezogabine is a new drug for adjunctive therapy of partial-onset seizures with a novel mechanism of action. As a potassium-channel facilitator, it promotes membrane repolarization and thus opposes rapid repetitive discharges. Side effects are typical for antiepileptic drugs and the safety profile is good. Occasional instances of urinary difficulty may require surveillance.


A novel learnable line segment detector and descriptor is proposed which allows efficient extraction and matching of 2D lines via the angular distance of 128 dimensional unit descriptor vectors. While many handcrafted and deep features have been proposed for keypoints, only a few methods exist for line segments. It is well known, however, that line segments are commonly found in man-made environments, in particular urban scenes, thus they are important for applications like pose estimation, visual odometry, or 3D reconstruction. Our method relies on a 2-stage deep convolutional neural network architecture: In stage 1, candidate 2D line segments are detected, and in stage 2, a descriptor is generated for the extracted lines. The network is trained in a self-supervised way using an automatically collected dataset of matching and non-matching line segments across (substantially) different views of 3D lines. Experimental results confirm the state-of-the-art performance of the proposed L2D2 network on two well-known datasets for autonomous driving both in terms of detected line matches as well as when used for line-based camera pose estimation and tracking.


A purified levan fructotransferase preparation from the culture of the bacterium Arthrobacter ureafaciens, which produces di-D-fructose 2,6':6,2' dianhydride (difructose anhydride IV) from levan by an intramolecular levan fructosyl transfer (ILFT) reaction, was found to produce a trioligofructan and a tetraoligofructan from levan in the presence of levanbiose, indicating the intermolecular fructosyl and levanbiosyl transfer (LFT and LBT) reactions. The tri- and tetraoligofructans were identified to be levantriose and -tetraose respectively. Increase in the levanbiose concentration brought about increased production of both oligofructans with decreased formation of difructose anhydride IV, supporting the previous theory proposed by Tanaka et al. (1983) that the ILFT, LFT, and LBT reactions are catalyzed by the same enzyme. In addition, there existed a roughly stoichiometric relationship between the increase and decrease in the productions of these oligofructans, and the LBT reaction was found to occur more intensively than the LFT reaction. Acceptor specificity of the LFT and LBT reactions was studied using fifteen sugars including mono-, di-, and trisaccharides. The enzyme showed both of the reactions only with levanbiose, -triose, and kestose, indicating that the exposed non-reducing levanbiosyl residue was essential for the acceptor and suggesting the existence of a levanbiosyl acceptor site on the enzyme molecule.


INCIDENCE, ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE AND MILITARY IMPORTANCE OF MALARIA MALARIA is an important disease in the United States and the world. It is widely distributed in all tropical and subtropical countries and over many temperate regions. Prevalence of the different etiological agents varies somewhat geographically. Plasmodium vivax (the vector of tertian malaria) has the widest distribution and is the prevailing species in temperate zones. Plasmodium malariae (the cause of quartan malaria) is comparatively rare; it is mainly a parasite of subtropical and temperate areas. Plasmodium falciparum (the agent of malignant tertian malaria) is encountered chiefly in heavily infected districts in the warmer parts of the world, and the disease it causes has been called "tropical malaria." These three are the important malarial parasites for the human race. Plasmodium ovale is a rare species which causes a mild form of tertian malaria. Plasmodium knowlesi is normally a parasite of rhesus monkeys but


SUMMARY Investigations were conducted between 1977 and 1979 to assess the performance of microbiological tests for detecting and identifying residues of therapeutic-type antibacterial substances in meat and offal. Of the 5442 home-produced meat samples examined, 34 (0·63%) showed inhibitory activity in the screening test, which used Bacillus subtilis BGA and Micrococcus luteus as indicator organisms. Identification by electrophoretic and thin-layer chromatography/bio-autography techniques confirmed that only two of the 34 screen failures were due to true antibacterial residues: a pig sample contained a trace of penicillin and a horse sample contained a trace of an incompletely identified substance resembling a tetracycline. Twelve of the other 32 failures in the screen test were due to naturally produced inhibition and were, thus, falsely positive, whilst the remainder were shown to be negative. All of the 85 (8·7%) screen test failures from the 972 imported meat and offal samples tested were falsely positive. Additional samples from certain animals known to have been given antibiotic treatment were tested concurrently to give a more searching indication of screen and identification test efficacy.


In this work, the effects of NH4Ac on the structural and the electro-optical properties of CdS films were investigated. CdS thin films were deposited on soda-lime glass and indium-tin-oxide (ITO) coated glass from a chemical bath containing 0.025 M cadmium acetate, 0 M ~ 0.2 M ammonium acetate, 0.5 M thiourea, and ammonia. Cadmium acetate was the cadmium source, ammonium acetate served as a buffer, ammonia was the complexing agent, and thiourea was the source of sulfur. A commonl- available chemical bath deposition system was successfully modified to obtain precise control over the pH of the solution at 75 °C during the deposition. Chemically deposited CdS films were studied by using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical transmittance, and electrical resistivity measurements.


In the present work specific heat measurements have been carried out for the Mn-substituted compounds Y0.95Pr0.05Ba2(Cu1-xMnx)3Oy (0 ≤ x ≤ 2%) using the semi adiabatic heat pulse method. Resistivity measurements indicate that resistivity increases with Mn concentration. In the present setup, we could get absolute accuracy in specific heat of about 0.5% for samples of about few hundred mg. The present results show that specific heat jump of 3.8 J/mol K, was observed only for pure Y-123 sample. However no jump was observed in other samples.


This paper is a single case study following an individual diagnosed with CADAS IL ( cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infartes and leukoencoephalopathy) who also has a bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Research and a critical literature review were explored to gather information to further examine the connection between hearing and cognition. Research and methods of pre- and post- testing after cognitive therapy are included and integrated into this paper. Follow-up tests were administered and the results are compared with the previous testing that had been done. Implications involving self-efficacy were further explored in this paper.


Subcooled flow boiling covers the region beginning from the location where the wall temperature exceeds the local liquid saturation temperature to the location where the thermodynamic quality reaches zero, corresponding to the saturated liquid state. Three locations in the subcooled flow have been identified by earlier investigators as the onset of nucleate boiling, the point of net vapor generation, and the location where x = 0 is attained from enthalpy balance equations. The heat transfer regions are identified as the single phase heat transfer prior to ONB, partial boiling (PB), and fully developed boiling (FDB). A new region is identified here as the significant void flow (SVF) region. Available models for predicting the heat transfer coefficient in different regions are evaluated and new models are presented based on our current understanding. The results are compared with some of the experimental data available in the literature.


The influences of the anisotropic permittivity and permeability in inner core on the Fano resonance have been investigated in Ag nanoshell by means of Mie scattering theory. The decreased inner core radius can enhance the coupling between superradiant and subradiant dipole modes and hence a distinct Fano profile. With increasing the tangential permittivity or permeability of inner core, the Fano resonance shows a redshift and the magnitude of Fano profile increases. The variation of Fano resonance with anisotropic permeability of the core is much weaker than that induced by anisotropic permittivity. We further find that the combined action of the increased tangential permittivity and permeability of inner core can induce a significant enhancement of Fano resonance in Ag nanoshell.


In rat ventricular muscle, measurements of the membrane potential with microelectrodes during depolarizing voltage steps showed that deviation of the membrane potential from the command signal were never larger than 15 mV during flow of the fast inward current and that voltage control was regained within 15 ms after the beginning of the voltage step. During the flow of the slow inward current, tail currents elicited by interrupting the time course of the slow current at different time intervals returned exponentially to the steady-state level, thus indicating acceptable voltage control. It is concluded that rat ventricular muscle is a rather favorable preparation for voltage-clapm experiments and this is attributed mainly to the geometry of the preparation.


This study investigated the interaction of child temperament and maternal discipline in the prediction of externalizing problems in early childhood. Interaction effects were evaluated in a sample of 227 one- to three-year-old children with relatively high externalizing problems scores on the Child Behavior Checklist/1 1/2-5. Child temperament was reported by the mothers, maternal discipline was observed in a laboratory session, and child outcome measures included both mother-reported externalizing problems and observed physical aggression. Results indicate that children with difficult temperaments are more susceptible to negative discipline (i.e., they showed more externalizing problems) as well as more susceptible to positive discipline (i.e., they showed fewer externalizing problems and less physical aggression), as compared with children with relatively easy temperaments. These findings provide empirical evidence for the differential susceptibility hypothesis and suggest directions for enhancing the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing early childhood externalizing problems.


The reaction between [CO[sub]2(CO)[sub]8] and CC1[sub]4 has previously been reported to lead to the formation of dichlorocarbene.ln the presence of cyclohexene,the carbene was reported to add to the alkene giving 7,7-dichlorobicyclo[4.1.0]heptane. This reaction has been reinvestigated and it has been shown that the principal pathway involves formation of CC1 [sub]3 radicals, which react with cyclohexene to farm almost equal proportions of twa isomers of 1-chloro-2- (trichloromethyl)cyclohexene (adduct).Carbene formation has been shown tobe only a minor pathway. A mechanism has been praeposed which accounts far these findings.

The addition of CC1[sub]4 to cyclohexene in the presence of a range of metal complexes has been studied. Use of ather dinuclear metal carbonyls gave a higher yield of the adduct than observed with [C0[sub]2(CO[sub]8)].The reactions were also more stereoselective. [RuC1[sub]2(PPh[sub]3)3], [RuH[sub]2(PPh[sub]3)4] and [RuH[sub]3(SiPhMe[sub]2) (PPh[sub]3)3] all gave much higher yields and stereoselectivities.lt has been suggested this is a consequence of a metal complex catalysed reaction mechanism in which radical pair formation plays an important role. The three ruthenium complexes appear to generate the same active catalytic species.

The effect of variation of the phosphine ligand has been studied using [RuC1[sub]2{(4-X-C[sub]6H[sub]4)[sub]3P}[sub]3] (where X=C1,H,Me and MeO) and a clear relationship between catalytic efficiency and the electronic nature of the ligand has been demonstrated for the reaction between oct-1-ene and CC1[sub]4.The relationship is more complex in the case of the analogous cyclohexene reactions which also displayed marked solvent effects, The reactions of both oct-1-ene, cyclohexene and CC1[sub]4 in the presence of [RuCl[sub]2(PPh[sub]3)[sub]3] have been studied in a wide range of solvents. The importance of solvent viscosity in determining yields in these radical reactions has been demonstrated.

A preliminary study of the addition of CC1[sub]4 to cyclo-l,3-dienes was also made with specific emphasis on the investigation of the stereochemistry of the addition products.
A study has also been made of the catalysedsynthesis of lactones by addition of trichloroacetic acid to alkenes in the presence of [RuC1[sub]2(PPh[sub]3)[sub]3]. The reaction has been extended to the synthesis of dibrominated lactones from tribromoacetic acid and alkenes. A method was developed for purification of the bromolactones, as they were found to be suseeptable to thermal decomposition.


Background: Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) caused by a dengue viruses is still a major problem in tropical countries, including Indonesia. World Health Organization data showed that over 40% of world population are at risk of DHF.1In 2014 there were 71.668 of DHF cases in 34 provinces with 641 death.2 In Central Java in 2013, the incidence rate and fatality rate of DHF was 45.52 in 100.000 populations and 1.21% respectively.3 Until nowadays, there is no vaccine or effective therapy is available as yet.4 Thus research on discovering specific antiviral against dengue is needed. Indonesia is rich in indigenous herbal plants, which may has potential antiviral activity, such as Psidium guajava (Jambu biji), Euphorbia hirta (Patikn kerbau), Piper bettle L (Sirih), Carica papaya (Pepaya), Curcuma longa L(Kunyit/turmeric), Phyllanthus niruri L (meniran), Andrographis paniculata (Sambiloto), Cymbopogon citrates (Serai). Previous studies show that these plants have antiviral and antibacterial properties.5However, there is only limited study of these plants against dengue virus . Objective: This study aimed to know whether these plants have potential activity against dengue virus in vitro. Method: Leave extracts of eight indigenous herbal plants as mention before were originated from Solo, Central Java, the crude extracts were tested in vitro against dengue virus serotype 2 (DENV-2) strain NGC using Huh7it-1 cell line. Those crude extracts were screened for antiviral activity using doses of 20mg/ml. Candidates that showed inhibition activity were further tested in various doses to determine IC50 and CC50. Result: From eight leave extracts tested, one of them i.e Carica papaya (pepaya) inhibited virus replication up to 89,5%. Dose dependent assay with C.papaya resulted in IC50, CC50 and selectivity index 6,57 μg/mL, 244,76 μg/mL and 37, 25 μg/mL respectively. Conclusion: C.papaya has potential antiviral activity against dengue virus in vitro. Further study is needed to confirm antiviral activity in vivo.


• Jenny Bimrose, An investigation into the skills and competencies needed by career professionals to deliver internet-based guidance.
• Tannis Goddard, Online career counselling: Developing a pedagogy for e-career learning.
• Tristram Hooley, Careering through the web: Career exploration and the role of careers services

This symposia will explore the role of the careers worker or guidance professional in supporting online career learning. The presentations will set out a vision of how career learning can take place on the web through a variety of technologies and practices.

The presenters will discuss the social actions of giving (information, content and advice) and getting (making meaning and leaning) with consideration to how these activities are altered by moving career guidance into online spaces. The session will ask how far it is possible to translate existing guidance practices and pedagogies online and where these need to be re-imagined.

The growth of social media has also delivered the power to create online content and develop materials for web users at large. With a change in the time and space of online interactions, the learning dynamic becomes more personally defined and this invites further consideration about the blended interplay of online and offline career learning as a socially situated practice.

Within these changing contexts, it is critical to ask what role the professional career guidance practitioner assumes and what resources they can draw on from their existing practice and the new environment to support the development of high quality career learning. The role of the practitioner is further impacted by the design of online spaces and how the client and practitioner come together in a co-constructive process. Critical to this discussion is the consideration of practitioner skills and competencies for effectively participating in online space with clients.

The presenters will provide a discussion framework for internet-based career learning focused on design and delivery approaches that locate these emerging questions

Key topics to be covered include:
• how to develop a common vocabulary for online guidance and career learning;
• the interface between e-learning and e-guidance – pedagogical and practical considerations;
• blended guidance – how we can draw together e-guidance with face-to-face guidance;
• the nature of the web 2.0 world;
• digital literacy and the digital natives;
• practitioner competencies and skills relevant to internet-based guidance; and
• the implications for 'expertise' in the careers intervention.


In the visionary view of the future Internet, named the Next Generation Internet, a current idea is to have a user-centric approach where human behavior models will be used to define the networks or to manage services. During the last years, a great trend in current Social Media platforms is to offer the opportunity to establish and join groups of people online. Despite human behaviour in current Online Social Media have been studied in depth, characteristics of these aggregations of people in content-based communities are still unknown. In this paper, we propose an evaluation of micro-communities of users inside the big network of Facebook groups to understand how and when users are active, and to evaluate the evolution of these micro-communities over time. Results show that almost all groups showed interactions-based communities. We found out that in all cases there is one massive core community which attracts small communities.


This paper focusses on the phenomenon of emancipation in the Whistle-shake, an epigamic display of male shelducks. A comparison with other motor patterns and vocalizations indicates, that the Whistle-shake is a combination of the comfort movement Body-shake, with integrated elements of another display: Bill-tipping with trill. Between Whistle-shake and Body-shake almost no differences exist in total duration, duration of the sub-units they have in common, and in the number of shaking elements. Artificial rain experiments revealed that the Whistle-shake is not emancipated from the original causal factor, typically influencing the present occurrence of the Body-shake: All males predominantly produced Whistle-shakes when sprayed with water. In addition social factors influence the occurrence of the Whistle-shake. The percentage of shakes consisting of a Whistle-shake was higher in dominant than in subdominant birds. Furthermore, by confronting territorial pairs in spring with either a whistle-shaking or a body-shaking male or an empty neighbouring cage we found that the whistle-shaking male released more Whistle-shakes in the test-males than the body-shaking male. In contrast the test-females, which predominantly produced Body-shakes, did not show any changes in their shaking behaviour in response to the different shaking stimuli presented. Therefore it seems likely that the Whistle-shake and the Body-shake share causal comfort factors but differ in their sensitivity for social stimuli. Context analyses demonstrate that the Whistle-shake shows a sequential association with aggression in dominant males and with escape behaviour in a subdominant males. Therefore, the occurrence of the Whistle-shake is not restricted to a specific balance between the activation of motivational systems for aggression and fear. The dual function of the Whistle-shake (comfort and social function) is discussed.


Briana Joy Frieda: Crafting a Career: Ethel Waters and Cabin in the Sky (Under the direction of Jocelyn Neal) Ethel Waters (1896–1977) was a path-breaking African American entertainer whose career spanned nearly sixty years, moving from vaudeville to Hollywood. This thesis addresses the 1943 film Cabin in the Sky as a pivotal moment in Waters's dramatic output, with her playing a role that served as culmination of the themes of her earlier career and as the transition to a new type of character. Beginning before Cabin, and moving through the end of her career, this analysis draws from biographical accounts in combination with close readings of the film to trace four main characteristics that govern her career and public persona: her assertion of creative control, her personal conflicts with female co-stars, her public expressions of religious piety, and her complex experiences with the racial politics of her era. Her oft-overlooked portrayal in Cabin offers insight into the tensions and contradictions that shaped her career and legacy.


Inactivating mutations in ARID1A are found in a broad spectrum of cancer types, with the highest frequency in gynecologic cancers. However, therapeutic strategies targeting ARID1A-mutant cancer cells remain limited. In this study, we aimed to identify drugs sensitivities in ARID1A-mutant cancer cell lines. By analyzing the Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer database, we found that ARID1A-mutant cancer cell lines were more sensitive to treatment with the reactive oxygen species (ROS)-inducing agent elesclomol. In a panel of 14 gynecologic cancer cell lines, treatment with elesclomol inhibited growth and induced apoptosis more potently in ARID1A-mutant cells. Knockdown of ARID1A in RMG1 and OVCA432 ovarian cancer cells resulted in increased sensitivity to elesclomol, whereas restoration of ARID1A expression in TOV21G ovarian cancer cells resulted in increased resistance to elesclomol. Furthermore, we found that knockdown of ARID1A expression resulted in increased intracellular ROS levels. In ovarian clear cell carcinoma patient samples, low expression of ARID1A correlated with high expression of 8-hydroxyguanosine, a marker for oxidative stress. In summary, we demonstrate for the first time that loss of ARID1A leads to accumulation of ROS and suggest that elesclomol may be used to target ARID1A-mutant gynecologic cancer cells.


The encapsulation of the complex [Ni(dto)(2)](2-) within an oxothiododecamolybdic cyclic cluster has been investigated. The resulting molybdenum ring, [Mo(12)O(12)S(12)(OH)(12)(Ni(dto)(2))](2-), corresponds to the first example of the {Mo(2)O(2)S(2)}-based assembly arranged around a 3d transition-metal complex. It was unambiguously characterized in the solid state and in solution by FT-IR spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, NMR, UV-visible spectroscopy, and electrospray ionization-high-resolution mass spectrometry (ESI-HRMS). The latter technique revealed to be a powerful tool for the characterization of templated molybdenum ring systems in solution and gave excellent results in high resolution. The electronic spectrum of [Mo(12)O(12)S(12)(OH)(12)(Ni(dto)(2))](2-) evidenced a strong red shift of the LMCT bands attributed to the complex [Ni(dto)(2)](2-), suggesting significant variations of the electronic properties upon its encapsulation within the Mo(12) ring. These differences were demonstrated by electrochemical studies in CH(3)CN, which also revealed, for both compounds [Ni(dto)(2)](2-) and [Mo(12)O(12)S(12)(OH)(12)(Ni(dto)(2))](2-), electrocatalytic properties for the reduction of protons. These results evidence the ability of dithioxalato complexes to act as electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and confirm such a property for oxothiomolybdenum rings.


ABSTRACT This study describes a model to intervene in communities affected by the political violence impacting the Ayacucho region of Peru since 1980s. Many community members still experience psychosocial consequences to this day due primarily to grief. Thirty-eight professionals from different sectors in the area received specialized training and implemented five community projects that were accompanied and monitored in the field by a team of community psychologists. This article is grounded on the principles of participation, building community capacity, and community strengthening. We present the analysis of five community action plans implemented over a period of 14 months. The results show a process of internal strengthening of community services and the identification of new social and community resources among the people involved in the action plans. The implications of capacity building for improving community mental health are discussed.


use of labyrinthine signs and symptoms in the differential diagnosis of allied labyrinthine affections is very carefully worked out. It is to be noted that the fact is emphasised that, in diffuse labyrinthine suppuration, the radical operation alone—without at the same time opening and draining the labyrinth—actually adds to the danger of intracranial infection. In suspected lateral sinus thrombosis, Kerrison is opposed to opening the sinus unless there is very definite evidence of the presence of a clot. He confesses, however, that this view will not have the support of many distinguished aural surgeons. Aspiration movements of the sinus are, he has found, very suggestive of the presence of a thrombus. The chapters dealing with aural operations are satisfactory. In operating for acute mastoiditis he does not consider it advisable to take too much pains to secure a smooth bone cavity; too great smoothness, he believes, interferes with the formation of granulations. In the radical mastoid operation he does not favour primary skin-grafting. Valuable chapters are those on the use of salvarsan and vaccines in the treatment of aural disease. With regard to the former, the author gives its indications, with statistics dealing with the frequency of cranial nerve lesions following its use. He considers the leucocyte extract of His to be of decided value in selected cases. Although there is little that is original or entirely new in Dr. Kerrison's text-book, it is valuable from the fact that it brings into line most of the latest work upon its subject, and, as such, it should prove of great use to students and practitioners of otology. Macleod Yearsley.


2'-5' and 3'-5' dinucleoside monophosphates containing 4-thiouridine were prepared by the thiolation of the cytosine containing compounds and purified by chromatography on a DEAE-Sephadex column. The chromatographic and optical properties of the isomers are compared.


royal colleges and faculties and hope that in due course further co-ordination between specialties will be achieved. We have no wish to set up yet another medical association. We wish to provoke the support and encouragement of senior colleagues in the royal colleges which is so necessary to combat the mounting threat to the standards of hospital care in Britain. The art and science of medicine remain the sole responsibility of the royal colleges and they have a clear duty to defend standards. The pre-eminence of British practice has been achieved by the efforts of previous generations of doctors and we must not betray the past.


Since transistor small signal parameters are functions of the dc emitter current (Ie) and of the dc collector voltage (Vc), gain control can be achieved by varying either Ie or Vc. The gain decreases with decreasing 1e or Vc. Using the series-parallel representation, the parameter most sensitive to Ie-variations is h11, whereas Vc-variations affect h12 and h22 considerably. In common emitter configuration changes of h21 are also important. A study of the dependance of the hii on the dc operating point explains the nature of gain variations with Ie and Vc. Satisfactory AGC circuits have been built using either Ie- or Vc-control. The control power required is very small if Ie or Vc are controlled indirectly by varying the base current. Since Ie or Vc are decreased considerably in the presence of strong input signals, the problem of distortion must be given serious consideration. Due to the variation of transistor driving point impedances, AGC may result in changes of the bandpass characteristic of tuned amplifiers. The gain of transistor converters and oscillator-converters can be controlled by conventional or special techniques.


Object detection plays a vital role in many real-world computer vision applications such as self-driving cars, human-less stores and general purpose robotic systems. Convolutional Neural Network(CNN) based Deep Learning has evolved to become the backbone of most computer vision algorithms, including object detection. Most of the research has focused on detecting objects that differ significantly e.g. a car, a person, and a bird. Achieving fine-grained object detection to detect different types within one class of objects can be crucial in tasks like automated retail checkout. This research has developed deep learning models to detect 200 types of similar birds. The models were trained and tested on CUB-200-2011 dataset. To the best of our knowledge, by attaining a mean Average Precision (mAP) of 71.5% we achieved an improvement of 5 percentage points over the previous best mAP of 66.2%.


Metals: mine drainage, removal, toxicity.- Metal bioaccumulation by Pseudomonas: a way to bioremediation.- Detection of heavy metal ion resistance genes in lead-resistant bacteria.- Stress responses of three Pseudomonas species and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia to heat and selected pollutants.- Use of a luminescent bacterial biosensor for biomonitoring and characterisation of arsenic toxicity of chromated copper arsenate (CCA).- Genetic engineering and its potential for mercury(II) bioremediation.- Siderophore alcaligin E production by Alcaligenes eutrophus CH34: features of the ale-operon and application perspectives of alcaligin E for leaching of heavy metals.- Bacterial sulfate reduction treatment of mining-related wastewaters: pilot plant results.- Study of cadmium uptake and accumulation in Lactobacillus plantarum and Escherichia coli.- Biosorption and desorption studies of chromium(III) by free and immobilised rhizobium (BJVr 12) cells.- The interactive effect of environmental carcinogens namely Cd and Ni on rat DNA.- Adsorption and uptake of nickel by Chlamydomonas acidophilus.- A molecular approach to understanding aluminum tolerance in soybean (Glycine max L.).- Biosorption of heavy metals by Aspergillus niger.- Biosorption of copper by living Phanerochaete chrysosporium mycelium.- Waste treatment/monitoring.- Codigestion of olive oil mill wastewaters together with manure, household waste or sewage sludge.- Controlled release of herbicides from biodegradable matrices.- Accelerated coffee pulp composting.- Fungal biomass estimation in batch solid substrate cultivation using asymptotic observation.- Multivariable model predictive control of a solid substrate pilot bioreactor: A simulation study.- An aseptic pilot bioreactor for solid substrate cultivation processes.- Treatment of wastewater from a multi-product food processing company, in upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors: The effect of seasonal variation.- Analysis of immobilised cell bioreactors for desulfurisation of flue gases and sulfite/sulfate laden wastewater.- Sensor technology applied to the environment.- The effects of increasing the concentration and distribution of a synthetic wastewater to a modified bench scale rotating biological contactor.- Solid substrate fermentation of agroresidues for value added products: the Malaysian experience.- Treatment of oily soil with microbes in the laboratory.- The treatment of cumene hydroperoxide containing wastewaters.- Bioremediation: In situ/Rectors/Basic Studies.- Risk assessment at a JP-4 contamination site after active remediation.- Detection of bacterial DNA sequences via oligonucleotidebased biosensors.- Expectations for commercial adoption of new heavy metal bioremediation technologies.- Preliminary respirometer studies for the bioremediation of PAH contaminated soils.- Innovative bioremediation technologies: The DOD/AATDF contribution.- Bench scale investigations of the effects of biosurfactants on the bioavailability of hydrocarbon contaminants.- Accumulation of catechol by a wild-type strain of Rhodococcus from benzene.- Anaerobic degradation and production of alkane/alkene by a new facultative chemoautotrophic bacterium strain HD-1.- Biodegradation.- Gas-phase methyl ethyl ketone biodegradation in a tubular biofilm reactor: microbiological and bioreactor aspects.- and PCR detection of Desulfomonile tiedjei in soil slurry microcosms.- Enhancement of the biodegradability of wastewater containing recalcitrant or inhibitory chemical compounds by photocatalytic pre-oxidation.- Anaerobic bioremediation of explosives-contaminated soil: a laboratory study.- Evaluation of high molecular weight PAH degradation by a pyrene-enriched microbial community in inoculated soils.- Application of bioreactors for bioremediation.- Biodegradation pathway of atrazine in soil of northern Israel.- Kinetics and population dynamics during biodegradation of phenol by a binary mixed culture.- 'Soft' remediation strategies: examples for activation of microbiological self-cleaning potencies in contaminated water, sediment and soil.- Rapid detection of the phenol-carboxylating strain 6, an anaerobic gram-positive bacterium, in soil by PCR.- The application of nitrate as an alternative electron acceptor for the remediation of contaminated sites.- Biofortified farming systems for sustainable agriculture and improved environment.- Rapid bioassessment of intermittent streams in the Upper Brazos River watershed.- Potentialities of nitrophenols-degrading microorganisms.- Comparative competitiveness of strains degrading xenobiotics and microorganisms from various ecosystems.- Isolation and characterisation of a new lipopeptide biosurfactant produced by Arthrobacter sp. MIS38.- Respirometric protocol to evaluate acute microbial inhibition in activated sludge.


Abstract It has been recently proposed DeVito [(2019) On the meaning of Fermi's paradox. Futures, 389–414] that a minimal number of contacts with alien radio-communicative civilizations could be justified by their logarithmically slow rate of growth in the Galaxy. Here we further develop this approach to the Fermi paradox, with the purpose of expanding the ensemble of the possible styles of growth that are consistent with the hypothesis of a minimal number of contacts. Generalizing the approach in DeVito (2019), we show that a logarithmic style of growth is still found. We also find that a style of growth following a power law would be admissible, however characterized by an exponent less than one, hence describing a sublinear increase in the number of communicative civilizations, still qualitatively in agreement with DeVito (2019). No solutions are found indicating a superlinear increase in the number of communicative civilizations, following for example an exponentially diverging law, which would cause, in the long run, an unsustainable proliferation. Although largely speculative, our findings corroborate the idea that a sublinear rate of increase in the number of communicative civilizations in the Galaxy could constitute a further resolution of Fermi paradox, implying a constant and minimal – but not zero – number of contacts.


This paper addresses the fault detection and fault estimation issues for linear discrete time invariant (LTI) systems subject to unknown disturbances. The underlying problems are investigated based on the generalized KYP lemma in the finite frequency domain. In this paper, a new LMIs solution to the fault detection issue is proposed, which is slightly different from the available result and the set of LMIs are also simpler. A fault estimation method which focus on estimating the low frequency faults is also proposed. The fault detection and fault estimation techniques are further applied to a lab robotic manipulator.


Background The pathogenesis of slow transit constipation (STC) is associated with exosomal miR-34c-5p. Electroacupuncture (EA) improves gastrointestinal motility in gastrointestinal disorders, especially STC. Our study aimed to explore the mechanism by which EA improves intestinal motility by modulating the release of exosomes and the transmission of exosomal miR-34c-5p. Methods Fifty rats were randomly divided into five groups. STC model rats were induced, and GW4869, the exosome release inhibitor, was used to inhibit the release of exosome. The serum exosomes were authenticated under a transmission electron microscope and nanoparticle tracking analysis. RT-qPCR detected the expression of miR-34c-5p in serum exosomes and colonic tissues. The fecal number in 24 hours, Bristol scores, and intestinal transit rates were used to assess intestinal motility. Subsequently, hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining was used to examine the colonic mucosal histology. Finally, the expression of stem cell factor (SCF) and receptor tyrosine kinase (c-Kit) protein was measured using immunohistochemistry staining. Results We found that EA upregulated exosomal miR-34c-5p in serum and downregulated miR-34c-5p in colonic tissues (P < 0.01). EA improved fecal numbers in 24 hours, Bristol scores, and intestinal transit rates in STC rats (P < 0.01). EA recovered the colonic histological structure and enhanced the expression of SCF and c-Kit protein (P < 0.01). The therapeutic effect of EA was attenuated after inhibiting the release of the exosome. Conclusion Our results indicated that EA improves intestinal motility in STC rats by transporting of exosomal miR-34c-5p targeting the SCF/c-Kit signaling pathway.


In the long-wavelength approximation it has been shown in several papers within the last 20 years that an elastic medium composed of alternating homogeneous isotropic layers of two different constituents is equivalent both kinematically and dynamically to a homogeneous transversely isotropic medium. Such a fact excludes uniqueness in inverting seismic data for these particular cases. A comparison of the seismic responses of the equivalent media is made by constructing synthetic seismograms using the reflectivity (numerical integration) method and the asymptotic ray approach. For the sake of simplicity the SH case only is considered. The preferable approach when considering media of this type is found to be the asymptotic ray approximation as the CPU time required is a fraction of that used in the reflectivity method for comparable results.


In this work, several results are presented on the variability of monthly water inflow volumes (MIV) for the dams located on the rivers of the Gulf of California continental watershed. Monthly series of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation index PDO (1900 to 1999), rainfall (1921 to 1999), and MIV (1939 to 1999) were used for the analyses. Applying the Varimax Rotated Empirical Orthogonal Function analysis to MIV series, "Northern" and "Southern" regions were separated, being this result in agreement with the climatic characteristics of the study area. The rainfall-PDO relationship was found to be in-phase in winter for both regions during the entire analyzed period (1921-1999). In summer, the relationship was out-of-phase during 1956-1974 and in-phase in 1987-1991 for both regions. The results show a stable relationship in winter between the rainfall and the oceanic conditions, which agrees with the arid character of the study zone. In summer, the results imply a more remarkable influence of other than local factors of climate variability, like the mesoscale convective systems, the Mexican Monsoon and the Pacific tropical storms, the main sources of humidity in summer. The relationship between rainfall and PDO-index in winter suggests that during the next decade, in which the PDO seems to change to its cool phase, winters could continue to be dry and the inflow volumes for the dams could continue to be below normal.


Histological sections of 178 large-fragment and small-fragment fresh autogenous and homogenous bone implants in the anterior chamber of the rat's eye, studied for as long as thirty weeks after implantation, revealed the following:
1. Fresh large-fragment cancellous autografts gave rise to early vigorous new-bone formation which produced an ossicle incorporating marrow substance about three weeks after implantation. The shape of this ossicle appeared to be determined by the stresses in the anterior chamber of the eye. There was no inflammatory reaction, and the bone continued to grow throughout the experimental period.
2. Fresh large-fragment cancellous homografts produced early new bone, but this died at the end of two weeks. A late phase of bone formation composed of scanty lamellar new bone appeared at eight weeks and still persisted at the end of the experiment thirty weeks after implantation. A mild local inflammatory reaction was associated with this implant.
3. Fresh large-fragment cortical autografts and homografts produced scanty, lamellar new bone which was closely applied to the graft surface. The cortical homograft in contrast to the autograft produced early-phase and late-phase new-bone formation, as well as a mild local inflammatory reaction.
4. Small-fragment fresh cancellous and cortical autografts and homografts did not produce any appreciable new bone. A more intense inflammatory reaction was incited by this type of graft than by the large-fragment bone implants; this reaction enhanced the process of resorption of the small-fragment transplants.
5. The evidence from these studies indicates that cellular elements of the large-bone fragments may survive and proliferate in the anterior chamber of the rat's eye to produce new bone in the early period following transplantation. Fragmentation of bone, however, creates a medium unsuitable for cellular survival and destroys the osteogenetic activity of the graft.
6. New-bone formation brought about by metaplastic change in the host cells in these experiments appeared to be the result of prolonged direct contact with large-fragment homografts until the late-phase new-bone formation had developed. Similarly, the two solitary instances of late-phase new-bone formation associated with small-fragment grafts (homogenous cortical and cancellous and autogenous cortical) appeared to be examples of new bone induced by contact of the transplanted bone tissue with the host cells.


This thesis investigates the problem of statistical hedging with artificial neural networks (ANNs). The statistical hedging is a data-driven approach that derives hedging strategy from data and hence does not rely on making assumptions of the underlying asset. Consider an investor who sells an option and wishes to hedge it with some amount of underlying asset. ANNs can be used to determine this number by minimising the discrete hedging error. In the first chapter, we provide a comprehensive literature review of papers on the topic of using ANNs for option pricing and hedging, as well as other related ones. Based on our research experience and summary of papers, we provide several advices that we believe are critical in using ANNs for option pricing and hedging problem. In particular, we point out an existing information leakage issue in the literature when preparing data. This review is invaluable for future researchers who are wish to work in this topic. In the second chapter, we consider the hedging problem in the single period case. The ANN is designed to output a hedging ratio directly, instead of first learning to prices. The experiments are taken on simulated Black-Scholes (BS), Heston, end-of-day S&P 500, and tick Euro Stoxx 50 datasets. The results show the ANN can significantly outperform the BS benchmark, but is only comparable to linear regressions on sensitivities. Hence, we illustrate that the edge of the two statistical hedging methods arises mainly from the existence of the leverage effect. Moreover, the information leakage found in the literature is reproduced. It's shown that a wrong in- and out-of-sample split can overestimate the performance of statistical hedging methods. This leakage can be further exploited by tagging independent variables. Building on the previous chapter, sensitivity analysis are given in the third chapter. They concern data cleaning on the two historical datasets, different simulation parameters of the two simulated datasets, and data preparations. In particular, we show that the statistical hedging methods can also exploit drift and convexity apart from the leverage effect. In the last chapter, our model is extended to multiple periods on the Black-Scholes data. The replicating portfolio is rebalanced with a fixed frequency over the option's life. We show again the ANN and linear regression methods outperform the BS benchmark, and their performance are comparable.


The combined approach of gas phase IR-UV ion dip spectroscopy experiments and DFT-based molecular dynamics simulations for theoretical spectroscopy reveals the 3D structures of (Ac-Phe-OMe)1,2 peptides using their far-IR/THz signatures. Both experimental and simulated IR spectra are well-resolved in the 100-800 cm-1 domain, allowing an unambiguous assignment of the conformers, that could not be achieved in other more congested spectral domains. We also present and make proofs-of-principles for our newly developed theoretical method for the assignment of (anharmonic) vibrational modes from MD simulations based on graph theory coupled to APT-weighted internal coordinates velocities DOS spectra. The principles of the method are reviewed, applications to the simple gas phase water and NMA (N-methyl-acetamide) molecules are presented, and application to the more complex (Ac-Phe-OMe)1,2 peptidic systems shows that the complexity in assigning vibrational modes from MD simulations is reduced with the graphs. Our newly developed graph-based methodology is furthermore shown to allow an easy comparison between the vibrational modes of isolated monomer(s) and their complexes, as illustrated by the (Ac-Phe-OMe)1,2 peptides.


The functional diversity of native mesorhizobial genotypes nodulating chickpea was assessed using two chickpea cultivars under pot culture conditions. The symbiotic effectiveness ratio of the mesorhizobial genotypes showed the existence of wide functional diversity among the isolates in Haryana soils. Mesorhizobial isolates belonging to the third genotype (MG III) were more efficient than the other genotypes. The majority of the isolates (94%) had intermediate effectiveness and only a very small percentage (2%) were ineffective, while 4–6% of the isolates were highly effective with a symbiotic ratio > 4.0. These included CP2381A, CP741, CP1423 and CP2437. Among all the isolates, strain CP2381A was the most efficient isolate for both cvs HC1 and HC5. The symbiotic ratio of the shoot N contents varied for both the cultivars after inoculation with mesorhizobial isolates from different districts. The most efficient chickpea mesorhizobial isolates were found to be present in soils from the Bhiwani district followed by that from RDS Farm, Hisar, but isolates from Mahendragarh, Fatehabad and Jhajjar were less efficient.


Antiviral treatment of acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been shown to be highly effective,1 but it is still unclear whether this kind of treatment should be applied to all acutely infected patients. Treatment decisions must be weighed against the danger of developing a chronic course and the possibility to clear the virus spontaneously. Furthermore, treatment costs and side effects are also of importance. Also, the optimal time point to start treatment after acute infection remains to be determined. In this respect, we read with great interest the article by Hofer et al.2 that showed that measurements of serum hepatitis C viral load early during the acute phase of the infection was not only helpful to differentiate patients with spontaneous viral clearance from those who developed chronic infection, but was also a useful parameter to guide timing of antiviral treatment. Thus, HCV RNA became negative early (on average, 35 days) after onset of symptoms in all patients with spontaneous viral clearance, whereas continuously elevated viral levels were found in patients who developed a chronic course of the disease. As a consequence, the authors concluded that antiviral therapy should be restricted to patients without early viral clearance. Although we basically agree with this conclusion, we would like to give a brief notice of caution regarding the durability of spontaneous viral clearance in this situation. We recently followed-up 2 female patients (ages 25 and 38 years, respectively) suffering from acute icteric hepatitis C who had early viral clearance and suffered a viral relapse as long as up to 6 months after HCV RNA became negative for the first time (Fig. 1). These data clearly show that one cannot always be sure that infection is cured when HCV RNA has become negative early after onset of symptoms and therefore follow-up during the first 6 months after spontaneous viral clearance should be taken into consideration. The phenomenon of viral relapse after spontaneous clearance in acute hepatitis C already has been shown by Gerlach et al.3 and was associated with the failure of a HCV-specific proliferative CD4 T-cell response initially present during the phase of viral clearance. In conclusion, with respect to our clinical observation, we strongly recommend a further 6 months of follow-up of patients who have a spontaneous clearance of HCV.


ABSTRACT We report the first case of Enterococcus cecorum empyema thoracis and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in a 44-year-old man with underlying cirrhosis. The patient responded to cefotaxime (MIC, 0.25 μg/ml) treatment and drainage of the empyema. Susceptibility of E. cecorum to expanded-spectrum cephalosporins could be due to its production of types of penicillin-binding proteins similar to those produced by Streptococcus species rather than to those produced by Enterococcus species (as predicted by phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences).


Warfarin is a coumarin derivative oral anticoagulant with a narrow therapeutic international normalized ratio (INR) range. Regular and accurate INR monitoring is essential for optimal anticoagulation management and to reduce the risk of adverse events. However, achieving and maintaining the therapeutic INR range are still a challenge as it is affected by several clinical and non-clinical factors. In this review paper, we analyzed how the non-clinical factors like socio-demographic, modifiable risk and protective factors affect the INR control in patients receiving warfarin therapy. We conducted an extensive literature search in Pubmed, Embase, Scopus and Web of Science for original articles or review papers published from 2016 to 2020. Finally, we included 20 articles in this review which fulfilled the selection criteria. Multiple factors such as female gender, ethnicity difference, lower education level, living alone, activities of daily living dependency, smoking, alcohol abuse, fasting and low body mass index along with poor access to medical facilities are associated with poor INR control. Patient self-management and weight elevation are known to be protective factors against poor INR control. Physicians managing patients on warfarin therapy are encouraged to identify and recognize these factors before prescribing warfarin to achieve and maintain the therapeutic INR.


Investigation of exophthalmos and blood-colored discharge from the left
ventral punctum in a dog was consistent with a conjunctival cyst. 3-D
prints of the cyst and surrounding facial bones identified a successful
transconjunctival approach without an orbitotomy and patency of the left
lacrimal duct was re-established.


In this article, the case of eighteen-year-old Jacob Hunt, the main character of Jodi Picoult's book entitled House Rules (W naszym domu in Polish translation) is discussed. Jacob is an example of a literary character with features similar to those of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). He suffers from Asperger syndrome, which belongs to ASD (autism spectrum disorder). That is why he finds it difficult to develop communication skills, which translates into disturbed communication. The disturbances involve difficulties in acquiring and applying social rules as well as having specific narrow interests. The author of this article points out the linguistic, as well as non-linguistic behaviour of the protagonist, which are specific for autism spectrum disorder. She also draws attention to the role that popular literature plays in creating the image of people with ASD and in popularizing information about this disorder.


A multifrequency piezoelectric sound-generating system is provided with a piezoelectric vibrator for generating audible sound at two or more resonance frequencies, an oscillator circuit connected to the piezoelectric vibrator for oscillating at one of the resonance frequencies, and a modulator circuit connected to the oscillator circuit for amplitude-modulating the oscillator circuit with a modulating frequency substantially equal or close to a frequency separation between the resonance frequencies to energize the piezoelectric vibrator with frequency-modulated waves to generate multifrequency audible sound. The modulator circuit may have a frequency divider that is operative in response to an oscillating frequency in the oscillator circuit for dividing or counting down the oscillating frequency into the modulating frequency to modulate the oscillator circuit therewith. The piezoelectric vibrator may include a diaphragm, a generally rectangular metal sheet which is smaller in size than the diaphragm and mounted on the diaphragm, and a sheet of a piezoelectric material mounted on the metal sheet.


It is well known that the pulse-height spectrum for the two-electrode parallel plate ionization chamber is rectangular in shape with the lower and upper bounds due to the charged particles making angles 0 o and 90 o respectively with the electric field. Clearly, by allowing charged particles of narrow range of angles only, the pulse-height spectrum can be reduced to a narrow peaking spectrum. We have made Monte Carlo simulation of the pulse-height spectra for alpha particles of energies in the range 3 - 9 MeV for the above ionization chamber for several electrode separations and for several narrow angular openings and optimized the electrode separation for each angular opening in order to get a linear peak position versus alpha energy plot. Each combination of the electrode separation and angular opening with the linear plot of peak position versus energy then makes the detector an important tool for identifying the alpha activities due to different natural alpha emitters found in the rock samples, sediments and environment. The emission of the charged particles from the source, charge carrier generation in the active volume, transport of the charge carriers, induction of charges on the electrodes, pulse shaping with a simple CR-RC network having pole-zero cancellation, etc. have been incorporated in these simulations. Some of these results have already been verified experimentally. Further experimental work is in progress.


Objective Outcome data for oocyte vitrification for fertility preservation are still scarce despite the scientific and technological advances. Studies suggest that patients with cancer have worse outcomes regarding mature vitrified oocytes when compared to healthy patients. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the oocyte vitrification response in patients undergoing elective and oncofertility preservation. Methods The ovarian stimulation response was verified by a cross-sectional and observational study, analyzing data from 367 patients between 2009 and 2018, which were divided into elective group (EG; n=327) and oncofertility group (OFG; n=40). The number of follicles, oocytes, mature oocytes, and duration of the cycle was evaluated, which were compared with clinical and ovarian stimulus data between groups. Results A significant difference in women's age (31.3±5.8 vs. 37.0±2.9 years; p<0.01) and basal values of Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), (4.0 [3.3 - 6.2] vs. 9.0 [5.4 - 9.9] mIU/mL; p<0.01) were observed. When adjusting data for age, FSH and Gonadotropin-releasing Hormone protocols, no significant difference in the number of vitrified mature oocytes between the two groups were observed (6.0 [3.0-11.0] vs. 7.0 [3.0-12.0]; p=0.11). Conclusions Thus, patients undergoing elective and oncofertility preservation seem to respond similarly to controlled ovarian stimulation for fertility preservation. Breast cancer was the most frequent in the OFG (67%).


Considering the gravitational correction through introduction of weakly interacting light vector U bosons, not only the equation of state (EoS) of the neutron star matter, but also the cooling properties of neutron stars may be changed. In this work, effects of gravitational correction on neutrino emission and cooling of neutron stars in the matter with neutrons, protons, electrons, muons, Δ− and Δ0 are studied by the relativistic mean field theory and the related cooling theory. The results show that the effects are sensitive to the ratio of coupling strength to mass squared of U bosons, defined as gU. With increasing gU, the radial region where direct Urca process of nucleons can be allowed in a neutron star with the fixed mass becomes narrower, while the neutrino emissivity is somewhat higher. Moreover, the gravitational correction suppresses the effects of Δ− on neutrino emission. The gravitational correction leads the star to cool faster, and the higher the gU is, the faster the star cools.


With the widespread adoption of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, a large number of people decide to adopt the instant communication application which allows them to communicate by texting and video calling for free. LINE application is one of the most popular messaging application in Asia. Hence, LINE offers special service where users are able to send graphical stickers to express their emotions which can either be purchased or obtained for free to download from the Sticker Shop. The objective of this study is to identify the significant factors influencing the intention to purchase digital stickers of male and female consumers in Thailand. Online questionnaires were distributed to the target population, and only results from respondents with experience of downloading stickers were analysed. Two hundred respondents from each gender group were successfully collected. The result of the study reveals that male consumers are influenced by three factors which are price utility, aesthetics, and social value. On the other hand, female consumers are influenced by price utility, aesthetics, social value and playfulness. The finding of this study has contributed to sticker creators to strategically design stickers to meet the demand of consumers more accurately.


Al2O3 and HfO2 thin films are separately deposited on n-type InAlAs epitaxial layers by using atomic layer deposition (ALD). The interfacial properties are revealed by angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AR-XPS). It is demonstrated that the Al2O3 layer can reduce interfacial oxidation and trap charge formation. The gate leakage current densities are 1.37 × 10−6 A/cm2 and 3.22 × 10−6 A/cm2 at +1 V for the Al2O3/InAlAs and HfO2/InAlAs MOS capacitors respectively. Compared with the HfO2/InAlAs metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) capacitor, the Al2O3/InAlAs MOS capacitor exhibits good electrical properties in reducing gate leakage current, narrowing down the hysteresis loop, shrinking stretch-out of the C–V characteristics, and significantly reducing the oxide trapped charge (Q ot) value and the interface state density (D it).


Porous organic polymers (POPs), allowing fine synthetic control over their chemical structures, have shown great promise for addressing environmental issues. The high specific surface area and abundant porous structures of POPs can provide large storage space to adsorb dye molecules. Meanwhile, the introduction of polar groups, such as oxygen-containing functional groups in POPs, can not only improve the hydrophilicity, but also provide a strong interaction with dye molecules, thereby improving their adsorption performance. In this paper, an oxygen-rich porous polymer, POP-O, containing polar carbonyl and hydroxyl groups, was prepared by Sonogashira–Hagihara cross-coupling polycondensation. The characteristic results show that POP-O exhibits a hierarchical pore structure with a high specific surface area of 619 m2 g−1. The combination of abundant polar functional groups and high porosity endows POP-O with decent dye adsorption performance, and its theoretical maximum adsorption capacity for Rhodamine B (Rh B) is calculated to be 1012 mg g−1.


This paper analyses of some changing aspects of learning and 'cultures of learning' in China: these are related to meeting the needs of Chinese learners studying in higher education in the UK. We use the term 'cultures of learning' to draw attention to the socio-cultural aspects of key practices, expectations and interpretations of learning and the term is understood to include diversity of practices both at individual and group levels. We use the notion of changing practices in a double sense: firstly, practices in learning at school and university levels are changing in China and hence the cultures of learning that are likely to influence students' pre-departure experiences include an aspect of dynamic change. Secondly, Chinese students in the UK change their practices in many respects as they learn in, and from, British academic cultures. The paper also delineates some long-standing features of learning in the Confucian heritage and summarises recent developments in the Chinese national curriculum for learning English. We propose a model of 'participation-based' language learning which includes cognitive, creative, cultural and affective dimensions. The paper considers practical issues related to the previous learning experiences that Chinese learners bring to the UK.


The paper addresses the overall distribution of speech disfluencies in Russian spoken monologic discourse: basing on corpus data, we investigate qualitatively and quantitatively how disfluencies of different types group (or do not group) with each other and how isolated disfluencies and their sequences are sandwiched with periods of fluent speech in the course of speech production. Self-repairs, filled and silent pauses, and instances of hesitation lengthening were annotated in a subcorpus of the "Russian Pears Chats and Stories" (RUPEX). A distribution-oriented typology of disfluencies was proposed that distinguishes between isolated disfluencies, disfluency clusters, and quasiclusters. We claim that disfluency tokens tend to cluster, as isolated occurrences are significantly less frequent in our data than it could have been expected basing on the relative frequency of tokens. This finding contradicts previous studies that treated disfluency clusters as a more marginal phenomenon, and emphasizes the importance of a distributional, rather than merely structural, approach to annotating disfluencies. Furthermore, individual types of disfluency tokens demonstrate significantly different distributional patterns. Compared to other types, self-repairs occur more often in isolation, while words with hesitation lengthening appear predominantly in clusters, and filled pauses most often group with silent pauses to form quasi-clusters.


Arterial occlusive disease is one of the leading causes of organic erectile dysfunction (ED). Recent studies have shown that the incidence of cardiovascular disease closely correlates with the prevalence of ED. Also, ED is thought to be an early signal of impending cardiovascular problems. We previously found that the atherosclerosis of iliohypogastric arteries in the rabbit causes ED, down-regulates cavernosal neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) gene expression, and impairs NO synthesis. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of atherosclerosis-induced ischemia on cavernosal nNOS, endothelial NOS (eNOS), and inducible NOS (iNOS) expression and NO-mediated smooth muscle relaxation in the rabbit. Our study showed that iliac artery blood flow, intracavernosal blood flow, and intracavernosal oxygen tension were unchanged 4 weeks after the induction of arterial atherosclerosis, whereas they were significantly diminished at weeks 8 and 16. Erectile responses to nerve stimulation and cavernosal smooth muscle relaxation were unchanged at week 4 and were significantly diminished at weeks 8 and 16 after the induction of atherosclerosis. Western blotting showed that cavernosal nNOS and eNOS protein levels were unaffected at week 4 but were significantly decreased at weeks 8 and 16 after the induction of atherosclerosis. iNOS protein, however, markedly increased during the course of the induced arterial disease. Immunohistochemical staining showed no change in cavernosal eNOS or nNOS expression at week 4. A dramatic decrease in both was evident at 8 and 16 weeks. iNOS expression progressively increased between 4 and 16 weeks of atherosclerosis. Down-regulation of nNOS and eNOS, along with up-regulation of iNOS, may explain ischemic cavernosal smooth muscle relaxation impairment in the rabbit. Ischemically altered NOS expression may be of great pathophysiologic importance in atherosclerosis-induced ED. These data may provide further insight into the mechanism of arteriogenic ED.


Integrating genomic information into cattle breeding is an important approach to exploring the molecular mechanism for complex traits related to diary and meat production. To assist with genomic-based selection, a reference map of interactome is needed to fully understand genotype-phenotype relationships. To this end we constructed a co-expression analysis of 92 tissues and this represents the first systematic exploration of gene-gene relationship in cattle. By using robust WGCNA (Weighted Gene Correlation Network Analysis), we described the gene co-expression network of 13,405 protein-coding genes from the cattle genome. Using the 5,000 genes with majority variations in expression across 92 tissues, we compiled a network with 72,306 co-associations and that provides functional insights into thousands of poorly characterized proteins. Further module identifications found 55 highly organized functional clusters representing diverse cellular activities. To demonstrate the re-use of our interaction for functional genomics analysis, we extracted a sub-network associated with DNA binding genes in cattle. The subnetwork was enriched within regulation of transcription from RNA polymerase II promoter representing central cellular functions. In addition, we identified 28 novel linker genes associated with more than 100 DNA binding genes. Our WGCNA-based co-expression network reconstruction will be a valuable resource for exploring the molecular mechanisms of incompletely characterized proteins and for elucidating larger-scale patterns of functional modulization in the cattle genome.; ;


The Medellin Metaharzburgitic Unit (MMU), emplaced onto the western continental margin of Pangea during Triassic time, is located in the Central Cordillera of Colombia and consists of metaharzburgites, minor metadunites and chromitite bodies (Patio Bonito and San Pedro ore deposits). The ultramafic rocks contain relicts of mantle-derived olivine, chromian spinel and minor orthopyroxene, and a later metamorphic mineral assemblage composed by tremolite, chlorite, talc, fine-grained recrystallized olivine, serpentine-group minerals, magnetite, and secondary chromian spinel, formed during the thermal evolution of the unit. The Cr# [Cr/(Cr+Al) atomic ratio] of the accessory primary chromian spinel in the metaperidotites ranges from 0.58 to 0.62 and overlaps those of supra-subduction peridotites from ophiolites. According to textural and compositional variations, the accessory chromian spinel in the metaperidotites can be classified into three groups: i) partially altered chromian spinel with an Al-rich core, ii) porous, Cr-Fe2+-enriched and Al-Mg-depleted chromian spinel, and iii) homogeneous Fe3+-rich chromian spinel. These variations can be related to superimposed medium-T metamorphism that reached amphibolite facies (ca. 600 ºC). Chromitite bodies associated with the metaperidotites have massive and semi-massive textures, and mainly consist of chromian spinel crystals, which show large unaltered cores surrounded by thin alteration rims of ferrian chromian spinel and chlorite. Chromitites are Al-rich (#Cr <0.6) and strongly depleted in platinum group elements (ΣPGE <41 ppb). The primary petrological and geochemical characteristics preserved in the metaperidotites and chromitites indicate that the MMU formed at shallow levels of a suboceanic lithospheric mantle related to a supra-subduction zone (back-arc basin/incipient arc scenario), and that the chromitites crystallized from a tholeiitic magma (back-arc basin basalt type).


This paper has as its central aim the location of centres of species richness and endemism in the sub‐Saharan African flora. Previous postulation of these centres has been based on an intuitive interpretation of distributional data; this paper provides a test of these centres. A second aim is to establish whether the two indices, richness and endemism, locate the same centres. Thirdly the relationship between species richness and endemism, and latitude and rainfall are explored.


The annual growth rings of tulip trees (Liriodendron tulipifera L.) appear to preserve a chemical record of ground-water contamination at a landfill in Maryland. Zones of elevated iron and chlorine concentrations in growth rings from trees immediately downgradient from the landfill are closely correlated temporally with activities in the landfill expected to generate iron and chloride contamination in the ground water. Successively later iron peaks in trees increasingly distant from the landfill along the general direction of ground-water flow imply movement of iron-contaminated ground water away from the landfill. The historical velocity of iron movement (2 to 9 m/yr) and chloride movement (at least 40 m/yr) in ground water at the site was estimated from element-concentration trends of trees at successive distances from the landfill. The tree-ring-derived chloride-transport velocity approximates the known ground-water velocity (30 to 80 m/yr). A minimum horizontal hydraulic conductivity (0.01 to .02 cm/s) calculated from chloride velocity agrees well with values derived from aquifer tests (about 0.07 cm/s) and from ground-water modeling results (0.009 to 0.04 cm/s).


The vaccines has been developed over the first two hundred years since Jenner's smallpox vaccination. In modern days, vaccination has had the largest impact on the incidence and persistence of infections. Although natural infection induces lifelong immunity, the assumption that the vaccine also confers permanent protection has been reconsidered following outbreaks of measles in students who had been vaccinated 15-20 years prior to infection in the US in the 1980s. Clinical studies have proposed several mechanisms such as vaccine failure in some individuals and the subsequent loss of immunity after vaccination. An ideal vaccine is relatively easy to define, but few real vaccines approach the ideal. Many difficulties account for the failure in producing these ideal vaccines. However, recent advances in methods for studying immune response to pathogens have provided a better understanding of immune mechanisms. Based on these findings, the development of good vaccine formulations allowing stimulation of optimal and prolonged protective immunity and immunization policies or schedules should lead to the introduction of vaccines for previously resistant organisms. (Korean J Pediatr Infect Dis 2009;16:24-30)


From a new model obtained by combining the circulation model with the eddy diffusion model two dimensionless parameters were derived to correlate the mixing time with the power number and the discharge flow rate number for an agitated vessel with paddle impeller. The parameter which contained the mixing time was Y = (ntM)(Nqd)(d/D)3(D/H) and the one which contained the pumping efficiency number was X = {(D/d)4Np/Nqd3}1/4(H/D)1/2. These parameters Y and X were used to correlate the mixing time measured by several researchers, who measured the mixing time, the power number and the discharge flow rate number at the same time. The mixing time correlation obtained was expressed by Y = 6.7X-1, which was rewritten by the following expression. ntM = 6.7(D/d)2(Np·Nqd)-1/4(H/D)1/2    The mixing time estimated from the correlation well agreed with those from the empirical correlations reported before within the experimental error. The simulated result of the mixing time for a pitched blade paddle impeller by Patwardhan and Joshi (1999) was also correlated well with the obtained mixing time correlation.


The authors report an in-situ quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) method to measure the outgassing from resist materials during VUV light exposure using 146 nm light. The sensitivity of the present QCM system was 1 ng. The weight of resist film on quartz crystal decreased with irradiation time. The weight loss corresponds to the amount of outgassing from the resist films. The outgassing from KrF, ArF and F/sub 2/ resists during exposure was measured. The outgassing rate was strongly dependent on the structure of resist polymers, in the order: methoxymethyl < t-butoxy < t-BOC < ethoxyethyl, and on the alkyl group structure of the ester units, in the order: adamantyl < isobornyl < isopropyl < methyl < t-butyl.


In this work we present algorithms and schemes for computing several common arithmetic expressions defined in the complex domain as hardware-implemented operators. The operators include Complex Multiply-Add ( CMA : ab + c ), Complex Sum of Products ( CSP : ab + ce + f ), Complex Sum of Squares ( CSS : a 2 + b 2 ), and Complex Integer Powers ( CIPk : x 2 , x 3 , ..., x k ). The proposed approach is to map the expression to a system of linear equations, apply a complex-to-real transform, and compute the solutions to the linear system using a digit-by-digit, the most significant digit first, recurrence method. The components of the solution vector corresponds to the expressions being evaluated. The number of digit cycles is about m for m -digit precision. The basic modules are similar to left-to-right multipliers. The interconnections between the modules are digit-wide.


Vehicular noise is one of the most prevalent forms of pollution. Traffic noise annoyance has become a major issue with the advent of fossil fuels and development in vehicle technology. Vehicular noise is dramatically increasing with the increased number of vehicle population, especially due to speeding vehicles. Amongst all the sources of noise pollution, vehicular noise has been identified as the most annoying and health impairing one. Therefore, it had become important to check the traffic noise and enhance the environmental condition along the transportation corridor. This study attempts the development of road traffic noise model for Indian condition. A statistical regression model for predicting road traffic noise is developed based on A-weighted equivalent noise levels.


Input of freshwater from rivers is a critical consideration in the study and management of coral and seagrass ecosystems in tropical regions. Low salinity water can transport natural and manmade river-borne contaminants into the sea, and can directly stress marine ecosystems that are adapted to higher salinity levels. An efficient method of mapping surface salinity distribution over large ocean areas is required to address such environmental issues. We describe here an investigation of the utility of airborne remote sensing of sea surface salinity using an L-band passive microwave radiometer. The study combined aircraft overflights of the scanning low frequency microwave radiometer (SLFMR) with shipboard and in situ instrument deployments to map surface and subsurface salinity distributions, respectively, in the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon. The goals of the investigation were (a) to assess the performance of the airborne salinity mapper; (b) to use the maps and in situ data to develop an integrated description of the structure and zone of influence of a river plume under prevailing monsoon weather conditions; and (c) to determine the extent to which the sea surface salinity distribution expressed the subsurface structure. The SLFMR was found to have sufficient precision (1 psu) and accuracy (f 3 psu) to provide a useful description of plumes emanating from estuaries of moderate discharge levels with a salinity range of 16 to 32 psu in the open sea. The aircraft surveys provided a means of rapidly assessing the spatial extent of the surface salinity distribution of the plume, while in situ data revealed subsurface structure detail and provided essential validation data for the SLFMR. The combined approach allowed us to efficiently determine the structure and zone of influence of the plume, and demonstrated the utility of sea surface salinity remote sensing for studying coastal circulation in tropical seas. D 2003 Published by Elsevier Science Inc.


While circulating tumor-derived molecules have been identified in a variety of malignant tumors, it is sometimes difficult to detect the molecular targets due to the lower serum concentration. We report that evaluation of circulating tumor-derived mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) seems to have novel efficiency for detecting tumoral micrometastasis. In murine xenografting human oral cancer cells, human mtDNAs could be quantitatively detected from multiple organs and blood samples whereas human nucleic DNAs could not. We also determined if this mtDNA blood test was relevant for patients with oral cancer with no histologic evidence of tumoral cells in their surgical margins. For this, mtDNA from normal and tumorous tissues and serum mtDNA obtained pre and postoperatively was examined at three different regions including the displacement loop, 12S-rRNA, and 16S-rRNA. All recurring patients had significantly higher amounts of mutant mtDNAs in the tumoral tissues compared with the non-recurring group. More importantly, on the blood test with the cut-off point by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, while the vast majority of serum mtDNA samples obtained postoperatively in the recurring cases maintained significantly higher amounts of mutant mtDNAs, the non-recurring cases did not, and they showed good prognosis. This is the first report of this approach for managing patients after resection of oral tumors, and may have substantial diagnostic potential for other tumoral types.


This work presents an on-going investigation of the control of a pneumatic soft-robot actuator addressing accurate patient positioning systems in maskless head and neck cancer radiotherapy. We employ two RGB-D sensors in a sensor fusion scheme to better estimate a patient's head pitch motion. A system identification prediction error model is used to obtain a linear time invariant state space model. We then use the model to design a linear quadratic Gaussian feedback controller to manipulate the patient head position based on sensed head pitch motion. Experiments demonstrate the success of our approach.


The purpose of this study is to search posibilities of the
mixed industrial-residential area in Seoul as an industrial
 community and to suggest a readjustment model providing a
 suitable physical condition for the coexistence of small
 factories and housing in a neighborhood through a case
 study of Munrae-Dang area in Seoul. This study analyses
 the relationships among small factories based on industrial
linkages in the mixed industrial-residential area and the role
of housing in the area and patternizes the spatial relationships
 among them. Based on the spatial relationships patterns,
 corresponding physical requirements are identified.
Finally, a conceptual model integrating them as an organic
 unit is proposed.


A mathematical model proposed by Grubelnk et al. [Biophys. Chew,. 94 (2001) 59] is employed to study the physiological role of mitochondria and the cytosolic proteins in generating complex Ca2+ oscillations. Intracel-lular bursting calcium oscillations of point–point, point–cycle and two-folded limit cycle types are observed and explanations are given based on the fast/slow dynamical analysis, especially for point–cycle and two-folded limit cycle types, which have not been reported before. Furthermore, synchronization of coupled bursters of Ca2+ oscillations via gap junctions and the effect of bursting types on synchronization of coupled cells are studied. It is argued that bursting oscillations of point–point type may be superior to achieve synchronization than that of point–cycle type.


Recently, with the growing popularity of mobile devices as well as video sharing platforms (e.g., YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitch), User-Generated Content (UGC) videos have become increasingly common and now account for a large portion of multimedia traffic on the internet. Unlike professionally generated videos produced by filmmakers and videographers, typically, UGC videos contain multiple authentic distortions, generally introduced during capture and processing by naive users. Quality prediction of UGC videos is of paramount importance to optimize and monitor their processing in hosting platforms, such as their coding, transcoding, and streaming. However, blind quality prediction of UGC is quite challenging because the degradations of UGC videos are unknown and very diverse, in addition to the unavailability of pristine reference. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an accurate and efficient Blind Video Quality Assessment (BVQA) model for UGC videos, which we name 2BiVQA for double Bi-LSTM Video Quality Assessment. 2BiVQA metric consists of three main blocks, including a pre-trained Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to extract discriminative features from image patches, which are then fed into two Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) for spatial and temporal pooling. Specifically, we use two Bi-directional Long Short Term Memory (Bi-LSTM) networks, the first is used to capture short-range dependencies between image patches, while the second allows capturing long-range dependencies between frames to account for the temporal memory effect. Experimental results on recent large-scale UGC VQA datasets show that 2BiVQA achieves high performance at lower computational cost than most state-of-the-art VQA models. The source code of our 2BiVQA metric is made publicly available at: https://github.com/atelili/2BiVQA.


Pruritus is the sensation that induces the desire or act of scratching. Pruritus is of broad clinical significance, but its etiology is poorly understood. Most pruritus is insensitive to traditional antihistamine-treatment, and there is great need of new mechanisms and treatments of itch. Toll-like Receptors are found to play a role in pruritus. In this work I developed a detection system to analyze scratching induced by intradermal injection of 48/ 80 or chloroquine (CQ). Roles of TLR3,4,7, and 9 and their adaptors in scratching produced by 48/80 and CQ were examined. 48/80 and CQ initiated a robust scratching in wild type (WT) mice. 48/80-initiated scratching was significantly reduced by TLR3 deficiency but not TLR4,7,9. Adaptor MyD88-knockout reduced 48/80 scratching, while TRIF and MyD88-TRIF deficiency increased scratching. TLR3, 4,7,9, MyD88,TRIF, or MyD88-TRIF deficiency decreased CQ scratching. Intrathecal TLR4-antagonist LPS-RS did not effect 48/80 scratching, but reduced CQ; 48/80 and CQ significantly increased cFOS expression in ipsilateral, not contralateral, dorsal horn. LPS-RS reduced CQ-induced cFOS, but not 48/80. Dorsal horn GFAP and IBA1 glial- staining revealed no effect of side by 48/80 or CQ. These results support 48/80 and chloroquine acting differentially through several TLRs and adaptors. TLR3,4,7, 9, MyD88 and TRIF play a role in histamine-independent CQ- induced pruritus. Only TLR3 and TRIF were required for histamine-dependent 48/80-induced pruritus. Increased scratching in TRIF KO after 48/80, not CQ, suggests a regulatory feedback system. Spinal TLR4 antagonism emphasize that for chloroquine, but not 48/80, a component mediating the role of TLR4 receptors lies within the neuraxis