Plasmodium falciparum Sir2A (PfSir2A), a member of the sirtuin family of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent deacetylases, has been shown to regulate the expression of surface antigens to evade the detection by host immune surveillance. It is thought that PfSir2A achieves this by deacetylating histones. However, the deacetylase activity of PfSir2A is weak. Here we present enzymology and structural evidences supporting that PfSir2A catalyzes the hydrolysis of medium and long chain fatty acyl groups from lysine residues more efficiently. Furthermore, P. falciparum proteins are found to contain such fatty acyl lysine modifications that can be removed by purified PfSir2A in vitro. Together, the data suggest that the physiological function of PfSir2A in antigen variation may be achieved by removing medium and long chain fatty acyl groups from protein lysine residues. The robust activity of PfSir2A would also facilitate the development of PfSir2A inhibitors, which may have therapeutic value in malaria


This article presents the results of a research recently collected in a PNCDI III project, named Multiplatform interactive information technologies with applications in Romanian language for speech therapy. TIMLOGORO project demonstrates that technology is an effective tool for learning and, in particular, in improving speech at any age stage, for different categories of users. In speech therapy, the computer was originally used to assess deficiencies. Nowadays it has become a useful tool in cognitive rehabilitation. There is no universal digital tool, but only individualized techniques. Design and development of TIMLOGORO provides an intuitive support through sound, image and movement as a source of learning. Since individualized therapy costs in Romania are quite high, lately increased interest in therapy with technology. Many speech therapists use informal assessments, but conceive a recovery plan addressed to digital users. This research aims to surprise perception on the effectiveness of new technologies in speech therapy. Through research based on a questionnaire, we investigate future practitioners, currently students. The study aims to show actual therapy practices, sustained by digital resources. The research provides relevant information about: advantages and disadvantages of technology in speech disorders therapy, optimal qualities required for digital resources, difficulties in speech therapy practice with the support of technology, familiarity of future practitioners with new methods. The information obtained will complete scientific and pedagogical argument of this project, as an argument both in design and in evaluating TIMLOGORO.


Career selection is one of the many important choices students make in determining their future paths. Personal aptitudes, educational attainment, environmental conditions and job market are among factors that largely influence career choice. As such many students are unable to make or express their career choices hence, some change their career in the course of training while others end in wrong careers that are not in their interests. The study therefore aims to investigate the determinants of career choice by hospitality management students in Nairobi Kenya. Specifically the study will aim to: determine the influence of social economic factors on career choice of hospitality management students in Kenya, evaluate the influence of school career resources on career choice of hospitality management students, establish the extent to which transitions in labour markets influence career choices of hospitality management students in Kenya, ascertain the influence of personality factors on career choices of hospitality management students. The study will also seek to establish whether any relationship existed between socio-economic, school career resources, transitions in labour market and personality factors and career choice of hospitality management students in Kenya. The survey will adopt a cross-sectional descriptive research and will be carried out in Nairobi County targeting all public universities training hospitality careers. These universities are; The University of Nairobi Kenyatta University, Moi University and The Technical University of Kenya. It will target 4039 students enrolled in the hospitality management school through joint admissions board (JAB).The sample frame of the study will be first year hospitality management students in the four universities.384 hospitality students will participate in the survey .These respondents will be identified by use of Kothari's formulae (s= )(2NP (I-P) -7d 2 (N -1) + X 2P (1P). Open and semi closed questionnaires will be used to collect data. Interviews will be carried out to ensure triangulation. Pre-tests will be conducted and its validity tested for internal consistency by use of Cronbach's Alpha with a 70% acceptance level. The data from the field will be coded to enable the use of computer in the summarizing. Pearson Product Correlation will be utilized to test for relationship between variables. Student t-test and one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be used to test for significance difference in the means between variables. The results will be presented on frequency distribution tables, pie charts and bar charts. Descriptive frequency tables will be produced using the statistical package for social sciences.


This is the fourth article in a series describing efforts to produce tough, high-performance thermosets from very low viscosity prepolymers which are autoclave processable. Hydroxy-terminated hyperbranched polyester (HBP) with a systematically increased molar mass was used to toughen bismaleimide (BMI). HBP was dissolved in the allyl phenol component, B, of a two-part BMI, to yield homogeneous solutions. The BMI monomer, A, was dissolved in the solution of HBP in B to give homogeneous prepolymers. The fracture toughness (KIc) of neat resin plaques was measured by compact tension, while the Tg and storage moduli (E′, at 55 and 200°C) were determined by DMA. At 9% loading, the KIc of the BMI increased steadily with HBP molecular weight up to 138% over the control with G5 HBP (Mn ∼ 14,000 g/mol); however, significant decreases in both the Tg and E′ resulted, indicating incomplete phase separation of the thermoplastic. A linear hydroxy-terminated polyester (Mn ∼ 5400 g/mol) with a repeat unit structure which was similar to the HBP's was prepared and used as a control. The linear polyester (LPE) toughened the BMI nearly as effectively as did the HBP and caused a smaller decrease in the Tg and E′. The viscosity of solutions of HBP and LPE in B were essentially the same at lower loadings in B, but at higher loadings, the HBP viscosity increased faster than did that of the LPE. The viscosity increase was end group-dependent. Preliminary morphological results are presented to show the effect of the thermoplastic architecture, loading, and end group on the cured thermoset. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 71: 1809–1817, 1999


Two Gram-positive bacterial strains, CM2104(T) and CM2110, isolated from the inner part of abnormally spoiled oriental melon (Cucumis melo) in Korea, were subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. The cell-wall peptidoglycan of strains CM2104(T) and CM2110 contained meso-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid. The predominant menaquinone was MK-8(H(4)). The major fatty acids detected in the two strains were iso-C(16 : 0), C(17 : 1)omega8c and C(18 : 1)omega9c or C(17 : 0). The DNA G+C content of the two strains was 73 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the strains formed a coherent cluster with a clade comprising two Janibacter species, Janibacter limosus and Janibacter terrae. Strains CM2104(T) and CM2110 exhibited a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity value of 99.7 % and a mean DNA-DNA relatedness level of 89 %. Strains CM2104(T) and CM2110 showed 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity levels of 97.8-98.4 % to the type strains of J. limosus and J. terrae. DNA-DNA relatedness between strains CM2104(T) and CM2110 and the type strains of these two Janibacter species was 7-11 %. On the basis of the phenotypic and phylogenetic data and genomic distinctiveness, strains CM2104(T) and CM2110 should be placed within the genus Janibacter as members of a novel species, for which the name Janibacter melonis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CM2104(T) (=KCTC 9987(T)=DSM 16063(T)=JCM 12321(T)).


Centella asiatica (CA) extracts have been described for their high phytochemical contents, especially phenolic compounds. Active extracts also showed effectively potential in vitro but not in vivo experiments due to their poor lipid solubility or inappropraietd molecular weight, which resulted in poor bioavailability. This study, the nanoencapsulation process is applied to enhance bioavailability, stability and bioactivity of CA extracts. BSA (Bovine serum albumin) nanoparticles containing phenolic extracts of CA were synthesized by an adapted desolvation method at the ratio between CA extract: BSA at 1:2, 1:3 and 1:4. The entrapment efficiency, loading efficiency, solubility and stability are used to test the efficiency of the nanoparticles. The in vitro released kinetic is monitored for 6-hour period in both artificial gastric buffer at pH 2.0 and intestinal juice buffer at pH 7.4. The result showed that the different ratio of the CA concentrations to BSA nanoparticles had no significant effect to its bioavailability (p < 0.05). On the other hand, the types of extraction solvents including ethanol, chloroform and hexane significantly affected the level of bioavailability (p < 0.05). Especially, the ethanol extracts loaded in BSA at ratio of 1:2 showed the best result, and it was the most economical way due to less consumption of BSA nanoparticle was used. The study of CA extracts loaded in BSA nanoparticles here demonstated the improvement of bioavailability and drug delivery system.


The effect of restricted human activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Rabat city (Morocco) was studied, by analysing data of five criteria pollutants (NO, NO2, PM2.5, PM10, and O3) to highlight the effectiveness of restricted emissions on air quality. Overall, drastic reductions on NO (up to −94%), NO2 (up to −51%), PM2.5 (up to −45%), and PM10 (up to −53%) concentrations were observed during lockdown period compared to the first period (before lockdown). Spaceborne NO2 column observations from TROPOMI on board Sentinel‐5P, reveal unprecedented NO2 decreases (up to −60%). By contrast, an increase of approximately 20% in ozone mean concentrations was observed, probably related to the reduction of nitrogen oxides and also of fine particles (PM2.5) which leads to less scavenging of HO2 and as a result greater O3 production.


Hypertension and dyslipidemia are risk factors for atherosclerosis and occur together more often than expected by chance. Although this clustering suggests shared causation, unifying factors remain unknown. We describe a large kindred with a syndrome including hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and hypomagnesemia. Each phenotype is transmitted on the maternal lineage with a pattern indicating mitochondrial inheritance. Analysis of the mitochondrial genome of the maternal lineage identified a homoplasmic mutation substituting cytidine for uridine immediately 5′ to the mitochondrial transfer RNAIle anticodon. Uridine at this position is nearly invariate among transfer RNAs because of its role in stabilizing the anticodon loop. Given the known loss of mitochondrial function with aging, these findings may have implications for the common clustering of these metabolic disorders.


In this work, we report for the first time the experimental evidence of layout dependence on gate dielectric time-dependent-dielectric-breakdown TDDB in a leading edge HKMG FinFET technology. Structures with identical total effective gate area but various Fin and finger configurations per unit cell show more than 10X difference in Tbd and Qbd before process optimization. Fin number per unit cell was found to be the major impact factor based on the correlation between Tbd and ToxGL extracted from initial leakage currents. The implication of these findings on technology qualification methodology is that one needs to evaluate layout sensitivity for processes under development to confirm that reliability assessment is valid for structures having various layout configurations. Processes with strong layout dependence should be optimized before technology qualification.


Background This study examined the effects of 6-month nutrition education programs for community-dwelling elderly. Methods This study enrolled 50 community-dwelling elderly who regularly visit outpatient clinics. The programs had three goals: salt reduction, increase in dietary fiber, and adequate protein intake. Since it would be difficult for elderly to achieve all goals concurrently, a single goal was chosen by participants themselves. Anthropometric measurements, blood sampling, and assessment of dietary intake were performed at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. Results The nutrition education program for salt reduction was well accepted by the participants and the amount of daily salt intake showed median value of 9.6 g at baseline, 8.0 g at 3 months and 8.1 g at 6 months (P = 0.005). The amount of dietary fiber intake only slightly increased after taking the nutrition program (median value of 13.4 g at baseline, 15.3 g at 3 months and 15.5 g at 6 months; P = 0.695), because of difficulties in introducing new food options to the diet. After taking the adequate protein intake program, participants showed small decreases in protein (a modification from 1.24 g/kg IBW to 1.20 g/kg IBW) and salt intake (8.2 to 7.3 g) at 3 months, but the effects were not sustained at 6 months. Conclusion This nutrition education program focusing on a single nutrient may serve as a strategy to successfully reduce salt intake and improve systolic blood pressure control in community-dwelling elderly individuals who regularly visit outpatient clinics. In our view, dietary and lifestyle habits should be taken into account as much as possible in nutrition education for elderly individuals.


This thesis explores the representation and meaning of the Grail quest in medieval and modern literature, using the methodologies of historically informed criticism and feminist criticism. In the thesis, I consider the themes of death, gender relations and history in two medieval romances and three modern novels in which the Grail quest is the structuring motif.
Comparing two sets of texts coming from different historical periods enhances our understanding of each text, because not only are the modern texts influenced by their medieval precursors, but also our perception of medieval Grail quest romances is modified by modern literature. Studying medieval and modern Grail quest literature side by side also places the phenomenon of modern medievalism into a new perspective; this approach brings out the differences between the Grail quest in texts written in a society that shared a set of Christian values and those written in a post-religious context. Research conducted in the thesis shows that the texts within each group also differ between themselves, depending on the socio-historical circumstances in which the texts were written and read.
In the first part of the thesis (Chapters 1-4), I discuss the themes of death, the role of women as spiritual guides, and the relation between familial and world history in two medieval romances. I approach these issues from the perspective of minor characters, women and non-elect knights (who have previously been little studied). I argue that the experiences of these marginal characters are important for understanding both the
context in which the romances" major characters operate and the representation of questers in modern literature, which often places the unheroic, ordinary or even deviant characters into the limelight.
In the second part of the thesis (Chapters 5-7), I consider three modern novels that use the Christian motif of the Grail quest to structure their narratives, examining ways in which modern writers use medieval tropes in a post-religious age. In each chapter, I explore the place of death, relations between the questers and female characters and the impact of family and the world histories on the individual"s identity in the respective novel. The conclusion brings together the research findings and suggests areas for further research in medieval and modern literature about the Grail quest.


The stimulation of chicks or embryos with estrogen results in transient, hepatic expression of the vitellogenin gene, as well as long-term, propagatable alterations in the rapidity with which the gene can be reactivated. We examined the possibility that nuclear, type II estrogen-binding sites are involved in this long-term change in response characteristics. We demonstrate that the primary induction kinetics of type II sites in embryos and chicks correlated with the expression of the vitellogenin gene and that once their induction was triggered by estrogen, they accumulated, were propagated, and persisted for months after withdrawal of the hormone. We also show that their accumulation in the embryo was accompanied by prolonged expression of both the vitellogenin and very low-density apolipoprotein II genes, in the absence of elevated levels of type I receptor, and that the type II sites, like the classical receptor, appear to be preferentially associated with active or potentially active chromatin. Finally, we describe a regulatory mechanism, tested by computer modelling, that simulated the behavioral characteristics of these nuclear estrogen-binding sites and which may explain their role in mediating the long-term effects of estrogen.


In the process of learning, concepts are keys to define and understand an entire method or a specific course. Also, within a course, concepts can have relations between them, in the sense that, for a specific concept, there is needed the understanding of previous concepts that are used at defining and explaining the current one. In an extended sense, a concept is either an action that depends on a theoretical notion (e.g., implementation of a class method), or the theoretical notion itself (e.g., class method). In the majority of cases, the process of learning can be thought as a linked path of key concepts. The learning becomes, in this way, structured. This path can be used for teaching as well as for process of assessment, the teacher making a scheme that helps in the organization of courses. In this paper we will present a model of teaching and assessment planning using the connections between notions that will be taught. We will use, in this matter, an extractor of keywords from the description of the concept or a written course itself, using a method of text analysis that will signal the presence of other notions in this description and will determine the degree of connectivity between the current concept and the other present in the database. For the process of assessment, the process is reversed: the test is build based on the degree of connectivity, resulting tests with connected items based on the link between the concepts that are used for a specific question.


The thermodynamic and transport properties of molecules hosted in the
confining framework of a microporous material like a zeolite are strongly affected by the
geometrical restrictions imposed by the pore walls. In the ongoing effort to understand the
phenomena induced by the effect of confinement, the use of numerical simulation methods
at the atomistic scale like Molecular Dynamics turns out to be computationally very costly
due to the large number of degrees of freedom involved. This motivated the search for a
further simplified description of a host/guest system.
In the present thesis a Cellular Automata approach has been used to embed the local,
fully-reliable structure of cell thermodynamic models together with a kinetic scheme mimicking
the competition mechanism in which guest molecules move between different locations in
a zeolitic host. The resulting model is a Thermodynamic Partitioning Cellular Automaton
(ThPCA), designed ad hoc to simulate both adsorption and transport properties of simple
guest species in a LTA-type zeolitic host at the mesoscopic scale. Effects of correlation in the
guests' motion affecting their diffusivity under confinement are also modeled, thus making
the ThPCA model an efficient and easy environment to perform coarse-grained simulations
of adsorption and diffusion of simple molecules in microporous materials.


The evaluation of texture features is important for several image processing applications. Texture analysis forms the basis of object recognition and classification in several domains. There is a range of texture extraction methods and their performance evaluation is an important part of understanding the utility of feature extraction tools in image analysis. In this paper we evaluate five different feature extraction methods. These are autocorrelation, edge frequency, primitive-length., Law's method, and co-occurrence matrices. All these methods are used for texture analysis of Meastex database. This is a publicly available database and therefore a meaningful comparison between the various methods is useful to our understanding of texture algorithms. Our results show that the Law's method and co-occurrence matrix method yield the best results. The overall best results;are obtained when we use features from all five methods. Results are produced using leave-one-out method.


Integration of advanced high transport channel materials into Si-based CMOS devices holds great promises for CMOS scaling beyond Moore's Law. In this article, various heteroepitaxy approaches and structures for advanced channel material fabrication in "on-insulator" structures was discuss, including both global and localized epitaxy techniques with strained-Si, Ge, III-V etc. The limits, challenges and potential opportunities are addressed


I show corporate culture is an important channel through which shareholder governance affects firm value. I develop a novel data set to measure aspects of corporate culture and use a regression discontinuity strategy to demonstrate stronger shareholder governance significantly changes aspects of culture. I find greater results-orientation but less customer-focus, integrity, and collaboration. Consistent with a positive link between governance and value, shareholders initially realize financial gains: increases in sales, profitability, and payout occur. However, over time, I find intangible assets associated with customer satisfaction and employee integrity deteriorate, which partly reverses the gains from greater results-orientation. These findings are consistent with a model of multitasking where stronger governance incentivizes managers to concentrate on easy-to-observe benchmarks at the expense of the harder-to-measure intangibles, even though such actions are not in the firm's best long-term interest. On average, I find firm value declines 1.4% through this corporate culture channel. I use an instrumental variable design and interventions by activist hedge funds to test the external validity of the inferences. Across these complementary research designs, I consistently find strong support for the economic importance of a corporate culture channel.


Many real-world tasks can be modeled as constraint optimization problems. To ensure scalability and mapping to distributed scenarios, distributed constraint optimization problems (DCOPs) have been proposed, where each variable is locally controlled by its own agent. Most practical applications prefer approximate local iterative algorithms to reach a locally optimal and sufficiently good solution fast. The Iterative Approximate Best-Response Algorithms can be decomposed in three types of components and mixing different components allows to create hybrid algorithms. We implement a mix-and-match framework for these algorithms, using the graph processing framework SIGNAL/COLLECT, where each agent is modeled as a vertex and communication pathways are represented as edges. Choosing this abstraction allows us to exploit the generic graph-oriented distribution/optimization heuristics and makes our proposed framework configurable as well as extensible. It allows us to easily recombine the components, create and exhaustively evaluate possible hybrid algorithms.


Volcanic gas emissions illustrate a complex volatile budget for Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat. Fluxes of sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and hydrogen chloride (and probably water) are substantial from this arc volcano. Additional sources of volatiles in addition to the erupting andesite are required to satisfy the mass balance defined by gas emissions and petrological constraints. Mafic magma is intruded at depths of >10 km, supplying volatiles by quenching, crystallising and vesiculating at the andesite‐mafic magma interface. Sulphur, carbon dioxide and other volatiles supplied to the system migrate to the surface and their fluxes remain high while mafic recharge at depth is sustained. Decompression degassing of porphyritic andesite supplies chlorine and water to the gas plume. Chlorine partitions into vapour from the melt during periods of active extrusion, making the HCl/SO2 ratio of volcanic gases a reliable indicator of the onset of eruptive activity. Studies of this volatile budget highlight the role of deep degassing and vapour production at arc volcanoes, which are important mechanisms for driving the eruption due to its effects on magma buoyancy and the advection of heat through the system.


The purposes of this investigation were to evaluate the characteristics of three consecutive menstrual cycles and to determine the frequency ofluteal phase deficiency (LPD) and anovulation in a sample of sedentary and moderately exercising, regularly menstruating women. For three consecutive menstrual cycles, subjects collected daily urine samples for analysis of FSH, estrone conjugates (E1C), pregnanediol-3-glucuronide (PdG), and creatinine (Cr). Sedentary (n=11) and exercising (n=24) groups were similar in age (27.0+/-1.3 yr), weight (60.3+/-3.1 kg), gynecological age (13.8+/-1.2 yr), and menstrual cycle length (28.3+/-0.8 days). Menstrual cycles were classified by endocrine data as ovulatory, LPD, or anovulatory. No sedentary women (0%) had inconsistent menstrual cycle classifications from cycle to cycle, but 46% of the exercising women were inconsistent. The sample prevalence of LPD in the exercising women was 48%, and the 3-month sample incidence was 79%. In the sedentary women, 90% of all menstrual cycles were ovulatory (SedOvul; n=28), whereas in the exercising women only 45% were ovulatory (ExOvul; n=30); 43% were LPD (ExLPD; n=28), and 12% were anovulatory (ExAnov; n=8). In ExLPD cycles, the follicular phase was significantly longer (17.9+/-0.7 days), and the luteal phase was significantly shorter (8.2+/-0.5 days) compared to ExOvul (14.8+/-0.9 and 12.9+/-0.3 days) and SedOvul (15.9+/-0.6 and 12.9+/-0.4 days) cycles. Luteal phase PdG excretion was lower (P < 0.001) in ExLPD (2.9+/-0.3 microg/mg Cr) and ExAnov (0.8+/-0.1 microg/mg Cr) cycles compared to SedOvul cycles (5.0+/-0.4 microg/mg Cr). ExOvul cycles also had less (P < 0.01) PdG excretion during the luteal phase (3.7+/-0.3 microg/mg Cr) than the SedOvul cycles. E1C excretion during follicular phase days 2-5 was lower (P=0.05) in ExOvul, ExLPD, and ExAnov cycles compared to SedOvul cycles and remained lower (P < 0.02) in the ExLPD and ExAnov cycles during days 6-12. The elevation in FSH during the luteal-follicular transition was lower (P < 0.007) in ExLPD (0.7+/-0.1 ng/mg Cr) cycles compared to SedOvul and ExOvul cycles (1.0+/-0.1 and 1.1+/-0.1 ng/mg Cr, respectively). Energy balance and energy availability were lower (P < 0.05) in ExAnov cycles than in other menstrual cycle categories. The blunted elevation in FSH during the luteal-follicular transition in exercising women with LPD may explain their lower follicular estradiol levels. These alterations in FSH may act in concert with disrupted LH pulsatility as a primary and proximate factor in the high frequency of luteal phase and ovulatory disturbances in regularly menstruating, exercising women.


Although Hurricane Katrina generated a compassionate public response toward those affected, it did not lead to a serious discourse about the nature of poverty in America, nor did it lead policymakers to re-examine antipoverty policies. In this paper, we present data on long-run trends in the economic status of African Americans and Whites. We demonstrate that even though earnings are lower and poverty rates are higher for African Americans than for Whites, the economic experiences of poor Americans have been similar over the last three decades. The period since the early 1970s has been an era of slow growth in median earnings for all workers and falling real earnings for less-educated men. Although the economy has generated increasing economic hardship for less-educated workers, antipoverty policies have not taken up the slack. If the United States had in place a more comprehensive safety net, the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the poor would have been smaller than they were. We discuss a series of policies that address the broad poverty problem that persists. However, since these safety net reforms are not likely to be implemented, we also propose a "disaster-assistance safety net" that could better serve the poor in the aftermath of any future natural or other disaster.


The paper tries to show that some general standards of EC law can be established already now for "horizontal liability" among private parties, as well as "vertical liability" for breaches of EC law by Community institutions under Art. 288 (2) EC or by Member states under the Francovich doctrine. The basic requirement is the violation of an EC law provision intending to protect private parties, e.g. under the competition or free movement rules. Remedies for compensation must be found under national law, but this must obey the principles of effectiveness and equivalence, which may be summarized as the principle of "adequate protection". The existing national remedies may need to be reshaped and "upgraded" if they do not meet EC standards. This will lead to a "hybridization of remedies" with regard to the basic requirements of a "sufficiently serious breach", causation, amount of compensation, and adequate procedures. Even if EC law must respect the diversity of Member State laws, it should still develop adequate, effective and equivalent common standards on compensation of EU citizens if their rights protected under Community law have been illegally violated by private parties.


To study the superplasticity of AZ31B magnesium alloy, hot compression tests were performed in forming temperature range from 280°C to 440°C and strain rate range from 0.001s-1 to 0.1s-1. The influence of deformation strain rate and forming temperature on flow stress was also analyzed detailed. It was shown that the flow stress of AZ31B was very sensitive to formpng temperature and stain rate, and was decreased with deformation temperature increasing, and was increased with stain rate increasing. However, no significant change of flow stress was observed at the temperature of 440°C and the strain rate below 0.01s-1. The activation energy of AZ31B in superplastic deformation was 141.6KJ•mol-1 and its constitutive equation was established also.


Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the dental students' hepatitis B vaccination and serological status according demographic data.
Methodology: A questionnaire prepared related to hepatitis B virus infection and demographic data of 290 students, educating at University of Firat and Dicle, Faculty of Dentistry in 2016-2017 academic year was distributed. Chi-square test analysis was used for statistical analysis. p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: In the study, it was determined that 17.9% of the students had hepatitis B in the family and 17.9% of them had seen themselves at risk. Of the 290 students who participated in this study, 42% were HBV vaccinated, 21.6% completed the vaccination scheme, 35% of the students had HBV carriers and 20.7% were controlling HBV serology. The higher class of students, the rate of development of vaccination, control of HBV serology, HBV carrier, and protective response increased significantly (p<0.01). Gender, parental level of education did not have a statistically significant effect on the answers given to the questions.
Conclusions: The level of awareness of HBV in dental school students is not at the desired level. We believe that the students who start the first semester of the dental school will be educated by the infection control committees collectively and vaccination will solve this problem.

How to cite this article: Talo Yildirim T, Acun Kaya F, Kaya CA. Assessment of Hepatitis B Vaccination Status of Students of Faculty of Dentistry. Int Dent Res 2017;7:46-53.
Linguistic Revision: The English in this manuscript has been checked by at least two professional editors, both native speakers of English.


Estimating the number of RFID tags in the region of interest is an important task in many RFID applications. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for efficiently estimating the approximate number of RFID tags. Compared with existing approaches, the proposed Probabilistic Estimating Tree (PET) protocol achieves O(loglogn) estimation efficiency, which remarkably reduces the estimation time while meeting the accuracy requirement. PET also largely reduces the computation and memory overhead at RFID tags. As a result, we are able to apply PET with passive RFID tags and provide scalable and inexpensive solutions for large-scale RFID systems. We validate the efficacy and effectiveness of PET through theoretical analysis as well as extensive simulations. Our results suggest that PET outperforms existing approaches in terms of estimation accuracy, efficiency, and overhead.


The purpose of this study was to look at individuals living on a gluten-free diet (GFD), their dietary adherence, PA levels and the reasons why they engage in these lifestyle behaviours consistent with Organismic Integration Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2002). Participants (N = 202; Mage = 42.35 years, SDage = 12.43 years) completed a series of online questionnaires. GFD adherence (74.7%) across the previous week was consistent with existing literature (Dowd et al., 2013), but participant physical activity scores were higher than reported normative values (p = .00; Wilson et al., 2010). Specific motives predicted gluten-free dietary adherence (i.e., integrated and identified regulations) and PA (i.e., intrinsic and identified regulations; p < .05). Findings may be used by health professionals to inform behavioural interventions consistent with OIT (Deci & Ryan, 2002).


The protection of cultural heritage is a fundamental public interest, closely connected to fundamental human rights and deemed to be among the best guarantees of international peace and security. Economic globalization has spurred a more intense dialogue and interaction among nations, potentially promoting cultural diversity. However, this phenomenon may also jeopardize cultural heritage. Foreign direct investments in the extraction of natural resources have the ultimate capacity to change cultural landscapes and erase memories. Foreign investment in cultural industries can induce cultural homogenization. However, international investment law constitutes a legally binding and highly effective regime that requires that states promote and facilitate foreign direct investment. Does the existing legal framework adequately protect cultural heritage vis-a-vis economic globalization? This Article investigates the distinct interplay between the promotion of foreign direct investment and the protection of cultural heritage in international law, addressing the question of whether a lex administrativa culturalis, or cultural administrative law, has emerged. In particular, this Article questions whether international investment law and arbitration can be a tool for enforcing international cultural law and whether arbitral tribunals can promote good and effective cultural governance.


This paper reviews the developmental literature on grammatical knowledge in language comprehension in the preschool years from the perspective of sensitivity to structural contrasts. This concept differs from mastery of individual grammatical structures. Structural sensitivity focuses on increments of partial grammatical knowledge that can be observed in distinctive response patterns to contrasting grammatical structures. Direct evidence of sensitivity to structural contrasts is found in comprehension studies that measured differential responding. Indirect evidence of sensitivity can also be discovered by detailed examination of the data presented in several additional studies. The evidence suggests that there may be a developmental sequence of increasing sensitivity with age to finer distinctions and to more detailed aspects of grammatical structure. The notion of sensitivity to structural contrasts has implications for future research.


By means of large scale first-principles calculations in the framework of density functional theory, structure and magnetism of 561 atom nanoparticles are compared in order to obtain a systematic picture of the evolution with respect to a change in the constitutional elements. The investigation comprises ordered and disordered, cuboctahedral, icosahedral and decahedral morphologies of composition A265B296, where A is one of Mn, Fe and Co and B is Pt and, additionally, with A = Fe and B = Ni, Pd, Pt, Ir and Au. Fe–Ir and Fe–Pd and Co–Pt exhibit in comparison with Fe–Pt an increased tendency to form multiply-twinned structures and prefer segregation of the heavier element to the surface. The latter trend also applies to Fe–Au, where, on the other hand, icosahedral and crystalline motifs are very close in energy. Only in Mn–Pt the formation of multiply-twinned structures is effectively suppressed. The combinations with reduced valence electron concentration, Mn–Pt and Fe–Ir, exhibit a strong preference for antiferromagnetic spin order. The structural and magnetic trends are tentatively related to the change in features in the element and site-resolved electronic density of states.


The millimeter-wave (MMW) backscatter response of bare-soil was examined by conducting experimental measurements at 35 and 94 GHz using a truck-mounted polarimetric scatterometer and by developing appropriate models to relate the backscattering coefficient to the soil's surface and volume properties. The experimental measurements were conducted for three soil surfaces with different roughnesses under both dry and wet conditions. The experimental measurements indicate that in general the backscattering coefficient is comprised of a surface scattering component /spl sigma//sup s/ and a volume scattering component /spl sigma//sup v/. For wet soil conditions, the backscatter is dominated by surface scattering, while for dry conditions both surface and volume scattering are significant, particularly at 94 GHz. Because theoretical surface scattering models were found incapable of predicting the measured backscatter, a semiempirical surface scattering model was developed that relates the surface scattering component of the total backscatter to the roughness parameter ks, where k=2/spl pi///spl lambda/ and s is the rms height, and the dielectric constant of the soil surface. Volume scattering was modeled using radiative transfer theory with the packed soil particles acting as the host material and the air voids as the scattering particles. The combined contribution of surface and volume scattering was found to provide good agreement between the model calculations and the experimental observations.


Abstract:Jewish Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) society is characterized by high fertility as part of what it sees as an inherent female identity. This article examines patterns of health behaviors and subjective experiences during pregnancy and childbirth among Israeli Haredi women, based on a qualitative study designed to investigate these phenomena within the Haredi cultural and social context. The research question of interest was: Given the importance of fertility and children in the Haredi population, how do women cope with normative pregnancy and childbirth experiences and with those that may be challenging, difficult or traumatic? Twenty Haredi women were interviewed, and the content of their interviews was analyzed.Six themes emerged that highlighted issues faced by Haredi women: social pressure to conceive; availability of social-communal resources for women after childbirth; seeking knowledge about reproductive health; medical practices and choices; traumatic experiences of reproductive events; and spiritual issues. These themes emphasized the unique characteristics of the Haredi woman's pregnancy and childbirth experiences. The findings point to the central role of the rabbi, religious faith and spirituality, considerations when using medical services and the importance of modesty as resources that help the women to navigate pregnancy and childbirth, which are seen as experiences that build identity among ultra-Orthodox women. Adverse reproductive events may lead to distress, but there is a reluctance to discuss them or seek treatment. The discussion integrates the findings with the current state of the literature, points to areas of change and adaptation and proposes practical recommendations that reflect the need to promote culturally sensitive reproductive health practices within the existing Israeli health care system.


We have determined the complete amino acid sequence of beta 2-glycoprotein I (Mr, congruent to 50,000), a human plasma protein that is associated with lipids and binds to platelets but whose function is not yet known. The protein consists of 326 amino acids and has five attached glucosamine-containing oligosaccharides. The protein is rich in cysteine and proline, and the sequence is notable for the frequent occurrence of Cys-Pro linkages at regular intervals. Computerized analysis of the sequence reveals five consecutive homologous segments in which cysteine, proline, and tryptophan appear to be highly conserved. This suggests that beta 2-glycoprotein I may have evolved by repeated duplications of a gene coding for a 60-amino acid segment of protein.


Objective : To evaluate the clinical efficacy between two GICs, Fuji IX (GC Int. Corp.) and Ketac Molar (3M ESPE), used in Atraumatic Restorative Treatments (ART). Materials and Methods : A total of 82 children age between 6 and 9 years old are included in this study. The materials criteria application followed the "split mouth" design, 71 restorations and 98 sealants were carried out with the Fuji IX in the left hemi arches and 70 restorations and 99 sealants were carried out with the Ketac Molar in the right hemi arches. The procedures were conducted in a school that did not have any dentistry equipment. Previously to the restorative procedure, the children were supervised during tooth brushing. A trained dentist carried out all the restorations and sealants at the school playground with natural light and the teeth were isolated with cotton rolls. The performance of the restorations and sealants was evaluated for visual inspection in a 12 month preliminary follow up by one blinded trained examiner. Results : No significant difference was shown between the success rate of the GICs Fuji IX and Ketac Molar for the restorations (p>0.05) and sealants (p>0.05). Regardless of the material, the success rates were 82% for the sealants, 76% for the class I and 73% for the class II restorations. Conclusion : The Atraumatic Restorative Treatment preliminary results provided curative and preventive treatments for patients who do not have access to conventional treatment.


Global warming has pronounced effects on tundra vegetation, and rising mean temperatures increase plant growth potential across the Arctic biome. Herbivores may counteract the warming impacts by reducing plant growth, but the strength of this effect may depend on prevailing regional climatic conditions. To study how ungulates interact with temperature to influence growth of tundra shrubs across the Arctic tundra biome, we assembled dendroecological data from 20 sites, comprising 1153 individual shrubs and 223 63 annual growth rings. Evidence for ungulates suppressing shrub radial growth was only observed at intermediate summer temperatures (6.5 °C–9 °C), and even at these temperatures the effect was not strong. Multiple factors, including forage preferences and landscape use by the ungulates, and favourable climatic conditions enabling effective compensatory growth of shrubs, may weaken the effects of ungulates on shrubs, possibly explaining the weakness of observed ungulate effects. Earlier local studies have shown that ungulates may counteract the impacts of warming on tundra shrub growth, but we demonstrate that ungulates' potential to suppress shrub radial growth is not always evident, and may be limited to certain climatic conditions.


Emotional stress of rats is accompanied by essential alterations in glycolysis and tricarboxylic acid cycle in the liver. These alterations were observed over a few days after the termination of stressor action. Perhaps it is one of the trigger mechanisms responsible for pathological changes in the organism.


This paper presents a system modeling based control scheme of an ultra precision positioning system for a grating ruling machine. Since the positioning system having a long stroke with ultra precision, the positioning system consists of a coarse positioning stage driven by a servo motor and a fine positioning stage driven by a piezoelectric ceramic. In order to improve positional accuracy and remove the noise components of motion, a hybrid control scheme based on the system modeling is implemented. Considering position-dependent and time-dependent behaviors of the stages, a model based LQ controller is utilized to the coarse stage and a PID feedback controller based on neural network is utilized to the fine stage. Experiment results reveal the efficient and robust of the control scheme and show that the positional accuracy has been readily achieved within 8.6 nm.


The value of nitrogen (N) field measurements for the calibration of parameters of the INCA nitrogen in catchment model is explored and quantified. A virtual catchment was designed by running INCA with a known set of parameters, and field 'measurements' were selected from the model run output. Then, using these measurements and the Shuffled Complex Evolution Metropolis algorithm (SCEM-UA), four of the INCA model parameters describing N transformations in the soil were optimised, while the measurement uncertainty was increased in subsequent steps. Considering measurement uncertainty typical for N field studies, none of the synthesised datasets contained sufficient information to identify the model parameters with a reasonable degree of confidence. Parameter equifinality occurred, leading to considerable uncertainty in model parameter values and in modelled N concentrations and fluxes. Fortunately, combining the datasets in a multi-objective calibration was found to be effective in dealing with these equifinality problems. With the right choice of calibration measurements, multi-objective calibrations resulted in lower parameter uncertainty. The methodology applied in this study, using a virtual catchment free of model errors, is proposed as a useful tool foregoing the application of a N model or the design of a N monitoring program. For an already gauged catchment, a virtual study can provide a point of reference for the minimum uncertainty associated with a model application. When setting up a monitoring program, it can help to decide what and when to measure. Numerical experiments indicate that for a forested, N-saturated catchment, a fortnightly sampling of NO 3 and NH 4 concentrations in stream water may be the most cost-effective monitoring strategy.


This dissertation examines the discourse that emerged in the late 1980s positing a "retour du romanesque" in French literature. Through a survey of the scholarly work on the subject of contemporary literature and the romanesque, as well as a close analysis of three major authors associated with the "retour du romanesque"--Jean Echenoz, Jean Rouaud, and Antoine Volodine--this dissertation aims to provide a fuller account of the modalities, stakes and goals of the contemporary novel. In particular, it seeks to address the question of how the contemporary return to the romanesque contributes to defining the aesthetic postulates that underpin the last thirty years of French literary production. The broader aim of this study is to interrogate the theoretical positions that might justify alternative readings of a development that could otherwise be considered purely in terms of regression to conservative standards of literary quality. The three authors considered in this study are exemplary of the diverse understandings of the developments of 20th-century literature, and the ways in which these understandings influence decisions pertaining to literary kinship and filiation. Jean Echenoz riffs on the standards of conventional genre fiction, at once sabotaging and renewing its cliches. Jean Rouaud polemically refuses what he sees as a tradition of experimental fiction, and returns to the romanesque as a literature of slow contemplation and strong axiological positions. Antoine Volodine constructs violent alternate realities, as well as an entire fictional community, in an attempt to sever his literary works from any relation to literary past, present, or future. This dissertation finally argues that these writing projects all point to the need for a theoretical paradigm which would reconcile critical and naive, reflective and immersive reading practices. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Romance Languages First Advisor Gerald Prince


Object brightness estimation is an important task at the stage of quality control in manufacturing of, e.g., lighting products, paintwork materials, interior items, etc. Thus in addition to the direct evaluation of reflective and light-emitting material properties visual evaluation happens to be essential. So the properties of the material should be assessed in terms of human brightness perception, that is, we need estimation of object's perceived brightness. In this paper, we propose a solution to the problem of object's integral perceived brightness estimation using high dynamic range images as input. High dynamic range image contains luminance values of physical objects, so considering them allows obtaining a more correct result, compared to working with single low dynamic range image. In general, the proposed method consists of two steps: the global and the local transformation of brightness. Both steps are based on psychophysical researches and increase the precision. Experimental verification has shown the superiority of the proposed method of integral subjective brightness estimation over several simpler methods, including simple averaging of luminance.


KNH 103. Introduction to the Profession of Dietetics. (2) An introductory course for students interested in Dietetics. Content will include the history, current practices and future trends in Dietetics. This course covers the practical application of principles from the integration of knowledge of food, nutrition, biochemistry, physiology, management and behavioral and social science. Students will explore career opportunities in Dietetics including an overview of the dietetic internship application process.


Powder metallurgy-based technologies of saw blades production for stone cutting normally uses cobalt as binder agent. Cobalt was chosen for that purpose because it provides improved properties, high wettability and good adhesion between dispersed diamond particles. In addition to its excellent physical properties, cobalt also shows a positive behavior associated with the control of diamond graphitization at temperatures up to 1000°C. In this work, an experimental planning method supported by a mathematical algorithm was used to study the influence of doping agents incorporated into cobalt-based binders. The consequences on the wear resistance of saw blades, as well as on other physical and mechanical properties of the "diamond-cobalt-doping agent" composites were investigated. Cr3C2, Si, Ni and Fe were used as doping agents. Experimental tests were carried out using granite as a base material for wear and cutting operations.


David Myers's critique of my proposed Molinist solution to the so-called soteriological problem of evil miscontrues that solution in several key respects. Once those misinterpretations are rectified, it emerges that his proffered critique of my Molinist solution is really quite unrelated to that solution, but constitutes instead an independent argument against the tenability of a religious epistemology of evidentialism in the context of Christian orthodoxy.


Processes of exclusion operate to disadvantage students along social class, race and gender lines. For students from backgrounds that are not part of the success regime, significant scaffolding by teachers is needed if they are to be successful. In this paper we discuss two key factors that shape the learning environments for learning mathematics. First, the expectations teachers (and students) have of learners of mathematics significantly shape the experiences that will be provided for learners. The other significant factor is the discourse of 'ability' that permeates mathematics more than any other curriculum area. Learners are frequently described (and inscribed) as having some abilities (or not having them) that predispose them to success in mathematics. This notion is treated as unproblematic and is seen as the reason why some students are more likely to be successful (or not) in their study of mathematics. While recognising the potential of individual differences within any group, in the second section of this paper we propose a number of features of a more inclusive pedagogy that we believe will work toward more equitable outcomes for all students.


Recommendation engines (RE) are becoming highly popular, e.g., in the area of e-commerce. A RE offers new items (products or content) to users based on their profile and historical data. The most popular algorithms used in RE are based on collaborative filtering. This technique makes recommendations based on the past behavior of other users and the similarity between users and items. Metrics used for the computation of similarity include Euclidean distance, cosine distance, and correlation based distances. We have examined alternative similarity definitions based on the properties of the networks formed by users and items. The evaluated similarity metrics use graph theoretic concepts like the degree, several centrality measures, and ow maximization. In this paper we present how the techniques proposed have been evaluated in a real environment for the recommendation of applications to smartphone users. Training the RE required the pre-processing of a large dataset consisting of around 1 billion records. A big data environment, based on Hadoop/Elastic Map Reduce, HBase, and Pig was set up for building and processing the application and user graphs. The big data environment reduced the processing time from more than one week in a single machine, to a couple of hours in the Hadoop cluster. Hence, the application of big data techniques allows a near real-time re-training of the RE.


The comparative study of the properties of the surface of vaccine strain Y. pestis EV and its achromogenic variants (AV) differing from the initial strain by decreased immunogenicity and by the morphology of colonies, has been made. The achromogenicity of Y. pestis colonies has been shown to correlate with the loss of the outer membrane protein with a molecular weight 22 kD. The synthesis of this protein is determined by chromosomal genes. AV have been found to have different sensitivity to bacteriophages. The analysis of the electrokinetic potential of Y. pestis EV and its AV has revealed that in the latter have surface charge is considerably greater (1.4- to 1.5-fold). As shown in this study, the hemagglutinating activity of AV with respect to red blood cells of humans with blood group I (O) and guinea pigs is decreased by 1-2 orders and these strains do not agglutinate with sheep red blood cells. The low activity of the initial stage of the phagocytosis of AV by mouse macrophages has been shown. The possible role of the 22 kD proteins as an adhesion factor is discussed.


Parallel A/D converter structures is one way to increase the sampling rate. Instead of increasing the sample rate in one A/D converter, several A/D converters with lower sampling rate can be used instead. A problem in these structures is that the time between samples is usually not equal because there are errors in the delays between the A/D converters. We present a method to estimate the timing offset errors. The estimation algorithm works without any special calibration signal, instead the normal input signal is used. The only assumption that we need on the input signal is that most of the energy is concentrated to a low pass band, below about 1/3 of the Nyquist frequency. Simulations of the time-interleaved A/D converter show that the method estimates the errors with high accuracy.


Chronic hepatitis C in long term survivors of haematological malignancy treated at a single centre In their review of 42 long term survivors of haematological malignancy Neilson et al' found two patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Of the remaining eight patients with raised aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity only two were explained by either hepatitis B virus infection or chronic graft versus host disease (GvHD), leaving six patients with unexplained liver dysfunction. We are interested in the cause of continuing abnormal liver function in these patients in the light of our own experience of following long term survivors of haematological malignancy. A review of our patients revealed that 21 were in complete remission more than three years after treatment. Two of these patients were HCV positive. They were diagnosed in 1986 and 1990 and received 41 and 28 units of blood, respectively. Five patients had raised AST activities, including both HCV positive patients. All five patients had serum ferritin concentrations (normal range 20-300 ng/ml) above the normal limit (median 863 ng/ml; range 395-4860 ng/ml). Three patients had hepatic siderosis confirmed on liver biopsy. Murphy et al' reviewed survivors of allogeneic and autologous bone marrow transplant alive one year after transplantation and found that 38 (43%) of 88 had raised


The so-called "Baldwin Effect" has been studied for years in the fields of Artificial Life, Cognitive Science, and Evolutionary Theory across disciplines. This idea is often conflated with genetic assimilation, and has raised controversy in trans-disciplinary scientific discourse due to the many interpretations it has. This paper revisits the "Baldwin Effect" in Baldwin's original spirit from a joint historical, theoretical and experimental approach. Social Heredity – the inheritance of cultural knowledge via non-genetic means in Baldwin's term – is also taken into account. I shall argue that the Baldwin Effect can occur via social heredity without necessity for genetic assimilation, instead the Baldwin Effect can promote more plasticity to facilitate future intelligence when the fidelity of social heredity is high. Computational experiments are then carried out to support the hypothesis of interest. The role of mind and intelligence in evolution and its implications in an extended synthesis of evolution are briefly discussed.


The macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD) measures network-level traffic performance of urban road networks. Large-scale networks are normally partitioned into homogeneous regions in relation to road network topology and traffic dynamics. Existing partitioning algorithms rely on unbiased data. Unfortunately, widely available stationary traffic sensors introduce a spatial bias and may fail to identify meaningful regions for MFD estimations. Thus, it is crucial to revisit and develop stationary-sensor-based partitioning algorithm. This paper proposes an alternative two-step partitioning algorithm for MFD estimations based on information collected solely from stationary sensors. In a first step, possible partitioning outcomes are generated in the road networks using random walks. In a second step, the regions' MFDs are estimated under every possible partitioning outcome. Based on previous work, an indicator is proposed to evaluate the traffic heterogeneity in regions. The proposed partitioning approach is tested with an abstract grid network and empirical data from Zurich. In addition, the results are compared with an algorithm that disregards stationary detectors' biases. The results demonstrate that the proposed approach performs well for obtaining the quasi-optimal network partitions yielding the lowest heterogeneity among all possible partition outcomes. The presented approach not only complements existing literature, but also offers practice-oriented solutions for transport authorities to estimate the MFDs with their available data.


The comparison of human development indicators in Table 1 shows that Pakistan's performance is below the average for South Asian countries and below the average for the developing countries. Furthermore, gender differences in human development are also significant within country and across countries. For example, in 1999, differences in male and female literacy rate was 24 points in Pakistan, higher then the difference in less developed countries (equalling 15 points). [See HDC (2001)]. Similarly, within Pakistan, male literacy rate increased from 35 percent in 1980-81 to 56.6 percent in 1998-99 whereas female literacy rate increased from 16 percent in 1980-81 to 32.6 percent in 1998-99. This shows that despite doubling of female literacy rate, the gap between male and female literacy rate widened from 19 percent in 1980-81 to 24 percent in 1998-99. Similarly, another indicator of human capital, i.e., the net enrolment rates at primary level exhibited a declining trend in 1990s, particularly among males. An important reason for the decline could be rise in poverty. Table 2 shows a sustained increase in net enrolment ratio with income, and the positive income effect is higher in urban areas. In rural areas, the enrolment rate increases with income but there is slight decline in female enrolment rate at the highest income level. Thus, despite rapid rise in female enrolment the gender, differences persist and income is the main factor affecting demand for education.


Activity of a neuron, even in the early sensory areas, is not simply a function of its local receptive field or tuning properties, but depends on global context of the stimulus, as well as the neural context. This suggests the activity of the surrounding neurons and global brain states can exert considerable influence on the activity of a neuron. In this paper we implemented an L1 regularized point process model to assess the contribution of multiple factors to the firing rate of many individual units recorded simultaneously from V1 with a 96-electrode "Utah" array. We found that the spikes of surrounding neurons indeed provide strong predictions of a neuron's response, in addition to the neuron's receptive field transfer function. We also found that the same spikes could be accounted for with the local field potentials, a surrogate measure of global network states. This work shows that accounting for network fluctuations can improve estimates of single trial firing rate and stimulus-response transfer functions.


Our data indicate that critical and postcritical reflections from crustal layers and the Moho produced increased shaking at discrete distances along the San Francisco Peninsula during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. These reflections may have produced an increase in amplitude that is as much as 10 times greater than that of the direct arrival. Peak amplitude-distance patterns measured from explosive sources, synthetic seismograms, aftershocks, and the mainshock of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake indicate that (1) point sources, such as explosions, produce similar peak amplitude-distance relations as distributed, double-couple sources when the crustal structure is approximately a Poisson solid; (2) peak amplitudes from smaller point sources (explosions) may be scaled to those of larger sources (earthquakes); and (3) reflections caused a pattern of high amplitudes at specific distances along the San Francisco Peninsula that geographically correlates with areas of reported damage following from the Loma Prieta mainshock. Our study indicates that critical and postcritical reflections were stronger influences on the locations of strong shaking than local geology because a number of sites around the San Francisco Bay that are underlain by unconsolidated sediments experienced much less shaking than sites that were underlain by hard rock. Furthermore, some severely shaken hard-rock sites were farther from the epicenter than many of the less severely shaken "soft-sediment" sites. Models of the regional crustal structure and seismic-wave propagation paths may be useful in identifying sites around the San Francisco Bay region that are at risk due to reflected seismic energy, and this type of analysis may be useful in other seismically active regions.


We have investigated the contribution of an individual nucleus to intracellular and surface membranes in multinucleated muscle fibers. Using a retroviral vector, we introduced the gene encoding the human T- lymphocyte antigen CD8 into C2 mouse muscle cells to form a stable line expressing the human protein on its surface. The intracellular and surface distributions of the protein were then investigated by immunocytochemistry in hybrid myotubes containing a single nucleus expressing CD8. We show that the intracellular distribution of CD8 is limited to a local area surrounding the nucleus encoding it and several neighboring nuclei. On the cell surface, however, the protein is distributed over the entire myotube. Widespread distribution of a surface membrane protein in multinucleated myotubes can thus result from localized synthesis and processing.


"Throw out your old atlas. The new version is here". (Walter Kirn, author of "Up in the Air"). From Dubai to Amsterdam, Memphis to South Korea, a new phenomenon is reshaping the way we live and transforming the way we do business: the aerotropolis. A combination of giant airport, planned city and business hub, the aerotropolis will be at the heart of the next phase of globalization. Drawing on a decade's worth of cutting-edge research, John Kasarda and Greg Lindsay offer a visionary look at how the metropolis of the future will bring us together - and how to make the most of this opportunity.


The ability to sense and measure object properties based on touch is known as tactile sensing. The flexibility and dexterity of soft robots can be fully explored, only with efficient tactile feedback from the environment or the objects the robot interact with. This paper discusses about the development of a soft fabric based piezoresistive tactile sensor, the related calibration experiments and procedures. Fabric based sensors are flexible, stretchable and can confer to both hard and soft surfaces easily. The ability of the tactile sensor to enhance the efficiency of robotic activities is demonstrated in a simple cutting task. The robotic end effector used is a pneumatically controlled soft gripper. Experimental results show that the feedback from the tactile sensor developed is successfully used to detect the completion of the cutting task.


Embeddedness theory provides significant insight into understanding the dynamics that constrain and drive the behaviors of IT professionals. Embeddedness provides a frame for understanding the behavior of IT professionals in a variety of different settings, including their job, their place in the IT function, their place in their employing organization, and their relationship with their profession. Furthermore, embeddedness can explain how factors germane to the IT profession, such as learning demands, IT skills development and training can influence individual level outcomes, such as organizational citizenship behaviors, performance, absenteeism and turnover. We intend to gather data from a sample of IT professionals and will conduct data analysis via structural equation modeling.


Introduction: the article considers the issues concerning transactions made by a debtor in anticipation of the bankruptcy and being challenged as those having caused harm as a result of rendering preference to one of the creditors. Special attention is given to the analysis of judicial and arbitration practice. Purpose: to analyze the grounds and general procedure for challenging transactions with preference, as well as the criteria allowing court to find the third party being honest or dishonest while making the transaction with the debtor. Methods: analytical, system, comparative legal, technical-legal methods are used. Results: the article emphasizes the need for more accurate definition of the concept "preferable satisfaction". It is noted that this concept is not specified in the Bankruptcy law of Russia, which leads to its broad interpretation. Declaration of a transaction with preference as invalid requires existence of any of the conditions specified in Art. 61.3 of the Bankruptcy law. As this list is open, preference can take place in other cases, apart from those on the list. Conclusions: when working out regulations on challenging a debtor's transactions, the legislature used rather complicated legal construction. This was done with the aim of protecting rights and interests of all participants of bankruptcy relations by means of combining objective and subjective grounds for holding transactions invalid in the most efficient manner.


A Pd/AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistor (HFET)-type hydrogen gas sensor, based on the sensitization, activation, and electroless plating (EP) deposition processes, is fabricated and studied. Due to the used sensitization and activation approaches, a dense and uniform EP seed layer could be achieved. Good dc and microwave characteristics, including the higher turn-on voltage, lower reverse leakage current, improved thermal stability of drain current, enhanced unity current gain cutoff frequency, and maximum oscillation frequency, are obtained for a 1-m-gate-length device. Moreover, the significant hydrogen gas sensing performance, such as larger drain current variation and higher hydrogen detection sensitivity, are found under 1% and 5 ppm H2/air ambiences, respectively. Consequently, the studied EP-based Pd/AlGaN/GaN HFET gives the promise for high-performance electronic device and hydrogen gas sensor applications.


We present a theoretical study of an ensemble of X-like four-level atoms placed in an optical cavity driven by a linearly polarized field. We show that the self-rotation (SR) process leads to polarization switching (PS). Below the PS threshold, both the mean field mode and the orthogonal vacuum mode are squeezed. We provide a simple analysis of the phenomena responsible for the squeezing and trace the origin of vacuum squeezing not to SR, but to a crossed Kerr effect induced by the mean field. Last, we show that this vacuum squeezing can be interpreted as polarization squeezing.


There has been a rapid growth in the number and variety of applications of fuzzy logic. The successes of fuzzy logic have also generated a skeptical reaction. Most of the criticisms directed at fuzzy logic are rooted in a misunderstanding of what it is and/or a lack of familiarity with it. In many cases, what is not recognized is that the term fuzzy logic (FL) is actually used in two different senses. In a narrow sense, fuzzy logic (FLn) is a logical system which is an extension of multivalued logic and is intended to serve as a logic of approximate reasoning. But in a wider sense, fuzzy logic (FLw) is more or less synonymous with the theory of fuzzy sets (FST). Today the term fuzzy logic is used predominantly in its wider sense. It is in this sense that any field X can be fuzzified-and hence generalized by replacing the concept of a crisp set in X by a fuzzy set. What is gained through fuzzification is greater generality, higher expressive power, an enhanced ability to model real-world phenomena and a methodology for exploiting the tolerance for imprecision. Most of the applications of fuzzy logic relate to control in the context of industrial systems and consumer products. What is discernible, however, is (a) the trend toward the use of fuzzy logic in task-oriented-rather than set-point-oriented-control; and (b) the incorporation of fuzzy logic and neural network techniques in the conception and design of complex systems in which control and expert system techniques are used in combination.<<ETX>>


Background: The aim of this study was to determine physical activity profiles of the main referee and the assistant referee during official championship matches. Material/Methods: Motor activity of 10 referees and 10 assistant referees was studied during 10 matches of the championship rank in the period from April to November 2016. Using a POLAR M400 heart rate monitor with a built-in GPS sensor, the total distance covered during refereeing, the mean and the maximum speed, and the intensity of the refereeing effort were analyzed. Results: It was found that the main referee covered the mean distance of 7.75 km, while the assistant referee 4.40 km. The main referee's mean heart rate was higher by 25 bt/min than that of the assistant, and the mean maximum heart rates were 184.9 bt/min and 166.6 bt/min, respectively. The assistant referee had the mean maximum running speed of 19.97 km/h. In general, the mean running speed of the main referee was higher than the assistant referee's mean speed. Conclusions: Differences in physical activity between the main referee and the assistant referee indicate.


This letter presents a new entropy measure for electroencephalograms (EEGs), which reflects the underlying dynamics of EEG over multiple time scales. The motivation behind this study is that neurological signals such as EEG possess distinct dynamics over different spectral modes. To deal with the nonlinear and nonstationary nature of EEG, the recently developed empirical mode decomposition (EMD) is incorporated, allowing an EEG to be decomposed into its inherent spectral components, referred to as intrinsic mode functions (IMFs). By calculating Shannon entropy of IMFs in a time-dependent manner and summing them over adaptive multiple scales, the result is an adaptive subscale entropy measure of EEG. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed entropy properly reveals the dynamical changes over multiple scales. key words: EEG, adaptive subscale entropy, empirical mode decomposition, intrinsic mode function


Objective: Caesarean section rates have significantly increased in the past decade in the United States. To make an attempt at lowering these rates, it is important to first understand how states' rates compare with each other and which factors correlate with these rates. Then, possible ways to impact these rates can be suggested. This investigation sought to determine whether or not there is a significant difference between the rates of caesarean sections in Utah, United States and New Jersey, United States using representative hospitals' data. Also, we sought to evaluate selected socioeconomic factors and their possible correlation with higher or lower caesarean rates in each United States' states. Methods: Information collected from various federal and private sources were utilized to collect caesarean section rate data. These data were correlated to selected variables including average birthing age, logarithm of the percent of females in the workforce, median household income, number of hospitals, logarithm of the percent of people who have graduated with a Bachelor's degree or higher, average number of people in a household, and the standard of living. A Linear Multiple Regression Model and T-Test were utilized to determine significance of each variable. Results: There was a statistical difference between the caesarean section rates of Utah and the caesarean section rates of New Jersey. The p-value obtained from the T-Test was 1.805*10-5. Therefore, there is a significant difference between the two states' caesarean data. The variables birthing age, logarithm of the percent of females working, and the number of hospitals significantly correlated with caesarean section rates. Median household income, logarithm of the percent of people who have graduated with a Bachelor's degree or higher and average number of people in a household did not significantly correlate with caesarean section rate data. Conclusion: It appears that there are several economic factors that significantly correlate with caesarean section rates. Other economic factors which did not appear significant may have had several conflicting components, which under estimated any true significance. Understanding these factors may permit us to develop strategies to impact the caesarean section rate.


: Stress in the workplace is now widely recognized as a major problem facing American industry. A growing number of companies are offering some form of stress management intervention. However, for those seeking to introduce stress management activities, too little in the way of guidance and direction has been available. This chapter aims to help organizations better understand the sources and dynamics of stress at the worksite and examines how they can reasonably assess, implement, and evaluate their stress management options.


Background: Excitotoxicity may contribute to neuronal degeneration in Huntington's disease (HD). N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists can prevent neuronal degeneration caused by excitotoxicity, but their effects in HD patients are not known. Methods: We investigated the acute cognitive, behavioral, and motor effects of the NMDA-receptor antagonist ketamine in HD patients. Double-blind infusions of 0.10, 0.40, and 0.60 mg/kg/hr ketamine were given to 10 HD patients on one test day and compared with placebo infusions on a second, identical testing day. Linear mixed-effects models and randomization tests were used to identify whether, and at which dose, a significant change from baseline occurred in outcome variables. Results: We demonstrated that ketamine is well tolerated at low and intermediate subanesthetic doses. Intermediate ketamine doses produced specific decline in memory and verbal fluency. Higher subanesthetic doses caused a significant increase in psychiatric symptoms and impairment of eye movements. Conclusions: These results describe the spectrum of clinical effects produced by increasing NMDA receptor blockade in HD patients. The clinical effects appearing with higher levels of NMDA receptor blockade can identify the range of doses used in clinical trials of NMDA receptor antagonists.


Abstract. Over the past 2 to 3 decades the concept of using sound generated by the interparticle collisions of mobile bed material has been investigated to assess if underwater sound can be utilised as a proxy for the estimation of bedload transport. In principle the acoustic approach is deemed to have the potential to provide non-intrusive, continuous, high-temporal-resolution measurements of bedload transport. It has been considered that the intensity of the sound radiated should be related to the amount of mobile material and the frequency spectrum to the size of the material. To be able to fully realise this use of acoustics requires an understanding of the parameters which control the generation of sound as particles impact. In the present work the aim is to provide scientists developing acoustics to measure bedload transport with a description of how sound is generated when particles undergo collision underwater. To investigate the properties of the sound generated, examples are provided under different conditions of impact. It is considered that providing an overview of the origins of the sound generation will provide a basis for the interpretation of acoustic data, collected in the marine environment for the study of bedload sediment transport processes.


The first year of law school is a challenging time: adapting to new surroundings; making new friends; absorbing new ideas, and developing new ways of learning, thinking, speaking and performing – all with the added pressure of high academic achievement. This paper explores the important role of modern law teachers as guides and mentors for the students' transformative journey. As experienced first year teachers in the LLB program, the authors have devoted considerable efforts to developing a program that facilitates a smooth transition for law students. We believe law teachers have a unique opportunity as well as a responsibility to facilitate positive transformation. This paper outlines the unique First Year LLB program that has been developed and refined over a number of years at the University of Wollongong.


For thousands of years, the merits of salt were considered with high esteem. It made meals palatable and served as an efficient food preservative. It is only in the last hundred years that some medical scientists started to question the innocuity of usual salt intake. They held salt responsible for the induction of arterial hypertension and associated pathologies, and subsequently, for a number of other disease states. Those with the most profound conviction of its implication in health bondage called it the 'poisonous gift of Neptune'. It is not our intention to enter the ongoing debate on what is the most appropriate intake of salt. The relation between salt and sexuality is a matter for serious consideration, both with regard to an ancient myth related to Aphrodite and with regard to the association between salt appetite and reproduction. Restriction of salt intake has major effects on procreation, gestation and lactation. Salt-induced alterations of neurophysiological functions and sexual behaviour have already been presumed by the ancient Greeks. Later on, these assumptions received scientific support. Mythology is a kind of counter-narrative description of what cannot be explained rationally as long as science prolegomena are not connected with human experience. Focussing on Aphrodite's myth, we shall try first to consider how salt, a mere mineral substance, is intimately related to the goddess of love in a recurrent struggle against sterility and death.


The ability of some soil microorganisms and their biofilm combinations to convert insolubleforms of phosphorus to an accessible form is an important trait associated with plant Pnutrition. The phosphorus solubilizing potential of bacteria and fungi isolated from Hevearhizosphere and their effective biofilm communities were evaluated using solid and liquidmedia under in vitro conditions. Phosphate solubilization ability of them were tested oncalcium phosphate media by analysing the soluble P content after incubation at 28±2°C. Outof the microbial isolates, 10 bacterial colonies and one fungal colony formed haloes (clearzones) around the isolate growing on solid media containing calcium phosphate as the solephosphate source. Spectrophotometric quantification of phosphorus solubilization in theliquid media showed that the ten bacterial isolates, and ten fungal isolates solubilizedinsoluble calcium phosphate in to the liquid media in the range of 200 – 450 and 200 – 300mg P L-1 respectively. Biofilm showed significantly higher P solubilization (853.3±25.17 mgP L-1) than their bacteria and fungi counterparts alone. Phosphate solubilization of bacteria,fungi and their biofilm could be attributed to the secretion of organic acids. A significant dropin the pH of the broth media (4.7 to 5.6) compared to the pH of the control treatment (6.8-7.0)was observed. pH change in the media could be due to secretion of organic acids bymicroorganisms and/or utilisation of compounds in the broth media. Although there was asignificant synergistic effect on P solubilization due to biofilm formation, pH in the liquidmedia of their mono cultures and biofilm were not significantly different. This observationwarrants further investigation.


Background: Debate continues about what split-thickness skin graft donor-site dressing provides the best outcomes for patients at the lowest cost. The goal of this systematic review was to determine which donor-site dressings are associated with the best outcomes for the following: pain, infection rate, healing quality, healing rate, quality of life, and cost. Methods: A comprehensive literature review and assessment was undertaken by two independent reviewers. Articles were selected using specific inclusion criteria. Split-thickness skin graft donor-site dressings were classified as either moist or nonmoist based on the state of the dressing upon initial application. Methodological quality of randomized controlled trials was assessed using the Jadad scale. Results: Seventy-five relevant articles were included in the final analysis, three of which were review articles. The most commonly measured outcome was healing rate (64 of 72), followed by pain (58 of 72), infection rate (40 of 72), healing quality (40 of 72), and cost (15 of 72). No studies measured quality of life. The majority of articles were randomized controlled trials (35 of 75), followed by observational studies (22 of 75), unsystematic clinical observations (15 of 75), and review articles (three of 75). It was difficult to compare moist and nonmoist dressings in this review because of the methodological heterogeneity of the included articles. The available evidence suggests, however, that moist dressings are superior in terms of pain. Conclusions: Some weak evidence exists that supports "wet dressings." To determine the best split-thickness skin graft donor-site dressing, more methodologically sound randomized controlled trials are needed. Trials with parallel economic evaluations should be undertaken to answer this question.


INTRODUCTION
An improved understanding of the interdependence of transcriptional and genomic control of bone loss is critical for the design of effective and safe countermeasures for osteoporosis in space and on Earth. In an effort to test whether molecular pathways modulating the loss of functional weight bearing are dependent on genetic makeup, we quantified the differential expression of genes critical to the early stages of bone remodeling in two different strains of mice.

METHODS
Adult (4-mo-old) female BALB/cByJ (BALB) and C3H/HeJ (C3H) mice, strains with different sensitivities to unloading, were subjected to hind-limb unloading (HLU) or normal cage activities. RNA was extracted from the tibia following 4 d of HLU and expression levels were determined.

RESULTS
In the BALB mice, HLU significantly altered transcriptional levels of osterix (-36%), alkaline phosphatase (-36%), osteonectin (-44%), collagen type 1 (-55%), MMP2 (-36%), osteocalcin (-68%), and osteopontin (+28%). This expression pattern was highly correlated (R2 = 0.75) with altered expression levels in the C3H mice, but the magnitude of altered mRNA levels was less than half of those in the BALB mice. These strain-specific changes in gene expression were consistent with the differential changes in bone formation, as determined in a second group of BALB and C3H mice.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
These data indicate that genetics may influence the absolute changes in gene expression of genes during spaceflight, but that the molecular pathways targeted by countermeasures of bone loss may not need to be specific to an individual's genetic makeup.


This study examined the empirical impact of parental education on child health. Using Cameroon household consumption survey data collected by the government statistics office in 2001 and a range of econometric methods, the existence of prominent spillover effects linking parental literacy to better child health (weight-given age) was empirically validated, while controlling for other correlates. The magnitudes of these influences varied by gender. Households headed by literate males appeared more instrumental in seeking useful health practices than those by their female counterparts. This finding was attributable to the observation that female heads are typically single parents while their male counterparts often work in synergy with their spouses when seeking healthcare technologies. Thus, public expenditures on adult literacy/training programmes could have important implications for reproductive health and additional labour market/training opportunities if a child was in good health. Keywords : Parental Education, Child Health, Control Functions, Cameroon.


We study the dynamics and stability in a strongly interacting resonantly driven two-band model. Using exact numerical simulations, we find a stable regime at large driving frequencies where the time evolution is governed by a local Floquet Hamiltonian that is approximately conserved out to very long times. For slow driving, on the other hand, the system becomes unstable and heats up to infinite temperature. While thermalization is relatively fast in these two regimes (but to different ``temperatures''), in the crossover between them we find slow nonthermalizing time evolution: temporal fluctuations become strong and temporal correlations long lived. Microscopically, we trace back the origin of this nonthermalizing time evolution to the properties of rare Floquet many-body resonances, whose proliferation at lower driving frequency removes the approximate energy conservation, and thus produces thermalization to infinite temperature.


Objective— Sleep apnea (SA) has been linked with various forms of cardiovascular disease, but little is known about its association with peripheral artery disease (PAD) measured using the ankle–brachial index. This relationship was evaluated in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos. Approach and Results— We studied 8367 Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos participants who were 45 to 74 years of age. Sleep symptoms were examined with the self-reported Sleep Health Questionnaire. SA was assessed using an in-home sleep study. Systolic blood pressure was measured in all extremities to compute the ankle–brachial index. PAD was defined as ankle–brachial index <0.90 in either leg. Multivariable logistic regression was used to investigate the association between moderate-to-severe SA, defined as apnea–hypopnea index ≥15, and the presence of PAD. Analyses were adjusted for covariates. The prevalence of PAD was 4.7% (n=390). The mean apnea–hypopnea index was significantly higher among adults with PAD compared with those without (11.1 versus 8.6 events/h; P=0.046). After adjusting for covariates, moderate-to-severe SA was associated with a 70% increase in the odds of PAD (odds ratio, 1.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.1–2.5; P=0.0152). This association was not modified by sex (P=0.8739). However, there was evidence that the association between moderate-to-severe SA and PAD varied by Hispanic/Latino background (P<0.01). Specifically, the odds were stronger in Mexican (adjusted odds ratio, 2.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.3–6.2) and in Puerto Rican Americans (adjusted odds ratio, 2.0; 95% confidence interval, 0.97–4.2) than in other backgrounds. Conclusions— Moderate-to-severe SA is associated with higher odds of PAD in Hispanic/Latino adults.


The major advantages of the true eddy accumulation technique are that it is a direct method for flux measurements and applicable to any trace gases which need either a slow response sensor or the installation of an adsorbent for condensation. However, it is di$cult to accurately take the sample air with high time resolution according to vertical wind velocity and direction. Therefore, we have developed an air sampling system for the true eddy accumulation technique. The air sampling system is designed to take updraft and downdraft air samples in proportion to vertical wind velocity with high time resolution using syringes connected to a .*Hz stepping-motor. The system is also designed to accumulate air samples in separate reservoirs for updraft and downdraft, and to convey air samples to the gas analyzer alternately to detect their gas concentration automatically. To test how precisely air samples are taken with high time resolution, the sample volumes by the system under conditions of di#erent suction durations and input voltages were measured. The results of this experiment showed the system with the back flow route was able successfully to take air samples in proportion to vertical wind velocity on a base of 1Hz considering the problem of suction errors. The preliminary test in a grass field showed that the accumulated sample volume during one measurement sequence was proportional to the amount of accumulated vertical wind velocity. The linear relations were recognized between CO, flux measured using the system and that measured using the eddy correlation technique. These results lead to the conclusion the developed air sampling system for the true eddy accumulation technique is available to measure CO, flux.


In January 2014, the European Commission proposed the introduction of a Market Stability Reserve (MSR) to improve the functioning of the European carbon emission trading scheme. This article is an attempt to enlighten the possible effects of such a reserve on the functioning of the EU ETS using the behavior-based simulation model Zephyr, specifically designed for representing imperfect inter-temporal compliance behavior in a simple framework. Our results suggest that the MSR can indeed raise the price in the short-medium term, reduce the number of allowances in circulation and foster earlier emission reductions. Nevertheless, it would do so at the expense of higher overall costs, because allowances are unlikely to be returned entirely to the market when needed, thus reinforcing the cap. The MSR also does not seem to have the desired dampening effect in case of external shocks. We conclude that although the MSR can help trigger early abatement and put Europe on a more ambitious abatement pathway over the long term, in the frame of our methodology, it seems unlikely that such a reserve make market participants and the public authority more able to deal with uncertainties in the future.


Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are widely recognized as intriguing building blocks for high-performance electronics and catalysis owing to their unique width-dependent bandgap and ample lone pair electrons on both sides of GNR, respectively, over the graphene nanosheet counterpart. However, it remains challenging to mass-produce kilogram-scale GNRs to render their practical applications. More importantly, the ability to intercalate nanofillers of interest within GNR enables in-situ large-scale dispersion and retains structural stability and properties of nanofillers for enhanced energy conversion and storage. This, however, has yet to be largely explored. Herein, we report a rapid, low-cost freezing-rolling-capillary compression strategy to yield GNRs at a kilogram scale with tunable interlayer spacing for situating a set of functional nanomaterials for electrochemical energy conversion and storage. Specifically, GNRs are created by sequential freezing, rolling, and capillary compression of large-sized graphene oxide nanosheets in liquid nitrogen, followed by pyrolysis. The interlayer spacing of GNRs can be conveniently regulated by tuning the amount of nanofillers of different dimensions added. As such, heteroatoms; metal single atoms; and 0D, 1D, and 2D nanomaterials can be readily in-situ intercalated into the GNR matrix, producing a rich variety of functional nanofiller-dispersed GNR nanocomposites. They manifest promising performance in electrocatalysis, battery, and supercapacitor due to excellent electronic conductivity, catalytic activity, and structural stability of the resulting GNR nanocomposites. The freezing-rolling-capillary compression strategy is facile, robust, and generalizable. It renders the creation of versatile GNR-derived nanocomposites with adjustable interlay spacing of GNR, thereby underpinning future advances in electronics and clean energy applications.


Canine distemper (CD) is a highly contagious, systemic, viral disease of dogs seen worldwide. The nucleocapsid protein (NP) of canine distemper virus encloses virus assembly and has some regulatory functions in viral transcription and replication. Here, we describe a procedure to generate a monoclonal antibody (MAb) against CDV N protein and investigate its characteristics. Western blot analysis showed that the MAbs produced in this study were against CDV N specifically. Indirect immunofluorescence assay demonstrated that they could recognize native N protein in CDV-infected Vero cells. The MAbs reported here may provide valuable tools for the further exploration of biological properties and functions of N protein and may also be developed for potential clinical applications.