1. A possible explanation for low success rates when introducing natural enemies to new regions for biological control of insect pests is that they fail to adapt to their new conditions. Therefore it has been widely recommended that biological control practitioners increase the probability of local adaptation by maximizing the genetic variation released. An alternative recommendation is to use climate matching to identify native populations that may already possess traits suited to the new region. However, support for these recommendations is weak through lack of empirical evidence that local adaptation is important to biological control. 2. This study examined how genetic drift and selection influenced the population frequencies of two asexually reproducing, genetically differentiated parasitoid biotypes that were introduced to New Zealand from South America for biological control. Other than by mutation, the biotypes were genetically fixed due to the absence of recombination both within and between biotypes. This meant that adaptive evolution could occur only if selection acted on any traits that varied between the biotypes introduced from South America. 3. The two parasitoid biotypes were released simultaneously at 14 sites and their frequencies were monitored for up to 10 years. Changes in biotype frequency were consistent with strong directional selection favouring one of the South American biotypes, thus generating established parasitoid populations that were better adapted to New Zealand conditions than those that had originally been released. This local adaptation of the control agent contributed to greater mortality of the pest. 4. Synthesis and applications. This study provides the first clear demonstration of the importance of releasing natural enemy genetic variation in new regions to foster adaptive evolution and improve success rates in classical biological control. However, the benefit to biological control of maximizing the genetic variation released needs to be balanced against possible risks to non-target species. The results do not support the concept of choosing sampling sites for putative biological control agents based solely on climatic similarities between the source location and the intended region of introduction.


Introduction:
 The t(9;22) (q34;q11) translocation results in the constative active BCR/ABL tyrosine kinase. Der22 involves the Breakpoint Cluster Region (BCR) gene locus with two principal breaks: a. M-bcr, encoding for the p210-BCR/ABL and b. m-bcr, encoding for the p185-BCR/ABL fusion proteins, respectively. BCR/ABL is the oncogenic driver of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) and 30% of adult Acute Lymphatic Leukemia (ALL). Activated BCR/ABL kinase is responsible for aberrant activation of multiple signaling pathways, such as JAK/STAT, PI3K/AKT and RAS/MAPK which eventually result in leukemic transformation. Successful targeting of BCR/ABL by selective tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as Imatinib, Nilotinib, Dasatinib and Ponatinib are used for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) leukemias. Most patients with CML in the early stage (CML-CP) treated with TKIs have increased overall survival. However, TKIs have not been as effective in patients with CML blast crisis (CML-BC) or Ph+ ALL. Point mutations in the tyrosine kinase domain (TKD) of BCR/ABL have emerged as the predominant cause of acquired resistance. These mutations are observed in up to 80% of patients with CML-BC and Ph+ ALL and in ~ 50% of Imatinib-resistant patients. In the remaining 20-50% of patients the mechanism of resistance to TKIs remains elusive. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of non-mutational resistance in Ph+ ALL.
 Methods:
 As models for non-mutational resistance, we used patient derived long term cultures (PDLTCs) from Ph+ ALL patients with different levels of non-mutational drug resistance and the SupB15RT, a Ph+ ALL cell-line rendered resistant by exposure to increasing doses of Imatinib and cross-resistant against all approved ABL Kinase Inhibitors (AKIs). Cell proliferation was assessed by XTT/MTT and trypan blue dye exclusion. Signaling pathway proteins were assessed by Western Blot analysis. Chromosomal karyotyping was undertaken on single cell genomes using multi-color FISH (M-FISH) technology. Mutation analysis on the ABL kinase domain was done by sequencing the heminested PCR products obtained from SupB15-WT and SupB15RT cell-lines.
 Results:
 A non-mutational resistance cell line SupB15RT, was developed by exposing SupB15 cells to an increasing concentration of Imatinib over a 3 month period. SupB15RT were able to grow in 10 µM Imatinib. SupB15RT cells were karyotypically and mutationaly identical to SupB15 WT. All approved AKIs and allosteric inhibitors like GNF-2, ABL001 and Crizotinib were unable to inhibit growth of these cells, except for Dasatinib (IC50 40nM), a multi-target kinase inhibitor. Experiments to determine the mode of resistance revealed high level (3 fold) of activation of AKT/mTOR enabling these cells to grow and proliferate. We targeted the AKT/mTOR pathway using BKM-120 (PI3 Kinase inhibitor), BEZ-235 (PI3 Kinase and mTOR pathway) and Trorin1/Torin2 (mTORC1 and mTORC2) and found that Torin-1 and Torin-2 significantly inhibited proliferation of SupB15RT, in a dose dependent manner, with an IC50 of 11-20 nM. As Dasatinib alone inhibited growth of SupB15RT cells at 40-50nm concentrations, we combined Dasatinib with Torin1 and found that the combination of these two compounds had an additive inhibitory effect on cell growth. Following this we examined clinical samples from patients. We used three different Ph+ PDLTCs: a. HP (BCR/ABL negative), b. PH (BCR/ABL positive and responsive to TKIs) and c. BV (BCR/ABL positive and non-mutational resistant to TKIs). Interestingly, we found that AKT/mTOR pathway was activated in BV cells and its proliferation was inhibited by Torin1 with IC-50 of 50nM.
 Conclusion:
 Our experiments revealed an additional pathway involved in the evolution of non-mutational resistance in Ph+ ALL which could assist in developing novel targeted therapy for Ph+ ALL patient(s) with non-mutational resistance.

 Ottmann: Celgene: Honoraria, Research Funding; Incyte: Honoraria, Research Funding; Amgen: Honoraria, Research Funding; Novartis: Honoraria; Takeda: Honoraria; Fusion Pharma: Honoraria; Pfizer: Honoraria; Roche: Honoraria.


The present study was conducted to evaluate the relative phytotoxic effects of different concentrations (15, 25, 50, 75 and 100%) of aqueous extract from stem and root of Parthenium hysterophorus on the rate of seed germination, length of root and shoot, and Seed Vigour Index (SVI) of Cicer aeritinum. In laboratory condition the experiment was set up in petri dishes, each petri dish contained ten seeds. Each treatment had ten replicates. A control condition was maintained using distilled water in place of stem or root aqueous extracts of Parthenium. The rate of seed germination in Cicer aeritinum in stem and root aqueous extracts of different concentrations decreased from 5% to 79%, and 0.0% to 22%, respectively. The inhibition value in root length in stem extracts varied from 11.14% to 85.96% and in root extract was from 13.14% to 64.25%. The inhibition in shoot length in stems and roots extracts varied from 14.67% to 50.19% and 73.68% to 85.86%, respectively. The Seed Vigour Index (SVI) value decreased from 16.38% to 94.99% in stem extract and 32.11% to 77.37% in root extract. The stem extract of Parthenium was more phytotoxic than the root extract in Cicer aeritinum. When the data collected were analysed using Tukey HSD and Post HOC Tests the phytotoxic impacts of plant parts (stem and root); treatments (15, 25, 50, 75 and 100% concentrations); and interactions between plant parts and treatments were highly significantly different at p < 0.000. Thus the present study indicated that the aqueous extracts of stem of Parthenium were recorded more phytotoxic than root extract on germination and growth of Cicer aeritinum.


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A new efficient decision feedback equalizer (DFE) appropriate for channels with long and sparse impulse response (IR) is proposed. Such channels are encountered in many high-speed wireless communications applications. It is shown that, in cases of sparse channels, the feedforward and feedback (FB) filters of the DFE have a particular structure, which can be exploited to derive efficient implementations of the DFE, provided that the time delays of the channel IR multipath components are known. This latter task is accomplished by a novel technique, which estimates the time delays based on the form of the channel input-output cross-correlation sequence in the frequency domain. A distinct feature of the resulting DFE is that the involved FB filter consists of a reduced number of active taps. As a result, it exhibits considerable computational savings, faster convergence, and improved tracking capabilities as compared with the conventional DFE. Note that faster convergence implies that a shorter training sequence is required. Moreover, the new algorithm has a simple form and its steady-state performance is almost identical to that of the conventional DFE.


In recent years, influenced by the pervasive power of technology, standards and mandates, Australian hospitals have begun exploring digital forms of keeping this record. The main rationale is the ease of accessing different data sources at the same time by varied staff members. The initial step in this transition was implementation of scanned medical record systems, which converts the paper based records to digitised form, which required process flow redesign and changes to existing modes of work. For maximising the benefits of scanning implementation and to better prepare for the changes, Austin Hospital in the State of Victoria commissioned this research focused on elective admissions area. This structured case study redesigned existing processes that constituted the flow of external patient forms and recommended a set of best practices at the same time highlighting the significance of user participation in maximising the potential benefits anticipated. In the absence of published academic studies focused on Victorian hospitals, this study has become a conduit for other departments in the hospital as well as other hospitals in the incursion.


Interband cascade structures are investigated for applications in the photovoltaic conversion of mid-infrared radiation. We present detailed studies of the performance characteristics and the temperature dependence of seven-stage, single-bandgap devices. These cascade structure devices were able to achieve open-circuit voltages as high as 1.68 V with a cutoff wavelength of 4.0 μm at 80 K. The total power efficiency was broken down into a product of individual efficiencies in order to determine the power loss from each of the physical mechanisms that are involved in the conversion process. We find that at low temperature, the power conversion is limited by incomplete absorption of the incident light and a fill factor below 50%. At higher temperature, the drop in open-circuit voltage limits the efficiency. We comment on how the results of this efficiency analysis will steer the direction of our future efforts toward device improvement.


ABSTRACT Long-term studies of respiratory function and lung morphology were carried out on control groups of guinea pigs and matched groups exposed by inhalation to asbestos dust. Animals were exposed to aerosols of chrysotile or amosite asbestos containing large numbers of short fibres, for either 9 or 18 days. Resistance and dynamic compliance of the guinea pig respiratory system were measured non-destructively, while the point counting technique was applied to the histological preparations. Under these exposure conditions the extent of pathological and functional changes were not related to differences in duration of exposure. Such changes were more marked, however, in animals exposed at eight rather than three months of age. The measurement of dynamic compliance provided the most sensitive assessment of the functional disturbances, which were more extensive following chrysotile exposure. Progressive peribronchiolar fibrosis developed about 40 weeks after chrysotile exposure at eight months of age, but not until about 70 weeks for animals exposed when three months old. No fibrotic reaction was seen during the 70 weeks of the amosite experiments. The relationships between pathological and functional changes throughout these experiments are discussed, and explanations for the apparent differences in fibrogenicity between chrysotile and amosite are suggested. Early detection of asbestosis may be aided by use of lung function tests known to be sensitive to small airways disease.


The relationship between object level intuitionistic fuzzy sets and predicate based intuitionistic fuzzy sets is explored. Mass assignment uses a process called semantic unification to evaluate the degree to which one set supports another, the inverse function is semantic separation. Intuitionistic fuzzy sets are mapped onto a mass assignment framework and the semantic unification operator is generalised to support both mass assignment and intuitionistic fuzzy sets, as is semantic separation. Transfer of inconsistent and contradictory evidence are also dealt with.


Established in 2012, the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance (NJSAA) Graduate Student Award recognizes excellence in graduate writing about New Jersey history. It is presented for a paper written by a graduate student that best represents significant research and writing about any aspect of New Jersey history. One of two 2012 awards went to: 'Too Much Singing:' Christianity and the Limitations of Nonviolence in the Ghetto By Laurie Lahey Abstract This essay considers the impact of Christianity on radical organizing in Camden, New Jersey during the 1950s and 1960s. In this period, as the ghetto emerged as a conflicted site of revolutionary activity and material demolition, incipient interracial cooperation between African Americans and white clergy developed by virtue of a common language about poverty, which simultaneously politicized Puerto Ricans. Camden, New Jersey, at any given time, the poorest, most dangerous city in the richest, most racially segregated state in the nation, provides a unique opportunity to consider how civil rights activism evolved in a secondary city. This essay complicates the discussion of the civil rights movement by demonstrating Protestant churches' collaboration in a movement that would become dominated by Black Power politics in the late-1960s and 1970s. This essay situates the rise of ecumenical Protestant leadership in Camden within substantial ideological transitions in the city's growing minority population. This study considers how, while Camden activists lamented the lack of community involvement in social protest during the first half of the 1960s, these years were significant as tenuous relationships, galvanized by the racially ambiguous War on Poverty, formed between community leaders and religious organizations.


We report our identification of a single coronary ostium arising from the right coronary sinus of Valsalva, in a 63-year-old woman who presented with chest pain atypical of angina. Coronary angiograms showed that the left anterior descending coronary artery arose from a right ventricular branch and that the left circumflex coronary artery arose from a right posterolateral branch. Both arteries reconstituted themselves in a backward fashion from the apex to the base of the heart-a configuration that to our knowledge has not been reported. The patient was treated conservatively and reported no chest pain 24 months later.


Myelolipomas are rare benign tumors often detected as adrenal masses. Extra-adrenal myelolipomas are encountered even more rarely. The rate of detection of these lesions is increasing with improved radiological techniques. Because of their localization and morphological similarities to well differentiated liposarcomas, extra-adrenal myelolipomas need to be differentiated from other aggressive neoplasms. Preoperative imaging and percutaneous biopsy are important tools in the diagnosis of these lesions. We report a very rare case of an extra-adrenal perirenal myelolipoma associated with hemolytic anemia. The etiology, differential diagnosis, and treatment options for the lesion have been discussed. Fat-containing tumors of the retroperitoneum should be considered in the differential diagnosis. Accurate diagnosis is important to avoid over-treatment of these benign lesions.


Abstract : In this paper, we discuss the problems associated with the description and manipulation of large systems when their sources are not maintained as single files. We show why and how tools that address these issues, such as Unix MAKE and Lisp Machine DEFSYSTEM, have evolved. Existing formalisms suffer from the problem that their syntax is not easily separable from their functionality. In programming languages, standard 'calling conventions' exist to insulate the caller of a function from the syntactic details of how that function was defined, but until now no such conventions have existed to hide consumers of program systems from the details of how those systems were specified. We propose a low-level data abstraction which can support notations such as those used by MAKE and DEFSYSTEM without requiring that the introduction of a new notation be accompanied by a completely different set of tools for instantiating or otherwise manipulating the resulting system.


Introduction: The prevalence of ILD in asymptomatic smokers is unknown. Unsuspected ILD can easily be detected by low-dose screening CTs.

Materials and methods: We conducted a retrospective review of CTs from 2418 individuals enrolled in the University of Navarre's lung cancer screening program between 2003 and 2010. Subjects were asymptomatic current or former smokers at least 40 years old, with a cumulative tobacco exposure > 10 pack-years. The prevalence of ILD on baseline CT was assessed initially by 2 independent radiologists. ILD was confirmed and characterized by a panel including a third radiologist and a pulmonologist.

Results: The prevalence of ILD in our study was 1.8%. The median age of subjects with ILD was 57 years (IQR: 51-68). Most were male (70%) and continued to smoke (71%) with a cumulative tobacco exposure of 35 pack-years (IQR: 23-47). The most common radiographic pattern was reticular disease (68%), followed by ground glass opacities (59%), bronchiolitis (15%), honeycombing (11%), and nodular (5%). The majority of subjects had peripheral (77%) and bilateral (96%) disease. Lymphadenopathy was rare (9%). The prevalence of emphysema in subjects with ILD was high (80%). Bronchial wall thickening (59%) and coronary calcifications (46%) were also common. Lung function was preserved in this asymptomatic cohort with a mean FEV1 of 97% (IQR: 78-108).

Conclusions: The prevalence of ILD in our screening population was higher than expected. Most of these individuals ignore the diagnosis, continue smoking, and have preserved lung function.


The wide scale integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) in the distribution networks (LV/MV) over the last few decades has resulted in new challenges for the protection system. This thesis work explores the possibility to overcome challenges associated with overcurrent protection schemes, which are conventionally employed for distribution networks, by utilizing communication-based protection techniques, which are widely used in protection of HV transmission network. These techniques include piloted directional protection techniques based on conventional methods and transient signals. Moreover, current-based line differential protection is also investigated. The individual algorithms for all these protection schemes used by relay manufacturers (including ABB, Siemens and SEL) are developed and tested. The test network, system parameters and performance criteria are developed in the PSCAD/EMTDC environment, whereas the individual algorithms are developed in MATLAB/Simulink. The system and performance parameters are carefully designed to reciprocate the performance of the modern distribution networks with weak sources replicating the performance of DERs during faults. Up to this point, the fault clearing time has not been critical for these networks but the integration of DERs has resulted in the additional requirement to fulfill the critical clearing time of each generator, therefore relay operating time is also considered in this study. However, the impacts of some real world imperfections including harmonics, measurement inaccuracies, communication noise and data loss etc. are ignored. Different relay manufacturers propose using sequence components for different fault types. A directional algorithm combining the principles of all the conventional techniques based on different symmetrical components has been developed and tested. This algorithm responds to both the balanced and unbalanced faults, while overcoming the limitations of each individual technique. The test cases incorporate the weak network conditions in order to see the dependability of the protection functions. The operating principles of investigated transient-based directional algorithms are fundamentally different. Therefore, each method is extensively tested and the results are compared. These techniques, also called ultra-high-speed directional methods, claim to fulfill the minimum operating time requirements without compromising the security or dependability of operation. Moreover, some less-explored but highly effective algorithms are also tested, which would be ideal in this case including current-only transient-based directional algorithms. Line differential schemes based on dual slope current or charge comparison techniques are vulnerable to capacitive currents and saturation of CTs but their performance is ideal for weak networks, due to its selectivity as a unit protection. These schemes are included in the study to compare the performance with directional-based pilot protection schemes. The assessment is performed in both the current plane (operating and restraint current) and the polar plane for comparison. Each of the tested algorithms has some inherent shortcomings. The ultimate goal is to identify these restrictions and suggest methods either to overcome them or to make relevant modifications. The communication-based limitations are investigated for each of the tested algorithm to assess the practicality of application, while the economic impacts of additional hardware to determine fault direction in the distribution network are also considered. The above substantial assessment of all the piloted protection schemes to determine their feasibility for the protection of modern distribution networks has not been performed previously, which puts a rather unique perspective to this study.


Biotic and abiotic stress factors have a major impact on plants and cause extensive losses to crop production. Bacteria that provide growth promotion and prime stress tolerance of plants have great potential to improve crop production and support durable and environmental friendly resource management. Priming refers here to when plants upon appropriate stimulation develop an enhanced capacity to express defense responses to a later stimulus.

In this study strains of the beneficial bacterium Bacillus amyloliquefaciens were analysed for their effects on plants. Direct antagonistic effect of B. amyloliquefaciens on several Brassica phytopathogens (Botrytis cinerea, Alternaria brassicae, Alternaria brassicicola, Verticillium longisporum, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) was demonstrated by bacteria and exudates in vitro. A bacterial exudate fraction containing lipopeptide antibiotics was analysed and the strongest antagonistic activity was connected with a novel linear form of fengycin identified using mass spectrometry.

Growth promotion of Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0, coi1-16, jar1 and npr1 but not in myb72 plants by B. amyloliquefaciens UCMB5113 was demonstrated with increased shoot and root biomass and increased number of lateral roots and root hairs while the primary root growth decreased. Bacillus inoculation resulted in profound effects on various plant hormones that will affect a variety of plant functions. Growth promotion was also demonstrated in split dish experiments where Bacillus strains were sequestered from Arabidopsis plants indicating a role for volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Bacillus VOCs also caused growth suppression of several phytopathogens. GC-MS analysis identified a large number of compounds in the VOC blend and the composition of VOCs was dependent on the medium used for cultivation and the effects on the plant also varied.

Thus these Bacillus strains promote growth of plants and improve the survivability of plants exposed to biotic stress challenges by priming of stress tolerance. These findings can be extended to different crops to improve crop productivity under various environmental conditions.


Beliefs are "general assumptions that students hold about themselves as learners, about factors influencing language learning, and about the nature of language learning and teaching" (Victori & Lockhart 1995, P.224).Language learners' beliefs lead their actions, particularly in the process of learning. Learners' beliefs can help teachers to have a better understanding of the learners' learning process and their success in classrooms. According to Horwitz (1988), " knowledge of students' beliefs about language learning may provide teachers of languages with a better understanding of their students' expectations of, commitment to, success in and satisfactions with language classes" ( Horwitz, 1988 : 283). Although, there have been many studies on the notion of beliefs about language learning so far, yet very few of them explored Iranian students' beliefs about English language learning. In an attempt to fill this gap, this research was conducted to find out: 1) What are Iranian postgraduate students' beliefs about English language learning? 2) Is there any shift in their beliefs after attending English classes? 3) What is the role of gender on their beliefs about language learning? In order to achieve the objectives of the research and to answers to the above research questions, this study employed Horwitz's model (Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory, BALLI 1988). BALLI is based on the normative approach and it is used to investigate Iranian postgraduate students' beliefs about English language learning at the University of Malaya (UM) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Data was collected from 30 Iranian students, 15 males and 15, females at two different periods of time through distributing a modified 34-items questionnaire based on Horwitz's BALLI (1988). The Pre-test data was collected at the beginning of the compulsory English course/s for the participants and the post- test data was gathered at the end of the same classes in order to find out whether there was a shift in their beliefs about English language learning after a period of one semester of instructions or not. The BALLI in this study measured students' beliefs about learning English in five main categories namely: 1) Difficulty of Language Learning, 2) Foreign Language Learning, 3) The Nature of Language Learning, 4) Learning and Communication Strategies and 5) Motivation and Expectations. Moreover, a semistructured interview based on the BALLI's items was done in order to get more information and insights about the respondents' beliefs about English language learning. Through a descriptive analysis and a statistical analysis (by using SPSS version 16) the findings of this study show that Iranian postgraduate students in UM held a variety of beliefs about learning English. The results of t-test indicate there was not much difference in their beliefs before attending the English classes and after being instructed for a period of one semester. In terms of gender, both male and female students held firm beliefs about learning English and the only significant shift in their beliefs was related to the males' beliefs about English language learning in the "Foreign Language Aptitude" category. The findings enhance our understanding of how exploring learners' beliefs can guide us to better meet learners' needs, expectation and their aims in the process of English language learning.


The beginning of synthesis, localization and content of crystallins were studied in the developing lenses of 9--13 and 15 days old embryos of CatFr/CatFr and +/+ mice by means of immunofluorescence and polyacrilamide gel electrophoresis. The mutant gene CatFr was shown not to affect the crystallin synthesis. Alpha-crystallins are first to be synthesized in the cytoplasm of cells of the proximal part of the lens vesicle (10 days of development). Gamma-crystallins are detected for the first time in the lens of 11 days old embryos in the cytoplasm of developing lens fibers which lost their ability to divide. The differences in the time of synthesis of alpha- and gamma-crystallins are, possibly, related to their different role in the process of lens fiber differentiation.


We propose a hybrid network model called Sphinx for cellular wireless packet data networks. Sphinx uses a peer-to-peer network model in tandem with the cellular network model to achieve higher throughput and lower-power consumption. At the same time, Sphinx avoids the typical pitfalls of the pure peer-to-peer network model including unfair resource allocation, and throughput degradation due to mobility and traffic locality. We present simulation results showing that Sphinx outperforms the cellular network model in terms of throughput and power consumption, and achieves better fairness and resilience to mobility than the peer-to-peer network model.


Summary With the rapid development of computer network, Internet is used not only to publish and share Information, but also to provide many kinds of computing services. Program Mining is presented to deal with customized computing problem on demand for Internet users. This paper first introduce the basic concept of Program Mining: Program Mining makes use of several task-specific software agents, analyzes user requests for computing, searches the component candidates from online component libraries according to the request, and reassembles them to form programs that perform the expected computing.According to the general process of Program Mining, a multi-agent system for Program Mining is designed and the communication protocols between the agents are also developed. After analyzing the function of each entity in Program Mining system, we design one or more agent to act as the each entity. Then for each agent, the function and the process are provided in detail. Based on the Agent Communication Language, the communication protocols are presented for the multi-agent system. Via the communication protocols, it is assured that the actions of agents are consistent to the whole multi-agent system. In the implementation of multi agent system, we have developed a agent interaction protocol and language based dynamic agent infrastructure, which applies XML to specify the messages among mobile agents and define their tasks and access rights, to support multi-agent cooperation for program mining.Input here the part of summary.


In this article, the diffraction of plane electromagnetic waves by double half-planes with fractional boundary conditions is considered. As particular cases, the diffractions by wedges and corners are considered for different values of fractional orders. The results are compared to the analytical ones. The interesting properties of wedge diffraction are outlined for intermediate fractional orders.


Purpose: For the development of peptide-based, cancer-specific immunotherapy, the identification of CTL epitopes from additional tumor antigens is very important. NY-ESO-1, a cancer–testis antigen, is considered to be a promising target of tumor-specific immunotherapy. Because HLA-A24-expressing individuals cover >60% in the population of Japan, we aim at identifying NY-ESO-1-encoded peptide presented by HLA-A24. Experimental Design: In our study, a HLA-A24-restricted CTL epitope was identified by using the following four-step procedure: (a) computer-based epitope prediction from the amino acid sequence of NY-ESO-1 antigen; (b) peptide-binding assay to determine the affinity of the predicted peptide with HLA-A24 molecule; (c) stimulation of primary T-cell response against the predicted peptides in vitro; and (d) testing of the induced CTLs toward various carcinoma cells expressing NY-ESO-1 antigen and HLA-A24. Results: Of the tested peptides, effectors induced by a peptide of NY-ESO-1 at residue position 158–166 lysed three kinds of carcinoma cells expressing both NY-ESO-1 and HLA-A24. Our results indicate that peptide NY-ESO-1 (158–166) (LLMWITQCF) is a new HLA-A24-restricted CTL epitope capable of inducing NY-ESO-1-specific CTLs in vitro mediating HLA class I-restricted manner. Conclusions: We identified a novel HLA-A24-restricted NY-ESO-1-derived epitope peptide (LLMWITQCF) that could induce specific CTLs from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of HLA-A24+ healthy donors. This peptide would be useful in further evaluating the clinical utility of peptide-based, cancer-specific immunotherapy against various histological tumors.


Objectives: This study describes the diffusion of advanced diagnostic devices in India and assess implications for efficiency in resource use and equity. Methods: Commodity-level import statistics, household survey data, and interviews with medical device sellers are used to assess the spread of diagnostic devices. Published qualitative evidence, case studies of diagnostic service providers, and cross-country analyses are used to identify the reasons underlying the spread of medical devices in India. Case studies of public and private providers and data from 150 hospitals in one Indian state are used to assess efficiency in resource use and the distributive impacts of diagnostic devices. Results: High-end medical device inflows rose during the 1990s, with both supply- and demand-side factors influencing this trend. Although our results suggest that the overall quantity of advanced diagnostics in India is not excessive, there is some evidence of inefficiency in public facilities and possibly unethical practices in private diagnostic facilities. The unequal geographical distribution of magnetic resonance imaging facilities, coupled with inefficient use of medical devices in public facilities suggests inequality in access. Conclusions: The study points to major regulatory gaps and health system inefficiencies and suggests ways in which these gaps can be addressed.


Background: The regional availability of hospitals with expertise in applying endovascular therapy for acute ischemic stroke is critical to ongoing efforts to develop effective interventions for this time-sensitive indication. We sought to assess the geographic proximity of stroke patients in California to centers that perform endovascular stroke therapy. Methods: We identified all hospitalizations for ischemic stroke at all 366 non-federal acute care hospitals in California from 2009 to 2010, including the subset where endovascular stroke therapy was employed, using data from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. ZIP code centroids were used to estimate the geographic distance between a treating hospital and the patient's residence. Using these distances, we estimated the proportion of stroke patients that lived within 2-hour (65 mile) transport distance to a hospital that performed certain threshold volumes of endovascular stroke cases each year. Results: From 2009-10, endovascular stroke treatment was used in 643 of 104,350 (0.6%) hospital discharges for ischemic stroke in California. A majority (60%) of these procedures were performed at hospitals that performed at least 12 procedures per year, and 83% of these procedures were performed at hospitals that performed at least 6 procedures per year. Of the 366 hospitals, 54 (15%) performed at least one endovascular stroke procedure per year. The median number of procedures per hospital per year was 3.5 (IQR 1-9). In-hospital mortality for endovascular stroke therapy was 21%, and a higher procedural volume at the hospital level was not associated with lower mortality. Most (86%) stroke patients lived within 65 miles of a center that performed at least 6 procedures per year (median with IQR, 9.5[7-17]), and 97% were within 65 miles of a center that performed at least 1 procedure per year. Conclusion: In 2009-10, less than 1% of ischemic stroke hospitalizations in California involved the use of endovascular stroke therapy. Most patients lived within a 2-hour transport distance from a center that performed at least one endovascular procedure per year.


Extracting instances of sentiment-oriented relations from user-generated web documents is important for online marketing analysis. Unlike previous work, we formulate this extraction task as a structured prediction problem and design the corresponding inference as an integer linear program. Our latent structural SVM based model can learn from training corpora that do not contain explicit annotations of sentiment-bearing expressions, and it can simultaneously recognize instances of both binary (polarity) and ternary (comparative) relations with regard to entity mentions of interest. The empirical evaluation shows that our approach significantly outperforms state-of-the-art systems across domains (cameras and movies) and across genres (reviews and forum posts). The gold standard corpus that we built will also be a valuable resource for the community.


Purpose of review Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease characterized by noncaseating granulomatous inflammation of multiple organ systems. Pulmonary, cardiac, and neurologic involvements have the worst prognosis. Current recommendations for the therapeutic management and follow-up of sarcoidosis involving these critical organs will be reviewed. Recent findings In those sarcoidosis patients requiring immunosuppressive therapy, corticosteroids are used first at varying doses depending on the presenting manifestation. Patients with symptomatic pulmonary, cardiac, or neurologic involvement will be maintained on corticosteroids for at least a year. Many require a second immunosuppressive agent with methotrexate used most commonly. Anti-tumor necrosis factor agents, especially infliximab, are effective and recommendations for their use have been proposed. Summary Evidence-based treatment guidelines do not exist for most sarcoidosis clinical manifestations. Therefore, clinical care of these patients must rely on expert opinion. Patients are best served by a multidisciplinary approach to their care. Future research to identify environmental triggers, genetic associations, biomarkers for treatment response, and where to position new steroid-sparing immunosuppressive agents is warranted.


The focus of this article is on the match between strategic motives of foreign investors in Central–Eastern Europe and locational advantages offered by these countries. Our analysis makes use of the IWH-FDI-Micro database, a unique dataset that contains information from 2009 about the determinants of locational factors, technological activity of subsidiaries and potential for knowledge spillovers in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The analysis suggests that investors in these countries are mainly interested in low (unit) labour costs coupled with a well-trained and educated workforce and an expanding market with high growth rates in the purchasing power of potential buyers. It also suggests that the financial crisis reduced the attractiveness of the region as a source for localised knowledge and technology. There appears to be a match between investors' expectations and the quantitative supply of unqualified labour, though not for the supply of medium qualified workers. The analysis suggests that it is not technology-seeking investors that are particularly content with the capabilities of their host economies in terms of technological cooperation. Finally, technological cooperation within the local host economy is assessed more favourably with domestic firms than with local scientific institutions – an important message for domestic economic policy.


Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which include congenital heart disease, rhythm disorders, subclinical atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, and many other cardiac disorders, cause about 30% of deaths globally; representing one of the main health problems worldwide. Among CVDs, ischemic heart diseases (IHDs) are one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. The onset of IHDs is essentially due to an unbalance between the metabolic demands of the myocardium and its supply of oxygen and nutrients, coupled with a low regenerative capacity of the heart, which leads to great cardiomyocyte (CM) loss; promoting heart failure (HF) and myocardial infarction (MI). To date, the first strategy recommended to avoid IHDs is prevention in order to reduce the underlying risk factors. In the management of IHDs, traditional therapeutic options are widely used to improve symptoms, attenuate adverse cardiac remodeling, and reduce early mortality rate. However, there are no available treatments that aim to improve cardiac performance by replacing the irreversible damaged cardiomyocytes (CMs). Currently, heart transplantation is the only treatment being carried out for irreversibly damaged CMs. Hence, the discovery of new therapeutic options seems to be necessary. Interestingly, recent experimental evidence suggests that regenerative stem cell medicine could be a useful therapeutic approach to counteract cardiac damage and promote tissue regeneration. To this end, researchers are tasked with answering one main question: how can myocardial regeneration be stimulated? In this regard, natural compounds from plant extracts seem to play a particularly promising role. The present review will summarize the recent advances in our knowledge of stem cell therapy in the management of CVDs; focusing on the main properties and potential mechanisms of natural compounds in stimulating and activating stem cells for myocardial regeneration.


The article considers the role of Central Asian traditions in the formation and development of Mongolian fine arts. The authors reveal the significance of various factors for the formation of the original stylistics, which manifested itself in the methods, techniques and pictorial means typical of Mongolian art. The article defines the role of Indian artistic traditions in the development of Mongolian fine arts. The authors claim that Mongolian religious painting on scrolls is a bright artistic phenomenon based on the strict canon developed in India and inherited by many cultures of Asia. The means of artistic depiction, iconography, a system of proportions, borrowed and modified by the Mongols, had been developed in the cradle of Indian civilisation. The purpose of the article is to study the features of Mongolian fine arts on the basis of ethnic traditions, as well as to consider this phenomenon using the example of traditional and contemporary painting.
Multiculturalism conditioned by the polyethnic nature of the region played an important role in the history of Mongolian culture. The renewal of ethnocultural experience is related to the artistic traditions brought from India, Tibet and China, but in Mongolian art, there is no predominance of any forms of other cultures. Hence, the art is original and has its unique features. As a result of the combination of the ornamental pictorial technique of nomadic cultures with the painting techniques of sedentary peoples, an artistic style based on the Buddhist canon, supplemented by original ethnocultural elements, was formed. In the process of mastering and developing the artistic experience based on the traditions of planar painting, icon painting, arts and crafts, folklore, a new art direction "Mongol Zurag" appeared in the 20th century. The creative method of modern masters proves that while working in various trends, genres, techniques, individual manners, they preserve and develop national traditions in painting. Consequently, the preservation of the artistic-aesthetic heritage of the ethnos has a positive effect on fine arts and the vitality of culture in general.


Increasingly, clashes between the demands of law and aspirations of religion center on the legal status and treatment of religious institutions. Much of the rising tensions revolving around religious institutions - exemplified by recent Supreme Court decisions such as Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby - stem from conflicts between the religious objectives of those institutions and their impact on third parties who do not necessarily share those same objectives. This Article aims to provide a framework for analyzing the claims of religious institutions by grounding those claims in the principle of voluntarism. On such an account, religious institutions deserve protection because they are created through the voluntary choices of individuals to join together in the pursuit of collective religious objectives such as faith and salvation. In so doing, these individuals implicitly authorize their religious institutions to make rules and develop doctrine that can promote these shared religious objectives. This process of consent - what the Supreme Court referred to in Watson v. Jones as "implied consent - empowers the religious institution to promulgate rules that promote shared religious values. In this way, the creation of religious institutions represent the voluntary free exercise of religion on the part of many individuals, each granting a religious institution authority over internal religious life among the membership in order to promote shared religious objectives. And in focusing on the core voluntarism of voluntarism, the article proposes answers to some of the more vexing questions left unanswered by recent Supreme Court decisions such as which institutions count as religious institutions and to what extent should these institutions be excused from complying with otherwise valid laws.


In international conventions as well as in the national discourses of many countries, children who do not grow up with their biogenetic parents have the right to receive information about their origin. The meaning of origin in intercountry adoption, however, is not necessarily the same as in artificial donor insemination (AID). Through an analysis of the material published by the Swedish Intercountry Adoption Authority from 1972 to 2004 and by discussing the often-drawn analogy between adoption and AID, the present article aims to investigate the varying meanings that have been ascribed to origin and the arguments that have been used in support of its importance.


There is a debate concerning the appropriate extent, content and delivery of IT education for AEC pro-grammes. The aim of the research work described in this paper was to generate information to assist the debate, spe-cifically in Ireland, but the results and conclusions may also be of relevance to other countries. A survey of the relevant Heads of Academic Departments in the Universities and Institutes of Technology was carried out in June 2006 with a response rate of 89%. The context to this survey has been the relatively unique development of Ireland over the past ten years (population, economy, IT, construction industry, and higher education) in comparison to other European coun-tries. The recent implementation of the Irish National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) and its relationship with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) for lifelong learning is also an important contextual issue for this research. The survey results include the range of specific software training on the AEC programmes, as well as the extent of in-clusion of basic IT training, understanding how computers work, understanding and writing computer programmes, consideration of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and the use of Learning Management Systems (LMS). A further interesting feature of the survey has been the identification of the record number of students on higher education AEC programmes in Ireland.


The present study provides new evidence that cationic porphyrins may be considered as tunable platforms to interfere with the structural "key code" present on the 20S proteasome α-rings and, by consequence, with its catalytic activity. Here, we describe the functional and conformational effects on the 20S proteasome induced by the cooperative binding of the tri-cationic 5-(phenyl)-10,15,20-(tri N-methyl-4-pyridyl) porphyrin (Tris-T4). Our integrated kinetic, NMR, and in silico analysis allowed us to disclose a complex effect on the 20S catalytic activity depending on substrate/porphyrin concentration. The analysis of the kinetic data shows that Tris-T4 shifts the relative populations of the multiple interconverting 20S proteasome conformations leading to an increase in substrate hydrolysis by an allosteric pathway. Based on our Tris-T4/h20S interaction model, Tris-T4 is able to affect gating dynamics and substrate hydrolysis by binding to an array of negatively charged and hydrophobic residues present on the protein surface involved in the 20S molecular activation by the regulatory proteins (RPs). Accordingly, despite the fact that Tris-T4 also binds to the α3ΔN mutant, allosteric modulation is not observed since the molecular mechanism connecting gate dynamics with substrate hydrolysis is impaired. We envisage that the dynamic view of the 20S conformational equilibria, activated through cooperative Tris-T4 binding, may work as a simplified model for a better understanding of the intricate network of 20S conformational/functional states that may be mobilized by exogenous ligands, paving the way for the development of a new generation of proteasome allosteric modulators.


This article reviews the aerodynamic measurement programs on wind turbines that have been performed in the last decades. It is largely based on results from four projects carried out under auspices of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which are denoted as IEA Tasks 14, 18, 20, and 29. The aim of these projects was to collect and analyze aerodynamic measurements on five field facilities (IEA Tasks 14 and 18), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Phase VI turbine placed in the large NASA Ames wind tunnel (IEA Task 20), and the Mexico turbine placed in the Large Low Speed Facility of the German Dutch Wind tunnel DNW (IEA Task 29). Other experimental programs with an important aerodynamic content are touched upon as well. Research areas for which these measurements have led to important progress are identified. The progress is illustrated with analyses on these experiments. It is shown that detailed aerodynamic measurements are an absolute necessity for the validation and improvement of wind turbine design codes, where it is also concluded that the amount of measurement data which has been produced until now is still far too limited.


Quantitative analysis of peptide libraries can provide substantial information about molecular interactions that cannot be readily extracted from a qualitative inspection of the results of a phage display experiment. Affinity screening of phage-displayed combinatorial peptide libraries is carried out in order to identify a peptide sequence or sequence motif that binds tightly to a particular molecular target. The result of the experiment is a population of phage particles that represent a subset of the original library that has been enriched for binding to the molecular target. The nucleic acid sequences of the inserts in these phage particles are used to determine the sequences of the displayed peptides whose binding properties presumably led to their selection. In some cases, a sequence motif common to some (or many) of the derived sequences is immediately apparent from a visual inspection of the selected sequences. Frequently, no readily discernable motif can be identified from a visual inspection. This does not necessarily mean that the experiment failed. There are numerous examples in which weak motifs have been identified only after detailed computational analysis of the sequences.Quantitative analysis can provide insight into at least five aspects of phage-display technology: the quality of a peptide library; the quality or effectiveness of an affinity screen; identification of sequence motifs; identification of binding sites on a protein; and, possibly, identification of proteins that bind to a particular target within an entire genome. This Chapter reviews the existing computational methods available for analyzing populations of peptides and identification of motifs within those populations.


With the growth of ubiquitous computing, context-aware computing-based applications are increasingly emerging, and these applications demonstrate the impact that context has on the adaptation process. From the context, it will be possible to adapt the application according to the requirements and needs of its users. Therefore, the quality of the context information must be guaranteed so that the application does not have an incorrect or unexpected adaptation process. But like any given data, there is the possibility of inaccuracy and/or uncertainty and so Quality of Context (QoC) plays a key role in ensuring the quality of context information and optimizing the adaptation process. To guarantee the Quality of Context it is necessary to study a quality model to be created, which will have the important function of evaluating the context information. Thus, it is necessary to ensure that the parameters and quality indicators to be used and evaluated are the most appropriate for a given type of application. This paper aims to study a context quality model for the UbiPri middleware, defining its quality indicators to ensure its proper functioning in the process of adaptation in granting access to ubiquitous environments.
Keywords: QoC, Model, Context-Aware, Data, Privacy


This study is motivated by the success of scouting activities at Vocational High School (SMKN) 1 Sintuk Toboh Gadang Padang Pariaman Regency. Evident from the high interest of students participating in scout extracurricular activities compared to other extracurricular activities, scouting members participated, seriously participated in the activities, outstanding members participated in various competitions within the Province and outside the province. The researcher suspects the cause of the success of the activity due to the discipline of scout members. This type of study is descriptive quantitative. The population in the study were 82 scout members. The sampling technique uses Stratified Random Sampling. Samples were taken in each class as much as 60%, namely 49 members. The technique of collecting data uses a questionnaire. The data collection tool uses a questionnaire. The data analysis technique uses the percentage formula. The results of the study show the discipline of scout members from aspects (1) mental attitude, (2) implementation of rules, (3) behavior, categorized very well. It was proven that most students stated "often" from the statement given


Presents a neural net (NN) robust controller for the simultaneous force/motion control of a constrained robot. The method does not require the robot dynamics to be exactly known. Compared with adaptive control, no linearity in the unknown parameters is needed and no persistent excitation condition is required. Compared with other NN approaches, the authors' method does not require off-line "training phase". All errors including force, position and weight are all guaranteed to be bounded. The force error and position tracking errors can be reduced to arbitrarily small values by choosing certain large enough gains. Connections of NN control with passivity notions are stated and proved.<<ETX>>


Dengue vector surveillance programmes were implemented in the community and port areas in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Aedes albopictus was the only Aedes vector detected and its distribution was extensive in various areas during the summer months. Aedes aegypti was, however, not detected in any area under surveillance. For community surveillance, the monthly ovitrap indices (MOI) of 2008 and 2009 followed a similar trend as in previous years but were generally lower. The highest ovitrap index recorded in 2008 and 2009 was 37.5% and 48.3% respectively, which were much lower than the highest recorded of 70.9% in 2007. Only two surveyed areas in 2009 had ovitrap indices greater than 20.0% for more than two consecutive months, which was more often seen in 2007. Improvement in the dengue vector situation in the past two years could be attributed to the swift response of the agencies concerned upon getting information on surveillance results via the geographic information system. The public was also informed of the results regularly through the Internet and press releases to create awareness to prevent and control the dengue vector. Health education programmes targeted at different organizations/parties were arranged to promote knowledge about dengue vector prevention and control.


The influence of different screw element types on wet granulation process with a twin-screw extruder was investigated. Lactose granules were prepared with different screw configurations such as conveying, combing mixer and kneading elements. The use of kneading blocks led to an almost complete agglomeration of lactose, whereas kneading and combing mixer elements resulted in smaller granules in comparison. Granule porosity varied between 17.4% and 50.6%. Granule friability values ranged from 1.2% to 38.5%. Conveying elements led to the most porous and friable granules, whereas kneading blocks produced the densest and least friable granules. Combing mixer elements produced granules with median properties. A linear correlation between granule porosity and the natural logarithm of granule friability was detected. Flowability of granules was also influenced by the element type. Compressed granules with higher granule porosities resulted in tablets with higher tensile strength values and vice versa. Twin-screw extruders proved to be a versatile tool for wet granulation. By the choice of a suitable screw element granule and tablet characteristics were influenced.


Objective. To identify the theoretical conceptions of health education (HE) reported by recent scientific literature. Methodology. Systematic review without meta-analysis of the scientific literature published on the theory on HE between 2000 and 2010 in Spanish, English, and Portuguese in PubMed, Elsevier, and SciELO. This included publications developing at least the theoretical categories on HE: conceptual development, history, current situation, as discipline, teaching and research. Results. Some 58 articles on HE were analyzed. The main categories contained in the articles were those of current situation and conceptual development. The definition and conceptualization of HE are diffuse. Most authors state that the term HE lacks identity and that tension exists between this concept and that of Healthcare Promotion. Conclusion. Processes in HE are not sufficiently qualified.


Background:  Nursing and healthcare staff are vital for delivering nutritional treatment. In our district general hospital, they currently receive no regular nutrition training post-induction, and attendance at off-ward training sessions in the past has been poor. An important part of nutritional treatment is ensuring that assistance with eating is provided where required (Department of Health, 2007). The Red Tray System (RTS) has been endorsed by the Royal College of Nursing to highlight those who need assistance with eating by serving their meals on red trays (Age Concern, 2006). A local RTS audit recommended the RTS be revisited trust-wide. This project aimed to improve attendance at nutrition training sessions within current resources by piloting ward-based training. It also aimed to facilitate RTS use.

Methods:  RTS updates for nursing and healthcare staff were delivered on wards by the dietitians at 'hand-over' time between the early and late shift. Obstacles to initiating the RTS were discussed and solutions agreed with the participants and, subsequently, the ward sisters. Participants completed a questionnaire on preferred further nutrition training topics, methods and frequency of training delivery to help guide future dietetic training. RTS use was re-audited 3 months after the RTS updates. Comprising an exact copy of the audit conducted prior to the updates, it determined the total number of red trays ordered across the hospital for one meal from the menu cards received by the catering department. To ascertain whether these red trays had been ordered for the appropriate patients, the nutrition risk assessment tools for red tray recipients were scrutinised for an identified need for assistance with eating, as indicated by a score of one in the 'ability to eat' section. This score is arrived at through questioning of the patient and carer or through observation. In addition, a review of all nutrition risk assessment tools on two elderly care wards was completed to check whether those patients identified as requiring assistance with eating had had a red tray ordered. Results were analysed using the chi-square test.

Results:  The updates attracted 91 participants. Obstacles and solutions to initiating the RTS were ward-specific. Recurrent themes included a lack of communication between staff, a lack of RTS awareness, inaccurate documentation of the need for assistance, and a lack of responsibility for initiating the RTS. The questionnaire on future nutrition training highlighted that 95% of participants requested more regular updates on topics covering all aspects of nutrition treatment. Both participants and dietitians preferred ward-based sessions at hand-over time to off-ward training. The RTS re-audit showed a 60% increase in RTS use (P = 0.05), a 17% increase in appropriate ordering of red trays (P = 0.41), and an 85% increase in those requiring assistance with eating receiving a red tray (P = 0.02).

Discussion:  Ward updates can help facilitate RTS use. They can be practical and ward-specific and can be supported by ward posters, nutrition folders and nutrition link nurses.

Conclusions:  Shorter, more regular training at hand-over time is a realistic way of keeping more nursing and healthcare staff up-to-date within current resources. It can improve RTS use.

References  Age Concern (2006) Hungry to be Heard. London, Age Concern England.

Department of Health and Nutrition Summit Stakeholder Group (2007) Improving Nutritional Care – A Joint Action Plan from the Department of Health and Nutrition Summit Stakeholders. London: The Stationery Office.


Researchers often rely on benchmarks to demonstrate feasibility or efficiency of their contributions. However, finding the right benchmark suite can be a daunting task - existing benchmark suites may be outdated, known to be flawed, or simply irrelevant for the proposed approach. Creating a proper benchmark suite is challenging, extremely time consuming, and also - unless it becomes widely popular - a thankless endeavor. In this paper, we introduce a novel approach to help researchers find relevant workloads for their experimental evaluation needs. Our approach relies on the huge number of open-source projects available in public repositories, and on unit testing having become best practice in software development. Using a repository crawler employing pluggable static and dynamic analyses for filtering and workload characterization, we allow users to automatically find projects with relevant workloads. Preliminary results presented here show that unit tests can provide a viable source of workloads, and that the combination of static and dynamic analyses improves the ability to identify relevant workloads that can serve as the basis for custom benchmark suites.


: Nurses with masters degrees and faculty members are expected to conduct research as part of their roles. The author discusses how students and faculty complete research studies, as colleagues, in a recently accredited graduate nursing program in family health nursing.


Abstract This paper describes a structural account of phonetic symbolism and submits it to empirical investigation. To enable testing for possible iconic sound–emotion relations, participants compared pairs of syllables (e.g., ma – ba) as well as pairs of emotional states (e.g., joyful – sad) on various perceptual scales (e.g., softness). In addition, we replicated the classic 'bouba/kiki' experiment to investigate sound-shape symbolism. In accordance with the theoretical model, the results of the experimental tasks suggest that participants can detect abstract similarities between speech sounds and emotions as well as geometrical shapes. We discuss the theoretical model and the experimental results in relation to previous empirical findings and conflicting evidence from the study of affective iconicity in poetry.


A wireless avionics interface exploits the constrained nature of data networks in flight systems to use a lightweight routing method. This simplified routing means that a processor is not required, and the logic can be implemented as an intellectual property (IP) core in a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). The FPGA can be shared with the flight subsystem application. In addition, the router is aware of redundant subsystems, and can be configured to provide hot standby support as part of the interface. This simplifies implementation of flight applications requiring hot stand - by support. When a valid inbound packet is received from the network, the destination node address is inspected to determine whether the packet is to be processed by this node. Each node has routing tables for the next neighbor node to guide the packet to the destination node. If it is to be processed, the final packet destination is inspected to determine whether the packet is to be forwarded to another node, or routed locally. If the packet is local, it is sent to an Applications Data Interface (ADI), which is attached to a local flight application. Under this scheme, an interface can support many applications in a subsystem supporting a high level of subsystem integration. If the packet is to be forwarded to another node, it is sent to the outbound packet router. The outbound packet router receives packets from an ADI or a packet to be forwarded. It then uses a lookup table to determine the next destination for the packet. Upon detecting a remote subsystem failure, the routing table can be updated to autonomously bypass the failed subsystem.


The report of the 1997 National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference on hepatitis C endorsed pretreatment liver biopsy. We revisit the following questions: Does liver histology help determine the urgency of, and predict the likelihood of response to, antiviral therapy, and can surrogate markers supplant histological assessment? Because the rate of progression of chronic hepatitis C is influenced by baseline histological grade/stage, patients can be stratified into those with moderate to severe hepatitis, who merit imminent therapy, and those with mild hepatitis, in whom therapy can be postponed until more effective/tolerable treatments become available. Less advanced baseline histology has been shown to be an independent predictor of responsiveness to antiviral therapy. Although the predictive value of biopsy is insufficient to withhold therapy from patients with advanced fibrosis, baseline biopsy helps gauge expectations for the outcome of therapy. Reports have been published recently suggesting that laboratory markers can predict distinctions between low-grade fibrosis and therapy-indicating septal fibrosis/cirrhosis. These indices, however, are insufficiently reliable to predict histological distinctions in populations with varying prevalences of fibrosis/cirrhosis or to provide anything more than broad qualitative distinctions, far short of the potential information in a liver biopsy. For most patients, the value of pretreatment liver biopsy outweighs its risks, provides information about the urgency of treatment, and should be retained. Studies to identify noninvasive laboratory markers of histological activity and stage, especially genetic predictors of accelerated disease progression, command a high priority.


This study was performed to determine the impacts of impregnation with boric acid and borax on the red colour tone of some hardwoods and varnishes. For this purpose, the test specimens prepared from Oriental beech ( Fagus orientalis Lipsky) and European oak ( Quercus petraea Liebl.) wood which met the requirements of ASTM D 358 are impregnated with boric acid and borax according to ASTM D 1413- 99 by vacuum technique. After impregnation, surfaces were coated by cellulosic, synthetic, polyurethane, water-borne, acrylic and acid hardening varnishes in accordance with ASTM D 3023 standards. The red colour tone values were determined according to ASTM D 2244 standards after varnishing. Depending on wood material types, the red colour tone value was highest in Oriental beech, synthetic and borax, whereas it was lowest in European oak, water-borne and boric acid. According to wood material + impregnation material + varnish interaction, the red colour tone value was highest in Oriental beech + boric acid + synthetic varnish, whereas it was lowest in European oak + boric acid + polyurethane varnish. Consequently, impregnation of wood material with boron compounds show decreasing impact on the red colour tone. This impact might be taken into consideration in the applications where red color tone values of hardwood are important.


Software can now track which computer applications and documents you use. This provides us with the potential to help end-users recall past activities for tasks such as status reporting. We describe findings from field observations of eight participants writing their status reports. We observed interesting trends, including the reliance on memory triggers, which were either retrieved from explicit self-reminders, from implicit breadcrumbs left while performing their tasks or directly from memory. Participants perceived spending relatively short amounts of time composing their status reports, suggesting that any technology solution must offer dramatic improvements over current practice.


In the preparation of an antibody concentrate of a serum, it is the globulins which are utilized, since the antibodies either are globulins or seem to be exclusively associated with this fraction of the blood serum. McKhann and Chu 1 applied this knowledge to the human placenta. They separated the globulins from human placenta and found them to be effective in the prophylaxis of measles. In work previously reported I attempted to show that the globulin fraction of immune human adult blood serum is effective in prophylaxis against measles. The following is a summary of the method used in the earlier work: The globulins were precipitated from a batch of pooled serum, and after dialysis the precipitate was taken up in a physiologic solution of sodium chloride. Merthiolate was added in the proportion of 1:7,500. The volume of the solution was brought up to the volume of the original serum


Recent observations favour an accelerating Universe dominated by the dark energy. We take the effective Yang-Mills condensate as the dark energy and couple it to a relativistic matter which is created by the decaying condensate. The dynamic evolution has asymptotic behaviour with finite constant energy densities, and the fractional densities ΩΛ~0.7 for dark energy and Ωm~0.3 for relativistic matter are achieved at proper values of the decay rate. The resulting expansion of the Universe is in the de Sitter acceleration.


Lipoid proteinosis is an inherited disorder characterized histologically by the deposition of an amorphous eosinophilic material in skin and other tissue. Histochemical demonstration of lipid in the deposits led early investigators to suspect that the disorder was a lipoidosis. However, recent biochemical and electron microscopical studies have suggested that the material is principally a glycoprotein elaborated by fibrocytes. Fibroblast cultures were established with the use of tissue from a cutaneous lesion of a woman with this disorder to determine whether an error of lipid metabolism occurred in the disease. An assay of fibroblast lipids revealed normal quantities of all lipid fractions. This appears to confirm that the accumulation of lipids in the lesions of this disease is not due to a primary metabolic defect, but is a secondary phenomenon, probably due to the affinity between lipoproteins and glycoproteins.


This paper represents an exploration into the effectiveness and nature of vocabulary acquisition through reading in English as a foreign language. The subjects, Polish learners of English, were instructed to read three newspaper articles for comprehension while performing three reading tasks: 'read only', read for the main ideas, and read for selected information. Their gains in the knowledge of 60 potentially least known words were then measured. It was found that although all the students showed some vocabulary gains, the medium- and high-proficiency students profited more than the low-proficiency students. The while-reading tasks had a modest effect on learning unfamiliar lexical items, with the 'read only' task proving slightly more efficient than the other two tasks. The data did not support the hypothesis that increasing text comprehensibility promotes a proportional increase in vocabulary acquisition.


Cancers of the abdominal cavity comprise one of the most prevalent forms of cancers, with the highest contribution from colon and rectal cancers (12% of the human population), followed by stomach cancers (4%). Surgery, as the preferred choice of treatment, includes the selection of adequate resection margins to avoid local recurrences due to minimal residual disease. The presence of functionally vital structures can complicate the choice of resection margins. Spectral analysis of tissue samples in combination with chemometric models constitutes a promising approach for more efficient and precise tumour margin identification. Additionally, this technique provides a real-time tumour identification approach not only for intraoperative application but also during endoscopic diagnosis of tumours in hollow organs. The combination of near-infrared and mid-infrared spectroscopy has advantages compared to individual methods for the clinical implementation of this technique as a diagnostic tool.


The present paper describes a numerical method which is able to calculate the stress intensity factor in two dimensional heterogeneous materials under mechanical and thermal loads. The proposed method uses two hybrid element formulations to model the second phase heterogeneities of the material and the crack tips. The method was used to analyse alumina-zirconia ceramic materials, and the effects due to the zirconia t→m phase transformation and the thermal stresses, which develop during the cooling stage of sintering, were taken into account in calculating the stress intensity factor.


Root-knot nematodes (RKN; genus Meloidogyne) are polyphagous plant pathogens of great economic importance to agriculturalists globally. These species are small, diverse, and can be challenging for accurate taxonomic identification. Many of the most important crop pests confound analysis with simple genetic marker loci as they are polyploids of likely hybrid origin. Here we take a low-coverage, long-read genome sequencing approach to characterisation of individual root-knot nematodes. We demonstrate library preparation for Oxford Nanopore Technologies Flongle sequencing of low input DNA from individual juveniles and immature females, multiplexing up to twelve samples per flow cell. Taxonomic identification with Kraken 2 (a k-mer-based taxonomic assignment tool) is shown to reliably identify individual nematodes to species level, even within the very closely related Meloidogyne incognita group. Our approach forms a robust, low-cost, and scalable method for accurate RKN species diagnostics.


Although the use of Web 2.0 in higher education has been a hot topic for the last decade, a lack of guidelines on how to use Web 2.0 tools has constrained their wider adoption. Therefore, understanding why and how educators use Web 2.0 is a necessary step towards promoting their effective use in teaching and learning. This study draws upon the uses and gratifications perspective to explore faculty members' uses of Web 2.0 tools in instructional processes in an international higher education context. We gathered data from 15 faculty members via semistructured interviews as part of a phenomenological study design applying maximum variation sampling. We analyzed the data using content analysis. The results indicated that the faculty members were selective in their use of Web 2.0 tools and utilized a variety of Web 2.0 tools to gratify their cognitive, affective, social integrative and personal integrative needs in relation to instructional processes.


Purpose This study aimed to evaluate the trans-epithelial permeability enhancement and cell damage caused by a novel riboflavin composition for corneal delivery. Methods We developed a trans-epithelial formulation of riboflavin for corneal delivery using 1,2-dioleoyl-3-dimethylammonium-propane (DODAP) and isostearic acid (ISA). The permeation enhancement was evaluated using an in vitro corneal epithelial cell culture system by measuring the amount of transferred riboflavin with high-performance liquid chromatography. Riboflavin permeation of MedioCROSS TE, a commercially available riboflavin formulation containing benzalkonium chloride, was also evaluated and compared to that of the DODAP/ISA formulation by changing the riboflavin concentration. The trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER) was measured after exposure to the samples in an in vitro corneal epithelial cell culture system to assess cytotoxicity. Results The DODAP/ISA formulation demonstrated greater permeation when used together than when each component was used individually. The permeation enhancement effect of the DODAP/ISA formulation was almost the same as that of MedioCROSS TE. However, when a 10-fold higher riboflavin concentration was used in the DODAP/ISA formulation, the permeation enhancement effect surpassed that of MedioCROSS TE. After 24 hours of exposure, the TEER of the DODAP/ISA formulation was higher than that of MedioCROSS TE, indicating that the DODAP/ISA formulation was less cytotoxic than MedioCROSS TE. Conclusions This study indicated that the DODAP/ISA formulation could serve as a less cytotoxic alternative to MedioCROSS TE. Further studies are required to determine the clinical efficacy and safety of the DODAP/ISA formulation in vivo. Translational Relevance This study may provide alternative procedures for corneal collagen crosslinking with less of a cytotoxic effect on corneal epithelial cells.


Using Taguchi method to optimize the critical parameters of laser peening (LP) is presented firstly. The objective of the study is to assess the impact of laser parameters on the laser peen strengthening for the 6061-T6 aluminum alloy and optimize the process parameters to achieve higher surface residual compressive stress. In order to reduce the process cost and time, the finite element method was applied to simulate the LP process. The Taguchi method is used to formulate the experimental layout and establish the order of predominance among the identified critical parameters, and predict the optimal setting for each process parameter. The results show that three parameters related to the magnitude of compressive residual stress imply different effects. Laser shot diameter ranks first, followed by pulse width and laser power in terms of their effects on the magnitude of compressive residual stress. The best combination of levels is given by the levels (3, 3, 2). The optimal result was confirmed with a superior ultimate surface residual compressive stress of 125MP.


In this article, Suparlan uses both concepts of ethnicity and primordialism in explaining the failure of Poultry Farming Assistance Program carried out by the local office of the general of Animal Housebandry in Mwapi Villlage, Irian Jaya. Among the Komoro's who live in this village are divided into two clans: Muare and Pigapu. Their culture is called Ndaitita which mainly based on egalitarianism. They do not have a formal social stratification. Each person perceived as atomistic individual. Concepts of state and larger societies do not exist in Komoro's culture. Their social relations base on family and clan. When the head of Mwapi villages had task to coordinate the chicken program, he only recruited the persons from his clan: Muare. According to Suparlan, the heads start his ethnicities in forming make this group. But the programs started to ruin when the group had to work together. Komoro' peoples are very individualistic. So, the programs had failure. To cover up these problems, Chief starts his primordialism as the core beliefs.


Stromal-epithelial interactions in the prostate gland are dependent on androgen regulation of prostate stromal cells, yet little is known about androgen action in these cell types. Recent reports have demonstrated that androgen-regulated gene transcription can be stimulated or inhibited by certain growth factors, indicating cross-talk mechanisms. To address potential cross-talk in signaling pathways between androgen and transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGFbeta1) in prostate stromal cells, the PS-1 prostate smooth muscle cell line was examined. In the presence of physiological concentrations of androgen, PS-1 cell proliferation was stimulated, and androgen receptor (AR) exhibited a nuclear localization pattern. The addition of TGFbeta1 (25 pM) was capable of blocking androgen-induced proliferation, but had no direct effect in cultures without androgen. Immunocytochemistry to localize AR subcellular distribution showed that TGFbeta1 (5-100 pM) altered the distribution of AR from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. Other growth factors, including fibroblast growth factor-2, epidermal growth factor, and TGFbeta2 had no effect on AR distribution. The TGFbeta1-induced nuclear to cytoplasmic change in receptor localization was rapid (initiated within 30 min), was neutralized by TGFbeta1 antibodies, did not require new protein synthesis, and was complete by 6 h. Removal of TGFbeta1 from the culture medium resulted in a rapid redistribution of AR to the nucleus, indicating reversible mechanisms. Northern analysis of the ddp17 marker transcript for androgen action in PS-1 cells showed that androgen-stimulated ddp17 expression was inhibited in the presence of TGFbeta1 (25 pM). TGFbeta1 induced a similar nuclear to cytoplasmic distribution of AR in primary cultures of rat prostate stromal cells. TGFbeta1, however, had no effect on AR distribution in either the LNCaP prostatic carcinoma cell line or the DDT1MF-2 leiomyosarcoma cell line. Specific cross-talk between TGFbeta1 and AR signaling pathways in prostate stromal cells may play a significant role in prostate development and stromal cell response in carcinoma progression.


Background Recent concerns regarding long term transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) prosthesis failure have been raised. Studies with long term failure outcomes are limited. Objective A cross sectional study to assess TAVI prosthesis function after more than 5 years implantation. Method All successful TAVI procedures at a single high volume centre between January 2007 to December 2012 were included. The most recent clinical transthoracic study assessing for prosthetic function performed by accredited cardiac sonographers and physicians were reviewed. The duration of follow up scan was categorised to early (<12 months), medium term (12 to 48 months) and long term (>48 months). Patient mortality data was recorded. Results 212 TAVI procedures were successfully implanted with follow up ranging from 4 to 9 years. The characteristics are similar to the first generation TAVI population with predominant use of a femoral approach and a self-expanding device. 4 (1.8%) patients died pre-discharge. 30 day mortality was, 3.3%. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th years mortality were 11.9%, 7.0%, 13.9%, 16.9% respectively. Survival at 5 years was 53.3%. There were fewer patients with follow-up scans beyond 48 months. Cross sectional comparison did not show a change in valve gradient. Mild paravalvular regurgitation was present consistently. There was no evidence of late aortic stenosis or severe AR. Conclusion The medium to long term 1st generation TAVI valve function is promising, but long term follow up will be difficult due to high mortality in the earlier implantations.


Trauma and damage to the delicate structures of the inner ear frequently occurs during insertion of electrode array into the cochlea. This is strongly related to the excessive manual insertion force of the surgeon without any tool/tissue interaction feedback. The research is examined tool-tissue interaction of large prototype scale (12.5:1) digit embedded with distributive tactile sensor based upon cochlear electrode and large prototype scale (4.5:1) cochlea phantom for simulating the human cochlear which could lead to small scale digit requirements. This flexible digit classified the tactile information from the digit-phantom interaction such as contact status, tip penetration, obstacles, relative shape and location, contact orientation and multiple contacts. The digit, distributive tactile sensors embedded with silicon-substrate is inserted into the cochlea phantom to measure any digit/phantom interaction and position of the digit in order to minimize tissue and trauma damage during the electrode cochlear insertion. The digit is pre-curved in cochlea shape so that the digit better conforms to the shape of the scala tympani to lightly hug the modiolar wall of a scala. The digit have provided information on the characteristics of touch, digit-phantom interaction during the digit insertion. The tests demonstrated that even devices of such a relative simple design with low cost have potential to improve cochlear implants surgery and other lumen mapping applications by providing tactile feedback information by controlling the insertion through sensing and control of the tip of the implant during the insertion. In that approach, the surgeon could minimize the tissue damage and potential damage to the delicate structures within the cochlear caused by current manual electrode insertion of the cochlear implantation. This approach also can be applied diagnosis and path navigation procedures. The digit is a large scale stage and could be miniaturized in future to include more realistic surgical procedures.


Medicinal plants are reported to possess antiviral activity, but finding the substances that are responsible for antiviral activity in the complex mixture of the plant extract is an extremely difficult task. In this paper a methodology related to the determination of the antiviral properties of medicinal plant extracts and based on phytochemical analysis, antiviral tests and machine learning methods is described. 16 potentially antiviral medicinal plants were selected, and their chemometric characteristics and antiviral properties were investigated. Three different analytical methods were used for chemical analysis: (i) spectrophotometry, (ii) capillary electrophoresis with contactless conductivity detection, and (iii) gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. 14 attributes were obtained describing the composition of the plant extracts. Viral growth inhibition properties were investigated and 8 candidate plant extracts were selected as being active against viruses. Infectious bronchitis virus was used as a model virus. Machine learning techniques including deep neural network classification, classification and regression tree induction and hierarchical clusterization were used for mining the factors that are responsible for antiviral effects. It was determined that (i) phenolic compounds providing high radical scavenging activity and fractions containing high content of phenolic compounds are positively related to antiviral activity in plant extracts, (ii) hydrophilic compounds that are positively charged (pKa > 4.7) in acidic media and possess medium and low electrophoretic mobility properties are negatively related to antiviral activity in medicinal plants, (iii) phenolic acids with pKa lower than 4.7 are not related to antiviral activity in the extracts, and (iv) volatile compounds in the extracts, including diversity, quantity and different volatility properties, do not affect the antiviral activity of plant extracts. Following the proposed methodological approach, it is possible to confirm which chemometric attributes are responsible for antiviral activity in medicinal plant extracts.


: Collateral circulation in renal tumor was measured at control angiography 2-22 months after therapeutic embolisation in 32 patients with inoperable cancer of the kidney. Collateral circulation was absent in 38% of patients. 20 patients (62%) had 36 collaterals. The essential role in the reestablishment of arterial supply to the tumor belonged to collaterals from the lumbar, adrenal, accessory arteries as well as to recanalization of the main renal artery trunk. Embolization of the collaterals was performed in 18 patients. It is inferred that after therapeutic embolisation of the renal artery the majority of the patients develop collateral supply of the tumor. Embolisation of the collaterals can be performed 6-12 months after the embolization at control investigation. For detailed evaluation of the tumor revascularization an additional angiographic examination at that time would be beneficial.


During the last decades software has become an important part of our everyday life in the form of various information processing intensive products and services. The competition between software companies has risen considerably and at the same time the importance of cost efficient and value creating software development has been recognized in many companies. Value Engineering has been a usable to method for developing high value products for several years. Earlier it has been applied successfully to software process as well as to software product development. Normally the development of high value products contains also several risks. Combination of efficient value management practices and risk management is one possibility to try to avoid the most dangerous risks to realize for planned value. This research combines Value Engineering and risk management practices into a usable new method in order to better respond to the challenges that risks might cause to the value of software products and their development. This is done in part by defining the concepts of value, worth and cost and in part by defining the Value Engineering process with necessary risk management practices. Three practical industrial cases show that proposed twodimensional method works in practise and is useful to assessed companies.


This research examines the role of collaborative information technologies and their interaction with transactive memory. We simulated a project group where members worked towards completing an interdependent sequence of tasks to reach a common goal. In our experiments, we observed that the change in technology functionalities did not affect group performance significantly although their impact on transactive memory strength was significant. Additional analyses showed that these functionalities can increase the team performance when a dynamic event such as departure occurs in a group. In summary, the role of technology can be unclear in a static group but collaborative information technologies can moderate the impact of a dynamic event on the team performance.


Members of the Ets transcription factor family function in many biological processes. We show the presence of Ets transcription factors, most prominently Net, in neonatal rat Schwann cells, and demonstrate Ets-dependent transcription under conditions where the cells are exposed to autocrine signals or autocrine signals plus beta-neuregulin. Using the potent MAPK kinase inhibitor U0126 we also confirm that the MAP kinase pathway, an activator of Ets transcription, is involved in beta-neuregulin mediated Schwann cell survival. Furthermore, we find that expression of dominant negative Ets1 (N70-Ets1) inhibits both the beta-neuregulin and autocrine survival of Schwann cells. In contrast, the survival of Schwann cells mediated by lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is unaffected by expression of a dominant negative Ets molecule. These data demonstrate that distinct autocrine and beta-neuregulin survival signals converge in their requirement for Ets dependent transcription in Schwann cell survival.


Objectives An information system on occupational hazards, injuries and near misses as well as disease and associated risk factors and prevention measures needed and/or implemented is essential for any large employer to effectively manage and mitigate injuries and diseases in work place. The information provided by a system is only as good as the information entered to the system thus staff attitude towards the system and surveillance is important to ascertain for the program to work effectively Method A 15% stratified random sample of employees was selected to participate in the baseline online survey. The questions covered incidents, workplace hazards and employee health. The employees were contacted via email with regular reminders to participate. Results There were 314 participants giving a 32% response rate. 23% of employees did not know or were unsure how to contact their safety health and environment officer. In the past 5 years 9% of staff have suffered needlesticks and the majority (65%) reported the incident to both their supervisor and their health and safety representative. A few reported to a colleague or first aid provider and only 1 did not report. With other occupational injuries and diseases the patterns were the same. 60% of staff have received all three doses of the Hepatitis B vaccine and 26% received flu vaccines. Conclusions The response rate was what was expected for this population and the majority indicated that they report all incidents which suggests that an online information system will be used and provide a valuable resource. With 40% of staff not complete with their Hepatitis B vaccines an information system will allow nurses to track these employees more effectively.


The Library Guide discusses PubMed which comprises more than 22 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web site.


We study financial reporting and corporate governance in 218 companies accused of price fixing. These firms engage in evasive financial reporting strategies, including earnings smoothing, segment reclassification, and restatements. In corporate governance, cartel firms favor outside directors likely to monitor inattentively due to low attendance, other board seats, and overseas residence. When directors resign, they are often not replaced, and auditors are rarely switched. Cartel firms have unusually low CEO turnover and rely on internal management promotions. Their managers exercise stock options faster than managers of other firms. Cartel firms are large donors to political candidates. While our results are based only upon firms engaged in price fixing, we expect that they should apply generally to all companies in which managers seek to conceal poor performance or wrongdoing.