This experimental study investigates the effect of an isothermal or heated superimposed axial flow on a Taylor-Couette flow in an open, vertical annulus with the inner cylinder rotating. The tangential component of the velocity is measured using a hot-wire anemometer, and the velocity power spectra are calculated. The flows studied are for Taylor numbers ranging from 1.2 x 10[superscript 7] to 2.4 x 10 [superscript 7], and the axial Reynolds number from 0 to 2500. At a low axial Reynolds number, the power spectrum of the velocity measurements shows a single dominant frequency. The frequency is indicative of the uniformly-spaced vortices passing through the anemometer, and roughly corresponds with the axial velocity divided by the vortex spacing. As the rotational speed is increased at a fixed axial flow rate, the dominant frequency decreases, indicating a change in the size of the vortices. As the axial Reynolds number is increased at a fixed rotational speed, the power spectra first indicate a decrease in the dominant frequency, and then a subsequent increase in the other frequencies. For very large axial flow rates, the power spectra indicate a broad distribution in frequencies.

The experiment also include the measurements of the transient and the local fluid temperatures, and the corresponding temperature spectra are calculated. Heating of the axial flow also changes the characteristic of the velocity spectra, where peaks at higher frequencies emerge in the spectra. In heated flows, the peaks of the greatest spectral strength in the velocity and temperature spectra are different, possibly indicating that the largest temperature and velocity fluctuations occur in different directions. The average temperature measurements indicate that as the axial flow rate is increased, the mean temperature distribution curves shift upward. The temperature ratio, (T[subscript max] - T[subscript min])/(T[subscript in] - T[subscript out]), also increases with an increasing in the axial Reynolds numbers.


Background : Trichomonasis is a sexually transmitted disease with known side effects. The present study was carried out to determine the frequency of trichomonasis and its cytological alterations in a group of symptomatic females referring to a gynecology clinic in Kashan in 1378. Materials and methods : For this existing data type study, all pop smear samples were stained according to Papanicolae technique and cytological alterations of trichomonasis were also determined. The possible role of age and clinical manifestation were also clarified. Results : Totally, 1010 samples gathered. Infection with trichomonas vaginalis was reported in 9.9%, where, most of the affected subjects aged 18-35 years. Trichomonatic secretion, cervisitis, and ulcer were the most common clinical manifestations. Cytological alterations were: severe infiltration (36%), perinulear areola(30%), metaplasia(30%), meganucleous(28%), parabasal cells (26%), multiple nucleolus(24%), eosinophilia(22%), cytoplasmic vaculization(22%), cytolysis(21%),nucleolus deformity(15%), and hyperkeratosis(12%). Conclusion : Great cytological alterations typically for trichomonasis such as severe infiltration, and perinulear areola may help us to diagnose trichomonasis in routine pop smear test.


We employ a global three‐dimensional model to simulate diverse phytoplanktonic diazotrophs (nitrogen fixers) in the oceans. In the model, the structure of the marine phytoplankton community self‐assembles from a large number of potentially viable physiologies. Amongst them, analogs of Trichodesmium, unicellular diazotrophs and diatom‐diazotroph associations (DDA) are successful and abundant. The simulated biogeography and nitrogen fixation rates of the modeled diazotrophs compare favorably with a compilation of published observations, which includes both traditional and molecular measurements of abundance and activity of marine diazotrophs. In the model, the diazotroph analogs occupy warm subtropical and tropical waters, with higher concentrations and nitrogen fixation rates in the tropical Atlantic Ocean and the Arabian Sea/Northern Indian Ocean, and lower values in the tropical and subtropical South Pacific Ocean. The three main diazotroph types typically co‐exist in the model, although Trichodesmium analogs dominate the diazotroph population in much of the North and tropical Atlantic Ocean and the Arabian Sea, while unicellular‐diazotroph analogs dominate in the South Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. This pattern reflects the relative degree of nutrient limitation by iron or phosphorus. The model suggests in addition that unicellular diazotrophs could add as much new nitrogen to the global ocean as Trichodesmium.


Mosquitoes rely on the integration of multiple sensory cues, including olfactory, visual, and thermal stimuli, to detect, identify and locate their hosts [1–4]. Although we increasingly know more about the role of chemosensory behaviours in mediating mosquito-host interactions [1], the role of visual cues remains comparatively less studied [3], and how the combination of olfactory and visual information is integrated in the mosquito brain remains unknown. In the present study, we used a tethered-flight LED arena, which allowed for quantitative control over the stimuli, to show that CO2 exposure affects target-tracking responses, but not responses to large-field visual stimuli. In addition, we show that CO2 modulates behavioural responses to visual objects in a time-dependent manner. To gain insight into the neural basis of this olfactory and visual coupling, we conducted two-photon microscopy experiments in a new GCaMP6s-expressing mosquito line. Imaging revealed that the majority of ROIs in the lobula region of the optic lobe exhibited strong responses to small-field stimuli, but showed little response to a large-field stimulus. Approximately 20% of the neurons we imaged were modulated when an attractive odour preceded the visual stimulus; these same neurons also elicited a small response when the odour was presented alone. By contrast, imaging in the antennal lobe revealed no modulation when visual stimuli were presented before or after the olfactory stimulus. Together, our results are the first to reveal the dynamics of olfactory modulation in visually evoked behaviours of mosquitoes, and suggest that coupling between these sensory systems is asymmetrical and time-dependent.


In this article, we report on an investigation into how educators describe the design of three software systems. We have been especially interested in how they describe events that are concurrent, as we believe support for concurrency will be required of an educational software authoring system. Their descriptions of concurrent processes can then be used to design the authoring system to "naturally" support concurrent programming. Almost all participants in our investigation used concurrency as a part of their description. No one seemed to think that this was difficult. In addition, we observed that the educators frequently thought in terms of objects. These results suggest that any authoring environment targeted at teaching should include support for concurrency and objects.


There are many situations in which it is important to focus on a task in the face of emotional distraction. Yet, emotional distractors can impair our ability to report items that appear soon after them, an effect known as emotion-induced blindness (EIB). To what degree does it help to know about emotional distractors ahead of time? Can we deprioritize emotional distractors when forewarned that they will appear? To address this question, we tested whether participants could overcome EIB when forewarned about the nature of an emotional distractor. On each trial, participants searched for 1 target (a rotated picture) presented within a rapid serial visual stream of upright images. An aversive, erotic, or neutral distractor could precede the target by either 200 or 400 ms. At the start of some trials, participants were informed which kind of distractor would appear on that trial, but in other trials they received no advance information. Results revealed that the provision of distractor information significantly improved target perception as early as 200 ms following both aversive and erotic distractors. These results suggest that people can "brace themselves" in the service of an attentional task by proactively deprioritizing emotional distractors.


The authors sought to determine the predictive values of contrast-enhanced MR imaging and TOF-MRA for brain AVM recurrence in children, compared with conventional angiography, in 39 patients (mean 10.8 years of age, mean Spetzler-Martin grade, 1.9). Features predictive of recurrence included a tuft of vessels on TOF-MRA and nodular juxtamural/linear enhancement with a draining vein on contrast-enhanced MR imaging. MR imaging is useful for surveillance after brain AVM treatment in children, but conventional angiography is required for definitive diagnosis of recurrence. TOF-MRA and contrast-enhanced MR imaging provide complementary information for determining brain AVM recurrence and should be interpreted in conjunction. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: MRI is routinely performed following brain AVM after treatment in children. Our aim was to determine the predictive values of contrast-enhanced MR imaging and TOF-MRA for brain AVM recurrence in children, compared with conventional angiography and the role of 3D rotational angiography–MR imaging fusion in these cases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We included all pediatric patients with brain AVMs during an 18-year period with angiographically documented obliteration after treatment. Patients underwent 3T MR imaging, including contrast-enhanced MR imaging, TOF-MRA, and conventional angiography, with a subset undergoing 3D rotational angiography. The predictive values of contrast-enhanced MR imaging and TOF-MRA for brain AVM recurrence were determined. CTA sections reconstructed from 3D rotational angiography were coregistered with and fused to 3D-T1WI for analysis. RESULTS: Thirty-nine children (10.8 ± 3.9 years of age; range, 2–17 years; male/female ratio, 19:20; mean Spetzler-Martin grade, 1.9 ± 0.6) met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 13 had angiographically confirmed brain AVM recurrence, 8 following surgery and 5 following embolization. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for recurrence were the following: contrast-enhanced MR imaging: 84.6%, 38.5%, 40.7%, 81.8%; TOF-MRA: 50.0%, 96.1%, 85.7%, 79.3%; both: 75.0%, 90.9%, 85.7%, 83.3%. 3D rotational angiography–MR imaging fused images confirmed or excluded recurrence in all available cases (13/13). Embolization-only treatment was a significant predictor of recurrence (OR = 32.4, P = .006). MR imaging features predictive of recurrence included a tuft of vessels on TOF-MRA and nodular juxtamural/linear enhancement with a draining vein on contrast-enhanced MR imaging. CONCLUSIONS: MR imaging is useful for surveillance after brain AVM treatment in children, but conventional angiography is required for definitive diagnosis of recurrence. TOF-MRA and contrast-enhanced MR imaging provide complementary information for determining brain AVM recurrence and should be interpreted in conjunction. 3D rotational angiography–MR imaging fusion increases the diagnostic confidence regarding brain AVM recurrence and is therefore suited for intraoperative neuronavigation.


Good road handling is one of the most important characteristics of a racing car. To expand the capabilities of conventional suspension setups, the usage of adaptive suspension has become increasingly popular in high performance cars. Advancements in electronics and embedded technology has allowed such systems to be implemented with little weight gain over conventional suspension. The Formula Student team Revolve NTNU therefore wishes to implement a system for adaptive suspension on their car - the KA Aquilo R. A previous prestudy by the same author has evaluated the feasibility of such a solution, and proposed a top level design for an embedded control system. This thesis will present the design, implementation and testing of a distributed embedded system to control a continuously controlled electronic suspension(CES). Based on the top level design proposed in the prestudy, a complete hardware design has been prepared for the system. The system was distributed into a Central Controller Unit, and Wheel Controller Units for each damper. A complete set of prototype system units has also been implemented, by the help of electronics manufacturer SimPro. The implemented hardware design has been tested and verified to be working. Furthermore, a software implementation for the system's units has been implemented. For the Central Controller Unit a execution framework has been implemented, to allow the development of controller algorithm to be continued easily. The wheel controller units has implemented necessary software to control damping parameters of each shock absorber, according to supervisory control signals sent by the Central Controller. A common communication protocol to interconnect the CES system with the other electronic systems of Revolve's car has also been implemented. Some elementary tests has also been performed to verify the performance of the system. The result is a a prototype system that may be used for evaluation of concept and on-car performance.


Data Centers are sub organizations within an IT organization and form an integral part of e-enabled services infrastructure. Their effectiveness is essential for effectiveness of overall IT organization leading to efficient and effective delivery of e-services. Data Center organizations aim for Organizational Effectiveness. Many factors and measures can contribute to Organizational Effectiveness of Data Centers. This paper presents some of the findings from a research study on "Select aspects of Organizational Effectiveness of Data Centers". As an outcome of this study, amongst other measures, Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) was derived as a critical measure for effective Data Centers. Lower TCO leads to cost effective Data Centers, leading to overall effectiveness. In this paper, we briefly introduce various measures of Data Centers' Organizational Effectiveness and present a detailed analysis of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) as a key measure of Data Centers' Organizational Effectiveness. We also present various factors contributing to reduced TCO and a comparison between the factors contributing to TCO for Government and Corporate Data Centers.


Renin activity in renal vein plasma was measured in six normal subjects and 59 hypertensive patients. The average renin value in renal venous plasma in normal subjects was the same as that found in patients with essential hypertension and renal parenchymal hypertension. Renal venous renin levels were markedly elevated in patients with significant renal lesions who were improved by surgery but were normal in patients with insignificant renal artery stenosis. We defined an abnormal renal vein renin level as one which is higher than 4.1 ng/ml of plasma, the highest normal, and which is also more than twice as great as the level obtained from the opposite kidney. On 19 patients who were operated upon for renal hypertension, there were no "false positive tests," and two "false negative tests." One patient with essential hypertension had abnormal values by these standards. Since occasional "false positive" and "false negative" results occur, we presently recommend that this test be used with, but not to the exclusion of, other tests of renal function in preoperative evaluations. As experience with the test increases, and as more prospective studies are done, it may prove to be the single most useful device to predict surgical success in patients with renal artery and renal parenchymal hypertension.


Investigation of wafer spatial variations is critical for semiconductor process/equipment optimization and circuit design. The objective of spatial variation study is to differentiate the systematic variation component from the random component. This is usually done by contrasting with a set of known systematic patterns based on engineering knowledge. However, there could exist unknown systematic components remaining in the unexplained residuals and overlooked by the conventional spatial variation study. In this paper, we develop a novel spatial variance spectrum (SVS) to analyze the systematic variations without any priori information of the systematic patterns. The SVS is a series of spatial variations over a range of spatial moving window sizes from the smallest spatial moving window consisting of only two metrology sites to the largest one covering all metrology sites of the entire wafer. The SVS can be used to characterize the wafer spatial variations and to detect existence of systematic variations by a proposed hypothesis test. We also propose an index to summarize from the SVS the systematic proportion of the spatial variation. The proposed test and index of systematic variations will be demonstrated and validated through both hypothetical examples and actual cases of wafer critical dimension (CD) metrology data.


We investigated the relationship between cognitive functioning, work performance, and sleep in non-clinical burnout. In a working population, an online survey was conducted with additional online neuropsychological tests of varying complexity, measuring attention and different components of working memory, of which the coordinating subcomponent the 'Central Executive' is thought to be the most vulnerable to stress. Results indicate that non-clinical burnout is associated with more—though not severe—sleep problems, more depressive complaints, impaired work performance, and with both subjective and objective cognitive impairments. Compared with healthy respondents (N = 107), people with non-clinical burnout (N = 17) had a significantly poorer performance on the tests of the visuospatial sketchpad and the Central Executive of the working memory. Our study also indicates that more complex tests may be more sensitive in detecting cognitive dysfunction in non-clinical burnout. Furthermore, a relationship was found between dual-task performance and work performance. Regarding to sleep quality, in our sample of people with non-clinical burnout, there were no severe sleep problems. In the entire sample, however, insomnia was significantly related to subjective, but not objective, cognitive functioning, and also not to work performance.


This text investigates the nature of impacts of information systems on the political world in the First World countries. The overall aim is to provide a framework on how to analyze implications of information technology (IT) on the political world and vice versa. This is illustrated by a study of economic modelling at the central and local levels of government. The term, "economic modelling", denotes the use of formalized models on economic issues, using statistical techniques to estimate the correlation between certain variables. Since the 1930s, the formulation of economic modelling has advanced in theoretical sophistication and data collection methods, despite the refinement and the improvement of the technique. In this book, economic modelling is analyzed as a variant of IT. However, by contrast to conventional IT as databases, word-processing and information retrieval systems, the development and use of models involve: long, focused and expensive development; extensive data generation; highly theoretical basis; and high prestige in economic debate and political decision-making. This book therefore illustrates the general transformation of the public service, work conditions and political decision-making processes in the last three decades and in developments to come. The book is intended for professionals in information technology, public administration and political science.


Consensus on quality standards for the organisation and registration of Dutch pain clinics is essential. The first step was recently taken: structural indicators were developed in expert consensus, which are suitable for the registration of pain clinics and approved by the Netherlands Association for Anaesthesiologists (NVA). In 2014, these structural indicators became the national quality standards for pain clinics in the Netherlands. A second step is the development of quality indicators from the perspective of patients with chronic pain. Together with chronic pain patient organisations, process and result indicators were developed to evaluate care and improve the quality of pain care. This resulted in the Quality Indicators Pain Patients Perspective (QIPPP) questionnaire. This questionnaire was validated in five Dutch pain clinics.


The purpose of this paper is to investigate friction forces in the design of a single-core flexible cable in the deformation zone and the practical applicability of the results obtained for these purposes. The power interaction of the design of a single-core flexible cable during its deformation is considered. For the first time, formulas were obtained for determining the interaction forces between the constituent parts of a single-core cable as a composite multilayer beam. A calculation technique has been developed and shear force values have been determined for some types of single-core flexible cables. The nature of the change in these forces along the length of the cable is investigated. At the beginning of the cable deformation zone, the force value can fluctuate within its constant value. In the remaining part, the shear forces along the section are constant and only at the end of the deformation zone is zero. Practically, the formulas work for the tasks. The resulting expressions for shearing forces allow one to evaluate the tribological interaction of the constituent parts of each cable element and take into account their influence when creating multicore cables. The results of the research can be used to improve the reliability of the design of flexible cables at the design stage.


This study presents both a numerical and an experimental solution to seepage from a rectangular ditch or elongated pond to a groundwater table of infinite horizontal extent. Because of the unknown location of the free surface, the flow domain is transformed into the complex potential plane using the inverse formulation method, where the free surface becomes a straight line. The method of finite differences was used to solve the boundary value problem. The problem was also investigated experimentally using a sand tank model. For comparison purposes, a one-dimensional analytical solution is also presented. The results were compared with each other and with those available in the literature obtained with other solution techniques. The parameters affecting the seepage rate were investigated and the resulting relationships are presented in dimensionless graphs. It is believed that these graphs may be of use in design problems. The conditions for which the simplified one-dimensional analytical solution agrees well with the results of the sophisticated two-dimensional numerical solution are identified.


There exists a natural tension between encouraging a diverse ecosystem of open-source search engines and supporting fair, replicable comparisons across those systems. To balance these two goals, we examine two approaches to providing interoperability between the inverted indexes of several systems. The first takes advantage of internal abstractions around index structures and building wrappers that allow one system to directly read the indexes of another. The second involves sharing indexes across systems via a data exchange specification that we have developed, called the Common Index File Format (CIFF). We demonstrate the first approach with the Java systems Anserini and Terrier, and the second approach with Anserini, JASSv2, OldDog, PISA, and Terrier. Together, these systems provide a wide range of implementations and features, with different research goals. Overall, we recommend CIFF as a low-effort approach to support independent innovation while enabling the types of fair evaluations that are critical for driving the field forward.


A speed controller operating on a doubly fed induction generator can be improved to compensate asymmetries on voltage waveforms feeding the machine's stator. This is particularly interesting for variable-speed wind-power generators connected to an electrical network through weak transmission lines. Any asymmetry on the line causes the currents to be unbalanced, which will distort voltage waveforms at the beginning of the line, degrade the power quality injected into the network, lower the efficiency of energy transmission and increase the thermal losses in the generator. This paper presents the performance of three different compensation procedures based on the control of the waveform of a doubly fed generator's output current. A brief description of the model of the wind power system developed using reference frame theory is first introduced, followed by the description of the three different control techniques proposed to maintain balanced currents: a linear PI controller, a nonlinear fuzzy controller and a mixed scheme consisting of a fuzzy control adjusting PI parameters on line. The performance of the three methods are then compared in terms of their efficiency in controlling the speed and compensating asymmetries. Simulations show that current asymmetries can be greatly decreased, by waveform control without sacrificing speed regulation.


Laser-assisted angioplasty is an exciting, new treatment option being used for patients with peripheral arterial disease. Nurses need to be aware of this procedure so that they can provide quality care for this patient population.


Four cases of urogenital rhabdomyosarcoma in Nigerian children are reported. One of the patients is alive and well six years after surgical excision of a stage 1 tumour. The remaining three children had more advanced neoplasms and died soon after surgery despite adjuvant therapy with one or more cytotoxic agents. The probable value of combination chemotherapy with vincristine, actinomycin D and cyclophosphamide in this tumour type is discussed.


This study examined effects of racial discrimination, community violence, and stressful life events on internalizing problems among African American youth from high poverty neighborhoods (N = 607; 293 boys; Mage = 16.0 years, SD = 1.44 years). Mediated effects via externalizing problems on these relations were also examined, given the high comorbidity rate between internalizing and externalizing problems. Externalizing problems partially mediated the effect of stressful life events on internalizing problems and fully mediated the effect of racial discrimination for boys but not for girls. Exposure to violence had a significant indirect effect on internalizing problems via externalizing problems. The findings call for greater attention to internalizing problems among African American youth and pathways to internalizing problems via externalizing problems.


Abstract This paper presents the results of studies on the life span, survival, weight and fecundity of the forest cockchafer (Melolontha hippocastani, Fabricius, 1801) and the common cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha, Linnaeus, 1758) beetle feeding on Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn., Betula pendula Roth., Carpinus betulus L., Fagus sylvatica L., Larix decidua Mill., Prunus serotina (Ehr.) Borkh., Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl., Quercus robur L., Robinia pseudoacacia L., Sambucus nigra L. and Sorbus aucuparia L. em. Hedl. The lifespan and weight of beetles as well as female fertility were examined in 2011 and 2013. Specimen for laboratory tests were collected in the field shortly after leaving their overwintering sites in the soil and identical experimental protocols were applied to both examined species. 576 and 432 beetles were tested in 2011 and 2013, respectively. In 2011, beetles were feeding on A. glutinosa, B. pendula, F. sylvatica, L. decidua Q. petraea leaves and on C. betulus, P. serotina, R. pseudoacacia, S. aucuparia and S. nigra in 2013. Both years, beetles feeding on Q. robur leaves were examined as a control. Our results showed that feeding on leaves of Q. robur and Q. petraea had the largest positive impact on the life time, weight and fecundity of the studied beetles. Leaves of F. sylvatica and L. decidua also constituted an adequate food source for the development of M. melolontha. M. hippocastani, however, did not perform as well when feeding on these two tree species. Females of M. melolontha reared on leaves of B. pendula did not lay eggs. The following plant species had a negative impact on the survival and development of the collected specimen and female fertility: A. glutinosa, S. nigra, P. serotina and R. pseudoacacia. Neither beetle species fed on the leaves of A. glutinosa or S. nigra.


A total of 332 dairy cow's sera samples were collected from Kombolcha and Dessie districts of North Ethiopia to determine the sero-prevalence of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), and Brucellosis. Sera samples were split into equal portions and competitive ELISA was used for testing IBR in the first portion while Rose Bengal test (RBT) and Complement Fixation Test (CFT) were used for detection of Brucellosis in the second portion. Sero-positivity was 25.6% (85/332) for IBR and 5.4% (18/332) for brucellosis with RBT which was found to be 0 (0%) by CFT. The prevalence of IBR was significantly influenced (P<0.001; OR=2.880) by parity with higher occurrence in multiparous compared to primiparous cows. IBR sero-positivity was highly associated (P<0.001) with repeat breeding, abortion and retained fetal membrane at odds ratio (OR) 8.833; 13.913 and 12.770, respectively. Similarly, IBR sero-positive animals had significantly higher (P=0.001) average days open, number of service per conception and calving interval than sero-negative animals. Conception rate at first service was higher (P<0.05, 74.4%) in sero-negative cows than in sero-positive dairy cows (25.6%). As latent infections and venereal transmissions are very common in IBR, its impact on the newly emerging urban dairy system would be significant unless an urgent control mechanism is designed. The associations of these reproductive infections with repeat breeding implies that they can seriously undermine the effort toward breed improvement in Ethiopia. Further studies with more detailed evaluation into various reproductive performance parameters should be the next step.

 Key words: Brucellosis, dairy cattle, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, reproductive disorders reproductive performance, sero-prevalence.


In seasonal environments, phenotypic plasticity in response to gradual changes in environmental variables may result in the production of discrete seasonal morphs. Production of the appropriate seasonal morph at the correct time relies on individuals interpreting environmental cues during their development. The speckled wood butterfly Pararge aegeria (L.) has previously been shown to have developmental and phenotypic plasticity across seasons and space (habitats). Here, we examine the developmental sensitivity of different seasonal cohorts of female P. aegeria to changes in local weather conditions over time (1989–1999) and determine how such temporal climatic variation affects adult phenotype development. We observed trait- and cohort-specific changes of adult phenotype development in response to local temporal changes in temperature and rainfall levels. We discuss our findings using current life-history theory and consider the potential for changes in local weather conditions to influence population variability in butterfly morphology and performance.


A calcium signal is a sudden increase in concentration of calcium ions (Ca2+) in the cytosol. Such signals are crucial for the control of many important functions of the body. In the brain, for example, Ca2+ signals are responsible for memory, in muscle cells they switch on contraction, whereas in gland cells they are responsible for regulation of secretion. In many cases Ca2+ signals can control several different processes in the same cell. As an example, we shall deal with one particular cell type, namely the pancreatic acinar cell, which is responsible for the secretion of the enzymes essential for the digestion of food. In this cell, Ca2+ signals do not only control the normal enzyme secretion, but also regulate growth (cell division) and programmed cell death (apoptosis). Until recently, it was a mystery how the same type of signal could regulate such diverse functions in one and the same cell. Recent technical advances have shown that different patterns of Ca2+ signals can be created, in space and time, which allow specific cellular responses to be elicited.


Background: Disturbances in nitric oxide generation and the release of a vasoactive peptide, endothelin-1 (ET-1), are well recognized early events in pathogenesis of NSAID-induced gastropathy. In this study using phosphoramidon, a potent inhibitor of endothelin-converting enzyme-1 (ECE-1), we investigated the influence of ET-1 on the expression of constitutive (cNOS) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS-2) during gastric mucosal injury caused by indomethacin. Methods: The experiments were conducted with groups of rats pretreated intragastrically with phosphoramidon (10, 20, and 40 mg/kg) or vehicle, followed 30 min later by an intragastric dose of indomethacin (60 mg/kg). The animals were killed 4 h later and their mucosal tissue subjected to macroscopic damage assessment and biochemical measurements. Results: In the absence of phosphoramidon, indomethacin caused extensive multiple hemorrhagic lesions of glandular mucosa, accompanied by a 29.9-fold increase in epithelial cell apoptosis, a 13.3-fold increase in NOS-2 and a 5.5-fold decline in the activity of cNOS, while the mucosal expression of ECE-1 activity increased 4-fold and the level of ET-1 showed a 4.8-fold increase. Pretreatment with phosphoramidon produced dose-dependent reduction in the extent of mucosal damage caused by indomethacin, accompanied by a significant recovery in the expression of cNOS, and a marked decline in ECE-1, epithelial cell apoptosis and the mucosal level of ET-1. Phosphoramidon, however, had no effect on the indomethacin-induced increase in the mucosal expression of NOS-2. Conclusions: The results suggest that suppression of ET-1 generation counters the mucosal drop in cNOS and the extent of gastric mucosal damage caused by indomethacin, but has no effect on the mucosal responses associated with up-regulation of NOS-2 expression. Hence, only cNOS plays a role in the protection of gastric mucosa against damage by NSAIDs.


Geosmin is produced by a group of microbes, is highly aversive to Drosophila. We furthermore showed that Drosophila has one type of sensory neurons expressing an odorant receptor (OR 56a) that is extremely sensitive and fully dedicated to detect this compound. The Geosmin detection System is conserved across the genus Drosophila. Exploiting aversivespecific circuits could be an efficient method for manipulating disease vectors as well as agricultural pests. Next I showed that flies exhibit increased attraction to ethyl acetate, to another food odor, even to a repellent and pheromone after starvation. All odors evoked stronger physiological responses in starved flies with the effects being most pronounced at low odor concentrations. I investigated, which molecular players could be involved in such modulation. Conducting RNAi knockdown experiments with some the identified genes coupled with a quantitative olfactory assay to identify regulators of such modulation. Only silencing the CCHamide1 receptor resulted in an abolished starvation effect, suggesting a major role in starvation-induced modulation. This study shows that the fly's antennal olfactory sensing neurons (OSNs) seem to be constantly tuned to current needs. There are Inhibitory projection neurons (iPNs) target the LH exclusively and bypass the Mushroom body (MBc). By using a specific driver line (MZ699) we were able to investigate the impact of this inhibitory pathway on olfactory processing within the LH. We performed calcium imaging experiments and found three domains with different highly stereotypic response patterns in lateral horn (LH). The posterior medial domain (LH PM domain) was strongly activated by innately attractive odorants, while the anterior lateral domain was mainly activated by repellent odorants. The third anterior medial domain (LH AM domain) was valence independent and mainly coded for odorant intensity. Do these iPNS decode odor features and govern decision making? By selectively silencing iPNs (via interrupting GABA synthesis) we were able to reduce the flies' attraction to almost all attractive odorants.


Twelve nonreplicate carbapenemase-negative ertapenem (ETP)-nonsusceptible (CNENS) Escherichia coli isolates obtained at a Thai university hospital between 2010 and 2014 were characterized and compared with 2 carbapenemase-producing E. coli isolates from the same hospital. Eight unique pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns were obtained. All the isolates produced CTX-M-15 β-lactamase and 2 either coexpressed CMY-2 cephalosporinase or showed increased efflux pump activity. Amino acid sequence analysis revealed that an OmpF defect (in 7 isolates) due to mutations generating truncated proteins or an IS1 insertion was more prevalent than a defect in OmpC was (no truncated proteins detected). Seven out of 10 isolates possessing OmpC variants with any OmpF defect were weakly ETP-resistant (minimum inhibitory concentrations [MICs] of 1-4 μg/mL) and imipenem (IPM)- and meropenem (MEM)-susceptible (MICs 0.125-0.5 μg/mL). Two isolates with ompC PCR-negative results and an OmpF defect showed higher carbapenem MICs (8-32, 1-8, and 1-4 μg/mL for ETP, IPM, and MEM, respectively) with the highest MICs associated with the additional efflux pump activity. Both carbapenemase producers possessing CTX-M-15 and a porin background identical to that in the CNENS isolates showed ETP, IPM, and MEM MICs of 128-256, 8, and 2-32 μg/mL, respectively. These findings suggest that a porin defect combined with CTX-M-15 production is the major mechanism of low carbapenem susceptibility among our CNENS isolates, which have potential to become strongly carbapenem-resistant because of additional carbapenemase or efflux pump activities.


Pure agraphia is a disorder of written language without aphasia, alexia or apraxia. Its existence has long been disputed. We report 2 cases due to a left parietal hematoma. In the first patient, with a deep precuneate lesion, agraphia included disorders in handwriting and orthographic problems in copying or writing from dictation with the two hands. The second patient, with a lesion of the postero-inferior part of the left angular gyrus, made errors in choice and combination of letters during dictation, whereas these same letters were well-written and copying was normal. The first cases of pure agraphia were ascribed to frontal lesions and then confusional states. Current opinion tends to implicate parietal lesions of various types: superior or inferior, internal or external. Findings in the present 2 cases and those reported indicate that pure parietal agraphia is heterogeneous.


Whole-genome duplications are radical evolutionary events that have driven speciation and adaptation in many taxa. Higher-order polyploids have complex histories often including interspecific hybridization and dynamic genomic changes. This chromosomal reshuffling is poorly understood for most polyploid species, despite their evolutionary and agricultural importance, due to the challenge of distinguishing homologous sequences from each other. Here, we use dense linkage maps generated with targeted sequence capture to improve the diploid strawberry (Fragaria vesca) reference genome and to disentangle the subgenomes of the wild octoploid progenitors of cultivated strawberry, Fragaria virginiana and Fragaria chiloensis. Our novel approach, POLiMAPS (Phylogenetics Of Linkage-Map-Anchored Polyploid Subgenomes), leverages sequence reads to associate informative interhomeolog phylogenetic markers with linkage groups and reference genome positions. In contrast to a widely accepted model, we find that one of the four subgenomes originates with the diploid cytoplasm donor F. vesca, one with the diploid Fragaria iinumae, and two with an unknown ancestor close to F. iinumae. Extensive unidirectional introgression has converted F. iinumae-like subgenomes to be more F. vesca-like, but never the reverse, due either to homoploid hybridization in the F. iinumae-like diploid ancestors or else strong selection spreading F. vesca-like sequence among subgenomes through homeologous exchange. In addition, divergence between homeologous chromosomes has been substantially augmented by interchromosomal rearrangements. Our phylogenetic approach reveals novel aspects of the complicated web of genetic exchanges that occur during polyploid evolution and suggests a path forward for unraveling other agriculturally and ecologically important polyploid genomes.


Cissampelos mucronata A. Rich. is a perennial climber widely used as traditional medicine in tropical Africa. This study is aimed at providing a critical review of medicinal uses, phytochemical and pharmacological properties of C. mucronata. Documented information on medicinal uses, phytochemical and pharmacological properties of C. mucronata was collected from several online sources such as Scopus, Google Scholar, PubMed and Science Direct, and preelectronic sources such as book chapters, books, journal articles and scientific publications obtained from the University library. The articles published between 1962 and 2020 were used in this study. This study revealed that leaves, rhizome, roots and stems, and whole plant parts of C. mucronata are mainly used as traditional medicines for sexually transmitted infections, fever, swellings, headache, respiratory problems, snakebite, malaria, pregnancy problems and gastrointestinal problems. Phytochemical compounds identified from the species include alkaloids, anthraquinones, flavonoids, glycerine, glycosides, phenolics, reducing sugars, resin, saponins, steroids, tannins and triterpenes. Pharmacological research revealed that C. mucronata extracts and alkaloids isolated from the species have antibacterial, antimycobacterial, antifungal, antiplasmodial, antitrypanosomal, anti-ulcer, anti-androgenic, anti-steroidogenic, enzyme tyrosine kinase p56 inhibitory, hypoglycemic, larvicidal, molluscicidal, sedative, tocolytic, uterine relaxant and cytotoxicity activities. There is need for extensive toxicological evaluations of crude extracts and compounds isolated from the species since C. mucronata contains potentially toxic compounds


The rate of poliovirus excretion was found to be 64.6% in a group of 108 normal children and 11.95% in 184 diarrheal children. Diarrhea was due to Shigella in 70% of cases. This drew our attention to the presence of an etiologic relationship between the two findings, which may have a direct effect on the low efficiency of oral poliovaccine in our Country. Effect of Shigella infection on the take of oral poliovaccine was investigated in 14 normal and 10 children having acute diarrhea due to Shigella. Vaccine virus excretion was detected in 64.2% of normal children and only in 10% of diarrheal children. In vitro studies were done to determine the effect of killed Shigella suspensions or their endotoxin on the replication of poliovirus in tissue culture. Reduction of virus titre from 1-3 logs in the presence of killed Shigella or its endotoxin was observed. The sites of action and interfering factor (s) are discussed.


In precision machining, the uniformity degree of abrasive distribution affects significantly the surface quality. To quantitatively evaluate the uniformity of abrasive distribution, in this paper digital image processing technology was employed to segment the working face images of impregnated diamond tools; mean crowding index was used to classify the pattern of abrasive distribution; fractal dimension determined by gyration radius method was applied to characterize the bulk uniformity of abrasive distribution on face plane; the coefficient of variation of Voronoi cell areas was adopted to describe the local distribution feature of abrasive grits. The results show that mean crowding index, fractal dimension and CV of Voronoi cell areas can characterize the uniformity of abrasive distribution from different points of view, and can be used to quantitatively evaluate the uniformity of abrasive distribution.


Hardness of computing the Kolmogorov complexity of a given string is closely tied to a security proof of hitting set generators, and thus understanding hardness of Kolmogorov complexity is one of the central questions in complexity theory. In this paper, we develop new proof techniques for showing hardness of computing Kolmogorov complexity under surprisingly efficient reductions, which were previously conjectured to be impossible. It is known that the set R K of Kolmogorov-random strings is PSPACE-hard under polynomial-time Turing reductions, i.e., PSPACE ⊂ P R K , and that NEXP ⊂ NP R K , which was conjectured to be tight by Allender (CiE 2012). We prove that EXP NP ⊂ P R K , which simultaneously improves these hardness results and refutes the conjecture of Allender under the plausible assumption that EXP NP ≠ NEXP. At the core of our results is a new security proof of a pseudorandom generator via a black-box uniform reduction, which overcomes an impossibility result of Gutfreund and Vadhan (RANDOM/APPROX 2008). Our proof techniques have further consequences, including: 1. Applying our proof techniques to the case of resource-bounded Kolmogorov complexity, we obtain NP-hardness of the problem MINcKT SAT of computing conditional polynomial-time-bounded SAT-oracle Kolmogorov complexity under polynomial-time deterministic reductions. In contrast, the Minimum SAT-Oracle Circuit Size Problem, which is a version of sublinear-time-bounded Kolmogorov complexity, cannot be NP-hard under polynomial-time deterministic reductions without resolving EXP ≠ ZPP. Our hardness result is the first result that overcomes the non-NP-hardness results of MCSP. We also prove DistNP-hardness of MINKT SAT , which is a partial converse of the approach of Hirahara (FOCS 2018) for proving the equivalence between worst-case and average-case complexity of NP. 2. We prove S 2 p -hardness of Kolmogorov complexity under quasi-polynomial-time nonadaptive reductions. This is the first result that overcomes a P/poly barrier result of Allender, Buhrman, Friedman, and Loff (MFCS 2012). We also establish a firm link between non-trivial satisfiability algorithms and immunity of random strings, and obtain the following unconditional lower bounds. 1. It has been a long-standing open question whether the set of subexponential-time-bounded Kolmogorov-random strings is decidable in P. We resolve this open question, by showing that the set of super-polynomial-time-bounded Kolmogorov-random strings is P-immune, which is a much stronger lower bound than an average-case lower bound. 2. The set of Levin's Kolmogorov-random strings is (P-uniform ACC)-immune.


The first part of this dissertation traces the roots of the Peace Corps idea in American history, its development during the Presidential campaign of 196O and its establishment as a government agency by John F. Kennedy in I96I. The Peace Corps' battle for autonomy within the Federal bureaucracy arid its struggle to win legislation on Capitol Hill are also analysed. The style and nature of this new institution, the principles and policies on which it functioned, its relationship to President Kennedy and the calibre of the men who staffed it, complete the study of the Peace Corps organisation in Washington. The second half of the thesis deals primarily with the Volunteers who served overseas. Recruitment, training and selection methods are assessed as are the programming techniques by which young Americans were placed in jobs in Third World countries. The various trials, tribulations and triumphs experienced by the Volunteers are discussed and described. The American press and the public's view of the Volunteers' work overseas is summarised as is the Peace Corps' role in politic-', and American foreign policy. Finally, a comprehensive evaluation is made of Kennedy's Peace Corps and its impact on the United States and the world. Overall, the intention is to investigate and explain how the Peace Corps came about, what it accomplished - in America and overseas - and why, in two years, it came to be regarded as the most visible embodiment of the idealism of Kennedy's New Frontier.


Predation is a strong selective force that affects prey population and ecosystem dynamics. Detecting predators and associated levels of threat is crucial to prey responses. Once a predator is detected, anti-predatory responses improve the chances of survival of prey. We used Aedes aegypti larvae to study behavioural responses to predation threat from guppies (Poecilia reticulata). Specifically, we tested the relative importance of chemical cues, both in isolation and in combination with physical cues, in eliciting anti-predatory behaviours. Larvae responded more strongly, by reducing the lengths of their wriggle bursts, when presented with a combination of chemical and physical cues than with chemical cues alone. Anti-predatory responses often come with an associated cost, and we expect that the ability to pay these costs should influence responses to predation risk. To test this, we compared wriggling patterns of satiated vs starved larvae in the same experiment. We found that, under predation risk, starved larvae were willing to take more risks than satiated larvae were. We sought to experimentally test the assumption that anti-predator behaviours increase the survival of prey. To do this, starved guppies were made to choose between displays of simulated larvae, moving in short and long wriggle bursts as observed in the previous experiment. The fish preferentially attacked larvae moving in long bursts, demonstrating the survival value of the larval anti-predatory response of shifting to a preponderance of short wriggle bursts. Our study identifies specific ways in which trade-offs between predation risk and energetic costs could affect anti-predator behaviour.


BACKGROUND
Fifteen to sixty-seven percent of patients with new onset type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) present in diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), of which approximately 79% initially see their general practitioner. Diabetic ketoacidosis is the most common cause of diabetes related deaths, mainly due to cerebral oedema that occurs in 0.4-3.1% of patients.

OBJECTIVE
The aim of this review is to provide information to improve the early recognition of DKA and to provide guidelines for the initial management of DKA in the nonspecialist setting.

DISCUSSION
Recognition of DKA can be improved by increasing the awareness for early clinical symptoms such as polyuria and polydipsia. It is important to include urinalysis and 'fingerprick' blood glucose and ketone measurements in the early assessment of patients with suspected T1DM and known T1DM, particularly if risk factors for DKA are present, to minimise serious complications and prevent fatal outcomes. Urgent referral to specialist centres for suspected new onset T1DM/DKA is required. Specific steps should be followed to ensure successful initial management of DKA in the nonspecialist setting before transfer.


Background Hirschsprung Disease (HD) is characterised by the absence of ganglion cells in the distal bowel commonly presents in neonatal period with a suggestive history. However a rectal biopsy (RB) is required to confirm the diagnosis. The reported incidence in the UK is 1:5000. Aim To describe the clinical characteristics of neonates with HD presenting to a regional neonatal surgical centre. Methods Retrospective review of clinical records over a 2 year period (2012–2013). Results 15/51 infants evaluated had a positive rectal biopsy (RB) 4 infants were inborn (Inborn Incidence 1/3000), 11 were referred from 7 other London hospitals. Initial presenting complaint in the HD (non HD) groups was: Abdominal distention 93% (95%) Delayed passage of meconium 78.5%,(69.5%) Bilious vomiting 57% (82%), Poor feeding 7% (35%). Gestation age (mean,(range)) was 39 (37–41). Infants were referred on d3 (1–10) RB was performed on day 9 (2–37), 85% were initially managed with rectal washouts and discharged home. 2 infants required an operation in the neonatal period. The remainder underwent surgical procedure on day 159(61–521). Conclusion HD needs to be considered and a RB performed in infants with consistent history and examination Especially abdominal distention or history of delayed passage of meconium. The incidence of HD may be higher in some populations and this should be evaluated further.


The report combines specific analysis of Brazilian food and nutrition issues with a more general model for the study of the nutritional effects of a variety of governmental policies on both agricultural and nonagricultural sectors of the economy. First, the extent of malnutrition (calorie deficiency) in Brazil is discussed and patterns of food consumption in different regions and among different groups of people are described. An empirical analysis of food consumption and expenditure data and an examination of possible applications of the analysis to two specific issues of food policy follows. The first issue, the question of food subsidies, is concerned primarily with problems of food consumption. The second, the Brazilian alcohol programme, concerns patterns of food production. The report then: (1) estimates the responses of malnourished Brazilians to changes in income and relative prices; (2) examines differences in consumer responses between malnourished and well nourished groups and across income strata; (3) explores the trade off between quantity and quality in the additional purchases made possibly by changes in the real income of different groups. Finally, the study illustrates how the empirical results can be applied in policy analysis. Food subsidization and the Brazilian alcohol programme are chosen because of their potentially large influence on food supply and consumption and thus on nutritional status. To measure food intake response, calorie consumption functions are estimated for individual commodities and for total calorie intake, yielding a matrix of own-price, cross-price, and income elasticities for commodity-specific and aggregate calorie intake


ABSTRACT Wang, X.; Gao, Y.; Wu, M.; Cai, F., and Liu, X., 2020. Freak wave prediction based on the nonlinear Schrödinger equation. In: Zheng, C.W.; Wang, Q.; Zhan, C., and Yang, S.B. (eds.), Air-Sea Interaction and Coastal Environments of the Maritime and Polar Silk Roads. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 99, pp. 310–318. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. To explore a prediction method for freak waves, a theoretical derivation is given to calculate the eigenvalue of the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation from measured wave height time history data based on the inverse scattering transform of the third-order nonlinear Schrödinger equation. The method further predicts the temporal and spatial evolution of the wave envelope. Based on the envelope prediction results, the spatiotemporal information for large wave occurrence can be obtained. The prediction results of this paper are compared with measured wave trains to verify the validity and accuracy of the method. This method gives a new technical approach for providing large-wave warnings for ships or offshore platforms, as well as for finding periods for offshore operations under large wave conditions.


Background and Aims For over 25 years, the BPSU surveillance system has been used to successfully study the epidemiology of very rare diseases in the UK and the ROI. Some notifications usually do not meet study definition. It is possible to get useful clinical information from such notifications when the study questionnaires are completed also. We therefore set out to review the non-bacterial meningitis notifications during our study. Methods We reviewed all reports that were sent to our study from all sources during the surveillance period and extracted the cases where the clinician completed the study questionnaire and the report did not meet our analytical definition. A descriptive analysis was subsequently undertaken. Results 868 notifications were received during the study period, 365 unique reports met our case definition. The rest were either duplicates, non-cases or unable to verify. The first 46 non-cases where a questionnaire was also completed were evaluated. 18 (39%) had no CSF sample or culture result, 15 (33%) viral meningitis, 5 (11%) UTI, 4 (9%) sepsis, 3 (7%) was contaminant and 1 (2%) congenital hydrocephalus. The median age (IQR) for the viral meningitis cases was 35.5 days (19–48), 10(67%) were male. The reported presenting features were fever 14 (93%), irritability 12 (80%), poor feeding 10 (66%), lethargy 8 (53%), poor perfusion 7 (47%), vomiting 2 (15%) and comatose 1(7%). The median (IQR) CSF white cell count and CSF protein for the viral meningitis cases was 334/mm3 (120–475) and 0.85g/L (0.59–1.28) respectively. Overall, two deaths were observed (one was a premature baby with multiple problems and the other died of Coxsackie meningitis). Conclusion We have been able to evaluate the clinical features of viral meningitis in this age group Further analysis needs to be done to compare the viral meningitis with the bacterial cases.


The Enskog-like kinetic approach, recently introduced by us to study strongly inhomogeneous fluids, is reconsidered in order to improve the description of the transport coefficients. The approach is based on a separation of the interaction between hydrodynamic and non-hydrodynamic parts. The latter is treated within a simple relaxation approximation. We show that, by considering the non-hydrodynamic part via a weighted density approximation, we obtain a better prediction of the transport coefficients. By virtue of the simplicity of the kinetic equation we are able to solve numerically the phase space distribution in the presence of inhomogeneities, such as confining surfaces, via a Lattice Boltzmann method. Analytical estimates of the importance of these corrections to the transport coefficients in bulk conditions is provided. Poiseuille flow of the hard-sphere fluid confined between two parallel smooth walls is studied and their pore-averaged properties are determined.


From the Publisher:
Each copy of this best-seller is now accompanied by a CD-ROM containing an electronic version of the book, allowing readers to highlight text, make margin notes and more. Fundamentals of Database Systems combines clear explanations of theory and design, broad coverage of models and real systems, and excellent examples with up-to-date introductions to modern database technologies. It focuses on the relational model and includes recent object-oriented developments such as SQL3 and ODMG. The authors provide coverage of the popular DBMS products, in particular the relational systems Oracle and Microsoft Access. They also address advanced modeling and system enhancements in the areas of active databases, temporal and spatial databases, and multimedia data models. The book also surveys the latest application areas of data warehousing, data mining, digital libraries, GIS, and genome databases. This book is appropriate for programmers looking for an introduction to database theory and application, or a reference to how popular real-world DBMSs address these concepts.


A new fuzzy-rule-based algorithm for the denoising of video sequences corrupted with additive Gaussian noise is presented. The proposed method constitutes a fuzzy-logic-based improvement of a recent detail and motion adaptive multiple class averaging filter (MCA). The method is first explained in the pixel domain for grayscale sequences, and is later extended to the wavelet domain and to color sequences. Experimental results show that the noise in digital image sequences is efficiently removed by the proposed fuzzy motion and detail adaptive video filter (FMDAF), and that the method outperforms other state of the art filters of comparable complexity on different video sequences.


Terminals and log-yards are becoming increasingly important in Nordic forest supply chains because of the need to support the rising production capacity of pulp mills and heat and power plants. Most modern terminals and log-yards handle multiple assortments, must accommodate multiple incoming and outgoing modes of transport, and have multiple storage areas. This complexity makes it challenging to find ways of increasing their efficiency. The design of more efficient terminals will therefore require a detailed understanding of the current state of forest terminals and the activities that occur within them. The overall objectives of this thesis are thus to provide a general overview of the current state of forest biomass terminals in Sweden, to determine the scope for upgrading biomass fuel at terminals, and to find reliable ways of analyzing log-yard and terminal performance. To achieve these aims, data were gathered by means of surveys, questionnaires, time studies, analyzing fuel-chip quality, and discrete-event modeling.

The most pronounced differences were observed between terminals with areas of 5 ha. Terminals of < 5 ha accounted for 65% of the country's total terminal area, and terminals of < 2 ha handled half the country's total terminal biomass output. Comminution activities were performed at 90% of all terminals, creating opportunities to add value to the processed material. By screening fine particles, it was possible to reduce the average ash content of the processed assortments to 0.66-2.17% (corresponding to a 20-31% reduction in total ash content). Screening could thus be used to divide chipped material into various quality classes suited for different applications with different price points. Models developed using production data for log-yards reliably predicted real-world outcomes over the studied time period and highlighted the importance of gathering relevant real-world data for meaningful analysis and improvement of log-yard operations. This thesis provides an overview of Sweden's forest terminals, energy assortment quality, and potential operational improvements. The discrete-event models presented here are helpful tools for understanding log-yard operations and supporting decision-making by forest businesses.


Derived from ancient Greek άρχeϊου ("government"), the late Latin word "archive" has come in the modern era to refer not just to public records but also to the entire corpus of material remains that the past has bequeathed to the present: artifacts, writings, books, works of art, personal documents, and the like. It also refers to the institutions that house and preserve such remains, be they museums, libraries, or archives proper. In all of these meanings, archive connotes a past that is dead, that has severed its ties with the present, that has entered the crypt of history. The essay explores the ways in which Internet 2.0 offers new possibilities for institutions of memory: novel approaches to conservation and preservation based not upon limiting but multiplying access to the remains of the past; participatory models of content production and curatorship; mixed reality approaches to programming and informal education that expand traditional library and museum audiences; and enhanced means for vivifying and for promoting active modes of engagement with the past.


This article presents a unique amalgam across artistic research and rural sociology. We draw on a collaborative art residence programme between a University and an arts organisation in England, which invited an artist to respond to a highly contentious topic in rural England: housing development. The ambition for the residency was, firstly, to provide new perspectives on rural housing research, and, secondly, to provide a space for engagement between the local community, planners and academics. Through our interdisciplinary collaboration, we explore how Sander Van Raemdonck's artistic process worked towards these ambitions. The artistic practice involved a walk with the local community, a peripatos, in a post‐industrial site proposed for housing development. Drawing on the artistic practice, the interdisciplinary team developed then a second walk, a 'walkshop', to mediate between housing/planning experts and reflect on the experience of the artistic practice. Following those artists and social scientists that already utilise walking as a method, we argue that the artistic peripatos can support a multi‐sensory way of communicating, a way to get 'under the skin of a place'. More critically, we argue that artist in residence programmes provide rich opportunity to develop interdisciplinary research with artists.


This feature article addresses the implementation of catalytic nucleic acids as functional units for the construction of logic gates and computing circuits, and discusses the future applications of these systems. The assembly of computational modules composed of DNAzymes has led to the operation of a universal set of logic gates, to field programmable logic gates and computing circuits, to the development of multiplexers/demultiplexers, and to full-adder systems. Also, DNAzyme cascades operating as logic gates and computing circuits were demonstrated. DNAzyme logic systems find important practical applications. These include the use of DNAzyme-based systems for sensing and multiplexed analyses, for the development of controlled release and drug delivery systems, for regulating intracellular biosynthetic pathways, and for the programmed synthesis and operation of cascades.


Abstract As a project located in the academic field of the study of African American religion, this dissertation examines the black body in four critical moments of the Nation of Islam (NOI), represented by the ministries of Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, Warith Deen Mohammed, and Louis Farrakhan. Defined as the material locus of the self and the site of the symbolization of a given collective culture and cosmology, the project argues that the body was the central concern in all four moments in their religious efforts to re-imagine, reform, and re-present bodies that they perceived had been distorted, disfigured, and devalued by racist violence, discourses, and oppression in America. The research contends that the NOI was only partially "successful" in its reformative efforts to reconstitute and valorize black bodies. Utilizing the hermeneutical frameworks of critical social theory, which includes psychoanalysis, philosophy of embodiment (phenomenology) and race, and a theory and method based approach to the study of religion in its analysis and interpretation, the project suggests that the NOI may have internalized many of the dynamics and values of white supremacy and, as a consequence, re-produced and re-deployed its own system of intra-"race" marginalization and hierarchical classification within the NOI and in the greater African American community. Such discrimination was predicated upon an ideal black bodily economy that ranked bodies based on indicators such as gender, sexuality, and skin complexion. As a result of having co-opted middle-class American and African American values and practices, the research concludes that the NOI converted problematic issues of "race" into an ambiguous and indeterminate class system in their response to the exigencies of the conditions of existence for African Americans. The research suggests both the need for greater attention to the body in African American religious studies, analyses of the co-constitutive elements of class, gender, race, and sexuality, and for reflexive consideration of the ways in which systems of domination may be socially reproduced and/or disrupted by marginalized collectivities.


The host of literature on community-based sustainable forestry initiatives cites a profound schism between theory and the actual devolution of power and conservation of natural environments. This thesis set out to analyze the workings of power in a decentralized sustainable forestry project in San Francisco Libre, Nicaragua, and to account for how the myriad relevant actors influence, and are influenced, by the interactions and opportunities that arose. Taking a co-constructivist, relational approach, the case study undertaken found sustainable forestry and participatory democracy to be co-constitutive. However, where modernity has been touted for freeing society from the constraints of the natural world through science and technology, the very democracy and sustainability these initiatives are striving for are constrained by the modern framework upon which many of our institutions are built. By abandoning such nature vs. society dichotomous frameworks, socio- political initiatives can better account for the place-based, relational agency human and non-human actors share, and therefore create more effective, participative democratic institutions.


Inadequate knowledge of pathogenesis and pathophysiology has contributed to the high mortality and morbidity associated with neonatal Escherichia coli meningitis. We have shown previously that outer membrane protein A (OmpA) contributes to E. coli K1 membrane invasion of brain microvascular endothelial cells. In this study we report that this OmpA+ K1 E. coli invasion of brain microvascular endothelial cells was inhibited by wheat germ agglutinin and chitooligomers prepared from the polymer of 1,4-linked GlcNAc, chitin. The specificity of the interaction between OmpA and GlcNAc beta 1-4GlcNAc epitopes was verified by the demonstration that chitotriose-bound OmpA and wheat germ agglutinin-bound brain microvascular endothelial cell membrane proteins inhibit E. coli K1 invasion. Of interest, OmpA+ E. coli invasion into systemic endothelial cells did not occur, but invasion similar to that of brain microvascular endothelial cells was observed when systemic cells were treated with alpha-fucosidase, suggesting that the GlcNAc beta 1-4GlcNAc moieties might be substituted with L-fucose on these cells. More importantly, the chitooligomers prevented entry of E. coli K1 into the cerebrospinal fluid of newborn rats with experimental hematogenous E. coli meningitis, suggesting that the GlcNAc beta 1-4GlcNAc epitope of brain microvascular endothelial cells indeed mediates the traversal of E. coli K1 across the blood-brain barrier. A novel strategy with the use of soluble receptor analog(s) may be feasible in the prevention of devastating neonatal E. coli meningitis.


A hypothesis is presented, the chief assumptions of which are that neural impulses originating in retinal receptors converge upon neurons in a central area, and that the excitation of the most excited neuron in that area determines the response. The relation of this hypothesis to earlier ideas along similar lines is discussed. It is shown that the hypothesis leads to testable relationships between thresholds for circular targets and for targets of other shapes. Evidence is presented that diffuse neural connections are relatively more important at low background levels, and an interpretation is suggested.


It has been suggested that polyandry allows females to increase offspring genetic diversity and reduce the prevalence and susceptibility of their offspring to infectious diseases. We tested this hypothesis in wild‐derived house mice (Mus musculus) by experimentally infecting the offspring from 15 single‐ and 15 multiple‐sired litters with two different strains of a mouse pathogen (Salmonella Typhimurium) and compared their ability to control infection. We found a high variation in individual infection resistance (measured with pathogen loads) and significant differences among families, suggesting genetic effects on Salmonella resistance, but we found no difference in prevalence or infection resistance between single‐ vs. multiple‐sired litters. We found a significant sex difference in infection resistance, but surprisingly, males were more resistant to infection than females. Also, infection resistance was correlated with weight loss during infection, although only for females, indicating that susceptibility to infection had more harmful health consequences for females than for males. To our knowledge, our findings provide the first evidence for sex‐dependent resistance to Salmonella infection in house mice. Our results do not support the hypothesis that multiple‐sired litters are more likely to survive infection than single‐sired litters; however, as we explain, additional studies are required before ruling out this hypothesis.


Increased awareness among coffee consumers of the impact of their consumption habits on the people and environment in coffee producing countries has resulted to implementation of certification programs in the coffee sector as an assurance of good practices in production and marketing of coffee. The UTZ certificate was the first to be introduced in the Kenyan coffee industry and this study provides the first quantitative assessment of its impact on smallholder farmers. The propensity score matching technique was used because it solves the 'selection bias' problem in assessment of the impact of development programs. The impact of the certification program differed between the two regions where it is being implemented probably due to the differences in bio-economic characteristics. Overall, the impact of the program ranges from higher coffee prices and coffee incomes, increased access to greater amounts of credit for agricultural purposes, increased incomes from other crop enterprises or off-farm activities, greater savings by households and increased investments on land. UTZ certification also resulted to better service provision by the cooperative societies. The perception by certified households that their economic situation has not changed may be attributed to the short period that the certification program has been in existence and also to the reference period (2008) which was a difficult year in Kenya due to the post election and economic crises.


This paper examines the driving and opposing forces that are governing the current paradigm shift from a data-processing information technology environment without software intelligence to an information-centric environment in which data changes are automatically interpreted within the context of the application domain. The driving forces are related to the large quantity of data and the complexity of networked systems that both call for software intelligence. The opposing forces are non-technical and due to the natural human resistance to change. Based on this background the paper describes current information-centric technology, proposes a vision of intelligent software system capabilities, and identifies four areas of necessary research. Most urgent among these are the ability to dynamically extend and merge ontologies and semantic search capabilities that can be initiated either by human users or software agents. Longer term research interests that pose a more severe challenge are related to the translation of emerging theoretical hierarchical temporal memory (HTM) concepts into usable software capabilities and the automated interpretation of graphical images such as those recorded by surveillance video cameras.


High-resolution seismic profiles and sediment cores from Lake Ledro combined with soil and riverbed samples from the lake's catchment area are used to assess the recurrence of natural hazards (earthquakes and flood events) in the southern Italian Alps during the Holocene. Two welldeveloped deltas and a flat central basin are identified on seismic profiles in Lake Ledro. Lake sediments have been finely laminated in the basin since 9000 cal. yr BP and frequently interrupted by two types of sedimentary events (SEs): lightcoloured massive layers and dark-coloured graded beds. Optical analysis (quantitative organic petrography) of the organic matter present in soil, riverbed and lacustrine samples together with lake sediment bulk density and grainsize analysis illustrate that light-coloured layers consist of a mixture of lacustrine sediments and mainly contain algal particles similar to the ones observed in background sediments. Light-coloured layers thicker than 1.5 cm in the main basin of Lake Ledro are synchronous to numerous coeval mass-wasting deposits remoulding the slopes of the basin. They are interpreted as subaquatic mass-movements triggered by historical and pre-historical regional earthquakes dated to AD2005, AD1891, AD1045 and 1260, 2545, 2595, 3350, 3815, 4740, 7190, 9185 and 11 495 cal. yr BP. Darkcoloured SEs develop high-amplitude reflections in front of the deltas and in the deep central basin. These beds are mainly made of terrestrial organic matter (soils and lignocellulosic debris) and are interpreted as resulting from intense hyperpycnal flood event. Mapping and quantifying the amount of soil material accumulated in the Holocene hyperpycnal flood deposits of the sequence allow estimating that the equivalent soil thickness eroded over the catchment area reached up to 5mm during the largest Holocene flood events. Such significant soil erosion is interpreted as resulting from the combination of heavy rainfall and snowmelt. The recurrence of flash flood events during the Holocene was, however, not high enough to affect pedogenesis processes and highlight several wet regional periods during the Holocene. The Holocene period is divided into four phases of environmental evolution. Over the first half of the Holocene, a progressive stabilization of the soils present through the catchment of Lake Ledro was associated with a progressive reforestation of the area and only interrupted during the wet 8.2 event when the soil destabilization was particularly important. Lower soil erosion was recorded during the mid-Holocene climatic optimum (8000-4200 cal. yr BP) and associated with higher algal production. Between 4200 and 3100 cal. yr BP, both wetter climate and human activities within the drainage basin drastically increased soil erosion rates. Finally, from 3100 cal. yr BP to the present-day, data suggest increasing and changing human land use.


The review paper describes the application of image processing techniques for automatic detection of eye diseases. Large percentages of people suffer from eye diseases in rural and semi urban areas in India as well as world over. Image processing techniques greatly help diagnosing various eye diseases. Current diagnosis of retinal disease relies strongly upon optical imaging methods due to the photon sensing nature of the eye over a wide band of wavelengths. The key image processing elements to detect eye diseases include image registration, fusion, segmentation, feature extraction, enhancement, pattern matching, image classification, analysis and statistical measurements. In developing and under developing countries large number of people are suffering from ophthalmic diseases like Glaucoma, Age related Macular Degeneration (AMD), Diabetic Retinopathy, Diabetic hypertension. A large deficit of ophthalmologists exists in these regions. Year after year the number of medical assistants is decreasing, while demand for healthcare is increasing and expected to touch 40% by 2020. Low cost instrumentation with internet and mobile enabled network connectivity with above techniques can help patients in rural and semi urban areas to access well equipped and sophisticated hospitals in cities [1].


Polymyxin B and colistin are considered the last therapeutic option to treat infections caused by highly drug-resistant bacteria. However, their administration may lead to various adverse effects such as nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity, and allergic reactions. The current case report presents the clinical manifestation of polymyxin B-associated neurotoxicity in a female patient with no chronic illness history. The patient was rescued from under rubble during an earthquake. She was diagnosed with an intra-abdominal infection caused by Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii). After the initiation of the polymyxin B infusion, the patient developed numbness and tingling sensations in her hands, face, and head. On discontinuing polymyxin B and starting colistimethate, the patient's symptoms improved. Therefore, healthcare professionals should be aware of the potential risk factors associated with neurotoxicity in patients receiving polymyxin B. On identifying such symptoms treatment should be discontinued promptly to prevent further neurological damage.


This thesis aims at investigating the performance of empirical risk factors in financial forecasting and their assessment with respect to the associated risk. The thesis consists of four essays. The first essay focuses on whether the empirical HML and SMB risk factors, along with the long-term reversal and the momentum factors exhibit both in-sample and out-of-sample forecasting ability for the U.S. stock returns, compared to the performance of the most widely used financial variables. Our findings point to the superior forecasting ability of the empirical factors. We also establish a link between financial variables and the empirical factors and find that the default and the term spread proxy for the evolution of the factors examined. The second essay extends the previous analysis by investigating the out-of-sample forecasting ability of the full set of empirical factors along with their size and value decompositions on U.S. bond and stock returns for a variety of horizons ranging from the short run (1 month) to the long run (2 years). We also examine their performance by employing combination of the individual forecasts of the empirical factors. It turns out that these combining methods lead to particularly successful results, especially from an asset allocation perspective, with similar findings pertaining to the European and Japanese markets, as well. The third essay employs a variety of risk indices in order to quantify the embedded risk of different empirical factor portfolios, producing a relative ranking among them. The analysis also contributes to the literature by establishing a connection between size, book- to-market and stock prior-returns with risk, revealing that small size, high book-to-market and low momentum/reversal effect are related with high portfolio risk. Finally, the fourth essay provides an extensive review on traditional and more sophisticated evaluation measures focusing on premium returns adjusted for the associated risk. The implementation of these performance measures on the aforementioned empirical factors reveals that the value and momentum factor portfolios achieve the best and worst performance, respectively.


Growers in the sugarcane industry have been struggling under financial pressure for several years. One option to improve farm viability might be to diversify farm enterprise income. Choice Modelling, an economic valuation technique, was used to explore the trade-offs growers make between different attributes of diversification, and how their choices may be related to certain socio-economic characteristics. Application of the technique involved surveys of cane growers in three regions of Central Queensland. This is a novel approach to assessing grower intentions that has the potential to reveal detailed information about influences on grower choices.


The effectiveness of drug plant and of essential oil of oregano (Origanum vulgare L. ssp. hirtum Ietswaart) against the adults and egg hatching of bean weevil (Acanthoscelides obtectus Say) was studied in laboratory trials in order to screen for a new potential insecticide in the control of this granary pest of beans. The adult mortality as well as oviposition and hatching capabilities were evaluated after 6 days of treatment of beans cv. `Berggold' (55 g) in Petri dishes by powdered drug (0.33 g, 0.66 g, 1.0 g and 2.0 g) and by equivalent amounts of essential oil (5 ill, 10 15 ill and 30 ill). Oregano essential oil showed both fumigant and contact toxicities to bean weevil, the later being more potent. When considering fumigant toxicity, insecticidal effect (mortality rate 82.5%) was observed 6 days after application of high concentrations of oregano essential oil (150 Al per 55 g of beans). When considering contact toxicity, both oregano drug plant and essential oil at all tested concentrations significantly increased the bean weevils' mortality rates with comparison to the controls. Also, egg laying and hatching were inhibited after treatment of bean weevil with powdered drug plant or with essential oil at all tested concentrations. Insecticidal effect of drug plants issuing from two different stocks depended on their essential oil contents. Essential oils (5 pi, 15 pi and 30 IA per 55 g of beans) induced 100% mortality of bean weevil population when applied directly to the surface of beans (55 g) in Petri dishes. The content of essential oil in oregano and oregano-based preparations for insecticidal use is proposed as a parameter for quality control purposes.


This article explores the contemporary relationship between Yorkshire cricket and South Asian communities through oral testimonies with white and British Asian cricketers within the region. The article documents how the myths and invented traditions surrounding Yorkshire as an insular county have extended to all levels of Yorkshire cricket culture. Evidence is presented to argue that, despite the growing representation of British Asians within the Yorkshire leagues and within the structure of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, cultural and institutionalized forms of racism continue to be intrinsic to the sport. The article presents evidence to suggest that, regardless of being committed to Yorkshire and their 'Yorkshireness', white Yorkshire people may never fully accept British Asians as 'one of us'. Finally, Yorkshire cricket's (alleged) commitment to 'colour blindness' is deconstructed by presenting evidence that British Asians continue to feel marginalized by, and on the fringes of, mainstream cricket culture in Yorkshire.


In the article "Attention to Multiple Objects Facilitates Their Integration in Prefrontal and Parietal Cortex" by Yee-Joon Kim, Jeffrey J. Tsai, Jeffrey Ojemann, and Preeti Verghese, which appeared on pages 4942– 4953 of the May 10, 2017 issue, an incorrect affiliation for author Yee-Joon Kim was listed. The authors apologize for the oversight. His corrected affiliation is as follows: Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea and Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, 2318 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA 94115. In addition, the corrected affiliation for correspondence regarding the article is as follows: Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Yee-Joon Kim, Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com. This correction does not affect the conclusions of the paper. The author line has been corrected on the online PDF version.


The cost of data acquisition limits the amount of labeled data available for machine learning algorithms, both at the training and the testing phase. This problem is further exacerbated in real-world crowdsourcing applications where labels are aggregated from multiple noisy answers. We tackle classification problems where the underlying feature labels are unknown to the algorithm and a (noisy) label of the desired feature can be acquired at a fixed cost. This problem has two types of budget constraints - the total cost of feature labels available for learning at the training phase, and the cost of features to use during the testing phase for classification. We propose a novel budgeted learning and feature selection algorithm, B-LEAFS, for jointly tackling this problem in the presence of noise. Experimental evaluation on synthetic and real-world crowdsourcing data demonstrate the practical applicability of our approach.


The possible role of viral infections in the inception of asthma has been the matter of considerable debate. Older data suggested that viral respiratory infections occurring during early life could alter the lungs and the immune system, thus starting the process leading to allergic sensitization and persistent bronchial responsiveness. More recent studies suggest that infants who wheeze belong to two distinct groups, which at present can only be differentiated by the evolution of their illness. Most of these infants have a transitory tendency to wheeze during viral infections, and their lung function shortly after birth is significantly lower than that of infants who will not wheeze during similar infections. Most of these children become symptom-free during the preschool years, and their condition is not associated with higher serum IgE levels. A smaller group of children who wheeze as infants will still have wheezing episodes during the early school years. The factors that determine which infants will become persistent wheezers are not well understood, but viral infections per se are likely to play a minor role, if any. Early sensitization to aeroallergens in subjects genetically predisposed to having high serum IgE levels seems to be the main risk factor for this condition.


Linker of nucleoskeleton and cytoskeleton (LINC) complexes spanning the nuclear envelope (NE) contribute to nucleocytoskeletal force transduction. A few NE proteins have been found to regulate the LINC complex. In this study, we identify one, Kuduk (Kud), which can reside at the outer nuclear membrane and is required for the development of Drosophila melanogaster ovarian follicles and NE morphology of myonuclei. Kud associates with LINC complex components in an evolutionarily conserved manner. Loss of Kud increases the level but impairs functioning of the LINC complex. Overexpression of Kud suppresses NE targeting of cytoskeleton-free LINC complexes. Thus, Kud acts as a quality control mechanism for LINC-mediated nucleocytoskeletal connections. Genetic data indicate that Kud also functions independently of the LINC complex. Overexpression of the human orthologue TMEM258 in Drosophila proved functional conservation. These findings expand our understanding of the regulation of LINC complexes and NE architecture.


Environmental surveillance is a critical tool for combatting public health threats represented by the global COVID-19 pandemic and the continuous increase of antibiotic resistance in pathogens. With its power to detect entire microbial communities, metagenomics-based methods stand out in addressing the need. However, several hurdles remain to be overcome in order to generate actionable interpretations from metagenomic sequencing data for infection prevention. Conceptually and technically, we focus on viability assessment, taxonomic resolution, and quantitative metagenomics, and discuss their current advancements, necessary precautions and directions to further development. We highlight the importance of building solid conceptual frameworks and identifying rational limits to facilitate the application of techniques. We also propose the usage of internal standards as a promising approach to overcome analytical bottlenecks introduced by low biomass samples and the inherent lack of quantitation in metagenomics. Taken together, we hope this perspective will contribute to bringing accurate and consistent metagenomics-based environmental surveillance to the ground.


Objectives: Plant phenolic have extended significance as a promising therapeutic candidate for several disorders including cancer. Apoptosis is a well-organized cell death that has importance in cancer research. The present study was aimed to isolate 2, 4-bis (1-phenylethyl) -phenol from Clerodendrum thomsoniae Balf.f. and evaluation of cytotoxicity on human breast cancer cells. Methods: MTT assay was used to estimate cell viability. Apoptosis was analyzed by Annexin V/PI staining, EtBr staining, cell cycle analysis and MMP assay. Results: In this study 2,4-bis (1-phenylethyl) -phenol was separated from aerial parts of C. thomsoniae and its structure was confirmed by different spectroscopic methods. The IC50 value was determined based on cell viability rates and the value was calculated as 12. 58 (μg/mL). Apoptosis analysis by annexin V/PI staining showed that died cells were stained as red fluorescence. The loss of mitochondrial potential as a result of the induction of apoptosis was noted. The EtBr assay showed early apoptotic cells, late apoptotic cells, necrotic cells and, dead cells with characteristic fluorescence. The apoptosis induction of 2, 4-bis (1-phenylethyl) –phenol was also noticed in Cell cycle analysis using flow cytometry. Conclusion: The outcome of this research work, we can conclude that 2, 4-bis (1-phenylethyl)-phenol may be a successful candidate for breast cancer therapy via apoptosis activation and farther in vivo studies are required to evaluate this compound for its safety and efficacy as a potential anticancer candidate.


Rapamycin (Rap) is a widely-used drug in organ transplant prophylaxis, drug eluting stents to prevent coronary restenosis, and cancer therapy. Rap is also considered as an anti-aging drug that improves health and life-span. However, evidence also suggests that new-onset diabetes mellitus (DM) is an adverse outcome of Rap treatment. Since DM is an independent risk factor for heart disease, it is unclear whether chronic Rap treatment would be beneficial or detrimental for myocardium. To test the hypothesis that chronic Rap treatment would have differential effects on cardiac pathology in lean and obese insulin resistant individuals, we investigated the effect of 12-week Rap treatment (via subcutaneous implantation of Rap pellets delivering Rap at a concentration of 750μg/kg/day) on young (8-20 weeks), Zucker lean (ZL) rats and insulin resistant Zucker obese (ZO) rats. While Rap treatment significantly suppressed body weight, heart weight, fasting plasma levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL in ZO rats (p<0.05), it also worsened DM as indicated by severe hyperglycemia, polydipsia and polyuria (p<0.05). Conversely, Rap-treated ZL rats did not develop DM. Echocardiography showed that 14-week old ZO rats exhibited abnormalities in diastolic parameters, including decreases in the tissue doppler E'/A' ratio, mitral inflow propagation velocity (Vp) indicative of impaired active phase relaxation, as well as increases in LV filling pressure (E/E' and E/Vp ratios), isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT) and myocardial performance index (Tei index of global cardiac function) compared to age-matched ZL rats. With the exception of IVRT, these abnormalities were improved in ZO rats treated for 6 weeks with Rap. However, an additional 6 weeks of Rap treatment reversed this improvement in diastolic abnormalities. IVRT, Vp and E/Vp ratio tended to be more impaired in ZO rats with 12 week Rap treatment, although none of the trends reached statistical significance. Histopathology analysis revealed that Rap treatment induced significant cardiomyofibril disarray in both ZL and ZO rats (p<0.05). These observations suggest that Rap treatment advances DM in obese, insulin resistant rats and induces cardiac structural damage in both healthy and obese rats.


To understand the seismic performance of autoclaved aerated concrete block masonry wall, 8 autoclaved aerated concrete block masonry walls were tested under low cycle reversed lateral load. Based on the experiment, cracking and failure modes are observed and load - displacement hysteretic curves are measured. Besides, kinds of seismic indicators such as feature value of load and displacement, ductility factor, Energy dissipation and Stiffness degradation rules are obtained. Test and analysis results show that most of cracks shaped X propagate through the block whose failure mode is shear. Aspect ratio and axial compression also result in some influences to ratio Stiffness and fracture morphology. It can be deduced that as reducing the aspect ratio, increasing the axial compression ratio and enhancing the block strength, seismic strength and shear strength of wall are enhanced. The seismic performance is not lower than ordinary sinter brick masonry wall from the experiment.


Due to the Human Visual System (HVS) the response to well brightened images is frequency dependent. The Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) - based compression schemes are capable of separating the perceptually significant information in an image from the information that the eye cannot perceive. Hence in image compression, DCT is most widely used transform. In this paper, an algorithm for compressing images based on Cluster 3D-DCT technique is proposed. This method initially segments the two-dimensional image and then forms the clusters within each segment. These segments are then parallely processed to form a three-dimensional cube of 8*8*8 pixels and is processed with DCT. Thereafter the quantization and zigzag scanning processes are implemented. After completing the processes, the 1D data vector formed facilitates in achieving better compression using run-length coding. The performance of the algorithm is verified by plotting graphs, and determining its dominance over other primitive scanning techniques. The processing time and time required to segment the image along with cluster assignment time is tabulated. The cluster scanning which is a parallel progression proves to be faster compared to Spiral, ZigZag and Interleaving scanning schemes.


In this paper, convection-diffusion-reaction models with nonlinear reaction mechanisms, which are typical problems of chemical systems, are studied by using the upwind symmetric interior penalty Galerkin (SIPG) method. The local spurious oscillations are minimized by adding an artificial viscosity diffusion term to the original equations. A discontinuity sensor is used to detect the layers where unphysical oscillations occur. Finally, the proposed method is tested on various single-and multi-component problems.