Abstract : Joint aircraft programs, in which two or more services participate in the development, procurement, and sustainment of a common aircraft design, are thought to save life cycle cost (LCC) by eliminating duplicate efforts and realizing economies of scale. In theory, joint programs have more potential to save costs than multiple comparable single-service programs by sharing total research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) expenditures on a common design, and achieving economies of scale in production and operations and support (O&S). But the need to accommodate different service requirements in a single design or common design family may lead to greater program complexity, increased technical risk, and common functionality or increased weight in excess of that needed for some service variants, potentially leading to higher overall cost despite these efficiencies. The fundamental question we seek to answer is this: On average, are the theoretical savings that should accrue from joint aircraft programs sufficient to offset the additional costs arising from greater complexity? In short, do joint fighter and other aircraft programs cost less overall throughout their entire life cycle than an equivalent set of specialized single-service systems? RAND Project Air Force analyzed the costs and savings of joint tactical aviation acquisition programs to determine whether a joint approach achieves the anticipated cost savings. The study team examined whether historical joint aircraft programs, and the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) in particular, have saved LCC compared with comparable notional single-service programs. The team also examined the implications of joint fighter programs for the health of the industrial base and for operational and strategic risk. The major study findings are documented in a separate report. This report provides a series of appendixes that detail the methodology behind the study findings.


Experiments and simulations are used to analyze the total-dose response of a linear voltage regulator. Degradation of the dynamic output range of the error amplifier is determined to be responsible for the regulator failure. We present a first-order model to reproduce total dose circuit and system response. Modification of the bias circuitry in the error amplifier using beta compensation techniques is shown to harden the system to a significantly higher total dose level.


Neuroinflammation
Synapses appear to provide the initiation sites of neuronal damage in human multiple sclerosis (MS), but how this synapse loss occurs, how it affects circuit activity, and how it could be prevented are all unknown. Jafari et al. describe a mouse model of cortical MS pathology designed to address these questions. They used structural and functional in vivo imaging to reveal the pathogenesis, functional consequences, and therapeutic targeting of immune-mediated synapse loss in inflamed cortical gray matter. Low-dose myelin protein immunization and stereotactic injection of cytokines implicated in MS were used to target MS-like neuroinflammatory lesions to mouse cortex. Single-cell and ultrastructural analysis revealed the loss of one-third of all synapses across both cortical hemispheres. Synapse pathology was completely reversible within a few weeks, after cortical inflammation had subsided. Localized calcium accumulations primed individual synapses for pruning by invading macrophages and activated microglia. Furthermore, an anti–colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor antagonist inhibited synapse pruning and cortical synapse loss. Thus, synaptoprotective therapeutic approaches may be feasible in MS-like neuroinflammatory disease.

Nat. Neurosci. 10.1038/s41593-020-00780-7 (2021).


A series of model tests was performed to study a side-by-side moored ship / barge two-body system. Based on the experimental data, the present research investigation focused upon the analysis of the vessel motion response behavior as well as the pattern of the mooring line and fender forces in random seas for different heading conditions and load levels. Statistical parameters and spectral analysis showed that both the motion behavior and the connection force magnitude will be partially conditioned by the shielding effect and the load level of the ship. The time series of the motions near extreme mooring forces and the corresponding coherence functions between these pairs of data allowed for an estimation of the impact of the relative motions on the mooring and fender forces.


Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) affects the activity of NK cells, but successful interferon-free treatment partially restores it. The goal of the study was to assess whether gender influences those alterations. We examined 21 women after menopause and 24 men with CHC treated with directly acting antivirals (DAA), and 33 healthy volunteers. With flow cytometry, we analysed KIR2DS4, NKG2D, NKp30, KIR2DL2/DL3, NKG2A, TRAIL and granzyme B on the surface of NK cells, simultaneously we checked serum CXCL10 with ELISA. Overall, patients with CHC had higher expression of KIR2DS4, NKG2A, NKp30 and a lower percentage of NK cells among lymphocytes than the control group. After the treatment KIR2DS4, KIR2DL2/DL3 and NKG2A, TRAIL NKp30 on NK cells decreased, while the percentage of NK cells, expression of granzyme B and NKG2D increased. Serum CXCL10 was elevated before the treatment and dropped afterwards. We observed differences between genders in the expression of KIR2DL2/DL3 (higher in female) and NKp30 (elevated in men) comparing CHC/control groups. After the treatment of KIR2DL2/DL3, NKp30 and CXCL10 dropped only in female while granzyme B increased in male. In conclusion, the response of NK cells among men and women in post-menopausal age with CHC differs. Our research may lead to more studies on different nature of female and male immune systems in the context of HCV infection and treatment.


Amid intense port competition in Northeast Asia, international ports require sustainable growth based on competitiveness that incorporates economic, social, and environmental perspectives. Despite the importance of sustainability issues in port competition, prior studies on port competitiveness have focused on ports' own handling capacities. Moreover, sustainability concerns have focused on environmental issues such as environmental impact minimization and environmental index development. The prior literature makes distinctions between studies of port competitiveness and works relating to port sustainability. Therefore, this paper aims to redefine sustainable port competitiveness based on the "triple bottom line," comprising sustainability, analysis of the relevant issues, and practices. The findings offer not only important steps in building knowledge about sustainable port competitiveness, but also provide practical implications for strategic agendas and guidance for future improvements in port operations.


This paper discusses how digitally-enabled techniques can be used to augment our understanding of a designer's work, particularly in relation to unbuilt or lost projects. In the first half of the twentieth century Auguste Perret gained international recognition for his buildings and we employ two of his unbuilt museums as the basis for illustration of the technique. Current knowledge of his unbuilt projects is based on surviving literature and incomplete illustrations. We show that the use of digitally-enabled techniques facilitates a fuller examination of the original material. Interpretation of material requires parallel studies into the architect, their influences and the context they operated within in order to extrapolate and fill gaps in an informed way. The construction of various digital representations enables a forensic analysis of the projects; consequently we can produce a richer set of information that can, in turn, enhance our analysis and understanding of an architect and their work, in this case, Perret.


We present a scheme for implementing homomorphic encryption on coherent states encoded using phase-shift keys. The encryption operations require only rotations in phase space, which commute with computations in the codespace performed via passive linear optics, and with generalized non-linear phase operations that are polynomials of the photon-number operator in the codespace. This encoding scheme can thus be applied to any computation with coherent state inputs, and the computation proceeds via a combination of passive linear optics and generalized non-linear phase operations. An example of such a computation is matrix multiplication, whereby a vector representing coherent state amplitudes is multiplied by a matrix representing a linear optics network, yielding a new vector of coherent state amplitudes. By finding an orthogonal partitioning of the support of our encoded states, we quantify the security of our scheme via the indistinguishability of the encrypted codewords. Whilst we focus on coherent state encodings, we expect that this phase-key encoding technique could apply to any continuous-variable computation scheme where the phase-shift operator commutes with the computation.


Orthokinetic aggregation of colloids trapped at the air-liquid interface was studied by direct imaging in a couette cell. This method allowed us to follow the temporal evolution of both the cluster-mass distribution and the cluster structure at a shear rate where Brownian aggregation is suppressed. The interactions between the monodisperse latex particles floating at the air-liquid interface were controlled either by varying the electrolyte concentration or by creating a bidisperse system through the addition of small particles. The results show that the clusters in all of the systems are characterized by a high fractal dimension, indicating that the clusters are rearranged and densified by the shear. Kinetic analysis suggests that aggregation of monodisperse systems mainly proceeds through homogeneous aggregation, i.e., large clusters sticking to other large clusters. The bidisperse system, finally, with a size ratio around 10, favored a more heterogeneous aggregation among small and large clusters throughout the aggregation process; a slightly lower fractal dimension was observed compared to the strongly aggregated monodisperse system. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.


Biotechnology is an area of production and research in which biological systems and biological principles are employed to solve technological problems. This includes beer brewing using yeast as well as the production of pharmaceuticals by immobilized enzymes. Also some systems in biotechnology were developed using cultured cells of higher plants to produce economically valuable chemical compounds, mostly of pharmaceutical interests, in fermenter systems up to some ten thousand liters. Still, in spite of great efforts during the last decades only rather few applications of such systems in commercial companies became known. Here economic considerations require that the product for the market should not only have the same price as the conventionally produced one from raw material obtained from agricultural products. In order to initiate a change in the production process the fermenter product has to be at least at halve the production costs as the conventionally produced compound.


Segmentation of buildings in urban areas, especially dense urban areas, by using remotely sensed images is highly desirable. However, segmentation results obtained by using existing algorithms are unsatisfactory because of the unclear boundaries between buildings and the shadows cast by neighboring buildings. In this paper, an algorithm is proposed that successfully segments buildings from aerial photographs, including shadowed buildings in dense urban areas. To handle roofs having rough textures, digital numbers (DNs) are quantized into several quantum values. Quantization using several interval widths is applied during segmentation, and for each quantization, areas with homogeneous values are labeled in an image. Edges determined from the homogeneous areas obtained at each quantization are then merged, and frequently observed edges are extracted. By using a "rectangular index", regions whose shapes are close to being rectangular are thus selected as buildings. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm generates more practical segmentation results than an existing algorithm does. Therefore, the main factors in successful segmentation of shadowed roofs are (1) combination of different quantization results, (2) selection of buildings according to the rectangular index, and (3) edge completion by the inclusion of non-edge pixels that have a high probability of being edges. By utilizing these factors, the proposed algorithm optimizes the spatial filtering scale with respect to the size of building roofs in a locality. The proposed algorithm is considered to be useful for conducting building segmentation for various purposes.


Earlier research has revealed that considerable energy savings can be achieved by maintaining an average temperature in the greenhouse in stead of maintaining rigid pre-defined temperature `blue-prints?. A model based optimal control approach has proven to be a suitable framework to tackle these kind of control problems and it has been shown that these algorithms can be implemented on-line. But, when on-line optimal temperature control is considered, interesting questions arise, some of which are still unresolved. The issue tackled in this paper concerns the relation between the resolution of the control strategy (sample time) and energy savings of the control strategy. One would expect that an accurate and frequent anticipation to changing outdoor climate conditions might result in reduced energy consumption. It was indicated in the literature that a sample-time of 0.25 h or 1 hour should be sufficient, but these choices were hardly motivated. In this research, the relation between the control resolution and energy savings was quantitatively investigated using a dynamic greenhouse climate model and measurements of Dutch outdoor climate conditions containing high-frequency components. The results indicate that for an open-loop optimal control problem concerning the realization of an average temperature during a fixed period of one day using a minimum amount of energy with full a-priori knowledge of the outdoor weather, a resolution of the heating profile between half an hour and a hour suffices to produce accurate results in terms of energy conservation. These results were not much affected by parameter variations (heat capacity of the air, the solar heating efficiency) or opening and closing of thermal screens.


Alloreactivity after transplantation is associated with profound immune suppression, and consequent opportunistic infection results in high morbidity and mortality. This immune suppression is most profound during GVHD after bone marrow transplantation where an inflammatory cytokine storm dominates. Contrary to current dogma, which avers that this is a T-cell defect, we demonstrate that the impairment lies within conventional dendritic cells (cDCs). Significantly, exogenous antigens can only be presented by the CD8(-) cDC subset after bone marrow transplantation, and inflammation during GVHD specifically renders the MHC class II presentation pathway in this population incompetent. In contrast, both classic and cross-presentation within MHC class I remain largely intact. Importantly, this defect in antigen processing can be partially reversed by TNF inhibition or the adoptive transfer of donor cDCs generated in the absence of inflammation.


Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is a rare autosomal dominant genetic disease that is caused by a silent mutation of the LMNA gene encoding lamins A and C (lamin A/C). The G608G mutation generates a more accessible splicing donor site than does WT and produces an alternatively spliced product of LMNA called progerin, which is also expressed in normal aged cells. In this study, we determined that progerin binds directly to lamin A/C and induces profound nuclear aberrations. Given this observation, we performed a random screening of a chemical library and identified 3 compounds (JH1, JH4, and JH13) that efficiently block progerin-lamin A/C binding. These 3 chemicals, particularly JH4, alleviated nuclear deformation and reversed senescence markers characteristic of HGPS cells, including growth arrest and senescence-associated β-gal (SA-β-gal) activity. We then used microarray-based analysis to demonstrate that JH4 is able to rescue defects of cell-cycle progression in both HGPS and aged cells. Furthermore, administration of JH4 to LmnaG609G/G609G-mutant mice, which phenocopy human HGPS, resulted in a marked improvement of several progeria phenotypes and an extended lifespan. Together, these findings indicate that specific inhibitors with the ability to block pathological progerin-lamin A/C binding may represent a promising strategy for improving lifespan and health in both HGPS and normal aging.


Gaussian Conditional Random Fields (GCRF) are atype of structured regression model that incorporatesmultiple predictors and multiple graphs. This isachieved by defining quadratic term feature functions inGaussian canonical form which makes the conditionallog-likelihood function convex and hence allows findingthe optimal parameters by learning from data. In thiswork, the parameter space for the GCRF model is extendedto facilitate joint modelling of positive and negativeinfluences. This is achieved by restricting the modelto a single graph and formulating linear bounds on convexitywith respect to the models parameters. In addition,our formulation for the model using one networkallows calculating gradients much faster than alternativeimplementations. Lastly, we extend the model onestep farther and incorporate a bias term into our linkweight. This bias is solved as part of the convex optimization.Benefits of the proposed model in terms ofimproved accuracy and speed are characterized on severalsynthetic graphs with 2 million links as well as on ahospital admissions prediction task represented as a humandisease-symptom similarity network correspondingto more than 35 million hospitalization records inCalifornia over 9 years.


Aim To determine gender peculiarities of the course of Graves-Basedow disease (GBD) in children depending on the sex and stage of puberty. Methods We analyzed retrospectively 28 children with GBD in the endocrinological department of University hospital over the 2011 year (boys(B)/girls(G) 3/25, mean±SD age 13.15±3.03 yrs). We conducted additional division on the subgroups of early (Tanner 2–3) and late (Tanner 4–5) puberty. Results 67.8% children had complains (B losing weight (66.7%); G weakness (32%), heartbeat (24%). Family history wasn't burdened in 33.3% B and 64% G. Relatives with diabetes mellitus type 1 was in 7.1% G; thyroid diseases - 33.3% B and 28% G; other endocrinopathies 33.3% B, 12% G. There was a tendency of more early manifestation GBD in G 12.94±3.07 yrs (B 14.86±2.42 yrs) (ð>0.05). The onset of GBD was mainly in late puberty regardless of gender. There was lower TSH 0,085±0.13 (0.23–3.4µIU/l) and higher free T4 62.13±34.34 (10–23.2pmol/l) levels in B (G 0.12±0.2 and 46.86±28.89 respectively, ð>0.05). After 6 months treatment free T4 levels were lower (8.5±5.48) in those patients (33.3%), which undergo higher dosage of thyrostatics and later levothyroxin treatment compared to levothyroxin treatment after 4 months after first appeal (16.6±2.92 ð< 0.05). After 1 year treatment with thyrostatics in comparable dosages stable clinical-laboratory euthyrosis were reached in all children. Conclusions GBD more often manifested in late puberty regardless of gender. More pronounced features of laboratory thyrotoxicosis in boys can say about late diagnostic. Normalization of free T4 was after 6 months treatment in 66.7% children.


Although strides recently have been made to facilitate the understanding of relational aggression and its consequences, one significant limitation has been the lack of research on long-term impact. Through a grounded theory approach, this study examines how resiliency behaviors exhibited by victims of relational aggression during their adolescent years aid in the development of trusting adult friendships.


The development of Muslim fashion business in Indonesia continues to increase. The data shows, the number of Muslim fashion people in business, especially in West Java province also continues to grow, but its performance fluctuates. This research, purpose to reveal the effect of applying innovation on business performance through value creation. This research used a descriptive survey method with verification approach through Partial Least Square (PLS) analysis. This research used 30 women's fashion Muslim entrepreneur sample in West Java Province. This research has resulted that there is significant influence between innovation applied to business performance through value creation.


I. Introduction, and Description of the Topography of the Area. The eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand has two projecting points consisting of volcanic rocks of Kainozoic age. These igneous masses constitute Banks Peninsula and the Otago Peninsula. Except in regard to their physiographical nature, neither of these areas has been submitted to accurate geological examination, although enough work has been done to show that both of them offer a most interesting field for petrographical study. The general structure of Banks Peninsula was studied by Sir Julius von Haast, who traced and described various crater-walls which were the boundaries of the foci of most intense volcanic activity. The structure of one of these—Lyttelton Harbour—was displayed with great clearness in the walls of the railway-tunnel that pierced it, and Sir Julius has given an accurate description of this. Many of the rock-specimens collected during the tunnel-driving were described and figured by the officers of the French Campbell-Island Expedition. Other rock-specimens from the district have been described by Marshall, Speight, and Ulrich. So far as its general structure is concerned, Otago Peninsula has received less notice, though brief descriptions have been given by Hutton, Hector, and Ulrich. More detailed work has been devoted to the Otago-Peninsula rocks, and some types were described by Hutton, and later, in a far more elaborate manner, by Ulrich. who was the first to recognize the specially-interesting series of alkaline rocks that occurs here. In the present paper an attempt will be made to


Naturally, language is the human vocal sounds or the arbitrary graphic representation of these sounds in writing used systematically and conventionally bya speech community for the purposes of communication, Osinsanyo (2007). On the other hand, education is seen as the overall round development of individuals, their economic, cultural and spiritual being. The process of molding and shaping personality is facilitated through the use of language as a vehicle; language plays vital roles in most known formal educational systems. This paper among other things discuss the concept of language education, proficiency, vocational achievement, vocational trainning, multilingualism and its challences, language skills in vocational education and sustainable national development. It features as a subject in the school curriculum and is used to serve as the medium of instruction in all the subjects globally. Thus, this paper seeks to consider 'adoption of national language education for sustainable development in Nigeria' and made the following recommendations: There is the need to develop a good language education programme for vocational school level in Nigeria ,Teachers should jointly help the pupils to develop competence in the use of their language and that of the immediate environment of schooling, and the government should make adequate funds available for the provision of regular and intensive professional capacity development for classroom teachers in the Universal Basic Education.


Fast data collection with the goal to minimize the schedule length for aggregated converge cast has been studied by us in, and also by others in, we experimentally investigated the impact of transmission power control and multiple frequency channels on the schedule length Our present work is different from the above in that we evaluate transmission power control under realistic settings and compute lower bounds on the schedule length for tree networks with algorithms to achieve these bounds. We also compare the efficiency of different channel assignment methods and interference models, and propose schemes for constructing specific routing tree topologies that enhance the data collection rate for both aggregated and raw-data converge cast.


The information in animal colour patterns plays a key role in many ecological interactions; quantification would help us to study them, but this is problematic. Comparing patterns using human judgement is subjective and inconsistent. Traditional shape analysis is unsuitable as patterns do not usually contain conserved landmarks. Alternative statistical approaches also have weaknesses, particularly as they are generally based on summary measures that discard most or all of the spatial information in a pattern. We present a method for quantifying the similarity of a pair of patterns based on the distance transform of a binary image. The method compares the whole pattern, pixel by pixel, while being robust to small spatial variations among images. We demonstrate the utility of the distance transform method using three ecological examples. We generate a measure of mimetic accuracy between hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) and wasps (Hymenoptera) based on abdominal pattern and show that this correlates strongly with the perception of a model predator (humans). We calculate similarity values within a group of mimetic butterflies and compare this with proposed pairings of Müllerian comimics. Finally, we characterise variation in clypeal badges of a paper wasp (Polistes dominula) and compare this with previous measures of variation. While our results generally support the findings of existing studies that have used simpler ad hoc methods for measuring differences between patterns, our method is able to detect more subtle variation and hence reveal previously overlooked trends.


Auditory function in the mammalian inner ear is optimized by collaboration of two classes of sensory cells known as inner and outer hair cells. Outer hair cells amplify and tune sound stimuli that are transduced and transmitted by inner hair cells. Although they subserve distinct functions, they share a number of common properties. Here we compare the properties of mechanotransduction and adaptation recorded from inner and outer hair cells of the postnatal mouse cochlea. Rapid outer hair bundle deflections of about 0.5 micron evoked average maximal transduction currents of about 325 pA, whereas inner hair bundle deflections of about 0.9 micron were required to evoke average maximal currents of about 310 pA. The similar amplitude was surprising given the difference in the number of stereocilia, 81 for outer hair cells and 48 for inner hair cells, but may be reconciled by the difference in single-channel conductance. Step deflections of inner and outer hair bundles evoked adaptation that had two components: a fast component that consisted of about 60% of the response occurred over the first few milliseconds and a slow component that consisted of about 40% of the response followed over the subsequent 20-50 ms. The rate of the slow component in both inner and outer hair cells was similar to the rate of slow adaptation in vestibular hair cells. The rate of the fast component was similar to that of auditory hair cells in other organisms and several properties were consistent with a model that proposes calcium-dependent release of tension allows transduction channel closure.


The authors describe a new sensor data integration architecture that utilizes a physical network paradigm. The authors have realized a prototype system on a parallel processor network using Inmos's transputers. Simple demonstrations of 2-D shape recognition and target tracking are shown and the authors have demonstrated its ability to respond appropriately to varying environmental constraints on the structure of the signal flow. It is shown that one can gain higher reliability in the architecture using the flexibility of the signal flow topology.


BACKGROUND
dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Der PI) is the major allergen which causes allergic asthma and perennial rhinitis. The extracts of Der PI may be used in treatment of patients who are unresponsive to pharmacological treatment and avoidance of allergens. The success of immunotherapy (IT) depends on the selection of appropriate patients and allergens as well as a regular follow up.

OBJECTIVE
three different groups of IT materials and a placebo were tested on 34 patients with Der PI sensitive asthma. Clinical evaluations of allergen challenge and in vitro immunologic tests were made on the patients before, on the 6th month and at the end of the second year of IT. The results were compared to the placebo treated group.

RESULTS
there were no significant differences among the groups in regard to age, sex and duration of illness. The time required for reaching the maintenance dose for group I (Alutard), II (APSI retard Ca) and III (Greer ) was 15.40 +/- 0.69, 18.2 +/- 4.0 and 108 +/- 33 weeks, respectively. Even though there was some significant difference between those receiving aqueous IT and the placebo (p < 0.05), there was a greater significant difference between those receiving adsorbed IT and placebo (p < 0.00001). Also there was a significant difference between the I and II groups receiving adsorbed IT. There was no significant difference in the maximum tolerated doses between group I and II (p > 0.05), but significant differences was found between group III and the other two groups (p < 0.05). Specific IgE levels were not changed by IT. There were no differences in the side effects scores among the groups (p < 0.05). The maximum tolerated dose of the diluted skin prick test (DSPT) solution increased significantly after 6 months and two years treatment as compared to the dose before specific immunotheraphy (SIT). Significant differences were found between group III and group I or group II as well as between the groups under treatment and that group given a placebo (p < 0.05). The maximum tolerated dose with the bronchial provocation test (BPT) increased significantly after IT (p < 0.05). The differences between the groups under treatment and that given a placebo were significant (p < 0.05). A significant increase was detected in the levels of the Der PI specific IgG4 after IT (p < 0.01). The difference between the treatment groups and the placebo group was significant. There was a significant difference between group I and the other groups (p < 0. 05) but differences between group II and III was not significant (p > 0.05). No significant correlation was found between (1) spIgE and the symptom medication score (SMS) (2) sp IgE and spIgG4 (3), DSPT and BPT. A significant positive correlation was found between the maximum tolerated dose with DSPT and increase in spIgG4 (r = 0.33, p = 0.046). A negative correlation was found between SMS and spIgG4 (p = 0.012, r = -0.42) after IT.

CONCLUSION
SIT with Der PI is an effective and reliable treatment in allergic asthmatic children. Adsorbed extracts may be preferable to in childhood because of effectively, safety, tolerability and, fewer numbers of injection. The best IgG4 response and velocity of maintenance doses achieved was found in group I. Easy, cheap and safe parameters such a SMS and DSPT can be useful for a follow-up of SIT. Further investigation is required to determine which one of the products is the best.


Preischaemic doubling of the myocardial buffer capacity optimizes the energy supply of the ischaemic heart by anaerobic glycolysis. For osmotic reasons this method of improving ischaemia tolerance can only be realized in combination with cardioplegia by extracellular Na+ and Ca2+ reduction. The cardioplegic solution 'HTK' which has been developed according to these considerations. (1) delays the decay velocity of myocardial ATP by a factor of 7-8 in comparison with pure ischaemia; (2) leads to a good myocardial recovery with regard to metabolic, morphological, and functional criteria after an ischaemic stress of 300 min at 23 +/- 1 degrees C--especially after the addition of quinine; (3) is considerably reduced in its protective efficacy by adding 50 mumol l-1 Ca2+; (4) causes a calcium paradox if it is infused for 30 min at 35 degrees C; this does not happen if it is infused for 60 min at 25 degrees C or for 120 min at 15 degrees C; on adding 50 mumol l-1 Ca2+ to the solution the risk of a calcium paradox is significantly reduced, even after infusion for 35 min at 35 degrees C; (5) effects an evident delay of recovery, if a continuous ischaemic stress of 300 min at 23 degrees +/- 1 degree C is reduced to 3 X 100 min of ischaemia at 17 +/- 1 degrees C by intermittent cardioplegic reperfusion; (6) considerably improves the myocardial recovery even after intermittent cardioplegia if 50 mumol l-1 Ca2+ are added or Mg2+ is reduced from 9 to 4 mmol l-12. The metabolic, morphological, and functional results are equivalent to those after 300 min of continuous ischaemia. Further investigations must show to what extent the 'membrane stabilizing effect' of [Ca2+]o can be achieved by taking advantage of mutual ionic interaction on the level of plasmalemma (e.g. H+-Mg2+-Ca2+) or by adding membrane effective substances (quinine).


A key question in the analysis of sociological processes on networks is to identify pairs of individuals who have strong or weak social ties. Existing approaches mathematically model the social network as a graph, and tie strength is often inferred by examining the number of shared neighbors between individuals, or equivalently, the number of triangles in the graph which contain a specific pair of individuals. However, this approach misses out on critical information because it does not distinguish the case where interactions occur among groups involving more than two individuals. In this work, we measure tie strength by explicitly accounting for these higher order interactions in the network, through the use of a new measure called Edge PageRank. We show how Edge PageRank can be interpreted as the steady-state outcome of a dynamic, message-passing social process that characterizes the strength of weak ties by appropriately discounting the effect of higher-order interactions involving three individuals. Empirically, we find that Edge PageRank outperforms standard measures in identifying tie strength in several large-scale social networks. These results provide a new perspective on tie strength and demonstrate the importance of incorporating higher-order interactions in social network analysis.


MFP1 and MRC are two plastidial coiled-coil proteins that play an important role in initiating starch granules in Arabidopsis chloroplasts. The mechanism of starch granule initiation in chloroplasts is not fully understood. Here, we aimed to build on our recent discovery that PROTEIN TARGETING TO STARCH (PTST) family members, PTST2 and PTST3, are key players in starch granule initiation, by identifying and characterizing additional proteins involved in the process in Arabidopsis thaliana chloroplasts. Using immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry, we demonstrate that PTST2 interacts with two plastidial coiled-coil proteins. Surprisingly, one of the proteins is the thylakoid-associated MAR BINDING FILAMENT-LIKE PROTEIN1 (MFP1), which was proposed to bind plastid nucleoids. The other protein, MYOSIN-RESEMBLING CHLOROPLAST PROTEIN (MRC), contains long coiled coils and no known domains. Whereas wild-type chloroplasts contained multiple starch granules, only one large granule was observed in most chloroplasts of the mfp1 and mrc mutants. The mfp1 mrc double mutant had a higher proportion of chloroplasts containing no visible granule than either single mutant and accumulated ADP-glucose, the substrate for starch synthesis. PTST2 was partially associated with the thylakoid membranes in wild-type plants, and fluorescently tagged PTST2 was located in numerous discrete patches within the chloroplast in which MFP1 was also located. In the mfp1 mutant, PTST2 was not associated with the thylakoids and formed discrete puncta, suggesting that MFP1 is necessary for normal PTST2 localization. Overall, we reveal that proper granule initiation requires the presence of MFP1 and MRC, and the correct location of PTST2.


This work highlights short-term storage of recalcitrant Lepisanthes fruticosa seeds and long-term conservation attempts of its embryonic axes (EAs) through cryopreservation. Short-term storage was carried out using fresh seeds at 54 % moisture content and stored at 8 ±1 °C and 25 ±2 °C for 7 weeks. Three variations to sterilization were attempted to optimize survival while keeping contamination low for cryopreservation. Cryopreservation using two different methods were tested, namely vitrification and the encapsulation vitrification method. Vitrification technique involved the pre-culturing of EAs overnight in different sucrose pre-culture concentrations (0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 M) prior to, loading, dehydration with plant vitrification solution (PVS2), rapid immersion into liquid nitrogen (-196 °C), rapid warming, unloading and recovery. While, encapsulation vitrification involved encapsulation of the EAs using 3 % sodium alginate followed by exposure to different duration (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 minutes) of PVS2 prior to cryopreservation. L. fruticosa seeds can be safely stored for short-term with no loss in germination up to 7 weeks of storage either at 8 ±1 °C or 25 ±2 °C. This study also showed that EA of L. fruticosa was amenable to cryopreservation, 13.0 – 66.67% of viability was obtained when the EAs were cryopreserved using the vitrification technique while the best result was obtained (66.67 % viability) when the EAs were pre-cultured with 0.4 M sucrose prior to exposure to PVS2 and liquid nitrogen. Cryopreservation of EAs using the encapsulation-vitrification method was unsuccessful.


The ratio of proteinases and their inhibitors in bronchoalveolar washings was studied in 38 patients with chronic nonspecific diseases of the lungs. A decrease in the inhibitor potential was detected. Contrical, an inhibitor of proteolytic enzymes, was used in the treatment of the patients. A new procedure for trans-thoracic++ intrapulmonary administration of contrical with an ISI-1 needle jet injector was shown to be efficient. It provided delivery of the drug in optimal daily doses immediately into the inflammation focus.


The objective of this work was to compare wild poinsettia ( Euphorbia heterophylla ) biotypes as to their morphological characteristics, as well as to determine their genetic similarity in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and to confront the light compensation point of susceptible biotypes and of biotypes with low-resistance level to glyphosate. Besides the morphology analysis, the study included the genetic characterization, by AFLP, of susceptible (GR 50 = 58.65 g ha -1 a.e.) biotypes and of biotypes with low resistance (GR 50 = 310.36 g ha -1 a.e.) to glyphosate. The competitive ability of the biotypes was inferred according to their light compensation point. The observed morphological characteristics do not allow to differentiate biotypes as to their geographical location, or their resistance level to glyphosate. The genetic analysis identified low genetic diversity among the 15 tested biotypes, with a large amount of subgroups. The biotypes with low resistance formed an isolated group. The susceptible biotypes showed the lowest values of light compensation point and, possibly, they have a greater competitive ability under low-luminosity conditions. The evaluated characteristics do not enable to differentiate genotypes with different levels of glyphosate resistance.


We report a case of a 10-year-old boy presenting with radial nerve palsy due to injury during a tug-of-war game. Patient was managed nonoperatively and regained radial nerve function. Tug-of-war is a globally popular noncontact sport. Injuries during this game are inevitable and may range from simple sprains to life and limb threatening trauma. Combined hip and knee injuries and soft-tissue injuries involving the back are most frequent. Most injuries occur when tug-of-war was played in an informal setting and where the tug-of-war International Federation rules were less likely to be followed. Measures should be taken to increase the awareness about these safety rules and prevention of consequent injuries. Sports physicians, pediatricians, orthopedic surgeons, general physicians, and athletic trainers should be aware of potential injuries resulting from this game while caring for these athletes, so as to be well prepared for apt management of the injuries associated with TOW.


Abstract The crystal structure of Na4[Cu4O2(SO4)4] MeCl (Me: Na, Cu, ⃞) has been solved by direct methods and refined to R1 = 0.028 using 2466 independent reflections. The compound is tetragonal with space group P4/n, a= 18.451(1) Å, c = 4.9520(2) Å, Z = 4. The two main building units running parallel to the c-axis comprise: (1) slabs containing SO4 and OCu4 tetrahedra; and (2) chains of corner sharing Me(Cl,O)6 octahedra. The displacement ellipsoids of the atoms occupying the Me sites and of the Cl ions indicate a short-range static disorder. Copper in the slabs exhibits a (4+1) coordination. Both elements form a tunnel structure in which additional Na atoms are incorporated for charge compensation. The structure is closely related to the mineral piypite (K4Cu4O2(SO4)4MeCl (Me: Na, Cu, ⃞)): a ≈ √ 2 . apiy.; c ≈ cpiy.. Furthermore, the structure has a pronounced pseudo-translational symmetry: apart from some of the oxygen sites, all of the nineteen crystallographically distinct positions are related by a pseudo F centring.


The far infrared spectra of the copper halides CuCl, CuBr, and Cul have been measured in transmission and in reflection at various fixed temperatures from room temperature to liquid-helium temperature. Marked changes of such parameters as resonance frquency and damping as a function of temperature have been observed, also a line-splitting in the case of CuCl. In addition, a considerable increase in the asymmetry of the transmission curves with decreasing temperature has been observed.


This paper examines some current reforms to social security benefits / tax credits and changes to employment provisions from a gender perspective. It analyses tensions between the trend towards 'individualisation' and growing emphasis on the couple/household as a policy focus. New tax credits change the distribution of resources within many couples. Incentives to work for some second earners should improve; but extending in-work subsidies to childless couples raises questions. Payment of child tax credit to the 'main carer' has been welcomed, though the implications of joint ownership of tax credits are unclear, and joint assessment will be extended. Many claimants' partners can now access employment services. However, this is aimed at reducing the number of workless households rather than expanding individuals' opportunities. Joint claims for jobseeker's allowance, and work-focused interviews, involve increased responsibilities for partners but no right of access to individual income. A more consistent critical analysis of reform from a gender perspective is required.


EU enlargement policy toward the Western Balkans has never been as contested as today. French President Emmanuel Macron has made reform of the EU accession process a precondition to opening membership talks with Albania and North Macedonia. While the current stalemate severely undermines the EU's reform and stabilization agenda in the region, it also offers an opportunity for an overhaul of the accession process, which is long overdue.


Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are an electrochemical device that converts chemical energy by oxidizing fuel into electrical energy. The device consists of three components: the cathode, the electrolyte, and the anode. A common material used for the anode is Ni supported on yttria (Y₂O₃) stabilized zirconia (ZrO₂) (Ni/YSZ). The oxidation of the fuel, e.g. molecular hydrogen, takes place at the anode, at the Ni/YSZ interface. The performance of the SOFC depends on physico-chemical phenomena, such as Ni sintering, and electrochemical reactions taking place at the triple phase boundary (TPB), where the anode, the electrolyte and the gas phase meet. It is therefore important to understand, at the atomic scale, the microstructure of Ni/YSZ and its interaction with the gaseous phase. In this thesis, we employ ab initio techniques, based on the density functional theory with long-range dispersion corrections (DFT-D2), to investigate the two aspects of the physical chemistry of the TPB: the interaction between Ni and YSZ and the interaction of Ni/YSZ with molecules relevant to SOFC reactions, such as CO₂, CO, H₂O and H₂. To study those two aspects, we first adsorb one Ni atom on top of both ZrO2 and YSZ surfaces to understand the influence of the Y atom on the Ni adsorption. This provides insight into the preferential adsorption site of the single atom, which allows us to construct Ni clusters supported on both ZrO₂ and YSZ surfaces. We proceed by adsorbing clusters of up to 10 Ni atoms, taking into account several configurations and we study the diffusion of Ni atoms towards neighbouring clusters. We adsorb three molecules (H₂O, CO₂, and CO) on bare ZrO₂ and YSZ surfaces and on the oxide surfaces decorated with one supported Ni atom supported. From this first model, we describe the influence of the dopant and metal atom on the adsorption of the molecule at the TPB. Finally, to determine a more realistic molecule-Ni/YSZ interaction model, we consider several Ni cluster sizes (up to 20) to study the interaction of the CO₂ molecule with Ni/YSZ and to determine the influence of the cluster size on the CO₂ adsorption. We also evaluate the CO₂-H₂ co-adsorption on Ni/YSZ to investigate the reverse water gas shift (RWGS) reaction (CO₂+H₂→H2O+CO), which is one of the reactions taking place at the TPB of the SOFC.


ABSTRACTThe focus of this paper is on the functional and stylistic aspects of pottery from Nyungwe, a Dambwa Facies site in northern Botswana, showing the contrast between coarse kitchenware and finely crafted serving dishes and highlighting the remarkable degree of design variation present. The place of Nyungwe within the Shongwe Group and the spread of this cultural group along the Zambezi and Chobe Rivers and beyond are both discussed and a riverine adaptation indicated. Contacts with neighbours on the plateaux to the south in Zimbabwe and to the north in Zambia are examined and an attempt is made to understand the nature of this contact as far as this is visible in the ceramic data.


This paper creates the first dataset of bilateral remittance flows for a limited set of developing countries and estimates a gravity model for workers' remittances. We find that most of the variation in bilateral remittance flows can be explained by a few gravity variables. The evidence on the motives to remit is mixed, but altruism may be less of a factor than commonly believed. Most strikingly, remittances do not seem to increase in the wake of a natural disaster and appear aligned with the business cycle in the home country, suggesting that remittances may not play a major role in limiting vulnerability to shocks. To encourage remittances and maximize their economic impact, policies should be directed at reducing transaction costs, promoting financial sector development, and improving the business climate.


The clinical course of CLL is highly heterogeneous: some patients progress rapidly thus requiring early chemotherapy whereas others exhibit a stable disease over years. Gene expression studies have identified a relatively small number of genes that are differentially expressed between these subsets. Resistance to programmed cell death seems to be one of the preferential pathways of neoplastic B cells to survive and to develop resistance to therapy. We investigated by MicroFluidic Card™ technology patients affected by untreated CLL cells for alterations of agonist and antagonist apoptosis genes. Our aim was to shed light on programmed cell death pathway in this particular subset of patients. Methods 34 CLL and 30 normal controls were evaluated. Highly purified (>90%) B-CLL cells were obtained from all the patients after magnetic cell separation (CD19+ microbeads, Miltenyi Biotech). 92 human apoptosis-related genes as well as 4 reference genes were analyzed in duplicate by MicroFluidic Card method based on TaqMan™ technology (Applied Biosystems). Raw data from the analysis were converted to relative gene expression quantity (RQ) by GeneNorm software. RQs were median normalized, log2 transformed, and variations among patients were investigated by both unsupervised (hierarchical clustering) and supervised methods. Selection of significant genes between normal and neoplastic samples was accomplished by the following criteria: a ratio between the averages of the two groups ≥ 2 or ≤ 0.5 and a p value of Welch T test ≤0.01. Results Unsupervised hierarchical clustering (dChip software) with the complete gene dataset revealed the homogeneity of normal samples (Euclidean distance, average linkage method p=0.0012). 14 were differently regulated in CLL, in particular 7 genes (CASP8AP2, TNFRSF4, TNFSF14, BCL2, CD40LG, CDKN2A and ZAP-70) were up regulated and 7 (CASP10, BIRC5, LTB, BCL2A1, TNFSF10, TNFRSF8 and BID) were down modulated. ZAP-70+ and ZAP-70- groups showed 5 genes differentially expressed (p≤ 0.01, BIK, LTBR, TNFSF11, TNFRSF1A and BCL2L2), with all the targets up regulated in the ZAP-70 subset. When the chromosome status was investigated, ANOVA test revealed 5 genes differentially regulated (p 2,2 mg/l) and for those with mutated IgVH(Euclidean distance, p=0.0074 and p=0.0006, respectively). Conclusions Indolent CLL is poorly characterized in its molecular aspects. The comprehensive profiling of gene expression in CLL can provide a molecular framework for understanding the pathophysiology of this disease. Significant alterations of the apoptotic pathway at both the extrinsic and the intrinsic levels among asymptomatic CLL patients were found. The system uses only 2 ng of sample and small volumes of reagent, and the precaptured primers and probes avoided labor-intensive pipetting steps. This procedure could be an useful method to identify targets associated with clinical outcome.


This paper presents the application of remote sensing techniques, digital image analysis and Geographic Information System tools to delineate the degree of landslide hazard and risk areas in the Balik Pulau area in Penang Island, Malaysia. Its causes were analysed through various thematic attribute data layers for the study area. Firstly, landslide locations were identified in the study area from the interpretation of aerial photographs, satellite imageries, field surveys, reports and previous landslide inventories. Topographic, geologic, soil and satellite images were collected and processed using Geographic Information System and image processing tools. There are 12 landslide-inducing parameters considered for the landslide hazard analyses. These parameters are: topographic slope, topographic aspect, plan curvature, distance to drainage and distance to roads, all derived from the topographic database; geology and distance to faults, derived from the geological database; landuse/landcover, derived from Landsat satellite images; soil, derived from the soil database; precipitation amount, derived from the rainfall database; and the vegetation index value, derived from SPOT satellite images. In addition, hazard analyses were performed using landslide-occurrence factors with the aid of a statistically based frequency ratio model. Further, landslide risk analysis was carried out using hazard map and socio-economic factors using a geospatial model. This landslide risk map could be used to estimate the risk to population, property and existing infrastructure like transportation networks. Finally, to check the accuracy of the success-rate prediction, the hazard map was validated using the area under curve method. The prediction accuracy of the hazard map was 89%. Based on these results the authors conclude that frequency ratio models can be used to mitigate hazards related to landslides and can aid in land-use planning.


For several decades now, wealthy organizations and people have had the misfortune of finding out that their pockets have been systematically and meticulously emptied by people they blindly trusted. This phenomenon includes such cases as the all-mighty employer Sumitomo and its star trader, Yasuo Hamanaka, "the copper master." In the 1990s, he managed to hide some US$2.6 billion in losses over a 10-year period. This multidisciplinary article uses three databases, one of which is from recent research on a Canadian case of financial predation involving nearly 2,000 investors, to show that unconditional trust can be built through consistently satisfying stakeholders. In the process, they lower their guard and become easy prey for malevolent financial predators. Understanding this process is an additional tool to protect wealthy individuals against abuse.


ABSTRACT Background The use of pain coping questionnaires is advantageous when selecting cognitive and behavioral targets for chronic pain management. The objective of this study was to investigate adaptation, validity, and reliability of the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ) in Turkish population with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Methods The Turkish version of the questionnaire (CSQ-T) was checked in terms of reliability and validity with a convenience sample of 123 patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Reliability (test-retest) analyses were conducted by means of a retest 48 hours later with a sub-group of 40 patients. Construct validity of the CSQ was checked through convergent validity with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Short Form-36 (SF-36) health survey. Results Cronbach's alpha of the subscales ranged from 0.814 to 0.934 and the test-retest reliability ranged from 0.800 to 0.944. Neither floor nor ceiling effects (15%) were found in the subscales (13.8%) and the total score (4.1%) of the CSQ-T. Factor analysis indicated that the scale had two factors. The total CSQ-T score was correlated with both the HADS (r: −0.636/-0.549) and the SF-36 (r: 0.701/0.768). Conclusion The CSQ-T is a reliable and valid measure for assessing patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain.


We measure complete and continuous Wigner functions of a two-level cesium atom in both a nearly pure state and highly mixed states. We apply the method [T. Tilma et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 180401 (2016)] of strictly constructing continuous Wigner functions for qubit or spin systems. We find that the Wigner function of all pure states of a qubit has negative regions and the negativity completely vanishes when the purity of an arbitrary mixed state is less than $\frac{2}{3}$. We experimentally demonstrate these findings using a single cesium atom confined in an optical dipole trap, which undergoes a nearly pure dephasing process. Our method can be applied straightforwardly to multi-atom systems for measuring the Wigner function of their collective spin state.


A concanavalin A (Con A)-binding polypeptide with a molecular mass of 24 kD (termed "SRgp24") was associated with the intercellular space of Mesembryanthemum crystallinum 1. callus. When callus was grown in medium containing between O and 100 mM NaCI, SRgp24 was deteded by Con A binding. lncreasing the NaCl concentration to 200 mM caused a reduction in the amount of SRgp24 within 3 d, and returning the callus to medium without salt resulted in an accumulation of SRgp24. lmmunoblot analysis showed that appreciable amounts of SRgp24 accumulated in the leaves when plants were grown under sodium-limiting conditions. Unlike most of the cell-wall Con A-binding proteins in M. crystallinum callus, the carbohydrate moiety of SRgp24 was resistant to endoglycosidase H digestion. After purification of SRgp24, the N terminus was sequenced and found to share 55 to 60% identity with the N terminus of osmotin, a group 5 pathogenesis-related protein (PR-5) that accumulates in salt-adapted tobacco cell suspension. lmmunocytochemical assays, with affinity-purified antibodies to SRgp24, indicated that SRgp24 preferentially accumulated in the cell-wall region. We conclude that SRgp24 is a salt-responsive glycoprotein related to the PR-5 family in M. crystallinum.


To assess the risk of prevalent high-grade cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs) or invasive cervical cancer (ICC) associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1, HIV-2, and human papillomavirus (HPV) infections, HIV load, and CD4 cell count, we studied 4119 women attending an outpatient clinic in Senegal. HIV infection was associated with increased rates of cervical infection with high-risk HPVs. Among women infected with high-risk HPVs, those with HIV-1 (odds ratio [OR], 2.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0-4.8), HIV-2 (OR, 6.0; 95% CI, 2.1-17.1), or dual HIV infection (OR, 8.0; 95% CI, 2.0-31.5) were more likely to have HSILs or ICC diagnosed than were HIV-negative women; this association was not observed among women not infected with high-risk HPVs. Among women with HIV, higher HIV plasma RNA loads and lower CD4 cell counts were associated with high-risk HPV infection and degree of cervical abnormality. Furthermore, HIV-2-positive women were more likely to have HSILs (OR, 3.3; 95% CI, 0.9-12.4) or ICC (OR, 7.9; 95% CI, 1.1-57) than were HIV-1-positive women.


Bulk superconductor samples of YBa2Cu3O7−δ (YBCO) doped with nano metal oxides of Mn3O4, Co3O4, Cr2O3, CuO and SnO2 respectively with 0.2 wt% are synthesized by a solid-state reaction route. The structural characterization of all samples has been carried out by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The XRD patterns indicate that the magnetic doping of nano metal oxides Mn 3 O 4 , Co 3 O 4 , Cr 2 O 3 ?> gives a high value of orthorhombicity of the YBCO samples which is the result of high oxygen content, and consequently could give better superconducting properties contrary to the non magnetic nano oxides (CuO, SnO2). The critical temperature (Tc) of the studied samples was found to improve by nano magnetic doping and lower with nano nonmagnetic doping. The superconducting transition temperature Tc determined from electrical resistivity measurements was found to increase for Mn3O4 (5.27 μB) doping and decrease for other metal oxides doping.


The interest rate parity theorem suggests that the related financial assets that are otherwise identical among nations should have the same returns. However, according to empirical evidence systematic deviations from the parity conditions are often observed, which are ascribed to differences among countries in currency factors, taxes, transaction costs and country risks. In an attempt to better understand and quantify the nature of these deviations, we examine the main characteristics and possible causes of interest rate differentials, especially with the U.S., for twelve sample countries over two periods from the 2000s selected based upon the trends (upward and downward) of U.S. interest rates. In addition, we analyze the impact of the recent global financial crisis triggered by the U.S. sub-prime mortgage insolvencies by categorizing the period from August 2007, when the crisis began in earnest, until now as the 'financially distressed period.' We find that the interest rates of most sample countries induced by their monetary policy changes are more in sync with those of the U.S. during the period when the U.S. interest rate moved upward. Most of the interest rate differentials can be explained by currency factors during both the upward and downward periods. However, during the financially distressed period the effect of the country factors increased significantly among most sample countries. Furthermore, the test results show that the covered interest parity condition holds in most advanced countries, while it does not hold in the emerging market countries. This implies that the recent global financial crisis has had disproportionately bigger effects on emerging market countries than on developed countries, in light of the country risk and currency liquidity of each country.


The electromagnetic field produced by a horizontal electric dipole over a double negative (DNG) medium half space is discussed, and the analytical expressions of the field which are convenient for calculation are derived. It can be concluded that the dipole on the configuration composed of the double positive (DPS) medium and the DNG medium half space can effectively excite the surface wave. The propagation wave number of the surface wave is less than that in both of the mediums, so that this kind of surface wave is a slow wave. Considered both the mediums are lossless, the amplitude of the surface wave decreases with the radial distance as 1/ρ1/2. The total field shows complicated interference because of the superposition of three kinds of wave modes. Corresponding author: X.-Q. Zhu (firstname.lastname@example.com). † Also with China Research Institute of Radiowave Propagation, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China. 124 Zhu, Pan, and Guan


Twenty five rice genotypes were evaluated in randomized block design with three replications to examine the nature and magnitude of variability, heritability and genetic advance. Analysis of variance revealed that differences among the genotypes were significant for all the characters studied. Further, the traits, number of tillers per plant, productive tillers per plant, number of grains per panicle and number of filled grains per panicle showed higher estimates of genotypic and phenotypic co-efficient of variation, while high estimates of heritability were recorded for all the characters under study. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as per cent of mean was also recorded for number of tillers per plant, productive tillers per plant, number of grains per panicle and number of filled grains per panicle suggesting that these traits were more useful for targetted yield improvement programmes in rice.


An 81-year-old woman had hemoptysis in 2009. Chest computed tomography (CT) showed a huge mass with partial calcification in the left chest. Mycobacterium tuberculosis was identified in her sputum culture. She was treated with che-motherapy for 6 months. Sputum culture changed to negative, and the symptoms improved. In 2012, chronic expanding hematoma (CEH) was diagnosed by CT with enlargement of the mass; however, she had no symptoms and desired ob-servation. In 2014, she was admitted with complaints of hemosputum and dyspnea. She underwent left pleuropneumonectomy (EPP) for CEH due to its growth and worsening of the clinical symptoms. The postoperative course was sat-isfactory and she is now in good health without recurrence of CEH. It is very important to minimize the direct approach to the capsule of hematoma to reduce the risk of hemorrhage and recurrence. EPP may be an appropriate surgical pro-cedure for CEH like in this case when improvement of the compressed lung cannot be expected.


Background and Purpose. Use of mobile devices in higher education to promote learning (m‐learning) is growing. Mobile devices, such as iPads and software applications (apps) offer faculty tools to improve student learning. Despite increasing use of mobile devices by consumers and health care professionals, little has been reported of m‐learning in physical therapist (PT) higher education. The purpose of this case report is to describe m‐learning with iPads and apps for instruction and assessment in a musculoskeletal physical therapy class, challenges to its use, and student and faculty experiences. Case Description. A university provided iPads to students in a professional level PT program for use in coursework. The instructor of record modified the first musculoskeletal course using iPads and m‐learning. Laboratory instruction was supplemented with a commercially available musculoskeletal examination measures app. Formative assessment was conducted using an active response system (ARS) app promoting class discussion. Summative assessment was conducted with in‐class mobile‐compatible quizzes created in a learning management system, allowing students to review graded quizzes anytime, anywhere. Outcomes. Course assessment results for the m‐learning cohort were similar to those of the preceding cohort despite a larger class size for the m‐learning cohort. Students reported the musculoskeletal measures app was helpful to learn proper technique. Most students did not like inclass mobile quizzes due to technical difficulties, including wireless connectivity problems. Discussion and Conclusion. Students perceived m‐learning with musculoskeletal measures and ARS apps to be helpful for learning and for formative assessment. There was no apparent effect on assessment scores. Because technical challenges to m‐learning for summative assessment are present, collaboration between academic technology professionals and faculty is necessary for planning and implementing m‐learning in PT curricula.


In this work, we studied the potential of the visible, near-infrared, and shortwave infrared wavelength regions for monitoring oil spill incidents using optical reflectance. First, a simple physical model was designed for accurate oil thickness and volume estimation using optical reflectance. The developed method was made invariant to changes in acquisition and illumination conditions. In the next step, an algorithm based on an artificial neural network was designed to detect spilled oil. The training samples that are required to optimize the parameters of the network were generated by utilizing the proposed physical model. To validate the method, experiments were conducted in laboratory and outdoor scenarios for detection and thickness/volume estimation on four different oil types. In particular, we developed hyperspectral datasets of oil samples with varying thickness between 500 µm and 5000 µm acquired using two different sensors, an Agrispec spectrometer and an Imec snapscan shortwave infrared hyperspectral camera, in strictly controlled experimental settings. To demonstrate the potential of the proposed method in outdoor environments using solely the visible wavelength region, we monitored the evolution of artificially spilled oil in an outdoor scene with an RGB camera mounted on a drone.


Under conditions of high-level interference fm receiver performance is often impaired because of improper low-frequency time constants in the limiter and discriminator circuits. The computation of the upper bounds on the permissible values of these time constants is illustrated. Severe restrictions are indicated which often conflict with other fundamental requirements. The computational results of this paper demonstrate that these severe restrictions can be alleviated by means of simple schemes that will greatly enhance the capture performance of the fm receiver.


Introduction An estimated 17,000 new cases of primary central nervous system (CNS) tumors will be diagnosed in the United States in 2002 (1). The number of related deaths is projected to be 13,100. These numbers represent a small proportion of the total number of new cancer cases and cancer deaths; however, because of the diversity and complexity of CNS tumors, a multidisciplinary approach is required for their diagnosis and treatment. Treatment options for the different tumors vary widely from observation to aggressive combinations of surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. Because of the complexity of as well as the controversy surrounding management issues, adult CNS neoplasms were the featured topic of the Oncodiagnosis Panel at the 2002 scientific assembly of the Radiological Society of North America. Experts on neuro-oncology (T.F.C.), neuro–radiation oncology (G.S.B.), diagnostic neuroradiology (J.T.W.), and neurosurgery (M.W.M.) were presented adult CNS neoplasm cases for discussion. The ensuing article outlines each case as presented in the Oncodiagnosis Panel followed by questions posed to the experts and their commentaries given in response. The CNS neoplasms discussed include oligodendroglioma, multiple brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer, glioblastoma multiforme, and meningioma of the optic nerve.


Offshore Wind systems have recently gained popularity. However, as the distance from shore increase, different challenges arise. The use of HVDC link to shore helps to overcome most of the challenges. Current Source converters have long been used as HVDC converters despite of their large footprint and reactive power consumption challenges. Recent development in the converter led to the use of Voltage Source Converters (VSC). There are a number of VSC topologies proposed by the industry and academic researchers. The purpose of this thesis was to compare the dominant converter topologies and identify their merits. The work was done in three phases. Phase I was initial study and literature review where three dominant topologies were selected at the end. Two level VSC, Three level NPC, and Modular Multilevel Converter (M2C) were selected at the end of Phase I. Phase II involved detailed modelling and simulation of the selected converter topologies. The simulation was mainly focused on harmonics and losses. The M2C was found to produce lower harmonics and losses under the same operating conditions and using the same switching device. The M2C also exhibits modular design which gives it scalability. This is critical in todays power system which changes very frequently. The M2C was selected for next phase analysis because of the above and a number of other reasons. Phase III was the final part which included practical work on the selected topology. This task was undertaken on a small scale setup of M2C with 3 cells. The purpose of the setup was to verify theoretical results obtained from simulation. The results showed good correspondence with the ones obtained from simulation. The overall study pointed in the direction of M2C for future HVDC installations despite of the capacitor ripple and complex control challenges.


The amended "Code of Criminal Procedure" in 2012 has written "respecting and safeguarding human rights" into the Article 2 of this provision. This is a tremendous progress in our criminal justice. Essentially, the fundamental purpose of criminal justice system is to safeguard citizens, especially the human rights of criminal suspects and criminal defendants. Currently, although the criminal justice system in China has made significantly progress in the protection of human rights in recent years, there are still many problems. By the occasion of the amendment to the "Code of Criminal Procedure", it should further improve human rights protection mechanisms of criminal justice in China and raise the legalization level of criminal justice in China. Key words: Human rights protection; Criminal justice; Code of criminal procedure


Introduction Acute upper GI bleeding (AUGIB) presents with a spectrum of severity. Current NICE guidance recommends risk-stratifying patients using the Glasgow-Blatchford score (GBS) and considering early discharge for patients with a pre-endoscopy Blatchford score of 01. STHK Teaching Hospitals has developed an ambulatory pathway to manage low-risk (GBS ≤2) patients with suspected AUGIB. Patients are commenced on the pathway by a Medical StR, then discharged home with a pre-arranged endoscopy (OGD) and a post-OGD medical review. Our aim was to assess the safety of this strategy. Method Data between May 2016 and Jan 2017 was retrospectively collected from e-case notes. A standard audit tool was used and included GBS, endoscopy findings, readmission, re-bleeding, transfusion, surgery and death. Local audit data was used to estimate total bed days saved. Results 68 patients (M:F 34:34) were referred via the Low Risk GI Bleed Ambulatory Pathway. The mean age was 42, range 18–79. Median time to OGD was 1 day, range 0–10. 2 patients elected to defer their endoscopy by 10 days for non-clinical reasons. All patients were discharged after post-OGD medical review. 26 had a normal OGD, 6 had peptic ulcer disease. 5 patients had a delay in the decision to ambulate, mean stay 1.2 days. 1 patient re-presented after 3 months with a suspected AUGIB, GBS was 1 and repeat OGD revealed oesophagitis. 6 patients were inappropriately referred and had GBS>2. No patients had stigmata of recent or active bleeding, none required endotherapy or surgery and no patients died. 1 patient recieved a blood transfusion. Conclusion Our data shows that patients with GBS ≤2 can potentially be managed safely with an ambulatory pathway and this supports previously published findings2,3. Using local audit data, median and mean length of stay for patients with GBS ≤2 is 2 and 3 days respectively. Between May 2016 and Jan 2017 we estimate to have saved 138–204 bed days. At an estimated cost of £400 per day, this equates to a saving of £55,200–81,6004. References . National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, June 2012. Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding in over 16s : Management [CG141]. London: NICE. . Stewart RF, Murphy RFE, Church NI. "An ambulatory care protocol for managing low-risk patients with non-variceal upper GI bleeding". Society of Acute Medicine Conference, Manchester, England, 30th Dec 2012. . Stanley AJ, et al. Outpatient management of patients with low-risk upper-gastrointestinal haemorrhage: multicentre validation and prospective evaluation. The Lancet, vol 373, No. 9657, p42–47, 3rd Jan 2009. . https://data.gov.uk/data-request/nhs-hospital-stay. Department of Health. Data.gov.uk. NHS Hospital Stay, 24/08/2015.Accessed:17/02/17. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


In an analysis of the risk-sharing properties of different types of pension systems, we show that only a fixed-fee pay-as-you-go (PAYG) pension systems can provide intergenerational risk sharing for living individuals. Under some circumstances, however, other PAYG pension systems can enhance the expected welfare of all generations by reducing intergenerational income variability. We derive conditions for this to occur. We also analyze the stability of actuarially fair PAYG pension systems. It is shown that if an actuarially fair pension with a non-balanced budget system is dynamically stable, its accumulated surpluses will converge to the same fund as in a fully funded system. We also show that the welfare loss due to labor market distortions will, in fact, increase if the implicit marginal return in a compulsory system is raised above the average return.


We have searched for the decay φ → K0Kγ , by detecting KS pairs plus a photon and with the KS-mesons decaying to π π, in a sample of about 1.5×109 φ-decays collected by the KLOE experiment at DAΦNE. The reaction proceeds through the intermediate states f0(980)γ, a0(980)γ. We find five events with 3.2 events expected from background processes. We obtain the upper limit: BR(φ → K0Kγ) < 1.9 × 10 at 90% C.L. .


LIGO and Virgo recently made the first observation of a binary neutron star merger demonstrating that gravitational-wave observations offer the ability to probe how matter behaves in one of the most extreme environments in the Universe. However, the gravitational-wave signal emitted by an inspiraling binary neutron star system is only weakly dependent on the equation of state and extracting this information is challenging. Previous studies have focused mainly on binary systems where the neutron stars are spinning slowly and the main imprint of neutron star matter in the inspiral signal is due to tidal effects. For binaries with non-negligible neutron-star spin the deformation of the neutron star due to its own rotation introduces additional variations in the emitted gravitational-wave signal. Here we explore whether highly spinning binary neutron-star systems offer a better chance to measure the equation-of-state than weakly spinning binary-neutron star systems. We focus on the dominant adiabatic quadrupolar effects and consider three main questions. First, we show that equation-of-state effects can be significant in the inspiral waveforms, and that the spin-quadrupole effect dominates for rapidly rotating neutron stars. Second, we show that variations in the spin-quadrupole phasing are strongly degenerate with changes in the component masses and spins, and therefore neglecting these terms has a negligible impact on the number of observations with second generation observatories. Finally, we explore the bias in the masses and spins that would be introduced by using incorrect equation-of-state terms. Using a novel method to rapidly evaluate an approximation of the likelihood we show that assuming the incorrect equation-of-state when measuring source parameters can lead to a significant bias. We also find that the ability to measure the equation-of-state is improved when considering spinning systems.


Of the mechanisms bacteria use to evade the effects of
aminoglycoside (AG) antibiotics, enzymatic modification has the
most clinical relevance due to the promiscuous nature of the
DNA encoding the genes for these enzymes. One such enzyme,
aminoglycoside 3'-phosphotransferase IIa (APH(3')-IIa), is used
as a model for understanding this modification at a molecular
level along with anticipating the evolution of AG resistance. To
study the structure-function relationships of this enzyme, we
previously determined the crystal structure of APH(3')-IIa and
modeled its ATP binding site. We identified a lysine that
appeared to be involved in the binding of ATP and generated a
conserved lysine to arginine mutant to better assess this residue's
functional contributions. We determined the binding kinetics for
ATP to this mutant and employed active-site labeling using an
azido ATP analog to confirm the importance of this conserved
lysine. Competition experiments with tryptophan during activesite
labeling revealed that a conserved tryptophan residue in the
amino-terminus of the enzyme may be involved directly or by
association with ATP binding. Together, these data give us a
clearer picture of how ATP associates with APH(3')-II and could
aid in the development of small chemical compounds which
specifically inhibit its activity.


In this communication, two polarization selective partial reflective decoupling layers (PRDLs) are utilized to mitigate at least two kinds of mutual couplings between two closely spaced dual-polarized dipole antennas. The PRDL is a large-scale model of an actual dielectric board, obtained by arranging a large number of identical conducting obstacles in a regular two-dimensional pattern. The two PRDLs are designed at proper distances from the antenna aperture with well-engineered dielectric constants for two preset polarizations. Each layer is selective to only one polarization by appropriately designing the dimension of the unit cells. Consequently, the two dominant couplings between the two dual-polarized antennas are reduced significantly. The measured isolation between all ports of the two antennas are increased to more than 21 dB, while their reflection coefficients can still maintain in satisfactory status. The radiation patterns, total efficiencies, and envelop correlation coefficients of the proposed antenna, as well as its counterpart without any decoupling measures, are also obtained through measurement, showing significant and reasonable improvements, which further indicates that it has great potential to be extended and applied to 5G MIMO arrays in both base stations and wireless routers.


We describe and evaluate a set of protocols that implement a distributed, decentralized desktop grid. Incoming jobs are matched with system nodes through proximity in an N-dimensional resource space. This work improves on prior work by (1) efficiently accommodating node and job characterizations that include both continuous and categorical resource types, and (2) scaling gracefully to large system sizes even with highly non-uniform distributions of job and node types. We use extensive simulation results to show that the resulting system handles both continuous and categorical constraints efficiently, and that the new scalability techniques are effective.


The dynamics of an electrical-driven linear nanopump, consisting of a carbon nanotube, a C60+ molecule and a graphene sheet, has been simulated via the application of the molecular dynamics method. In this nanopump, the nanotube and the graphene sheet are used as the sleeve of the pump and the boundary between the two sides of the nanopump, respectively. By exposing the nanopump to an external alternative electric field, the C60+ molecule will be oscillating linearly in the nanotube. We found that the linear oscillating motion of the C60+ molecule causes the gas atoms to flow through the nanotube, and a density gradient is generated between the two sides of the nanopump. Also, it was observed that the frequency of the external alternative electric field affected the pump performance in the generation of the density gradient amount. The maximum performance occurred at a specific frequency of the electric field. This specific frequency can be computed by an analytical formula for given materials and temperatures. Moreover, the results indicate that the length of the nanotube can affect the gas pumping.


Computer networks are currently very active in the development of technology that is around us. Seeing this, of course knowledge of the network will be needed if there is a problem on the network. Scapy is a Python module that allows for sending, sniffing and dissecting a packet on a network. This capability allows users to create an application that can dissect how the workings of a network packet. Researchers will create a protocol traffic learning application on a computer network using Scapy and natural language to convey the results of the ongoing sniffing process. The application uses natural language to convey the translation of the sniffing process. The translation result of the sniffing process by using the natural language of this application is expected to be effective and can facilitate and make users understand and learn about the work process of a network packet. To measure the effectiveness of the use of natural language for the translation of the sniffing process a questionnaire was distributed to students of the SMKN 1 Denpasar school majoring in Computer and Network Engineering. The results of the distribution of the questionnaire were then calculated using a Likert scale and then the results obtained that the original results of the sniffing process got a Likert scale value of 37%. While the results of sniffing that have been translated get a value of 73%. This shows respondent better understands the results that have been translated compared to the original results that have not been translated.


Abstract The hypothesis that weight on the chest may diminish the compliance of the chest wall and affect chest wall dynamics guided this research. Few previous studies investigated the possibility of increasing chest compliance and pulmonary function after reduction mammaplasty. The meager results available were contradictory. The aim of this study was to determine the relation between reduction mammaplasty and pulmonary function. Thirty-three adult female patients who presented for reduction mammaplasty were included in the study. Paired t test showed nonsignificant change in pulmonary functions after reduction mammaplasty. Pearson method of statistical analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between the total weight of breast tissue removed and pulmonary function, and a negative correlation between the total postoperative breast volume and the pulmonary function. The study concluded that the more the breast tissue weight removed and the less the postoperative total breast volume, the better the postoperative pulmonary function.


This paper describes an experimental study on water jet pumps with different diameters and nozzle-to-throat area ratios. The results revealed that the area ratio was an important parameter to characterize the maximum suction lift of the jet pumps, while their diameters had a negligible effect. All jet pumps reached the cavitation regime at a suction lift of about 8 mH2O. In the non-cavitating region, it was found that the higher the area ratio, the higher the maximum suction lift for the same motive pressure head. However, the lower the area ratio, the higher the resistance to enter the cavitation regime. A dimensionless correlation was obtained for the non-cavitating region to describe the maximum suction lift as a function of a modified Thoma number and the area ratio. Curve fitting of experimental data also provided a dimensionless correlation to predict the onset of cavitation. Finally, applications of the results are presented.


The reconstruction kernel in computed tomography (CT) generation determines the texture of the image. Consistency in reconstruction kernels is important as the underlying CT texture can impact measurements during quantitative image analysis. Harmonization (i.e., kernel conversion) minimizes differences in measurements due to inconsistent reconstruction kernels. Existing methods investigate harmonization of CT scans in single or multiple manufacturers. However, these methods require paired scans of hard and soft reconstruction kernels that are spatially and anatomically aligned. Additionally, a large number of models need to be trained across different kernel pairs within manufacturers. In this study, we adopt an unpaired image translation approach to investigate harmonization between and across reconstruction kernels from different manufacturers by constructing a multipath cycle generative adversarial network (GAN). We use hard and soft reconstruction kernels from the Siemens and GE vendors from the National Lung Screening Trial dataset. We use 50 scans from each reconstruction kernel and train a multipath cycle GAN. To evaluate the effect of harmonization on the reconstruction kernels, we harmonize 50 scans each from Siemens hard kernel, GE soft kernel and GE hard kernel to a reference Siemens soft kernel (B30f) and evaluate percent emphysema. We fit a linear model by considering the age, smoking status, sex and vendor and perform an analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the emphysema scores. Our approach minimizes differences in emphysema measurement and highlights the impact of age, sex, smoking status and vendor on emphysema quantification.


Soil electrical conductivity (SEC) surveys have recently become available for the characterization of soil patterns within fields. The question arises as to whether or not SEC maps can be used to drive site-specific nitrogen (N) fertilizer applications during the growing season. Corn was grown with N fertilization treatments ranging from 0 to 150 kg N/ha at topdressing. CASI airborne images were collected using a multispectral mode of operation, with 1 m spatial resolution and computed to provide an Optimized Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (OSAVI). Low SEC were related to high OSAVI. There were neither effects of N fertilization on OSAVI nor interaction with SEC properties. It is concluded that (1) N application at topdressing may not impact corn growth and (2) that variable rate N application can hardly be based on SEC patterns.


Background and Purpose
 Traditional vestibular function testing has measured horizontal semicircular canal function only. Otolith function tests have recently been developed, but their clinical significance has not been determined. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of otolith dysfunction on the clinical presentation of individuals with a peripheral vestibular disorder.
 Subjects and Methods
 Twenty-one subjects with loss of horizontal semicircular canal function only and 37 subjects with combined loss of horizontal semicircular canal and otolith organ function were recruited. All subjects received a comprehensive clinical assessment, including self-report questionnaires and measures of balance performance.
 Results
 No significant differences were identified between subjects with or without otolith dysfunction with respect to symptom severity, self-perceived handicap, functional limitations, or balance performance.
 Discussion and Conclusion
 Otolith dysfunction does not significantly influence the clinical presentation of individuals with a peripheral vestibular disorder. Other factors, including symptom severity, may be more influential.


In model-based fault detection and isolation (FDI), Analytical Redundancy Relations (ARRs) play a key role. Residuals as the result of their numerical evaluation serve as fault indicators. This paper proposes a novel approach to the generation of ARRs from a diagnostic bond graph (DBG) of a mode switching linear time invariant (LTI) model with ideal switches that hold for all modes of operation. Devices or phenomena with fast state transitions such as electronic diodes and transistors, clutches, or hard mechanical stops are modelled by ideal switches giving rise to variable causalities. Nevertheless, fixed causalities are assigned only once such that a DBG with storage elements in derivative causality and sensors in inverted causality is obtained. That is, the BG reflects the configuration for a specific system mode. From such a DBG with fixed causalities, a unique system of ARRs is derived from the DBG that holds for all system modes. The ARRs are implicitly given. In order to evaluate them, first, a set of algebraic or Differential Algebraic Equations (DAEs) must be solved. A formal matrix based approach that starts from the partitioning of a BG into fields is used for the general case. For illustration, two small system examples are considered. Their equations and the ARRs are directly derived from the DBG by following causal paths.


Purpose Everyday nursing practice under demanding conditions, high mental and physical strain may result in occupational burnout. There is still a need for studies on the comprehensive identification of burnout among nursing staff. This study aimed to evaluate factors affecting occupational burnout among nurses, including job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and dispositional optimism. Methods The study involved 625 survey participants with a mean age of 49.47 years and was conducted between January and December 2018. The inclusion criteria were job experience >1 year, current nurse work activity, and written informed consent to participate in the study. The study used standardized research tools such as Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Life Orientation Test-Revised version (LOT-R), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and Satisfaction with Job Scale (SWJS). Also, sociodemographic data were collected using a self-developed questionnaire. The STROBE guidelines were followed. Results Emotional exhaustion (EE) was significantly greater in respondents with medium life satisfaction (SWLS). Also, EE was significantly greater in pessimists and those with a neutral orientation than in optimists (LOT-R). Housing conditions and family-related problems were significant factors differentiating depersonalization (DEP). Reduced personal accomplishment (PA) was more significant in respondents with a bachelor's degree than in those with a master's degree. Also, decreased PA was significantly greater in respondents with low life satisfaction than those with medium life satisfaction. Life satisfaction and life orientation were significant factors differentiating job dissatisfaction among the health-related and psychological variables. Conclusion Burnout was found to be related to individual, interpersonal and organizational feelings. There was an interrelationship between personality traits, where a higher level of occupational burnout was found among nurses with a pessimist attitude. Health programs should be implemented to identify and eliminate burnout through mental health support, improved communication skills, optimized teamwork, and evidence-based interventions.


Since growth hormone (GH) secretion is increased with fasting, the study was designed to assess the effects of short-term fasting on both basal and GH stimulated substrate metabolism. Seven normal healthy subjects were studied following a 12 h and a 36 h fast ("fasting"), for 2 h in the basal state and for a further 4 1/2 h after an i.v. bolus injection of 140 micrograms GH. As expected fasting induced decrements in circulating concentrations of insulin and C-peptide (p < 0.05) and increments in glucagon concentrations (p < 0.05), together with a slight increase in serum GH concentrations (p > 0.05). Furthermore plasma glucose values, isotopically determined turnover rate for glucose and forearm uptake of glucose were all substantially reduced during fasting (p < 0.05). By contrast circulating levels of all measured lipid intermediates (free fatty acids [FFA], 3-hydroxybutyrate [3-OHB] and glycerol) and the forearm uptake of 3-OHB were clearly elevated during the fast (p < 0.05). Serum GH rose to a peak of 17.0 +/- 2.7 within 10 min of injection in both situations. Blood concentrations of hormones and parameters of glucose metabolism remained unaffected. After administration of GH circulating levels of lipid intermediates increased markedly in both situations, the increase being most pronounced in the fasting state (p < 0.05). During fasting peak levels of 1775 +/- 150 mumol/l and 1780 +/- 360 mumol/l of FFA and 3-OHB were observed compared to postabsorptive peaks of 980 +/- 100 and 230 +/- 90 mumol/l respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


If a small fraction of fast radio bursts (FRBs) are associated with gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), as recently suggested by Zhang, the combination of redshift measurements of GRBs and dispersion measure (DM) measurements of FRBs opens a new window to study cosmology. At z < 2 where the universe is essentially fully ionized, detections of FRB/GRB pairs can give an independent measurement of the intergalactic medium portion of the baryon mass fraction, ΩbfIGM, of the universe. If a good sample of FRB/GRB associations are discovered at higher redshifts, the free electron column density history can be mapped, which can be used to probe the reionization history of both hydrogen and helium in the universe. We apply our formulation to GRBs 101011A and 100704A that each might have an associated FRB, and constrained ΩbfIGM to be consistent with the value derived from other methods. The methodology developed here is also applicable, if the redshifts of FRBs not associated with GRBs can be measured by other means.


Background: Despite lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is common in adults, it is extremely rare in children. The treatment of LDH in children is still a challenge for surgeons. This study aimed to explore the pathogenesis, clinical characteristics and treatment methods of LDH in children for communication and learning.Methods: In October 2017, a child with LDH who failed to receive conservative treatment underwent surgical treatment. The child underwent minimally invasive high-definition microscope-assisted nucleus pulposus resection and nerve root decompression. The soft tissues such as muscles and paravertebral ligaments were separated and removed under microscope, the nucleus pulposus of disc herniation was removed, and the left lumbar 5 nerve root was decompressed. During the short-term and long-term follow-up after operation, the assessment pain was significantly improved, the activity was not limited, and the muscle strength returned to normal.Results: The next day after operation, the child could wear ordinary waist circumference to get out of bed, and the left lower limb muscle strength returned to grade 4-5, and were discharged 5 days after operation. After 3 years of telephone follow-up, the patient complained that the pain was significantly relieved, the left lower limb movement was not limited, and the muscle strength returned to normal. Conclusions: In this case, the minimally invasive high-definition microscope assisted small channel treatment of LDH in children was successful, and the postoperative recovery was good. It can provide reference for LDH in children who need surgical treatment when conservative treatment was ineffective.


A virile, viable and strong economy anywhere in the world is a product of a "pragmatic philosophy" that is anchored on public accountability. Accountability as a pragmatic philosophy presupposes a natural unhindered tendency or impulse intrinsically flowing from personal conviction that giving account is necessarily good in itself. It requires one to freely and voluntarily give account of his actions without waiting to be challenged, seeing it as a necessary condition, an indispensable requirement for the survival of an economy and the development of a nation. The benefits of accountability, notwithstanding, include ensuring public trust and confidence as well as vindicating one who is entrusted with public resources or funds. It shows that one's actions are guided by the rule of law, fairness and social justice. Regrettably, accountability has been elusive in Nigeria, resulting to high rate of corruption, looting of public treasury, abuse of power - the bane of economic doldrums and chequered development of the country. This paper therefore argued that without accountability, all efforts towards economic and social progress, justice and national development cannot be achieved in Nigeria because accountability eliminates corruption, embezzlement of public funds and wastages and promotes transparency, frugality and good governance which are conditio-sinequa-non to economic growth and national development.