Tropane alkaloids are medicinally-valued plant secondary metabolites found in ten angiosperm plant families. Despite their medicinal value and socioeconomic impact on mankind, their biosynthesis and ecological function remains to be understood. The most biochemically investigated angiosperm family producing tropane alkaloids is the Solanaceae, predominantly known for atropine and scopolamine from belladonna (Atropa belladonna), datura (Datura stramonium), henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) and mandrake (Mandragora officinalis). The Erythroxylaceae, another important tropane alkaloid producing angiosperm family, is predominantly known for cocaine from the coca plant (Erythroxylum coca). In this thesis, I review the current state of tropane alkaloid biosynthesis in plants, their occurrence in the angiosperms and their ecological functions. Besides the Solanaceae, biochemical investigations on tropane alkaloid production in other plant families have been neglected. Therefore the last two steps of tropane alkaloid biosynthesis in E. coca were investigated. Interestingly, the penultimate step in cocaine biosynthesis in Erythroxylaceae is performed by a different family of oxidoreductase enzymes, than reported from the Solanaceae. Short chain reductases / dehydrogenases (SDR) reduce tropinone in Solanaceae and an aldo-keto reductase (AKR) reduces 2-carbomethoxy-3-tropinone in the Erythroxylaceae. The utilization of both SDR and AKR enzymes in tropane alkaloid biosynthesis in angiosperms is an example of convergent evolution. In addition, the enzyme responsible for the last step of cocaine biosynthesis, the esterification of 2-carbomethoxy-3β-tropine and benzoyl-CoA, in E. coca was characterized and belongs to the BAHD acyltransferase enzyme superfamily. The importance of biochemical investigations of plant secondary metabolite pathways is further reviewed in the context of metabolic engineering.


1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 induces cells derived from mononuclear phagocytes such as HL-60 and U937 to differentiate to macrophage-like cells and causes alveolar macrophages to form multinucleated cells in vitro. Since the osteoclast is thought to be derived from early marrow cells of the macrophage lineage, we cultured normal primate marrow mononuclear cells in medium containing 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D3. We found that large multinucleated cells (3-30 nuclei per cell) formed after 2-3 weeks of culture. Addition of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 to these cultures markedly stimulated multinucleated cell formation. Other vitamin D analogues, parathyroid hormone, prostaglandin E2, and calcitonin failed to stimulate multinucleated cell formation. However, calcitonin inhibited the stimulation of multinucleated cell formation by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. The multinucleated cells that formed in these cultures contained a tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase activity, a marker enzyme for osteoclasts. This activity was increased by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and parathyroid hormone, and calcitonin inhibited the increase in acid phosphatase activity stimulated by these compounds. Ultrastructurally, the multinucleated cells had several features similar to those of osteoclasts. These data suggest that the multinucleated cells in our culture have several characteristics of osteoclasts and that the potent bone-resorbing activity of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in vivo and in vitro may be mediated in part by stimulation of marrow mononuclear cells to form osteoclasts.


ObjectiveTo examine the association of plasma cholesterol (total and high-density [HDL] and low-density lipoprotein) levels with neuritic plaques (NP) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) in a population-based autopsy series of 218 Japanese American men followed as a part of the Honolulu–Asia Aging Study. MethodsCholesterol levels were measured in late life (average age at death 84.6 years) in all subjects (n = 218) and in midlife (20 years before late life) in a subsample (n = 89); for the analyses, levels were categorized into quintiles, with the lowest quintile serving as the reference. Tissue from four areas of neocortex and two areas of hippocampus was prepared with Bielschowsky silver-stained sections and evaluated by one of three neuropathologists who were blinded to clinical information. Diffuse and neuritic plaques and NFT were counted in field areas standardized to 1 mm2. Fields were selected from areas with the highest numbers of lesions, and the field with the highest count was taken to represent the brain area. ResultsAfter adjusting for age at death, education, APOE allele, dementia, neuropathologic infarction, and blood pressure, a strong linear association was found for increasing late-life HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) levels and an increasing number of neocortical NP (5th versus 1st quintile: count ratio [95% CI] 2.30 [1.05 to 5.06]) and hippocampal (2.63 [1.25 to 5.50]) and neocortical (4.20 [1.73 to 10.16]) NFT. Trends were similar for the midlife HDL-C levels. ConclusionsThe constituents of HDL-C may play a role in the formation of AD pathology, and these processes are reflected in peripheral measures.


A conception of "safe" blood has been proposed based on autohemotransfusions with the use of the methods of preparation of autologous blood, preoperative isovolemic hemodilution and intraoperative blood salvage. For the latter method special apparatus are needed, while the two former methods are easily performable without complex equipment and high expenses. The wide use of autohemotransfusions is considered as the most reasonable alternative under conditions of diminution of donor number, increased hazard of transmission of some infections through homologous blood transfusions.


A toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) based on Ulva pertusa spore release was conducted in 3 phases for the identification of the major toxicants in effluent from a wastewater treatment plant (WTP) and the receiving water in an adjacent stream. The toxicity of the final effluent (FE), as compared with raw wastewater, and primary and secondary effluent, showed a greater change over 12-monthly sampling events and appeared to have impacts on the toxicity of the downstream water with a significant correlation (r2 = 0.89, p < 0.01). In Phase I, toxicity characterization indicated that cations were likely to be the responsible toxicants for the FE. In Phase II, cations such as Cu, Ni, and Zn were found in the FE at higher concentrations than the EC50 concentrations determined for the standard corresponding metals. When the concentrations of each metal in the FE samples were plotted against the respective toxicity units, only zinc showed a statistically significant correlation with toxicity (r2 = 0.86, p < 0.01). In Phase III, using spiking and mass balance approaches, it was confirmed that Zn was the major toxicant in the effluent from the WTP. Following a change in the Fenton reagent used, to one with a lower Zn content, the toxicity of the FE greatly decreased in subsequent months. The TIE developed here enabled the toxicity of FEs of the WTP to be tracked and for Zn, originating from a reagent used for Fenton treatment, to be successfully identified as the key toxicant. The TIE method based on U. pertusa demonstrated utility as a low cost and simple tool to identify the risk factors for industrial effluents and provided information on regulatory control and management.


Purpose: Blockade of the PD-1/PD-L1 axis emerged as a promising new therapeutic option for cancer that has resulted in lasting responses in metastatic renal, lung carcinomas, and melanomas. Tumor PD-L1 protein expression may predict response to drugs targeting this pathway. Measurement of PD-L1 protein is limited by the lack of standardized immunohistochemical methods and variable performance of antibodies. Our goal was to correlate PD-L1 mRNA expression with clinical variables in primary breast carcinomas. Experimental Design: The fluorescent RNAscope paired-primer assay was used to quantify in situ PD-L1 mRNA levels in 636 stage I–III breast carcinomas on two sets of tissue microarrays [YTMA128 (n = 238) and YTMA201 (n = 398)]. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) were assessed by hematoxylin/eosin stain and quantitative fluorescence. Results: On YTMA128 and YTMA201, 55.7% and 59.5% of cases showed PD-L1 mRNA expression, respectively. Higher PD-L1 mRNA expression was significantly associated with increased TILs (P = 0.04) but not with other clinical variables. Elevated TILs (scores 2 and 3+) occurred in 16.5% on YTMA128 and 14.8% on YTMA201 and was associated with estrogen receptor–negative status (P = 0.01 on YTMA128 and 0.0001 on YTMA201). PD-L1 mRNA expression was associated with longer recurrence-free survival (log-rank P = 0.01), which remained significant in multivariate analysis including age, tumor size, histologic grade, nodal metastasis, hormone receptor, HER2 status, and the extent of TILs (HR, 0.268; CI, 0.099–0.721; P = 0.009). Conclusions: PD-L1 mRNA expression is identified in nearly 60% of breast tumors and it is associated with increased TILs and improved recurrence-free survival. These observations support the evaluation of PD-1/PD-L1–targeted therapies in breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 20(10); 2773–82. ©2014 AACR.


Self-healing materials are the next-generation materials for high-performance structures. To reduce the fatigue and subsequent probability of failure along with extended service life of polymer and polymer composites, the self-healing concept has great potential. Today, polymeric composites are structural matrix and prone to failure against cyclic mechanical and thermal loading. Significant degradation of polymeric structures at surficial sites can be measured by barely visible impact damage (BVID), but internal micro-cracks are not easily detectable. Various damage modes make major damage sites in composites and further lead to catastrophic failure of the structure. On-site repairing of microscopic or macroscopic damages in polymer composites is a value-added function that is offered by self-healing techniques. Different extrinsic methods including encapsulation, hollow fiber embedment, and vascular methods are preferred, and some intrinsic, dynamic bonding is created by reversible covalent networks and supramolecular interaction based on H-bonding, metal-ligand, and ionomers. This chapter is preferred on the new trends and challenges regarding the structural health monitoring of polymeric composites against external mechanical and environmental impacts and extended service life and performance by utilizing self-healing strategies.


Novel zirconium complex 2 has been prepared by treatment of the ligand complex 1 with ZrCl4•2THF in dichloromethane solution. The complex 1 and 2 were characterized by 1H-NMR and IR. Activated by MAO, Complex 2 displays very high activity for ethylene polymerization under the reaction temperature of 40~80 °C and the viscosity-average molecular weight of polyethylene is more than 3.0×104 when reaction temperature is no more than 60°C.The molecular-weight distribution measured by gel permeation reached 2.50.High melting points measured by DSC indicates that the polyethylene produced by complex 2 is high linearity and high crystallinity.


Summary: A streptomycin-resistant variant of Xanthomonas campestris was grown in defined nutrient-deficient media in both batch and continuous culture. The production, composition and viscosity of the extracellular polysaccharide (xanthan) synthesized by this strain were influenced by the fermentation time and nutrient exhaustion in batch culture and by the dilution rate in continuous culture. The specific rate of exopolysaccharide synthesis was maximal during exponential growth in all of the nutrient-deficient media studied although some xanthan was formed during stationary phase. The concentration of exopolysaccharide decreased at later stages of stationary phase in some cultures. Both the extent of acylation and the consistency index of xanthan isolates were low or minimal during exponential growth, maximal in polysaccharide isolated as the growth rate fell and usually lower after this time. Between dilution rates of 0·03 and 0·06 h−1 in chemostat culture, the cell and exopolysaccharide dry weights were independent of dilution rate, the specific rate of xanthan synthesis decreasing at lower growth rates. Although the variation in the acyl content and consistency index was less than that observed in batch culture, exopolysaccharide isolated at higher dilution rates tended to have a higher acetyl content, lower pyruvyl content and lower consistency index.


Traffic accident risk has in some studies been found to change with the time of day, after controlling for exposure, probably due to diurnal changes in the human body, which changes alertness. However, exposure data are not always of good quality, and culpability for accidents is not always taken into account. The change in culpable accident risk over the day for bus drivers was therefore investigated, with single accidents analysed separately, using induced exposure (non-culpable bus accidents) as well as general traffic density and number of buses on the road as controlling factors. It was found that the risk distribution was fairly similar to some previous results before controlling for exposure, but dissimilar to other, probably indicating that bus drivers have a somewhat different risk profile, but also that previous studies may not have controlled for exposure in a reliable way. When exposure was held constant, the risk distribution was different from all other studies. The three different exposure measures correlated strongly between themselves, and each would seem to be adequate for a basic control. However, although general traffic density was most strongly correlated with culpable bus accidents, the induced exposure parameter added some explained variance. Single accidents had a very different risk distribution as compared to other culpable accidents when exposure had been held constant. A number of unexpected effects were also noted, mainly that single accidents were associated most strongly with general traffic density.


type="main"> The purpose of this review is to synthesise the existing research literature regarding audit reporting and, in particular, the going concern decision. We consider the findings of research conducted in Australia and New Zealand on these issues. We then analyse trends in audit reporting from 2005 to 2013. We identify an increase in auditors' reports highlighting going concern issues well beyond the global financial crisis period confirming that this period represents a period of prolonged economic uncertainty. We identify trends by audit firm type, by industry and company size. We analyse the subsequent year outcomes for firms receiving going concern opinions. We also identify opportunities for future research.


Cellular phones are expanding their popularity in data service. However, we do not know much about the data traffic consumed in cellular networks. Traditional traffic classification studies have focused on grouping a set of related packets into the application categories. However, the proposed methods are hard to be applied to Korean cellular data traffic analysis because most data is from a single application: Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). As WAP conveys WML documents, we have to inspect the WML documents included in a traffic flow for more detailed classification. In this paper, we propose a method that finds Korean words carried in WML documents and classifies the documents into appropriate content categories according to the their meaning. We implemented and evaluated simple classification heuristics using packet traces from CDMA 1x EVDO/WCDMA HSDPA networks. From the result, we show that a simple heuristic is effective for classifying WAP flows to their content categories.


alpha-Ethyltryptamine (etryptamine, alpha-ET) is a drug of abuse that first appeared on the clandestine market in the mid-1980s. Its pharmacological actions are poorly understood. In this investigation, it is reported for the first time that alpha-ET serves as a training drug in drug discrimination studies. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to discriminate (30-min pretreatment time) 2.5 mg/kg of alpha-ET (ED(50)=1.3 mg/kg) from saline vehicle using a standard two-lever operant paradigm and a VI-15s schedule of reinforcement for appetitive reward. Once established, the alpha-ET stimulus was shown to have an onset to action of 30 min and a duration of effect of at least 4 h. In tests of stimulus generalization (substitution), the alpha-ET stimulus generalized to S(-)alpha-ET (ED(50)=1.6 mg/kg) and R(+)alpha-ET (ED(50)=1.3 mg/kg). Tests of stimulus generalization were also conducted with prototypical phenylisopropylamines: (+)amphetamine, 1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylphenyl)-2-aminopropane (DOM), and N-methyl-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-aminopropane (PMMA). The alpha-ET stimulus generalized to DOM (ED(50)=0.4 mg/kg) and PMMA (ED(50)=0.7 mg/kg), but only partially generalized (ca. 40% maximal drug-appropriate responding) to (+)amphetamine. The results suggest that alpha-ET produces a complex stimulus.


Stochasticity from gene expression in single cells is known to drive metabolic heterogeneity at the level of cellular populations, which is understood to have important consequences for issues such as microbial drug tolerance and treatment of human diseases like cancer. Despite considerable advancements in profiling the genomes, transcriptomes, and proteomes of single cells, it remains difficult to experimentally characterise their metabolism at genome-scale. Computational methods could bridge this gap toward a systems understanding of single-cell biology. To address this challenge, we developed stochastic simulation algorithm with flux-balance analysis embedded (SSA-FBA), a computational framework for simulating the stochastic dynamics of the metabolism of individual cells using genome-scale metabolic models with experimental estimates of gene expression and enzymatic reaction rate parameters. SSA-FBA extends the constraint-based modelling formalism of metabolic network modelling to the single-cell regime, enabling simulation when experimentation is intractable. We also developed an efficient implementation of SSA-FBA that leverages the topology of embedded FBA models to significantly reduce the computational cost of simulation. As a preliminary case study, we built a reduced single-cell model of Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and used SSA-FBA to illustrate the role of stochasticity on the dynamics of metabolism at the single-cell level. SIGNIFICANCE Due to fundamental challenges limiting the experimental characterisation of metabolism within individual cells, computational methods are needed to help infer the metabolic behaviour of single cells from information about their transcriptomes and proteomes. In this paper, we present SSA-FBA, the first systematic framework for modelling the stochastic dynamics of single cells at the level of genome-scale metabolic reaction networks. We provide a robust and efficient algorithm for simulating SSA-FBA models, and apply it to a case study involving the metabolism, RNA and protein synthesis and turnover of a single Mycoplasma pneumoniae cell.


Taste and smell work together to identify the chemical composition of what we intend to ingest. In recent years, our understanding of the mammalian physiology of taste and smell has greatly increased. In addition to its intrinsic value, this increased understanding of the molecular and cellular basis of flavor recognition provides also a new view on our behavioral response to edible matter.


Arsenic in ground water has been found above the maximum permissible limit in six districts of West Bengal covering an area of 34 000 km2 with a population of 30 million. At present 37 blocks of these six districts by the side of the River Ganga are affected and about 800 000 people from 312 villages/wards are drinking arsenic contaminated water and amongst them at least 175 000 people are showing arsenical skin lesions. The source of arsenic is geological. We have analysed thousands of tube-well water samples from these six districts for four arsenic species namely, arsenite, arsenate, monomethylarsonic acid (MMAA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMAA). We could detect no MMAA or DMAA in any of these samples. In urine, DMAA and MMAA are the predominant species along with arsenite and arsenate. The techniques we used for the determination and speciation of arsenic are: (i) separation of arsenite and arsenate from water by sodium diethyldithiocarbamate in chloroform followed by FI-HGAAS; (ii) spectrophotometry using Ag–DDTC in chloroform with hexamethylenetetramine as absorbing solution; (iii) ion-exchange separation of arsenite and arsenate from water followed by FI-HGAAS; and (iv) for analysis of inorganic arsenic and its metabolites in urine, FI-HGAAS was used after separation of the species by a combined cation–anion-exchange column. Total arsenic in urine was determined by FI-HGAAS after acid decomposition. The most toxic species, arsenite, is present in ground water at about 50% of the total arsenic level, and more than 90% of the total arsenic in urine is inorganic arsenic and its metabolites.


The past ten years have witnessed an explosion in the use of interim assessments by school districts across the country. A primary reason for this rapid growth is the assumption that interim assessments can inform and improve instructional practice and thereby contribute to increased student achievement. Testing companies, states, and districts have become invested in selling or creating interim assessments and data management systems designed to help teachers, principals, and district leaders make sense of student data, identify areas of strengths and weaknesses, identify instructional strategies for targeted students, and much more. Districts are keeping their interim tests even under pressure to cut budgets (Sawchuk, 2009). The U.S. Department of Education is using its Race to the Top program to encourage school districts to develop formative or interim assessments as part of comprehensive state assessment systems. Much of the rhetoric around interim assessments paints a rosy picture, often with the ultimate claim that such measures will lead to increased student achievement. Much of the belief in the potential of interim assessments to improve student learning comes from the growing body of research on formative assessment. However, the majority of this research has not focused on interim assessments themselves, but rather practices that are embedded within classroom instruction. Very few studies exist on how interim assessments are actually used, by individual teachers in classrooms, by principals, and by districts. Furthermore, we know little about how teachers and other educators use the results from such assessments, the conditions that support their ability to use these data to improve instruction, or the interaction of interim assessments with other classroom assessment practices. Our study begins to fill that vacuum. Disciplines Curriculum and Instruction | Educational Administration and Supervision | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Comments View on the CPRE website. This report is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/cpre_researchreports/58 The Consortium for Policy Research in Education includes: University of Pennsylvania Teachers College Columbia University Harvard University Stanford University University of Michigan University of Wisconsin-Madison Northwestern University From Testing to Teaching: The Use of Interim Assessments in Classroom Instruction


The LHC is preparing an upgrade, which will bring the luminosity of the machine to 5-7 $\times$ $10^{34}$ $\mathrm{ cm^{\text{-}2}s^{\text{-}1} }$ reaching an integrated luminosity of 3000 $\mathrm{ fb^{\text{-}1} }$ by the end of 2037. This High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) scenario will require extensive upgrades to the experiments to fully exploit the physics potential of the accelerator. In this so-called Phase-2 upgrade, CMS detector will require improved radiation hardness, higher detector granularity to reduce occupancy, increased bandwidth to accommodate higher data rates, and an improved trigger capability to maintain an acceptable trigger rate. Thus, the entire tracking system will need to be replaced to deal with the HL-LHC environment and to maintain the excellent performance of the current CMS detector.

The Phase-2 Inner Tracker is designed to maintain or even improve the tracking and vertexing capabilities under the high pileup (140 - 200 collisions per bunch crossing) conditions of the HL-LHC. The detectors should have the required radiation tolerance and capability of delivering the desired performance in terms of detector resolution, occupancy, and track separation. The Inner Tracker will be built from thin silicon pixel detectors segmented into pixel sizes of 25 $\times$ 100 $\mu$$\mathrm{ m^2 }$ or 50 $\times$ 50 $\mathrm{ \mu }$$\mathrm{ m^2 } $. It is composed of a barrel part with four cylindrical layers and eight small and four large disc-like structures in each forward direction. The design also includes the possibility to extract and replace the degraded parts of the detector without removing the beam pipe. The Tracker Endcap Pixel detector, installed within the extended space, will enable the measurement of real-time instantaneous luminosity as an added functionality. The extended geometrical coverage of up to $\mathrm{ \eta }$ $<$ 4.0 provides large forward acceptance to mitigate the pileup, particularly in the endcap calorimeters.


Abstract Tolerance limits for variances are useful in quality assessments when the focus is on the precision of a quality characteristic. Two-sided tolerance intervals (limits) provide insight into a process degradation as well as improvement, in terms of process variability. Sarmiento, Chakraborti, and Epprecht constructed the exact two-sided tolerance intervals for the population of sample variances, assuming normality of the data. The required tolerance factors cannot be expressed in a closed-form and their computation is complex, depending on the numerical solutions of a system of three nonlinear equations. Motivated by this, from a practical point of view, we consider a simpler, approximate tolerance interval based on the approximate tolerance interval for the gamma distribution, which uses the Wilson–Hilferty approximation. The required tolerance factors for the proposed interval are readily obtained using existing tables and software and therefore can be implemented more easily in practice. The performance of the proposed tolerance interval is compared with that of the exact interval in terms of accuracy and robustness in simulation studies. In addition, the tolerance intervals are illustrated with a dataset from a real application. A summary and some conclusions are offered. It is seen that the proposed approximate tolerance intervals are fairly accurate, reasonably robust and being much simpler to calculate, can be useful in practical applications.


This paper uses a unique data set containing detailed micro-information on organisations, managers, workers and volunteers belonging to public, private forprofit and private nonprofit institutions delivering social services in Italy. The analysis aims to estimate the determinants of wages across organisations at a sector level focusing on the role of hiring and job search methods, including informal networks. We find that, independent of the organisation type, being hired through public competitions brings with it a substantial wage premium (ranging from 7 to 32%). Informal networks bring with them a wage penalty (-6.5%) in the state sector, where formal hiring methods are common, and a wage premium (6.3%) in social cooperatives and religious institutions, where formal hiring methods are not common. Interestingly, the differences in hiring and in job search methods between state and private organisations explain from 50% to 100% of the conditional wage differentials across organisation types. Our interpretation of these findings is that nonprofit organisations prefer informal recruitment methods not for nepotistic reasons, but to better select the most motivated workers, those who share the nonprofit mission. This paper adds to the previous literature by suggesting that in addition to lower than average monetary compensations, informal recruitment methods are part of the process of self-selection of motivated workers in nonprofit organisations.


Marine borers can destroy wooden structures exposed to the marine environment and cause great monetary loss. In the region of Amasra of the Black Sea in Turkey, ships continue to be built from wood, mainly Castanea sativa (sweet chestnut) and Quercus petraea (sessile oak) and therefore are subject to destruction by marine borers. Copper-chromium-arsenic (CCA), used to be one of the most common wood preservatives used in Turkey. However, in this area its ecacy against mari- ne borers is unknown. � e resistance of untreated and CCA-treated samples of chestnut, oak and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) was examined and aer twelve months evaluated in two ways, EN 275, and a non-destructive measurement for dynamic modulus of elasticity (MOE). Untreated samples, particularly Scots pine were severely attacked by Teredo navalis. Treated samples of oak and chestnut were moderately attacked while treated samples of Scots pine sapwood and heartwood were sound. Severity of wood boring attack determined using MOE showed a very good correlation with that de- termined by visual assessment in untreated wood, and a good correlation for treated wood. Dynamic MOE allows rapid on-site evaluation rather than measurements within a laboratory and also without causing damage to the structures being evaluated.


Violence and humanitarianism are conventionally understood to be in opposition to one another. And yet, humanitarianism is also deeply entangled with violence—not only in tending to the after effects of human or natural catastrophe, but, at times, also (re)producing and perpetuating ongoing conditions of violence. Taking up Weizman's notion critiquing "lesser evil" solutions to human suffering, we extend the exploration of humanitarian interventions to the structural and symbolic violences enacted through the institutions, mechanisms, instruments, and "moral technologies" that are mobilized in the governance of people and spaces deemed in "need." At the same time we attend to the thresholds within humanitarian forms of engagement where slippage into assaultive violence condenses—often through the spatial policing of circulation, the drive toward legibility, and/or opaque processes of conditional vetting. These moments and spaces shed light on the multiple, hierarchical visions of humanity that animate humanitarianism.


Emotional response to threatening stimuli in psychosis and anxiety disorders. Evolution has provided humans with an alarm system that may facilitate adaptation. Both psychosis and anxiety disorders involve danger detection difficulties. Our main goal is to compare threat responses of these diagnostic groups and with those of healthy subjects. We studied 24 subjects with an anxiety disorder diagnosis, 39 with psychosis, and 39 healthy control subjects. We compared threat and pleasantness perception using visual stimuli (human and nonhuman stimuli, either threatening or nonthreatening). Regarding threat perception, significant differences were found between psychosis and control groups. Subjects with anxiety disorder diagnosis evaluated any kind of stimuli more negatively. These results suggest differential emotional processing of diverse visual stimuli in these diagnostic groups.


The crystal structure of the new complex vanadium oxide Na(6)Mg(2)(VO(4))(2)(V(2)O(7)) was solved from X-ray single-crystal data. The structure contains VO(4) tetrahedra and MgO(6) octahedra, linked by corners and forming a complex three-dimensional framework. A half of the VO(4) tetrahedra are connected only to MgO(6) octahedra, whereas the others are corner-sharing, forming V(2)O(7) pyrovanadate groups with statistically random orientations. One unique Mg atom is located at an inversion centre, while the other Mg atom, one unique V atom and five unique O atoms lie on mirror planes.


The future generation of mobile communication systems will provide a diversity of services, with the means of secure software download and transparent reconfigurability, providing increased opportunity to all parties in the telecommunications value chain. In order that such a complex system can be realised and provide a comfortable, secure, yet compelling experience to the end-user, there are many challenges and issues to resolve, including end-to-end security within disparate domains of administration, efficient software download procedures, transparent terminal reconfigurability, configuration management and evolved network operations. The paper elaborates on two main issues in realising the reconfigurable system, namely ensuring conformance and security of reconfiguration. It provides an overview of current compliance/regulation from the European regulatory perspective. The paper also describes the problems and discusses the outcome of research undertaken in the field.


ABSTRACT The Mapping Application for Penguin Populations and Projected Dynamics (MAPPPD) is a web-based, open access, decision-support tool designed to assist scientists, non-governmental organisations and policy-makers working to meet the management objectives as set forth by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and other components of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) (that is, Consultative Meetings and the ATS Committee on Environmental Protection). MAPPPD was designed specifically to complement existing efforts such as the CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program (CEMP) and the ATS site guidelines for visitors. The database underlying MAPPPD includes all publicly available (published and unpublished) count data on emperor, gentoo, Adélie and chinstrap penguins in Antarctica. Penguin population models are used to assimilate available data into estimates of abundance for each site and year. Results are easily aggregated across multiple sites to obtain abundance estimates over any user-defined area of interest. A front end web interface located at www.penguinmap.com provides free and ready access to the most recent count and modelled data, and can act as a facilitator for data transfer between scientists and Antarctic stakeholders to help inform management decisions for the continent.


Policy makers and researchers are intrigued with but also frequently frustrated by each other. Although these differences are understandable and predictable, it is clear that research on a variety of educational issues has been both influential and valuable in the development of policy and practice. There is much to suggest that researchers and policy makers should be collaborating to improve student outcomes. There are important instances of sustained collaborations between educational researchers and educational policy makers. We summarize some of these efforts but describe in more detail the Education Finance Research Consortium, a long-standing collaboration between university-based researchers and the New York State Education Department. Given the current intense focus on the role of evidence in the development of education policy, some of the lessons from this collaboration may be useful to those seeking to expand the use of evidence in policies intended to improve student learning.


Background Young people in the UK have among the worst health in Europe with marked inequalities across the social scale. Substance use and violence are highly prevalent and damaging to young people's long-term health. There are increasing calls for adolescent health interventions to address multiple rather than single risk behaviours because such behaviours cluster together and because such interventions are potentially more feasible and efficient. Positive youth development (PYD) is one such intervention to address inter-clustered risk behaviours among young people. The National Youth Agency defines such interventions as voluntary and informal educational activities aiming to bring about generalised youth development in terms of positive assets such as skills, relationships and confidence, rather than merely remedying 'problem behaviours'. We systematically reviewed outcome evaluations testing the effectiveness of PYD interventions on preventing substance use and violence in young people. Methods We included studies where the majority of participants were aged 11–18 years and where interventions were delivered in community (not clinical or judicial) settings outside of normal school hours. We excluded studies targeting populations on the basis of pre-defined physical and mental health conditions or targeting parents/carers alongside young people in order to focus on family functioning. We searched 19 databases. Two reviewers working independently screened records, assessed full-text studies for inclusion, and extracted data. In order to include all relevant effect sizes in each model, we estimated multilevel meta-analyses for substance use outcomes and violence outcomes. GRADE was used to evaluate our findings. Results We found 13 study reports of 10 distinct outcome evaluations and included 12 reports of 9 distinct evaluations in our meta-analyses. Included studies were of three categories of intervention: after-school interventions; multi-component interventions; and mentoring-driven interventions. Our meta-analyses found a small effect for substance use outcomes overall that was significant neither statistically nor in terms of public health relevance. Meta-analyses suggested that PYD interventions did not have a statistically significant effect on violence outcomes across all time points. Evidence was rated 'very low' for each outcome. Discussion Our meta-analyses do not offer evidence of PYD interventions in general having effects of public health significance in reducing substance use and violence among young people. Evaluations did not consistently report intervention theories of change or data on implementation fidelity, so we are cannot determine whether our meta-analyses should be interpreted as providing evidence that, in general, the PYD theory of change is ineffective in reducing substance use and violence among young people.


Upconversion phosphors are expected to be used as fluorescence biolabeling materials. One of upconversion phosphors, erbium ion-doped-Y2O3 (Y2O3:Er) nanoparticles (YNPs) was synthesized by homogeneous precipitation method. Poly(ethylene glycol)-b-Poly(acrylic acid) (PEG-b-PAAc) was immobilized on the surface of YNP to improve dispersing stability and prevention of nonspecific adsorption. In order to install protein on the YNP surface, co-immobilization of PEG-b-PAAc and bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model protein was carried out. The specific molecular recognition of PEG/BSA co-immobilized YNPs (PEG/BSA-YNPs) was confirmed by anti-BSA antibody plate assay. The obtained complex is a promising near-infrared biolabeling materials with high performances.


The International Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) is designed to demonstrate the currently untested technique of ionization cooling. Theoretically, this process can condition the high quality muon beams required to build a neutrino factory or muon collider which will be the next generation of machines for the study of Particle Physics. The beam line to transport muons into the MICE cooling channel lattice cell was installed in December 2009. Step I of the experimental programme, whose goal was to demonstrate that the beam line can generate beams similar to those expected in a neutrino factory cooling channel, was completed in August 2010.

Methods were developed to use time difference measurements in the MICE time of flight counters (TOFs) to obtain a transverse spatial resolution of approximately 10 mm and to track muons through the focusing elements of the beam line, thus allowing the trace space vectors of individual muons to be reconstructed and their integrated path length to be calculated. The TOFs were used to make an absolute measurement of the momentum of muons with zero bias and a systematic error of less than 3 MeV/c.

The measured trace space vectors of single muons were used to estimate the emittances and approximate optical parameters of eighteen muon beams. The results of beam line simulations were compared with the measurements and, once the effects of experimental resolution had had been included, found to be in good agreement.

A sample of individual muons whose phase space vectors had been measured was injected into a simulation of the full MICE cooling channel; the beam was found to be suitable for demonstrating muon cooling, although some fine tuning of the cooling channel optics will eventually be required.


Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) display elevated anxiety and attention biases (ABs) in threat processing. Attention bias modification treatment (ABMT) is considered promising for anxiety disorders, but its potential for AN is limited. In this study, 154 young women hospitalised because of AN were assigned to ED-related and anxiety-related threat stimuli, or to a non-ABMT intervention control condition in a randomized control trial. Hundred-and-ten patients completed the study. ABMT was an add-on to the regular inpatient treatment. Research participants completed two pretreatment training sessions and eight biweekly sessions of ABMT. AB, ED-related symptoms, depression, anxiety and stress were assessed before and after ABMT in the research groups, and, similarly, 5 weeks apart, in the controls. We found that despite the different patterns of change in AB between the three groups following ABMT, the reduction in AB, or the between-group differences in AB-reduction, were not significant. While the severity of ED-symptoms, depression, anxiety and stress was reduced following ABMT, or control condition, in all groups, there were no between-group differences in these changes. Changes in AB were not correlated with baseline and pre-post-treatment changes in ED-related and comorbid symptomatology. Methodological and inpatient treatment-related considerations may explain our negative ABMT-related results.


A new perspective of electron transfer chemistry is described for fine control of electron transfer reactions including back electron transfer in the charge separated state of artificial photosynthetic compounds and its synthetic application. Fundamental electron transfer properties of suitable components of efficient electron transfer systems are described in light of the Marcus theory of electron transfer, in particular focusing on the Marcus inverted region, and they are applied to design multi-step electron transfer systems which can well mimic the function of a photosynthetic reaction center. Both intermolecular and intramolecular electron transfer processes are finely controlled by complexation of radical anions, produced in the electron transfer, with metal ions which act as Lewis acids. Quantitative measures to determine the Lewis acidity of a variety of metal ions are given in relation to the promoting effects of metal ions on the electron transfer reactions. The mechanistic viability of metal ion catalysis in electron transfer reactions is demonstrated by a variety of examples of chemical transformations involving metal ion-promoted electron transfer processes as the rate-determining steps, which are made possible by complexation of radical anions with metal ions.


Supply chain, the set of institutions and organizations referred to in the design of new products and services, raw materials, semi-manufactured goods, and made them into (final) and to contribute to the final customer. The chain has a simple look of the members, including customers, retailers, wholesalers/distributors, manufacturers and suppliers of raw materials and pieces. Chain members through three main streams of information, physical (product) and monetary (and fiscal cash) linked together. These trends among Members are bidirectional. Efficient management and effectiveness of the flow between all stakeholders in all stages (including product design, forecasting and planning, procurement and purchasing of raw materials, production and distribution, after-sales service and final consumption products) and aims to maximize total value chain and supply chain management to say. The uncertainty surrounding the various components of the supply chain and demand chain length has caused variability and the distance from the end customer and actual demand, more fluctuation in the value of the order is created, which can cause adverse effects, this phenomenon is called the bullwhip effect. Several factors are involved in this issue that strategies to deal with them listed. Effective in reducing the impact on the automotive industry is with regard to e-Business capabilities. And its role in the fight against this phenomenon is the subject of this article who will try to review.


This study aims to investigate the impact of Dashboard to detect necessary early warning signals and readiness in Jordanian communications companies. The study's population consists of all managers and users of Dashboard in two Jordanian cellular operators: Orange and Umnieh, totaling (84) employees. The study employed comprehensive survey on all members of the researched topic, and found that there is a significant effect of Dashboard on the detection of necessary early warning signals and preparing for them


The radar altimeter of the Cassini mission to Titan operates in a transition region between pulse- and beam-limited conditions. Due to the specific observation geometry, low values of mispointing angle have been found to significantly affect altimeter impulse response (IR). This involves a nonconventional formulation of the system response which is the main goal of this paper. An analytical model of the average return power waveform, valid for near-nadir altimetry measurements, has been developed in order to cope with the particular operating conditions of Cassini mission. The model used to approximate the altimeter waveform is based on the same general assumptions of the classical Brown's model (1977) but exploits a flat surface response approximation by Prony's methods. Both theoretical considerations and simulated data have been taken into account to support the accuracy of the proposed model. To infer the main geophysical parameters describing surface topography from altimetry data, a parametric estimation procedure has been used. The maximum likelihood estimator procedure has been chosen since, in principle, it can assure optimal performance as a consequence of the analytical model we used to describe the system IR. Performances of the implemented method have been numerically evaluated through simulation of data received by CASSINI in high-resolution altimeter mode.


Abuse and neglect occurring in childhood have been associated with a number of functional and physiological effects on the brain. This study extends previous research that investigated the quantitative electroencephalogram (qEEG) patterns in children with histories of relational trauma through the inclusion of additional participants and measures. As in previous studies, the relative power, absolute power, and coherence values in children with histories of abuse were compared to the Neuroguide database. Results did not show any significant differences in relative or absolute power in the theta range. Similarly, there were no significant coherence differences. Database comparisons were also made using low resolution electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) in order to determine which sub-cortical brain structures may be affected by abuse or trauma, though there were no significant differences in any frequency (0-30Hz). A review of the literature suggests that the prevalence of mu in normal adults and children ranges from 0 to 19%. The present study found a mu prevalence rate of 60.6% in the children who experienced abuse or neglect. Finally, comparisons were made between participants who demonstrate a mu pattern and those who do not to determine if this pattern is associated with certain behavioral and/or attention problems as assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Tests of Variables of Attention (TOVA), respectively. There were no significant differences between children with a mu pattern versus children who did not exhibit a mu pattern on the Social Problems, Thought Problems, or Attention subscale scores on the CBCL or on the Commission subscale score on the TOVA.


Previous results show that node replication can be used to reduce the number of cut edges substantially in a partitioned circuit. The node replication approach is particularly useful for fully utilizing pin-limited devices such as multiple field-programmable gate array. Hwang and El Gamal [1992, 1995] formulated the min-cut replication problem, which is to determine min-cut replication sets for the components of a k-way partition such that the cut size of the partition is minimized after the replication. They gave an optimal algorithm for finding min-cut replication sets for a k-way partitioned digraph. However their optimal min-cut replication algorithm does not guarantee min-cut replication sets of minimum sizes. Furthermore, their algorithm is not optimal for hypergraphs. In this paper, we optimally solve the min-area min-cut replication problem on digraphs, which is to find min-cut replication sets with the minimum sizes. More important, we give an optimal solution to the hypergraph min-area min-cut replication problem using a much smaller flow network model. We implemented our algorithms in a package called Hyper-MAMC, and interfaced Hyper-MAMC to the TAPIR package. We compared the replication results by Hyper-MAMC with those obtained by MC-Rep in the TAPIR package on the exact same initial partitions of a set of MCNC Partition93 benchmark circuits. On average, Hyper-MAMC produces 57.3% fewer cut nets and runs much faster than MC-Rep.


This selection of remarkable spiritual experiences of great saints and sages, gleamed from their biographies, autobiographies, and other writings, is a running record of "the Spirit-filled life" from Old Testament times to the recent past. One finds the heart of the Christian experience of Savonarola, Madam Guyon, George Fox, John Bunyan. Wesley, Whitefield, Finney, Moody, and many others. To read it is to be inspired to strive for a closer walk with God.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the disproportionate impact of the 2014 West Africa Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic on women, presenting an assessment of how this impact in particular is linked with violence against women and women's right to health, and a critique of improvements that could avoid discrimination against women in healthcare crises.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper covers conceptual understandings of, and utilises a human rights law and public health lens to analyse how the EVD epidemic in West Africa both directly and indirectly caused greater harm to women and girls. All these factors which represent intersectional violations of the human rights of women are examined with a focus on violence against women and the right to health.

Findings

There are multiple reasons why the EVD outbreak harmed women disproportionately, and this intersectionality of discrimination must be considered in any response to a public health crisis. Addressing the vulnerability of women and girls to all forms of violence involves the coordinated efforts of public health, legal and political actors to empower women.

Originality/value

Specific issues of the 2014 West Africa EVD outbreak have been examined in medical journals, but there have been no academic studies that present a cross-disciplinary analysis of the gender concerns. This paper combines a public health perspective with a human rights law viewpoint in order to consider the impact of the EVD outbreak on women and provide suggestions as to how discrimination and disadvantage of women in such health crises can be avoided.


Welcome! This guide supplies links to resources you can use during your day at the EYH Conference and as you continue to explore your career path.


The emergency physician treats many patients with mild to moderate pain due to musculoskeletal injury. The physician must consider the extent of injury, the patient's medication history, and the potential for abuse when prescribing an oral analgesic. A study was designed to compare the efficacy of two oral analgesics, one containing a narcotic and one nonnarcotic, in relieving mild to moderate pain associated with grade 2 ankle sprain. Forty patients were enrolled--all with moderate pain--and were randomly allocated to treatment with either diflunisal or acetaminophen with codeine. Both analgesic agents were equally effective in relieving the pain. Side effects were experienced by six patients, all of whom were receiving acetaminophen with codeine; none of the patients given diflunisal noted side effects. Global assessments of the efficacy and tolerability of the study drugs showed that 89% of 19 patients given diflunisal and 43% of 21 patients given acetaminophen with codeine considered their respective analgesics excellent or very good.


Purpose: This retrospective study was undertaken to investigate the impact of initial gefitinib or erlotinib (EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor, EGFR-TKI) versus chemotherapy on the risk of central nervous system (CNS) progression in advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR mutations. Experimental Design: Patients with stage IV or relapsed NSCLC with a sensitizing EGFR mutation initially treated with gefitinib, erlotinib, or chemotherapy were identified. The cumulative risk of CNS progression was calculated using death as a competing risk. Results: One hundred and fifty-five patients were eligible (EGFR-TKI: 101, chemotherapy: 54). Twenty-four patients (24%) in the EGFR-TKI group and 12 patients (22%) in the chemotherapy group had brain metastases at the time of diagnosis of advanced NSCLC (P = 1.000); 32 of the 36 received CNS therapy before initiating systemic treatment. Thirty-three patients (33%) in the EGFR-TKI group and 26 patients (48%) in the chemotherapy group developed CNS progression after a median follow-up of 25 months. The 6-, 12-, and 24-month cumulative risk of CNS progression was 1%, 6%, and 21% in the EGFR-TKI group compared with corresponding rates of 7%, 19%, and 32% in the chemotherapy group (P = 0.026). The HR of CNS progression for upfront EGFR-TKI versus chemotherapy was 0.56 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.34–0.94]. Conclusions: Our data show lower rates of CNS progression in EGFR-mutant advanced NSCLC patients initially treated with an EGFR-TKI compared with upfront chemotherapy. If validated, our results suggest that gefitinib and erlotinib may have a role in the chemoprevention of CNS metastases from NSCLC. Clin Cancer Res; 18(16); 4406–14. ©2012 AACR.


This paper develops mathematical techniques and makes use of interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) for improving the quality of digital elevation models derived from SAR images and providing accurate estimations of atmospheric path and absolute phase delays and water vapor content estimation. The problem of solving parameters such as atmospheric path delay, height, and unwrapping errors is to be described in a mathematical form that uses QR factorization techniques for solving rank-deficient systems. A new approach for the solution of rank-deficient systems with few independent equations is proposed. In the new approach, the bounds are considered known and provided by the eigenvalues. New eigenvalues are added inside the bounds. During the implementation, attention is given not to exceed the bounds of the reorganized matrix. This approach is the first time that is used for phase parameterization in terms of height, tropospheric delay, and phase unwrapping errors. Expanding the approach was also studied for absolute phase delay and water vapor content estimation. The investigation and the implementation of the approach make use of ENVISAT images. The validation of results was implemented through GPS and meteorological measurements.


Guide to the White House Staff is an insightful new work examining the evolution and current role of the White House staff. In eight thematically-arranged chapters, it provides a study of executive-legislative relations, organizational behavior, policy making, and White House-cabinet relations. It also makes an important contribution to the study of public administration for researchers seeking to understand the inner workings of the White House. In thematically-arranged chapters, Guide to the White House Staff: - introduces the first members of the White House staff and details the need, statutory authorization, and funding for staff expansion. - addresses the creation of the Executive Office of the President (EOP) and a formal White House staff in 1939. - explores the statutes, executive orders, and a succession of reorganization plans that have helped shape and refine the EOP. - traces the evolution of White House staff from FDR to Obama and the specialization of staff across policy and political units. - explores how presidential transitions have operated since Eisenhower created the position of chief of staff. - explains the expansion of the president's in-house policy-making structures, beginning with national security and continuing with economic and domestic policy. - covers the exodus of staff and the roles remaining staff have played during the second terms of presidents. - examines the post-White House career patterns of staff. - this valuable new reference will find a home in collections supporting research on the American presidency, public policy, and public administration.


Abstract Since the 1960s, Monte Carlo methods have been used to compute the effect of perturbations on system responses and for computing sensitivity coefficients. This review article focuses on 21st-century developments specific to k-eigenvalue calculations. The theory of correlated sampling, differential operator sampling, and adjoint-based approaches and their historical methods from the 20th century are briefly summarized. Specific focus is given to four recent and significant developments: fission source correction using the correlated sampling and differential operator sampling methods, adjoint-based perturbations for the k eigenvalue using the iterated fission probability method, an extension to reaction rate ratios using generalized perturbation theory, and a recent development using a collision history approach allowing for the calculation of sensitivity coefficients of bilinear ratios and generalized responses. Differences and similarities of the four methods are discussed along with a comparison to the 20th-century approaches. A perspective on future developments is also given.


The series Anne of the Green Gables is sequential children books that focus on Anne Shirley, the story's protagonist. The series of books explore Anne's life from a girl to a charming pretty young lady. In the story, Anne is portrayed as an inquisitive young girl. She explores her life philosophically. She also explores many aspects of nature and its relation to science. Her inquisitiveness is extremelysharp, that the skill helps her in learning the science of everyday life. The paper discusses Anne of the Green Gables' use in educating female students to enjoy STEM education. At present, the proportion of women engineers in Malaysia is disproportionate, and the Ministry of Education is working on inculcating female students' effervescence in STEM subjects. The methodological framework utilised in this study adhered to the approach of the phenomenological case study's paradigm. Interviews were conducted,and qualitative data were gathered and analysed using Atlas.ti, a qualitative data analysis software. The findings indicated that female students could draw links between themselves and Anne, the protagonist in the novels. The protagonist's various occupational explorations helped female students understand that they can excel in STEM and arouse their interests to become scientists or engineers. In conclusion, the use of literary texts written by female authors such as Anne of Green Gables could draw attention from female students towards STEM. This study fills the gap in the existing literature where no scholars have used the classic Anne of Green Gables to illicit interests among young female students.


Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) triggers the apoptotic cascade in various colon cancer cell lines after binding to the membrane receptors DR4 and DR5. However, not all cancer cell lines are sensitive to the therapeutic recombinant human TRAIL (rhTRAIL). To investigate the causes of TRAIL resistance in colon cancer cell lines, models have been developed, mostly in mismatch repair-deficient cells. These cells are prone to mutations in genes containing tandem repeat, including pro-apoptotic protein Bax. We therefore investigated the mechanism underlying TRAIL resistance acquisition in a mismatch repair-proficient colon carcinoma cell line. The TRAIL-resistant cell line SW948-TR was established from the TRAIL-sensitive cell line SW948 by continuous exposure to rhTRAIL, and exhibited 140-fold less sensitivity to rhTRAIL in a cell viability assay. Resistance was stable for over a year in the absence of rhTRAIL. Both cell lines had similar TRAIL receptor cell membrane expression levels. Treatment with the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide sensitized SW948-TR to rhTRAIL-induced apoptosis, indicating that the functionality of the TRAIL receptors was maintained. In SW948-TR, procaspase 8 protein levels but not mRNA levels were notably lower than in SW948. Downregulation of c-FLIP with short interfering RNA (siRNA) sensitized SW948-TR cells to rhTRAIL while caspase 8 siRNA decreased rhTRAIL sensitivity in SW948, indicating the importance of the caspase 8/c-FLIP ratio. Proteasome inhibition with MG132 did not restore basic procaspase 8 levels but stabilized cleaved caspase 8 in rhTRAIL-treated SW948-TR cells. Altogether, our results suggest that colon cancer cells can acquire rhTRAIL resistance by primarily reducing the basal procaspase 8/c-FLIP ratio and by increasing active caspase 8 degradation after rhTRAIL treatment. Proteasome inhibitors can effectively overcome acquired rhTRAIL resistance in mismatch repair-proficient colon cancer cells.


Reconfigurable smart structures and robots require interconnects that enable the transfer of forces, power and data from one modular element to another. This is typically achieved through magnetic coupling, mechanical clips and male–female electrical contacts. In lightweight structures however, these methods are impractical due to weight and complexity. In this work we present an electroadhesive coupling (EAC) controllable interfacial connection for joining lightweight modular components, which enable simultaneous mechanical joining and electrical pass-through connections for power and communication. Active adhesion and power transfer are realized by electroadhesion (EA) using conducting electrodes on lightweight materials such as papers. We present the underlying EAC concept, materials and structures, and demonstrate this new approach using origami and kirigami structures to fabricate a modular EAC bridge and a modular EAC cuboid structural interconnection system. These novel structures have the potential for application in lightweight robotics, space systems, deployable and self-assembling and self-disassembling systems.


Recent work has shown promising results using Hebbian meta-learning to solve hard reinforcement learning problems and adapt-to a limited degree-to changes in the environment. In previous works each synapse has its own learning rule. This allows each synapse to learn very specific learning rules and we hypothesize this limits the ability to discover generally useful Hebbian learning rules. We hypothesize that limiting the number of Hebbian learning rules through a "genomic bottleneck" can act as a regularizer leading to better generalization across changes to the environment. We test this hypothesis by decoupling the number of Hebbian learning rules from the number of synapses and systematically varying the number of Hebbian learning rules. We thoroughly explore how well these Hebbian meta-learning networks adapt to changes in their environment.


Abstract The initial step in twin arginine translocation (Tat)-dependent thylakoid transport of the 16/23 chimera is the interaction of the protein with the lipid bilayer. It results in the formation of the early translocation intermediate Ti-1, which is represented by a protease-protected fragment of 14 kDa. Cys-scanning mutagenesis in combination with in thylakoido and liposome insertion assays was used to precisely map this membrane-interacting and protease-protected fragment within the 16/23 chimera. The fragment comprises 124 residues, which are provided both by the transit peptide (31 residues) and the mature protein (93 residues), demonstrating that the passenger protein directly participates in membrane binding. The implications of this finding on the mechanism of Tat-dependent protein transport are discussed.


This article interrogates the role of indigenous legal tradition (ILT) in contemporary African transitional justice initiatives. It departs from the assumption that most African cultures put emphasis on communality and the interdependence of the members of a community. Indigenous legal traditions, which include mechanisms for acknowledgement, truth telling, accountability, healing and reparations, continue to assume a prominent role in the lives of African societies and individuals. However, little attention has been given to the role of African indigenous legal tradition in terms of its contribution to postconflict transformation. Several African societies have deeply rooted social and communal values of conflict resolution which can serve as a reservoir of wisdom in future transitional justice initiatives. In furtherance of the main theme, the article discusses an example of ILT from Eritrea, and calls for a continued engagement and critical assessment of these values in promoting peace and justice in Africa.


Monetary crisis, which leads to unstable economic condition, has caused a number of banks being liquidated. This research is conducted by using major accounting ratios in order to identify the characteristics of liquidated and restructured banks, of which are listed in Jakarta Stock Exchange. The growth of bank industry was highly related with Paket Oktober 1988. This condition is marked by increasing number of banks, from 40 companies in 1988 to 240 companies in 1994. This research is conducted based on a three period financial information, commencing 1994 to 1996. Proven hypothesis concludes that the number of restructured banks is greater than of liquidated banks. On the other hand, the hypothesis related to leverage and gain has failed to be proven. However, the big sample that can be analyzed through boxplot may be the caused to this result.


The accuracy of visually assessing positivity for samples of field-collected Anopheles tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) for Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites and human bloodmeals was determined during malaria field studies in Kenya. Six observers familiar with ELISAs evaluated 5,344 sporozoite ELISA samples and four observers evaluated 360 bloodmeal samples as either positive or negative based on the presence and strength of green-colored peroxidase reactions relative to controls on each microtiter plate. Interobserver agreement ranged from 97.9 to 99.8% for sporozoite samples and from 90.3 to 96.1% for bloodmeal samples. For both assays, the mean sensitivity and specificity of visual readings, compared with spectrophotometric readings, exceeded 98% when absorbance values were greater than or equal to 0.4 (on a scale of 0.0 to 2.0). Most incorrect visual readings occurred for samples with absorbance values between 0.2 and 0.4. The total percentage of samples classified correctly by visual examination ranged from 97.7 to 99.5% for the sporozoite ELISA and from 95.0 to 96.7% for the bloodmeal ELISA. Thus, there was minimal error associated with visually determining positive reactions for the ELISA assays used in malaria field studies.


[1] In the last two decades the availability of global remote sensing data sets has provided a new means of studying global patterns and dynamics in vegetation. The vast majority of previous work in this domain has used data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer, which until recently was the primary source of global land remote sensing data. In recent years, however, a number of new remote sensing data sources have become available that have significantly improved the capability of remote sensing to monitor global ecosystem dynamics. In this paper, we describe recent results using data from NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer to study global vegetation phenology. Using a novel new method based on fitting piecewise logistic models to time series data from MODIS, key transition dates in the annual cycle(s) of vegetation growth can be estimated in an ecologically realistic fashion. Using this method we have produced global maps of seven phenological metrics at 1-km spatial resolution for all ecosystems exhibiting identifiable annual phenologies. These metrics include the date of year for (1) the onset of greenness increase (greenup), (2) the onset of greenness maximum (maturity), (3) the onset of greenness decrease (senescence), and (4) the onset of greenness minimum (dormancy). The three remaining metrics are the growing season minimum, maximum, and summation of the enhanced vegetation index derived from MODIS. Comparison of vegetation phenology retrieved from MODIS with in situ measurements shows that these metrics provide realistic estimates of the four transition dates identified above. More generally, the spatial distribution of phenological metrics estimated from MODIS data is qualitatively realistic, and exhibits strong correspondence with temperature patterns in mid- and high-latitude climates, with rainfall seasonality in seasonally dry climates, and with cropping patterns in agricultural areas.


The mechanisms which regulate cellular differentiation from human pluripotent stem cells to the committed granulocytic and monocytic stem cells (CFU-D, CFU-C) are still imperfectly understood. Most studies involve in vitro and animal experimentations and the relevance of the conclusions on human in vivo mechanisms may be questionable. The monocyte-macrophage system figures actually as the major source of humoral regulators of the normal granulocytopoiesis and monocytopoiesis in man. It produces CSF, a family of glycoproteins which stimulate the proliferation and maturation of CFU-c, and PGE which are inhibitory. In addition, CSF may act as a stimulator of the proliferation and myeloid commitment of CFU-S. Several other humoral factors are of less well established importance. Bacterial toxins and antigens are potent stimulators of the production of CSF. Androgens are stimulators of the proliferation of CFU-C. Lactoferrin, a glycoprotein released by granulocytes, may inhibit CSF production by monocytes-macrophages. CIF, a group of lipoproteins, may act as an inactivator of CSF. Granulocyte chalones and interferon may be inhibitors, though poorly specific, of granulopoietic differentiation. Glucocorticoids may exert an inhibitory effect on CFU-C proliferation and CSF release. Precise analysis of the humoral regulation of normal granulocytopoiesis and monocytopoiesis in man seems to be of critical interest in understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms of blood diseases such as leukemias and aplastic anemias.


LINITIS plastica type of carcinoma is an interesting entity, not only from the clinical point of view but from the standpoint of pathologic diagnosis as well. Clinically it is practically never recognized as carcinoma since it tends to mimic certain other diseases, such as ulcerative colitis, or it may elude diagnosis completely. Anatomically it is a diffusely infiltrating carcinoma comparable to a phlegmonous inflammation. Coincident with the spread of tumor cells there is subacute and chronic inflammation, with much new formation of connective tissue. The primary carcinoma, obviously an anaplastic mucin-secreting adenocarcinoma, rapidly infiltrates the surrounding tissues, especially the submucosa and muscularis, leaving only shallow ulcerations in its wake. Because of the fast spread of the inflammatory lesion and of the individual cancer cells, large portions of the stricken organ are often involved. Though the lesion is originally an adenocarcinoma, many of the infiltrating cells form only abortive glandular structures


Electromagneetic induction is an established, noninvasive technique for measuring the apparent electrical conductivity of soils and contaminants in soils and aquifers. Nevertheless, the noninvasive determination of electrical conductivity depth profiles using only aboveground electromagnetic induction measurements remains difficult since it involves ill-posed inverse problems. Tikhonov regularization is an established technique for the solution of ill-posed linear inverse problems. We used Tikhonov regularization for estimating the electrical conductivity depth profile of the soil from aboveground electromagnetic induction measurements. Results from the inversion of sets of Geonics EM-38 measurements are reported. It was found that this technique is superior to other inverse techniques previously reported in the literature.


Abstract The viability of the estrogen-receptor (ER)-based chemically inducible gene expression system LexA-VP16-ER (XVE) in combination with the site-specific DNA recombination Cre/loxP system in rice was examined using transgenic plants introduced with a plasmid vector pUH-GFP2 that controls the expression of a green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene. β-estradiol applied to the germinating seeds of the transgenic plants, successfully induced the mRNA expression of the GFP gene. Inducible gene suppression was also tested by replacing the GFP gene by an RNAi cassette; this cassette targeted OsSPS1, a gene encoding sucrose phosphate synthase. When the RNAi plants were treated with the inducer, the transcript levels of OsSPS1 decreased. Concomitantly, the plant length became shorter or the sucrose/starch molar ratio in the leaf blades decreased, suggesting the successful suppression of the target gene. Finally, the utility and remaining problems of this inducible expression system are discussed.


The human transcription factor, UEF3, is important in regulating the activity of the urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) gene enhancer. The UEF3 DNA target site is a regulatory element in the promoters of several growth factor and protease genes. We reported previously that purified UEF3 is a complex of several subunits. In this paper we report the cloning of the cDNA of one of the subunits which encodes for a novel human homeodomain protein, which we have termed Prep1. The Prep1 homeodomain belongs to the TALE class of homeodomains, is most closely related to those of the TGIF and Meis1 proteins, and like these, recognizes a TGACAG motif. We further identify the other UEF3 subunit as a member of the Pbx protein family. Unlike other proteins known to interact with Pbx, Prep1 forms a stable complex with Pbx independent of DNA binding. Heterodimerization of Prep1 and Pbx results in a strong DNA binding affinity towards the TGACAG target site of the uPA promoter. Overall, these data indicate that Prep1 is a stable intracellular partner of Pbx in vivo.


The technology involved in traffic control in Germany has undergone significant changes. This paper describes how a group of German manufacturers have worked with operators to produce Open Communications Interface for Road Traffic Control Systems (OCIT). At the beginning of 2010, twenty-one different European manufacturers had bought licences for OCIT outstations.


Objective We explored the experiences of academic mothers traversing the simultaneous demands of parenting and their professional roles throughout the pandemic to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on engagement in scholarship. Background In response to reports of reduced scholarship by women across academic disciplines, the goal of this study was to understand the lived experiences of women scholars who identify as mothers. Method Academic women, including faculty and students, completed an online survey with demographic items and open-ended questions. From the collected data, responses from participants who identified as mothers (n = 51) were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results Analysis of the data revealed that participants' roles as parents and scholarly women were inextricably intertwined, each serving as foundational components of their identities, a reality highlighted by the exacerbating stressors associated with COVID-19. Altered childcare demands, conflicting roles, and relational changes emerged as consequences of the ongoing pandemic, which compromised participants' ability to effectively attend to different aspects of their identity and sometimes resulted in the development of negative emotions. Conclusion Participants identified additional responsibilities due to the ongoing pandemic. Feeling pulled between their often-conflicting personal and professional identities, academic mothers cited a lack of supportive professional structures, which became more evident during COVID-19, as a barrier to their pursuit of scholarship. Implications This study aligned with previous scholarly documentation of historical gendered bias common within academia. The potential long-term professional impact of these conflated circumstances on academic mothers during the pandemic is discussed, and implications and recommendations for addressing the same via future research are provided.


In this paper, the power architectures and the power electronics circuit topologies for future megawatt electric vehicle (EV) superfast charging stations with enhanced grid support functionality are discussed and a promising power architecture is proposed. The paper first does a literature research. Based on the literature research, the disadvantages of the existing technologies are identified. A power architecture is proposed for megawatt multifunctional EV charging stations to get over the disadvantages of the existing technologies. The power architecture is integrated with grid energy storage, renewable energy sources and it can carry bidirectional power flows. The proposed power architecture cannot only charge EVs but also simultaneously achieve grid support functions. The proposed power architecture can also achieve high efficiency and high reliability. Bidirectional DC/DC converters, medium frequency transformer design and control scheme are also briefly discussed in the paper. Finally, simulations are conducted to verify the proposed technical approach.


Objectives: The objectives of this study were to estimate the proportion of occupational lung cancer in the Busan area. Methods: Occupational physicians of four university hospitals operating an occupational disease surveillance system in the Busan area actively interviewed all of the newly diagnosed, lung cancer cases about their characteristics and occupational histories through a survey questionnaire and chart review. To evaluate and agree on the work-relativity, the cases were presented in periodic meetings. Results: A total of 301 lung cancer cases were interviewed, of which 50 (16.6%, all male, 27 probable and 23 possible) were related to occupational exposure. The exposure materials were asbestos, Cr, PAH etc. Pathologic findings included squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma and small cell carcinoma. Conclusions: The proportion of occupational lung cancer cases above the probable level was 9% and above the possible level was 17%. To develop the public health policy and to prevent further cancer death, the meaningful data from occupational cancer surveillance systems should be collected continuously for ongoing monitoring.


In this paper, we study fundamental aspects of electrostatics as a special case in Stueckelberg-Horwitz electromagnetic theory. In this theory, spacetime events $x^\mu(\tau)$ evolve in an unconstrained 8-dimensional phase space, interacting through five $\tau$-dependent gauge fields induced by the current densities associated with their evolutions. The chronological time $\tau$ was introduced as an independent evolution parameter in order to free the laboratory clock $x^0$ to evolve alternately 'forward' and 'backward' in time according to the sign of the energy, thus providing a classical implementation of the Feynman-Stueckelberg interpretation of pair creation/annihilation. The resulting theory differs in its underlying mechanics from conventional electromagnetism, but coincides with Maxwell theory in an equilibrium limit.
After a brief review of Stueckelberg-Horwitz electrodynamics, we obtain the field produced by an event in uniform motion and verify that it satisfies the field equations. We study this field in the rest frame of the event, where it depends explicitly on coordinate time $x^0$ and the parameter $\tau$, as well as spatial distance $R$. Calculating with this generalized Coulomb field, we demonstrate how Gauss's theorem and Stoke's theorem apply in 4D spacetime, and obtain the fields associated with a charged line and a charged sheet. Finally, we use the field of the charged sheet to study a static event in the vicinity of a potential barrier. In all of these cases, we observe a small transfer of mass from the field to the particle. It is seen that for an event in the field of an oppositely charged sheet of sufficient density, the event can reverse time direction, providing a specific model for pair phenomena.


Three Essays on Economic Fluctuations Stéphane Dupraz This dissertation consists of three essays on the sources and desirability of economic fluctuations. Chapter 1 focuses on a source of fluctuations that has long been attached to the history of economic thought on business cycles: sticky prices. I provide a microfounded theory for one of the oldest, but so far informal, explanations of price rigidity: the kinked demand curve theory. Assuming that some customers observe at no cost only the price of the store they happen to be at gives rise to a kink in firms' demand curves: a price increase above the market price repels more customers than a price decrease attracts. The kink in turn makes a range of prices consistent with equilibrium, but an intuitive criterion—the adaptive rational-expectations criterion—selects a unique equilibrium where prices stay constant for a long time. The kinked-demand theory is consistent with price-setters' account of price-rigidity as arising from the customer's—not the firm's—side, and can be tested against menu-cost models in micro data: it predicts that prices should be more likely to change if they have recently changed, and that prices should be more flexible in markets where customers can more easily compare prices. The kinked-demand theory has novel implications for monetary policy: its Phillips curve is strongly convex but does not contain any (present or past) expectations of inflation; its trade-off between output and inflation persists in the long-run; changes to the distribution of sectoral productivity shift the Phillips curve; and monetary shocks have a much longer-lasting real effect than in a menu-cost model, despite also being a model of state-dependent pricing. Chapter 2, written with Emi Nakamura and Jón Steinsson, starts from the assumption of nominal rigidities—asymmetric wage rigidity this time—to investigate the welfare costs of business cycles. We document that the dynamics of unemployment fit what Milton Friedman labeled a plucking model: a rise in unemployment is followed by a fall of similar amplitude, but the amplitude of the rise does not depend on the previous fall. We develop a microfounded plucking model of the business cycle to account for these phenomena. The model features downward nominal wage rigidity within an explicit search model of the labor market. Our search framework implies that downward nominal wage rigidity is fully consistent with optimizing behavior and equilibrium. We reassess the costs of business cycle fluctuations through the lens of the plucking model. Contrary to New-Keynesian models where fluctuations are cycles around an average natural rate, the plucking model generates fluctuations that are gaps below potential (as in Old-Keynesian models). In this model, business cycle fluctuations raise not only the volatility but also the average level of unemployment, and stabilization policy can reduce the average level of unemployment and therefore yield sizable welfare benefits. Chapter 3 is a contribution to a second branch of Keynesian economics, which sees the possibility of inefficient economic fluctuations not as a consequence of sticky prices, but instead as a more intrinsic property of a system of decentralized production. I ask: how do agents coordinate in a world that they do not fully understand? I consider a dispersed-information coordination game with ambiguity-averse agents who do not trust their models. Because distinguishing models is harder in a noisier economy, the model is one of endogenous ambiguity. Because one agent's noise is another's private information, one agent's reliance on his private information increases how much ambiguity his neighbor faces. I revisit the role of private and public information in this new light. On the positive side, I show that the equilibrium depends less on fundamentals as agents become more ambiguity averse, and not at all in the limit where they become infinitely so. I also show that, because it makes agents trust their model more, the release of public information drives the economy toward fundamentals whenever ambiguity-aversion is high enough, in contrast to the standard result under rational expectations. On the normative side, I show that the equilibrium features too much dependence on fundamentals: agents would rather live in a world that they understand better, even if it means living in a world that is less responsive to changes in fundamentals.


In order to educate scientifically literate children, teachers are required to include nature of science (NOS) in their classroom practice. However, as biology teachers' own understanding of NOS is limited, promoting an initial understanding of NOS in teacher education is crucial. The aim of this study is to elucidate the importance of the first phase of teacher education for biology teachers' understanding of NOS. More precisely, the study aims to examine the relationship between institutional determinants (e.g., the type of teacher education programme) and learning opportunities for pre-service biology teachers' understanding of NOS. Pre-service biology teachers (N = 232) participated in a cross-sectional testing. The corresponding descriptions of N = 649 modules of biology teacher education from 20 German universities were analysed. Qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to relate the institutional determinants and the individual amount of learning opportunities to pre-service biology teachers' understanding of NOS. Results reveal that both institutional determinants as well as the amount of learning opportunities are related to pre-service biology teachers' understanding of NOS. This indicates that teacher education at university represents an important phase for biology teachers' understanding of NOS. The results are discussed in terms of consequences for further research and teacher education.


After establishing the need for cross-border dissemination of national (EC) law, this paper reviews already existing initiatives like JuriFast, Dec.Nat, Caselex and Jure. For future development three basic challenges are defined and elaborated.The lack of a unique and persistent case law identifier gives rise to many problems when citing and searching case law. The paper describes the way this issue is tackled in the Netherlands, by using a national identifier together with a publicly available reference-index. Inspired by the advantages of this system, a proposal is made for a European Case Law Identifier. To facilitate the inter-European search for, and exchange of case law the paper also discusses the need for a harmonized set of metadata, and the necessity to develop a European interchange format for court decisions.


The aim of this study is to determine the relative feed value (RFV), relative forage quality (RFQ) and net energy lactation (NEL) values of some roughage samples, based on the measurements taken from two different near infrared reflectance (NIR) devices. Corn silage (n = 18), alfalfa (n = 9), oat grass hay (n = 15), wheat straw (n = 10) were used as roughage samples and NIR measurements were taken from these samples in two ways. In the study, two different NIR (NIR1, NIR2) devices were used and nutrient values of roughage samples which were used were determined. The reference chemical analyzes of the roughage samples used in the study were made in the laboratory as dry matter. After the determination of the nutritional values, by adding these nutritional values (Dry matter, ether extract, crude protein, ash, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber) to the RFV, RFQ, NEL equations, RFV, RFQ and NEL values of each roughage sample were calculated. Meanwhile, the roughage samples used in the study were also analyzed in NIR devices and after the nutritional values were determined, these nutritional values were written in the RFV, RFQ, NEL equations thus RFV, RFQ, NEL values of each roughage samples were calculated separately for each device. Relationships between predictions obtained from NIR1 and NIR2 devices and reference chemical analysis values were determined by statistical tests. It was determined that the type of device and sample used had an important effect on the relationships between the results obtained from the reference analyzes and the predictions based on NIR measurements. Regression coefficients between RVF, RFQ and NEL values obtained from NIR1 and NIR2 devices and RVF, RFQ and NEL values obtained from reference (REF) analysis were determined to be 0.37 and 0.50. Among the roughage types, the highest similarity between NIR results and reference analysis results was found in alfalfa samples. The study results showed that indirect estimation by NIR relating to RVF, RFQ and NEL parameters is possible depending on the sample type and that there is a need for calibration improvement studies to determine these parameters directly with NIR.


As we have considered in earlier themes, a law on cultural heritage should, in the wider public interest, aim to regulate the actions of citizens which impact on the heritage. By moving towards a system of greater involvement of citizens, including private owners and investors, it is necessary for a law to be balanced, including control and regulation of activites supervised by oficial institutions (negative measures) and assistance and incentives to help support private owners to conserve, restore or rehabilitate their properties (positive measures). A law that is purely a mechanism for protection and control will not have the desired effect in terms of engaging citizens in the process of preserving cultural heritage. This paper, therefore, considers these two aspects - the balance between positives incentives and the negative aspects of control and regulation. This paper also concentrates on the architectural heritage, as this is where there is the greatest need for financial assistance. Notwithstanding this fact, it may be important to consider providing a balance of tax incentives or other financial assistance for cultural goods in private collections for their conservation/restoration, as well as sanction measures.


: A case report of an upper limb replantation is presented detailing the initial treatment and the functional results three years later. Although wasted in appearance, the limb is very useful and the patient has been able to successfully adapt to his resulting residual disability.


ABSTRACT Recently in Sex Education authors have raised concern with regards to Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in resource-poor countries as part of Western European development aid policy. It has been argued that the agency-focused and rights-based nature of 'northern' sexuality education puts too much responsibility on young people's shoulders and disregards their insecurity and shame, as well as local culture more generally. By promoting a rights-based approach to CSE in countries in the South, European development organisations would risk being insensitive to local collective concerns, networks, sensitivities and affects, not least those based in religion. In addition to concerns related to CSE content, concern has been expressed about the unequal relationships between stakeholders from the global north versus the global south in the shaping of youth sexuality education. The issues raised are important and call for further elaboration and discussion, which is what we intend to initiate here. The viewpoints we present relate, among others, to the balance between structure and agency focused perspectives in CSE; the multiplicity of needs with regard to sexual agency; the precariousness of international partnerships; ongoing national and international controversies over sexual rights; and the absolute necessity for multicomponent approaches and careful community building as part of CSE implementation and scale-up.


The presence of bias in the courtroom has the potential to undermine public faith in the adversarial process, distort trial outcomes, and obfuscate the search for justice. In Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado (2017), the U.S. Supreme Court held for the first time that the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments required post-verdict judicial inquiry in criminal cases where racial bias clearly served as a "significant motivating factor" in juror decision-making. Courts will nonetheless likely struggle in interpreting what constitutes a "clear statement of racial bias" and whether such bias constituted a "significant motivating factor" in a juror's verdict. This Article will examine how courts have interpreted such bias in the year following Pena-Rodriguez, while advancing a model for future judicial analysis of racial bias that is informed by psychological and sociological findings on bias and group decision-making dynamics.


Marine sponges (Phylum Porifera) are globally distributed within marine and freshwater ecosystems. In addition, sponges host dense and diverse prokaryotic communities, which are potential sources of novel bioactive metabolites and other complex compounds. Those sponge-derived natural products can span a broad spectrum of bioactivities, from antibacterial and antifungal to antitumor and antiviral compounds. However, most analyses concerning sponge-associated prokaryotes have mainly focused on conveniently accessible relatively shallow sampling locations for sponges. Hence, knowledge of community composition, host-relatedness and biotechnological potential of prokaryotic associations in temperate and cold-water sponges from greater depths (mesophotic to mesopelagic zones) is still scarce. Therefore, we analyzed the prokaryotic community diversity of four phylogenetically divergent sponge taxa from mesophotic to mesopelagic depths of Antarctic shelf at different depths and locations in the region of the South Shetland Islands using 16S rRNA gene amplicon-based sequencing. In addition, we predicted functional profiles applying Tax4Fun from metagenomic 16S rRNA gene data to estimate their biotechnological capability and possible roles as sources of novel bioactive compounds. We found indications that cold and deep-water sponges exhibit host-specific prokaryotic communities, despite different sampling sites and depths. Functional prediction analysis suggests that the associated prokaryotes may enhance the roles of sponges in biodegradation processes of xenobiotics and their involvement in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to assess pre-service teachers" confidence with technological pedagogical knowledge, their attitude toward ICT integration in education, intention to integrate ICT in their future career, and their evaluation of their teacher education program in terms of preparing pre-service teachers to utilize ICT in their future instructional practice. Furthermore, this study explores the relationship between TPK confidence, and the attitude toward and intent to integrate ICT among pre-service teachers. A quantitative method was employed to gather data from pre-service teachers at their senior year at their College of Education during the academic year 2014/2015. The evidence was then analyzed based on the original research questions. The study findings show that approximately half of the participants had neither the confidence nor the intention to utilize ICT in their future instructional practice. However, the majority of them also had positive attitudes toward ICT. The results show that there is a significant relationship between confidence and intention, with participants with less confidence about ICT skills in their instructional practice having no intention to utilize it in their future instructional practice. In addition, a significant relationship was evident between attitudes and confidence as participants believe that the use of ICT in teaching leads to better student learning outcomes. Evidence is mixed as to whether teacher education programs have a positive role in pre-service teachers" preparedness to use ICT in their future instructional practice. The research, therefore, suggests the need for effort on the part of both faculty members and policy makers to improve the teacher education program in the area of technology integration.