Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) often have progression of bone destruction owing to chronic inflammation. Treatment for bone destruction is still insufficient in these patients although goal of treatment has become remission since biologics have been used widely. It is shown that collagen cross-linked C-peptide (CTX- I ) and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRACP) have correlated with bone destruction in patients with RA, in addition, evidence of new biomarker such as hepatocyte growth factor and macrophage inhibitory factor have been accumulated recently. These biomarkers may help evaluation of bone quality clinically.


[reaction: see text] A total synthesis of the naturally occurring, cytotoxic macrolide FD-891 is described. Three fragments were first stereoselectively constructed using mainly asymmetric aldol and allylation reactions. The complete framework was then assembled using two Julia-Kocienski olefinations to connect the three fragments and a Yamaguchi reaction to close the macrolactone ring.


The aim of this study was to analyze the selected hematological and rheological indices in female rowers during the competitive season. The study included 10 female rowers (aged 21.2 ± 2.6) and the control group consisted of 10 woman of corresponding age (non-athletes). The examination of athletes took place two times: at the beginning of the season during high endurance low intensity training period in January (baseline) and at the end of the competitive season in October (after). Blood samples taken from all woman were analyzed for hematological and rheological parameters. The training period of rowers during the 10 months resulted in decrease in red blood cell count and RBC deformability, in contrast to an improvement in some rheological functions such a decrease in fibrinogen concentration, plasma viscosity and aggregation index. The training program practice in rowing modulated some hematological and rheological indices. Some of them positively influenced the cardiovascular system and reduced potential risks connected with hard training and dehydration, but others may have followed from overtraining or not enough relaxation time between training units.


The ethno medicinal plant Basella alba belongs to the family Basellaceae, and commonly known as malabar spinach, indian spinach, ceylon spinach and vine spinach. Although it has been reported in ancient systems of medicine, it did not gain much importance and has always remained controversial. It has been found to be a good source of calcium, iron, vitamin A and vitamin C. In the Indian system of medicine, the plant has immense potential in androgenic activity, antiulcer activity, antioxidant, cytotoxic and antibacterial activity, anti-inflammatory activity, central nervous system (CNS) depressant activity, nephroprotective and wound healing properties etc. The present is therefore, an effort to give a detailed survey of literature on pharmacognostical, phytochemical, ethnopharmacology as well as the pharmacological activities of the plant.

 Key words: Nephroprotective, cytotoxic, androgenic, antiulcer activity, antioxidant, spinach.


Early detection of diabetes is essential to prevent serious complications in patients. The purpose of this work is to detect and classify type 2 diabetes in patients using machine learning (ML) models, and to select the most optimal model to predict the risk of diabetes. In this paper, five ML models, including K-nearest neighbor (K-NN), Bernoulli Naïve Bayes (BNB), decision tree (DT), logistic regression (LR), and support vector machine (SVM), are investigated to predict diabetic patients. A Kaggle-hosted Pima Indian dataset containing 768 patients with and without diabetes was used, including variables such as number of pregnancies the patient has had, blood glucose concentration, diastolic blood pressure, skinfold thickness, body insulin levels, body mass index (BMI), genetic background, diabetes in the family tree, age, and outcome (with/without diabetes). The results show that the K-NN and BNB models outperform the other models. The K-NN model obtained the best accuracy in detecting diabetes, with 79.6% accuracy, while the BNB model obtained 77.2% accuracy in detecting diabetes. Finally, it can be stated that the use of ML models for the early detection of diabetes is very promising.


Objectives : Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is best defined as the non menstrual pelvic pain for at least six months, which is severe enough to cause functional disability and require medical or surgical treatment. A thorough clinical examination no doubt provides a gynecologist with considerable information but that is not sufficient in arriving at the diagnosis or pinpointing the cause of CPP in all cases. Ancillary aids like imaging studies and direct visualization of the pelvic organs by laparoscopy are often required. In this study we made an endeavor to find out the role of laparoscopy in the evaluation of CPP. Methods : The present study was conducted in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata from January 2006 to December 2006. All the patients presented with the complaint of CPP. After history, physical examination, routine investigations and USG, 79 cases were subjected to laparoscopy. Results: Sensitivity and specificity of USG was found to be 69.56% and 100% respectively while for laparoscopy it was 98.46% and 100% respectively. Positive predictive value was 100% by both means but negative predictive value was significantly higher by laparoscopy i.e. 93.75% in marked contrast to USG (34.8%). Conclusion: Laparoscopy triumphs in detecting many abnormalities which clinical methods and USG sometimes fail to identify. This enforces the position of laparoscopy as a gold standard in the evaluation of CPP.


In this short note we explain how to use the linear equations of motion to simplify the third-order action for the cosmological fluctuations. No field redefinition is needed in this exact procedure which considerably limits the range of independent cubic operators, and hence of possible shapes of the primordial bispectrum. We demonstrate this in the context of the most general single-field scalar-tensor theory with second-order equations of motion, whose third-order action has been calculated recently in arXiv:1107.2642 and 1107.3917. In particular, we show that the three cubic operators initially pointed out in these works as new compared to k-inflation can actually be expressed in terms of standard k-inflationary operators.


A main requirement for the Future Internet is to enable self‐management behaviors facilitating the network to adapt to changing conditions and self‐heal in the face of erroneous states. On the basis of Autonomic Fault‐Management principles, this paper proposes a framework consisting of a set of components operating inside the network elements and allowing the devices to collaboratively realize self‐healing. In that context, Autonomic Fault‐Management is intuitively constituted by the detection of the presence of faulty conditions, followed in turn by the self‐diagnosis and identification of the corresponding root causes, and completed consequently by the removal of the identified root causes and their effects. The proposed framework implements a distributed control loop that interacts with the network operations personnel in case the current erroneous state is not resolvable by means of Autonomic Fault‐Management. We argue that there are a number of mutual benefits between our proposed framework and the IPv6 protocol suite. This is demonstrated by a case study that illustrates these benefits and shows how the capabilities of IPv6 can be enhanced through the self‐healing mechanisms of the proposed framework. Finally, the prototype implementation used for the case study is analyzed in terms of scalability and overhead produced in the network nodes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The First Helicon Plasma Physics and Applications Workshop was held on September 23−24, 2021, through Zoom Cloud Meeting, instead of in an on-site gathering, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was convened by Rod Boswell (IOC) and Guangnan Luo (LOC), and organised by Lei Chang's group. The workshop attracted 110 registrations and ∼ 100 online audiences from ∼ 30 affiliations. There were 33 presentations covering the various fundamental physics of helicon plasma and its applications to space electric propulsion, material processing, and magnetic confinement fusion. This paper highlights the presentations, discussions, and perspectives given in the workshop, serving as reference for the helicon community.


This case note examines the UK and Commonwealth authorities which govern whether it is possible to contractually exclude or diminish the operation of the Companies Act 2006, s.994 by the use of an arbitration clause.


System integration of an online structural health monitoring module was accomplished by coupling commercially available microelectro-mechanical system sensors and a wireless telemetry unit with damage detection firmware. To showcase the capabilities of the integrated monitoring module, a bolted frame structure was constructed, and the preload in one of the bolted joints was controlled by a piezoelectric stack actuator to simulate gradual deterioration of a bolted connection. Two separate damage detection algorithms were used to classify a joint as damaged or undamaged. First, a statistical process control algorithm was used to monitor the correlation of vibration data from two accelerometers mounted across a joint. Changes in correlation were used to detect damage to the joint. For each joint, data were processed locally on a microprocessor integrated with the wireless module, and the diagnosis result was remotely transmitted to the base monitoring station. Second, a more sophisticated damage detection algorithm combining time series analysis and statistical hypothesis testing was employed using a conventional wired data acquisition system to classify a joint on the demonstration structure as damaged or undamaged.


In this paper, a collision-prevention support alarm at road intersections is used as an example, and a methodology for evaluating this system was discussed. A method for analyzing the collision-mitigation ratio was discussed based on the "integrated error of driver and system" that the authors propose. This integrated error refers to not only the system reliability but also to the driver's reliability which will be changed by driver's trust in the system and system dependence during the use of a driving-assistant system. The investigation of the effects of these driver's mental states on collision mitigation considering the integrated error demonstrated that it is important to design an optimal human-machine interface that reduces the driver dependence on the system, while keeping the sense of system reliability high in order to reduce the number of collisions. However, the study on the sense of reliability and dependence found a positive correlation (r= 0.66) between these two factors. This means that it is not easy to satisfy this optimal condition in designing the HMI and that developing a method for satisfying this optimal condition in order to reduce the risk-taking behavior of drivers is an important issue.


We compare experimental results concerning the intensity noise of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) operating with only one longitudinal and transverse mode above threshold to the predictions of a full quantum model. Our theoretical predictions are compared to the experimental results obtained with VCSELs. Our sample has several VCSELs with different active medium diameters on the same chip. The operation wavelengths range from 820 to 850 nm and the emitted optical power can be varied from 1 to 5 mW. High reflectivity Bragg reflectors constitute the cavity mirrors. The cavity length, of the order of the wavelength, ensures single longitudinal mode operation of all lasers in the sample but not single transverse mode operation. To obtain single mode operation, the driving current must not be too high. We keep the driving current below five times the threshold current. We check with a monochromator that only one mode is above threshold. With a Glan polarizer (extinction ratio 10/sup -4/) we observe that this mode (TEM/sub 00/) is linearly polarized.


During the construction of circular underground pipe, the non-proper compaction along the pipe and the decrease of compaction efficiency have been the main problems to induce the failure of underground pipe or facility. The use of CLSM (controlled low strength materials) should be one of the possible applications to overcome those problems. In this research, the full-scaled field test and the numeric analysis using PENTAGON-3D FEM program were carried out for three different cases on the change of backfill materials, including the common sand, the soil from construction site, and the CLSM. From the full-scaled test in field, the use of in-situ CLSM as backfill materials reduced the vertical and lateral deformation of the pipe, as well as the deformation of the ground surface. The main reason for reducing the deformation would be the characteristics of the CLSM, especially self-leveling and self-hardening properties. The measured earth pressure at the surround of the corrugated pipe using the CLSM backfills was the smaller than the other cases, and the absolute value was almost zero. Judging from the full-scaled field test and FEM analysis, the use of CLSM as backfill materials should be one of the best choices reducing the failure of the underground pipes.


In this paper, I will argue that Husserl's critique of the method of natural science, as he outlines it in The Crisis of European Sciences, is a continuation of his critique of science, which he first considers in Philosophy of Arithmetic. Husserl's many enquiries are guided by his effort to secure knowledge against the claims of scepticism and relativism. He starts with the critique of science leading him to posit the primacy of the life-world, Lebenswelt. According to Husserl, we cannot understand the physical nature constructed in thought unless we show that scientific explanations of the world grew out of the world in which we live. In this context, I will also argue that in order to be responsible for our knowledge we must acknowledge that the Lebenswelt is the foundation from which all our knowledge proceeds.


Snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) abundance has been of interest to wildlife biologists, as hares are essential prey items for many rare and endangered predators. Snowshoe hare abundance has most commonly been estimated through indices such as pellet counts. While pellet counts may be useful in the areas they are developed and when hares are dense, they notably fail when hares are at low densities. Abundance estimates using capture-mark-recapture (CMR) are often preferred over indices of animal abundance, yet using CMR to estimate snowshoe hare numbers has proven a formidable and expensive task. Sample sizes obtained using traditional CMR techniques are frequently low, resulting in either biased estimates or estimates with unacceptably high variance. Here we derive a suite of 9 microsatellite DNA markers that can provide snowshoe hare individual identification at relatively low cost. We demonstrate that these markers produce no genotyping errors in a captive situation and use the markers to produce individual identification of free-ranging snowshoe hares in test plots in Montana and Idaho.


The adsorption of two zwitterionic surfactants, dodecyldimethylammonium propanesulfonate (C12PS) and dodecyldimethylammonium carboxybetaine (C12CB), and of their mixtures with the cationic dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (C12TAB) and the anionic sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) at the silica-water interface has been studied by neutron reflection (NR). The total adsorption, the composition of the adsorbed layer, and some structural information have been obtained over a range of concentrations from below the critical micelle concentration (CMC) to about 30× the mixed CMC. The adsorption behavior has been considered in relation to the previously measured micellar equilibrium of these mixtures in their bulk solutions and their adsorption at the air-water interface. C12CB adsorbs cooperatively close to its CMC to form an almost complete bilayer on its own, whereas C12PS adsorbs more weakly in a fragmented bilayer structure. Although SDS does not normally adsorb at the silica-water interface, SDS adsorbs strongly and cooperatively with C12PS at fractional SDS compositions up to about 0.5. This cooperativity is lost when the adsorbed fraction of SDS rises above about 0.5. At this point, adsorption drops sharply, creating an unusual maximum in the variation of adsorption with a total concentration above the mixed CMC. Neither the increase in cooperativity nor the subsequent decline in adsorption results directly from variations of the independently determined monomer concentrations in the bulk solution. The adsorption maximum is predominantly the effect of strong cooperative interaction, possibly accompanied by partial segregation of SDS within the layer, followed by charge repulsion from the surface. Although the solution aggregation and adsorption at the A-W interface are similar for SDS with C12CB, the addition of SDS to C12CB at the silica-water interface promotes the opposite behavior to that of SDS with C12PS, and SDS simply disrupts the cooperative binding of C12CB. Unlike SDS, the cationic surfactant C12TAB adsorbs on silica. It therefore coadsorbs at the SiO2-W interface with either C12CB or C12PS. However, in neither case is there any pronounced cooperativity and, even though the presence of C12TAB might be expected to favor adsorption, the adsorption is generally unexpectedly low.


In this study an automatic system is presented to perform electroporation, also known as electropermeabilization, on adherent cells. It is an intention of this system to apply electric field pulses directly to cells growing in standard multi-well plates as a step forward to include this technique in standard laboratory protocols. An interdigitated microelectrode assembly constructed with Printed Circuit Board (PCB) is placed closely above the cell monolayer, and in order to avoid direct contact with cells, small micro-separators were included in the structure. Additionally, distribution of current density was modified by filling the gap between adjacent electrodes with a non conductive material as predicted by electric field simulations. This modification helps to concentrate the electric field intensity in the region where cells are present. The device was tested using C2C12 cell line growing adhered in 24 multi-well plates and fluorescent labeled dextran FD20S as the molecule to be delivered. Successful transfection was observed with minimal invasiveness of the operation reducing the stress caused to cells.


Residual Municipal Solid Waste DTU Orbit (14/12/2018)  LCA Of The "Renescience" Concept: An Alternative To Incineration For The Treatment Of Residual Municipal Solid Waste The "REnescience" system consists on a pretreatment of the waste based on heat and enzymes which liquefy the biogenic fraction of the waste (paper and organics). The outputs of the process are then liquid slurry and a remaining solid fraction from which metals, plastic and glass can eventually be separated for recycling. In this study the environmental assessment of a number of scenarios for the "REnescience" concept is presented. The scenarios assessed are cocombustion of solid and liquid fraction in coal-fired power plants (CC-CC), co-combustion of the liquid fraction and incineration of the solid fraction (CC-INC), anaerobic digestion of the liquid fraction to produce biogas and co-combustion of the solid fraction (BG-CC) and anaerobic digestion of the liquid fraction to produce biogas and incineration of the solid fraction (BG-INC). The reference technology for the comparison is the incinerator "Amagerforbrænding" (INC) located in Copenhagen (Denmark). Two different energy systems are considered for the assessment: coal as marginal energy and natural gas as marginal energy. The results of the LCA show that the co-combustion (CC-CC) and biogas scenarios (BGCC) perform better than incineration (INC) with respect to Global Warming (GW), Acidification (AC) and Ecotoxicity in water, chronic (ETwc). The major savings are due to electricity recovery at the power plant. The waste refinery (pretreatment) contributes with a net load on GW equal to 20-30 mPE/tonne of ww. Savings from recycling are mainly connected to metals recovery (around -12 mPE/tonne of ww). The results for the toxicity categories show that the "REnescience" options are more environmentally friendly with respect to ETwc because of the higher recycling but contribute with environmental loads on HTs and HTw because of potential emissions of Hg and other metals to air (cocombustion) and to soil (use-on-land of the digestate).


The aim of this study was to investigate the ultrastructure of the interface zone between the nervous tissue and the connective-vascular sheath that surround the central ganglia of the terrestrial snail of Megalobulimus abbreviatus and test its permeability using lanthanum as an electron dense tracer. To this purpose, ganglia from a group of snails were fixed by immersion in a 2% colloidal lanthanum solution and a second group of animals was injected in the foot with either a 2%, 10% or 20% lanthanum nitrate solution and then sacrificed 2 or 24hs after injection. Ganglia from both groups were processed for transmission electron microscopy. The vascular endothelium, connective tissue, and basal lamina of variable thickness that ensheathe the nervous tissue and glial cells of the nervous tissue constitute the interface zone between the haemolymph and the neurones. The injected lanthanum reached the connective tissue of the perineural capsule, however it did not permeate into the nervous tissue because the basal lamina interposed between both tissues interrupted this passage. Moreover, the ganglia fixed with colloidal lanthanum, showed electron dense precipitates between the glial processes in the area adjacent to the basal lamina. It can be concluded from these findings, that of the different components of the haemolymph-neuronal interface, only the basal lamina, between the perineural capsule and the nervous tissue, limits the traffic of substances to and from the central nervous system of this snail.


— The Topology and Orchestration Specification for Cloud Applications (TOSCA) is an emerging framework aiming at enhancing the portability of cloud applications by standardizing their life cycle management in a vendor-neutral way. TOSCA captures the description of cloud application and infrastructure services, the relationships between parts of the services, and the operational behavior of these services (e.g., deploy, patch, shutdown). However, it lacks support for the equally important aspect of managing elasticity, i.e., managing the dynamic scaling of cloud applications at run-time. In this work we present the Elastic-TOSCA framework, which extends TOSCA to address this issue. We then describe how Elastic-TOSCA can be used to support a variety of analytical model-based approaches for elasticity management in complex cloud applications. We further provide a detailed example describing how Elastic TOSCA can be used to support easily a dynamic scaling approach based on a queueing system model. Using a case study for managing the elasticity of a multi-tier e-commerce service, we demonstrate the effectiveness of both the Elastic-TOSCA framework and the scaling approach used.


The automotive industry has always shown a particular interest in quality management systems, which resulted in the development of several different specific standards. As a result of this, by the mid-1980s, automotive suppliers were subject to numerous national and customer-specific regulations. The proliferation of these standards and the need to create a single reference model led to Technical Specification (TS) 16949, an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) technical specification aimed at representing a comprehensive quality management system for the global automotive industry. Since its early introduction, TS 16949 has encountered a certain success thanks to its feature of unifying and harmonizing the already existing standards. This paper studies the global evolution and diffusion of this technical specification, observing its impact on local economies. The findings are supported by empirical data.


This paper presents a morphological active contour ideal for vascular segmentation in biomedical images. The unenhanced images of vessels and background are successfully segmented using a two-step morphological active contour based upon Chan and Vese's Active Contour without Edges. Using dilation and erosion as an approximation of curve evolution, the contour provides an efficient, simple, and robust alternative to solving partial differential equations used by traditional level-set Active Contour models. The proposed method is demonstrated with segmented data set images and compared to results garnered from multiphase Active Contour without Edges, morphological watershed, and Fuzzy C-means segmentations.


Based on the fact that the real inductor and the real capacitor are fractional order in nature and the fractional calculus, the transfer function modeling and analysis of the open-loop Buck converter in a continuous conduction mode (CCM) operation are carried out in this paper. The fractional order small signal model and the corresponding equivalent circuit of the open-loop Buck converter in a CCM operation are presented. The transfer functions from the input voltage to the output voltage, from the input voltage to the inductor current, from the duty cycle to the output voltage, from the duty cycle to the inductor current, and the output impedance of the open-loop Buck converter in CCM operation are derived, and their bode diagrams and step responses are calculated, respectively. It is found that all the derived fractional order transfer functions of the system are influenced by the fractional orders of the inductor and the capacitor. Finally, the realization of the fractional order inductor and the fractional order capacitor is designed, and the corresponding PSIM circuit simulation results of the open-loop Buck converter in CCM operation are given to confirm the correctness of the derivations and the theoretical analysis.


Thiazolidinedione drugs which increase insulin sensitivity are attracting attention of diabetologists. The first drug, ciglitazone ameliorated hyperglycemia in animal models of obese type 2 diabetes such as KKAy mice, but the effect was too weak for clinical application. The first clinical drug troglitazone was approved and marketed in 1997, and the second drug pioglitazone in 1999. Troglitazone was designed to combine tocopherol, anti-peroxidant, and thiazolidinedione. Plasma glucose is lowered in type 2 diabetic patients by troglitazone or pioglitazone alone or in combination with sulfonylureas. The decrease in glycemia is accompanied with the decrease in plasma insulin, suggesting that the effect is mediated by the improvement of insulin sensitivity. Other new thiazolidinedione drugs such as rosiglitazone are in development. Rare but severe hepatic injury occasionally leading to death has been noticed after several months of clinical application of troglitazone. Monthly examination of liver enzymes reduced the number of severe hepatotoxicity. The ultimate evaluation of thiazolidinediones awaits more clinical experiences.


Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has been consistently associated with disproportionately high mortality among older adults, regardless of nation of origin. Previous research on pneumotropic viruses demonstrated an association between host vitamin D levels and viral disease state. Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) also disproportionately impact older adults. The objective of this study was to evaluate VDD and COVID-19 mortality worldwide during the first 50 days of the pandemic as experienced by each country.
Methods

Country-specific VDD prevalence among older adults was evaluated according to a systematic literature search of PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, and SCOPUS during April 2020. Data were obtained from the public Our World in Data database which reports COVID-19 mortality from European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and country population characteristics, size and proportion of the population greater than 65 years, from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Country-specific cumulative mortality was modeled via negative binomial random coefficient growth curve models.
Results

Among 29 countries included in this analysis, VDD prevalence among older adults ranged from 6.9% in Canada to 69% in France. Cumulative COVID-19 deaths up to day 50 within each country, modeled via exponential growth curves, demonstrated an association with country-level VDD (p = 0.0538). However, the association was not robust when controlling for proportion of older adults in each country (p = 0.2135).
Conclusions

This ecological analysis is further evidence for VDD correction as a component of COVID-19 treatment, especially among older individuals. Inclusion of data cross-culturally (i.e., collected from countries worldwide) supports the theory that VDD is a universal mechanism contributing to COVID-19 mortality. Though definitive randomized controlled trials are still needed, the current study provides support for VDD screening and correction as the influenza season rapidly approaches in the Northern hemisphere.


Background. Cystovaginoplasty (CVP) is a method of vaginal reconstruction in women with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kistner-Hauser Syndrome (MRKHS). The neo-vagina allows normal sexual intercourses, but after CVP, the sexual life of patients with MRKHS does not differ significantly from normal females. Therefore, we decided to elucidate the pattern of sensory re-innervation of the bladder flap used for the surgery. Methods. Biopsies were taken from vaginal vestibule and urinary bladder during the CVP and 1 year later in four patients with MRKHS. The following neurotransmitters were studied calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), galanin (GAL), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide (PACAP). Results. CGRP and PACAP nerve fibres were sparse under the urothelium and in submucosal layer of the neovagina, they were more numerous around blood vessels and in the vicinity of smooth muscles. This was similar to the pattern observed in the urinary bladder. VIP- and GAL-positive nerve fibres were most numerous in the submucosa around blood vessels and in smooth muscle bundles of neovagina. They were distinctly less numerous beneath the epithelium. This innervation pattern mimicked that seen in normal vagina and in vaginal vestibule of patients with MRKHS. Conclusions. Our findings demonstrate considerable nervous system plasticity in the bladder flap. Distribution of presumably sensory CGRP and PACAP immunoreactive nerve fibers was similar to the pattern observed within the intact bladder wall, and VIP or GAL immunoreactive nerve fibers (vasomotor functions) were distributed in a manner similar to that observed in the intact vaginal wall.


The present study was undertaken to examine the antispermatogenic effect of l-CDB-4022 in the adult male cynomolgus monkey. Monkeys (four per group) were dosed via nasogastric tube for 7 d with l-CDB-4022 at 12.5 mg/kg.d or vehicle (d 0=first day of dosing). Plasma levels of l-CDB-4022 and its deesterified metabolite were nondetectable prior to treatment and in all vehicle-treated monkeys. Peak levels of l-CDB-4022 and its metabolite were observed at 4 h after dosing with steady-state levels apparent around d 4. Sperm concentration and total sperm per ejaculate were decreased to levels below 1x10(6) sperm/ml or sperm/ejaculate in l-CDB-4022-treated monkeys by d 17 and remained suppressed through wk 6. Sperm motility also declined to 0% for 6 wk. Testicular volume was reduced in l-CDB-4022-treated monkeys through d 21. The left testis and epididymis were removed from all monkeys on d 24. At this time, the most mature germ cells in the seminiferous tubules of testes from l-CDB-4022-treated monkeys were either spermatocytes or round spermatids. Immature germ cells, but not mature sperm, were found in the efferent ducts and collapsed epididymal lumen of l-CDB-4022-treated monkeys. A steady recovery in sperm motility, concentration, and total sperm per ejaculate was observed in l-CDB-4022-treated monkeys such that these parameters were not different from those of vehicle-treated monkeys by wk 16. Volume of the remaining testis increased in vehicle- and l-CDB-4022-treated monkeys after hemicastration; however, the increase in l-CDB-4022-treated monkeys was delayed compared with that observed in the vehicle-treated monkeys. The morphology of the remaining testis and epididymis, which were removed on wk 17, was normal. Serum inhibin B levels were increased in l-CDB-4022-treated monkeys during the dosing interval; thereafter serum inhibin B levels declined such that there was no difference between the groups by wk 3. l-CDB-4022 treatment did not affect circulating levels of testosterone, LH, FSH, or estradiol. In conclusion, these data indicate that in the cynomolgus monkey, a representative higher primate, l-CDB-4022 exerts a selective antispermatogenic action, which was reversible under the conditions of this study and thus has potential as a nonhormonal oral male contraceptive.


A look through recent books on carbonate deposits might give the impression that the only way to study limestones is to identify sequence boundaries and parasequences. Luckily the contributors to this book are not such stratigraphic 'fundamentalists', and the reality, of course, is that limestones are largely composed of the remains of calcareous plants and animals. This compilation, which arose from the 1999 Lyell Meeting held in London, convincingly reminds us that we must strive to understand the biological, or palaeobiological, aspects if we really want to interpret ancient carbonate systems, rather than constrain complexity into a narrow, prescriptive set of sequence stratigraphic diktats. There, that has nailed my flag to the mast; I think that we have a profoundly inadequate understanding of the biological processes that filter and script the geological history of carbonate systems, so I welcome this volume unreservedly.

The book contains 13 papers covering such diverse topics as modern polychaetes, the amazing rudists, bioerosion in reefs, Precambrian microbialites, Red Sea corals, fossil algae and mud mounds. The papers fall into two parts: seven papers focus on studies at the community level, and six that tackle larger scale aspects. The international authorship, from 10 countries, covers a very wide range of stratigraphic intervals and regions.

The editors provide …


Background Desired longevity represents how strongly people esteem possible extensions of their own lifetime. The association between desired longevity and mortality risk has been reported in only one prospective study, which examined a small sample of older participants. We aimed to examine the hypothesis that desired longevity at middle-age predicted long-term survival. Methods In the prospective cohort study, residents aged 40–64 years were asked how long they would like to live and asked to choose one from three options: longer than, as long as, or shorter than the life expectancy. We used Cox proportional hazards model to calculate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all-cause and cause-specific mortality according to the three groups for desired longevity, treating the "longer than" group as the reference. We conducted mediation analysis to investigate the mechanism for the association between desired longevity and mortality. Results We recruited 39,902 residents to the study. Risk of all-cause mortality was significantly higher in the "shorter than" group (HR 1.12; 95% CI, 1.04–1.21). The association was independent of sex, age, marital status, education, medical history, and health status. Regarding cause of death, mortality risk of cancer (HR 1.14; 95% CI, 1.00–1.29) and suicide (HR 2.15; 95% CI, 1.37–3.38) were also higher in the "shorter than" group. The unhealthy lifestyle mediated this association with all-cause mortality by 30.4%. Conclusion Shorter desired longevity was significantly associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality, and mortality from cancer and suicide. Lifestyle behaviors particularly mediated this association.


The environment is an intrinsic component of most tourism products, and in segments, such as rural and outdoor tourism, it is the reason for their existence. In recent years, tourists have been including respect for the environment as a factor in their purchasing decisions; and many businesses are using this factor as a differential component to increase their market competitiveness. However, few studies have examined the use of the environment by tourism firms as a competitive strategy and what motivates this strategy. Using a hotel database created by the Quality, Productivity and Competitiveness in the Hospitality Industry in Andalusia project [PO7/SEJ-02889], this paper has two aims: to classify Andalusian hotels into strategic groups in terms of how they use the variable environment as a factor in competitive positioning; and to assess the economic impact of the strategy adopted on the establishments analyzed. The results identify four strategic groups based on their position toward the environment: proactive, accommodating, defensive and reactive. Also, a positive association between proactive environmental strategies and the economic performance of Andalusian hotels was empirically demonstrated. Therefore, it appears that strategies that make clients aware of the environmental measures implemented by hotels can improve occupancy levels, and that environmentally proactive strategies may increase sales and the added value generated by the establishment.


ABSTRACT Smart grid development is an area where the discussion about who can be negatively affected by low-carbon energy transitions has progressed. The research on vulnerable households in smart grids often focuses on how potentially vulnerable groups react to smart energy technologies. This paper contributes to the literature by highlighting how a broad range of actors in society think about neglected and vulnerable households in smart grids. The research question concerns how stakeholders frame potential inequalities, differentiations, and vulnerabilities in smart grids in Sweden. The frame analysis is carried out, building on interviews with national and local public authorities dealing with energy issues and consumer advice, actors involved in developing, testing, and using smart energy technologies as well as interest organizations representing diverse social groups. Three narratives are identified that frame potentially neglected households as consumers without economic benefits; as users without technological interests, competences, and access to technologies; and as households with intersecting vulnerabilities. It is argued that, since there could be different interpretations of inequalities in smart grids, the governance of smart grids, and specifically discussions of neglected/vulnerable households in smart grids, can benefit from the involvement of a broad coalition of actors.


The Structured Object-Oriented Formal Language (SOFL) offers a formal engineering method for effectively incorporating formal specifications into system architectures in order to improve the quality of software design, but faces a challenge in tool support. This paper describes the techniques for building an effective software tool to support the construction of design specifications using SOFL. The techniques include (1) enforcing error detection and prevention in specification construction, (2) offering an "intelligent" and systematic guidance for decomposing operations and for completing specifications, and (3) supplying inter-related navigation among different representations of a SOFL specification. The tool has been applied in our several projects.


Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by difficulties in the social domain, but also by hyper- and hypo-reactivity. Atypical visual behaviours and processing have often been observed. Nevertheless, several similar signs are also identified in other clinical conditions including cerebral visual impairments (CVI). In the present study, we investigated emotional face categorization in groups of children with ASD and CVI by comparing each group to typically developing individuals (TD) in two tasks. Stimuli were either non-filtered or filtered by low- and high-spatial frequencies (LSF and HSF). All participants completed the autism spectrum quotient score (AQ) and a complete neurovisual evaluation. The results show that while both clinical groups presented difficulties in the emotional face recognition tasks and atypical processing of filtered stimuli, they did not differ from one another. Additionally, autistic traits were observed in the CVI group and symmetrically, some visual disturbances were present in the ASD group as measured via the AQ score and a neurovisual evaluation, respectively. The present study suggests the relevance of comparing ASD to CVI by showing that emotional face categorization difficulties should not be solely considered as autism-specific but merit investigation for potential dysfunction of the visual processing neural network. These results are of interest in both clinical and research perspectives, indicating that systematic visual examination is warranted for individuals with ASD.


The theatrical oeuvre of Harold Pinter has its origins in the alternative theatre movement in Britain in the late 1950s. This paper will examine two later, well-known plays, The Caretaker and Betrayal , as case studies for an examination of how the alternative theatre elements which informed Pinter's early work continue to be present in plays which are generally regarded as more theatrically conventional and mainstream. The theatrical context in which Pinter first developed has become obscured by his commercial success and political notoriety. It can be argued that the natural position for this playwright on the theatrical spectrum lies within the fringe and alternative theatre communities. This paper explores the idea that Brook, Brecht and Grotowskian techniques may be more effective, and more organic, to Pinter's work than the mainly realistic interpretations which became the norm as the playwright's celebrity increased.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
During physiologic stress, L-glutamine becomes conditionally essential. Its deficiency results in altered epithelial barrier competence, bacterial translocation, and decreased survival. L-glutamine may attenuate these effects by modulating heat shock protein expression, a well-described effect in vitro. We sought to characterize L-glutamine-dependent transcriptional regulation in heat-shocked intestinal cells and to determine its physiologic relevance.

METHODS
IEC-18 and H4 intestinal cells were used. Heat shock protein 72 (Hsp72) gene expression was determined by Northern blotting and luciferase assays. Heat shock factor-1 (HSF-1) activation was assessed by electromobility shift assay, Western blotting, and HSF-1 minimal promoters. Phosphorylation and trimerization of HSF-1 were determined by immunoprecipitation and native nonreducing gradient polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Camptothecin-induced apoptosis was monitored using caspase-3 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase [PARP]-specific antibodies and DNA Elisa +/- Hsp72 siRNA.

RESULTS
L-glutamine specifically augmented Hsp72 transcript abundance and HSF-1 DNA binding during heat shock. No glutamine-dependent differences in HSF-1 phosphorylation, trimerization, nuclear localization during heat shock, or HSF-1 minimal promoter activity were observed. Nevertheless, the presence of L-glutamine was an important determinant of wild-type Hsp72 promoter transcriptional activation. Reduced Hsp72 was associated with increased camptothecin-induced caspase-3 and PARP cleavage in glutamine-deficient cells. siRNA treated cells were less resistant to camptothecin.

CONCLUSIONS
Taken together, the data suggest that glutamine does not affect the classical pathway of HSF-1 activation and that glutamine-dependent upstream trans -factor binding elsewhere in the Hsp72 promoter or coactivator recruitment may determine Hsp72 abundance. L-glutamine potentiation of Hsp72 is associated with increased epithelial resistance to apoptotic injury.


Although multiple antigenically distinct ebolavirus species can cause human disease, previous serosurveys focused on only Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV). Thus, the extent of reactivity or exposure to other ebolaviruses, and which sociodemographic factors are linked to this seroreactivity, are unclear. We conducted a serosurvey of 539 healthcare workers (HCW) in Mbandaka, Democratic Republic of the Congo, using ELISA-based analysis of serum IgG against EBOV, Sudan ebolavirus (SUDV) and Bundibugyo ebolavirus (BDBV) glycoproteins (GP). We compared seroreactivity to risk factors for viral exposure using univariate and multivariable logistic regression. Seroreactivity against different GPs ranged from 2.2–4.6%. Samples from six individuals reacted to all three species of ebolavirus and 27 samples showed a species-specific IgG response. We find that community health volunteers are more likely to be seroreactive against each antigen than nurses, and in general, that HCWs with indirect patient contact have higher anti-EBOV GP IgG levels than those with direct contact. Seroreactivity against ebolavirus GP may be associated with positions that offer less occupational training and access to PPE. Those individuals with broadly reactive responses may have had multiple ebolavirus exposures or developed cross-reactive antibodies. In contrast, those individuals with species-specific BDBV or SUDV GP seroreactivity may have been exposed to an ebolavirus not previously known to circulate in the region.


All transmitters in a single frequency network (SFN) simultaneously transmit the same information within the same frequency block. Simulcasting provides a diversity gain which has been shown to yield good coverage. In traditional analysis uncorrelated shadow fading is used. In some cases this assumption does not capture the behaviour of the shadow fading, e.g., when several transmitters are shadowed by a large obstacle. We investigate the changes in coverage due to correlation among the received signals field strength from different transmitters. A spatial shadow fading correlation model is proposed and validated using the Blomquist-Ladell (1974) prediction method on a digital terrain data base. Results for both wide area and local SFN show that the coverage properties depends on the correlation in the shadow fading. This will affect the planning process since strong correlation, due to the structure of the terrain, yields better coverage for high transmitter powers (interference limited systems) and worse coverage for low transmitter powers (noise limited systems).


The necessity of speedy economic developments has made way to the setting up of SEZs in different countries, especially the developing countries. The high growth sectors often push the development related acidities to the brink. Thereby resulting in the uneven growth the different aspects related to the geographical area under consideration. Besides, the maturity of local administration and the planning authorities also affects the overall socio-economic and industrial development of the region. In view of this, it is very important the knowledge pertaining to the same be reviewed periodically so that the effectiveness of the new policies can be improved. Hence, an attempt has been made in this study to critically evaluate the recently published literature. For this purpose, only the literature published in reputed journals was used. The process of review was carried out by following general principles of content analysis. The review clearly highlighted the need to conduct focused studies vis-a-vis development of the SEZs. Besides, such studies are necessary to make sure that the industrial activities in the SEZs remain sustainable.


This book examines how the military orders and the ideology of crusading gave rise to a new sacred landscape in the medieval Baltic region, an outpost of Latin Christianity. Drawing on a wide variety of sources and international scholarship, the book discusses the paganism of the landscape in written sources pre-dating the crusades, in addition to the narrative, legal, and visual evidence of the crusade period. It draws out the key sacralizing elements as expressed in those sources, which structure the definition of sacred landscape, particularly martyrdom, the manifestation of the sacred, and use of relics in battle. By analyzing these aspects with Geographical Information Systems (GIS), a map of the Baltic campaigns emerges that provides a fresh approach to studying contemporary views of holy war in a region with no initial links to the loca sancta of Jerusalem or Europe.


In this paper, we present a new design method of IIR digital filters with an equiripple magnitude response in the complex domain. This method is based on solving a least square solution iteratively. At each iteration, the desired response is transformed so as to have equiripple error. Hence the algorithm is very simple and does not need a special software. By this method, an equiripple solution is obtained very quickly with less computational complexity. Finally, we show some examples to validate the proposed method.


We consider the Cauchy problem for a system of partial differential equations that describes the dynamics of a viscous weakly stratified fluid in three dimensional space. The existence of solutions of the problem follows from an explicit representation of the Fourier transform studied by the author in previous works. Here we prove the uniqueness of the weak solution of the problem in the class of growing functions.


Using a stochastic modeling approach based on the Unified Modeling Language and enriched with annotations that conform to the UML profile for schedulability performance, and time, the authors propose a method for assessing quality of service (QoS) in fault-tolerant (FT) distributed systems. From the UML system specification, they produce a generalized stochastic Petri net (GSPN) performance model for assessing an FT application's QoS via stochastic analysis. The ArgoSPE tool provides support for the proposed technique, helping to automatically produce the GSPN model


A quantification of the overall soil fertililty potential should integrate the main soil physical and chemical properties, with different units. The formulation of the Rasch model is proposed as an instrument to measure soil fertility potential, integrating 11 soil properties (clay, silt and sand content, organic matter -OM-, pH, total nitrogen -TN-, available phosphorus -APand potassium -AK-, cation exchange capacity -CEC-, and deep -ECdand shallow -ECssoil apparent electrical conductivity, 0-90 and 0-30 cm depth respectively) measured at 70 locations in a field. In the case study, the considered soil variables fit the model reasonably, having an important influence on soil fertility, except pH, probably due to its homogeneity in the field. Moreover, a ranking of all soil samples according to their fertility potential and the influence of each variable on soil fertility are provided, being ECd, ECs, and the textural fractions of soil the most influential properties on soil fertility and, on the other hand, AP and AK the less influential properties. Results are in accordance with a previous work in the same field considering only five soil properties, both ECd and ECs and texture, denoting the importance of these variables to estimate soil fertility potential. Rasch model resulted to be useful to rationally determine locations in a field where high soil fertility potential exists and establishing those soil samples or properties with anomalies. This information can be necessary to conduct site-specific treatments, leading to a more cost-effective and sustainable field management.


Nucleophosmin (NPM1) is a multi-functional ubiquitous phosphoprotein that shuttles between the nucleolus and cytoplasm. Located on chromosome 5q35 NPM1 is involved in the development of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) both as a chimeric fusion partner and as a putative key haploinsufficient tumor suppressor. Heterozygous NPMc+ mutations have been identified in 30% of AML, usually with normal karyotype. Such mutations create new nuclear export signals and disrupt the normal nucleolar localization signal, resulting in re-localization of both mutant and heterodimeric wild-type (WT) NPM protein from the nucleolus to the cytoplasm. The zebrafish is a model organism ideally suited to genotypic and phenotypic analysis of myelopoiesis and leukemogenesis, with a proven track record for facilitating the discovery of novel pathogenetic pathways. Using in silico analysis we identified two homologues (a common finding in zebrafish due to genome duplication during piscine evolution) of the human nucleophosmin gene in zebrafish. These two genes have been designated znpm1a and znpm1b. znpm1a is annotated by the National Center for Biotechnology (NCBI) while znpm1b is a known protein-coding region located via blast search of the human NPM1 amino acid sequence at www.ensembl.org/Danio_rerio/index.html. Whilst znpm1b exhibits slightly less identity to human NPM1 (47%) than znpm1a (64%) it demonstrates clear synteny with human chromosome 5q35 and mouse chromosome 11 (Figure 1). We confirmed expression of both znpm1a and znpm1b in embryonic tissue and adult hematopoietic tissue of the major lineages by RT-PCR of Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)-sorted cells in pu.1-GFP transgenic zebrafish embryos and in adult zebrafish kidney cells (sorted by forward and side scatter charactersistics). Morpholinos (stable, synthesized antisense oligonucleotides that specifically block gene expression when injected into embryos at the one-cell stage) were designed to inhibit znpm1a or 1b and injected into zebrafish embryos at the 1–4 cells stage to assess the effect of knockdown of znpm1a and 1b alone and in combination on hematopoiesis. Whole-mount in situ hybridization of 48 hours post-fertilization(hpf) injected embryos demonstrated a 50% reduction in the expression of myeloperoxidase ( mpo ) and a similar reduction in alpha globin (α -globin ) expression as markers of myelo- and erythropoiesis. To investigate the mechanism of the reduction in hematopoietic cells we injected the znpm1a and 1b morpholinos into zebrafish carrying mutated p53 and observed partial rescue of the hematopoietic phenotype suggesting that loss of npm1 in zebrafish activates p53 dependent cell cycle arrest, senescence or cell death. Thus zebrafish npm1 proteins are required for normal hematopoiesis consistent with the role for NPM1 as a tumor suppressor in AML/MDS with loss of all or part of chromosome 5. Future studies using this model will address which pathways are disrupted by the loss of npm1 and thus may contribute to the pathogenesis of human AML/MDS and facilitate identification of potential therapeutic targets.


The effects of constitutive cytokine gene expression on the growth-factor-dependence of the human erythroleukemic TF-1 cell line have been determined. TF-1 cells normally require the presence of exogenous cytokines to proliferate in vitro. TF-1 cells were transfected with constructs containing either the germline granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) gene or the GM-CSF gene linked to the Moloney murine leukemia virus (Mo-MuLV) long terminal repeat. The Mo-MuLV-LTR, which contains a strong transcriptional enhancer, was added to stimulate the constitutive expression of the GM-CSF gene. Transfection with the germline GM-CSF gene did not abrogate the cytokine dependence of TF-1 cells, indicating that inheritance of an extra copy did not result in sufficient GM-CSF expression to abrogate cytokine dependence. In contrast, transfection with the LTR-modified GM-CSF gene resulted in the isolation of cells that proliferated in the absence of exogenous GM-CSF. The LTR increased nascent transcription and accumulation of GM-CSF mRNA transcripts, which had a normal half-life. This increase in GM-CSF expression led to secretion of sufficient GM-CSF to support the growth of the parental TF-1 cells. These results indicate that the deregulated expression of human cytokine genes induced by certain retroviral LTRs can result in their conversion into hematopoietic-specific oncogenes. These modified human cell lines provide a model to investigate autocrine transformation and therapy of acute myelogenous leukemia as well as other hematopoietic disorders.


Changes in global biodiversity at the genetic level have proved difficult to determine for most organisms because of lack of standardized, repeated or historical data; this hampers the attempts to meet the convention on biological diversity (CBD) 2010 targets of reducing loss of genetic diversity, particularly of crop species. For rice, where germplasm and genetic data have been collected throughout South and Southeast Asia over many decades, contrary to popular opinion, we have been unable to detect a significant reduction of available genetic diversity in our study material. This absence of a decline may be viewed positively; over the 33-year timescale of our study, genetic diversity amongst landraces grown in traditional agricultural systems was still sufficiently abundant to be collected for ex situ conservation. However, if significant genetic erosion does take place in the future as a result of accelerating global warming and/or major changes in land use or agricultural practices, will it be catastrophic or gradual, and how will it be detected? We have shown a strong link between numbers of landraces collected (and therefore extant) and genetic diversity; hence, we have a clear indicator to detect loss of genetic diversity in the future. Our findings lend considerable support for ex situ conservation of germplasm; the more than substantial genetic resources already in genebanks are now safe. On the other hand, it is the germplasm growing in farmers' fields, continually adapting genetically to changing environmental conditions and evolving novel genetic forms, whose future has been much less certain but can now be effectively monitored using our criteria.


Summary We previously described synthetic peptides of 19-21 amino acid residues, homologous to the C-termini of fibrinogen Fib340 and Fib420, from the β-chain (Cβ), the extended αE chain (CαE) and near the end of the γ-chain (preCγ) which elicited attachment (haptotactic) responses from mesenchymal cells. We named these haptotactic peptides -Haptides. The effects of Haptides on fibrin clot formation was evaluated and their possible effects on platelet aggregation was examined. The Haptides Cβ, CαE and preCγ, (2-10 μM) increased fibrin clot turbidity and also decreased thrombin-induced clotting time. Higher concentrations (>120 μM of Cβ or preCγ) induced fibrinogen precipitation even without thrombin. These precipitates exhibited different ultrastructure from thrombin-induced fibrin by scanning and transmission microscopy. C-terminal peptides of the other fibrinogen chains exerted no such effects. Sepharose beads covalently coated with either whole fibrinogen or Haptides (SB-Fib or SB-Haptide) highly adsorbed free FITCHaptides. In aqueous solution, Haptides formed nano-particles with average size of ∼150nm in diameter. We suggest that such positively charged aggregates could serve to nucleate and accelerate fibrin gel formation. These results also indicate that Cβ and preCγ sequences within fibrin(ogen) participate in the docking and condensation of fibrin(ogen) during its assembly into a fibrin clot. By contrast, Haptides up to 100µM did not bind to platelets, and had no effect on platelet aggregation. Our findings highlight the roles of the C-terminal sequences of the β and γ chains in fibrin(ogen) polymerization as well as in cell attachment.


Abstract: We developed a sensitive and simple procedure for determination of galactosylsphingosine (psychosine), using HPLC. The method involved extraction of lipids, separation by cation‐exchange and C18 reverse‐phase columns, and derivatization with o‐phthalaldehyde. The fluorescent galactosylsphingosine was detected by HPLC. The amount of galactosylsphingosine was accurately assayed by simultaneous determination of glucosylsphingosine, as the internal standard. The detection limit was 0.5 ng/assay tube, and the quantitative range of the method was up to 750 ng. This procedure was applied to tissue from the twitcher mouse, an animal model of human globoid cell leukodystrophy, as well as tissue from normal and carrier mice. In the latter mice, a small amount of galactosylsphingosine was detected in the spinal cord (21.6–37.2 ng/100 mg wet weight) but not in the cerebrum and sciatic nerve. Marked accumulation of galactosylsphingosine was noted in the nervous tissues of the twitcher strain, even on postnatal day 4. The concentration of galactosylsphingosine was greater in the peripheral than in central nervous tissues. The spinal cord and brainstem contained more galactosylsphingosine than did the cerebrum and cerebellum. The concentration increased with age from 764 ng/100 mg in the sciatic nerve at 4 days to 5,910 ng/100 mg at 37 days. These data correlate well with the pathological changes; tissues containing higher concentrations of galactosylsphingosine show earlier and more severe pathological changes than those containing lower concentrations, thereby indicating the close link of galactosylsphingosine to the pathogenesis of the twitcher mouse.


By the statistical investigations of the diurnal and seasonal frequencies of the occurrence of ordinary and second-type SC's at Kakioka in the period 1926-1949, the auther found the following characteristics. Only in the case of larger amplitude of SC, 4H30r, he found the similar type of diurnal variation with that obtained by Ferraro and Parkinson at stations in middle latitudes, dH being meant by the first impulsive change of SC in the horizontal force. In the case of smaller amplitudes, however, matters are not so simple that, for instance, he found an inverted type in the case of small SC, dH<10T. As a whole, however, the number of occurrence of SC in daytime increases with decreasing dH relative to that in night, which may be due to the shielding effect of the ionosphere for the external field. The number of occurrence of the second-type was very small and nine percent when only sharp preliminary impulses were counted. In Ferraro-Parkinson's figure 2, Greenwitch, Watheroo and Kakioka lie nearly on a smooth curve. Regarding to the seasonal variaton, the auther obtained two types, one of which is an ordinary double oscillation type with two maxima in equinoxes, while the other in summer and winter, corresponding to the maximum and minimum periods of the sunspot activity, respectively.


INTRODUCTION
To determine the effects of pelvic dimensions on margin status, preoperative and postoperative estimated blood loss (EBL), operative time and transfusion rate (TR) during radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Data from 94 patients with preoperative prostate MRI were analyzed. Pelvic dimensions, including interspinous distance (ISD), bony (BFW) and soft tissue (SW) pelvic width, apical prostate depth, upper conjugate (UC), lower conjugate (LC) were measured by preoperative MRI. Indexes for pelvic dimensions (PDI), bony width (BWI) and soft-tissue width (SWI) were defined as ISD/AD, BFW/PD, and SW/AD, respectively. As indicators of surgical difficulty, TR and EBL were assessed. SPSS version 17.0 was used for statistical analyses.

RESULTS
Correlational analysis revealed no significant relationship between pelvic dimensions and parameters reflecting operative difficulty (p > 0.05). For EBL, there were significant indirect correlations between the BFW/AD, ISD/AD, and SW/AD indexes (p < 0.01, p < 0.01, p < 0.05; respectively). Additionally, the correlations between AD and TR (p < 0.05) and between AD and EBL (p < 0.05) were significant. Consequently, TR was significantly correlated with BFW/AD, ISD/AD and SW/AD (p < 0.01, p < 0.05, p < 0.01; respectively). Correlational analysis revealed that prostate volume (PV) was significantly correlated with EBL and TR (p < 0.01). Multivariate analyses revealed that PV was a significant predictor of TR (p = 0.06). None of the pelvic dimensions were significantly associated with recovery of urinary continence (RUC) (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
Analyses of pelvic dimensions as significant factors influencing operative difficulty during RRP yielded mixed results. PV seems to be the strongest factor related to operative difficulty. Future studies about pelvic dimensions should be conducted.


The complexity of the history of the Treblinka II Nazi German death camp (located in Poland) provides a unique opportunity to conduct a fine-grained examination of the concept of the value of material assemblages and how this can vary depending on temporal, historical, and societal context. Following its closure, the site transitioned from a razed camp to a crime scene to a potential treasure repository to a memorial and finally to an archaeological site. In this paper, we present the various ways in which the value attributed to objects present within the camp landscape evolved and how the terrible judicial and cultural tragedy that was the Holocaust means that many of these values were aggregated over time. By providing a contextualized discussion of value, we present trends that will be relevant to scholars engaged in the study of material culture from a wide range of epochs while also identifying those that are unique to assemblages pertaining to conflict and genocide.


The use of force by police has proven to be a challenging and divisive issue in the United States, and for good reason. Philosophically, the government's use of violence against community members is in tension with basic democratic norms of individual liberty, personal security, and bodily autonomy. In practice, officers use force on hundreds of thousands of individuals every year. Police violence plays an important role in shaping public attitudes toward government generally and toward policing specifically. Community trust and confidence in policing has been undermined by the perception that officers are using force, including deadly force, unnecessarily, too frequently, or in problematically disparate ways. The use of force can also serve as a flashpoint, a spark that ignites long-simmering community hostility. There are, in short, compelling reasons to think critically about police uses of force. This book explores an essential, but largely overlooked, facet of the difficult and controversial issues of police violence and accountability: the question of how society evaluates police uses of force. The authors—a prominent legal scholar and former officer, a long-time police commander, and a distinguished criminologist—draw on their experience and decades of research to offer five different answers to that question, discussing in depth the rules established by constitutional law, state laws, agency policies, international law, and community expectations, and providing critical information about police tactics and force options to allow for the accurate application of those analytical frameworks.


Decentralized Online Social Networks (OSNs) attempt to improve user privacy and security. One example is Vegas, a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) OSN which attempts to bring its users back into complete control of the data they share. Due to its decentralized characteristics, P2P OSNs cannot support social search functions in the same way users of centralized OSNs like Facebook are familiar with. Well-known and efficient P2P search algorithms cannot always be applied as knowledge about the structure of the social graph can be very limited. In this paper, we present an in-depth analysis of forwarding strategies to enable social search for secure and privacy preserving P2P OSNs. We compare well-known metrics from the field of unstructured P2P networks with metrics from the area of social network analysis and evaluate their applicability for P2P OSNs like Vegas. We simulate all metrics on four distinct datasets which were generated artificially from the ER- and the BA-model and from crawling data of Lastfm and Flickr. Our evaluation shows that prioritization based on knowledge from the ego network often yields the best results.


Abstract : In studies to define the changes in gene expression after expression of telomerase in normal human breast epithelial cells using microarray, we have focused on obtaining appropriate cell strains and lines for use with Affymetrix arrays in order to compare with spotted arrays from commercially available sources. Thus far, although still quite preliminary, our data indicate a relationship between the life span extended cells and the spontaneously immortal cells rather than those cells that are approaching senescence in terms of gene expression patterns. Interestingly, the telomerase-expressing normal mammary cells have similar expression patterns to the spontaneously immortal line for certain genes related to proliferation rather than specific markers related to a cancer-like phenotype. A direct comparison to normal young mammary strains is currently underway, with the hope of defining any differences in young diploid normal cells and those that have an extended life span using ectopic expression of human telomerase. Our hypothesis is that expression of telomerase prevents the genomic instability associated with the immortalization process, which would also prevent the change in gene expression patterns observed for the spontaneously immortal lines as well as those genes expressed as cells approach senescence.


Considerable advances have been made in characterizing the cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) that are necessary for progression through the cell cycle, but there has been relatively lesser success in identifying the specific biochemical pathways and cell cycle events that are directly under CDK control. To identify physiologically significant CDK substrates we generated mutations in cyclin E that altered the ability of the cyclin to direct the cyclin-CDK holoenzyme to specific in vivo substrates. We show that one of these mutations defines a domain in cyclin E necessary for phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein (Rb). These observations confirm the idea that cyclins contribute to substrate recognition by cyclin-CDK complexes, demonstrate the utility of targeting mutants in the identification of essential cyclin-CDK substrates, and put cyclin E squarely into the family of proteins designed to regulate Rb.


Judith Butler draws on Emmanuel Levinas' ethics in order to question processes of humanization and dehumanization taking place through various practices of representation of the face of the other. This is a singular reading leading Levinas' work to the field of media representations conceived as an agonistic social landscape where the demand of the face is offered or, on the contrary, hidden from us. In that sense, Butler's cultural transposition of Levinasian ethics entails a politicization of ethics which is indistinguishable, at the end, from an ethic assault to the politics of representation. In this cultural bond among ethics and politics arise fundamental questions on responsibility linking it to the practice of cultural translation while offering alternatives to some common universalist shortcuts of contemporary ethical reflection.Keywords: Cultural translation, ethical responsibility, ethics of alterity.


The author presents an implemented computational model, based on studies of human group problem solving, for supporting conflict resolution in cooperative design. This model is based on the insights that general conflict resolution expertise exists separately from domain-level design expertise, and that this expertise can be instantiated in the context of particular conflicts into specific advice for resolving these conflicts. Conflict resolution expertise consists of a taxonomy of design conflict classes and associated general advice suitable for resolving conflicts in these classes. The abstract nature of conflict resolution expertise makes it applicable to a wide variety of design domains. The author describes this conflict resolution model and provides examples of its operation from an implemented cooperative design system for local area network design that uses machine-based design agents. How this model is being extended to support and learn from collaboration of human design agents is discussed. >


The nonlinear Schrodinger (NLS) equation is a ubiquitous example of an envelope wave equation for conservative, dispersive systems. We revisit here the problem of self-similar focusing of waves in the case of the focusing NLS equation through the prism of a template-based dynamic renormalization technique that factors out self-similarity and yields a bifurcation view of the onset of focusing. As a result, identifying the focusing self-similar solution becomes a steady-state problem. The steady states are subsequently obtained and their linear stability is numerically examined. The calculations are performed in the setting of variable index of refraction, in which the onset of focusing appears as a supercritical bifurcation of a novel type of mixed Hamiltonian-dissipative dynamical system (reminiscent, to some extent, of a pitchfork bifurcation).


Here's endless inspiration for graphic artists working on cover designs, page layouts, letterheads, cards, posters and publicity. More than 100 captivating examples are featured in large spreads including information on the designer, specs, production process and client needs.Page Layout is divided into three intriguing sections: Type Without Limits, a collection of typography-driven designs that challenge and redefine approaches to layout; The Image at the End, a showcase demonstrating how the power of photography, illustration and manipulated images can impact the direction of a design; and The Extra Dimension, a portfolio of work that pushes the envelope to get results. Includes examples of work that utilize special printing techniques, die cuts, foil colors, unique binding, papers and other materials.


Reaction of [RhCl(NBD)]2 with 2.0 equiv of triphos (triphos = bis(2-diphenylphosphinoethyl)phenylphosphine; NBD = bicyclo[2.2.1]hepta-2,5-diene) in THF solution at room temperature affords [Rh(NBD)(triphos)][Cl] (4a), which was isolated as [Rh(NBD)(triphos)][SbF6] (4b) in 67% yield. Treatment of 4b with aqueous formaldehyde in THF solution at 80 °C forms [Rh(CO)(triphos)][SbF6] (2a), which reversibly binds a second equivalent of CO(g) to give [Rh(CO)2(triphos)][SbF6] (2b). The complex [Rh(CO)(triphos)][SbF6] has been found to be an effective aldehyde decarbonylation catalyst for primary and aryl aldehydes at temperatures as low as that of refluxing dioxane, with little or no undesirable side products resulting from β elimination or radical rearrangement.


Modern 3D printers enable not only rapid prototyping, but also high-precision printing-microfluidic devices with channel diameters of just a few micrometres can now be readily assembled using this technology. Such devices offer a myriad of benefits (including miniaturization) that significantly reduce sample and buffer volumes and lead to lower process costs. Although such microfluidic devices are already widely used in the field of biotechnology, there is a lack of research regarding the potential of miniaturization by 3D-printed devices in lab-scale chromatography. In this study, the efficacy of a 3D-printed microfluidic device which provides a substantially lower dead-volume compared to established chromatography systems is demonstrated for batch purification applications. Furthermore, this device enables straightforward integration of various components (such as microfluidic valves and chromatographic units) in an unprecedentedly flexible fashion. Initial proof-of-concept experiments demonstrate successful gradient elution with bovine serum albumin (BSA), and the purification of a pharmaceutically relevant IgG monoclonal antibody (mAb).


The concept of dynamic capabilities evolved from the resource based view of the firm enlightens that capacity of a firm to purposefully create, extend or modify its resource base to become a source of superior performance, and may enable the firm to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. This study aims to extend the concept of dynamic capabilities by exploring the resource renewal process of the small firms. Building on the emergent literature on dynamic capabilities, we suggest a multidimensional construct with three factors: resource coordination & integration, learning and strategic completive response capabilities. A multivariate analysis (Structural Equation Modeling) of survey responses of 488 firms belong to manufacturing SMEs in Sri Lanka indicates that underlying constructs of dynamic capabilities help firm to renew their resource bases. A positive direct impact of firm capabilities on competitive advantage is revealed in addition to the positive influence of the capabilities to the entrepreneurial and strategic actions of the firm. A key implication is that the dynamic capabilities have a more expansive and vital role in the adaptation of small firms in today's business world than ever considered. The findings have valuable implications for practitioners and academics.


The inapparent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection status in healthy Japanese subjects was assessed for their EBV seroepidemiology, oral EBV excretion, and EBV-specific cellular immunity, in comparison with immunosuppressed patients and patients with infectious mononucleosis. The seroepidemiologic data of 1,086 healthy donors indicate that EBV infects the vast majority of young children by 2-3 years of age and the viral persistence follows in nearly all adults throughout life. EBV antibody titers were significantly higher in both early and late ages. When 35 seropositive healthy persons were monthly assessed for their oral EBV excretion during 1 year period, 25% shed the virus consistently, 50% every other time, and the remaining 25% occasionally. EBV was shed more frequently from 17 immunosuppressed patients and all times from 15 cases of infectious mononucleosis, in the acute and convalescent phases and also during 1 year after healing. There was a tendency that high frequency EBV shedders had high titer EBV in the mouth. In infected healthy persons, EBV-specific killer T cells were well functioning throughout life; however, the killer T cell activity were significantly low in immunosuppressed patients. The killer T cell activity first developed in infectious mononucleosis 1 week after the onset and reached the same level as in seropositive healthy persons, by 4 weeks. These findings indicate that EBV-specific cellular immunity plays an important role in the establishment and maintenance of the inapparent EBV infection in humans.


The northeast monsoon (NEM) brings the bulk of annual rainfall to southeastern peninsular India, Sri Lanka, and the neighboring Southeast Asian countries. This October–December monsoon is referred to as the winter monsoon in this region. In contrast, the southwest summer monsoon brings bountiful rainfall to the Indo-Gangetic Plain. The winter monsoon region is objectively demarcated from analysis of the timing of peak monthly rainfall. Because of the region's complex terrain, in situ precipitation datasets are assessed using high-spatiotemporal-resolution Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) rainfall estimates, prior to their use in monsoon evolution, variability, and trend analyses. The Global Precipitation Climatology Center's in situ analysis showed the least bias from TRMM.
 El Niño–Southern Oscillation's (ENSO) impact on NEM rainfall is shown to be significant, leading to stronger NEM rainfall over southeastern peninsular India and Sri Lanka but diminished rainfall over Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The impact varies subseasonally, being weak in October and strong in November. The positive anomalies over peninsular India are generated by anomalous anticyclonic flow centered over the Bay of Bengal, which is forced by an El Niño–related reduction in deep convection over the Maritime Continent.
 The historical twentieth-century climate simulations informing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fifth Assessment (IPCC-AR5) show varied deficiencies in the NEM rainfall distribution and a markedly weaker (and often unrealistic) ENSO–NEM rainfall relationship.


The diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that produces heat energy and motion energy. Overheating the engine can cause damage. To prevent excessive heat in a diesel engine, cooling is needed, the component that acts as a coolant is a fresh water cooler. normal temperature condition of fresh water cooler is 65ᵒC. The purpose of this study was to find out how maintenance actions are carried out on the fresh water cooler of the main driving diesel engine cooling system if overheating occurs. The research method used in this research is descriptive research, namely research that aims to describe and describe the object under study. Observation of temperature on the control panel of the main engine from the observation of temperature control there was an increase in temperature of 85ᵒC and an alarm sounded so that a fresh water cooler was checked and repaired. This is thought to be caused by the presence of dirt and corrosion in the cooling holes. And at that time, the pressure of the sea water cooling pump decreased from 3.0 kg/cm2 to 2.0 kg/cm2. The research results obtained a blockage in the sea water filter section so it needs to be cleaned and checked so that the incident does not happen again. The conclusion of this research is that the fresh water cooler maintenance on the ship has been going well, carried out according to the machine instructions work instructions, according to schedule. The results of the maintenance are that the engine temperature returns as expected.


The honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) is the most important managed pollinator species worldwide and plays a critical role in the pollination of a diverse range of economically important crops. This species is important to agriculture and historically has been used as a surrogate species for pollinators to evaluate the potential adverse effects for conventional, biological, and microbial pesticides, as well as for genetically engineered plants that produce pesticidal products. As part of the ecological risk assessment of MON 87411 maize, which expresses a double‐stranded RNA targeting the Snf7 ortholog (DvSnf7) in western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera), dietary feeding studies with honey bee larvae and adults were conducted. Based on the mode of action of the DvSnf7 RNA in western corn rootworm, the present studies were designed to be of sufficient duration to evaluate the potential for adverse effects on larval survival and development through emergence and adult survival to a significant portion of the adult stage. Testing was conducted at concentrations of DvSnf7 RNA that greatly exceeded environmentally relevant exposure levels based on expression levels in maize pollen. No adverse effects were observed in either larval or adult honey bees at these high exposure levels, providing a large margin of safety between environmental exposure levels and no‐observed–adverse‐effect levels. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:287–294. © 2015 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.


The multipath routing in mobile ad hoc networks is difficult because the network topology may change constantly, and the available alternative path is inherently unreliable. So far, much of the effort of multipath routing has been focused on using the predefined alternate path when a relay on the primary path has failed regardless of the availability of the alternate path. This reactive route handoff can increase the overhead for frequent route discoveries. In this paper, we propose a low overhead multipath routing scheme which utilizes an alternative path to feedback the path state information. Accordingly, it can proactively give up the primary path before it breaks and use the current candidate path as primary path. The results show that a significantly better performance than the single path routing and traditional multipath routing can be achieved in terms of routing overhead.


. In this paper we study alternative characterizations of dismantla-bility properties of relational structures in terms of various connectedness and mixing notions. We relate these results with earlier work of Brightwell and Winkler, providing a generalization from the graph case to the general relational structure context. In addition, we develop properties related to what we call (presence or absence of) boundary long range actions and the study of valid extensions of a given partially defined homomorphism, an approach that turns out to be novel even in the graph case. Finally, we also establish connections between these results and spatial mixing properties of Gibbs measures, the topological strong spatial mixing condition introduced by Brice˜no


GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT ABSTRACT A new reaction of elemental phosphorus (P4) with elemental sulfur and 1,3-propylene glycol in the presence of different amines has been investigated. Ammonium salts of O,O'-alkylenedithiophosphoric acids have been observed as main products of the reaction. Octathiotetraphosphetane ammonium salts were formed as minor products. The reaction is characterized by a complete conversion of white phosphorus and is not accompanied by the release of hydrogen sulfide. The crystal structure features's of diethylammonium salt of O,O'-propylenedithiophosphoric acid were determined using single crystal X-ray diffraction. Piperidinium salt of octathiotetraphosphetane in DMSO and DMF solutions possess significant antifungal activity against Candida albicans.


This is the first translation in En ghsh of the series of lectures on pas toral ministry which Bonhoeffer con ducted at the clandestine seminary in Finkenwalde between 1935 and 1940. Al though the German Seelsorge is normally translated "pastoral care," Spiritual Care seems more appropriate to express the ba sic tenor of the lectures, for in them Bonhoeffer dealt harshly with "ciu*e of souls" modeled after psychology or psychotherapy. "Spiritual Care" is, above all, a diakonia. It cannot take place "without constant prayer." It depends entirely on the guidance of the Holy Spklt. Psy chology cannot help one to discover another person's soul. "Thie encoun ter is only facihtated through the spirit of Christ" (p. 36).


Currently, the majority of seismic stations installed in the Far East automatically continuously transmit data to processing centers. But none of the network's seismic stations is autonomous in the full sense of the word. All these seismic stations are located in places where there is a power supply system and cellular communication. Some seismic stations do not transmit data due to the absence of a cellular network, and are powered by regularly replaced batteries, so they require regular visits to save data and replace batteries.


Forty-one patients with advanced renal cell cancer started treatment with recombinant alpha-interferon intramuscularly, beginning at a dose of 5 x 10(6) U x 3/week, progressively increasing doses every week, from 5 x 10(6) U x 3/week to 10 x 10(6) U x 3/week, to the highest dose of 15 x 10(6) U x 3/week. No complete response was achieved, partial response was achieved in 6 (13%) patients with a median duration of 45.2 (13-134) weeks. The majority of side effects from interferon treatment evaluated according to WHO classification were seen during the first 2 months and they were fever (after interferon administration) in 95% patients, chills (51%), flu like syndrome (65%), fatigue (87%), anorexia (80%), worsening in performance status (56%), nausea and vomiting (19%), weight loss (> 10% during therapy) (26%), leukopenia (14%), anemia (75%), neurological symptoms (43%), psychological symptoms (19%) and dyspnea (9%). The results are similar to other studies and toxicity was only moderate.


Background: Mechanical oral hygiene procedures are the most effective means of plaque removal and toothbrush is the most commonly used tool for mechanical plaque removal worldwide. There is an array of available manual and electric toothbrushes in the market. Thus, choosing the best one for dental plaque removal can be of great help for patients. Objectives: This study aimed at compare the efficacy of dental plaque removal using a manual and an electric toothbrush. Materials and Methods: This experimental, single-blinded sequential clinical trial was conducted on 12 patients (ten females and two males) who aged 21 to 30 years old. The tested manual toothbrush was 35-mm soft Oral-B Pulsar and the electric one was Oral-B Professional Care 8500 DLX chargeable D18. Patients' dental plaque score was set as zero through scaling, root planning, and polishing. Subjects were avoided tooth cleaning for three days and on day four, plaque accumulation was assessed using Tureskey's modification of Quigley and Hein plaque index. Results: The mean of plaque index was 2.13 ± 0.83 and 2.11 ± 1.01 in the manual and electric toothbrush groups, respectively. No significant difference was detected between the study toothbrushes in terms of plaque removal (P = 0.374); however, with the manual tooth brushing, plaque removal was significantly greater in the buccal than in lingual surface and in the maxilla than in the mandible (P = 0.03 and P = 0.015, respectively). Conclusions: Similar to previous studies, this study could not show the superiority of electric toothbrush over manual in plaque removal. After 72 hours, the mean of plaque index was greater in buccal than in lingual surface, which may be attributed to the natural cleansing action of the tongue.


The most favored progenitor scenarios for Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) involve the single-degenerate (SD) scenario and the double-degenerate scenario. The absence of stripped hydrogen (H) in the nebular spectra of SNe Ia challenges the SD progenitor models. Recently, it was shown that pure deflagration explosion models of Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarfs, ignited off-center, reproduce the characteristic observational features of 2002cx-like SNe Ia very well. In this work we predict, for the first time, the amount of stripped H for the off-center, pure deflagration explosions. We find that their low kinetic energies lead to inefficient H mass stripping (≲ 0.01 M☉), indicating that the stripped H may be hidden in (observed) late-time spectra of SN 2002cx-like SNe Ia.


Ramie (Boehmeria nivea, BN) is used as livestock forage through suitable silage fermentation owing to its nutritional value. To date, relatively few studies have investigated the effects of dietary fermented BN (FBN) on gut health in finishing pigs. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with 20% FBN on intestinal morphology, gene expression, and the functional response of the gut microbiota in finishing pigs. We found that FBN did not significantly affect serum antioxidant enzyme activities, ileal morphology, or the expression of genes encoding antioxidant enzymes, inflammatory cytokines, or tight junction proteins in the liver of the pigs. However, the gene expression levels of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) and interleukin 6 (IL6) were significantly downregulated in the ileum. A metagenomic analysis demonstrated that, compared with that seen in the control group, the cecal microbiota of pigs in the FBN treatment group was more closely clustered and contained a greater number of unique microbes. Bacteria were the predominant kingdom in the cecal microbiota, while Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria were the dominant phyla, and Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, and Prevotella were the dominant genera. Dietary FBN significantly increased the abundance of the probiotic bacterium Roseburia inulinivorans (p < 0.05). Functional analysis of the cecal microbiota showed that ABC transporter levels and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis-associated functions were diminished in FBN-fed pigs. Meanwhile, CAZyme analysis revealed that dietary FBN significantly downregulated the contents of carbohydrate-active enzymes, such as GT2, GH1, GH25, and GH13_31. In addition, cytochrome P450 analysis revealed that the abundance of CYP51 and CYP512 decreased with FBN treatment. An assessment of antibiotic resistance based on the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD) annotation indicated that the cecal microbes from pigs in the FBN treatment group had increased resistance to lincosamide, streptogramin, and chloramphenicol and reduced resistance to amikacin, isepamicin, neomycin, lividomycin, gentamicin, paromomycin, ribostamycin, and butirosin. Finally, virulence factor-related analysis showed that putative hemolysin-associated functions were decreased, whereas fibronectin-binding protein, flagella, and alginate-associated functions were increased. Taken together, our data showed that FBN supplementation exerted only minor effects on intestinal morphology and microbial community composition, suggesting that it is potentially safe for use as a supplement in the diets of finishing pigs. However, more studies are needed to validate its functionality.


Room temperature x-ray diffraction, magnetization and neutron diffraction measurements up to 500 K have been carried out on polycrystalline bulk double perovskites AA'FeMoO6 (AA' = Ba2, BaSr, Sr2, Ca2) in order to determine and correlate their structural and magnetic properties. As the average ionic radius is diminished, the crystallographic structure evolves from cubic (for AA' = Ba2, BaSr) to tetragonal (Sr2) and finally to monoclinic (Ca2). In the case of AA' = Sr2, a novel crossover from a high temperature paramagnetic cubic state to a low temperature ferrimagnetic tetragonal state has been observed. For all the studied compounds, neutron diffraction patterns and magnetization measurements are consistent with a ferrimagnetic ordering of the Fe and Mo sublattices. A remarkable correlation is found between the Curie temperature and the electronic bandwidth, which is controlled by structural parameters.


The uncertainties in internal gas counting will be broken down into counting uncertainties and gas handling uncertainties. Counting statistics, spectrum analysis, and electronic uncertainties will be discussed with respect to the actual counting of the activity. The effects of the gas handling and quantities of counting and sample gases on the uncertainty in the determination of the activity will be included when describing the uncertainties arising in the sample preparation.