We discuss a generic model of Bayesian inference with binary variables defined on edges of a planar graph. The Loop Calculus approach of Chertkov and Chernyak (2006 Phys. Rev. E 73 065102(R) [cond-mat/0601487]; 2006 J. Stat. Mech. P06009 [cond-mat/0603189]) is used to evaluate the resulting series expansion for the partition function. We show that, for planar graphs, truncating the series at single-connected loops reduces, via a map reminiscent of the Fisher transformation (Fisher 1961 Phys. Rev. 124 1664), to evaluating the partition function of the dimer-matching model on an auxiliary planar graph. Thus, the truncated series can be easily re-summed, using the Pfaffian formula of Kasteleyn (1961 Physics 27 1209). This allows us to identify a big class of computationally tractable planar models reducible to a dimer model via the Belief Propagation (gauge) transformation. The Pfaffian representation can also be extended to the full Loop Series, in which case the expansion becomes a sum of Pfaffian contributions, each associated with dimer matchings on an extension to a subgraph of the original graph. Algorithmic consequences of the Pfaffian representation, as well as relations to quantum and non-planar models, are discussed.


Dye tracing experiments provide direct visual evidence of preferential flow in the soil. In this study, we applied the Brilliant Blue tracer across three forest sites (high-mountain forest, HF; middle-mountain forest, MF; and low-mountain forest, LF) and one cultivated field (CL) in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area of China to visualise preferential flow and characterise its interaction with the surrounding soil matrix. A set of parameters was extracted from photographs of dye-stained soil profiles to measure preferential flow, including (1) the ratio of the stained area to the total area of a soil section (SAR), (2) the degree of lateral water mixing of preferential flow into the soil matrix (LWM), (3) the greatest stained depth (SD), and (4) the stained path width (SPW). The highest SAR of all of the stained areas (i.e. a measure of the degree of preferential flow) was for MF (80%), followed by LF (68%), CL (48%), and HF (30%). The higher SAR in MF and LF was likely associated with more abundant and interconnected void spaces created by roots and soil fissures. The shallower rooting depth together with the higher content of clay and soil organic matter might lead to the lowest SAR in HF, suggesting a higher likelihood of soil erosion due to surface runoff. The relatively lower SAR in CL could be a result of soil compaction after tillage destroyed soil macropores. Moreover, the spatial distribution of preferential flow with soil depth varied among slope positions. In HF and MF, macropore flow dominated the A horizon with limited lateral diffusion. However, in the subsoil, although the SAR of all of the stained areas declined, the LWM (quantified as the SAR of yellow and green patches that have a lower concentration of the dye tracer) intensified. In the sandy soils at the LF site, macropore flow via soil fissures was the major type of preferential flow that showed a limited lateral diffusion. In CL, the degree of preferential flow (mainly as finger flows) decreased with soil depth. Based on the SPW profile, flow patterns were classified along soil depth at each site. The lower degree of preferential flow and the reduced SD in agricultural soils demonstrated the substantial impact of soil management on preferential flow and thereby infiltration. Therefore, current agricultural management exacerbates surface runoff and soil erosion and causes ecological degradation and sediment deposition in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area of China.


This Article examines the evolution of conceptions of "good" corporate governance that have successively revolutionized the corporate landscape. This Article shows that corporate decision making was influenced over the years by successive, rationalized ideals of good corporate governance. Changes in conceptions were precipitated by crises and environmental changes. They were reasoned, if often flawed, responses to complex macroeconomic forces, competitive conditions, regulations or the lack thereof, and other environmental factors. More importantly, they were reflections of the culture and thinking of the time, influenced by the views of successful business leaders, the business press, investors, and academics.
This Article utilizes a broad definition of "conceptions of corporate governance." It refers to managers' perceptions of proper corporate purposes, strategies, and structures. It embraces managers' perceptions of their environment and their ideals regarding such matters as their firm's interactions with competitors, stakeholders, and the government. Thus, this approach broadens the use of the term "corporate governance," based on agency theory, that arose during the 1980s focusing on the relationship between managers and shareholders.
In earlier periods in U.S. business history, the central purpose of corporate governance was not to maximize stock prices, but to achieve growth, with survival and profit mainly as constraints. Managers adopted a variety of strategies that dominated the economic landscape, such as cartels, trusts, holding companies, vertical integration, and the unitary/functional, multidivisional, and conglomerate organizational forms. In the modern era managers have mainly adopted strategies to maximize shareholder value, including predominantly disaggregation and cost-cutting strategies. Like prior managerial strategies, they are not inevitable and have some negative consequences. These consequences include problematic managerial incentives, short-termism, the unsettling empowerment of short-term investors and financial firms, and adverse distributional consequences, discussed in this Article.
As with prior eras, negative consequences are leading to changes. For instance, I see on the horizon the emergence of the sustainability conception of corporate governance. Rather than focusing solely on shareholders, managers with this emerging dominant conception would take a broader view of their role to consider as central to their business strategies the long-term societal value they create and the interests of all stakeholders.
In Part II, I briefly examine the earlier conceptions of corporate governance to provide a background for understanding how corporate governance changes over time. Looking at changes in the past provides hope for change in the future. I then examine more recent finance conceptions of corporate governance in Part III — the portfolio and the shareholder value maximization conceptions. Additionally, in this Part, I argue that the shareholder value maximization conception that emerged in the late 1970s and 80s was improperly grounded mostly on claims of managerial self-interest in forming conglomerates in the 1960s and 70s. Finally, in Part IV I identify the adverse economic and social consequences of the shareholder value maximization conception of corporate governance. Having set the stage for change in the current era due to these adverse consequences, I present a new model of corporate governance — the sustainability conception — that I believe is emerging and will be supported by reforms that I propose. Part V concludes.


Since its discovery in the Netherlands in 2001, human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is mainly known for its association with severe upper and lower respiratory tract disease in very young, elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. Two critically ill patients are described to illustrate that a) haematologists and intensivists should be aware of the possibility of infection by this recently discovered pathogen and the severe respiratory tract disease manifestations it can cause in patients under their care; b) horizontal transmission between patients is possible on wards despite the presence of high-efficiency particulate aerosol (HEPA) filtration; and c) that although the exact incidence of hMPV infections in immunocompromised (critically ill) patients is as yet unknown, routine testing for hMPV may be considered in this population.


Engineering human tissue with diverse cell types and desired cellular architectures and functions is a considerable challenge. The cerebral cortex, which has a layered cellular architecture composed of layer-specific neurons organised into vertical columns, delivers higher cognition through intricately wired neural circuits. However, current tissue engineering approaches cannot produce such structures. Here, we use a droplet printing technique to fabricate tissues comprising simplified cerebral cortical columns. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) were differentiated into upper- and deep-layer neural progenitors, which were then printed to form cerebral cortical tissues with a two-layer organization. The tissues showed layer-specific biomarker expression and developed an integrated network of processes. Implantation of the printed cortical tissues into mouse brain explants resulted in substantial implant-host integration across the tissue boundaries as demonstrated by the projection of processes, the migration of neurons and the appearance of correlated Ca2+ signals. The approach we have developed might be used for the evaluation of drugs and nutrients that promote tissue integration. Importantly, our approach might be applied in personalised implantation treatments that restore the cellular structure and function of a damaged brain by using 3D tissues derived from a patient's own iPSCs.


From 2006 to 2010, low water levels resulted in the drying of previously submerged inland acid sulphate soils (IASS) in wetlands of the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB). The potential for widespread severe acidification resulting from the oxidation of pyrite in these wetland soils triggered a basin‐wide study to assess the occurrence and risks posed by IASS material in the floodplain wetlands of the MDB. The results of pH measurements before and following soil incubation from more than 7200 samples (representing ca. 2500 profiles from 1055 georeferenced wetlands) were used to assess the potential occurrence of sulphuric and sulphidic material in IASS across the MDB. Their occurrence was investigated on a regional basis by dividing the MDB into 13 geographical regions whose boundaries roughly follow hydrological catchment boundaries. A total of 238 floodplain wetlands, representing 23% of the total wetlands assessed, were found to contain soils that became ultra‐acidic (pH < 4) when oxidized and therefore present a severe acidification hazard. These soils, the majority of which are likely to be IASS materials, were found in 11 of the 13 geographical regions. Among the 11 geographical regions likely containing IASS materials, the proportion of wetlands that presented an acidification hazard varied between 2 and 52% of those assessed. The geographical regions found to present the greatest acidification hazard were in the southern MDB, downstream of the Murray–Darling confluence, and in catchments on the southern side of the Murray River channel in Victoria. This study provided policy makers with a valuable screening tool, which helped them to identify priority wetlands and regions that required more detailed IASS investigations.


Division of labour in eusocial insects is characterized by efficient communication systems based on pheromones. Among such insects, termites have evolved specialized sterile defenders, called soldiers. Because they are incapable of feeding themselves, it has been suggested that soldiers are sustained by workers and emit the pheromone arresting workers. However, such a soldier pheromone has not been identified in any termite species, and the details of the soldier–worker interaction remain to be explored. Here, we identified a soldier-specific volatile sesquiterpene as a worker arrestant, which also acts as a primer pheromone regulating soldier differentiation and fungistatic agent in a termite Reticulitermes speratus. Chemical analyses revealed that (−)-β-elemene is the major component of soldier extract, and its authentic standard exhibited arrestant activity to workers and inhibited the differentiation from workers to soldiers. This compound also showed fungistatic activity against entomopathogenic fungi. These suggest that (−)-β-elemene secreted by soldiers acts not only as a worker arrestant but also as one component of inhibitory primer pheromone and an anti-pathogenic agent. Our study provides novel evidence supporting the multi-functionality of termite soldier pheromone and provides new insights into the role of soldiers and the evolutionary mechanisms of pheromone compounds.


Abstract We describe which subdirectly irreducible flat algebras arise in the variety generated by an arbitrary class of flat algebras with absorbing bottom element. This is used to give an elementary translation of the universal Horn logic of algebras, partial algebras, and more generally still, partial structures into the equational logic of conventional algebras. A number of examples and corollaries follow. For example, the problem of deciding which finite algebras of some fixed type have a finite basis for their quasi-identities is shown to be equivalent to the finite identity basis problem for the finite members of a finiteiy based variety with definable principal congruences.


Partial discharge monitoring is an effective on-line predictive maintenance test for motors and generators at 4160 volt and above, as well as other electrical distribution equipment. The benefits of online testing allow for equipment analysis and diagnostics during normal production. Corrective actions can be planned and implemented, resulting in reduced unscheduled downtime. An understanding of the theory related to partial discharge, and the relationship to early detection of insulation deterioration is required to properly evaluate this predictive maintenance tool. This paper presents a theory to promote the understanding of partial discharge technology, as well as various implementation and measurement techniques that have evolved in the industry. Data interpretation and corrective actions are reviewed, in conjunction with comprehensive predictive maintenance practices that employ partial discharge testing and analysis.


CMOS circuits such as OTAs (operational transconductance amplifiers) operating in the subthreshold (weak inversion) region introduce a versatile solution for the realization of low-power VLSI building blocks. In this paper, hot carrier induced degradation of electrical parameters of CMOS OTAs operating in subthreshold region is investigated by accelerated laboratory measurements. Using the experimental observations a degradation model is proposed for reliability of CMOS OTA. The advantages provided by the degradation model proposed is demonstrated by experiments on design examples of first and second order OTA-C filters. The estimated results are found in good agreement with experiments. The model proposed provides to the IC designer new possibilities to estimate the reliability of OTA-C based topologies operating in subthreshold region


Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG) is developed to understand the syntactic and semantic structure of Urdu modal verbs from a corpus. The most popular tool XLE for parsing is used to implement LFG and analyze the results. Published literature of modal verbs in Urdu is very much short and limited in nature; however, modal verbs in Urdu are identified and collected from Urdu literature and English literature by translation. A huge corpus is analyzed and sentences including modal verbs like 'UW', 'UL' etc are extracted from the corpus. Rules are extracted from these sentences and finally, lexical functional grammar for these sentences is developed which provides syntactic and semantic structure of sentences.


The murine Xlr (X-chromosome linked lymphocyte-regulated) gene family was originally identified by subtractive cDNA cloning and hybridization. A single predominant functional transcript encoding a 25 kDa peptide was initially found to be expressed in lymphoid cell lines corresponding to late stages of differentiation. A second functional Xlr gene has now been defined. It is expressed in differentiating male germ cells. Both the lymphoid and the germinal cell Xlr proteins are located in the cell nucleus and are closely homologous to each other. In parallel with the small number of currently known functional transcripts, the Xlr family comprises 50-75 sequences per haploid genome of which a majority is nonfunctional and that are localized on the proximal half of the X-chromosome and also on the Y-chromosome. This accumulation of pseudogenes may be related to the evolutionarily recent amplification of Xlr in rodents. Although murine Xlr probes do not cross-hybridize with human DNA, the existence of a human homolog for Xlr should be nevertheless postulated because of the conservation of X-chromosomal organization in mammals. Possible relationships of Xlr with X-linked primary immune deficiencies in man and mouse are finally discussed.


Short-term traffic prediction is a key component of Intelligent Transportation Systems. It uses historical data to construct models for reliably predicting traffic state at specific locations in road networks in the near future. Despite being a mature field, short-term traffic prediction still poses some open problems related to the choice of optimal data resolution, prediction of nonrecurring congestion, and the modelling of relevant spatiotemporal dependencies. As a step towards addressing these problems, this paper investigates the ability of Artificial Neural Networks, Random Forests, and Support Vector Regression algorithms to reliably model traffic flow at different data resolutions and respond to unexpected traffic incidents. We also explore different feature selection methods to identify and better understand the spatiotemporal attributes that most influence the reliability of these models. Experimental results indicate that data aggregation does not necessarily achieve good performance for multivariate spatiotemporal machine learning models. The models learned using high-resolution 30-second input data outperformed the corresponding baseline ARIMA models by 8%. Furthermore, feature selection based on Recursive Feature Elimination resulted in models that outperformed those based on linear correlation-based feature selection.


The phrase long-term investing in triple leveraged ETFs is somewhat of an anathema for investment academicians. As a result of daily rebalancing and so-called beta slippage or "the constant leverage trap" it is highly likely over the long term to significantly deviate from the targeted leverage and, in so doing, generate wipeout losses. In fact, the data show that many 3X leveraged ETFs have performed poorly over the long term in the period of their existence. However, there are some significant exceptions. The 3X leveraged Nasdaq ETF, TQQQ, for example has delivered a total return exceeding 10,000% (CAGR of 54.4%) over the 10+ years of its existence, more than 13 times the total return of its underlying ETF (QQQ). Similar, but less impressive numbers have been achieved with triple leveraged ETFs that target the S&P 500 and the Dow Industrials.

These results, however, are accompanied by excessive volatility and very large maximum end-of-month (EOM) draw downs, in excess of 49% for TQQQ, and with maximum daily drawdown of almost 70%. Many retail investors would be unwilling to sustain such (paper) losses. Here we propose a strategy to mitigate these large draw downs while still retaining much of the upside performance of triple leveraging. We show that by simply establishing a portfolio consisting of an equal dollar amount of TQQQ and TMF (the triple leveraged ETF linked to the 20+ year treasury bond), and performing bimonthly rebalancing, a total return, after transaction costs, in excess of 5,800% (CAGR of 44.9%) would have been achieved over the 10+ years of TQQQ existence, with the maximum EOM draw down less than 25%.


The aim of the present work is to reduce seismic response of structures using passive vibration control system namely Fluid viscous dampers in SAP2000. The buildings with 4 floors are considered for the study and the structures are subjected to seismic excitations on steel Building with& without bracing and dampers. The reductions in seismic response were compared. The Bhuj 2001earthquake data is used as ground motion data for performing nonlinear time history analysis. The dampers are installed in the structures only in the exterior frames. In recent years considerable attention has been paid to research and development of structural control devices with particular emphasis on diminish of wind and seismic response of buildings. In order to control the vibration response of building during seismic events, energy absorbing passive damping devices are most commonly used for energy absorption. The present work deals in reducing the seismic response using fluid viscous dampers connected to Steel Bracing for 4 floors when subjected to a seismic excitation of Bhuj 2001 earthquake ground motion. It is considered a regular steel structure with 3 variants of confirmation: Normal Steel Building, Steel Building with 'X' Bracing and Steel Building with Dampers. Nonlinear time history analysis has been performed for structures and observed the reduction in seismic response. Parameters studied are roof displacements, storey drifts and base shears. SAP2000 software analysis engine is used as the software tool for the seismic analysis of the structure. Roof displacements decreased highly to an extent of 80% and 66% compared to normal steel building and building with X bracings respectively. The result analysis shows a reduction of 45-53% in base shear and 41-17% in storey drift for structures equipped with fluid viscous when compared to normal steel building and building with X bracings Respectively. It expresses that providing bracings with damper in outer frame of structure is more efficient than structure with only dampers. Keywords-Nonlinear time history analysis, Bhuj ground motion data. Viscous fluid dampers, SAP2000 , Roof displacements, Storey drifts , Base shears ,Passive control systems.


The atomic and electronic structure of the Ag/MgO interface are calculated using an ab initio Hartree-Fock computer code and a supercell model of a silver monolayer atop three layers of MgO substrate. The band structure, electronic density distribution and densities of states are analysed in detail for isolated and interacting slabs of a metal and MgO. The energetically most favoured adsorption position for Ag atoms is found to be above the O atoms, with the binding energy of 0.20 eV and the equilibrium Ag-O distance of 2.64 ˚ A. Neither appreciable charge transfer in the interfacial region, nor considerable population of bonds between the silver monolayer and the insulating substrate take place. The adhesion energy arises mainly due to the electrostatic interaction of substrate atoms with a complicated charge redistribution in the metal monolayer, characterized by large quadrupole moments and electron density redistribution towards the gap position in the middle of the nearest Ag atoms. This could be a reason for the disagreement of all three SCF theories with the phenomenological image interaction model.


A study was performed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of a commercially available microchip identification system approximately 1 year after implantation in dogs and cats. Thirty-three dogs and 16 cats in which a microchip had been implanted and 31 dogs and 18 cats in which a microchip had never been implanted were included in the study. In cats, sensitivity and specificity of microchip identification were 1.00. In dogs, sensitivity and specificity were 0.97 and 1.00, respectively. The chip had migrated in the 1 dog with a false-negative result, but the chip remained functional, and identification was established in this dog following closer physical examination and scanning.


The current article summarizes recent changes in nomenclature for fungi of medical importance published in the years 2020 to 2021, including new species and revised names for existing ones. Many of the revised names have been widely adopted without further discussion. However, those that concern common pathogens of humans may take longer to achieve general usage, with new and current names reported together to engender increasing familiarity with the correct taxonomic classification. ABSTRACT The current article summarizes recent changes in nomenclature for fungi of medical importance published in the years 2020 to 2021, including new species and revised names for existing ones. Many of the revised names have been widely adopted without further discussion. However, those that concern common pathogens of humans may take longer to achieve general usage, with new and current names reported together to engender increasing familiarity with the correct taxonomic classification.


Objective: Application of distraction is an alternative to bone graft or flap operations for repairing bone defects. Bone can be extended in width and length without using a new donor area. Operation time is shortened and failures are reduced without any concern about graft or flap loss. However, there are no distraction methods known for generating new cartilage as an alternative to graft or flap applications in repairs of cartilage defects This experimental study was planned to determine whether or not chondroneogenesis can be obtained via application of distraction. Methods: Fourteen New Zealand rabbits were used in this study. Distractions at a rate of 0.50 mm/day, 0.25 mm/day and 0.25 mm on alternate days were applied on 3 rabbits consecutively and the ideal distraction rate was determined as 0.25 mm once every two days. On alternate days 0.25 mm of distraction was applied for two months aiming to generate 7.5 mm of new cartilage. Results: In the rabbits in which 0.25 mm of distraction on alternate days had been applied, regular new cartilage formation was observed. Conclusions: According to these findings, the slow metabolic rate of avascular cartilage tissue affects distraction rates and rhythms. However, by applying distraction and taking advantage of the regenerative capacity of the perichondrium, it is possible to generate new and regular chondrocytes and extend the cartilage.


Vibrio vulnificus is an oyster-associated bacterial pathogen that causes life-threatening fulminating septicemia and necrotizing wound infections in humans. The capsular polysaccharide of V. vulnificus (VvPS) is critical for virulence. Previously we showed that active immunization of mice with a VvPS-tetanus toxoid (VvPS-TTa) conjugate vaccine conferred significantly higher protection against subsequent lethal challenge than immunization with VvPS alone. In the current study, we examined the utility of immunoprophylaxis or immunotherapy with hyperimmune antisera elicited by VvPS-TTa and VvPS-TTb conjugate vaccines prepared by different synthetic schemes. First we demonstrated that the Ribi adjuvant significantly enhanced the murine antibody response (P < or = 0.02) to both conjugates. Subsequently, high-titered polyclonal antisera were raised to VvPS-TTa and VvPS-TTb conjugate vaccines by using Ribi adjuvant or Freund's adjuvants. Antisera were observed to have protective effects when administered before and after acute lethal infection. All animals receiving prophylactic antisera intraperitoneally 24 h before lethal challenge with homologous carbotype 1 were protected, while 73 to 100% of control mice succumbed. Immunotherapy was also effective, with survival rates of 60 to 73% seen among mice when antisera were administered 2 h after bacterial challenge, at a time when symptoms of infection were already apparent. The protective effect of capsular antiserum appeared to be serotype specific. Antisera to the, carbotype 1 VvPS-TTa vaccine did not confer cross-protection against lethal challenge with carbotype 2 V. vulnificus despite partial structural similarity and a weak serological cross-reaction between the two carbotypes. Immune globulins induced by a potential multivalent VvPS conjugate vaccine composed of clinically prevalent carbotypes may have utility in the management of V. vulnificus infections and deserve further evaluation.


Author(s): Bervoets, Melanie Jane | Advisor(s): Sharvit, Yael; Spector, Benjamin | Abstract: This dissertation is concerned with the semantics of a specific set of intensional verbs, those that are used to report a subject's standpoint on a given possibility. Among these verbs are permit, promise, offer, guarantee, demand, insist on, recommend, suggest, encourage, and a handful of others. When the objects of these verbs are disjunctive, we find the kind of free choice effects previously observed with possibility and necessity modals. Based on whether the verbs pattern like may or like must with respect to these inferences, we separate the verbs into two classes, which we call Class I (may-like), and Class II (must-like). This behavior suggests that at the level of interpretation, these verbs contain quantifiers over possible worlds—an existential one in the case of Class I, and a universal one for the members of Class II. However, motivated by an unexpected range of readings found when sentences built with these verbs are negated, an investigation reveals that the members of Class I and II are more than just modal. They also appear to be accomplishment verbs that describe external events. As a result, we give a semantic analysis of these verbs that casts them as complex creatures, describing external events in which subjects indicate their modal opinions. Taking the verbs to be reporters of external events, we then need to explain why some of the negative sentences built with the Class I/II verbs appear to describe internal cognitive states. The solution to this involves two elements: first, we appeal to a version of the habitual operator that can deliver dispositions that are not necessarily established by repetitive action. Second, after noticing that all habitual sentences have extra, unexpectedly strong readings with negation, we enlarge the scope of the phenomenon previously called Neg-raising, and show how an existing pragmatic account for this (that of Romoli (2013)) can be modified to deal with the broader array of extra strong negative readings.Along the way, we will account for why dispositions described by habitual Class I/II predicates seem to have different establishment requirements than those described by similar accomplishment verbs. We also address how the performativity of these verbs follows from the semantics proposed.


Cognition is flexible. Behaviors can change on a moment-by-moment basis. Such flexibility is thought to rely on the brain's ability to route information through different networks of brain regions in order to support different cognitive computations. However, the mechanisms that determine which network of brain regions is engaged are unknown. To address this, we combined cortex-wide calcium imaging with high-density electrophysiological recordings in eight cortical and subcortical regions of mice. Different dimensions within the population activity of each brain region were functionally connected with different cortex-wide 'subspace networks' of regions. These subspace networks were multiplexed, allowing a brain region to simultaneously interact with multiple independent, yet overlapping, networks. Alignment of neural activity within a region to a specific subspace network dimension predicted how neural activity propagated between regions. Thus, changing the geometry of the neural representation within a brain region could be a mechanism to selectively engage different brain-wide networks to support cognitive flexibility.


This study asked a group of coaches about the major challenges they encounter in their coaching experience. The study was conducted with a group that had recently completed an introductory coaching course, but they had widely varied coaching experience, and coached male and female athletes in a variety of sports at multiple levels. We were interested in the extent to which the challenges were specific to the coaches' context, or varied according to the age, education or experience of the coach. Our results showed that coaches face multiple challenges, but dealing with parents was commonly cited as the most challenging in all contexts, indicating that a generic coach education program on this topic could be effective. Other challenges tended to be associated with specific contexts and generic coach education programs may not be able to effectively prepare coaches for those challenges.


Three commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) from Gull, Biotest, and Behring (Enzygnost) and two latex agglutination tests for heterophile antibodies (Monolatex [Biotest] and Mono-Lex [Trinity Laboratories]) were evaluated for the diagnosis of primary Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and EBV seropositivity. Two hundred fourteen consecutive samples from 197 patients with symptoms of primary EBV infection were analyzed by the five assays at a clinical microbiology laboratory. The samples were also analyzed independently by immunofluorescence methods at a reference laboratory. According to the reference methods, 37 patients (40 serum samples) had primary EBV infections, 120 patients (127 serum samples) had had past EBV infections, 33 patients (36 serum samples) were seronegative, and 7 patients (11 serum samples) exhibited atypical reactions. The respective sensitivities and specificities for the diagnosis of primary EBV infection were 95 and 100% for the Gull assays, 100 and 94% for the Biotest assays, and 100 and 89%, for the Enzygnost assays. The Monolatex and Mono-Lex methods showed similar sensitivities and specificities (78 to 85% and 100 to 99%, respectively) for the diagnosis of primary EBV infection. This study demonstrates the usefulness of commercially available assays for the rapid diagnosis of primary EBV infection, but also the importance of large-scale testing of routine samples before choosing an assay.


G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) present specific activation pathways and signaling among receptor subtypes. Hence, an extensive knowledge of the structural dynamics of the receptor is critical for the development of therapeutics. Here, we target the adenosine A1 receptor (A1R), for which a negligible number of drugs have been approved. We combine molecular dynamics simulations, enhanced sampling techniques, network theory and pocket detection to decipher the activation pathway of A1R, decode the allosteric networks and identify transient pockets. The A1R activation pathway reveal hidden intermediate and pre-active states together with the inactive and fully-active states observed experimentally. The protein energy networks computed throughout these conformational states successfully unravel the extra and intracellular allosteric centers and the communication pathways that couples them. We observe that the allosteric networks are dynamic, being increased along activation and fine-tuned in presence of the trimeric G-proteins. Overlap of transient pockets and energy networks uncover how the allosteric coupling between pockets and distinct functional regions of the receptor is altered along activation. By an in-depth analysis of the bridge between activation pathway, energy networks and transient pockets, we provide a further understanding of A1R. This information can be useful to ease the design of allosteric modulators for A1R.


Increasing demand for minimally invasive surgical approaches is in requirement of technologically enhanced devices. Tortuousity of the vessel is one of the most dangerous variations causing high risk of trapping of the device or injury to the vessel during transluminal catheterization. We report here in a case of unilateral anatomical variation in the iliac artery, in which the right common iliac artery was looped and its external iliac branch had a kink at its commencement thus making it tortuous. Arterial cannulation in cardiac catheterization is preferably done through the femoral artery, which is in necessity of close attention as the cannulation is required to gain access through the tortuous external iliac artery. Also, in endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms, tortuous iliac arterial system may produce adverse affects of breakup of the device within the vessel and arterial trauma.


Modern global career implies not only an interaction between an organization and an individual but also – and increasingly – a mutual dependency between the two parties. Whereas the traditional career concept presupposes that the individual employee to a high extent has to adhere to the conditions and opportunities provided by the organization, organizations increasingly have to accept and match the expectations and demands of the employee. In particular, this is found in knowledge intensive organizations providing immaterial "products" like know‐how, complex problem solving, consultancy service, etc. This kind of immaterial "production" not only requires highly skilled and professional employees but also means that the employees possess the core competence of the company – and can carry it out of the organization if they choose to resign. The paper analyzes the dual dependency in global careers and discusses this interdependency from the viewpoints of both individual and organization. In addition, the paper outlines the implications for practitioners and future research.


This study investigates acronyms in English originals and their translations into German and Swedish, comparing forms, functions and distributions across the languages. The material was collected from the Linnaeus English-German-Swedish corpus (LEGS) consisting of original and translated popular non-fiction. From a structural point of view, acronyms most often occur as independent noun heads (When IBM introduced […]) or as premodifiers in a noun phrase (PGP encryption). Due to morphosyntactic differences, English acronym premodifiers often merge into hyphenated compounds in German translations (UN-Klimakonvention), but less frequently so in Swedish. The study also discusses explicitation practices when introducing source-culture specific acronyms in the translations. German translators explain and elaborate more than Swedish translators and they do so in the German language. Swedish translators, however, use English to a greater extent, suggesting that Swedish readers are expected to have better knowledge of English than German readers.


The issues of emotional adjustment to AIDS have been inextricably linked to medical advances in fundamental knowledge about the human immunodeficiency virus and its potential therapies. In 1987 patients were struggling with the advantages and disadvantages "to do or not to do AZT (zidovudine)," whereas the choices imposed by combination therapies and the protease inhibitors in 1997 are fundamentally different and are occurring in an evolving context created by a number of striking medical advances, expanding populations, the availability of environmental support, and changing public sentiments. As the psychiatric treatment of HIV-positive individuals shifts increasingly from "AIDS specialists" to the wider therapeutic community, it is important that the therapist who has had relatively little experience with this population not assume that contemporary issues and concerns of the seropositive patient, or the patient with AIDS, are essentially those discussed widely in the earlier years of the epidemic. Patients living with this virus for a number of years have traveled a long and arduous journey and will experience more empathy from a therapist who has some knowledge of that path. Awareness of the evolution of emotional adjustment, counseling, and ethical issues of AIDS should amplify the general fund of knowledge required for good clinical management of the person living with AIDS.


In last one decade, there have been a resurgence in interest followed by a rigorous research in sodium-ion intercalation chemistry for rechargeable battery application. Though lithium-ion chemistry has been a commercial success and is a lynchpin of the portable electronics era, sodium-ion chemistry can economically address the large-scale stationary rechargeable battery market and offers the exciting avenues of novel intercalation structures, some of which may not exist in their lithium equivalents. To realize the commercially viable large-scale Na-based batteries, the concept of earth abundance should consistently be applied throughout their design. Of significance, compounds constituting Na-Fe-S-O type elements show promising results. In this line, alluaudite structured Na2Fe2(SO4)3 has been reported benchmarking the highest Fe3+/Fe2+ redox potential at 3.8 V (vs. Na) with excellent rate capability and competent energy density. In pursuit of energy-savvy synthesis of this sulfate cathode, this work reports two aqueous based synthesis namely Pechini and spray dry routes. Further, various other Na-Fe-S-O quaternary cathodes along the Na2SO4 and FeSO4 binary phase line and their possible phase transformation have been studied in detail.In last one decade, there have been a resurgence in interest followed by a rigorous research in sodium-ion intercalation chemistry for rechargeable battery application. Though lithium-ion chemistry has been a commercial success and is a lynchpin of the portable electronics era, sodium-ion chemistry can economically address the large-scale stationary rechargeable battery market and offers the exciting avenues of novel intercalation structures, some of which may not exist in their lithium equivalents. To realize the commercially viable large-scale Na-based batteries, the concept of earth abundance should consistently be applied throughout their design. Of significance, compounds constituting Na-Fe-S-O type elements show promising results. In this line, alluaudite structured Na2Fe2(SO4)3 has been reported benchmarking the highest Fe3+/Fe2+ redox potential at 3.8 V (vs. Na) with excellent rate capability and competent energy density. In pursuit of energy-savvy synthesis of this sulfate cathode, this work repo...


Economists are fond of the physicists' powerful tools. As a popular mindset Toolism is as old as economics but the transplants failed to produce the same successes as in their aboriginal environment. Economists therefore looked more and more to the math department for inspiration. Now the tide turns again. The ongoing crisis discredits standard economics and offers the chance for a comeback. Modern econophysics commands the most powerful tools and argues that there are many occasions for their application. The present paper argues that it is not a change of tools that is most urgently needed but a paradigm change.


The European Union (EU) and the United States began negotiations for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in 2013, with the primary goals of reducing impediments to cross-border trade and investment and achieving greater economic integration between the two economic areas. Independent research organizations project significant economic benefits from an accord for both parties.Curiously, there has been a near absence of discussion in the TTIP negotiations of freeing trade and investment in commercial airline services. Given the economies of scale and the scope for specialization that increase by enlarging markets, airline services liberalization would markedly increase the gains from an agreement, as the air passenger and cargo industries' supply chains are rife with restrictions. Commercial air service is an end product, and the restrictions on competition raise costs and, ultimately, prices for passengers. But air transportation is also an intermediate good consumed by businesses in the production of their own goods and services. If the goal of liberalization is to reduce costs and achieve efficiencies that translate into lower prices, better quality, and innovation, then trade and transportation reforms are in many ways inseparable.In 2007, the United States and the European Union signed an "Open Skies" agreement, which liberalized competition and ownership restrictions, but the supply of domestic air services (flights between two points within the United States or within the EU) is still limited to national carriers, and foreign ownership is still restricted to minority status.Before the Open Skies agreement, both the United States and Europe enjoyed periods of deregulation in their commercial airline industries, which spawned greater competition, innovation, and consumer choice. Those experiences are instructive for what would likely follow significant liberalization of competition in this sector.Of course, incumbent interests marshaling various objections to freer trade and investment in commercial air services impede progress to that end. This paper argues that the objections to liberalization lack genuine merit and describes some of the benefits that have emerged as aviation markets have been freed up over the last 35 years. It offers insights into how U.S. airline passengers and transportation-consuming businesses would benefit from opening the domestic air market to competition from foreign carriers. Finally, it urges the U.S. and EU governments to put free trade in commercial air services on the TTIP negotiating agenda.


Background To identify prognostic factors and define the optimal management of patients with supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors (sPNETs), we investigated treatment outcomes and explored the prognostic value of specific molecular markers. Methods A total of 47 consecutive patients with pathologically confirmed sPNETs between May 1985 and June 2012 were included. Immunohistochemical analysis of LIN28, OLIG2, and Rad51 expression was performed and correlated with clinical outcome. Results With a median follow-up of 70 months, 5-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) was 55.5% and 40%, respectively, for all patients. Age, surgical extent, and radiotherapy were significant prognostic factors for OS and PFS. Patients who received initially planned multimodal treatment without interruption (i.e., radiotherapy and surgery (≥subtotal resection), with or without chemotherapy) showed significantly higher 5-year OS (71.2%) and PFS (63.1%). In 29 patients with available tumor specimens, tumors with high expression of either LIN28 or OLIG2 or elevated level of Rad51 were significantly associated with poorer prognosis. Conclusions We found that multimodal treatment improved outcomes for sPNET patients, especially when radiotherapy and ≥subtotal resection were part of the treatment regimen. Furthermore, we confirmed the prognostic significance of LIN28 and OLIG2 and revealed the potential role of Rad51 in sPNETs.


Purpose
Optic nerve head drusen (ONHD), peripapillary hyperreflective ovoid mass-like structures (PHOMS), and horizontal hyperreflective lines (HHL) are commonly seen in eyes with pseudopapilledema on enhanced depth imaging (EDI) spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT). The objective of this study is to assess the frequency of ONHD, PHOMS, and HHL on spectral domain OCT in the eyes diagnosed to have pseudopapilledema.

Methods
A retrospective case-control study included patients diagnosed as pseudopapilledema and had EDI SD OCT imaging of the optic nerve head (n = 48 eyes) and controls (n = 20 eyes). OCT scans through the optic nerve head were studied to diagnose ONHD, HHL, and PHOMS. One proportion z test was used to find the difference in proportions.

Results
Forty eight eyes of 27 subjects were studied. ONHD as described by the optic disc drusen Studies consortium was noted in 19 eyes (39.48%), P value-0.032, PHOMS in 31 eyes (64.6%), P value 0.043, HL in 19 eyes (39.48%), P value 0.032, and none of the normals had ONHD, PHOMS, and HHL.

Conclusions
PHOMS are more frequently seen than ONHD and HHL in eyes with pseudopapilledema.


AbstractThe field of urban sociology has been significantly linked to particular cities, with cities such as Chicago (il), Los Angeles (ca), and New York City (ny) have become hallmarks reflecting both the possibilities and the limitations of the urban sociological imagination. Using what have been three major foci in American urban sociology – 1) Organization of the City, 2) Ethnography and 3) Neighborhoods – using a comparative assessment of the field this paper seeks to apprehend the larger understandings, trends and methods in the field. Comparing urban sociological methods and theories through sections focusing on the three aforementioned themes, this article underscores paths taken in the field whilst highlighting potential new directions.


We propose and study a method for detecting ground-state entanglement in a chain of trapped ions. We show that the entanglement between single ions or groups of ions can be swapped to the internal levels of two ions by sending laser pulses that couple the internal and motional degrees of freedom. This allows to entangle two ions without actually performing gate operations. A proof of principle of the effect can be realized with two trapped ions and is feasible with current technology.


The work of J. B. Ward-Perkins on Roman architecture spanned fifty years, and his numerous published papers covered almost every aspect of the subject. This selection of sixteen studies focuses mainly on the provinces, particularly the North African cities. There are two articles on Roman town-planning, followed by a study of Nero's Golden House at Rome. The following nine papers deal with architecture in the provinces. The author's interest in the excavations under St. Peter's in Rome resulted in the publication of a number of studies on the development of Early Christian architecture from such Roman models as the basilica and the Imperial mausolea. Five of these papers are included here in the final section on Early Christian architecture. There is a Preface by Professor Roger Ling, and a comprehensive index.


The present study was designed to assess the influence of neonatal thymectomy on the proportions of natural killer (NK) lymphocytes and other (non-NK) lymphocytes in the spleen and blood of young adult mice.The progenitors (precursors) of both the T lymphocyte and NK cell lineages are located in the bone marrow, the organ of new cell production for both these lineages and where they both derive from a bi-potential stem cell. Newborn C3H mice were thymectomized when they were 8 – 12 hr old by a process in standard use in our laboratory. Control infant mice, identical in every way, were sham thymectomized. When thymectomized and control mice reached 8 wk of age, their spleens and blood were prepared by our well-established methods. Smears of both organs were analyzed for their proportions of NK cells and other (non-NK) lymphocytes. The results showed that in thymectomized mice, spleen and blood had significantly increased proportions of NK cells, vs shamthymectomized controls, while the other (non-NK) lymphocytes in both the spleen and blood were significantly decreased in thymectomized mice vs control. Moreover, the actual percentage decrease in this group of other (non-NK) lymphocytes in the thymectomized animals was almost precisely the same as the percentage gain in NK cells in both organs.We interpret these findings as evidence suggesting that in the absence of a thymus which would normally convert progenitor T cells into mature functional T lymphocytes, these progenitors which are products of the bi-potential T/NK stem cell, come under the influence of NK cellstimulating factors, thus causing the shift toward the NK cell lineage in the 2 peripheral organs, i.e., the spleen and the blood.


The formation of N-glycosidic linkages of eukaryotic glycoproteins involves the assembly of a specific lipid-linked precursor oligosaccharide in the endoplasmic reticulum. This oligosaccharide is transferred from the lipid carrier to appropriate asparagine residues during protein synthesis. The protein-linked oligosaccharide then undergoes processing reactions that include both removal and addition of carbohydrate residues. In this paper we report recent studies from our laboratory on the synthesis of asparagine-linked oligosaccharides. In the first part we describe the isolation and characterization of temperature-sensitive mutants of yeast blocked at specific stages in the assembly of the lipid-linked oligosaccharide. In addition, we are using these mutants to clone the genes for the enzymes in this pathway by complementation of the temperature-sensitive phenotype. The second part deals with the topography of asparagine-linked oligosaccharide assembly. Our studies on the transmembrane movement of sugar residues during the assembly of secreted glycoproteins from cytoplasmic precursors are presented. Finally, experiments on the control of protein-linked oligosaccharide processing are described. Recent data are presented on the problem of how specific oligosaccharides are assembled from the common precursors at individual sites on glycoproteins.


Introduction: The aim of the proposed system is to give students a flexible, realistic, and interactive learning environment to study the physical limit of different postures and various imaging procedures. The suggested system will also familiarise the students with various imaging modalities, the anatomical structures that are observable under different X-ray tube settings and the quality of the resulting image. Current teaching practice for radiological sciences asks students to simulate the imaging procedure in role plays - consisting of one student as a patient and the other as the radiologist. Other ways include the use of a physical phantom consisting of bone and soft tissue equivalent material but in either way X-ray has to be used with all the requirements of such an examination room shielding, lead apron, and other radiation protection procedures. Proposed System: The proposed system has several physical components and virtual components. Students manipulate the mannequin into the model of the imaging modality and in a posture suitable for the purpose of the imaging study. The virtual components of our simulation system include a posture interface, a computational phantom generator, and a physics simulator. The synthetic image will be produced and conformed to the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine standard so that it can be stored, retrieved, and displayed in a standard picture archiving and communication system that hospitals use. Conclusion: The suggested system will familiarise the students and improve their competency level, not only for X-ray but various other imaging modalities, including the anatomical structures that are observable under different X-ray tube settings and the quality of the resulting image.


"OK, I'm not using (or drinking) anymore, but what do I do with my anger?" If a client finds no answers to this question, relapse is likely, fear will continue to poison the family atmosphere, and therapeutic gains will be jeopardized. Now, with this book in hand, counselors and therapists can help the recovering alcoholic or addict develop skills to manage anger and avoid outbursts of aggression or violence. Intended primarily for counselors working with alcoholics, addicts, and their families in chemical dependency treatment settings, clinics, or private practice, as well as for those treating family violence, this book elucidates the complex relationships among anger, aggression, and chemical abuse. Early chapters present models of normal anger, anger avoidance, and chronic anger. The authors describe how both anger avoidance and chronic anger are related to chemical use patterns, the effects upon family members, and how change can be initiated. A brief device for assessing chronic anger and its functions is included. General principles for treating anger problems, as well as specific applications of these principles in a chemical dependency treatment, are presented. Special attention is given to the challenges of anger management with the chronically angry. In addition, selected aspects of anger and aggression, including explosiveness, anger-inducing thought patterns, and long-term resentments, are covered. Anger and aggression reverberate within the family and immediate environment. Strategies are included here for helping affected family members live with an angry (and perhaps addicted) person, for working with angry couples, and for treatment of adult children from homesdominated by anger and addiction. The authors also address the need to treat self-directed and self-destructive anger. Finally, they look at professional anger issues, since many counselors have problems with excessive anger or anger avoidance, in both their professional and their person


The possibility of non-invasive simultaneous detection of the depth and the temperature of a cancerous tumor inside the human body by means of multifrequency microwave 3D-radiothermograpy is regarding. The models for the description of the reception processes of the own human radio-thermal field are resulted. The possibility of calculating the required parameters by measuring antenna temperatures simultaneously in two different frequency ranges is analyzed. The conditions for solutions finding by bothanalytical and numerical methods are revealed. The possible maximum depth for tumors detection depending on the parameters of radiothermograph and thermal contrast in the source is determined. The necessitate of multi frequency receiving is approving. Analytical solutions for tumor depth and temperature for the current model are presented.


Torque measuring in the extra-high rotation speed has not been resolved ideally yet, due to the restriction of the rough conditions. The dynamic characteristics of the developed digital plane grating angular-torquer measuring system are analyzed in this paper. The paper mainly calculates and designs the parameters of elastic shafts with different cross-section. Via the compare of dynamic characteristics and compactness of the elastic shafts with different cross-section, the optimized design is proposed at the end of the paper. The achievements of this paper can supply references to the study and design, maintaining and improvement of relative instruments.


ABSTRACT While the Andean insurrection of the early 1780s, most often associated with the Inka leader Tupac Amaru II, was the most powerful challenge to Spanish rule in colonial Latin America, it is generally ignored in the Atlantic historiography of the Age of Revolution. This article reviews the reasons for this neglect and traces the problem back to the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It demonstrates for the first time that knowledge of the revolution in the Andes circulated widely throughout the Atlantic world in the early 1780s. It also provides evidence of a deep panic on the part of Spanish authorities, who feared that the anti-colonial revolution unfolding in British North America could find a counterpart in Spanish South America, especially with instigation by their British imperial rivals. It reveals Spanish attempts to prevent circulation of the news of the insurrection and the beginnings of a tradition that would reduce the meaning of the Andean revolution to an expression of race war. It argues more generally that this case of "silencing" (M. R. Trouillot) and "disavowal" (S. Fischer) in the Atlantic world reflected a repudiation of the radical principle of indigenous political sovereignty which underlay the Andean insurgencies. Rather than incorporate the Andean case into the existing paradigm of Atlantic revolutions, the article seeks to enrich the historiography of the Age of Revolution by showing that projects for indigenous territory and political authority, which challenged European and creole sovereignty in the Americas, deserve to be seen as integral to the epoch.


In densely forested countries, forest and wood based products are generally an important contributing factor to the country's economy. Especially wood product industries, such as furniture or joinery industries, add a lot of economic value. A large portion of employment positions are linked directly or indirectly to forest and wood product industries. In Europe´s highly industrialized countries, labor costs influence wood product companies rather negatively and put high pressure on them to stay competitive. Some of those companies have chosen outsourcing of their operations and production as means to survive. Another way, already successfully proven in other industries, is the automation of production processes by among others introduction of industrial robots. Effective implementation of automation equipment depends on several factors, e.g. production volume, applied material, chosen application or cycle times. It is not fully clear which factors are mostly affecting the successful change to a more automated production.
The purpose of this paper is to distinguish which automation enabling factors are dependent or independent on the specific conditions of the wood product industry.
By applying a comparative case study approach, automation standards and practices for wood product industries in three highly industrialized European countries are compared and analyzed. As key contribution of this paper crucial factors for the implementation of industrial robots are identified. The contributing factors are set into context to the country's specific preconditions for wood products, e.g. market penetration, sales volume, availability and supply of resources.
As results of this study, differences and similarities are found for revealing independent or depending factors. Dependent factors are influencing only wood product industries while independent factors are connected to the nation´s specific economic and industrial situation.


Crystalline colloidal array (CCA) photonic crystals (PCs) are periodic structures formed by the self-assembly of monodisperse, highly-charged particles in low ionic strength aqueous solutions. Similar to an atomic crystal but with much larger lattice spacings, the CCA can efficiently diffract light in the UV, visible and near-IR spectral regions.

This thesis reports the development of new CCA materials, novel CCA Bragg diffraction devices, and utilization of CCA PC templates for new nanostructure and nanomaterial fabrication. We use CCA for development of a CCA deep UV narrow band filter that acts as a Rayleigh rejection filter for UV Raman spectroscopy and for templates for solid-state UV Raman cross section determinations.

We developed novel CCA PC deep UV Bragg diffraction devices. We synthesized small, monodisperse, highly surface-charged silica particles and prepared novel silica CCA through the self-assembly of these particles. The silica CCA efficiently Bragg diffract light in the deep UV. The diffracted wavelength was varied by tilting the CCA orientation to the incident beam. We demonstrated the utility of the silica CCA filter as a Rayleigh rejection filter in Teflon UV Raman measurements.

We conducted the first resonance Raman cross-section measurements of solids that avoids self-absorption bias by using PC templates. We fabricated complex stoichiometrically defined nanoparticles (NaNO3/Na2SO4 nanoparticles) by utilizing the defined interstitial volume of close-packed PCs. We successfully determined the solid-state NaNO3 UV resonance Raman cross-sections by using solid Na2SO4 as an internal standard. We also developed a refractive-index matching method to measure solid-state Na2SO4 UV Raman cross sections that avoids the effect of the local field and avoids interface scattering of the incident light.

We developed a facile method to fabricate silica shell PCs through the use of flexible poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) core templates. We synthesized monodisperse PNIPAm-silica core-shell particles and demonstrated their reversible swelling and shrinking as the temperature is cycled. We fabricated close-packed PCs of PNIPAm-silica core-shell particles and further fabricated hollow silica shell PCs by removing the PNIPAm cores by calcination.


The independent means t-test is commonly used for testing the equality of two population means. However, this test is very sensitive to violations of the population normality and homogeneity of variance assumptions. In such situations, Yuen's (1974) trimmed t-test is recommended as a robust alternative. The purpose of this paper is to provide a SAS macro that allows easy computation of Yuen's symmetric trimmed t-test. The macro output includes a table with trimmed means for each of two groups, Winsorized variance estimates, degrees of freedom, and obtained value of t (with two-tailed p-value). In addition, the results of a simulation study are presented and provide empirical comparisons of the Type I error rates and statistical power of the independent samples t-test, Satterthwaite's approximate t-test and the trimmed t-test when the assumptions of normality and homogeneity of variance are violated.


The present work aims to explore the impact of solar Gamma-Ray flares (GRFs), detected by the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT), and their associated X-ray flares (XRFs) on the earth's lower ionosphere. The data of ionospheric parameter fmin were collected from the Yamagawa mid-latitude ionosonde station in Japan. Because most of the GRFs used in this study are associated with soft X-ray emissions, detected by the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), we classified them into three types: simultaneous (S), delayed (D), and not associated (N), reflecting the phase occurrence of the solar flares. Generally, the ionospheric D layer responds strongly to XRFs more than GRFs. The temporal profiles of the ionospheric parameter fmin show distinct behaviours as a response to the various GRF types. In the case of the S-type, a single strong peak, with an average value of 5.2 MHz, emanates in the fmin profile within an average interval of time of less than half an hour. In the case of the D-type, two successive peaks appear in the fmin profile, with an average value of 6.0 MHz for the second peak through a time interval of one hour after the onset of GR emissions. The response of the fmin parameter to the N-type flares appears as a single peak with an average value of 4.8 MHz within about an hour. We notice that the difference between the fmin peak values and the corresponding reference ones (dfmin) is more convenient and representative than the fmin values, where the median GR flux of the S-, D-, and N-types tends to increase as the average dfmin increases.


This study assessed whether painful diabetic neuropathy is associated with abnormal sympathetic nervous function in the affected limbs. Nine patients with diabetes (four men, five women; age 61 +/- 7 years) and painful peripheral neuropathy of the feet, but without evidence of generalized autonomic neuropathy, underwent intravenous infusion of tritiated norepinephrine (NE) and sampling of arterial and venous blood in both feet and in one arm to quantify the rate of entry of NE into the local venous plasma (NE spillover). In the same patients, positron emission tomography (PET) scanning after intravenous injection of the sympathoneural imaging agent 6-[(18)F]fluorodopamine was used to visualize sympathetic innervation and after intravenous [(13)N]ammonia to visualize local perfusion. The results were compared with those in the feet of normal volunteers and in an unaffected foot of patients with unilateral complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). In addition, neurochemical results obtained in painful diabetic neuropathy were compared with those obtained in diabetic control patients with painless neuropathy and diabetic control patients without neuropathy. Local arteriovenous difference in plasma NE levels (DeltaNE(AV)) and NE spillover in the arms did not differ across the groups. However, DeltaNE(AV) in the feet was significantly less in the group with painful diabetic neuropathy than in the control groups. Also NE spillover in the feet tended to be lower in painful neuropathy. DeltaNE(AV) of diabetic control patients without neuropathy (n = 6) resembled values in the control groups without diabetes, whereas patients with painless diabetic neuropathy (n = 6) had evidence suggesting partial loss of sympathetic innervation. PET scanning revealed decreased flow-corrected 6-[(18)F]fluorodopamine-derived radioactivity in patients with painful diabetic neuropathy, compared with values in normal volunteers and patients with CRPS. The results provide neurochemical and neuroimaging evidence for regionally selective sympathetic denervation in the painful feet of patients with diabetic neuropathy.


Abstract. We developed an automatic device able to sample and analyze in situ and in real time airborne particulate matter (PM) using the X-ray fluorescence of the chemical species layered on a filter, having atomic numbers between 19 (Potassium) and 82 (Lead). Furthermore, we developed a calibration technique, which gives the parameters for real time automatic determination of the absolute mass of the chemical species present on the sample, with a sensitivity varying from 1 to 100 μg per sample. Our system could represent a simpler alternative to the complex and sophisticated laboratory measurements, such as Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) or Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES), officially used by environmental agencies. A 6 month in-situ test, carried out in collaboration with the local Regional Environmental Agency, showed that our system gives results comparable with the ones obtained using existing techniques, but with smaller errors. The methodology developed has been submitted for a patent.


Methods: Between July 2009 and February 2011, 54 pairs of MCDA twins and 2 triplets were delivered in 3 tertiary care centers. All pregnancies were followed with a weekly fetal surveillance for fetal weight discordance and twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS). After birth, placentas were observed and stained to search type and number of vascular anastomoses, type and distance between cord insertions and placental distribution. Birth weights as fetal and neonatal mortality and early morbidity were recorded from clinic charts. Placental characteristics were analized in relation to perinatal outcome. Triplets were analized separately. Results: Anastomoses were detected in all placentas with fetal growth alterations in 44% of the studied pregnancies. Between fetuses with growth disturbances 12 pairs were diagnosed as TTTS, 9 pairs as selective intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and 3 pairs as growth discordances without IUGR. Eight fetal deaths were recorded, in 2 pregnancies a single fetal death occurred and in other 3 pregnancies both fetuses died in spite of fetal therapy. Relation between abnormal cord insertions and smaller placental territories were seen in all abnormal growth pregnancies and in 50% of pregnancies without growth disturbances. Between discordant growth pregnancies, only all TTTS cases had unequal shared territories and neonatal weight discordance more than 20%. There were 3 cases of severe early morbidity and 6 babies died during the early neonatal period, most in relation to mayor malformations. Conclusions: Placental characteristics are closely related to perinatal outcome, mainly with the presence of TTTS and fetal growth disturbances. Prenatal identification of these characteristics in this group of pregnancies may change parent counselling as surveillance and intrauterine therapy program.


We report the discovery of an enigmatic, small eel-like fish from a 35 m-deep fringing-reef cave in the western Pacific Ocean Republic of Palau that exhibits an unusual suite of morphological characters. Many of these uniquely characterize the Recent members of the 19 families comprising the elopomorph order Anguilliformes, the true eels. Others are found among anguilliforms only in the Cretaceous fossils, and still others are primitive with respect to both Recent and fossil eels. Thus, morphological evidence explicitly places it as the most basal lineage (i.e. the sister group of extant anguilliforms). Phylogenetic analysis and divergence time estimation based on whole mitogenome sequences from various actinopterygians, including representatives of all eel families, demonstrate that this fish represents one of the most basal, independent lineages of the true eels, with a long evolutionary history comparable to that of the entire Anguilliformes (approx. 200 Myr). Such a long, independent evolutionary history dating back to the early Mesozoic and a retention of primitive morphological features (e.g. the presence of a premaxilla, metapterygoid, free symplectic, gill rakers, pseudobranch and distinct caudal fin rays) warrant recognition of this species as a 'living fossil' of the true eels, herein described as Protanguilla palau genus et species nov. in the new family Protanguillidae.


This paper argues that next generation database management systems should incorporate a predictive model management component to effectively support both inward-facing applications, such as self management, and user-facing applications such as data-driven predictive analytics. We draw an analogy between model management and data management functionality and discuss how model management can leverage profiling, physical design and query optimization techniques, as well as the pertinent challenges. We then describe the early design and architecture of Longview, a predictive DBMS prototype that we are building at Brown, along with a case study of how models can be used to predict query execution performance.


The aim of this work was to combine adsorptive and catalytic properties of iron oxide surfaces in a hybrid process using hydrogen peroxide and iron oxide-coated pumice particles to remove natural organic matter (NOM) in water. Experiments were conducted in batch, completely mixed reactors using various original and coated pumice particles. The results showed that both adsorption and catalytic oxidation mechanisms played role in the removal of NOM. The hybrid process was found to be effective in removing NOM from water having a wide range of specific UV absorbance values. Iron oxide surfaces preferentially adsorbed UV280-absorbing NOM fractions. Furthermore, the strong oxidants produced from reactions among iron oxide surfaces and hydrogen peroxide also preferentially oxidized UV280-absorbing NOM fractions. Preloading of iron oxide surfaces with NOM slightly reduced the further NOM removal performance of the hybrid process. Overall, the results suggested that the tested hybrid process may be effective for removal of NOM and control disinfection by-product formation.


In a previous study, we demonstrated that androgenic–anabolic steroids increased aromatase expression in the bed nucleus of stria terminalis and preoptic area in rat brain, as evaluated using autoradiography with [11C]vorozole, a potential positron emission tomography tracer for aromatase. In this study, we explored whether the increase in aromatase binding is mediated via androgen receptors and whether this increase occurs in neurons or glial cells. Rats were given nandrolone decanoate (15 mg/kg body weight once every 3 days) and flutamide (20 mg/kg/day) alone or in combination for 20 days. Results indicated a significant increase of [11C]vorozole binding by nandrolone decanoate in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and preoptic area, as in our previous study. Flutamide treatment, on the other hand, decreased [11C]vorozole binding in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, preoptic area, and medial amygdala. Immunohistochemical examination demonstrated that upregulation of aromatase expression occurred in neurons. Our findings suggest that aromatase is regulated through an androgen receptor-mediated system. This aromatase-specific tracer and the positron emission tomography technique could be useful for exploring the role of aromatase in anabolic androgenic steroids abusers.


Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL

Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-α) is a major inflammatory cytokine, produced by a wide variety of cell types including macrophages, T lymphocytes endothelial cells and tumor cells. TNF-α is expressed as a membrane-tethered protein (tmTNF-α), cleaved by tumor necrosis factor-α-converting enzyme (TACE) and subsequently released into extracellular space as a soluble TNF-α (sTNF-α). Recent studies from our laboratory and others have shown that low level expression of TNF-α by tumor cells substantially increases tumor growth, vascularity and decreases tumor necrosis, in part by increasing tumor content of a proangiogenic myeloid subtype (Li et al., Cancer Res. 2009, 1;69(1):338-48). To better understand the mechanism by which TNF-α modulates the myeloid phenotype, we generated murine Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) and B16F10 melanoma tumor cells transduced with retrovirus expression vectors directing modest overexpression of a membrane tethered moiety, tmTNF-α. Heterotopic implantation of tmTNF-α expressing lines resulted in significantly decreased growth than control tumors in both tumor models. Our studies showed that this was not due to effects on the tumor cells themselves but likely due to effects on tumor stroma as the effect of tmTNF-α was lost in TNF-α receptor deficient mice. Further evaluation showed an absence of tumor associated myeloid cells within the tumor, which suggested apoptosis of migrated myeloid cells or inhibition of myeloid recruitment into the tumor environment. There is a significant gap in our knowledge on the mechanism of transmembrane isoform of TNF-α and its potential anti-tumorogenic role. In this study our goal is to identify the mechanism in which tmTNF-α promotes tumor regression and to understand how it modulates host bone marrow derived myeloid cells.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 448. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-448


Total quality management (TQM) is the management strategy that involves all organizational functions with the purpose on satisfying customers and achieving the vision and mission of the organizations. The aim of total quality management (TQM) is to achieve customer satisfaction. Healthcare industry is very important in Malaysia for providing good healthcare services to public. However, failure to improve quality and efficiency is a big challenge in a healthcare industry in order to increase quality healthcare services. The objectives of this research are to identify the extent level of TQM implementation; and to determine the impact of TQM implementation on business sustainable in healthcare industry. Quantitative approach has been chosen as the methodology of this study. The survey respondents targeted in this research are staffs in Malaysia private clinic. 70 respondents have participated in this research. Data were analysed by Statistical Package Social Science (SPSS). Analysis result showed that there was a positive significant relationship between TQM practices and business sustainable (r=0.774, P<0.05). All TQM factors have significant relationship with business sustainable factors. The findings of this research will help healthcare industry to understand a better and deeper valuable information on the impact of TQM implementation towards business sustainable in Malaysia healthcare industry.


The preparation of a cobalt(IIT) complex with $Coen_2$ (en = ethylenediamine) units bound with two pyridine nitrogen atoms of two different polymeric chains of poly-(4-vynilpyridine) in trans position was performed. The obtained compound is insoluble in water as well as in the most usual organic solvents, while it has partial solubility in some others, such as dimethylsulfoxide. By elemental analysis it was found that for 12-13 average pyridine nitrogen atoms, one cobalt(III) atom is available.


Abstract Objective: To assess differences in psychological outcomes as well as risk and protective factors for these outcomes among several USA ethnic groups and identify correlates of these psychological outcomes among adults with diabetes in the second Diabetes Attitudes, Wishes and Needs (DAWN2) study. Research design and methods: The core USA DAWN2 sample was supplemented by independent samples of specific ethnic minority groups, yielding a total of 447 White non-Hispanics, 241 African Americans, 194 Hispanics, and 173 Chinese Americans (n = 1055). Multivariate analysis examined ethnic differences in psychological outcomes and risk/protective factors (disease, demographic and socioeconomic factors, health status and healthcare access/utilization, subjective burden of diabetes and social support/burden). Separate analyses were performed on each group to determine whether risk/protective factors differed across ethnic groups. Main outcome measures: Psychological outcomes include well-being, quality of life, impact of diabetes on life domains, diabetes distress, and diabetes empowerment. Clinical trial registration: NCT01507116. Results: Ethnic minorities tended to have better psychological outcomes than White non-Hispanics, although their diabetes distress was higher. Levels of most risk and protective factors differed significantly across ethnic groups; adjustment for these factors reduced ethnic group differences in psychological outcomes. Health status and modifiable diabetes-specific risk/protective factors (healthcare access/utilization, subjective diabetes burden, social support/burden) had strong associations with psychological outcomes, especially diabetes distress and empowerment. Numerous interactions between ethnicity and other correlates of psychological outcomes suggest that ethnic groups are differentially sensitive to various risk/protective factors. Potential limitations are the sample sizes and representativeness. Conclusions: Ethnic groups differ in their psychological outcomes. The risk/protective factors for psychological outcomes differ across ethnic groups and different ethnic groups are more/less sensitive to their influence. These findings can aid the development of strategies to overcome the most prominent and influential psychosocial barriers to optimal diabetes care within each ethnic group.


Blow-fly larvae were fed on (1) resting, and (2) fatigued frog muscle. The larvae fed on fatigued muscle attained a body weight 9 per cent. greater than those fed on resting muscle, and the rate of their heart beat was increased by 14 per cent. The length of larval life and the oxygen consumption was the same in the two sets of larvae.


Creating and rendering realistic ocean is one of the most daunting tasks in computer graphics. An efficient algorithm is used to render ocean waves by taking advantage of the parallelism and programmability of GPU and the new characteristics of vertex sampling of Shader Model 3.0. The ocean modeling is optimized by level-of-detail (LOD) technology. The real-time wave simulation is realized by the technology of animated texture associated with time, which storages 250 pictures of the height map of ocean surface and is used to superimpose the grid vertex. The illumination effects of the water, such as the reflection, refraction and Fresnel effects, are rendered. Experimental results are shown very well to meet the photorealism and real-time requirement (>60fps) and can be applied to generate real-time water in visual reality.


Intensity‐modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is frequently utilized after prostatectomy without strong evidence for an improvement in outcomes compared to conformal radiation therapy (RT). We analyzed a large group of patients treated with RT after radical prostatectomy (RP) to compare complications after IMRT and CRT. The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)‐Medicare database was queried to identify male Medicare beneficiaries aged 66 years or older who underwent prostatectomy with 1+ adverse pathologic features and received postprostatectomy RT between 1995 and 2007. Chi‐square test was used to compare baseline characteristics between the treatment groups. First complication events, based upon administrative procedure or diagnosis codes occurring >1 year after start of RT, were compared for IMRT versus CRT groups. Propensity score adjustment was performed to adjust for potential confounders. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models of time to first complication were performed. A total of 1686 patients were identified who received RT after RP (IMRT = 634, CRT = 1052). Patients treated with IMRT were more likely to be diagnosed after 2004 (P < 0.001), have minimally invasive prostatectomy (P < 0.001) and have positive margins (P = 0.019). IMRT use increased over time. After propensity score adjustment, IMRT was associated with lower rate of gastrointestinal (GI) complications, and higher rate of genitourinary‐incontinence complications, compared to CRT. The observed outcomes after IMRT must be considered when determining the optimal approach for postprostatectomy RT and warrant additional study.


As the twenty-first century bustles forward, the e-commerce arena becomes an ever more dangerous place. On a daily basis, websites collect vast amounts of personally identifying information (PII) and mine it in sophisticated databases to discover consumer trends and desires. This process provides many benefits - such as tailored websites and relevant marketing - that few Web surfers would care to do without. However, serious threats lurk in cyberspace and are enhanced by consumers who continue to submit vast amounts of information in a state of relative unawareness. Not wanting to miss out on their Web surfing experience, visitors submit their personal information without glancing at a company's privacy policy. In 2008, for example, 100% of the most highly trafficked websites in the United States collect PII while just over 60% have privacy polices that clearly explain PII practices. Instead, of offering explanations, e-commerce companies obfuscate and exacerbate the serious threats surrounding PII collection and dissemination. This occurs most often via inconspicuously posted privacy policies written in small font and filled with legalese and loopholes. The United States legal system allows such obfuscation unless a company breaks a privacy promise. This article argues for a federal PII Tagging law where companies face a choice. They must: (1) post a clear and conspicuous privacy policy drafted in plain English or (2) associate (tag) their name to each piece of data they disseminate. Over time, consumers will tire of solicitations beginning with the required phrase Hi, I represent company X and we purchased your telephone number, etc. from company Y. Such social pressure will lead companies to take the simple and nearly costless step of drafting and posting better privacy policies. At the end of the day, Tagging legislation represents a middle-ground solution that protects PII without excessively hindering e-commerce efficiency.


Abstract In this study, alumina ceramics were produced with high density and nanograin size without additives from nano-size γ-Al2O3. The effects of sintering pressure (3 GPa and 7 GPa) and temperature (600 °C and 1 200 °C) on the grain size of sintered samples were studied. It was shown that high pressure increases the nucleation rate while reducing the growth rate of the transformed α phase. Pressure-assisted densification decreases grain size, so that nano-scale grains can be achieved in the sintered structure. The effect of various sintering conditions on grain growth in alumina was investigated during high-pressure sintering for better understanding of pressure and temperature effects on microstructural properties.


Abstract : This report describes a series of three experiments designed to test the feasibility of using upper-level steering of weather patterns to produce short-range local forecasts. Objective forecast models were developed and tested using fall and winter data from northeastern United States. The complexity of the models was increased in attempts to treat problems related to coexistence of stationary and traveling patterns and the effects of diurnal changes in the boundary layer. The first model simply steers (or 'advects') aviation weather parameters analyzed on an x-y grid by looking upstream at 1-hour time steps. The model was tested during a 3-week period using the AFGL McIDAS facility, preparing 0-15-hour forecasts of wind, cloud cover, visibility, and dewpoint at three locations. Two steering flows used were the 700-mb wind field and the vertically integrated 850- to 300-mb wind field. In general, the root-mean-square (rms) errors were worse than persistence for 0-9 hours. Because errors were introduced when stationary (orographic) patterns were advected together with traveling systems, the forecast model was revised to advect the change-with-time fields. This model was tested on 12 winter cases. Scores for vector wind, cloud amount, and temperature were slightly better than both persistence and model-output-statistics (MOS) at 0-3 hours, but were worse at longer periods. One difficulty was that the diurnal changes reversed sign several hours into the forecast. A third model was developed that treats the diurnal changes separately. This model was tested on 12 days in March, producing forecasts of wind, cloud cover, visibility, temperature, and dewpoint at 12 stations.


The existence of international trade and related trade theory are closely related to competitiveness. The following study focuses on the competitiveness of Hungary, which studies the development of comparative advantage in terms of tomato for fresh consumption among horticultural products. As a consequence, the main objective is whether Hungary has comparative advantage over EU-28 countries in case of fresh market tomato. Data in the study were provided by FAOSTAT database. The study period focuses on results from 2004 to 2019, breaking them down into 5-year (average) cycles. The method chosen was the RCA index group, the most widely recognized and applied index group for calculating comparative advantage. Although Hungary is not a significant vegetable-producing country in Europe, the fruit and vegetable sector accounts for 10-13% of the production value of agriculture. Regarding the results, it can be stated that Hungary does not have comparative advantage in case of tomato products. With respect to values of the tomato sector, the RCA index is in the range of 0<RCA≤1, therefore we have no comparative advantage. Spain and the Netherlands have stable competitive advantage. These countries show weak comparative advantage in each period studied, as the indicator values exceed 1 but do not reach 2.


Amphotericin B (AMB) has been widely used in visceral leishmaniasis treatment in Europe, namely in Leishmania/HIV co-infections and paediatric cases. However, only few studies on resistance to AMB are available so far. The purpose of this work is to anticipate the possibility of emerging AMB-resistant isolates in nature. BALB/c mice were intradermally (ID) inoculated with L. infantum wild-type strain and AMB in vitro treated parasites in presence or absence of Phlebotomus perniciosus salivary gland. The course of infection was followed-up during 12 weeks. Parasite load and cytokine expression were determined. Specific humoral and cellular responses were also evaluated. Our results confirm that ID inoculation of L. infantum in mice causes visceral infection and all infected mice developed a mixed immune response i.e. pro and anti –inflamatory responses. No significant difference in the parasite load was observed among infected groups, showing that treatment of parasites with AMB and the presence of saliva did not affect their infectivity on the vertebrate host. However, the presence of AMB treated parasites in the skin of infected mice allow to suggest that AMB resistant strains could arise and be transmitted in nature as a result of the use of AMB on human and canine leishmaniasis therapy.


We previously identified a novel rat candidate metastasis-associated gene, mta1, based on its differential expression in highly metastatic cells compared to nonmetastatic cells. Furthermore, we showed that overexpression of its human counterpart, MTA1, correlated with the invasiveness or lymph node metastasis of gastric, colorectal and esophageal carcinomas. The aim of this study was to analyze the domains of the MTA1 and investigate the function(s) of this protein. Structural analysis revealed that the MTA1 protein contained a GATA-like zinc-finger domain, a leucine zipper domain, a SANT domain similar to the DNA binding domain of myb-related proteins, a src homology 3-binding domain important in protein-protein interactions, two highly acidic regions characteristic of the acidic activation domains of many transcription factors, and nuclear localization signals. Immunofluorescence staining of COS-7 cells transfected with a myc-epitope-tagged MTA1 expression vector clearly showed nuclear localization of MTA1. Coimmunoprecipitation of myc-tagged MTA1 and FLAG-tagged histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1), followed by western blot analysis using anti-myc and anti-FLAG monoclonal antibodies showed that MTA1 physically bound with HDAC1 in COS-7 cells. Together with the recent finding that the NURD (nucleosome remodeling and histone deacetylase activities) complex contains an MTA1-related gene product, named MTA2, MTA1 may be another component of this complex and be involved in the alteration of chromatin structure and transcription repression.


Objective: We compared the safety and efficacy of the 12-core biopsy with those of the conventional systematic 6-core biopsy with PSA levels between 4.1 and 20.0 ng/mL. Materials and Methods: This study included 428 patients who underwent a 6-core biopsy and 128 patients who underwent a 12-core biopsy. Biopsies were performed transrectally under ultrasound guidance. The 12-core biopsy scheme involved obtaining 6 far lateral cores. Results: For patients with PSA level between 4.1 and 10.1 ng/mL, 47 of the 265 patients who underwent 6-core biopsy and 32 of the 91 patients who underwent a12-core biopsy were diagnosed with prostate cancer (p = 0.0006). Among the patients with a PSA level between 10.1 and 20.0 ng/mL, 48 of 163 patients who underwent the 6-core biopsy and 16 of 37 patients who underwent the 12-core biopsy were diagnosed with prostate cancer (p = 0.0606). Three of the 95 patients who were diagnosed with prostate cancer through the 6-core biopsy and 12 of the 48 patients who were diagnosed through the 12core biopsy had cancer located in the anterior apex. The 12-core biopsy increased the diagnostic rate in the apex (p = 0.001). No statistically significant differences were found in incidence of complications. Conclusion: We concluded that the 12-core biopsy is a safe and more effective procedure for increasing the diagnostic rate of prostate cancer than the 6-core biopsy in patients with PSA level between 4.1 and 10.0 ng/mL, and the most useful anatomical area to be added was found to be cores from the anterior apex.


This paper proposes a slotted access protocol for WDM ring network architecture suitable for Metropolitan Area Networks. Each node uses a pair of tunable transmitter and tunable receiver to communicate exploiting all the fiber data wavelengths. Also, each node uses a pair of fixed tuned transmitter and fixed tuned receiver to exchange control information over a separate control wavelength. The proposed protocol efficiently faces the serious scalability problems that many WDMA ring protocols introduce, due to the use of a dedicated data wavelength per node for either transmission or reception. Performance evaluation is provided through theoretical analysis and through a discrete event simulation model using both Poisson and self-similar traffic sources, giving more realistic performance evaluation. Simulation results show that the proposed WDMA protocol manages efficient network utilization providing excellent fairness among the nodes. Comparative simulation results prove that the proposed access scheme achieves significant performance improvement compared with the study of [5] which employs nodes with one fixed tuned transmitter.


In a survey during 2007 to 2009 at Gorakhpur and nearby locations of North Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India leaf curling, foliar deformation and distortion symptoms were observed on Zinnia elegans plants. The associated White fly population indicated the possible presence of begomovirus in the field. Therefore, Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed with the begomovirus specific primers (TLCV-CP). Total genomic DNA was isolated from infected as well as healthy leaf samples. In gel electrophoresis expected ~500 bp amplicons was obtained in symptomatic leaf sample while, no amplicon was found in healthy leaf samples. Amplicon obtained were directly sequenced and submitted in the GenBank (GQ412352) and phylogeny were constructed with the available identical sequences in the Genbank. Based on the highest similarity 97% at nucleotide and 99% at amino acid level and closest relationship with isolates of Zinnia leaf curl virus, the present study isolate was considered an isolate of Zinnia leaf curl virus.

 Key words: Zinnia elegans, Zinnia leaf curl virus, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), phylogenetic analysis.