We recently reported that dendritic cells (DC) infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) produce Th1/IFN-γ-inducing cytokines, IFN-αβ and IL-12. In the present article, we show that maturing Mtb-infected DC express high levels of CCR7 and they become responsive to its ligand CCL21. Conversely, CCR5 expression was rapidly lost from the cell surface following Mtb infection. High levels of CCL3 and CCL4 were produced within 8 h after infection, which is likely to account for the observed CCR5 down-modulation on Mtb-infected DC. In addition, Mtb infection stimulated the secretion of CXCL9 and CXCL10. Interestingly, the synthesis of CXCL10 was mainly dependent on the Mtb-induced production of IFN-αβ. Indeed, IFN-αβ neutralization down-regulated CXCL10 expression, whereas the expression of CXCL9 appeared to be unaffected. The chemotactic activity of the Mtb-infected DC supernatants was evaluated by migration assays using activated NK, CD4+, and CD8+ cells that expressed both CCR5 and CXCR3. Mtb-induced expression of CCL3, CCL4, CXCL9, and CXCL10 was involved in the stimulation of NK and T cell migration. In accordance with the data on the IFN-αβ-induced expression of CXCL10, neutralization of IFN-αβ significantly reduced the chemotactic activity of the supernatant from Mtb-infected DC. This indicates that IFN-αβ may modulate the immune response through the expression of CXCL10, which along with CXCL9, CCL3, and CCL4 participates in the recruitment and selective homing of activated/effector cells, which are known to accumulate at the site of Mtb infection and take part in the formation of the granulomas.


A simple way to control only the surface properties of polymer materials, without changing the bulk properties, has long been desired. The segregation behavior when a component with a tiny amount fed into the matrix is thermodynamically enriched at the surface is one of the candidate methods. This capability was examined herein by focusing on a star-shaped polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (s-POSS), where the central polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) unit is tethered to 8 isobutyl-substituted POSS cages, as a surface modifier. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that the surface of a film of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) was almost completely covered with POSS units by adding just 5 wt% s-POSS to it. The segregated POSS dramatically altered the physical properties such as molecular motion, and the mechanical and dielectric responses at the surface of the PMMA film. These findings make it clear that s-POSS is an excellent surface modifier for glassy polymers.


Extrusion cooking has beenused as an important technique for the manufacture and modification of widevariety of food products such as expanded snack foods, ready-to-eat cerealswhich are made from foods with high starch and protein. Although starchy foodsare the predominant structure forming agents, their utilization as food hasbeen limited by their poor protein quality and quantity. The supplementationwith legumes improves the essential amino acid content of the food. Bambaragroundnut has balanced amino acid content and can supplement the quality ofamino acids in sorghum. Starch from sorghum flour has been found to beresistant to extrusion. This makes the modification of functional propertiesvery difficult. Malting of the sorghum has been adopted for the modification ofthe starch quality. The nutrient and functional properties of food play majorrole in their application and use as food. This work has studied the effect offeed moisture (20%, 25%, and 30%) and barrel temperature (100o C,110OC and 130o C) on the chemical composition andfunctional properties of sorghum malt and Bambara groundnut blends. From theresults of the analyses, protein content varied from 11.07% to 11.75%. Increasein barrel temperature decreased the protein content while feed moistureincrease favoured the retention of proteins. The expansion index (EI), waterabsorption index (WAI) and effect of quantity of water on swell volume (EQWSV)varied from 1.88 to 3.88, 570% to 660% and 13.7 seconds to 33.4 secondsrespectively. These properties are negatively affected by increase in feedmoisture but they improve with increases in barrel temperature. The values forwater solubility index (WSI), bulk density and Wettability ranged from 2.2% to8.4%, 0.2g/cm3 to o.7g/cm3 and 14.3 seconds to 37.3seconds respectively. The increase in feed moisture has positive influence onthese parameters while temperature increased affected them negatively.


Abstract Purpose: Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is the practice of managing plasma drug concentrations. This intervention can potentially improve inadequate antiretroviral dosing in the treatment of HIV infection. Our objective was to review the evidence regarding TDM in HIV management. Method: We searched MEDLINE using the following key words: therapeutic drug monitoring, HIV infection, pharmacokinetics, antiretroviral therapy, protease inhibitors, antiretroviral-naïve, antiretroviral-experienced, and salvage therapy. Inclusion criteria required definition of optimal concentration thresholds and measures of treatment effectiveness at these targets. Results: Our search yielded 39 studies. 11 studies met inclusion criteria. 4 studies compared efficacy of TDM to standard of care (SOC) interventions via randomized clinical trials and were grouped as "interventional." 7 studies retrospectively defined thresholds from observed differences in outcome and were grouped as "observational." 3 interventional studies targeted similar indinavir concentrations (Cmin = 0.10-0.15 mg/L). 2 of these studies increased achievement of target serum levels and percentages of undetectable viral load (23%-41%, p ≤ .009) with TDM implementation. Conclusion: TDM can effectively target antiretroviral threshold concentrations and improve virologic suppression in some cases. Further work is needed to define plasma thresholds and assess the value of TDM in HIV management.


Even after more than 15 years of the emergence of modern biotechnology in agriculture, much of Africa remains reluctant if not hostile to it. Some view modern biotechnology as the new messiah to lift Africa from starvation and food insecurity while others hold the contrary view and advise Africa to stay away from the technology for reasons ranging from health and environmental concerns to economic considerations. They fear that the unfolding 'gene revolution' is destined to fail on its promises because of the existing complex economic, social, and political circumstances in Africa as was the case in the green revolution. Africa continues to be gripped in the polarized debate so much so that it is unable to make informed decision on a technology with promises that could potentially address some of the problems of agriculture in the continent. This paper explores issues related to modern biotechnology in general and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in particular in the context of Africa. To that end, it begins by briefly exploring the debate on modern biotechnology and relating it to the context of Africa. It then presents the state of modern biotechnology in Africa and the different positions of African countries, and it subsequently examines the different concerns on GMOs in the context of Africa. The paper makes the conclusion that while technology alone may not necessarily resolve all the ills of Africa's agriculture, modern biotechnology should certainly be attractive to Africa- a continent known for a long history of poverty, chronic food insecurity and malnutrition. Modern biotechnology may assist in improving yields and quality of crops- plants could be more resistant to diseases, pests, drought or any other strenuous environmental conditions or improved strong properties or quality characteristics which are all the very evils of Africa's agriculture. The existence of divergent views on modern biotechnology should not prevent Africa from making informed decision and harnessing the benefits while at the same time ensuring its safety in terms of health and the environment as well as its relevance to the needs and priorities of the continent.Presented at the SIEL 2010 Conference in Barcelona.


We present a photoemission spectroscopy study of As-rich n-GaAs(001) surface modified by the deposition of an undoped silicon overlayer with thickness quite narrowly covering the interval from similar to 4 to 25 Angstrom. We observed a nonmonotonic relation between the surface band bending and Si overlayer thickness with the lowest surface potential at about 10-Angstrom-thick silicon overlayer. The valence band spectra inspection reveals the double leading edge incidental to alignment of the valence band edges of GaAs and Si overlayer with the offset of 0.29 eV and various theoretical models of semiconductor-semiconductor interfaces are discussed. Based on the influence of the silicon layer on both band bending and Schottky barrier height, it is concluded that the Schottky barrier height of Au/Si/GaAs structure evolves towards the Schottky limit for an ideal (par definition free of interface states) Au/GaAs junction as the silicon interlayer thickness reaches about 10 . (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)04202-X].


The role of GM-CSF/IL-3/IL-5 receptor common β subunit (CBS) in Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cell (HSPC) expansion, monocytosis and atherosclerosis Mi Wang Atherosclerosis is caused by the recruitment of monocytes to the subendothelial space where they develop into macrophage foam cells and give rise to atherosclerotic plaques. Elevated numbers of blood monocytes are strongly associated with coronary heart disease likely because increased numbers of monocytes drive their infiltration into atherosclerotic plaques. Studies using animal models of atherosclerosis including Apolipo protein E knockout (Apoe -/) mice and ATP binding cassette transporter A1(ABCA1) and ATP binding cassette transporter G1 (ABCG1) knockout (Abca1 -/Abcg1 -/) mice demonstrated that cellular cholesterol retention leads to Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cell (HSPC) expansion that underlies monocytosis and neutrophilia, coinciding with increased cell surface expression of the common β subunit of the Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) /Interleukine 3 (IL-3 receptor (CBS) in the bone marrow HSPCs and increased GM-CSF production in the spleen. These observations suggest that CBS signalling could contribute to atherogenesis by promoting myeloid expansion. To investigate the role of CBS in the cholesterol driven HSPC expansion and monocytosis during atherogenesis, we generated Apoe -/Cbs -/mice through cross-breeding and transplanted Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor knockout (Ldlr -/) mice with bone marrow from Apoe -/Cbs -/or Apoe -/mice followed by western type diet (WTD) feeding. To confirm that any potential effect of CBS deficiency is specific to the context of atherosclerosis associated monocytosis, we also transplanted Ldlr -/mice with wild type (WT) or Cbs -/bone marrow. Despite similar levels of plasma cholesterol among all groups, the Apoe -/Cbs -/bone marrow transplanted mice had fewer circulating monocytes and neutrophils, accompanied by reduced HSPC proliferation in both the bone marrow and the spleen. The spleen has been identified as an important site for extramedullary production of monocytes during atherosclerosis and acute inflammatory responses. To investigate the role of CBS in extramedullary monocytosis during atherogenesis, we compared WT and Apoe -/mice fed on a WTD and found increased GM-CSF-producing Innate Response Activator (IRA) B cells in the spleen of Apoe -/mice, reflecting increased CBS level on IRA B cells and peritoneal B1a cells that are precursors of IRA B cells. CBS deficiency dramatically reduced the number and proliferative activity of IRA B cells in the spleen, suggesting that CBS mediates enhanced GMCSF production in the spleen by promoting IRA B cell expansion. Despite the significant reduction of monocyte level, Apoe -/Cbs -/bone marrow transplanted mice showed similar levels of atherosclerotic lesion compared with Apoe -/bone marrow transplanted ones. A closer examination of the lesions revealed decreased macrophage content but increased necrotic core formation in the Apoe -/Cbs -/bone marrow recipients. This could be explained by decreased dendritic cells (DCs) and Regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the spleen, which are known to exert atheroprotective effects through anti-inflammatory cytokines. Another contributing factor appeared to be the decreased expression of ABCG1, an ABC transporter that protects against macrophage apoptosis by maintaining cholesterol homeostasis. Taken together, our findings indicate that CBS plays a critical role in promoting monocytosis during atherogenesis by mediating HSPC proliferation in the bone marrow and GM-CSF production in the spleen through IRA B cell expansion, and these events likely contribute to macrophage accumulation in the atherosclerosis lesions. The effect of CBS on atherogenesis is complex since it affects the development of multiple cell types that exert opposing roles during atherosclerosis. To further elucidate the relation between CBS, monocytosis and atherosclerosis, a cellspecific knock out approach might be informative.


This study offers insights into factors of influence on the implementation of flood damage mitigation measures by more than 1,000 homeowners who live in flood‐prone areas in New York City. Our theoretical basis for explaining flood preparedness decisions is protection motivation theory, which we extend using a variety of other variables that can have an important influence on individual decision making under risk, such as risk attitudes, time preferences, social norms, trust, and local flood risk management policies. Our results in relation to our main hypothesis are as follows. Individuals who live in high flood risk zones take more flood‐proofing measures in their home than individuals in low‐risk zones, which suggests the former group has a high threat appraisal. With regard to coping appraisal variables, we find that a high response efficacy and a high self‐efficacy play an important role in taking flood damage mitigation measures, while perceived response cost does not. In addition, a variety of behavioral characteristics influence individual decisions to flood‐proof homes, such as risk attitudes, time preferences, and private values of being well prepared for flooding. Investments in elevating one's home are mainly influenced by building code regulations and are negatively related with expectations of receiving federal disaster relief. We discuss a variety of policy recommendations to improve individual flood preparedness decisions, including incentives for risk reduction through flood insurance, and communication campaigns focused on coping appraisals and informing people about flood risk they face over long time horizons.


The Linux kernel does not export a stable, well-defined kernel interface, complicating the development of kernel-level services, such as device drivers and file systems. While there does exist a set of functions that are exported to external modules, this set of functions frequently changes, and the functions have implicit, ill-documented preconditions. No specific debugging support is provided. We present Diagnosys, an approach to automatically constructing a debugging interface for the Linux kernel. First, a designated kernel maintainer uses Diagnosys to identify constraints on the use of the exported functions. Based on this information, developers of kernel services can then use Diagnosys to generate a debugging interface specialized to their code. When a service including this interface is tested, it records information about potential problems. This information is preserved following a kernel crash or hang. Our experiments show that the generated debugging interface provides useful log information and incurs a low performance penalty.


In an analog/digital hybrid subcarrier multiplexed (SCM) transmission, carriers have generally been substituted for transmission signals such as AM vestigal sideband (AM-VSB) AM signals and M-QAM signals to evaluate transmission quality. In practical hybrid SCM, however, carriers are modulated by video signals or digital data, and the amplitude of a multiplexed signal composed of these modulation signals is more compressed than that of the carriers. This causes a decrease in the frequency of clipping of the multiplexed signal at the laser threshold. Consequently, the BER of the M-QAM signal in a practical hybrid SCM is lower than that of the experimental results for the same optical modulation index (OMI). However, it is difficult to prepare many practical modulation signals for experiments in a laboratory. Therefore, there is demand for a bit error rate (BER) analysis method for a multiplexed signal that includes the modulation signals needed to sufficiently evaluate the BER and determine the optimum OMI in a practical hybrid SCM. In this paper, we describe such a BER analysis method that can effectively estimate the BER in a practical hybrid SCM. In practical systems, the BER was greatly improved over the BER of a multiplexed signal of carriers. Furthermore, BER degradations due to clipping can be neglected for the AM signals in setting a practical OMI range. We used this analysis method to study the effective OMI range of AM and M-QAM signals. By assuming modulation signals, the OMI range is enlarged and, significantly, the OMI of an AM signal becomes suitable for setting practical values in AM-SCM transmission. This OMI range is more practical than those of former studies.


Two research aircraft were equipped with real-time sulfur hexafluoride analyzers in support of the North Dakota/NOAA 1987 summertime weather modification research program. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) was released from a ground location and the plume was detected by both aircraft on several downwind transects. The SF6 plume was tracked to near the base of a developing thunderstorm by one of the research aircraft. Calculations were made of what the concentration of silver iodide (AgI) seeding material would have been had a seeding generator been operated concurrently with the SF6 release. These calculations utilized the SF6 release rate, an assumed AgI release rate, and the observed SF6 concentrations.


The use of self-compacting concrete (SCC) as a construction material has been getting more attention from the industry. Its application area varies from standard structural elements in bridges and skyscrapers to modern architecture having geometrical challenges. However, heterogeneities induced during the casting process may lead to variations of local mechanical properties and hence to a potential decrease in load carrying capacity of the structure. This paper presents a methodology for optimization of SCC casting aiming at having a homogeneous aggregate distribution; a beam has been used as geometric example. The aggregate distribution is predicted by a numerical flow model coupled with a user defined volume fraction subroutine. The process parameters in casting with SCC in general are horizontal and vertical positions, movement, as well as the size of the inlet, and the duration of the filling etc., however since this work is the initial feasibility study in this field, only three process parameters are considered. Despite the reduction in the number of process parameters, the complexity involved in the considered casting process results in a non trivial optimal design set.


Big-data is the expression used to describe large data sets, which are complex and require analysis techniques for extraction and description. The availability of big data and efficient methods of analysis have positively influenced different business activities due to the accuracy of analysis; promoting superior business decision-making. Analysis of big data is done using tools and techniques in various domains such as stream and graph processing, semantic web, logic programming. The use of big data has grown exponentially in the field of business, and the proposed project aims at providing knowledge on the different tools and techniques that are used to define, analyze and categorize large volumes of data.

In this thesis, I have documented my research in Large-scale data processing. I have identified specific tools, which are currently being adopted widely in academia and industry as well for processing data. This dissertation will present the data obtained and establish plans towards designing some generic framework or algorithms for data processing on Apache Storm while reducing latency. Additionally, I will demonstrate an approach for the implementation of recursion in real-time reasoning.


While the rate of development of poikilotherms can vary widely with temperature (and other external variables such as food availability, diet, etc.), the gene expression, morphology, and function of the organs of the embryo at all stages of development is independent of these external factors (1). In PNAS, Filina et al. (2) show that this is valid also in the development of Caenorhabditis elegans when the stage of development is defined relative to the overall developmental time, a property they call "temporal scaling." We would like to point out here that this robustness could be a result of development occurring near a critical point, where all rates scale as θ θc, where θ is some external variable. Particularly, if development occurs near a critical temperature Tc all developmental rates (growth rate, oscillatory frequencies, gene expression dynamics, etc.) should scale as T Tc. We have observed this to be valid during somitogenesis in zebrafish (1, 3). From the limited data in Filina et al. (2) it appears that this is also valid for the developmental rate of C. elegans (defined as the inverse of the development duration TS) (Fig. 1). Notice, though, that while "temporal scaling" is a consequence of criticality, the reverse is not true. The linear variation of developmental rates with temperature implied by the proximity to a critical point has also been observed in the development of the various larval stages in the fly (4, 5). It is thus tempting to hypothesize that a common mechanism is at work in these various organisms, possibly an essential transcription factor displaying critical behavior (1). If such a mechanism is shared by so distant organisms as C. elegans, fly, and zebrafish, it must be evolutionary very old, dating to the last bilaterian common ancestor appearing during the Cambrian explosion.


A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method is described for the determination of duloxetine hydrochloride in capsules. The method was based on pre-column derivatization with 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole using the fluorimetric detection technique. Duloxetine hydrochloride was analyzed by HPLC using an Inertsil C18 column (5 μm, 150 × 4.6 mm) and mobile phase consisted of methanol and water (65:35, v/v). The fluorescence detector was adjusted at excitation and emission wavelengths of 461 and 521 nm, respectively. The linearity of the method was in the range of 10-600 ng/mL. Limits of detection and quantification were 0.51 and 1.53 ng/mL, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for determination of duloxetine hydrochloride in its pharmaceutical preparation. The results were in good agreement with those obtained using a reference method.


University of SydneyCommentators on the R. D. Roberts, M. Zeidner, and G. Matthews (2001) article onthe measurement of emotional intelligence (EI) made various pertinent observa-tions that confirm the growing interest in this topic. This rejoinder finds generalagreement on some key issues: learning from the history of ability testing, devel-oping more sophisticated structural models of ability, studying emotional abilitiesacross the life span, and establishing predictive and construct validity. However,scoring methods for tests of EI remain problematic. This rejoinder acknowledgesrecent improvements in convergence between different scoring methods but dis-cusses further difficulties related to (a) neglect of group differences in normativesocial behaviors, (b) segregation of separate domains of knowledge linked to cog-nitive and emotional intelligences, (c) potential confounding of competence withlearned skills and cultural factors, and (d) lack of specification of adaptive functionsof EI. Empirical studies have not yet established that the Multi-Factor EmotionalIntelligence Scale and related tests assess a broad EI factor of real-world signifi-cance.There is something fascinating about science. One getssuch wholesome returns of conjecture out of such a tri-fling investment of fact.—Mark Twain,


Mi-er1 is a fibroblast growth factor immediate-early gene whose expression is differentially regulated in breast tumours. MI-ER1 functions as a transcriptional repressor of a number of genes, including Sp1 target genes. The Xenopus and human orthologs have been described and here we report the characterization of the mouse gene and its products. Mouse mi-er1 is a single copy gene located on chromosome 4. It has the same intron-exon structure as the human gene with the exception of exon 3A, in which an upstream 3' splice acceptor is utilized. As described in humans, multiple transcripts are produced in the mouse, and we have isolated the mouse orthologs of the human N1-β, N2-β and N3-β, all of, which differ in their N-terminal sequence. Furthermore, we have isolated a novel isoform, N4-β, containing sequence from an additional exon located between exon 4 and exon 5 that produces an fourth alternate N-terminus. The human mi-er1 transcripts also include isoforms encoding two alternate C-termini, α and β. Like Xenopus, only isoforms containing the β C-terminus have been detected in the mouse. Expression analysis, using a panel of mouse tissues and embryos, revealed that the N1-β and N3-β are ubiquitously expressed while N4-β is only expressed in testis. N2-β is expressed in most tissues but was not detected in heart, brain, eye or skeletal muscle. Sequence comparison revealed 95% identity between mouse and human MI-ER1 isoforms and 72% identity between mouse and Xenopus. The most conserved region in the MI-ER1 protein is the SANT domain, which is identical in all three species. Further analysis of the SANT domain using sequences retrieved from the genome databases for rat, cow, chicken, zebrafish, trout and Xenopus tropicalis revealed that this domain is highly conserved, with 88% identity among the 9 species. Moreover, an additional 10 residues C-terminal to the published end of this domain are 100% conserved, suggesting that in MI-ER1, the functional domain includes this extended sequence.


Several techniques of radical denervation of the sino-aortic depressor areas were tried in order to produce a permanent neurogenic hypertension in the rat. The aortic depressor fibers were interrupted at the neck level by resecting the nerves which usually exhibit baroreceptor activity, namely, isolated aortic nerve, sympathetic, and laryngeal nerves. The carotid sinus was denervated by stripping the carotid bifurcation and painting with phenol. When the carotid bifurcation was resected bilaterally, in a one-stage operation, all rats showed symptoms of cerebral ischemia, dying shortly thereafter. Isolated denervation of the aortic baroreceptors was followed by a transitory hypertension. No changes in preasure were observed when only the carotid sinuses were denervated. A few rats in which the usual baroreceptor pathways were interrupted, except the superior laryngeal nerve, developed chronic hypertension. Yet, to obtain consistently permanent hypertension it was necessary to include in the denervation every baroreceptor route. A simple one-stage operation for complete sino-aortic baroreceptor denervation is described. This procedure was used in 140 rats that were then studied for periods up to one year. All the operated animals presented some degree of hypertension. Blood pressure measurements made during the first week showed even then that the rats were hypertensive. This observation suggests that in the rat no latent period for the appearance of neurogenic hypertension is present. Hypertension was permanent in 75% of the rats observed up to one year; blood pressure returned to normal values in the remaining 25%, usually after the third month. Extirpation of the adrenal medulla had no effect on the evolution of the hypertension in the denervated rats. Blood pressure was measured repeatedly in unanesthetized rats by tail plethysmography. Pressure values determined by this method, though 10 to 20 mm Hg lower, approximated the mean arterial pressure recorded directly from the femoral artery in normotensive and hypertensive rats. The hypertension in denervated rats included an increase of systolic as well as diastolic pressure. The heart rates of quiet hypertensive rats were within the normal range and, in general, no close correlation was observed between increases in blood pressure and elevations in heart rate. Normal rats have marked fluctuations in both pressure and heart rate when walking or when stimulated; these fluctuations were much greater in the neurogenic hypertensive animals. Moreover, the hypertensive rats showed large oscillations of blood pressure synchronous with respiratory movements particularly when the latter were slower and deeper than normal. The rats seemed to tolerate both the denervation and the hypertension very well. Histological examination of tissues from hypertensive rats showed myocardial hypertrophy and a thickening of the basement membrane of the glomerular capsule. The severity of the latter abnormality was closely associated with the duration of the hypertension.


Colorectal cancer in patients with ulcerative colitis. Jayne Eaden, Gastrointestinal Research Unit, Leicester General Hospital. The magnitude of the colorectal cancer (CRC) risk in ulcerative colitis (UC) was determined in the first meta-analysis of all 116 studies reporting the risk. For any patient with UC the risk was 2% at ten years, 8% at twenty years and 18% after thirty years. The risk was greater in children, varied geographically and has fallen since 1955. A case-control study of 204 patients across the United Kingdom demonstrated regular aminosalicylate therapy reduced cancer risk by 75% (p<0.00001). Mesalazine was particularly effective reducing risk by 81% (p=0.006). Visiting a hospital doctor more than twice a year and attending regular colonoscopies also reduced risk (84% and 78%). A family cancer history increased risk five fold. A reliable, self administered questionnaire measuring patient knowledge was developed. No correlation was found between patient knowledge and the risk of developing CRC. A randomized controlled trial compared the efficacy of a video (scripted and produced by the author) vs. an information leaflet on patient knowledge. This established that both media improved knowledge (71% and 49%) but neither intervention was significantly more effective than the other. The first nationwide audit of surveillance practices amongst gastroenterologists ascertained 94% of consultants practiced surveillance but it was extremely disorganized and considerable disagreement existed concerning the management of dysplasia. An inter-observer variation study (examining histological slides) found specialist gastrointestinal and general pathologists were equally poor at grading dysplasia (Kappa =0.30 and 0.28 respectively). A new immunohistochemical marker for dysplasia (CYP1B1) was investigated. Although CYP1B1 showed faint staining in dysplastic tissues, it was inconsistent and presently would not improve identification of dysplasia. The CRC risk in UC is significant and may be modified through regular consumption of aminosalicylates. Resources may be better allocated at improving compliance with such medication and targeting surveillance on high risk patients. Standardization of surveillance through national guidelines is needed urgently.


Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and cardiac troponin T (cTnT) are nowadays the criterion biomarkers for the laboratory diagnosis of acute and chronic myocardial injury due to their very high sensitivities and specificities (1). However, still many aspects of their intramyocardial degradation, their tissue release, and their degradation within and elimination from the human circulation are still incompletely understood. In a recently published manuscript Katrukha et al. (2) reported an important novel finding, i.e., degradation of human cTnT by thrombin, the most abundant coagulation enzyme. This editorial aims to give an update on what is known about degradation of human cTnI and cTnT and also points to gaps of current knowledge.


In California's Mediterranean type grasslands, native perennial grasses such as Nassella pulchra are surrounded by introduced annual species and these annuals are thought to have displaced natives through much of their range. Amongst other invaders, two grasses Lolium multiflorum and Bromus hordeaceus, commonly dominate portions of the grassland with potential for N. pulchra restoration. We hypothesized that competitor species differences and small‐scale gaps (150 cm2) could be important determinants of N. pulchra survival and performance on these sites. Lolium multiflorum and B. hordeaceus were planted in 20 cm diameter circular plots at a constant rate of 1 seed per cm2 surrounding newly transplanted N. pulchra plants. Nassella pulchra showed no significant effect of the species of competitor or from the distribution of the competitors. Both interspersion of patches of bare ground and separation of competitors into patches did not increase N. pulchra pre‐dawn water potential, basal area change, number of seeds produced, or average weight of seeds. The presence of L. multiflorum was associated with a decrease in N. pulchra survival compared with plots with only B. hordeaceus. Plants with increases in basal area of less than 0.75 cm2 during the growing season had 74% mortality compared with no mortality in plants with more growth. However, initial N. pulchra plant size was not a good predictor of mortality. Limiting competition from annuals may increase survival of N. pulchra plantings, but 60% of the plants survived for at least 1 year, despite being transplanted into soil containing substantial annual grass seed.


Compositing is one of the most commonly performed operations in computer graphics. A realistic composite requires adjusting the appearance of the foreground and background so that they appear compatible; unfortunately, this task is challenging and poorly understood. We use statistical and visual perception experiments to study the realism of image composites. First, we evaluate a number of standard 2D image statistical measures, and identify those that are most significant in determining the realism of a composite. Then, we perform a human subjects experiment to determine how the changes in these key statistics influence human judgements of composite realism. Finally, we describe a data-driven algorithm that automatically adjusts these statistical measures in a foreground to make it more compatible with its background in a composite. We show a number of compositing results, and evaluate the performance of both our algorithm and previous work with a human subjects study.


A structural dynamic analysis of productive disorders in visual perception was attempted on the basis of psychological study of 344 patients. These disorders were studied according to the increasing degree of inadequacy (anisomorphia) of pathological images in respect to real stimula. Considering the differences of such phenomena according to the degree of discrepancy of their perceptive characteristics with the traits of real objects, some successively complicated pathological images were examined, including traditional false recognition, illusions and hallucinations, as well as interlapping intermediate structures. Some pathogenetical mechanisms in the formations of visual illusions are suggested. Clinico-psychopathological parallels are made between disorders of visual perception and disease entities.


Ever since global positioning system (GPS) modules have been attached to smart phones, much research has focused on how to obtain personal trip (PT) information from them. One of the challenges is identifying activity type (or inferring the purpose of the trip) from these continuous GPS data. This paper focuses on obtaining the type of activity using several machine learning methods and comparing the results. The comparison is implemented from the perspective of accuracy and time cost in the phases of data training and prediction. After applying four machine learning methods to the data set obtained from 30 individuals in Nagoya, Japan, a classification tree method demonstrates superiority over support vector machine (SVM), neural network (NN), and discriminant analysis methods.


Chronic experiments on rabbits have shown that microinjections of 30, 60 and 90 micrograms of petroleum hashish extract into the ventromedial hypothalamic nuclei and into the central gray matter of the midbrain depresses the negative motivated excitation (fear, pain) induced by electric stimulation of these structures or by electric shock. Injection of hashish into the lateral hypothalamic area facilitates the appearance of the digestive positive motivated excitation. Repeated injections of the preparation during 3--15 days contributed to the development of tolerance to analgesic, behavioral and hypothermic effects of hashish. Discontinuation of the injections (90 micrograms) at the 30th experimental day did not reveal any distinct picture of the withdrawal syndrome. A suggestion is made that the brain structures investigated may participate in the development of pathological motivation to hashish.


This paper presents a robust computational framework for monocular 3D tracking of human movement. The main innovation of the proposed framework is to explore the underlying data structures of the body silhouette and pose spaces by constructing lowdimensional silhouettes and poses manifolds, establishing intermanifold mappings, and performing tracking in such manifolds using a particle filter. In addition, a novel vectorized silhouette descriptor is introduced to achieve low-dimensional, noise-resilient silhouette representation. The proposed articulated motion tracker is view-independent, self-initializing, and capable of maintaining multiple kinematic trajectories. By using the learned mapping from the silhouette manifold to the pose manifold, particle sampling is informed by the current image observation, resulting in improved sample efficiency. Decent tracking results have been obtained using synthetic and real videos.


Sacred groves, locally called Devache ban or Devachirai, are the virgin forest patches preserved on religious ground. These forest patches are example of traditional bio-diversity conservation methods since ancient time. So far, such patches were studied from ecological, environmental and floristic view point by several scientists. Being well protected, these are contributing towards carbon sequestration. However, these well protected sacred groves were so far overlooked from carbon sequestration viewpoint. Estimates of carbon stocks and stock changes in tree biomass are necessary for reporting to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and will be required for Kyoto Protocol reporting. The objective of present paper was to estimate carbon sequestration of tree species biomass in Kalamvihira (a sacred grove) at village Kalamvihri in Jawhar Tehsil of Thane District. Trees in sacred groves serve a variety of ecosystem functions including biodiversity conservations, removal of atmospheric pollutants, oxygen generation, microclimate regulation, stabilization of soil, ground water recharge, prevention of soil erosion and carbon sequestration. Forest based mitigation will not only help in CO2 reduction but will help in many other ways to support other ecological services. India has been known as the second contributing country of CDM project after China. This data on carbon sequestration will be a new dimension for conservation point of view and revitalize traditional ecosystem. The mean above and below ground organic carbon (tones/tree) and total organic carbon of each species were calculated. The calculated total organic carbon has been compared with allometric model. Key words:- Carbon sequestration, sacred grove biomass, allometric mod el.


Platform companies disrupt not only the economic sectors they enter, but also the regulatory regimes that govern those sectors. We examine Uber in the United States as a case of regulating this disruption in different arenas: cities, state legislatures, and judicial venues. We find that the politics of Uber regulation does not conform to existing models of regulation. We describe instead a pattern of "disruptive regulation", characterized by a challenger-incumbent cleavage, in two steps. First, an existing regulatory regime is not deregulated but successfully disregarded by a new entrant. Second, the politics of subsequently regulating the challenger leads to a dual regulatory regime. In the case of Uber, disruptive regulation takes the form of challenger capture, an elite-driven pattern, in which the challenger has largely prevailed. It is further characterized by the surrogate representation of dispersed actors—customers and drivers—who do not have autonomous power and who rely instead on shifting alignments with the challenger and incumbent. In its surrogate capacity in city and state regulation, Uber has frequently mobilized large numbers of customers and drivers to lobby for policy outcomes that allow it to continue to provide service on terms it finds acceptable. Because drivers have reaped less advantage from these alignments, labor issues have been taken up in judicial venues, again primarily by surrogates (usually plaintiffs' attorneys) but to date have not been successful.


This volume studies the driving dynamic for thick-skin tectonics. It evaluates the role of various factors that control the development of thick-skin architecture. The studied driving dynamics include individual plate movement rates, overall convergence rates, orogen movement sense with respect to mantle flow and pro-wedge versus retro-wedge location. Numerous internal factors that influence the architecture of thick-skinned dominated orogens have been considered. These include the role of the rheology of the deforming layers, the presence or absence of potential detachment horizons, basement buttresses, crustal thickness variations, inherited strength contrasts and the impact of pre-existing anisotropy in thick-skin orogenic deformation. External factors discussed include the role of both syn-tectonic erosion and deposition in deformation. The study areas begin with worldwide examples and close with a detailed coverage of the Northern Andes natural laboratory, which is characterized by particularly robust data coverage.


A reaction force actuator (RFA) was fabricated to translate a microstage with nanostep movement, and its performance was experimentally evaluated using an optical fiber based built-in microinterferometer. The proposed RFA consists of a shuttle mass, movable electrode, fixed electrode, springs, and spring anchor, all of which reside on the movable substrate. The RFA placed on the platform is free to move when the driving force is larger than the static friction. The fixed electrodes are gold-wired to the external electrodes on the platform covered with a dielectric layer for electrical isolation. When external voltage is applied to the electrodes, the springs experience deflections, and the electrostatic force and restoring force react on the movable substrate through the spring anchor and the fixed electrode, respectively. If the driving voltage is large enough that the resultant force overcomes the friction from the platform, the RFA including the movable substrate can make a displacement with no physical collision between the movable and fixed electrodes. In order to suppress the drift motion due to external noise, electrostatic pressure was applied between the movable substrate and the platform on which a 100-/spl mu/m-thick dielectric thin film is positioned. The nanomotion of the fabricated actuator was evaluated with various voltages using an optical fiber interferometer. The minimum step movement 1.21/spl plusmn/0.24 nm was experimentally obtained at the driving voltage of 18 V, and the estimated total displacement was 450 nm at the highest affordable driving voltage of 85 V.


The sustainable development evaluation of urban rail transit investment project is an important component of its post-evaluation. It is a complicated problem with multi-aspects, multi-levels, and multi-objectives involving the society, economy and environment and so on. Firstly it analyses the necessity of sustainable development evaluation of urban rail transit investment project and describes its concept, then discusses and expounds the multilevel evaluation index, and establishes the evaluation model of sustainable development for urban rail transit based on rough set and analytic hierarchy process. Finally, the result indicates that this evaluation method based on rough set is a simple and feasible method for the sustainable development evaluation on urban rail transit investment project.


Natural tropical forests cover 89% of the land area of West Papua Province, Indonesia. Forests have traditionally been an important part of local food systems for Indigenous Papuans. Despite the contribution of forests to food security, West Papua has been ranked as one of the most food-insecure provinces in Indonesia, with high rates of both under-and-overnutrition. This paper aims to discuss the dietary transition taking place in West Papua and uses local perspectives to explore the link between changes in diets, food security, and forests. We used mixed methods with a triangulation design to corroborate the quantitative data that we present from two rounds of the National Socioeconomic Survey (SUSENAS) on food consumption for West Papua from 2008 and 2017, with information from four focus group discussions with institutional and local stakeholders. The quantitative analysis showed that West Papua is experiencing a dietary transition, moving away from the consumption of traditional foods, such as sago, tubers, wild meat, and fresh legumes, toward diets with more rice, chicken, tofu, and tempeh. The consumption of processed and ultra-processed food (UPF) has increased while the consumption of fresh food has decreased. The qualitative analysis confirmed these findings. The institutional stakeholders expressed a desire for Papuans to return to eating traditional diets for better food security, whereas the local stakeholders worried about their children's high consumption of UPFs. We also found a disconnect between how food security is measured by the national Food Security Index (FSI) and the point of view of the institutional stakeholders. While the FSI indicators are more infrastructure-related measures, the institutional stakeholders link food security with the availability, accessibility, stability, and sustainability of the food sources in their surrounding environment, especially the forests. The institutional stakeholders support the commitment of the provincial government to maintain at least 70% of the forest cover in West Papua, as stated in the Manokwari Declaration although they expressed the need for more clarity on how this will impact their food security. The Indonesian government and the international community should support this initiative and carry it out with substantial input from local Papuan stakeholders.


In this paper we pursue to know how EFL teacher trainees perceive the introduction of queer issues within their teaching practices. The qualitative study has been conducted at the University of Granada (Spain) with ten would-be teachers who are in their final year of university studies and have completed their school practice period. In order to underpin this research we analyse the postulates of Queer Theory for the pedagogical field, some of the Spanish educational foundations regarding gender, and the roles played by teachers to implement these practices.


National Institute for Economic Research "Costin C. Kirițescu", Bucharest, Romania Purpose: This paper studies the relationships between air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, N2O) and different diseases (tumors, skin and respiratory) and the factors influencing air pollutant emissions in Romania. Methods: The methods are Toda-Yamamoto procedure of non-causality Granger test, grey relational analysis and logarithmic mean Divisia index method (LMDI). Results: Air pollutants intensities dropped significantly over 2008–2017 period due to structural changes. The only economic activity that showed an increase both in volume and intensity of air pollutants, despite a downward trend of farming activities output is agriculture. Technology improvements play a significant role in mitigation of PM2.5 emissions and a moderate role in mitigation of PM10 emissions. For N2O emissions technology used contributed to an increase of N2O intensities. Conclusion: Health policy makers should address the issue of technology improvements and mitigation of agriculture emissions to improve health of individuals and air quality.


In this paper, calcium phosphate cement (CPC) was prepared with tetracalcium phosphate (TTCP)/dicalcium phosphate anhydrous (DCPA) system as solid phase and phosphate buffered solution (PBS) as liquid phase, then silk fibroin (SF) was added into CPC to form silk fibroin/calcium phosphate composite. To study the effect of SF on the properties of composite, different mass fraction of SF was added into the composite. The surface morphology was observed by Scanning Electron Microscope. The setting time was investigated by ISO Cement Standard Consistency Instrument. The structure of the composite was studied by X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. Mechanical properties of samples were tested by Instron Universal Testing Machine. The results showed that the particles of SF could be seen obviously in the surface of all composite, and acicular crystal of hydroxyapatite (HA) was formed in the hardening body of both the composite and the pure CPC. The acicular crystal of HA derived from composite with SF appeared to be thinner. The setting times of the composites were all between 9 to 15min. Compared to pure CPC, the compressive strength and work-of-compressive of composites were all improved. The compressive strength of the composite with 1% SF increased obviously.


The root systems of 48 perennial plants, representing nine species from the Rock Valley area within the northern Mojave Desert, were excavated by 10 cm depth increments to determine, by depth of soil, the distribution of roots larger than about 1/2 mm diameter. The depth of the root zone of all species was relatively shallow and obviously limited by depth of penetration of precipitation (about 10 cm mean annual rainfall). There were species differences, however, in distribution of roots. Even though a sizeable proportion of the root systems was in the first 10 cm of soil, this portion consisted largely of multiple woody tap roots with relatively few small roots. In all cases except one (Krameria parvifolia Benth), more small roots were in the second 10 cm than in the first. From 50 to more than 80 percent of the total root systems were in the first 20 cm. In most cases the majority of small roots was found between 10 and 30 cm in depth. Very fine roots were sampled separately by depth and zone without regard for species because they could not be differentiatd by species. Relative depth distribution of very fine roots at Rock Valley for 0more » to 10, 10 to 20, and 20 to 30 cm, was about 17, 42, and 41 percent, respectively. The total for the first 20 cm was 59 percent. On a 22 April date, there were 335 kg/ha roots from winter annuals in the Rock Valley area; 19 percent of them were in the first 5 cm of soil in contrast to 8 percent in 10 cm of soil for perennials. On Pahute Mesa located in the southern Great Basin desert area of the Nevada Test Site in Artemisia tridentata Nutt. varr. tridentata, 8 percent of the roots was in the first 5 cm, indicating more shallow rooting compared with the northern Mojave Desert.« less


During the summer of 1995, a multi‐institutional field study called Shallow Water Acoustics in a Random Medium (SWARM) was conducted in the Mid‐Atlantic Bight continental shelf region off the coast of New Jersey. Environmental and acoustic sensors were deployed as part of SWARM to measure and characterize the nonlinear internal waves and their impact on the spatial and temporal coherence of the acoustic transmissions. As part of the environmental monitoring network, two bottom‐moored, upward‐looking acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) were deployed. An oceanographic, modal, time‐series analysis of the ADCP data reveals that: large‐amplitude, nonlinear, internal wave packets were generated at multiple sites near the shelfbreak; the generation mechanism was consistent with the lee‐wave hypothesis of generation; the propagation characteristics were in good agreement with nonlinear soliton theory; and the power spectral density was spatially varying and changed markedly during the passage of these nonlinear waves. Based on these observations, a canonical model of the induced sound‐speed perturbations was developed. Using a coupled normal‐mode propagation model, the temporal and vertical structures of the sound field were subsequently calculated for comparison to data obtained by a vertical line array. [Work supported by ONR.]


Newberg & Waldmans (2010) concluded their well-known scientific experiment, "A single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress". However, could architectural space also speaks? Or alter the expression of genes? This study aimed to investigate the relationship between architecture, brain and genes. The objectives were to test the influence of architecture over brain's electrical-activity, and subsequently develop, a theory of space and genes. The research methodology involved three phases. Firstly, an integrated approach for literature review. Secondly, an experimental approach. Finally, an integrative analysis. Findings showed a significant change of brain-electricity by change of environments. Thus, alteration in the expression of genes.Keywords: Architecture; Emotions; Behaviour; Genes.eISSN: 2514-751X © 2020 The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ajebs.v5i16.366


Thermal turbulence is well known as a potent means to convey heat across space by a moving fluid. The existence of the boundary layers near the plates, however, bottlenecks its heat-exchange capability. Here, we conceptualize a mechanism of thermal vibrational turbulence that breaks through the boundary-layer limitation and achieves massive heat-transport enhancement. When horizontal vibration is applied to the convection cell, a strong shear is induced to the body of fluid near the conducting plates, which destabilizes thermal boundary layers, vigorously triggers the eruptions of thermal plumes, and leads to a heat-transport enhancement by up to 600%. We further reveal that such a vibration-induced shear can very efficiently disrupt the boundary layers. The present findings open a new avenue for research into heat transport and will also bring profound changes in many industrial applications where thermal flux through a fluid is involved and the mechanical vibration is usually inevitable.


BACKGROUND
Little is known about vascular access in patients starting hemodialysis therapy after kidney transplant failure.

STUDY DESIGN
Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING & PARTICIPANTS
Adult patients (aged ≥18 years) who started hemodialysis therapy in Ontario, Canada, from January 1, 2001, through December 31, 2010, after kidney transplant failure.

PREDICTOR
Patient clinical and demographic characteristics.

OUTCOMES
Proportion and timing of arteriovenous (AV) vascular access creation (fistula or graft) 12 months prior and up to 24 months after starting hemodialysis therapy.

MEASUREMENTS
Event rates and outcome predictors.

RESULTS
Our cohort included 683 patients with a mean age of 48 years and >50% with comorbidity index score < 3. In the 12 months predialysis and 24 months postdialysis, 16% and 47% of patients had an AV access created, respectively. In the postdialysis period, 13%, 26%, and 38% of patients had an AV access creation at 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively. History of coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, and peritoneal dialysis use prior to transplantation were associated with a lower likelihood of AV access creation.

LIMITATIONS
Residual selection bias from unmeasured variables beyond the data elements.

CONCLUSIONS
In Ontario, AV access creation, both before and after starting hemodialysis therapy, is low in patients with kidney transplant failure despite their being younger and healthier compared to the overall hemodialysis population. This highlights the need for a predialysis care pathway in the transplantation clinic and an active strategy to identify this patient cohort receiving hemodialysis to align modality and access choices.


Multi-agent coordination is not a simple problem. While significant research has gone into computing plans efficiently and managing competing preferences, the execution of multiagent plans can still fail even when the plan space is small and agent goals are universally aligned. The reason for this difficulty is that in order to guarantee successful execution of a plan, effective multi-agent coordination requires communication to ensure that all actors have accurate beliefs about the state of the world. My thesis will focus on the problem of characterizing, modeling, and providing efficient algorithms for addressing planning and execution when there agents cannot maintain perfect communication.


With the increasing choices of mobile Applications (Apps) for tourism purchasing, it is essential for Apps operators to understand how to retain customers so as to ensure long-term profits. This study was designed to investigate the formation of App loyalty from a habit theory perspective. The results of Multigroup Structural Equation Modelling support our model, and indicate that the positive association of App satisfaction on App loyalty is stronger for bookers who do not stick to one brand from computer website to mobile App; furthermore, for those who are with high brand viscosity, habit and switching cost plays an important role in leading to App loyalty. Methodological and implications are also discussed.


It is difficult to fulfill effective control since nonlinear and uncertain factors for an antenna servo system. In this paper, a compound sliding-mode control strategy is proposed. In order to control servo system effectively, depart it into two parts. One is reference model without considering disturb and uncertain, the other is real model including disturb and uncertain. To one part, choose reasonable sliding surface and design controller law. To another part, RBF neural network is taken in order to acquire upper bound of uncertain. Simulation and experiment results show the effect of control scheme.


In the last decades a series of sexual services that offer company, talk, and more generally, what is understood as a 'girlfriend experience', are increasingly offered to a middle and upper-middle class clientele. These services involve a change in the boundaries of intimacy. We argue that they can be interpreted as part of the general process by which late capitalism has subsumed the 1968 critique that demanded liberation and authenticity. Based on an analysis of in-depth interviews with escorts and street walkers, we explore the discourse of authenticity in escort work in Spain and how the line is drawn between an 'authentic intimacy' that is sold, and a 'private intimacy', which involves the non-commodified affective life of the sex worker. We argue that escorts and street walkers draw these borders differently, the former emphasising authenticity in their service. Both, however, deploy a form of emotional labour.


Imagery is a common technique for performance enhancement in sport and performance domains. Research has provided evidence for the use of imagery in improving confidence (Callow, Hardy & Hall, 2001; Callow & Waters, 2005), managing competition anxiety (Hanton & Jones, 1999; Evans, Jones & Mullen, 2004; Mellalieu, Hanton & Thomas, 2009), improving self-efficacy (Jones et al., 2002; O, Munroe-Chandler, Hall & Hall, 2014), and enhancing motor skill performance (Hinshaw, 1991; Driskell, Copper & Moran, 1994). Image vividness, or clarity of the image, has been shown to have a moderating effect on the effectiveness of interventions in athletic populations (Isaac, 1992). Research into the effects of engaging in relaxation techniques prior to imagery training are equivocal. Some advocate that strategies aimed at creating a "calm mind-aroused body" should be used (Holmes & Collins, 2001). The purpose of the present study was to determine if mindfulness meditation prior to imagery enhances imagery vividness and performance of a self-paced closed motor skill relative to imagery in isolation. A within-subjects counter-balanced design was used. Participants were assessed on their state-trait anxiety and imagery ability before engaging in either a mindfulness exercise followed by imagery (mindfulness plus imagery), or imagery in isolation. Participants were assessed on performance of the closed motor skill and asked to rate the vividness of their imagery. No significant differences in performance or vividness were observed between the two conditions. There was a significant effect of day, as participants' had lower levels of error on day two and higher levels of vividness on day two. A significant interaction was found such that those with higher levels of trait anxiety had lower error after mindfulness plus imagery, while those with lower levels of trait anxiety earned lower error scores after imagery in isolation. Practical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.


This review describes household dietary strategies to improve the content and bioavailability of zinc in predominantly plant-based diets and the implementation of these strategies in a community-based dietary intervention study in rural southern Malawi. The strategies involve increasing intakes of foods with high bioavailable-zinc contents, absorption enhancers, or both and using germination, fermentation, and soaking to reduce intake of phytic acid, a potent inhibitor of zinc absorption. The strategies were implemented at the household level in Malawi through a participatory research process that focused on building relationships with the community and involving them in the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation processes. In this way, community participation and awareness of zinc deficiency might be enhanced and the dietary strategies planned will be appropriate and sustainable.


Over the past decade, historical studies of photography have embraced a variety of cultural and disciplinary approaches to the medium, while shedding light on non-Western, vernacular, and "other" photographic practices outside the Euro-American canon. Photography, History, Difference brings together an international group of scholars to reflect on contemporary efforts to take a different approach to photography and its histories. What are the benefits and challenges of writing a consolidated, global history of photography? How do they compare with those of producing more circumscribed regional or thematic histories? In what ways does the recent emphasis on geographic and national specificity encourage or exclude attention to other forms of difference, such as race, class, gender, and sexuality? Do studies of "other" photographies ultimately necessitate the adoption of nontraditional methodologies, or are there contexts in which such differentiation can be intellectually unproductive and politically suspect? The twelve contributors to the volume explore these and other questions through historical case studies; interpretive surveys of recent historiography, criticism, and museum practices; and creative proposals to rethink the connections between photography, history, and difference. A thought-provoking collection of essays that represents new ways of thinking about photography and its histories. It will appeal to a broad readership among those interested in art history, visual culture, media studies, and social history.


N-beta-Alanyldopamine is the major tyrosine metabolite in the hemolymph and cuticle during pupal tanning in the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta L. Its concentration in hemolymph increases over 800-fold above larval levels by the start of tanning and decreases as the pupal cuticle darkens and hardens. It is a major catechol in species representing several insect orders and is the preferred substrate for pupal cuticular o-diphenol oxidase. In insects, N-beta-alanyldopamine appears to be the main precursor for tanning chemicals at certain developmental stages.


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Grammatical Evolution is an evolutionary algorithm that can evolve complete programs using a Backus Naur form grammar as a plug-in component to describe the output language. An important issue of Grammatical Evolution, and evolutionary computation in general, is the difficulty in dealing with deceptive problems and avoid premature convergence to local optima. Novelty search is a recent technique, which does not use the standard fitness function of evolutionary algorithms but follows the gradient of behavioral diversity. It has been successfully used for solving deceptive problems mainly in neuro-evolutionary robotics where it was originated. This work presents the first application of Novelty Search in Grammatical Evolution (as the search component of the later) and benchmarks this novel approach in a wellknown deceptive problem, the Santa Fe Trail. For the experiments, two grammars are used: one that defines a search space semantically equivalent to the original Santa Fe Trail problem as defined by Koza and a second one which were widely used in the Grammatical Evolution literature, but which defines a biased search space. The application of novelty search requires to characterize behavior, using behavior descriptors and compare descriptions using behavior similarity metrics. The conducted experiments compare the performance of standard Grammatical Evolution and its Novelty Search variation using four intuitive behavior descriptors. The experimental results demonstrate that Grammatical Evolution with Novelty Search outperforms the traditional fitness based Grammatical Evolution algorithm in the Santa Fe Trail problem demonstrating a higher success rates and better solutions in terms of the required steps.


Purpose: In this research, essential oil (EO) compositions of the dried and fresh aerial parts of Rosmarinus officinalis cultivated in the reearch field in Selcuk University Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Department Area in Konya and collected from Mersin was investigated. Material and Methods: EO was distilled by using Clevenger type apparatus for 3 h and the chemical compositions were detected in GC-MS. Results: Although, the oil yields of the collected rosemary was determined to be 0.4 ml (in fresh) and 0.6 ml (in dried) aerial parts, the yields of the cultivated plants for fresh and dried parts were 0.32 ml (in fresh) and 0.9 ml (in dried), respectively. In this research the differences with respect to composition and components were determined between the cultivated and collected plants. On the other hand, in this study, it was also determined that the EO compositions varied with respect to be fresh or dry of the plant parts. While there were 67 and 55 of EO compositions were observed in the fresh and dried parts of the collected marjoram, respectively; in the cultivated plants there were 46 (in fresh) and 79 (in dried) components detected. Conclusion: In this study, it was observed that the major EO compositions were camphor, 1.8-cineole, borneol, α-pinene, linalool, verbenone, bornyl acetate, limonene and camphene. The objective of the study to detect the differences between the EO compositions varied according to be the plant fresh or dry and collected or cultivated.


Author(s): Menilla, David | Advisor(s): Banfield, Ann M | Abstract: AbstractVirginia Woolf and the Mediated Modern Subject: Class System, Spacetime, and the Aesthetics of Creative LaborbyDavid Del Rey MenillaDoctor of Philosophy in EnglishUniversity of California, BerkeleyProfessor Ann M Banfield, Chair Growing up in a privileged home but also existing "outside" it gave Woolf the space and time to look critically at the social forces of repression and oppression which structured her reality. As a self-described "outsider," Woolf formed her social critique through an engagement with political as well as new scientific ideas. I discuss the synergy she sees between Marx's work and Einstein's theories of Special and General Relativity. I argue that Woolf combines Marx's interest in the cultivation of our natural desires, the return to the body, as the way out of estranged labour--the ideology of private property--with Einstein's idea of spacetime, in which time is relative, which for Woolf means that characters are not confined to the "present" but can re-experience the past or even the future. Woolf presents characters whose minds and bodies can encompass a vast expanse of spacetime. For Einstein, the notions of the past, present, and future are a figment of our imaginations. Where we are in time is a function of were we are in space. Woolf plays with Einstein's theories to portray characters like Mrs. Ramsay and Lily Briscoe in To The Lighthouse who are able to revisit the past through their labor--making "patterns." The rhythmical quality of what I define as their "creative labor," a Marxist notion of being in the body, allows them to overcome the physical and mental boundaries of abstract space and time which structures religious and capitalist social relations. In many ways, we can think of Einstein as representing a further development of Marx's ideas since the abstract notions of space and time which structure religion and capitalism also structure the Enlightenment's pursuit of knowledge. The various systematic forms of repression which are rooted in religion and develop further in capitalism have neglected the body and instilled the belief in abstract, mediated, truths. Not bound by the narrowness of the "present," and the momentary illusion of power promised by the class system, Woolf's characters are able to revisit and deconstruct the causes of trauma. Free from the boundaries which keep them apart from themselves and others, they are now able to connect intimately with others across spacetime. They are able to uses other senses to relate to others. Woolf shows characters who can feel and think what other characters experience. Capitalist social relations based on establishing distinct economic boundaries between the self and others are transformed into fluid boundaries of embodied exchange. The self becomes part of a larger whole where social relations shift away from what Marx calls egotistical, "vulgar need" (90), to the recognition that we need others to develop our latent powers. For Marx as for Woolf, "human essence" (89) is creative; the selfishness which Freud ascribes to the libido only exists as a basic human need to survive. The selfish ego is not innate but a product of socio-historical forces. I discuss how Woolf, synthesizing Marx and Einstein, shows characters who can deconstruct the past in order to reconnect with their creative essence.


In the atrioventricular (AV) nodal Wenckebach phenomenon, there is a progressive increase in the P-R interval and a concomitant reduction in the R-P interval. Two series of experiments were conducted on anesthetized dogs to ascertain whether the changes in the P-R interval depended on the associated changes in the R-P interval. In one series of experiments, the atrium was paced at various basic cycle lengths, and a single test cycle was interposed about every 100 beats. When the test cycle was very short, the increase in the P-R interval sometimes exceeded the associated reduction in the R-P interval. During the subsequent basic cycle, although the P-P interval was much greater than it was during the test cycle, there was a further reduction in the R-P interval. When this change in the R-P interval was appreciable, AV conduction failed despite the increase in cycle length. In the second series of experiments, the AV nodal Wenckebach phenomenon was induced by rapid atrial pacing. When the stimulation mode was suddenly altered to maintain a constant R-P interval, the Wenckebach rhythm immediately ceased, although the mean heart rate had not changed significantly. Therefore, it appears that above a critical heart rate a positive feedback loop is established in which an increase in the P-R interval evokes a corresponding decrease in the R-P interval. In turn, the curtailed R-P interval that reflects a less complete recovery of AV nodal excitability elicits a still greater increase in the P-R interval. This cycle continues until an impulse is ultimately blocked. Clamping the R-P interval opens the feedback loop and terminates the arrhythmia.


The human copper chaperone for superoxide dismutase (hCCS) delivers the essential copper ion cofactor to copper,zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1), a key enzyme in antioxidant defense. Mutations in SOD1 are linked to familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS), a fatal neurodegenerative disorder. The molecular mechanisms by which SOD1 is recognized and activated by hCCS are not understood. To better understand this biochemical pathway, we have determined the X-ray structure of the largest domain of hCCS (hCCS Domain II) to 2. 75 A resolution. The overall structure is closely related to that of its target enzyme SOD1, consisting of an eight-stranded beta-barrel and a zinc-binding site formed by two extended loops. The first of these loops provides the ligands to a bound zinc ion, and is analogous to the zinc subloop in SOD1. The second structurally resembles the SOD1 electrostatic channel loop, but lacks many of the residues important for catalysis. Like SOD1 and yCCS, hCCS forms a dimer using a highly conserved interface. In contrast to SOD1, however, the hCCS structure does not contain a copper ion bound in the catalytic site. Notably, the structure reveals a single loop proximal to the dimer interface which is unique to the CCS chaperones.


Due to its hostile behavior in the Middle East, Iran has been sanctioned severely by the international community. Despite isolation attempts by the international community, Iran is nevertheless regarded as a powerhouse in the regional power constellation, owing to its actions in the Middle-Eastern proxy wars. Acknowledging the anomaly of Iran's capabilities in spite of heavy sanctions, this research arguably shows how Sino-Iranian relations paves the way for Iran to circumvent sanctions. Subsequent to learning about China's support for Iran, this research questions if the aforementioned support has an impact on Iran's actions and status within the regional power constellation. Furthermore, this research also questions the influence of Iran and China's relations towards the former's ability in pursuing its aims through the Syrian proxy war against Israel in the account of international sanctions and condemnations. Guided by the concept of balancing by Stephen M. Walt and  an exploitative model of proxy warfare theory, this research finds the Sino-Iranian relations as having a significant effect towards improving Tehran's capabilities and acquisition of power in the Middle-East power constellation. Moreover, concerning the Iran-Israel proxy war, China's actions are proven to mainly affect Iran and the Syrian civil war within the political sphere.


Training New Christian Military Chaplains on First Amendment Complexities Jeffery A. Logan Doctor of Ministry School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary 2015 The context for the modern military chaplain differs from most congregational ministries and contains certain uncommon complexities. These complexities, in part, are the result of First Amendment court cases and related lawsuits, being under the authority of a secular military organization, and accentuated by societal alterations. The public debate on religion and religious activity in the military, a number of First Amendment lawsuits challenging government chaplaincy, and the increasing secularization of American society create a distinct ministerial environment with numerous pitfalls. These factors result in requirements for a military chaplain to care for all persons regardless of faith, and to ensure the religious freedom of all service members including non-Christian faith groups. This project is a training module for new Christian chaplains entering the military. The guide may have application for other chaplains, though the theology, traditions, and Scriptures are thoroughly Christian. The guide instructs on the current environment of military chaplains and on the legal constraints from contemporary interpretations of the First Amendment's religious clauses. Most chaplains adapt well to these ministry complexities over time. The project aims to speed the adaptation by better preparing new chaplains for the contextual changes and enable a greater understanding of the many dynamics affecting this particular form of ministry. This information will assist new military chaplains to avert destructive results, learn the distinct environment faster, and allow their vital ministry to flourish. The training module is in a pilot program phase to improve the presentation, text, and other factors. The training curriculum will be offered to any new chaplain's Endorsing Agent and other interested parties upon conclusion of the pilot. Content Reader: Alan Baker, DMin Words: 268


Global developments over the last two decades have debunked the traditional understanding that separate opinions are idiosyncratic of courts in nations following the common law tradition. History reflects that judicial opinion-issuing practices have evolved around the world, adapting to the increasing globalization of legal systems. And recent research confirms that most international and supranational tribunals, even those headquartered in continental Europe, expressly permit individual judges to issue separate opinions, although in some courts various internal norms and customs operate to discourage the practice. In addition, the majority of European national constitutional courts now permit individual judges to publish separate opinions, and judicial members of many "ordinary" supreme courts may do so as well. The United States Supreme Court is known globally for its justices' regular practice of issuing separate opinions, and some international scholars hold up the Court as a shining example of the common law * Charles Baum Distinguished Professor of Law, William H. Bowen School of Law, University of Arkansas Little Rock. The author is especially grateful to Professors Kenneth Gallant and Nicholas Kahn-Fogel for helpful feedback on an earlier version of this article. The work was made possible by scholarship support provided by Bowen School of Law. Washington University Open Scholarship 56 WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY GLOBAL STUDIES LAW REVIEW [VOL. 18:55 tradition of transparency. Yet even in the United States, few if any formal norms govern the Supreme Court's opinion-issuing practices, which have also evolved quite significantly, if incrementally, over time. Without any formal constraints whatsoever, a time might come when a bare majority of the Court could choose secrecy over transparency in the blink of an eye. Yet the many United States scholars who have long championed the dissenting opinion, and who urge that tradition on other sovereigns, generally overlook the absence of formal norms that protect federal courts' judicial opinion-issuing practices against change. A few scholars have advanced preliminary theories that seek to explain institutional variations in opinion-issuing practices, but those theories are narrow in scope and warrant considerably more testing and refinement. A predictive model has little value unless it can be generalized beyond a small group of international and supranational courts. While theoretical models hold promise, more scholarly work is warranted to better conceptualize the competing "judicial values" that influence the practices of national and subnational multi-member courts. Scholarly research is also needed to identify the reasons for individual judicial choices about disclosing votes and publishing separate opinions. The remarkable contemporary global interest in the opinion-issuing practices of national, supranational, and international tribunals reflects our expanding vision of the rule of law and each sovereign's role in that new world order. In our increasingly global, interconnected legal community, should judicial tribunals speak with one institutional voice? Or should a cacophony of individual judges communicate judgments, each writing seriatim? The polarized views of many scholars who advocate for and against separate opinions disregard legitimate differences in the underlying norms and values that inform judicial practices. There is no clear, "one-size-fits-all" answer. Much more comparative scholarly work remains to be done. But the global trend is clearly in favor of "democratizing" justice by defrocking the myth of judicial consensus and unanimity. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_globalstudies/vol18/iss1/6 2019] GLOBAL JUDICIAL TRANSPARENCY NORMS 57


Introduction and objectives National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends long–acting bronchodilators, including β2-agonists (LABAs) or muscarinic antagonists (LAMAs) as first line maintenance treatment for patients with COPD. The aim of this descriptive study was to characterise a cohort of COPD patients who were on maintenance bronchodilator monotherapy for at least six months to establish their disease burden, measured by healthcare utilisation. Methods Data were extracted from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) which also linked to Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). The monotherapy period spanned the first prescription of a LABA or LAMA until the end of the study period (31/12/2013) or until step-up to dual/triple therapy; for example the addition of another long acting bronchodilator, an ICS or ICS/LABA. A minimum of four consecutive prescriptions and six months on continuous monotherapy were required for study entry. Patients <50 years old at time of first COPD diagnosis or with another significant respiratory disease prior to the start of monotherapy were excluded. Disease burden was evaluated by measuring patients' rate of consultations with a healthcare professional (HCP), COPD-related exacerbations, hospitalisations and referrals to key specialities. Results A cohort of 8,811 COPD patients (94% GOLD stage A or B) on maintenance monotherapy was identified between 2002 and 2013; 45% (N=3,947) of these patients were still on monotherapy by the end of the study period. The median time from first COPD diagnosis to first monotherapy prescription was 56 days while the median time on maintenance bronchodilator monotherapy was 748 days. The median number of prescriptions during this period was 14. Patients had a median of 19 HCP consultations and a mean of 0.1 (95% CI 0.1, 0.2, N= 8,811) COPD exacerbations and 0.02 (95% CI 0.01, 0.02, N=4,848) COPD hospitalisations per year. Conclusion In summary, COPD patients who are on maintenance bronchodilator monotherapy for at least six months appear to remain on this therapy for over two years despite having a disease burden that requires healthcare resources, particularly HCP consultations, at a cost to the NHS.


The paper presents the effect of COVID-19 mRNA (Pfizer/BioNT) vaccine on in vitro glial cells of the brain studied by means of Raman spectroscopy and imaging.. The results obtained for human brain normal and tumor glial cells of astrocytes, astrocytoma, glioblastoma incubated with the Covid-19 mRNA vaccine Pfizer/BioNT vaccine show alterations in the reduction-oxidation pathways associated with Cytochrome c. We found that the Pfizer/BioNT vaccine down regulate the concentration of cytochrome c in mitochondria upon incubation with normal and tumorous glial cells. Concentration of oxidized form of cytochrome c in brain cells has been shown to decrease upon incubation the mRNA vaccine. Lower concentration of oxidized cytochrome c results in lower effectiveness of oxidative phosphorylation (respiration), reduced apoptosis and lessened ATP production. Alteration of Amide I concentration, which may reflect the decrease of mRNA adenine nucleotide translocator. Moreover, mRNA vaccine leads to alterations in biochemical composition of lipids that suggest the increasing role of signaling. mRNA vaccine produce statistically significant changes in cell nucleus due to histone alterations. The results obtained for mitochondria, lipid droplets, cytoplasm may suggest that COVID-19 mRNA (Pfizer/BioNT) vaccine reprograms immune responses. The observed alterations in biochemical profiles upon incubation with COVID-19 mRNA in the specific organelles of the glial cells are similar to those we observe for brain cancer vs grade of aggressiveness.


The South Chilean marine fore arc (35°S–40°S) is separated into four tectonic segments, Concepción North, Concepción South, Nahuelbuta, and Tolten (from north to south). These are each characterized by their individual tectonic geomorphology and reflect different ways of mechanical and kinematic interaction of the convergent Nazca and South American plates. Splay faults that cut through continental framework rock are seismically imaged in both Concepción segments and the Tolten Segment. Additionally, the Concepción South Segment exhibits prominent upper plate normal faults. Normal faults apparently relate to uplift caused by sediment underthrusting at depth. This has led to oversteepening and gravitational collapse of the marine fore arc. There is also evidence for sediment underthrusting and basal accretion to the overriding plate in the Tolten Segment. There, uplift of the continental slope has created a landward inclined seafloor over a latitudinal distance of 50 km. In the Nahuelbuta Segment transpressive upper plate faults, aligned oblique to the direction of plate motion, control the seafloor morphology. Based on a unique acoustic data set including >90% of bathymetric coverage of the continental slope we are able to reveal an along‐strike heterogeneity of a complexly deformed marine fore arc which had escaped attention in previous studies that only considered the structure along transects normal to the plate margin.


In designing a robust ascending control for space launch vehicles, uncertainties such as variations in aerodynamics, jet effects, hinge moments, mass property, and navigation processing, etc., have to be considered, and normally, time and labor intensive Monte Carlo simulations are used in order to achieve a desired tracking performance distribution. In this paper, a systematic stochastic control design method is applied based upon a direct quadrature method of moments. In conjunction with a nonlinear robust control and offline optimization through nonlinear programming, any order of stationary statistical moments can be directly controlled. Compared with existing stochastic control methodologies, the advantages of the proposed method are 1) the closed-loop tracking system is asymptotically stable, 2) any (attainable) higher order steady-state moments of the state/output variables can be controlled, 3) the system is stable up to the order of the highest moment selected in the design, 4) the state process can be unknown and is not required to be Gaussian, and 5) no Monte Carlo analysis is required in the design. Two simulation scenarios of the X-33 3-DOF attitude control in ascending phase have been used to demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed method, and the results are validated by Monte Carlo runs. Although the method is only evaluated in this paper in the attitude control of the reusable launch vehicle's ascending phase, the method will be applicable to a wider class of aero and space systems such as aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicle, missile, and satellite attitude control.


This chapter of this book shows that the mastery of some modern techniques is needed by the ship's crew who work in a management to build a modern ship, in accordance with the theme of this project, namely modern ship engineering, design and operations. The main problem is how the management leaders of this modern ship project can apply transformational leadership style through work-life balance and employee engagement to the ship's crew to make their work effectiveness improved. In carrying out the ship building which takes a quite long time, do the employees can be mutually engaged and can pay equal attention to the work in this project and the work at home? This study uses quantitative method with Structural Equation Modeling. This modern ship building uses some terminologies or variables of human resources such as transformational leadership style, work-life balance, and employee engagement which, based on the research done, directly and positively affect employee's work effectiveness. The key findings of this study indicate that there is a specific model on employee engagement and crew work effectiveness that is very appropriate to be applied to modern ships related to engineering, design and operations.


Topographic differencing measures landscape change by comparing multitemporal high-resolution topography data sets. Here, we focused on two types of topographic differencing: (1) Vertical differencing is the subtraction of digital elevation models (DEMs) that span an event of interest. (2) Three-dimensional (3-D) differencing measures surface change by registering point clouds with a rigid deformation. We recently released topographic differencing in OpenTopography where users perform on-demand vertical and 3-D differencing via an online interface. OpenTopography is a U.S. National Science Foundation–funded facility that provides access to topographic data and processing tools. While topographic differencing has been applied in numerous research studies, the lack of standardization, particularly of 3-D differencing, requires the customization of processing for individual data sets and hinders the community's ability to efficiently perform differencing on the growing archive of topography data. Our paper focuses on streamlined techniques with which to efficiently difference data sets with varying spatial resolution and sensor type (i.e., optical vs. light detection and ranging [lidar]) and over variable landscapes. To optimize on-demand differencing, we considered algorithm choice and displacement resolution. The optimal resolution is controlled by point density, landscape characteristics (e.g., leaf-on vs. leaf-off), and data set quality. We provide processing options derived from metadata that allow users to produce optimal high-quality results, while experienced users can fine tune the parameters to suit their needs. We anticipate that the differencing tool will expand access to this state-of-the-art technology, will be a valuable educational tool, and will serve as a template for differencing the growing number of multitemporal topography data sets.


Although the classic comparison of monks to bees owes its enduring success chiefly to the Vita S. Antonii, one of the most interesting developments of that simile is found in the prose treatise De uirginitate by Aldhelm of Malmesbury. In his writings, Aldhelm demonstrates familiarity with most of the conventional similes – monks are like bees in their industry, their intelligence, their chastity, and so on – but he also insists that monks are like bees in their 'voluntary solidarity' and obedience to leadership. This is a novel claim, one that I will argue Aldhelm makes by introducing a theme known from other Christian (and pagan) literature into his advice to nuns. The present article will describe the traditions incorporated by Aldhelm into his claim that monks, like bees, are obedient to a fault. In this way, this article will offer a broad view of the literary heritage to which Aldhelm's treatise belongs and in which it should be interpreted. This will entail an assessment of which sources Aldhelm likely knew. While this assessment is indebted to the excellent notes by Rudolf Ehwald (as indeed all scholarship subsequent to Ehwald must be),it will not be bound by Ehwald's conclusions. In some instances, I will posit sources not mentioned by, and perhaps not detected by, Ehwald; in others, I will with trepidation suggest refinements to Ehwald's work. It is hoped that on these grounds the article will be useful to students both of late antique monasticism and of Anglo-Saxon England. Since this is the goal of the article, it will be convenient to begin each section with an excerpt from Aldhelm and follow it with the relevant antecedents; each section will then be concluded with a return to Aldhelm; this will allow us to appreciate the distinctiveness of Aldhelm's contribution. The article itself will be concluded with an overview of the comparisons and of the relationship between the earlier writings and Aldhelm's.


Abstract. The aim of the paper is to present the modelling of the ground effects of seismic waves on a large debris deposit lying on a steep mountain slope, with particular attention paid to the potential triggering of slope movements. The study site is a mass of 2.5 million m3 rock fall deposit, named "Monte Salta Landslide", located on the northern slope of the Vajont valley, at the border between Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions in north-eastern Italy. Several historical landslide events were reported in the area in the past, first one dating back to the 17th century. The landslide deposit completely mantles the slope with a thick cover of rock blocks. The Mt. Salta landslide is conditioned by the presence of Mt. Borga regional thrust, which uplifts Jurassic limestone on the top of Cretaceous rock units. Above the thrust zone, folded and highly fractured rock mass dips steeply towards the slope free face, producing highly unstable setting. The study area has been classified as high seismic hazard and different vulnerable elements can be affected by the remobilisation of debris, among which a village, a national road and a big quarry that was opened, with the intent to exploit the part of the landslide deposit for construction purposes. In this study, numerical analysis was performed, to simulate the slope behaviour using distinct element method and applying UDEC code. The 2-D models were built on three cross-sections and elasto-plastic behaviour was assumed, both for rock matrix and discontinuities. The earthquake effect was modelled in pseudo-dynamic way, i.e. by magnifying the acceleration and applying also its horizontal component. The expected seismic acceleration in the study area was calculated on the basis of previous studies as equal to 0.28 g. The results proved that the increase of the vertical component alone has a small influence on the deformational behaviour of the system. Hence, the acceleration vector was deviated at 5° and then at 10° from the vertical. A small increment of the displacement was observed in the first case, whereas very large movements occurred in the second. Therefore, it can be concluded that, besides the magnitude of the earthquake, even small seismic waves in horizontal direction could trigger significant movements and therefore hazardous conditions. The modelled scenario should be helpful for planning of the functional countermeasure works and civil defence evacuation plan.


Background Long noncoding RNA (LncRNA) LINC00673 has been proven to play critical roles in cancer biology, while its role in other diseases is unknown. It has been reported that LINC00673 could interact with p53, a critical player in diabetes and diabetic complications, suggesting that LINC00673 may also participate in diabetic retinopathy (DR). This study aimed to investigate the role of LINC00673 in DR. Methods The present study included 3 groups of participants, including DR group, diabetes (DB) group, and healthy control (Control) group. Flow cytometry was utilized to determine cell apoptosis. Proteins and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) were estimated by Western blot and quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR), respectively. Results LINC00673 was downregulated in plasma samples of DR patients (n=60) in comparison with the healthy controls (n=60) and negatively correlated with p53 only across DR patients but not across the healthy controls. In retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPECs), high glucose treatment downregulated LINC00673. Moreover, LINC00673 overexpression downregulated p53 and decreased RPEC apoptosis, while LINC00673 silencing upregulated p53 and increased RPEC apoptosis. In addition, p53 overexpression reduced the effects of LINC00673 overexpression. Conclusion LINC00673 is downregulated in DR patients and regulates RPEC apoptosis via negatively regulating p53.