Molecular characterization of CTCs is hindered by low sensitivity and high level of background leukocytes of currently available CTC enrichment devices and assays. We have developed a novel technology to enrich and retrieve CTCs from blood samples using a microfluidic chip. The Celsee PREP100 device captures CTCs with high sensitivity and then allows the captured CTCs to be retrieved for subsequent molecular analysis. The Celsee PREP100 system uses the microfluidic chip which has approximately 56,320 capture chambers. Based on differences in cell size and deformability, each chamber ensures that small blood cells such as red blood cells and most leukocytes escape while larger CTCs are trapped and isolated in the chambers. In the work we used the Celsee PREP100 to capture breast and lung cancer cells spiked into normal donor blood samples, including SKBR3 and NCI-H1975. We were able to show that the device can capture 20 cells with high reproducibility. The captured CTCs were retrieved from the microfluidic chip and further purified with anti-CD45 magnetic beads. Our results suggest that the cell recovery rate of this back-flow procedure is greater than 80% and the level of remaining background leukocytes is very low (about 100 cells). Work in progress to extract DNA and RNA. The resulting DNA samples are subjected to mutation analysis of a panel of cancer markers by using PCR and sequencing. The resulting RNA samples are converted to cDNAs, and gene expression analysis of selected cancer markers are carried out by using RT-QPCR. Specific DNA mutations such as EGFR exon 21 (L585R) in NCI-H1975 and mRNA expression markers including CK-19, TTF1 are tested in the retrieved cells. The sensitive and easy-to-use Celsee PREP100 system represents a promising technology for CTC capturing and molecular characterization. Clinical blood samples from patients with metastatic cancer are being tested on the Celsee PREP100 device and the results will be discussed. Citation Format: Yixin Wang. Mutation and gene expression analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) enriched and retrieved by a sensitive microfluidic device. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1688.


This study was conducted in the territory of the industrial site of the Udachny Mining and Processing Division (Yakutia, northeast Russia). The objects of study were permafrost soils and two species of shrubs (Betula middendorffii T. and Duschekia fruticose R.). Soil and plant samples were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrometry for the presence of PTEs (Pb, Ni, Mn, Cd, Co, Cr, Zn, Cu, and As). The bioaccumulation factor (BAF), frequency of occurrence (Hi), pollution index (PI), and pollution load index (PLI) were calculated. The PI and PLI are calculated for both soil and two plant species for the first time in this study. The results showed that the soils have a high Ni, Cr, Co, As, and Mn content. It has been established that high soil pollution naturally leads to an increase in the concentration of elements in the leaves of shrubs. The soils and vegetation are dominated by elements associated with trap magmatism—Cr, Co, Cu, and dolerite dikes—Mn and Zn. For Betula middendorffii, the PLI was classified as unpolluted to moderately polluted, and Duschekia fruticosa. was classified as unpolluted. The high level of contamination is typical for areas located near industrial sites, such as waste dumps, kimberlite pipes, tailings ponds, and roads. The BAF results confirmed that the leaves of Betula middendorffii are able to accumulate more PTEs and have the highest level of resistance to PTE contamination in mining environments. This analysis showed that the consistent application of the PI, PLI, and BAF indices is very efficient in the ecological and biogeochemical assessment of the situation in industrial development areas.


UNLABELLED
Human noroviruses (NoVs) are the leading cause of gastroenteritis and foodborne illnesses worldwide. In this study, we investigated the effects of persimmon extract (PE) on NoV GII.4 and bacteriophage MS2. We also examined the relationship between the tannin content of PE and its antiviral effects to identify the active ingredient in PE. Different persimmon tannin (PT) solutions were prepared by mixing PE with different concentrations of bovine serum albumin. The antiviral efficacy of these solutions against NoV was evaluated by quantifying the amount of residual noroviral genome using a quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) assay. The antiviral efficacy of PE against MS2 was examined with an infectivity assay (plaque assay). Solutions containing ≥ 0.11 mg/mL PT reduced the noroviral genome by more than 70.0% and the infectivity of MS2 by more than 2.5 log PFU/mL. However, the effects of PT on both viruses decreased markedly at a concentration of 0.08 mg/mL and solutions containing negligible PT had no antiviral activity. These results suggest that the PT component of PE inactivates NoV and MS2. Our results indicate that PE is a nontoxic antiviral agent effective against enteric viruses.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION
Persimmon extract showed antiviral effects against NoV and bacteriophage MS2. Persimmon extract is suitable for use as an antiviral agent.


This study evaluated the capability of satellite precipitation estimates from five products derived from Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks (including PERSIANN, PERSIANN-CCS, PERSIANN-CDR, PERSIANN-CCS-CDR, and PDIR-Now) to represent precipitation characteristics over Luzon. The analyses focused on monthly and daily timescales from 2003–2015 and adopted surface observations from the Asian Precipitation Highly Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation of Water Resources (APHRODITE) platform as the evaluation base. Among the five satellite precipitation products (SPPs), PERSIANN-CDR was observed to possess a better ability to qualitatively and quantitatively estimate spatiotemporal variations of precipitation over Luzon for the majority of the examined features with the exception of the extreme precipitation events, for which PERSIANN-CCS-CDR is superior to the other SPPs. These results highlight the usefulness of the addition of the cloud patch approach to PERSIANN-CDR to produce PERSIANN-CCS-CDR to depict the characteristics of extreme precipitation events over Luzon. A similar advantage of adopting the cloud patch approach in producing extreme precipitation estimates was also revealed from the comparison of PERSIANN, PERSIANN-CCS, and PDIR-Now. Our analyses also highlighted that all PERSIANN-series exhibit improved skills in regard to detecting precipitation characteristics over west Luzon compared to that over east Luzon. To overcome this weakness, we suggest that an adjustment in the cloud patch approach (e.g., using different cloud temperature thresholds or different brightness temperature and precipitation rate relationships) over east Luzon may be helpful.


Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the communicable diseases with high morbidity to the patient. TB is divided into pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB. In extrapulmonary TB, isolated axillary TB is rare and sometimes creates diagnostic difficulty, particularly in female patients. The axillary lymph nodes are affected in around 3% of tuberculous lymphadenitis. Our case presented with isolated axillary tuberculous lymphadenitis which is rare without evidence of TB elsewhere in the body. It is more common in females compared to males, and it commonly involves the left side. Most of the cases do not show systemic manifestations. Chest X-ray and ultrasound are useful primary investigations for the diagnosis. Histopathological examination of the lymph node is the confirmatory test for axillary tuberculous adenitis. Hence, tuberculous lymphadenopathy should be considered one of the differential diagnoses in a female patient with isolated axillary lymphadenopathy even without clinical manifestations of TB.


Gifted children exhibit advanced cognitive abilities, usually beyond their emotional development, which puts them at higher risk of the negative consequences of isolation. This study investigates the effects of distance learning and home confinement on the emotional and social stability, motivation, and attitudes of gifted and non-gifted children in Greece. Our study includes two subsets, from before (September 2017 to March 2020) and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2020 to March 2022). The analysis indicated that home confinement and distance learning caused children to create a stronger attachment with their parents, and it increased the involvement of parents in their child's school experience. Non-gifted children displayed high levels of certain attitudes (perfectionism, desire for acceptance, and condescending behavior) and demonstrated elevated motivation. Gifted children in the pre-COVID-19 period had already displayed increased levels of condescending attitude, which is assumed to be the result of already existing expectations from their parents. The pandemic further increased this attitude, as a result of the higher expectations of their parents. Overall, the study highlighted the importance of children to have more than one support system and the need for them to strengthen their self-image.


Voltage-dependent properties of Na-Ca exchange current were revealed with the patch-clamp technique in Ca(2+)-overloaded guinea pig ventricular myocytes in the whole cell configuration. With the assumption that the transient inward current (Iti) is mediated by the Na-Ca exchanger, oscillations of internal Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) were used to investigate voltage-dependent kinetics of exchange current differences at two [Ca2+]i values. After Iti was elicited by clamping from -45 mV to basic pulses of +10 mV, pairs of equipotential short test pulses were applied during the basic pulse at both the phase of low [Ca2+]i (between two neighboring Iti values) and the phase of high [Ca2+]i (at the peak of Iti). The test pulses were short enough to leave the time course of Iti during the basic pulse approximately unchanged, which allowed study of the voltage dependence of the respective current differences without disturbing the underlying oscillation of [Ca2+]i. The current differences were inward at all potentials between -140 and +70 mV, started from an equal initial value, and obeyed characteristic voltage-dependent time courses: hyperpolarization to potentials negative to -70 mV caused an initial current increase, which was followed by a decay to very small amplitudes or zero with a decay time constant decreasing toward hyperpolarization e-fold per 45.6 mV. Depolarizing pulses caused a decay of the current differences to smaller levels. Respective current differences formed during a slowly decaying current component, following the Ca current spike, showed equal voltage-dependent properties. This indicates that the slowly decaying current component is preferentially also carried by the Na-Ca exchanger.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


For Several years, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) has been developing new techniques to detect defective roller bearings as part of their new generation wayside acoustic detector program. This paper discusses data collected from several bearings with spun cone defects under both laboratory and simulated revenue service environments. The AAR performed the laboratory tests in July 1996 and the simulated revenue service test was completed in November 1996. Of all bearing defect types to be detected, the most challenging and highest priority is that of a bearing with a loose inner raceway (spinning cone) which rotates about the axle mount. Normal roller bearings have "press fit" inner raceways which keep them from rotating or sliding about the axle. The "Spun Cone" bearing defect is responsible for many of today's bearing related derailments.


ABSTRACT Introduction Despite significant advances in treatment and prevention of HIV-1 infection, poor adherence to daily combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens remains a major obstacle toward achieving sustained viral suppression and prevention. Adherence to ART could also be compromised by adverse drug reactions and societal factors that limit access to therapy. Therefore, medicines that aim to improve adherence by limiting ART side effects, frequency of dosing and socially acceptable regimens are becoming more attractive. Areas covered This review highlights recent advances and challenges in the development of long-acting drug delivery strategies for HIV prevention and treatment. Approaches for extended oral and transdermal deliveries, microbicides, broadly neutralizing antibodies, and long-acting implantable and injectable deliveries are reviewed. Expert opinion Emerging approaches on long-acting antiretroviral therapies and broadly neutralizing antibody technologies are currently at various stages of development. Such efforts, if successful and become broadly accepted by clinicians and users, will provide newer and simpler options for prevention and treatment of HIV infection.


The temperature dependence of conduction mechanisms in pure ${\mathrm{NiPS}}_{3}$ has been investigated by means of conductivity, photoconductivity, and thermopower measurements. Evidence for a p-type conduction has been found from the thermoelectric power data. The observed activated behaviors of thermopower, dark conductivities, and photoconductivities have allowed us to deduce more detailed information about the distribution of the electronic density of states in the energy-gap region. The results, fitted by assuming a single conduction path through extended-band states, have been interpreted in terms of an energy-band scheme based on a model regarding as insignificant the contribution of the 3d transition-metal states in bond.


The ejected-electron excitation functions for the (5p55d6s)4PJ autoionizing states in cesium atoms were precisely measured at an incident electron energy resolution of 0.2 eV over the impact energy range from the excitation thresholds up to 16.6 eV. The single near-threshold resonances dominate the excitation of the 4P1/2,3/2 states. Several overlapping resonances were revealed in the excitation function of the 4P5/2 quasimetastable state. For the latter state a comparison is made with earlier available optical and metastable excitation functions.


Abstract: Field experiments were conducted to study the competition effect of winter wheat planted in a square arrangement and Italian ryegrass planted randomly on biomass yields of both species, ryegrass seed yield, N use efficiency, and progeny seed germination. Increases in wheat density up to 800 plants/m2 reduced ryegrass seed yield by 87% but increased its harvest index up to 42% compared to its monoculture yield. Species densities and their interactions accounted for 66 to 73% of the total variation in per-unit area biomass of species, and their association was more favorable to ryegrass biomass than wheat. Seeds of each species had three times greater nitrogen percentage than did shoots. Intra- and interspecific competition increased nitrogen percentage in wheat seeds. In Italian ryegrass, only interspecific competition increased N percentage in seeds. Although total nitrogen uptake by winter wheat was three times greater than in Italian ryegrass, Italian ryegrass was two times more efficient than wheat at producing biomass per unit of N taken up and specific leaf area at heading stage in mixture. Germination percentages of progeny seeds of both species in mixtures were greater in presence of high densities of the companion species than in their monocultures. Nitrogen was not the main limiting factor for competition between winter wheat and Italian ryegrass in this study. Nomenclature: Italian ryegrass, Lolium multiflorum (Lam) #3 LOLMU; wheat, Triticum aestivum L. Additional index words: Ryegrass harvest index, nitrogen uptake, nitrogen concentration in seeds and shoots, nitrogen use efficiency, biomass production, progeny seed germination, specific leaf area. Abbreviations: DAE, days after emergence; HI, harvest index; NUE, nitrogen use efficiency; R, Italian ryegrass; RE, rectangularity; SLA, specific leaf area; W, winter wheat; WR, interaction between winter wheat and Italian ryegrass.


Abstract: For people living with HIV, exposure to sexual violence (SV) is associated with decreased adherence to antiretroviral medication, a primary predictor of their survival. Identification of risk factors for SV is a pressing issue in sub-Saharan Africa, where the global majority of HIV-positive women live and the prevalence of SV against women is high. We used qualitative data to examine SV against HIV-positive women enrolled in HIV care in Kenya. Respondents identified husbands as perpetrators of SV in the context of women's efforts to use condoms as directed by HIV care providers.


A communication transaction or use case is broken down into constituent parts having different class of service (COS) requirements. The parts are matched to different links or channels having respective COS characteristics and communicated over the links or channels, and then aggregated at the receiver.


Deep neural networks (DNNs) are vulnerable to backdoor attacks, where the adversary manipulates a small portion of training data such that the victim model predicts normally on the benign samples but classifies the triggered samples as the target class. The backdoor attack is an emerging yet threatening training-phase threat, leading to serious risks in DNN-based applications. In this paper, we revisit the trigger patterns of existing backdoor attacks. We reveal that they are either visible or not sparse and therefore are not stealthy enough. More importantly, it is not feasible to simply combine existing methods to design an effective sparse and invisible backdoor attack. To address this problem, we formulate the trigger generation as a bi-level optimization problem with sparsity and invisibility constraints and propose an effective method to solve it. The proposed method is dubbed sparse and invisible backdoor attack (SIBA). We conduct extensive experiments on benchmark datasets under different settings, which verify the effectiveness of our attack and its resistance to existing backdoor defenses. The codes for reproducing main experiments are available at \url{https://github.com/YinghuaGao/SIBA}.


Many models have been proposed to counter Bulk customer congestion. Most of them are inefficient and does not reduce load on the main server. Proposed model calculates performance of a customer queue under varying servers and optimizes the performance of a queuing system. It also provides with a tool to automate the whole system.


UKCC We would like to make it clear that a recent letter from Nursing Standard concerning the UKCC's current survey of selected registrants over the PREP requirements was published and distributed by Nursing Standard and not by the UKCC. The letter is not part of the UKCC's evaluation work.


Summary.
1The material consisted of 957 males, 1,529 females, and 1 inter-sex of wild rabbits obtained in Caernarvonshire between February 1941 and June 1942, inclusive.
2No sexual dimorphism in cleaned body weight was observed. The 1150–1199-gm. weight group was that of greatest frequency in both sexes, and very few animals were obtained exceeding 1500 gm. in weight. Body weight does not provide a good criterion for distinguishing adults from young in either sex. The average weight of young at birth probably is between 40 and 45 gms.
3The testes of adults reach a maximum size in April. They then decline in weight by over 60 per cent., reaching a minimum in July. The testes begin to increase in weight again in August. The drop in weight is accompanied by a decline in spermatogenesis, and it begins during the height of the breeding season, one month before the decline in the pregnancy rate.
4Copulation occurs at least twice as frequently with non-pregnant females which are not in œstrus as with those that are. Copulation also occurs frequently with pregnant females at all stages, but especially during the first four days of gestation. These copulations with females that are not in heat are most frequent during November, December and January, that is, during the quarter preceding the breeding season.
5The breeding season in Caernarvonshire is sharply defined; it begins in January and ends in June. More than 50 per cent, of females were pregnant for 17 weeks in 1941 and for 15 weeks in 1942.

The 1942 breeding season was slightly earlier than that in 1941.

6Practically all females become pregnant again at each post-partumœstrus during the height of the breeding season. An exception is provided by the period of severe frost in February and March 1942, during which many animals failed to become pregnant at the post-partumœstrus. During March April and May over 80 per cent, of animals suckling are pregnant.
7Young females born early in the breeding season may breed before the end of it, or in the late summer or autumn.
8True pseudopregnancy is very rare in the wild animals.
9It was concluded that the time of the onset of the breeding season is determined by the females, but that its close is determined by the males.
10The wild rabbit differs from the tame rabbit chiefly in (a) the sharp delimitation of the breeding season, (b) the intensity of breeding during the season, (c) the maintenance of pregnancy during lactation normally, and (d) the extreme rarity of true pseudopregnancy.
11The pre-natal mortality during 1941 has been dealt with in a preliminary paper (Brambell, 1942). The conclusions arrived at are confirmed and extended. The proportion of litters showing loss was slightly higher in 1942 than in 1941, but this discrepancy is accounted for by (a) the difference in litter size in the two samples, and (b) experimental error.
12It is estimated that 60 per cent, of litters conceived are lost owing to the death and reabsorption of all the embryos.
13The proportion of litters showing loss is related directly to the initial size of litter. It is not related to (a) the cleaned body weight of the mother, (b) whether the litter is the first of the season or a subsequent one, (c) whether the mother is or is not suckling.
14It is shown that animals which have borne a living litter are as likely to lose the next, and no more likely, than those that have lost a litter already.
15The majority of the embryos die on or about the twelfth day.
16The possible causes of this extraordinary mortality are discussed.
17The loss of ova in litters that survive to birth is between 9 and 10 per cent.
18The number of ova ovulated at œstrus, as shown by the number of corpora lutea in the ovaries, varied from one to nine, five being the most frequent. The mean number was 5·36 for the whole sample. There was a significant difference in the mean numbers for 1941 and 1942 respectively, the former being 4·89 and the latter 5·64. The mean number of ova ovulated is related directly to body weight. It is shown that for a given body weight the mean number of ova ovulated was greater in 1942 than in 1941, but the increase in the mean number of ova ovulated for a given increase in body weight was similar in the two seasons.
19It is calculated that the most productive initial litter sizes are five and six, the inflection in the curve of number of embryos expected to survive according to initial litter size being at 5·7.
20A few instances in which the number of embryos exceeded the number of corpora lutea are recorded. These must have been due either to poly-ovular follicles or poly-embryony. Six instances of transperitoneal migration of ova are recorded, five being from right to left and one from left to right.
21It is estimated that the mean number of young born to each adult female is between 10·35 and 11·70 per annum.
22The post-natal sex-ratio of the whole sample was 50·49 ±0·76 per cent. males. The fœtal sex-ratio was 48·65 ± 1·045 per cent, males, which does not differ significantly from the post-natal ratio. The frequency of sex combinations in litters in utero shows an excess of observed over expected values in the central classes which may be significant.
23One definite intersex and some other abnormalities were encountered during the course of the work.


We have investigated the x-ray intensity distribution around 220 reciprocal lattice point in case of grazing incidence diffraction at SiGe nanoscale free-standing islands grown on Si(001) substrate by LPE. Experiments and computer simulations based on the distorted wave Born approximation utilizing the results of elasticity theory obtained by FEM modelling have been carried out. The data reveal fine structure in the distribution of scattered radiation with well-pronounced maxima and complicated fringe pattern. Explanation of the observed diffraction phenomena in their relation to structure and morphology of the island is given. An optimal island model including its shape, size and Ge spatial distribution was elaborated.


An array of iron nanowires within polyaniline nanotubules was
obtained using a two-step template synthesis. First, an array of polyaniline
nanotubules was synthesized in an alumina template, and then it was used as
a "second-order template" for electrodeposition of iron within
the polyaniline nanotubules. The polyaniline envelope may protect the iron
nanowires against the corrosive atmosphere. The composite nanostructure was
characterized by EDX, XRD and SEM and its magnetic properties were measured
by VSM. Coercive forces of the array of iron nanowires encapsulated within
polyaniline range from about 119 to 210 Oe with an increase from 0
to 90° for θ, the angle between the applied field and
the surface of the alumina template. The array has the axis of easy magnetization
in the membrane plane and may be a promising candidate for horizontal magnetic
recording materials.


The theme of the oceans suddenly started to acquire relevance with the tsunamis which devastated the coasts of the Indian Ocean scarcely a few months ago. The Mexican Chemical Engineer Marco Polo Bernal Yarahuan, Mexico's representative to the Oceanographic Intergovernmental Commission for UNESCO - COI and President of IOCARIBE, the regional organization for the Caribbean and adjacent zones, puts forward established mechanisms from years long past to promote knowledge and preservation of the environment and costal.


The numbers of street children are estimated to be 1.5 million in Pakistan. Being an urban phenomenon, the pool is increasing day by day and simultaneously increases manifold vulnerabilities to violence, abuse, exploitation, etc. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has established legal and institutional structure to respond towards street children. However, the effective use of these institutions is yet to be made. There is a dearth of information on the subject; this study was conducted to evaluate the perception of Child Protection Experts regarding protection, welfare and rehabilitation system for street children in Peshawar. A Qualitative study using a structured interview format with predefined themes was conducted in 20 Child Protection Experts (KPCWC, CPUs, UNICEF, Social Welfare, Zamung Kor, Dost Welfare Foundation and SPARC). This study is based on Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory focuses on the quality and context of the child's environment. Most of the experts explained that legislative framework is present to protect the street children rights; however, there are several legal and Institutional loopholes and a need of strong political and government determination to respond to the subject of street children by strengthening the legal and institutional framework that require government commitment to respond in a sustainable manner rather than Adhoc basis.


In single-fiber access networks with interactive and distributive services multiplexed at different wavelengths, the interactive signal may disturb the distributive signal, and vice versa, because of imperfect isolation of the demultiplexing WDM at the subscriber site. The mutual deterioration of a 622-Mb/s intensity-modulated (IM) broadband ISDN (B-ISDN) signal at 1.3 mu m and an AM subcarrier-multiplexed (SCM) TV-distribution signal at 1.55 mu m is investigated. Both theory and experiment show that the isolation of the demultiplexing WDM must keep the undesirable 1.3- mu m, 622-Mb/s IM signal power on the analog receiver below -36 dBm to avoid degradation of the analog system CNR of 47 dB by more than 1 dB.<<ETX>>


Anaplasma phagocytophilum Major surface protein 4 (MSP4) plays a role during infection and multiplication in host neutrophils and tick vector cells. Recently, vaccination trials with the A. phagocytophilum antigen MSP4 in sheep showed only partial protection against pathogen infection. However, in rabbits immunized with MSP4, this recombinant antigen was protective. Differences between rabbit and sheep antibody responses are probably associated with the recognition of non-protective epitopes by IgG of immunized lambs. To address this question, we applied quantum vaccinomics to identify and characterize MSP4 protective epitopes by a microarray epitope mapping using sera from vaccinated rabbits and sheep. The identified candidate protective epitopes or immunological quantum were used for the design and production of a chimeric protective antigen. Inhibition assays of A. phagocytophilum infection in human HL60 and Ixodes scapularis tick ISE6 cells evidenced protection by IgG from sheep and rabbits immunized with the chimeric antigen. These results supported that the design of new chimeric candidate protective antigens using quantum vaccinomics to improve the protective capacity of antigens in multiple hosts.


This research was conducted on mature pomegranate (Punica granatum L. "Wonderful") trees growing at a site located in North Coast, Matrouh Governorate, Egypt. The aim was to investigate the impacts of different irrigation regimes in combination with different fertilizer regimes on the fruit set, fruit retention, yield, and nutritional status of the trees. The experimental factors were arranged in a split-plot design, with four replicates per treatment combination. The results indicated that all of the characteristics measured, including leaves nutritional status, percentages of fruit set, fruit drop, fruit retention, fruit cracking, fruit sunburn, and marketable fruit, and yield were significantly affected by the interaction between the irrigation treatment which denoted by percentages of reference evapotranspiration (ETo) and fertilizer regime. The application of 75% mineral fertilizer + 25% organic manure under deficit irrigation of 80% ETo increased the yield by an average of 18.23% over the 2 years compared with 100% mineral fertilization under full irrigation, while 50% mineral fertilizer + 50% organic matter under 80% ETo gave the maximum percentage of marketable fruit (86.23% and 86.84% in 2018 and 2019, respectively). The maximum water use efficiency was obtained with the 80% ETo treatment combined with 75% mineral fertilizer + 25% organic manure in both seasons with values of 9.69 and 10.06 kg/m3 applied water, respectively. These results demonstrate that under the field conditions at the experimental site, the fruit set and retention could be improved by applying a reduced amount of mineral fertilizer in combination with organic manure and less irrigation water.


Toll-like receptors (TLRs) recognize microbial components and initiate innate immune responses that control microbial infections. We have investigated the innate immune response of chicken monocytes to CpG-motif containing oligodeoxydinucleotide, CpG-ODN, and the analog of viral double-stranded RNA, poly I:C. Our results show ligands poly I:C and CpG-ODN of the TLR3 and TLR9, respectively, synergized the induction of many genes involving inflammatory responses including nitric oxide and cytokines, IL-1β, IFN-α, IFN-β, IFN-γ, IL-18, and IL-12, in chicken monocytes. We also demonstrated the differential responses of some cytokines such as IL-18 and IFN-β to CpG-ODN and poly I:C stimulations, respectively. Those results demonstrate differential roles for TLR3 and TLR9 in signaling immune responses to bacterial and viral infections in chicken monocytes as well as a synergistic interaction between the two signaling pathways. Furthermore, our results suggest synergistic interaction between TLR3 and TLR9 pathways may contribute the "lethal synergism" from bacterial and viral co-infections.


We studied the effects of uniaxial constant pressures by using some weights on the properties of the diffusion joints using Ag stability layers of REBa2Cu3O7−X (REBCO, RE=Y, Gd) coated conductors. Two tapes were stuck in a face to face manner with Ag surfaces in contact, and were pressed uniaxially during the joining under a constant pressure at 673K in a pure oxygen atmosphere. The Ag area at the joint was 6×5 mm2 for YBCO coated conductors produced by modified metal-organic deposition (MOD) process using precursor solution of trifluoroacetates (TFA) for Y and Ba and F-free salt for Cu. A very low resistance of about 10 nΩcm2 across the joint was achieved by the diffusion joining under the pressure of 10 MPa. The relations between the joint resistance, the joint structure and the joint pressure were investigated.


Abstract. 3D information is essential for a number of applications used daily in various domains such as crisis management, energy management, urban planning, and cultural heritage, as well as pollution and noise mapping, etc. This paper is devoted to the issue of 3D modelling from the levels of buildings to cities. The theoretical sections comprise an analysis of cartographic principles for the 3D visualization of spatial data as well as a review of technologies and data formats used in the visualization of 3D models. Emphasis was placed on the verification of available web technologies; for example, X3DOM library was chosen for the implementation of a proof-of-concept web application. The created web application displays a 3D model of the city district of Nový Liskovec in Brno, the Czech Republic. The developed 3D visualization shows a terrain model, 3D buildings, noise pollution, and other related information. Attention was paid to the areas important for handling heterogeneous input data, the design of interactive functionality, and navigation assistants. The advantages, limitations, and future development of the proposed concept are discussed in the conclusions.


Neuropeptide concentrations in the liver, gallbladder and bile duct of 30 male mice were determined by radioimmunoassay of tissue extracts. Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), substance P, somatostatin, neurotensin, neuropeptide Y (NPY), galanin, gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) and enkephalin were found in extracts of liver, gallbladder and bile duct. The level of enkephalin was low in all tissues investigated. The most predominant neuropeptide in liver and bile duct was VIP and in the gallbladder, NPY. The function of these neuropeptides in the liver and biliary pathways is unclear. One can speculate, however, that in the liver they regulate blood flow and probably secretion. In the gallbladder and bile duct, they may regulate motility and secretion.


Generally, children infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS COV-2) have mild symptoms or are asymptomatic. However, some children have severe and critical symptoms affecting several organ systems, including the gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, respiratory, and neurological systems. These severe and critical symptoms are associated with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MISC). This study aimed to describe the clinical features, ventilation modalities usage, and outcome conditions of these children. This was a retrospective study of children with COVID-19 and MISC who were treated in the COVID-19 isolation pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of Saiful Anwar General Hospital over one year. The data were obtained from medical records and were analyzed descriptively. A total of 491 pediatric patients with suspected COVID-19 were included; 51 had a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis; 9/491 (1.8%) were patients with MISC who were treated in the PICU; and 7/9 (78%.0) of MISC patients in the PICU used mechanical ventilators. The frequency of MISC patients with gastrointestinal problems was 7/9 (78%) patients, respiratory problems was 9/9 (100%), and myocardial injury (increased troponin) was 5/9 (56%) patients. All MISC patients admitted to the PICU experienced shock with vasoactive drugs including dobutamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine and vasopressin. All MISC patients with severe and critical symptoms had comorbidities. Invasive mechanical ventilation was provided for 7 patients, and 2 patients received non-invasive ventilation. The mean of PEEP used in the invasive ventilation was 7-9 cmH2O. The length of the ventilator usage was 2-21 days, with 2 patients passing away, both with a comorbidity and multiorgan system injuries. It can be concluded that pediatric patients with confirmed COVID-19 may also have MISC with severe and critical symptoms. Early recognition of pediatric patients with MISC is necessary to reduce morbidity and mortality.
Keywords: COVID-19, multisystem inflammatory syndrome, children


We investigate the data collected for the Accuracy Evaluation Shared Task as a retrospective reproduction study. The shared task was based upon errors found by human annotation of com-puter generated summaries of basketball games. Annotation was performed in three separate stages, with texts taken from the same three systems and checked for errors by the same three annotators. We show that the mean count of errors was consistent at the highest level for each experiment, with increased variance when looking at per-system and/or per-error-type breakdowns.


ABSTRACT:This article examines the gendered racialization of Muslim women in Kamila Shamsie's Home Fire (2017) and Samira Ahmed's Internment (2019) and argues that their young South Asian Muslim women protagonists navigate physical and digital spaces to claim their rights as citizens. The article first explores the ways in which the public sphere operates transnationally and has shaped perceptions of Muslims in the United Kingdom and United States since 9/11, and analyzes the role of transnational subaltern counterpublics to resist Islamophobia and state repression. The article then examines the ways in which the young Muslim women in Shamsie's and Ahmed's works fight the xenophobic state, its surveillance regime, and the curtailment of the ability of Muslims to move freely. In both novels, resistance emerges as a transnational subaltern counterpublic in traditional and digital media. The novels underscore the young women's agency in overcoming constraints on their mobility and freedom of speech to claim their rights as citizens and engage in an oppositional public sphere that counters their exclusion.


Nova Her 2021 (V1674 Her), which erupted on 2021 June 12, reached naked-eye brightness and has been detected from radio to γ-rays. An extremely fast optical decline of 2 magnitudes in 1.2 days and strong Ne lines imply a high-mass white dwarf. The optical pre-outburst detection of a 501.42 s oscillation suggests a magnetic white dwarf. This is the first time that an oscillation of this magnitude has been detected in a classical nova prior to outburst. We report X-ray outburst observations from Swift and Chandra that uniquely show (1) a very strong modulation of supersoft X-rays at a different period from reported optical periods, (2) strong pulse profile variations and the possible presence of period variations of the order of 0.1–0.3 s, and (3) rich grating spectra that vary with modulation phase and show P Cygni–type emission lines with two dominant blueshifted absorption components at ∼3000 and 9000 km s−1 indicating expansion velocities up to 11,000 km s−1. X-ray oscillations most likely arise from inhomogeneous photospheric emission related to the magnetic field. Period differences between reported pre- and post-outburst optical observations, if not due to other period drift mechanisms, suggest a large ejected mass for such a fast nova, in the range 2 × 10−5–2 × 10−4 M ⊙. A difference between the period found in the Chandra data and a reported contemporaneous post-outburst optical period, as well as the presence of period drifts, could be due to weakly nonrigid photospheric rotation.


The Adh‐1 gene product, ADH‐A2, the only known murine class I alcohol dehydrogenase, is able to oxidize retinol (vitamin A) into retinaldehyde, the first enzymatic step in the conversion of retinol into its biologically active metabolite retinoic acid. We have investigated the developmental expression pattern of Adh‐1 transcripts by in situ hybridization. Transcripts were first detected by embryonic day 10.5 in the mesonephros mesenchyme. During the following gestational days, Adh‐1 transcripts were detected in several mesenchymal areas, such as nasal, laterocervical, and genital regions. Adh‐1 transcripts were also detected in a small ectodermal domain at the anterior margins of both forelimbs and hindlimbs. During late fetal development, Adh‐1 transcripts were found essentially in the epidermis and in a number of tissues which continue to express the gene after birth, such as liver, kidney, gut epithelium, adrenal cortex, testis interstitium, and ovarian stroma. In contrast, a strong expression of Adh‐1 was found in the mesenchyme of developing lungs, but not in the adult organ. This highly regulated expression of Adh‐1 is discussed with respect to the local synthesis of retinoic acid during development. Although the promoter of the human counterpart of Adh‐1 contains a retinoic acid response element (Duester et al. [1991] Mol. Cell. Biol. 11:1638–1646), we report that this element is not conserved in the murine gene. Consistently, Adh‐1 promoter‐containing reporter constructs were not retinoic acid‐inducible in cotransfections assays with RARs and/or RXRs, suggesting that retinoic acid regulation of Adh‐1 differs from that of the human gene. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


This paper describes the findings of the study about taboo Words used  in the Blink 182's song lyrics. The rationale was that taboo words areforbidden to be used in speaking and writing, but have recently become the subject of a specialized publication as they frequently appear in somecontexts of speech, writing, speaking, and even in song. The objectives of the study were to find out what kinds of taboo words used in the Blink 182's song lyrics and how often taboo words appear in the Blink 182's song lyrics of Enema of the State album. descriptive qualitative method was used. All of the song lyrics in Enema of the State album (12 songs) were taken as the sample of the study. The data were then analyzed by using the procedures of data analysis by on aleong: transcription, election, classification, interpretation, and conclusion. The findings indicated that the total words in all the song lyrics in Enema of the State album were 2.520 words. It consisted of 33 taboo words and 2.487 non-taboo words. Of 12 songs, 3 songs used non-taboo words. There are Aliens Exist, Adam's song, and Wendy Clear. These findings implied that taboo words starts gaining their popularity in songs.


The Moens-Korteweg formula for the speed of propagation of pressure waves dates back to 1878 and was used by Kries in haemodynamics and Frizell, Joukowsky, Allievi and others in waterhammer to calculate the pressure variations in unsteady pipe flows. This paper describes the life and work of Dutchmen Isebree Moens and Korteweg. Their doctoral dissertations (in Dutch) are partly translated, reviewed and compared with their key publications (in German). Korteweg gave Moens' semi-empirical wavespeed a mathematical basis and he made the first contributions toward the study of fluid-structure interaction and unsteady friction. Their work is placed in historical context, in terms of both their predecessors and contemporaries, and also how it was subsequently built on by their successors in different disciplines.


The contents of alkylresorcinols (AR) were analyzed in 131 winter wheats, 20 spring wheats, 10 durum wheats, 5 spelt wheats, and 10 early cultivated forms of wheat (5 diploid einkorn and 5 tetraploid emmer), which are part of the HEALTHGRAIN diversity screen. AR were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC), which provides both total contents and relative homologue compositions, as well as with a Fast Blue colorimetric method that provides only total contents but which is fast and easily screens a large number of samples. There was considerable variation in the total AR content analyzed with GC: winter wheat (220-652 microg/g of dm), spring wheat (254-537 microg/g of dm), durum wheat (194-531 microg/g of dm), spelt (490-741 microg/g of dm), einkorn (545-654 microg/g of dm), and emmer wheat (531-714 microg/g of dm). The relative AR homologue composition was different for different types of wheat, with a C17:0 to C21:0 ratio of 0.1 for winter, spring, and spelt wheats, 0.04 for einkorn and emmer wheat, and 0.01 for durum wheat. The total AR content analyzed with the Fast Blue method was lower than that analyzed with GC but there was a good correlation between the two methods (R(2) = 0.76).


The properties of glass critically depend on glass composition. Apart from silica, calcium and aluminium; fluorine is also an essential constituent of the glass, since it enhances several properties of glass. In view of the increasing use of fluorine in glasses, it is necessary to have a rapid, accurate and cost effective method for the determination of fluorine in glass. Keeping the above facts a simple and rapid method has been developed for the quantitative estimation of fluorine in glass materials. The method proposed is based on extraction of fluorine from the glass sample by decomposing the glass sample with fusion mixture of sodium carbonate and zinc oxide. The fluorine is extracted with distilled water and is determined by using lanthanum chloride as titrant. The accuracy of the method has been established by analyzing five replicates of Standard Reference Material of NBS 91 and four different glass samples. The standard deviation has been calculated by analyzing five replicates of each glass sample and reference material by the method proposed. The method proposed is reproducible and the standard deviation in the determination of five replicates is found to


Phospholipases A2 enzymes are found in many mammalian tissues and in animal venoms. Those present in bee
venom (bvPLA2) and snake venom (svPLA2) have been studied more particularly for their biological activities of interest.
Although they belong to the same family of secreted PLA2 (sPLA2), bvPLA2 and svPLA2 differ from a structural and
functional point of view. In this review, we describe the morphological characteristics of these two enzymes and the structural
determinants that govern their functions. After describing their cytotoxicity, we compared their biological activities,
including antimicrobial, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-neurodegenerative, and anti-nociceptive effects. In addition,
we highlighted their therapeutical applications and deduced bvPLA2 has better potential than svPLA2 in biotechnological
and pharmaceutical innovations.


The morphological resemblance is described between the quasi‐periodic scintillations of VHF radio wave transmissions from a satellite and the 46.5‐MHz radar backscatters of the middle and upper atmosphere (MU) radar radio waves, which are both associated with ionospheric irregularities in the sporadic E layer. Because these observation techniques are sensitive to different wavelengths of irregularities, the resemblance may be caused by coexisting irregularities. That is, radio wave scintillations reveal medium‐scale density‐enhanced regions with a specific scale length of several hundred meters in which small‐scale irregularities are embedded. The MU radar echoes may reveal backscatter signals from small‐scale irregularities. A periodic structure on a range‐time‐intensity (RTI) map reflected the spatial structure of the medium‐scale density‐enhanced regions. A model is proposed to explain the striations on the RTI map, which extend up to heights of several tens of kilometers even though sporadic E layers are usually thin.


ABSTRACT This paper aims at examining the use of a theoretical and methodological framework originating in ergonomics, the 'course-of-action method', in the study of individual learning processes in naturally occurring situations. This framework investigates the course of lived experience of each individual. Thus, in addition, to her/his thinking, it affords to analyse her/his concerns, her/his perceptions, her/his feelings and the activity that s/he attributes to her/himself. The method involves gathering two types of data about a short time-stretch: video-data and 'self-confrontation interviews'. During such an interview, one views a video of oneself and reporting what one experiences at every instant. These data are analysed by identifying and characterizing successive units for describing individual experience, and by comparing these descriptions synchronically and diachronically. The method has been used for fined-grained studies of lived experience of learners in various contexts. In this paper, its implementation is exemplified by a case study about understanding in a teacher training context. We discuss the extent to which it allows overcoming some limitations of both socio-cultural approaches in learning research and microgenetic studies of conceptual change.


We study whether firms that voluntarily restrict insider trading have lower incentives for earnings management. Using a large sample of US firms, we measure these restrictions based on the extent to which insider transactions happen shortly after quarterly earnings announcements. We find that the adoption of insider trading restrictions is associated with a reduction of 9.92% in absolute discretionary accruals. Our findings are robust to controlling for changes in corporate governance, and we do not find evidence of a substitution effect between accruals and real earnings management, target beating or timeliness of loss recognition. Taken together, our results indicate that the voluntary adoption of blackout periods that limit insider trading improves the quality of financial reporting.


Electron flow in and into an applied‐B ion diode is calculated, including the effects of turbulence produced by streaming instabilities. A technique is developed for including these effects in a numerical simulation. The results of two‐dimensional simulations using this technique in the electromagnetic particle‐in‐cell code magic are presented.


Transformational organizational change is a significant life event for employees within the organization in question and can be a source of considerable stress. However, the causal pathway by which the experience of change results in stress is still unclear. The current study looks at transformational change in a government department. An openended interview methodology was used to explore why change can be stressful and how individuals employ coping responses to deal with it. Five sources of change stress were found: increased workload, uncertainty/ambiguity, interpersonal conflict, perceived unfairness, and perceived loss. Fifteen coping responses accounted for the data. These were categorized into four coping types: task-centered coping, emotion-focused coping, cognitive coping, and social support coping. Four of the five stressors were related to the use of certain coping types. A model is proposed to account for the process of coping with organizational change stressors, which is offered for quantitative validation.


ABSTRACT The authors investigated the effects of online discussion embedded within metacognitive guidance on mathematical literacy and self-regulated learning (SRL). They compared 4 instructional methods: online discussion embedded within metacognitive guidance (Online+Meta), online discussion without metacognitive guidance (Online), face-to-face discussion with metacognitive guidance (Ftf+Meta), and face-to-face discussion without metacognitive guidance (Ftf). Participants were 86 seventh-grade Israeli boys and girls who practiced problem solving in 4 classes. Results showed that the Online+Meta students significantly outperformed the Ftf+Meta students, who, in turn, significantly outperformed the Online and Ftf students on mathematical literacy of standard tasks, real-life tasks, and various aspects of self-regulated learning. Regarding Online students, results were mixed; these students outperformed the Ftf students on part of the criteria for standard problem-solving standard tasks and real-life tasks. The authors found no significant differences between the Online and Ftf students on SRL. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.


Experiments were done under controlled environment and glasshouse conditions to study the effects of inoculum concentration, leaf age and wetness period on the development of dark leaf and pod spot (Alternaria brassicae) on oilseed rape (Brassica napus). On leaves of potted oilseed rape plants (cv. Bienvenu) inoculated with A. brassicae conidial suspensions, the severity (number of lesions cm(-2)) of dark leaf spot increased as inoculum concentration increased from 80 to 660 Spores ml(-1) and as leaf age increased from 4 to 14 days. On pods on detached racemes of spring oilseed rape (cv. Starlight), the incidence of dark pod spot (% of pods diseased) increased as inoculum concentration increased from 80 to 10(4) spores ml(-1). Increasing inoculum concentration above 10(4) spores ml(-1) did not increase the incidence but did increase the severity of dark pod spot. A minimum wetness period of 4 h was needed for infection of oilseed rape leaves (cv. Envol) by A. brassicae at 18 degrees C and disease severity increased with increasing wetness period up to 12 h. The length of dry interruptions after 3-8 h of initial wetness affected the severity of dark leaf spot. A second wetness period increased the severity of dark leaf spot if the dry interruption was less than or equal to 6 h and if the first wetness period was less than or equal to 8 h. The incubation period of A. brassicae decreased from 3.5 to 2.5 days as inoculum concentration increased from 80 to 660 spores ml(-1) on leaves (cv. Bienvenu) at 17-25 degrees C and from 3.8 to 1.0 day as inoculum concentration increased from 80 to greater than or equal to 2 x 10(3) spores ml(-1) on pods (cv. Starlight) at 18 degrees C.


This research is a descriptive qualitative research. The data of the research are the performances in the frame of Systemic Functional Linguistics such as complexity of clause and groups, technicality, nominalization, lexical density, cohesion, and text structure. The sources of data are bedtime stories entitled "The Boy who Cried: 'Wolf!'" written by Mary Graham Bonner and "Pinocchio" written by Carlo Collodi. This research is aimed at describing the readability level of the two bedtime stories that is analyzed by examining the complexity of clause and groups, technicality and nominalization, lexical density, cohesion and text structure. This research is conducted through Systemic Functional Linguistics approach. The data are taken by using purposive sampling method.
The research was conducted by analysing the sources of data based on the complexity of clause and groups, technicality and nominalization, lexical density, cohesion and text structure. Then the data descriptions are interpreted. The interpretation of the data is used a guide to determine the readability level of the texts.
The result of the analysis shows that both texts are dominated by complex clauses, simplex nominal, simplex verbal, and simplex adverbial groups, employ less technicalities and nominalization, have low lexical density, have logical cohesive relation and use narrative which belongs to story genre. These factors indicate that both texts have high readability level. The comparison of the two bedtime stories shows that text I has higher readability level than text II.
In conclusion, having written the thesis, it is recommended for anyone who wants to write good bedtime stories for and the students who are interested in SFL to concern more about the aspects of readability, for the readers especially parents to be more selective in picking reading materials for their children.


We present a method for automatically obtaining a detailed, accurate representation of a top-salt velocity model contrast, starting from a crude initial top-salt interpretation. The method is based on the analysis of time-shift gathers obtained in a salt-flood velocity model with RTM. It uses the fact that source- and receiver-side wave fields back-scattered at the velocity contrast during the RTM process result in an image contribution in time-shift gathers that interferes at the reflection point with the image contribution due to the incident wave fields. The time-shift value at, or directly above, the top-salt interface at which back-scattering of the source- and receiver-side wave fields occurs is automatically picked. The resulting time shifts are filtered and converted into a detailed depth update of the top salt horizon. The process is repeated until convergence. We demonstrate the method on a 2D synthetic data example with a complex top-salt interface.


We examined the habitat distributions of management indicator and sensitive species (MIS), as defined by the U.S. Forest Service within the Chequamegon National Forest (CNF) of northern Wisconsin and whether other bird species were positively associated with these MIS. We addressed these associations with 2 relatively large databases, annual breeding bird counts of 92 line transect segments gathered from 1986 to 1992 and counts of 122 Forest Stands gathered in 1992-1993. Of 25 MIS identified by the CNF, only 7 species were abundant enough for analyses. The other species were either too rare within the CNF or the censusing methods were not compatible with their life history. Only 2 of the MIS had nonrandom distributions associated with specific habitat types and warranted consideration as indicators. The yellow-bellied flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris) was found primarily in lowland coniferous habitats, while the pine warbler (Dendroica pinus) was found primarily in upland coniferous habitats, especially pine. Although many positive species associations were found for most of the MIS, many inconsistencies among the 2 datasets also were identified. Most species responded to habitat attributes that satisfy their needs for survival and these autecological responses likely led to inconsistent patterns of species associations for most of the MIS. The lack of consistent patterns among most MIS casts doubt on the ability to use a few species as indicators for the well-being of many other species, especially for those that are uncommon and difficult to monitor. Developing more comprehensive techniques that improve habitat classifications and combine monitoring of trends in habitat and birds within those habitats likely will prove more fruitful than focusing on a few representative species.


1. Patients with polycythemia vera may be classified according to their erythropoietic pattern. Erythropoiesis is abnormally increased in all classes. Class I is characterized by normal red cell lifespan. Class II is characterized by shortened red cell lifespan; in Class IIa the shortened red cell survival is related to splenic sequestration of RBC; in Class IIb the markedly shortened red cell survival is predominantly related to intramedullary hemolysis. Class III is characterized by extramedullary erythropoiesis. Patients in Classes I and IIa are in relatively earlier phases of their disease and frequently are found to develop red cell kinetics of Class III as their disease progresses. Conversely, patients in Classes IIb and III are generally late in the course of their disease and have previous hematologic findings that suggest that they originally had the red cell kinetic patterns of Classes I and IIa. 2. As the duration of their disease increases, patients with polycythemia vera generally have a progressive shortening of red cell lifespan which is incompletely compensated by a progressive decrease in circulating red cell volume. However, total blood volume remains elevated since the plasma volume increases. These changes occur whether or not the patient receives radiation therapy. Similar changes may occur in white cell and platelet production and functional survival. It is suggested that the natural history of the disease may be characterized by progressive emergence of hematopoietic cell clones which have a selective advantage for reproduction associated with altered functional survival. 3. The results suggest the potential usefulness of iron, and occasionally of splenectomy, in selected polycythemic patients with myeloid metaplasia (Class III) and anemia, dependent upon the presence of the frequent finding of iron deficiency or the occasional finding of splenic sequestration of red cells in excess of splenic erythropoiesis.


A ridge-waveguide AlGaAs laser diode (LD) was integrated with a SiO/sub 2/-Ta/sub 2/O/sub 5/ embedded waveguide on a Si substrate by using a film-level hybrid integration technique of semiconductor epitaxial film. CW operation of the LD was achieved at room temperature. The LD-waveguide butt-coupling loss was 9 dB, and the loss due to misalignment was estimated at 3 dB, which corresponds to a displacement of about 1 mu m in both the vertical and lateral directions.<<ETX>>


Background and purpose: Gentamicin, an aminoglycoside antibiotic, is used in treatment of Gram-negative infections. However, its usefulness is restricted by its nephrotoxicity. The present study aimed to evaluate the potential protective effects of mummy and Vit E against gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Materials and methods: In this experimental study, 36 adult albino Wistar rats were divided into six groups: Group 1 received 1 ml normal saline intra-peritoneal once daily. Group 2 was treated with gentamicin 100mg/kg daily IP and served as experimental group. Group 3 received Vit E 250 mg/kg/day IM and gentamicin 100 mg/kg/day IP. Groups 4, 5 and 6 were treated with gentamicin 100 mg/kg and mummy at daily dosages of 1000, 500 and 250 mg/kg orally, respectively. All groups had daily treatments for 28 days. At the end of treatment, blood samples were taken for measurement of serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), albumin, electrolytes, malondialdehyde (MDA) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) using standard methods. Also, right kidneys were removed for histological evaluation. Results: Mummy at 1000 and 500 mg/kg and Vit E (250 mg/kg) significantly reduced gentamicin-induced increases in BUN, MDA and histological changes. Furthermore, mummy at 1000 mg/kg increased FRAP compared to other concentrations. Conclusion: Our results suggest that mummy and Vit E therapy improved gentamicin induced nephrotoxicity via inhibition of lipid peroxidation.


ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to identify cyanobacteria diversity in rock communities from the cold desert ecosystem in Eastern Pamir Mountains (Tajikistan) and assess if the rock type and rock`s porosity can be indicators of microbial diversity in this extreme environment. Seven samples were collected in July 2015 from hillsides (ca 4000–4500 m a.s.l.) of the Eastern Pamir Mountains. Petrographic and scanning microscopy (SEM) allowed for the characterization of the rocks inhabited by endolithic communities as granite, gneiss and limestone with variable porosity. Based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) of amplicon of V3–V4 hypervariable region of 16S rRNA gene, we established that Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria dominated the endolithic communities of microorganisms in the rocks studied, which distinguishes these communities from those described for other cold arid regions. Chroococcidiopsis and Leptolyngbya were dominant genera in the cyanobacterial communities according to culture-dependent analysis, as well as microscopic analyses of endoliths scraps from the rocks. Culture-independent metagenomic analyses revealed that Microcoleus, Acaryochloris, Chroococcidiopsis and Thermosynechococcus reads were the most abundant from all reads and dominated interchangeably in the samples. Endolithic communities of microorganisms in the rocks from the cold desert shrubland of Eastern Pamir Mts. appear to be diverse and different from communities described for other cold deserts.


The aromatase inhibitor CGS-16949A was used to determine whether CGS-16949A altered secretion of progesterone, estradiol-17beta, PGE (PGE1 + PGE2), PGF2alpha and PSPB. Ninety day pregnant ewes were ovariectomized and received vehicle, PGF2alpha, CGS-16949A or PGF2alpha+CGS-16949A. None of the ewes treated with PGF2alpha, CGS-16949A or PGF2alpha+CGS-16949A aborted (P > or = 0.05) during the 108-h experimental period. Treatment with CGS-16949A lowered (P < or = 0.05) progesterone in jugular venous plasma but concentrations of progesterone were not affected (P > or = 0.05) by treatment with PGF2alpha. Concentrations of estradiol-17beta and PSPB in jugular venous plasma and PGE in inferior vena cava plasma were decreased (P < or = 0.05) by treatment with CGS-16949A. Concentrations of PGF2alpha in inferior vena cava plasma were not affected (P > or = 0.05) by treatment with CGS-16949A. Decreases in estradiol-17beta occurred before decreases in PSPB, which was then followed by decreases in PGE (P < or = 0.05). It is concluded that these data support the hypothesis that estradiol-17beta regulates placental secretion of PSPB; PSPB regulates placental secretion of PGE; and PGE regulates placental secretion of progesterone during mid-pregnancy in ewes.


The stereotyping discourse in which the African was seen as the bestial other and consequently the lower order had long survived in Western scholarship and held on to as a necessary justification for years of exploitation through slavery, colonization, Neo-colonization and other forms of Postmodernist contraption such as globalisation. In this negative discourse, the African suffered great indignity as his tormentor sought to exclude him from the rights and benefits of his society. Goaded by the need for a creative re-assessment of the African image, pioneer Pan-Africanists like W.E.B Du Bois championed an intellectual crusade to counter the hitherto hegemonic discourse that treated the African condescendingly. African-American Poets of the Harlem renaissance such as Claude McKay and Langston Hughes particularly, creatively exploded the stereotypes in their angry denunciation of oppression and racial injustice. At once they artistically rejected and reversed the stereotypes using different stylistic strategies thereby connecting, sharing and responding to the overall African colonial experience. This paper discusses the strategies adopted by McKay and Hughes in their poetic counter-rhetoric as a way of forging the African image, a major motif in colonial and post-colonial literary articulation in Africa.


Chronic kidney disease is a major health issue, with hypertension playing a significant role in progression of kidney injury and decline in kidney function. Previously, genetic studies utilized the Dahl salt-sensitive (S) rat, a model of hypertensive related kidney disease and the spontaneously hypertensive rat (hypertensive, but resistant to kidney injury) to identify genomic regions associated with kidney injury. To confirm identified genomic intervals, congenic strains were developed for several chromosomes (RNO) by transfer of SHR genome to the genetic background of the S, including RNO2, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 and 19. Several of these congenic strains, with the exception of RNO6 and 19 have been extensively investigated. Here, we report that S.SHR(6) and (19) demonstrate significantly improved proteinuria (53±2.5 and 54±2.5 mg/24hr, respectively) compared to control S (116±7.2) and improved measures of kidney function (BUN= 24.3±0.6 and 24.6±0.6 vs. 28±1.3 mg/dl). To facilitate the identification of genetic variants that underlie each genomic region, especially on RNO6 and RNO19, comparative genome hybridization (CGH) was performed (NimbleGen and Agilent) to identify copy number variation (CNV) between the S and SHR. CNV was identified on RNO6 and RNO19 (as well as other chromosomes) which could be linked to the development of kidney injury. In addition, recent sequencing of the entire genomes of the S and SHR has identified essentially all genetic variation (SNP and INDEL) between the two inbred models. The 95% confidence interval of each causative locus spans ~10 Mb. The region on RNO6 contains 54 annotated genes (24 nonsynonymous SNP) and RNO19 contains 101 genes and/or miRNA (68 nonsynonymous SNP). The majority of SNP (>95%) are within intergenic or intronic regions, regardless of the genomic locus. A modest number of SNP (~5%) fall within the putative promoter region of genes which could impact gene expression. In summary, CGH and high quality genome sequence analysis will help guide upcoming congenic substrain analysis to expedite identification of the causative genetic variation(s) that underlie each genomic locus.


Selma Rıza who is one of the first woman journalist of Tanzimat period. She wrote Uhuvvet novel in 1897. This novel met with its readers about a hundred years later. It is one of the leading novels which is give place to womens rights issue. The novel evaluates to social life that is change with coincidental effect of Tanzimat and it makes this evaluation in axis of the family and women. Uhuvvet is a period novel and it is worthy of study in terms of both structure and theme. The writer connects social enlinghtement to womens education and their equality with men. She processes this subject in a tragic story. In this study, Uhuvvet is studied to evaluated in terms of novel technique also subject, fiction, content, people, narrator, time and space.


Currently, telecom operators use virtualization of network infrastructure based on Data Centers (DCs). But when a company grows to a certain size and one DC is not sufficient, there are questions how to further develop the network infrastructure. There is a need to expand existing DC boundaries or to add new elements in the network structure. In this paper, we propose improved adaptive routing algorithm in distributed networks of DCs with united service providers, which increases the efficiency of adaptive routing process during dynamic adding of nodes or communication links. The mathematical model and enlarged form of algorithm are shown in the work. In the paper, a comparison of the proposed algorithm with known analogies, such as modified Dijkstra's algorithm and paired transitions algorithm, is performed. To validate the correctness of proposed algorithm, we developed software for simulation of adaptive routing processes in networks of distributed DCs. Comparative analysis of adaptive routing algorithms in distributed networks of DCs with united service providers confirms the effectiveness of the proposed approach and reduces the complexity of constructing routing tables to the value O(mN).


Abstract The fungal biodiversity in its overall is mostly still unknown and the ecological role of these organisms, particularly in some border ecosystems, is often underestimated. This study aims to give both an overview of the state of the art and to present new data on the mycodiversity in some peculiar environments as rocks, beach sand, and water in Italy. Particularly, rock fungi are here reported from high mountain peaks, sea cliffs, and monuments; sand associated fungi from beach ecosystems in Puglia and Ligurian coasts; marine fungi associated with the endemic seagrass of the Mediterranean Posidonia oceanica L.; aquatic hyphomycetes (Ingoldian fungi) from both streams in the Ticino Natural Park and lentic water in Lago Maggiore; fungi from the water distribution system in Turin. Ecological and evolutive considerations are put forward.


This paper presents novel unit cell architecture for short wave infrared (SWIR) imaging applications. It has two input stages which are CTIA and SFD covering for both respectively low and high light levels and automatic input stage selection circuitry that chooses best input stage. A user can select 2 modes for FPA manual and automatic mode. In manual mode, user can set CTIA or SFD for all pixels according to user needs. In automatic mode, each pixel selects input stage itself according to light level. Automatic input stage selection for each pixel brings high SNR level and low noise along with highest possible dynamic range. Standard CMOS 0.18µm TSMC technology is used to realize unit cell. In the architecture of unit cell, circuit level techniques are used to optimize layout size.


In the preceding paper of this series (1) some evidence was obtained that the antipassive immunity (API) effect shown by mice injected with helenine before receiving anti-Semliki Forest virus serum of swine origin was, like the antiviral effect of helenine, the result of an interferon induced in mice by helenine. Other evidence presented in the same paper indicated that the antipassive immunity and the antiviral (AV) effect of helenine might not result from the same basic mechanism and that the API effect might have a basis other than interferon induction for its activity. The point seemed of sufficient importance to warrant further study in greater depth since, if the API effect did indeed have interferon as a basis, this represented a new and totally unsuspected action of interferon. To do this, helenine was compared with two other known interferon inducers, Newcastle disease virus (NDV) and statolon, for similarity of activities both as to their AV as well as their API effects. The results obtained will form the basis for this paper.


During the last decade, some incidents shook the corporate world, thereby causing organizations to struggle for their survival and individuals to secure their interests. These events led to the hard debates on organizational commitment towards stakeholders. In response to the growing needs in this sphere, this article aims to provide new dimension to the organizational responsibilities. Although the concept of welfare in organizational theories is not new, this study intertwines the concept of protection with welfare; thus making it more powerful to ensure more satisfaction for all stakeholders of organization This paper provides an elaborate model of organizational success in global environment, utilizing religious perspective for the welfare and protection model. The chief reason for this approach is that all religions are supposed to preach good and beneficial things. This paper concludes that balanced approach for the welfare and protection of all stakeholders of organization can provide better financial gains and good reputation for long-term business performance.


Objective: The objective of the present study is to find low dose of doxorubicin (DOX) with cancer preventive activity and to check the implication of this low dose of DOX on antioxidant defence system during lymphoma growth in mice, as the clinical utility of anthracycline anticancer drugs, especially DOX is limited by a progressive cardiotoxicity linked to mitochondrial damage. Materials and Methods: We selected a dose of DOX (0.90 mg/kg body weight of mouse), which is about 20 folds lower than clinically used dose for cancer treatment. The cancer preventive action is monitored by modulation of anaerobic metabolism. The effect of this dose on antioxidant defence system is analyzed by testing the activities of antioxidant enzymes, such as catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione S-transferase (GST). The activities of these enzymes were monitored at different intervals during the growth of lymphoma in mice. Results: The activities of antioxidant enzymes, such as CAT, SOD, and GST, were found to decrease gradually during the growth of lymphoma in mice. The anaerobic metabolism was increasing with lymphoma growth. We report that about 20 folds lower dose of DOX enhances the activities of antioxidant enzymes and decreases anaerobic metabolism during the development of lymphoma. These enzymes of antioxidant defence system suppress oxidative stress and mitochondrial damage, whereas a decrease in anaerobic metabolism checks cancer growth. Conclusions: The result suggests that dose cumulative cellular toxicity of DOX may be avoided by treating cancer in animals with lower doses of DOX in combination with other drugs.


Axisymmetric numerical codes are often used in modeling non-destructive testing phenomena, to approximate geometries and defects which are not truly axisymmetric in nature. This is especially true in cases where large computational resources are needed to model the exact geometry. However, there has been no study to confirm the nature and extent of errors introduced by an axisymmetric approximation. The gas pipeline industry makes use of bath axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric magnetizers for the magnetic flux leakage inspection of pipelines. The authors utilize this platform to perform a comparative analysis of axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric magnetizers from a design perspective and also study the differences in respective electromagnetic behavior.


Studies were conducted to assess the significance of the concept of race in interpersonal attraction and self-identification comparing African Americans and native Ghanaians. An adaptation of the Bogardus Scale (1926) was used to measure interpersonal attraction. A self-identification questionnaire developed by the principal author was used to measure self-identification. The samples consisted of 366 native Ghanaians residing in Ghana and 113 African Americans residing in Northern New Jersey. The results show that when making judgments about interpersonal attraction to different ethnic and racial groups as well as in self-identification, African American respondents attributed more psychological significance to the concept of race than Ghanaian respondents did. Racial group membership and cultural kinships were strongly related to interpersonal attraction and self-identification for African American respondents. They attributed more significance to racial group membership in judging self-identification and interpersonal attraction toward other African Americans compared with other groups. On the other hand, in judging interpersonal attraction toward other groups, African American respondents attributed more significance to cultural reference factors than racial group membership. Ghanaians perceived nationality and cultural kinships as more significant than racial group membership in their reported interpersonal attraction to groups represented in this work Ghanaian respondents did not perceive racial group membership as a significant factor in making judgments about interpersonal attraction and self-identification.


This paper describes a green stripping process to effectively strip the remaining DFR layer on a non-alkali-based ITO glass surface after an etching process. A stripper, water-soluble amine compound, is used to investigate the characteristics of stripping ability and to suggest a valid method for the green process. Increasing the composition (5-30% concentration) of the ethanol amine-based stripper was found to greatly reduce the stripping time applied in the dipping method. The composition (30%) achieved an excellent stripping effect and free-residue impurities. Additionally, it was possible to obtain the effect of stripping in a way to sustain the release before generating DFR sludge from the ITO glass surface by using dipping condition (stripping time) in the composition. An Additional stripping process (buffering) out of dipping can realize productivity improvement and cost reduction because of the higher proportion of re-use of the stripping solution used in the DFR removal step.


We introduce and study a novel majority based opinion diffusion model. Consider a graph G, which represents a social network. Assume that initially a subset of nodes, called seed nodes or early adopters, are colored either black or white, which correspond to positive or negative opinion regarding a consumer product or a technological innovation. Then, in each round an uncolored node, which is adjacent to at least one colored node, chooses the most frequent color among its neighbors.

Consider a marketing campaign which advertises a product of poor quality and its ultimate goal is that more than half of the population believe in the quality of the product at the end of the opinion diffusion process. We focus on three types of attackers which can select the seed nodes in a deterministic or random fashion and manipulate almost half of them to adopt a positive opinion toward the product (that is, to choose black color). We say that an attacker succeeds if a majority of nodes are black at the end of the process. Our main purpose is to characterize classes of graphs where an attacker cannot succeed. In particular, we prove that if the maximum degree of the underlying graph is not too large or if it has strong expansion properties, then it is fairly resilient to such attacks.

Furthermore, we prove tight bounds on the stabilization time of the process (that is, the number of rounds it needs to end) in both settings of choosing the seed nodes deterministically and randomly. We also provide several hardness results for some optimization problems regarding stabilization time and choice of seed nodes.


The purpose of this study was to identify key outcome measures of spiritual care in palliative home care. A qualitative study was conducted with experts from 3 stakeholder groups (physicians, professional spiritual caregivers, and researchers) representing 2 countries (Belgium and The Netherlands). Three key outcome measures were identified: the extent to which the patient feels that he or she is being heard and taken seriously, the extent to which the patient experiences that there is a place for that which is insoluble, and the extent to which the patient experiences that there is a place for that which cannot be said. Further research is needed to implement and evaluate these new outcome measures.


The electrophoretic mobilities of erythrocytes of 123 patients with benign surgical conditions and 55 patients with malignant disorders were determined. There was no appreciable difference between the mobilities of the two groups. In our hands microelectrophoresis of washed, untreated erythrocytes is not a useful tool in the diagnosis of human malignancies.


Evidence-based practice (EBP) represents an important approach to educating and treating individuals diagnosed with disabilities or disorders. Understanding research findings is the cornerstone of EBP. The methodology of systematic reviews, which involves carefully analyzing research findings, can result a practice guideline that recommends treatments based on the best available evidence. Educators and practitioners will be best positioned to effectively use these guidelines when they recognize both the strengths and limitations of these documents. This article highlights some of the limitations of these documents by reviewing the decisions experts make when they develop practice guidelines. The risks associated with each of the decisions are outlined, with the National Standards Project serving as an example for each decision and resulting risks. The implications of the risks are considered so that educators and practitioners will be better able to evaluate the usefulness of any practice guideline when they select treatments for the children they serve.


Johor is the state of Malaysia that just being developing to increase the quality of life for the local people. For this reason, there are many ideas and development planning to increase the erection quality in Johor for population purpose. There are many new land opened for those purpose. Land reclamation becomes the alternative methods by government to enlarge the coastal area. From many research, there are many problems arise toward buildings on reclamation area. The coastal area contributes to defects by nature factors at coastal area such as salty air, solar radiation, rough wind and rain, and some more. The reclamation also contributes to the defects of cracks from settlement or movement by the consolidation process. The objective of the studying of common defects at coastal area is to identify types, to categorize, and to analyzes the mostly of common defects, occur in building at coastal reclamation area in Johor. The methodology to obtain the objectives of study is from the condition survey (checklist), interview, and responds from questionnaire. The data then converted into the form of graph and table using suitable calculation method. The finding from the analysis of the condition survey had come out with the types of defects occur at coastal area. The data collected also categorised by structure, nonstructure, and services from elements of the buildings. The questionnaire also analyzed in form of chart using mean index method. Basically, the defects occur to the building at coastal area is similar to the other common building's defects. The difference is the coastal area receives more radiation from sunlight directly and the salty air containing in the atmosphere due to the location nearby the sea quicken the deterioration.


GensClaudia and the Roman cult of Magna Mater (Cybele) (Summary) Eminent historian of ancient Rome, Professor Maria Jaczynowska, was a teacher of many generations of not only historians, but also classical philologists. This article is written by classical philologist who is grateful for Professor's research effort. The inspiration is recognized by the outstanding Scientist Jaczynowska topic of Claudii in the Roman cult of Magna Mater (Cybele). It has been described so far in only one Polish monograph "Religions of the Roman world" published in Warsaw in 1987. The purpose of this article is to make a fine complement to observations done by Professor Jaczynowska in aspect of philological research, which for obvious reasons could not be included in Her book. Analysis of extant literary sources in the context of references to the role of representatives of the family Claudii in bringing Cybele to Rome in 204, and Ludi Megalenses of 56 BC, brings us to interesting conclusions. The texts of Cicero, Livy, Ovid, Valerius Maximus, Tacitus, Statius and a minor mention in other ancient writers works, let us draw a conclusion about undeniable ties between gens Claudia and the cult of the goddess of Pesinunt. The reason is that the matron, who was delegated to welcome the Magna Mater to Rome was Claudia Quinta, the grandchild of censor Appius Claudius Caecus. Undoubtedly, the historical fact evolved since the days of the Republic till the second century of Empire into the literary legend of the "miracle of the goddess" who gave "proof of innocence" to the dishonored patrician. Another "miracle" is associated with a standing in the temple of the goddess statue of matron. Interesting is also the evolutionof a priest position to Brogitar by Publius Clodius and the riots called by him during Ludi Megalenses in 56 BC is, as historians say, the element of rhetorical invective on the tribune hated by Cicero. of Claudia who was described in Republican texts as a matron, and in imperial times as a vestal virgin. The Legend of Claudia Quintais the strongest proof that the gens Claudia was described in the sources as closely associated with the cult of Cybele. However, references in the works of Cicero regarding the sale of a priest position to Brogitar by Publius Clodius and the riots called by him during Ludi Megalenses in 56 BC is, as historians say, the element of rhetorical invective on the tribune hated by Cicero.


Purpose of review Animals born with a deficiency in the cell surface receptor for growth hormone (GH) have a significantly reduced risk of developing cancer. Conversely, increased expression levels of GH and the GH receptor (GHR) are detectable in a variety of different human cancers. Here we discuss recent literature contributing to our understanding of the field. Recent findings In addition to animal evidence, studies of individuals with Laron syndrome suggest that congenital GHR deficiency may also protect humans against cancer. GH expression in certain malignancies is correlated with clinicohistopathological parameters and may contribute the therapeutic resistance. Other recent studies have identified novel aspects of the GH signal transduction pathway, including receptor crosstalk and the involvement of microRNA in endocrine regulation of GH. Summary Substantial evidence suggests the GH/insulin-like growth factor-1 axis initiates and promotes progression of cancer. However, important questions remain unanswered regarding the therapeutic utility of GH or GHR antagonism in cancer. Further clinical studies regarding the clinical association of GH expression with human malignancies and translational studies investigating GHR antagonism in animal models of human cancer are critical.


Abstract Background Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) are attenuated strains of Mycobacterium bovis, which is part of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. BCG is used for bladder cancer therapy. Case/Methods 80 year old man presented with severe back pain, paraplegia, urine retention. Past history included rheumatoid arthritis, bladder cancer. He was diagnosed with recurrent bladder cancer (T1, high grade lamina propria superficial invasion) in June 2016 (previously diagnosed 14 years ago, treated with BCG). Patient had transurethral resection of tumor in August 2016, after which he got 6 weekly cycles of intravesical BCG. He underwent cystoscopies with no evidence of residual disease. No history of concurrent illness during therapy. He was initially admitted 1 month ago with back pain: MRI showed thoracic (T6-T7) epidural abscess, vertebral osteomyelitis/diskitis; he underwent T6-T7 hemilaminectomies, drainage of abscess, cord decompression. Operative cultures were initially negative. He was discharged with empiric broad spectrum antibiotics. Repeat MRI during this admission showed extensive inflammation at T6-T7: diskitis, osteomyelitis, epidural abscess, more non enhancing material in the disc space, progressive edema in pedicles and lamina, worse cord compression. Neurosurgery evaluated patient: deemed to be poor surgical candidate given his extensive comorbidities, advanced age. His operative AFB cultures turned positive 4 weeks after surgery (MTB complex by DNA probe). Therapy started with Isoniazid, Rifampin, Ethambutol, Pyridoxine, Dexamethasone. The isolate was sent to state lab: whole genome sequencing showed M. bovis BCG strain. Susceptibility testing is pending. Discussion/Results BCG therapy of superficial bladder cancer is a recommended treatment modality. Early infectious complications occur within 3 months, late infections after 1 year. In >2000 patients treated with BCG, infectious complications occurred in <5%. Potts disease following BCG therapy is rare but has been described; the time of onset can be from 14 days to 12 years after therapy. Conclusion In patients treated with BCG for bladder cancer, clinicians must have a high index of suspicion for infectious complications, as early initiation of therapy yields better outcomes. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


More than 50 agents participated in a series of workshops that were offered as inservice training and as a graduate level North Carolina State University (NCSU) course worth four credits. The Organic Unit at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS), a 100acre (40-ha) facility dedicated to research and education in organic farming systems, served as a home base for training activities. These training activities consisted of lectures, hands-on demonstrations, group discussions, field trips, and class exercises. Two unique features of the workshops were the interdisciplinary, team teaching approach and the emphasis on integration of information about interactions among production practices. This well-received, successful training program will serve as a model for future extension training. A training manual, slide sets, extension publications, and an organic farming web site are being created to provide agents with the resource materials they need to conduct county-based educational programming in organic production systems and enterprises. The model for extension training presented in this report is an effective means for engaging county agents in continuing education and professional development. Interdisciplinary teaching teams allow for a full, integrated treatment of subject matter and present a whole systems perspective to agents. Regularly scheduled, intensive sessions that accommodate busy calendars and utilize time efficiently provide a strong incentive for regular attendance. Awarding graduate level university credit hours for completion of required course work attracts and retains prospective student and agents. Encouragement of active participation by agents through hands-on field activities, open discussion of issues that impact agricultural and rural life, and field trips to view concepts presented in a real world context ensure that educational goals are fulfilled and that active learning takes place. This model should be used in future extension training programs.


The aim of the experiment was to describe the formation of periodontal tissues in degree III furcation defects following GTR therapy. The study was performed in 8 foxhound dogs. The 2nd and 4th premolars in both sides of the mandible were extracted. Furcation defects were produced in the 3rd mandibular premolars. 3 weeks later, reconstructive surgery was performed. The dogs were scheduled for sacrifice 2, 4, 8, and 20 weeks after GTR therapy. Tissue blocks containing the experimental teeth were excised, demineralized in EDTA and embedded in paraffin. Serial sections were cut in the mesio-distal plane and parallel with the long axis of the roots. The microtome was set at 7 microns. The sections were stained in hematoxyline and eosin. From each biopsy, 3 sections representing the central part of the furcation, were selected for light microscopic examination. In the healed furcation sites, descriptive histological analysis of the newly-formed tissues was performed and the relative proportions of the hard and soft tissues were determined. It was demonstrated that at 2 weeks, the furcation defect contained granulation tissue and cell-rich connective tissue, while at 4 weeks the furcation was mainly occupied by connective tissue. At 8 weeks, woven bone occupied the central portion of the furcation, whereas connective tissue and cementum were observed in the lateral portions. The furcation area at 20 weeks was comprised of newly-formed cementum, periodontal ligament and bone. The onset of cementum formation had started as early as 2 weeks after GTR therapy. The cementum formation apparently occurred in 3 phases: organisation of collagen fibers adjacent and perpendicular to the root surface (phase 1), assembly of the collagen fibers and deposition of matrix (phase 2), and addition of cells and collagen fibers organised parallel to the root surface (phase 3). Bone formation took place through a process that included (1) organisation of a fibrous connective tissue, (2) differentiation of this tissue into woven bone and, (3) maturation of the woven bone into lamellar bone and bone marrow.


The e-cigarette has been experienced by 86.2% of smokers and 25.9% of non-smokers in Parisian schoolchildren according to the 2015 PST survey on 3516 schoolchildren. We investigate on the nicotine content of the e-liquid used by theses schoolchildren. Methods: In the 2015 survey conducted by PST on a randomized sample of 2% of 12-19 y.o. Parisian schoolchildren, we analysed the nicotine content in e-liquid. Results: 371 of the 1256 schoolchildren of the study who had experienced e-cigarette precise nicotine level used. Among respondents 189 (50.9%) report use a non-nicotine e-liquid. The female are 54.6% to use non nicotine e-liquid and the male 44.4%. Non-nicotine e-liquid are more used in 12-15y.o. (60.7%) than in 16-19 y.o. (42.9%) The majority of non-daily smokers used non nicotine-liquid then the vast majority of smoker use non nicotine e-liquid (figure). Among those who have just experienced e-cigarette, 56.8% use e-liquid without nicotine, while among those who used e-cigarettes last 30 days are 43.6% has used no-nicotine a liquid. Conclusions: Then non-nicotine e-liquid represent less than 5% of the French e-liquid market it represent the majority of e-liquid used by children. Prospective studies are needed to understand how adolescent using non-nicotine e-liquid change their consumption over the time to stop all consumption or to switch to tobacco, or remain non-nicotine or nicotine e-cigarette users.


Abstract : The report reviews and analyzes 95 documents related to personnel subsystem test and evaluation. The reports are divided into two groups: (1) system tests and (2) related research material. Each report is abstracted and then analyzed further in terms of 11 categories: Scope and relation to personnel subsystem elements; Test objectives; Data requirements and test criteria; Data collection methodology; Support requirements; Reducing and analyzing data; Significant test results; Communicating and using test results; Factors in planning a test program; Factors in conducting a test program; and Other problems. (Author)