In prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, the 3′-5′-exonucleolytic decay and processing of RNAs are essential for RNA metabolism. However, the understanding of the mechanism of 3′-5′-exonucleolytic decay in plants is very limited. Here, we report the characterization of an Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) transfer DNA insertional mutant that shows severe growth defects in early seedling growth, including delayed germination and cotyledon expansion, thinner yellow/pale-green leaves, and a slower growth rate. High-efficiency thermal asymmetric interlaced polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that the insertional locus was in the sixth exon of AT4G27490, encoding a predicted 3′-5′-exonuclease, that contained a conserved RNase phosphorolytic domain with high similarity to RRP41, designated RRP41L. Interestingly, we detected highly accumulated messenger RNAs (mRNAs) that encode seed storage protein and abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis and signaling pathway-related protein during the early growth stage in rrp41l mutants. The mRNA decay kinetics analysis for seed storage proteins, 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenases, and ABA INSENSITIVEs revealed that RRP41L catalyzed the decay of these mRNAs in the cytoplasm. Consistent with these results, the rrp41l mutant was more sensitive to ABA in germination and root growth than wild-type plants, whereas overexpression lines of RRP41L were more resistant to ABA in germination and root growth than wild-type plants. RRP41L was localized to both the cytoplasm and nucleus, and RRP41L was preferentially expressed in seedlings. Altogether, our results showed that RRP41L plays an important role in seed germination and early seedling growth by mediating specific cytoplasmic mRNA decay in Arabidopsis.


Abstract : One of the major challenges in the field of underwater robotics is the opacity of the water medium to radio frequency transmission modes, which precludes the use of a global positioning system (GPS) and high speed radio communication in underwater navigation and mapping applications. One approach to underwater robotics that overcomes this limitation is vision-based simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), a framework that enables a robot to localize itself, while simultaneously building a map of an unknown environment. The SLAM algorithm provides a probabilistic map that contains the estimated state of the system, including a map of the environment and the pose of the robot. Because the quality of vision-based navigation varies spatially within the environment the performance of visual SLAM strongly depends on the path and motion that the robot follows. While traditionally treated as two separate problems, SLAM and path planning are indeed interrelated: the performance of SLAM depends significantly on the environment and motion; however, control of the robot motion fully depends on the information from SLAM. Therefore, an integrated SLAM control scheme is needed?one that can direct motion for better localization and mapping, and thereby provide more accurate state information back to the controller. This thesis develops perception-driven control, an integrated SLAM and path planning framework that improves the performance of visual SLAM in an informative and efficient way by jointly considering the reward predicted by a candidate camera measurement, along with its likelihood of success based upon visual saliency. The proposed control architecture identifies highly informative candidate locations for SLAM loop-closure that are also visually distinctive, such that a camera-derived pose-constraint is probable. Results are shown for autonomous underwater hull inspection experiments using the Bluefin Robotics Hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (HAUV).


Chemical-based enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques utilize the injection of chemicals, such as solutions of polymers, alkali, and surfactants, into oil reservoirs for incremental recovery. The injection of a polymer increases the viscosity of the injected fluid and alters the water-to-oil mobility ratio which in turn improves the volumetric sweep efficiency. This research study aims to investigate strategies that would help intensify oil recovery with the polymer solution injection. For that purpose, we utilize a lab-scale, cylindrical heavy oil reservoir model. Furthermore, a dynamic mathematical black oil model is developed based on cylindrical physical model of homogeneous porous medium. The experiments are carried out by injecting classic and novel partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide solutions (concentration: 0.1-0.5 wt %) with 1 wt % brine into the reservoir at pressures in the range, 1.03-3.44 MPa for enhanced oil recovery. The concentration of the polymer solution remains constant throughout the core flooding experiment and is varied for other subsequent experimental setup. Periodic pressure variations between 2.41 and 3.44 MPa during injection are found to increase the heavy oil recovery by 80% original-oil-in-place (OOIP). This improvement is approximately 100% more than that with constant pressure injection at the maximum pressure of 3.44 MPa. The experimental oil recoveries are in fair agreement with the model calculated oil production with a RMS% error in the range of 5-10% at a maximum constant pressure of 3.44 MPa.


Abstract This paper examines four businesses that were located in Christchurch's CBD prior to the earthquake on February 22, 2011. Immediately following the quake Christchurch's CBD was cordoned off and for many Christchurch businesses it was necessary to find new premises in an environment of extreme uncertainty and very limited information. The four businesses used in this study were all required to relocate, however the specifics of their situations differed. All four businesses examined were larger professional services firms (lawyers, accountants, architects or engineers) who had a national presence. Given the limited number of suitable and available properties speed was of the essence in relocating. Through the four cases we explore how rapidly each firm initiated and completed the relocation process and the factors influencing their speed. We examine the means by which new premises were secured and the plans in regard to immediate and longer term business location. Finally, we explore the impact of relocation and the earthquake more broadly for these firms. The results obtained highlight the differences between the firms based on both initial conditions and the way each firm managed the process.


Medical education may be classified into 3 sectors viz, (a) basic medical education; (b) postgraduate medical education/Residency Training and (c) continuing professional development (CPD). There are challenges in establishing an ideal medical educational system that educates, develops and enhances the skills and competences of the medical practitioner from graduation till retirement. These challenges are reviewed and it is concluded that the challenges facing medical education emanates from new advances in science and technology, the needs of the society and the influence of the medical profession. Key Words: Medical and Dental education, continuing professional development, Residency Training


This review considered 118 references classified according to nonauditory physiological effects, performance and behavioral effects, sleep disturbance, and communication interference. For each separate category of effect a brief summary was presented of relevant current research, the consequences of noise exposure were sketched, and research needs were suggested in experimental design, in stimulus control and specification, in experimental techniques, and as to appropriate subpopulations to be taken into account. Much was shown to have been accomplished in the past decade, but to date only sparse quantitative data have been reported to express the effects of noise as a dose-response function on physiological processes or on behavior. In almost all studies only a very modest fraction of variance was explainable. It seems especially important to consider other factors along with the physical characteristics of the noise, particularly the interactions of the noise with other toxic agents and with situational and personality factors.


Investigation into healthcare facilities involves dealing with multiple spheres beyond the technological, physical and psychological. Nowadays, the growing emphasis on wellbeing goes beyond the seminal ideas that modern buildings were cleansing machines, or that modern architecture and urbanism were shaped by bacteria. Presenting some stimulating philosophically-orientated essays, this journal makes a link between the Modern Movement and what we have entitled the "Cure and Care" concept, connecting health and the environment, body and design. Considering healthcare buildings and their role in the welfare policy of societies, the discussion addresses future challenges, driven by developments in technology and medicine, envisaging a key role for healthcare facilities in ensuring a sustainable built environment.


Recent machine learning-based caching algorithm have shown promise. Among them, Learning-FromOPT (LFO) is the state-of-the-art supervised learning caching algorithm. LFO has a parameter named Window Size, which defines how often the algorithm generates a new machine-learning model. While using a small window size allows the algorithm to be more adaptive to changes in request behaviors, experimenting with LFO revealed that the performance of LFO suffers dramatically with small window sizes. This paper proposes LFO2, an improved LFO algorithm, which achieves high object hit ratios (OHR) with small window sizes. This results show a 9% OHR increase with LFO2. As the next step, the machine-learning parameters will be investigated for tuning opportunities to further enhance performance.


Personal Commitments is an important contribution not only to the disciplines of moral philosophy and Christian ethics, but more broadly to the literature of Christian living. Here a reader will find erudition at the service of a widespread need for understanding and direction in a world where relationships so often "fall apart" and their central promises "cannot hold," to paraphrase Yeats. It is a carefully crafted study that bases itself solidly in the ordinary situations, whether of hope or of anguish, in which persons ask whether they can risk a promise to love within a framework such as marriage or vowed community life, or, having made such a commitment, wonder whether or to what extent their promise continues to oblige when circumstances are altered far beyond anything originally anticipated. Farley opens her investigation with a chapter reviewing the recent societal "mood swings" regarding commitment (from the critical sixties through the appreciative eighties) and conveying by brief illustrative cases something of the complexity of the issues involved in this concept. Her method lays great stress on analyzing human language and experience, and her claim is that this approach is thoroughly theological, even when Christian symbols are not explicitly part of the discussion, because the phenomenon under investigation constitutes the "way of grace" in our lives. There follows a chapter on the meaning of commitment in which she selects "explicit and expressed" interpersonal commitment as a prime case for analysis. She notes that the effect of a promise of commitment, which linguistic philosophers classify as a "performative" utterance, is to establish a new form of relationship through stating the intention to assume obligations that will come due in the future. Virtually all our commitments have limits, however, for were this not the case, we would have no way to deal with competing claims, nor would we be able to live any commitments "faithfully in peace" (p. 20).


We present an operator space version of Rieffel's theorem on the agreement of the metric topology, on a subset of the Banach space dual of a normed space, from a seminorm with the weak*-topology. As an application we obtain a necessary and sufficient condition for the matrix metric from an unbounded Fredholm module to give the BW-topology on the matrix state space of the C*-algebra. Motivated by recent results we formulate a non-commutative Lipschitz seminorm on a matrix order unit space and characterize those matrix Lipschitz seminorms whose matrix metric topology coincides with the BW-topology on the matrix state space.


Fermentograph and baking properties of 98 wheat flour samples (two sets of commercial and one set of variety) were evaluated in the form of fermented dough. Analytical traits (ash and protein contents, wet gluten, FallingNumber, Zeleny sedimentation value), fermentograph parameters (gases volume, the volume of dough and the time of its max. increase), and the laboratory baking test were used for the characterisation of flours and doughs. Differences found between the two commercial flour sets were small and were influenced by the year of harvest. Significant differences were found between commercial and variety flours both in the fermentograph behaviour and in the baking test results. Lower dough volumes and lower bread specific volumes for variety flours in comparison with commercial ones were caused by a worse quality of proteins. Statistical analysis on significance level 99% showed correlations between the gases volume and the dough volume (r = 0.5264), between the gases volume and the time of dough maximum (r = -0.7689), and between the dough volume and the specific volume of bread (r = 0.5452).


Although a restoration approach derives a reroute path when failure occurs and greatly reduces forwarding rules in switches compared with a protection approach, software-defined networks (SDNs) induce a long failure recovery process because of frequent flow operations between the SDN controller and switches. Accordingly, it is indispensable to design a new resilience approach to balance failure recovery time and forwarding rule occupation. To this end, we leverage flexible flow aggregation in fast reroute to solve this problem. In the proposed approach, each disrupted traffic flow is reassigned to a local reroute path for the purpose of congestion avoidance. Thus, all traffic flows assigned to the same local reroute path are aggregated into a new "big" flow, and the number of reconfigured forwarding rules in the restoration process is greatly reduced. We first formulate this problem as an integer linear programming model, then design an efficient heuristic named the "congestion-aware local fast reroute" (CALFR). Extensive emulation results show that CALFR enables fast recovery while avoiding link congestion in the post-recovery network.


From 1991-2002 data on the presence and distribution of cetaceans in the Greek Seas have been systematically collated in a database (821 sightings and 715 strandings). Data originated from dedicated surveys, stranding reports, opportunistic sightings and published or unpublished photographic and video documents. Twelve cetacean species have been recorded. Seven of them are permanently present and commonly observed in one or more of the Greek Seas: striped dolphin, common bottlenose dolphin, short-beaked common dolphin, Cuvier's beaked whale, sperm whale, Risso's dolphin and fin whale. In addition, the harbour porpoise is present locally in the Thracian and northern Aegean Seas. The humpback whale, false killer whale and common minke whale are occasional Mediterranean species that were sighted or stranded infrequently; the Sowerby's beaked whale is an accidental species that was found floating dead only once. Five other species (white whale, Blainville's beaked whale, long-finned pilot whale, killer whale, blue whale) have been erroneously included in the Greek cetacean fauna in the past due to wrong assumptions, false identifications or lack of supporting evidence. The occasional occurrence of pilot and killer whales in the Greek Seas should still be regarded as unconfirmed. The distributional range, stranding numbers and sighting frequencies of sperm whales, Cuvier's beaked whales and short-beaked common dolphins in the Greek Seas indicate that their local 'sub-populations' are among the most important in the entire Mediterranean Sea. Harbour porpoises in the Thracian and northern Aegean Seas are important from a conservation perspective since this species does not inhabit any other part of the Mediterranean Sea.


The virus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2, is the causative agent of the current COVID-19 pandemic. It possesses a large 30 kilobase (kb) genome that encodes structural, non-structural, and accessory proteins. Although not necessary to cause disease, these accessory proteins are known to influence viral replication and pathogenesis. Through the synthesis of novel infectious clones of SARS-CoV-2 that lack one or more of the accessory proteins of the virus, we have found that one of these accessory proteins, ORF8, is critical for the modulation of the host inflammatory response. Mice infected with a SARS-CoV-2 virus lacking ORF8 exhibit increased weight loss and exacerbated macrophage infiltration into the lungs. Additionally, infection of mice with recombinant SARS-CoV-2 viruses encoding ORF8 mutations found in variants of concern reveal that naturally occurring mutations in this protein influence disease severity. Our studies with a virus lacking this ORF8 protein and viruses possessing naturally occurring point mutations in this protein demonstrate that this protein impacts pathogenesis. Significance Since its emergence in 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has accrued mutations throughout its 30kb genome. Of particular interest are the mutations present in the ORF8 protein, which occur in every major variant. The precise function and impact of this protein on disease severity and pathogenesis remains understudies. Our studies reveal that the ORF8 protein modulates the immune response by impacting macrophage infiltration into the lungs. Additionally, we have shown that the ORF8 protein of SARS-CoV-2 has accrued mutations throughout its evolution that lead to a loss of function phenotype in this protein. Our work reveals that the ORF8 protein of SARS-CoV-2 contributes significantly to disease progression through modulation of the inflammatory response.


Abstract Machine learning (ML) models are gaining traction in securities trading because of their ability to recognize and predict patterns. This study examines how ML is transforming automated trading. Drawing on 213 interviews with market participants (including 94 with people working at ML-employing firms) as well as ethnographic observations of a trading firm specializing in ML-based automated trading, we argue that ML-based ('second-generation') automated trading systems are different to previous ('first-generation') automated trading systems. Where first-generation systems are based on human-defined rules, second-generation systems develop their trading rules independently. We further argue that the use of such second-generation systems prompts a rethinking of established concepts in economic sociology. In particular, a Weberian notion of social action in markets is incompatible with such systems, but we also argue that second-generation automated trading calls for a reconsideration of the notion of the performativity of financial models.


Glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored high density lipoprotein–binding protein 1 (GPIHBP1), an endothelial cell protein, binds LPL in the subendothelial spaces and transports it to the capillary lumen. In Gpihbp1−/− mice, LPL remains stranded in the subendothelial spaces, causing hypertriglyceridemia, but how Gpihbp1−/− mice respond to metabolic stress (e.g., cold exposure) has never been studied. In wild-type mice, cold exposure increases LPL-mediated processing of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRLs) in brown adipose tissue (BAT), providing fuel for thermogenesis and leading to lower plasma triglyceride levels. We suspected that defective TRL processing in Gpihbp1−/− mice might impair thermogenesis and blunt the fall in plasma triglyceride levels. Indeed, Gpihbp1−/− mice exhibited cold intolerance, but the effects on plasma triglyceride levels were paradoxical. Rather than falling, the plasma triglyceride levels increased sharply (from ∼4,000 to ∼15,000 mg/dl), likely because fatty acid release by peripheral tissues drives hepatic production of TRLs that cannot be processed. We predicted that the sharp increase in plasma triglyceride levels would not occur in Gpihbp1−/−Angptl4−/− mice, where LPL activity is higher and baseline plasma triglyceride levels are lower. Indeed, the plasma triglyceride levels in Gpihbp1−/−Angptl4−/− mice fell during cold exposure. Metabolic studies revealed increased levels of TRL processing in the BAT of Gpihbp1−/−Angptl4−/− mice.


Due to complexity of the concept of sustainable development, both traditional and contemporary approaches still do not provide an answer how to implement this concept in practice. Enterprises aiming for sustainable development must combine economic interests with environmental and social needs, while keeping economic profit as a priority. On the other hand enterprises should promptly react to changes in order to remain competitive in the present globalization process. Advanced technology of management processes is also essential for successful development of every company. The aim of the article is to reveal whether advanced technology has an impact on the implementation of the provisions of the concept of sustainable development on a micro level. The article presents an overview of contemporary approaches and problematic aspects to sustainable development, analyzes the emerging challenges for enterprises, discuss the need to integrate the technological dimension into the concept of sustainable development. The research was carried out using analysis of scientific literature, and synthesis of various approaches, critical evaluation and generalization.


Health and education outcomes are determined by more than the availability and quality of health care and schooling. Better nutrition helps children learn. Better refrigeration and transport networks help keep medicines safe. Many factors determine outcomes on both the demand and the supply side, linked at many levels. The demand for health and education is determined by individuals and households weighing the benefits and costs of their choices and the constraints they face. The supply of services that affect health and education outcomes starts with global technological knowledge and goes all the way to whether teachers report for work and communities maintain water pumps.


The research examines the financial and economic viability of transferring land presently under agricultural use into multipurpose farm-forestry in Wales. Three woodland benefit streams are examined in detail: the value of open-access recreation; the production of timber and; the net carbon storage generated by afforestation. Modelling of the spatial variability determining the production of these benefits is enhanced by the novel application of a geographical information system(GIS). Monetary evaluation of non-market recreation benefits is achieved by reference to both the contingent valuation and travel cost methods with prior studies being reviewed and new work presented. By contrast carbon storage benefits are valued purely by reference to the existing literature. Both of these analyses yield social values whereas our study of timber production produces both shadow and market valuations.

Our GIS-based methodology is also applied to the modelling of agricultural values for the two major farm sectors (mainly sheep and mainly milk production) of the study area. Again both social and financial values are calculated.

By comparison of the various values estimated across the above analyses we estimate both the financial and social values associated with potential transfers of land from conventional agriculture into farm-forestry. The financial values generated by our analysis support the present low levels of conversion out of agriculture. However, the social values estimated suggest that the present situation constitutes a significant market failure, particularly in the mainly sheep farming sector where cost benefit analysis suggests that substantial net social benefits could be generated through conversions into multi-purpose woodland.


Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is defined as a clinical triad including liver disease, abnormal pulmonary gas exchange and evidence of intrapulmonary vascular dilatations. We report a 61-year-old male presented with fatigue, long-lasting fever, loss of weight, signs of portal hypertension, hepatosplenomegaly, cholestasis and progressive dyspnoea over the last year. Clinical, laboratory and histological findings confirmed the diagnosis of granulomatous hepatitis. HPS due to hepatic granuloma-induced portal hypertension was proved to be the cause of severe hypoxemia of the patient as confirmed by contrast-enhanced echocardiography. Reversion of HPS after corticosteroid therapy was confirmed by a new contrast-enhanced echocardiography along with the normalization of cholestatic enzymes and improvement of the patient's conditions. This is the first case of complete reversion of HPS in a non-cirrhotic patient with hepatic granuloma, indicating that intrapulmonary shunt in liver diseases is a functional phenomenon and HPS can be developed even in miscellaneous liver involvement as in this case.


While part-of-speech tagging is an established technology for Western European languages such as English or Spanish, extending the technique to Urdu presents a range of interesting issues. There are some problems associated with the writing system, e.g. the problems of locating token boundaries in the Urdu version of the Arabic script. However, there are also linguistic issues. Little work has hitherto been done in the area of tagset creation for Urdu. The tagset discussed here was created in accordance with the EAGLES guidelines for morphosyntactic annotation of corpora. Although these guidelines were written to cover the languages of the European Union, they can be applied fairly easily to Urdu, which, coming as it does from another branch of the Indo- European family, is structurally quite similar. They can also be extended to deal with the idiosyncrasies presented by Urdu grammar. This paper will look at the process of creating one of the necessary resources for the development of a POS tagging system for Urdu, that of a suitable tagset, considering some of the problems encountered along the way.


Studies have shown that plastics degrade into microplastics with a diameter of 5mm or less. Many studies have been completed on the presence of microplastics in marine environments, with fewer studies on freshwater environments. This study attempts to determine the content of microplastics in two freshwater lakes in Tennessee that have varying degrees of human activity near the lake — Kentucky Lake on the Tennessee River and Maple's Creek Lake isolated in the Natchez Trace State Park. Samples were collected from various locations within the two lakes via bulk sampling. The size of the microplastics were determined with a particle size analyzer, and then the chemical composition of the particles was determined by FT-IR.


This article explores an alternative strategy for designing hybrid instructional environments. Rather than bridging home or community funds of knowledge with school learning, I propose designing disruptions to typical school practices to invite students to recruit out-of-school resources meaningful and sensible to them in order to grapple with school-valued concepts. I examine this design strategy first conceptually, then through a case called walking scale geometry, designed to disrupt the scale of typical classroom geometry. This major disruption has 4 interrelated consequences in that students must invent new tools and strategies for constructing geometry figures, spaces of activity and learning shift, students are positioned with new visual perspectives, and the division of labor is redistributed. I analyze how these 4 consequences played out in an episode of walking scale geometry, in relation to the deployment of student-recruited resources and conceptual agency, then comment on some implications for designing disruptions and hybrid learning settings.


To overcome the difficulty experienced by students in visualizing electric and magnetic fields, a graphical method is proposed using a personal computer to display the field. It is argued that the natural structure of such fields is given by tubes of flux and/or slices bounded by equipotentials. These two descriptions are shown to provide upper and lower bounds for the system energy and for the equivalent circuit parameters describing that energy. The calculations are extremely simple and can be used by the student in an interactive mode. The method is, therefore, suitable as a design tool. It can also be usefully combined with a finite element calculation to improve the accuracy. A suitable computer package called TAS is briefly described. >


Fiber optic pressure sensors utilizing ultra-high sensitive fiber loop ringdown (FLRD) spectroscopy were fabricated using a bare single mode fiber. The fiber optic pressure sensors were applied to monitor pressure change on a plastic pipe embedded into a sea sand filled container in laboratory conditions to simulate a tower. As the pressure applied to the sensor head was changed from 66.4 kPa to 331.6 kPa, changes in the ringdown time (RDT) were recorded. The lowest baseline stability of 0.20% was obtained in these simple FLRD pressure sensors. The minimum detectable optical loss was 992 μdB. The results showed that FLRD pressure sensors tested by applying to a pipe embedded into sea sand simulating a tower are highly sensitive and have high potential to be applicable for monitoring wind turbine components such as blades and towers in the sea or on land to determine the pressure on structures due to damage, excessive waves, or strong winds. The study also suggests that this type of FLRD pressure sensor can be utilized for the purpose of early detection in other important structures such as dams, buildings, and bridges.


In an open-label, randomized trial, 44 Vietnamese children with diphtheria were given penicillin therapy (intramuscular benzylpenicillin, 50,000 U/[kg.d] for 5 days and then oral penicillin, 50 mg/[kg.d] for 5 days), and 42 were given erythromycin therapy (50 mg/[kg.d] orally for 10 days). There were no differences in times to membrane clearance or bacteriologic clearance, but median times to fever clearance were 27 hours (95% confidence interval [CI], 19-30; range, 0-124 hours) for penicillin recipients and 46 hours (95% CI, 34-54; range, 0-148 hours) for erythromycin recipients (P = .0004). In the penicillin group, acute treatment failed for one patient, and one patient relapsed. Three patients in the penicillin group developed diphtheritic myocarditis as evidenced by abnormal electrocardiograms. Erythromycin did not cause prolongation of the QT interval corrected for heart rate. Cultures of specimens from 15 patients (17.4%) were positive for toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae. All isolates were susceptible to penicillin, but for isolates (27%), all of which were from patients who received penicillin treatment, were resistant to erythromycin (minimum inhibitory concentrations, > 64 mg/L). Penicillin is recommended as first-line treatment for diphtheria in Vietnam.


Within academia most historians have concentrated upon doing academic history, writing for and talking to fellow academics and students rather than taking the past to the general public. Popular history remains a low priority. In turn, their fundamental reluctance to theorise about history is complemented by a tendency to take presentation and audiences for granted. Neither alternative modes of presenting the past nor the nature, changing character and responsiveness of audiences attract much attention. For the general public, historical knowledge is provided increasingly outside academia by more engaging and user-friendly aural, literary and visual media, whose presenters possess varying, frequently unhistorical, agenda. Some historians, particularly public historians, reach out already from the ivory tower, but more, it has been argued, should follow suit. At first sight postmodernist historians appear exempt from such strictures, given their focus upon historians as authors, the use of language and the reception of histories by audiences. Various reasons, most notably the strong hold exerted by the traditional empirical-analytical-representationalist model upon historians, have been advanced to explain the limited impact of postmodernist texts upon the target academic audience. Hitherto, insufficient account has been taken of shortcomings in presentation in spite of the frequent criticism of the overly theoretical and jargonistic nature of postmodernist publications. In practice, 'historians of a particular kind' and 'historians of a postmodernist kind' have much in common in terms of needing to devote more attention to presentation, as opposed to re-presentation, and particularly the question of targeting, engaging and impacting upon specific audiences. Whatever their preference – academic history and/or popular history, the representational or postmodernist epistemic model – the guiding maxim for historians and history students should be 'The better their presentation, the more effective their writing and other outputs will be in accessing, engaging and impacting upon the target audience.'


As the tourism sector grows as a whole, night-time tourism is playing a significant complementary role in the regional development not only of urban areas, but also of the mountainous areas that surround them. Following twelve years of very rapid development, night-time tourist products in China's mountainous Scenic Areas are offered primarily in the form of outdoor performances. Based on a case study of the show Impressions of Liu Sanjie, which in 2004 became China's first outdoor production and has paved the way for other night-time tourist products in China's mountainous Scenic Areas, we consider the nature and effects of this form of entertainment. Twelve years on, what have been the economic, social, cultural and environmental consequences for the region? How do night-time performances contribute (or not) to local development? And what is the relationship between the image of Liu Sanjie and the local identity of Guilin? This article attempts to provide answers to such questions.


Core−shell nanocomposites comprising barium titanate, BaTiO3 (BTO), and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) chains grafted from its surface with varied grafting densities were prepared. BTO nanocrystals are high-k inorganic materials, and the obtained nanocomposites exhibit enhanced dielectric permittivity, as compared to neat PMMA, and a relatively low level of loss tangent in a wide range of frequencies. The impact of the molecular dynamics, structure, and interactions of the BTO surface on the polymer chains was investigated. The nanocomposites were characterized by broadband dielectric and vibrational spectroscopies (IR and Raman), transmission electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and nuclear magnetic resonance. The presence of ceramic nanoparticles in core–shell composites slowed down the segmental dynamic of PMMA chains, increased glass transition temperature, and concurrently increased the thermal stability of the organic part. It was also evidenced that, in addition to segmental dynamics, local β relaxation was affected. The grafting density influenced the self-organization and interactions within the PMMA phase, affecting the organization on a smaller size scale of polymeric chains. This was explained by the interaction of the exposed surface of nanoparticles with polymer chains.


SUMMARY 1. To investigate the carrying capacity and factors affecting growth of rainbow trout in Lake Rotoiti, we employed a bioenergetics model to assess the influence of stocking rates, timing of releases and prey abundance on growth and prey consumption. We hypothesised that stocking rates and prey abundance would affect growth and prey consumption by influencing per-capita prey availability, and that the environmental conditions encountered by fish at the time of stocking would affect growth and consumption. 2. Prey consumption of stocked rainbow trout was calculated with the Wisconsin bioenergetics model. We calculated growth trajectories of released trout based on data from stocked trout that were released in spring and autumn from 1993 to 2009 and then re-captured by anglers. Diet, prey energy density, body mass lost during spawning and lake temperature were measured locally. 3. Stocking timing had no effect on return rates to anglers or length or weight of caught fish. Although trout released in autumn were smaller than those released in spring, autumn-released trout grew at a faster rate and had similar lengths and weights to spring cohorts after 2 years of growth in the lake. Modelled consumption parameters were negatively correlated with trout population size, suggesting that stocking rates (347–809 fish ha )1 year )1 ) caused density-dependent effects on growth. Although common smelt (Retropinna retropinna) accounted for 85% of total prey consumption, no significant relationship was found between prey consumption by individual trout and adult smelt abundance, possibly because trout are targeting smaller smelt that our abundance estimate did not account for. 4. Releasing trout in autumn appears to be advantageous for growth, possibly because (i) temperature is more suitable for growth in autumn–winter than in spring–summer and (ii) prey for small trout is abundant in autumn. Mild winter conditions appear to enhance overwinter survival and growth of rainbow trout in warm-temperate lakes compared to higher latitudes. This implies that moderately productive warm-temperate lake ecosystems are highly suitable for trout growth in winter, but less so in summer, when lake stratification and high nutrient levels may create conditions suitable for algal blooms and hypolimnetic deoxygenation. High growth rates of trout in warm-temperate lakes can therefore be supported by timing releases to coincide with favourable winter conditions.


Background and aims Lupus nephritis (LN) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. In recent systems biology work we found that renal macrophage functional pathways that link phagocytosis with activation of TLR pathways and disposal of excess cellular components are shared between mice and humans with lupus nephritis. Surprisingly we found that in two different lupus strains there is marked upregulation of renal TLR8 expression restricted to resident renal macrophages. Methods Because mouse TLR8 does not recognise ssRNA, we generated NZW/B6.Yaa mice expressing a functional form of human TLR8 as a BAC transgene to examine the effect of human TLR8 on systemic immunity and renal inflammation. TLR8 mRNA was quantitated by qPCR. Male and female mice were followed clinically for up to one year and harvested for flow cytometry analysis of spleens and kidneys. 24-week-old male mice were administered TL-506 subcutaneously for 4 weeks and harvested after 8 weeks. Results A single dose of human TLR8 in NZW/B6.Yaa mice did not exacerbate disease or accelerate disease or change the immune phenotype of the spleens or kidneys. However administration of a TLR8 agonist to male NZW/B6.Yaa mice appeared to enhance germinal centre formation and plasma cell generation in transgenic mice. Conclusions A single dose of human TLR8 is not sufficient to initiate or exacerbate lupus in NZW/B6.Yaa mice. Preliminary findings suggest that the mice may be hyperresponsive to a TLR8 agonist. Lupus mice with 2 copies of the human TLR8 transgene have been generated to determine whether an extra dose will affect lupus onset or phenotype.


Since US President Donald Trump took office, Sino-US relations have undergone a significant change. The Trump administration ignored WTO rules and made a series of allegations against China. In 2018, the trade war between China and the United States broke out, which has aroused widespread concern worldwide. In order to expose the ideology behind the media reports, taking Halliday's systemic functional grammar, Fairclough's three-dimensional model and corpus analysis as theoretical basis, this thesis conducts contrastive analysis of news reports on trade friction from China Daily, The New York Times and The Guardian, finding that China Daily always represents Chinese government's position, emphasizing bilateral consultations and peaceful resolution and establishing a positive and responsible image of a big country; The New York Times does not always stand by the side of the US government, especially of President Trump; as a third party in Sino-US trade, British mainstream medium, The Guardian, adopts a neutral attitude in most cases, but some of its reports make negative comments on China and the United States both. Therefore, through critical discourse analysis, the public can be helped to improve their sensitivity to news reports and not to be the stupid crowd


A literature compilation of nuclear star cluster (NSC) masses is used to study the correlation between global and nuclear properties. A comparison of observational data to the predictions of semianalytical galaxy formation models places constraints on the co-evolution of NSCs, massive black holes (MBHs) and host galaxies. Both data and theoretical predictions show an increased scatter in the NSC scaling correlations at high galaxy masses, and we show that this is due to the progressively more efficient ejection of stars from NSCs caused by MBH binaries in more massive stellar spheroids. Our results provide a natural explanation of why in nucleated galaxies hosting a MBH, the ratio (MNSC +MMBH)/Mbulge (with Mbulge the host spheroid's mass) shows significantly less scatter than MNSC/Mbulge, and suggest that the formation of MBHs and NSCs are not mutually exclusive, as also supported by observations of co-existing systems. Both MBHs and NSCs represent generic products of galaxy formation, with NSCs being destroyed or modified by the merger evolution of their companion MBHs. Subject headings: galaxies: Milky Way Galaxy – Nuclear Clusters – stellar dynamics


The article analyses major legacies of anti-austerity movements since 2011: Indignados/as and Occupy Wall Street (known also as the movements of the precariat). Based on the author's research developed in her book: The precariat and the process of precarisation of labour - new directions of global socio-economic changes (original title: Prekariat i proces prekaryzacji pracy – nowe kierunki zmian społeczno ekonomicznych w świecie), the article summarises the most significant outcomes of these movements' activities and demands, in four primary dimensions: identity, social awareness, organisation and politics. The author also answers the question of whether, in the course of anti-austerity movements' activities, a new social group – the precariat – gained political subjectivity.


The use of dental implants has gained immense popularity and inside acceptance. A secure implant primary stability is positively associated with a successful implant integration and long-term successful clinical outcome. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of primary stability in success of dental implants. The present retrospective study was conducted among 1263 patients who had undergone implant therapy in the Department of Implantology, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Chennai from June 2019 to March 2020. Data regarding bone type, bone density of the implant site were collected and analysed. In the present study, most of the type of bone density seen commonly was D2 bone and around 42.79% of the patients had D2 type of bone density in the lower posterior region. The next commonly seen bone density was D1 and in the lower posterior and lower anterior region with 8.51% and 2.36% respectively. In association with the gender and the bone density males had more bone density than females. Most of the type of bone density seen was D2 ( 34.12% in males and 30.58% in females, followed by D1 type of bone density ( 6.93% in males and 6.62% in females). Positive correlation was obtained between bone density and primary implant stability. The correlation was found to be statistically significant (p=0.000). The present study showed a strong relationship between bone density and the primary implant stability.


OBJECTIVE
The global impact of COVID-19 pandemic has gained momentum rapidly. People have little information about SARS-CoV-2 (Coronavirus). Internet has become a frequently used tool to obtain information in recent years, while YouTube is one of the popular sources of information with many videos on its platform. This study aims to identify the topics regarding Coronavirus that people learned about on YouTube. The videos about Coronavirus were also evaluated in terms of the reliability of their source of information.

METHODS
In total, 160 videos on Coronavirus that had 500,000 or more views were analysed. The latent Dirichlet allocation method was used in the process of identifying the topics that were then compared in terms of video parameters. The reliability of the source of information provided by videos was assessed with a modified DISCERN tool.

RESULTS
A proportion of 15.6 % of these videos had a scientific content, while 45 % of these videos were about the process entailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In terms of video reliability, the difference between video types was found to be significant; videos with scientific content had more reliable sources of information (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION
It has been determined that the videos about the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19, and those with scientific content have the most reliable source of information on Coronavirus (Tab. 5, Fig. 1, Ref. 35). Text in PDF www.elis.sk Keywords: coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 pandemic, coronavirus pandemic, latent Dirichlet allocation, information, YouTube.


Organisms are usually both enemies and victims of ecological interactions. Even individuals within 'top predator' species often suffer from cannibalism (an ecological 'self-loop'), parasites, or disease agents. Predators capture, kill and consume their victims. Parasites either live on or within a victim and may kill their host directly or, more typically, reduce the host's growth, survival and/or reproductive potential. Parasitoids function like predators but the act of killing the host is done by offspring which, generally, hatch from an egg on or near a host and then enter the victim and consumes it from inside. Disease agents vary in their effects on victims from hardly noticeable to causing death. Finally, herbivory is that act of an animal consuming part, or the entirety, of a plant. The effect of herbivory on plants may be unquantifiable to resulting in the death of the plant.

Key Concepts:

Predators capture, kill and consume their prey.

Parasitoids lay eggs on or near victims. These eggs hatch and the larvae enter and consume their victims from within.

Parasites live on or within their victims and usually reduce the victim's ability to grow, survive and/or reproduce.

Disease agents generally reduce victim growth, survival and/or reproductive rates.

Herbivory is the act by an animal of consuming plant material which may reduce plant growth, survival and/or reproductive success.

Researchers continue to debate the relative importance of top-down effects from enemies on victims and the effects of bottom-up effects of resources in population dynamics.

Mathematical and computer models can help us to understand and predict these complex species interactions.

Keywords:

predation;
herbivory;
plant–animal interactions;
host–pathogen dynamics;
models


Genotype imputation is a fundamental step in genomic data analysis such as GWAS, where missing variant genotypes are predicted using the existing genotypes of nearby 'tag' variants. Imputation greatly decreases the genotyping cost and provides high-quality estimates of common variant genotypes. As population panels increase, e.g., the TOPMED Project, genotype imputation is becoming more accurate, but it requires high computational power. Although researchers can outsource genotype imputation, privacy concerns may prohibit genetic data sharing with an untrusted imputation service. To address this problem, we developed the first fully secure genotype imputation by utilizing ultra-fast homomorphic encryption (HE) techniques that can evaluate millions of imputation models in seconds. In HE-based methods, the genotype data is end-to-end encrypted, i.e., encrypted in transit, at rest, and, most importantly, in analysis, and can be decrypted only by the data owner. We compared secure imputation with three other state-of-the-art non-secure methods under different settings. We found that HE-based methods provide full genetic data security with comparable or slightly lower accuracy. In addition, HE-based methods have time and memory requirements that are comparable and even lower than the non-secure methods. We provide five different implementations and workflows that make use of three cutting-edge HE schemes (BFV, CKKS, TFHE) developed by the top contestants of the iDASH19 Genome Privacy Challenge. Our results provide strong evidence that HE-based methods can practically perform resource-intensive computations for high throughput genetic data analysis. In addition, the publicly available codebases provide a reference for the development of secure genomic data analysis methods.


Although rates of morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease have improved over the past decades, racial disparities in cardiovascular disease risk have persisted for ethnic and racial minorities. Research seeking to explain these disparities has largely focused on traditional risk factors such as obesity, hypertension, diet, and physical activity. However, a large body of literature has evidenced the psychological and social implications of race on cardiovascular risk. The weathering hypothesis posits that stress associated with racial inequities, racism, and discrimination may cause physiological deterioration among African Americans as early as young adulthood, thus contributing to cardiovascular disease disparities. Allostatic load is widely accepted as a quantitative metric used to study the consequences of weathering. This metric provides researchers with the ability to measure both the acute and long-term outcomes of the stress response. Measurement of allostatic load is based on a set of biomarkers that represent the current status of each physiological system that responds to stress (e.g. hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, cardiovascular system, metabolic processes and the immune system). An algorithm is then used to compute allostatic load by demarcating clinical cut points to dichotomize continuous biological measurement into binary high risk variables (0 = low, 1 = high). This value is then summed to yield an allostatic load score which determines the presence of allostatic load. There are three important limitations to this approach. First, clinical cut points may not capture the full extent of biological risk. Second, categorizing otherwise continuous data results in loss of valuable information captured by the variables used to calculate allostatic load. Third, it is improbable that each biomarker equally contributes to the calculation of an allostatic score. The purpose of this study was to expand the weathering hypothesis by developing cardiovascular risk profiles using latent profile analyses on biomarkers commonly used in allostatic load calculations as an alternative to the traditional algorithm.. In addition, this study examined the relationship between demographic variables (race, age, sex, SES), psychosocial factors (depression, social support) and membership in cardiovascular disease risk profiles. Initial analysis using a national sample of a population age 3 to 85 identified four profile groups; low overall risk, kidney risk, vascular risk, and inflammation risk. Compared to Whites, Hispanics were more likely to exhibit an inflammation risk profile while African Americans were more likely to exhibit both inflammatory and vascular risk profiles. In addition, age, sex, and poverty to income ratio were significant predictors of all risk profiles. When focusing on depression and social support in a sample of individuals 40 years and older, analysis identified two profile groups; a low overall risk profile and an inflammation risk profile. Compared to Whites, African Americans were more likely to be members of the inflammatory risk profile. Further, an increase in depression score significantly increased the odds of an inflammatory risk profile membership. Moreover, the relationship between inflammation risk profile membership and social support (emotional, financial, social network) was examined in which no significant relationship was found. However, analysis revealed that the relationship between depression and inflammatory risk was moderated by emotional support, such that having received emotional support significantly decreased the association between depression and inflammatory risk. Findings from this study suggests that examining cardiovascular risk profiles that account for age, race, sex, and socioeconomic status may be useful for extending the weathering hypothesis and identifying different patterns of risk among those who experience allostatic load. Further understanding of the racial differences in depression and inflammatory risk may be beneficial in eliminating disparities in cardiovascular disease. Results from this project indicate that a higher level of emotional support may be promising strategy to reduce cardiovascular risk.


This study investigates the successful implementation of social media by small and medium-sized New Zealand businesses. The reasons for selecting social media as the focal innovation were twofold. Firstly, it is vital that marketers embrace it. Social media has revolutionised the way in which marketers can communicate and promote to customers. Fundamentally, message control has passed from the marketer to the customer. Secondly, it provided an opportunity to explore innovation implementation from a business perspective early on in its diffusion cycle. Although businesses were only recently invited to join social media platforms, it was anticipated that many businesses would have adopted it within the last three years. This research contributes to the sparse literature on social media. It also contributes to the growing body of literature on innovation implementation, businesses as the unit of analysis, and research which uses implementation success as its outcome variable. Additionally, it contributes to the body of research for businesses that have less than 20 employees, defined as either small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or micro-organisations, depending on the country. The objectives of this research were to identify which characteristics were most significant in influencing the successful implementation of social media and to propose a conceptual model. Due to the scarcity of literature on social media, constructs and measures were developed from other disciplines and innovation types. Research was grounded in innovation and implementation theory. The Organisational Innovativeness theory and the Variance theory (particularly the Technology-Organisation-Environment or TOE framework) were found to be of particular relevance. Marketing theory was also referred to, with the outcomes being marketing-based measures. The research was conducted in three steps. Firstly, in the pre-test phase senior managers from the New Zealand Retailers Association and academics provided feedback on the questionnaire. The Association then sent a pilot survey to their members, generating 53 usable responses. Secondly, the main survey was distributed via Facebook to businesses operating in that medium. Following analysis, the third phase involved interviews which further explored themes identified from the quantitative stage. Theoretical, methodological and managerial contributions were made from the research. Theoretical contributions included the development and empirical testing of a conceptual model for successful social media implementation. Significant predictor variables identified included complexity, a clear strategy, resources, access to training and education, and competition. These were measured by a number of dependent variables including use, overall management satisfaction and newly-developed scales for net benefits (including increased profit and increased brand loyalty). Methodological contributions included the timing of the survey. As social media has only been implemented relatively recently, information was easily recalled and bias as to whether it was likely to be a successful innovation or not was reduced. Additionally, the survey was distributed through Facebook, a new channel with viral opportunities and subsequent response rate measurement limitations. Managers will also find the results of interest not only in the implementation of social media but also for other strategic types of computer-mediated communication innovations.


This thesis has been prepared in paper based format. The thesis focusses of the use of experimental manipulations in the investigation of paranoia and extends the use of these to an empirical investigation of the role of attachment theory in paranoia. Papers 1 and 2 have been prepared for submission to Clinical Psychology Review and Schizophrenia Bulletin respectively. Paper 1 provides a comprehensive overview of experimental paradigms that aim to induce or manipulate paranoid thinking in both clinical and analogue samples. Twenty-seven studies were identified that satisfied inclusion criteria for the review. The strengths, limitations, effectiveness of individual paradigms, as well as of the literature as a whole, are considered throughout the review and recommendations for future research are made. Theoretical and clinical implications are also discussed.Paper 2 reports an experimental analogue in which participants (N=60) were randomised to a secure attachment prime (or neutral/positive affect control) condition before being exposed to a paranoia induction paradigm. Dispositional levels of insecure attachment were associated with both trait and state paranoid thinking. Contrary to predictions, the secure attachment prime did not appear to buffer paranoid thinking. The secure attachment prime was indicated to have a negative impact for people with high levels of attachment anxiety, who experienced higher levels of paranoia following the paranoia induction. Paper 3 is a critical reflection of the submitted papers and research process as a whole. The strengths and limitations of the presented research, methodological considerations and implications for clinical practice and theory are discussed and directions for future research are highlighted.


Purpose The purpose of this study, which was guided by the Family Resilience Model, was twofold: (1) to assess the risk and protective factors related to adaptation and resilience in families of children with spina bifida (SB) in South Korea and (2) to examine predictors of family adaptation and resilience. Design This is a descriptive study using survey methodology. Methods Data were collected from 203 parents of children with SB between June 2013 and February 2014 at the SB clinic in South Korea and analyzed using stepwise linear regression. Findings The best predictors of family adaptation and resilience in children with SB included one risk factor (parental depression) and four protective factors (parental health, family cohesion, family communication skills, and supportive friends/relatives). These five factors explained 39.7% of the total variance in family functioning (an indicator of family adaptation and resilience; F = 26.43, p < .001). Conclusion and Clinical Relevance Findings suggest that nursing interventions designed to strengthen protective factors and reduce risk factors are likely to promote adaptation and resilience in families of children with SB.


Characterisation of three-layer dielectric embedded into MDS-structure (Metal-Dielectric-Silicon) was provided in the dark and under light illumination. In the dark, increasing of differential capacitance, simultaneously, with variation of differential conductivity of MDS-structures was detected. In the light strong changing of capacitance part of impedance was firstly observed, demonstrating decreasing almost to zero values and restoring up to maximal values in narrow bands of voltage applied. Variation of capacitance exceeds significantly so called dielectric layer capacitance, what interpreted as carriers exchanging between substrate and electronic states in SiNx probably due to three-layered kind of its nature.


Blood gases, and parameters of the extracellular and intracellular acid-base status, were measured in the anuran amphibians Bufo marinus and Xenopus laevis acclimated to temperatures of 10, 20 and 30°C for 12 days. Arterial POO2 rose with temperature so that approximately constant oxygen saturation of the blood was maintained, a phenomenon explained on the basis of models for O2 transport in animals with central vascular shunts and temperature-dependent shifts in O2 equilibrium characteristics. Arterial plasma pH of both species varied inversely with temperature, the pH/temperature coefficient being not significantly different from that required for constant relative alkalinity or dissociation of imidazole. The change in plasma pH was brought about mainly by changes in PCOCO2 although plasma bicarbonate concentration also changed significantly. Intracellular pH/temperature relationships were found to be non-linear in most of the tissues. There was considerable variability among body tissue compartments and between the two species. These data confirm that the various tissue compartments in ectotherms maintain unique ΔpH/Δt relationships, and indicate that measurement of extracellular pH as a function of temperature is not a good indicator for alphastat-type, temperature-dependent, acid-base regulation.


These are preliminary results of a new method of tracing uterine contractions by impedance recorded with 2 electrodes placed 15 cm from the midline slightly below the umbilicus. A high-frequency electric current of constant intensity was the source of the signal. Results from 2 primiparae in term labor are presented: 1 was spontaneous and uncomplicated; the second had first contractions of low amplitude, then periods of permanent contracture treated with a spasmolytic (Buscopan), and finally a normal delivery. Tracings of typical contractions, confirmed by tocography, resembled a rapidly rising curve (1-3 seconds) associated with beginning of labor pain, a rounded peak, an exponential descent, a brief horizontal pause at the isoelectric line whose duration varied with the length of the contraction, a rapid fall (1-3 seconds), a rounded nadir, and finally an exponential return to the isoelectric line. The return to base line was preceded 10-15 seconds by a slight dip. This type of tracing was associated with normal contractions and was not influenced by fetal movements. The method delineated contractions, relaxations, and the effect of medication instantly.


We report that electrode engineering, particularly tailoring the metal work function, measurement configuration and geometric shape, has significant effects on the bipolar resistive switching (RS) in lateral memory devices based on self-doped SrTiO3 (STO) single crystals. Metals with different work functions (Ti and Pt) and their combinations are used to control the junction transport (either ohmic or Schottky-like). We find that the electric bias is effective in manipulating the concentration of oxygen vacancies at the metal/STO interface, influencing the RS characteristics. Furthermore, we show that the geometric shapes of electrodes (e.g., rectangular, circular, or triangular) affect the electric field distribution at the metal/oxide interface, thus plays an important role in RS. These systematic results suggest that electrode engineering should be deemed as a powerful approach toward controlling and improving the characteristics of RS memories.


The multilevel inverter's impact in the area of power electronics is augmented because of its nimble nature. This paper presents an efficient switching pattern for multilevel inverters using the nearest leveled vector (NLV) strategy through a space vector control (SVC) technique. The objective is to reduce the total harmonic distortions by generating an optimal switching sequence with the newly introduced NLV-SVC for multilevel inverters. The proposed NLV modulation is applied for an asymmetrical multilevel inverter, which has a high number of levels with reduced switch count, sources, and lower switching losses. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified on a 27-level 3-cell asymmetrical multilevel inverter. The efficacy of the proposed method in terms of total harmonic distortions is compared with the existing nearest vector control (NVC) modulation strategy. Implementation and experimental verification of the proposed NLV-SVC modulation strategy for an asymmetrical cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter is presented for real-time validation with the comparison of the NVC modulation strategy.


— Goat milk has an hypoallergenic effects, and allergic diseases related to abnormal of intestinal flora. Probiotic microorganisms do exert an activity on the immune system in the skin of the individual.The purpose of this study are to determine the number of leukocyte and lymphocyte proliferation in rat supplemented with fermented goat milk (acidophilus milk and kefir) and sensitized with dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB). Female Wistar rats 6-8 weeks olds were divided into 3 treatment groups. The first group supplemented goat milk kefir, second group acidophilus goat milk, and third group as control. During 28-day experiment, on day 15 rat sensitized with allergen DNCB on the dorsal of the body, and on day 24 was challenged with DNCB on the ear. Sampling of blood and tissue of intestinal Peyer'patch (PP) were performed on day 14 (before DNCB sensitized) and on day 28 (after DNCB sensitized). The results showed the number of neutrophils in rats supplemented with acidophilus milk was higher (P<0.05) in after DNCB sensitized than before, but the lymphocyte count was lower. The number of monocytes, eosinophils, and basophils before and after DNCB sensitized have the same average for all treatments of milk fermented and control. Fermented goat milk (kefir and acidophilus milk) did not affect on rat PP lymphocyte proliferation culture supernatant, whereas the rat that had been DNCB sensitized showed higher in proliferative response to PHA mitogen (P <0.05) than before sensitized. In conclusion, supplementation of acidophilus goat milk with a dose of 2.0 ml / head / day on DNCB sensitized rat, can increase the number of neutrophils that play a role in innate immunity, however it was not able to increase lymphocyte proliferation that related to adaptive immunity.


Seventy-four wine strains of theSaccharomycesgenus were tested to study their oenological characteristics and enzymatic activities. These strains were isolated from spontaneous microbiota taken from cellars in the Valdepenas region (Spain) and identified by contour homogeneous electric field (CHEF) technique. When Cluster Analysis was applied to oenological properties, only SH2production, tolerance to 120of ethanol and synthesis of killer toxin contributed to the distribution of the strains in the different statistical groups. All the strains possessed esterase activity and some also showed protease and pectinase activities. None of them hadβ-D-glucosidase activity.


In fiscal year (FY) 2009, the Medicaid program funded over 75% of all publicly funded long-term supports and services (LTSS) for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in the United States ( Braddock et al., 2011 ). The majority of spending was attributed to the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Waiver program. In FY 2009, federal-state spending for the HCBS Waiver program reached over $25.1 billion and constituted almost half of total funding across the nation that year ( Braddock et al., 2011 ). Considerable effort has been spent investigating Medicaid program expenditures, however, due in part to the unique and state-specific nature of HCBS programs, national-level analysis on the types of services offered to individuals with IDD has not been available. A full understanding of the supports available through the Medicaid program is critical as the United States considers strategies for economic recovery among competing state and federal budget priorities. This article presents the results of an analysis of 88 Medicaid HCBS Section 1915(c) waiver applications for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in 41 states and the District of Columbia. It analyzes IDD data and trends close to the real time intent of states and empowers advocates in presenting timely solutions to real-time issues.


Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate signal changes in the dentate nucleus and globus pallidus (GP) on unenhanced T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images (T1 WI) in a cohort of patients who have received intrathecal macrocyclic ionic gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA) gadoterate meglumine. Materials and Methods A group of 20 patients (male/female ratio, 8:12; mean age, 39.5 ± 15.5 years) who had not received intravenous GBCA but had received an intrathecal macrocyclic ionic GBCA (plus baseline and an additional final magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] for reference) from 2012 to 2017 were retrospectively included in this institutional review board–approved study. Two radiologists inspected T1-weighted 2-dimensional spin echo (n = 7) and 3-dimensional isotropic turbo field echo (n = 13) images on a 3 T MRI system to conduct visual evaluation and quantitative analysis. Baseline and final examination signal intensity (SI) ratios were assessed across time by using the same pulse sequences. For visual analysis, SI changes on the GP, thalamus (Th), cerebellar peduncle (CP), and dentate nucleus (DN) were graded as a 3-point scale. For quantitative analysis, SI ratio differences between the baseline and final MR examinations were estimated for the DN-to-CP and GP-to-Th ratios. One-sample t tests were used to investigate whether they differed from 0. In addition, to investigate significant differences between the SI ratios for various pulse sequences, t tests were performed. The regression analysis was additionally used to find any correlation between SI ratio differences and various confounding variables including age, sex, or the mean interval between the baseline and final MR examinations. Results The SI ratio differences did not deviate significantly from 0, neither for the DN/CP ratio (0.013 ± 0.0584, P = 0.287) nor the GP/Th ratio (−0.0113 ± 0.0546, P = 0.366). The DN-to-CP and GP-to-Th SI ratio differences did not significantly deviate from 0 in the patient groups in either of the imaging sequences (P > 0.05) as well. Age, sex, and the mean interval between examinations did not influence SI ratio differences between examinations (P > 0.05). Conclusions Intrathecal macrocyclic GBCA administration was not associated with measurable T1 SI changes in the GP and DN as an indicator of brain gadolinium deposition detectable by MRI.


This paper considers the problem of bending of a plate composed of two plates of materials having dissimilar elastic properties, bonded together along a straight line which sustains a crack. Both materials are assumed to be isotropic and, homogeneous. Upon obtaining stress solutions, it is found that the significant stresses are inversely proportional to the square root of the radial distance from the crack front and have an oscillatory character, which is shown to be confined to the immediate vicinity of the crack tip. A two-parameter set of equations expressing the general form of the stress distribution around the tip of such a crack is provided as it is of primary importance in predicting the strength of cracked plates. Some analogies are also observed between the characteristic equations occurring in the extension and bending of cracked plates composed of dissimilar materials.


Spiny dogfish shark (Squalus acanthias) embryos were transported from Maine to the Maryland laboratory where they were maintained for 20 months. During this maintenance period, these sharks progressed from a yolk-sac stage to feeding stage. Animals were maintained at 10 degrees C in artificial seawater containing penicillin and streptomycin and were fed frozen brine shrimp and krill. The ease with which these animals could be maintained in the laboratory for an extended period of time greatly enhanced their usefulness as an experimental animal in a variety of studies.


Cavitation driven by high-intensity focused ultrasound is being investigated as a potential mechanism for therapeutic ultrasound. In this role, the mechanical bubble activity could be used for localised tissue disruption, facilitating targeted drug delivery. The cavitation sub-harmonic signal, which is emitted at sub-multiple values of the driving frequency, is often used to discern the onset of cavitation at a level sufficient to elicit a required bio-effect. Despite this, a convincing mechanistic source for the signal has been elusive. In this paper, we report on high-speed observations of non-linear cloud oscillatory response to propagating HIFU insonations, at two intensities typical of those used for therapeutic applications. Single cavitation clouds are reproducibly introduced to the focus of a 254 kHz HIFU field at peak-to-peak pressure amplitudes of 0.48 and 0.62 MPa, and the subsequent activity is resolved via high-speed shadowgraphic imaging at 1 × 106 frames per second. Cavitation clouds develop rapidly from nucleation, via component bubble fragmentation, and undergo repetitive oscillations from t ≈ 30 μs following nucleation, periodically emitting shock-waves at moments of concerted cloud collapse. The frequency of cloud collapse, and coincident shock-emission, occurs at one-half (~127.0 kHz) of the driving frequency at 0.48 MPa, and one-third (~84.7 kHz) of the driving at 0.62 MPa. By way of analysis, cloud oscillations are compared to a single bubble Rayleigh-Plesset model, subject to equivalent acoustic conditions. The comparison is favourable for selected values of model quiescent radius, in terms of the period of oscillation - and therefore shock-wave emission frequency - at each of the pressure amplitudes. We conclude that periodic shock emission from acoustically driven cavitation clouds provides a previously unidentified source of the sub-harmonic signal.


We introduce and study a new notion of patterns in Stirling and $k$-Stirling permutations, which we call block patterns. We prove a general result which allows us to compute generating functions for the occurrences of various block patterns in terms of generating functions for the occurrences of patterns in permutations. This result yields a number of applications involving, among other things, Wilf equivalence of block patterns and a new interpretation of Bessel polynomials. We also show how to interpret our results for a certain class of labeled trees, which are in bijection with Stirling permutations.


We present a scene parsing method that utilizes global context information based on both the parametric and nonparametric models. Compared to previous methods that only exploit the local relationship between objects, we train a context network based on scene similarities to generate feature representations for global contexts. In addition, these learned features are utilized to generate global and spatial priors for explicit classes inference. We then design modules to embed the feature representations and the priors into the segmentation network as additional global context cues. We show that the proposed method can eliminate false positives that are not compatible with the global context representations. Experiments on both the MIT ADE20K and PASCAL Context datasets show that the proposed method performs favorably against existing methods.


In this study, we evaluate the performance of the SWAT-N model, a modified version of the widely used SWAT version, for discharge and nitrate predictions at the mesoscale Dill catchment (Germany) for a 5-year period. The underlying question is, whether the model efficiency is sufficient for scenario analysis of land-use changes on both water quantity and quality. The Shuffled Complex Evolution (SCE-UA) algorithm is used to calibrate the model for daily discharge at the catchments outlet. Model performance is assessed with a split-sampling as well as a proxy-basin test using recorded hydrographs of four additional gauges located within the catchment. The efficiency regarding nitrate load simulation is assessed without further calibration on a daily, log-daily, weekly, and monthly basis as compared to observations derived from an intensive sampling campaign conducted at the catchments outlet. A new approach is employed to test the spatial consistency of the model, where simulated longitudinal profiles of nitrate concentrations were compared with observed longitudinal profiles. It is concluded that the model efficiency of SWAT-N is sufficient for the assessment of scenarios for daily discharge predictions. SWAT-N can be employed without further calibration for nitrate load simulations on both a weekly and monthly basis with an acceptable degree of accuracy. However, the model efficiency for daily nitrate load is insufficient, which can be attributed to both data uncertainty (i.e. point-source effluents and actual farming practise) as well as structural errors. The simulated longitudinal profiles meet the observations reasonably well, which suggests that the model is spatially consistent.


Formal ethical approval was granted by the local research ethics committee; all participants gave written consent. The purpose of the study was to prospectively evaluate the feasibility of a noninvasive method of breast tumor localization in 25 participants, based on the coregistration of three-dimensional (3D) ultrasonographic (US) data with surface contour data obtained by using a 3D laser camera. The tumor is segmented from the US data, and a surface-rendered 3D image of the tumor, in relation to the breast surface contour, is produced. From a personal computer in the operating room, the surgeon can dynamically view a 3D image of the tumor within the breast. This noninvasive method was equivalent to conventional techniques in 18 of 25 patients but was less successful in larger-breasted patients. In selected patients, this localization method could provide an alternative to conventional invasive techniques and can offer both spatial localization and tumor morphology.


The article is a proposal for opening verse studies to the problem of presence, on the basis of Hans Urlich Gumrecht's project of a nonhermeneutic humanities. The author presents the limitations of a semantically oriented versology, simultaneously pointing to the possibility of a continuation of formal-structural tradition of studies on verse, following non-semantic threads in the works of Polish theorists: Janusz Sławiński, Lucylla Pszczołowska i Teresa Dobrzyńska. Tomasz Różycki's poem Panny nieroztropne [Foolish virgins] become an exemplum for the ensuing considerations, while two intuitions of contemporary poets inspire theoretical considerations. One is Eugenio Montale's perverse thesis on the hopeless semanticity of poetry and Adam Zagajewski's Nietzschean claim that versologists take care of fire rather than ashes, i.e., investigate living, aesthetically influential verse forms. a e s t h e t i c s o f a l i t e r a r y w o r k presence


In recent years, consumer Unmanned Aerial Vehicles have become very popular, everyone can buy and fly a drone without previous experience, which raises concern in regards to regulations and public safety. In this paper, we present a novel approach towards enabling safe operation of such vehicles in urban areas. Our method uses geodetically accurate dataset images with Geographical Information System (GIS) data of road networks and buildings provided by Google Maps, to compute a weighted A* shortest path from start to end locations of a mission. Weights represent the potential risk of injuries for individuals in all categories of land-use, i.e. flying over buildings is considered safer than above roads. We enable safe UAV operation in regards to 1- land-use by computing a static global path dependent on environmental structures, and 2- avoiding flying over moving objects such as cars and pedestrians by dynamically optimizing the path locally during the flight. As all input sources are first geo-registered, pixels and GPS coordinates are equivalent, it therefore allows us to generate an automated and user-friendly mission with GPS waypoints readable by consumer drones' autopilots. We simulated 54 missions and show significant improvement in maximizing UAV's standoff distance to moving objects with a quantified safety parameter over 40 times better than the naive straight line navigation.


Topic of emigration from Lithuania became an important issue both in scientific dialogue and political arena. Huge migration waves bring nothing but social, economic, education and other problems for the country of origin and also for the decision making migrants. And the influence of migration touched already the most vulnerable part of the population – children. If they are left alone in Lithuania they suffer from separation with their parents, but if they migrate together they suffer as well, facing other issues, such as: foreign language, country, culture and different educational systems, if they have to transfer the school. School transition, adaptation in the new environment, new country by itself is already a very complicating and challenging process for the children's development. Moreover, during such transition problems become even more complex and this time parental involvement plays an essential role. This research is based on the children perspective, how they see parental involvement in children adaptation process both in the new country and new school abroad. The aim of the study is to identify parental involvement in children adaptation process due to migration. KEYWORDS: parental involvement, school-age children, migration. DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/ 10.15181/atee.v1i0.676


Colubrina glandulosa Perkins is a species of ecological and socioeconomic importance, but in danger of extinction. The present study aimed to evaluate different storage conditions to check the physiological quality of the colubrina seeds. The seeds were stored in a paper bag and glass bottle, in a laboratory environment and in a dry chamber, during for 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 months. For each storage period and condition, the following variables were evaluated: water content, germination, speed, mean time and germination synchrony, total length, and dry mass of seedlings. The experimental design was completely randomized, in a 2 × 6 factorial arrangement (2 packs and 6 storage periods), with 4 replicates of 25 seeds. The water content of the seeds ranged from 8.0% to 17.8%, depending on the packaging and environmental conditions of the storage site, being physiologically classified as orthodox. Under the laboratory conditions, seed physiological potential decreased from 6 months onward in the paper packaging. Seeds conditioned in a porous or impermeable packaging with a water content of 8.0%, in the dry chamber condition, remained viable when stored for 15 months.


Background: Regulation of the plasminogen activation system (PAS) is a vital component in governing proteolytic events within the extracellular matrix (ECM). PAS is believed to play a substantial role in the destruction and healing of periodontal tissues. Thus, the current work aimed to study the histopathological effect of open flap debridement (OFD) on periodontitis, as well as its effect on tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) gene levels in gingival tissues. Methods: A total of 30 subjects were enrolled in the present study. They were divided into two groups: Group I (control group) included 10 periodontally healthy volunteers and group II (periodontitis group) comprised 20 patients suffering from stage III grade B periodontitis. Gingival tissue samples were collected from all periodontitis patients, before and after OFD, and from healthy controls. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained slides were subsequently examined and gene expression levels of t-PA and PAI-1 were assessed in the gingiva through quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results: Gingival tissue samples from periodontitis patients showed widely dilated blood vessels, diffuse hemorrhage, areas of edema, and disorganized collagen fibers together with large amounts of inflammatory cells in between. Following OFD, smaller sized blood vessels, a restored collagen fiber distribution, and an obvious decrease in the inflammatory infiltrate were noted. Gene expression levels of t-PA and PAI-1 were significantly higher in the periodontitis patients compared to the healthy controls. Although their levels showed a significant decrease following OFD in the periodontitis group, they were still significantly higher than the control group. Conclusion: OFD procedures resulted in down regulation of t-PA and PAI-1 expression levels in the gingiva of periodontitis patients, which could signify an important role of these proteins on periodontal disease progression.


The promoter of mitochondria-localized small heat shock protein gene in Lycopersicon esculentum (Lehsp23.8) is characterized as strongly heat-inducible. In this study, to determine how the expression of Lehsp23.8 is regulated, we conducted five expression vectors carrying the gus gene driven by the 5' deletion products of the Lehsp23.8 promoter. The corresponding transgenic tobacco plants were generated via Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. Transgenic plants were identified by PCR and Southern blotting analysis. GUS activities under heat-shock conditions were characterized in transgenic tobacco plants. After heat shock, obvious GUS staining was detected in the leaves, shoots, roots, flowers and fruits of the transgenic tobacco plants. The result of fluorometric GUS assays in leaves showed that the heat-induced GUS activity of the 565 bp promoter was the strongest, while that of the 255 bp promoter was the lowest. Deletion analysis shows that the smallest promoter fragment (-255 bp to -23 bp) is sufficient for heat induction. It also indicates that the sequences between -255 bp and -565 bp serve as enhancers, while the sequences between -565 bp and -871 bp can repress the heat-induced activity of the Lehsp23.8 promoter.


Nowadays there is a multitude of mobile and tablet applications being developed in order to facilitate or disrupt every day tasks. Many of these are location based. A technique to serve in providing information and content is crowdsourcing. This technique is based on the public contributing information or resources giving them the opportunity to become both service providers and recipients at the same time. Taking into account the above and after observing passengers using the public transport system, we came to the conclusion that it would be useful to be able to determine which transport medium (i.e which bus line out of a number running concurrently) is nearer at any given moment. This information allows for better decision making and choice of transportation. For this we propose the development of an application to show the position of a selected transport vehicle. The position will be calculated based on geo-tracking provided by passengers boarded on a vehicle. This will allow for real time information to the application users in order to be able to determine their optimal route.


The dehydra-decyclization of tetrahydrofuran (THF) to butadiene was investigated over a series of metal oxide catalysts, where a common set of chemical pathways was identified. Alongside butadiene, propene is formed via a retro-Prins condensation as the main side product typically observed. Reaction occurred at similar temperatures on each of the oxides, but tetragonal zirconia (t-ZrO2) and monoclinic zirconia (m-ZrO2) were unique in showing high selectivity to butadiene (>90%). Near quantitative yields to butadiene could be achieved over t-ZrO2 at 673 K and a WHSV of 0.93 g THF gcat−1 h−1. Through contact time studies, butadiene is determined to be a primary product. Methyl-substituted THF gave only moderate increases in rates and the products showed minimal isomerization of the carbon backbone. The t-ZrO2 catalyst was found to be relatively stable with time on stream, experiencing coking as a likely source of deactivation. Complete regeneration of the catalyst was demonstrated through calcination alone, allowing for multiple regenerations with no irreversible loss in activity or selectivity. The catalytic activity of zirconia was found to be structure insensitive, with t-ZrO2 and m-ZrO2 exhibiting similar initial activities; however, m-ZrO2 was observed to deactivate much more rapidly.


'But where shall wisdom be found?' asked Job, and from across the ancient world came many different replies. Some conceived of wisdom in supernatural personified form and answered the question in appropriate terms. For others, wisdom was something far more human, manifested in a number of different possible ways. For many philosophers, on the other hand, it was simply the highest human intellectual attainment possible. However understood, wisdom was highly prized across the ancient world and throughout ancient history. To the extent to which there was a shared ancient culture, wisdom lay at the heart of it. However, the modern study of the subject has been very fragmented. Old Testament scholars, theologians, historians of philosophy, Egyptologists, Assyriologists, classicists and historians of ideas have all taken an interest, but there has been limited communication and co-operation between the disciplines.

This is the first book to bring the different aspects of the study of ancient wisdom together and present it as a subject in its own right, looking at wise deities, wise figures from myth and legend, wise characters from ancient history, practices associated with wisdom (including divination and healing), and wisdom as it appears in ancient literature. Familiar figures such as Solomon and Socrates rub shoulders here with less well-known ones such as Shulgi and Stilbides. Specially drawn maps accompany the text to provide a geographical context while a timeline provides a chronological one.


Fluoroscopic procedures are commonly used in today's healthcare and involve ionizing radiation exposure to personnel and patients. During these procedures the patient is placed on a surgical table. The board on which the patient is lying on is referred to as the table top, and how different table top materials affect the image quality and radiation exposure has been investigated in this report. Radiation exposure measurements at different sites have been recorded with both a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and an anthropomorphic phantom representing a patient. Image quality assessment was made in terms of contrast, signal-to-noise ratio and modular transfer function. The result showed that a higher table top attenuation or a higher tube voltage may lead to a lower dose but also a reduction in image quality. The preferred tube voltage and current, and resulting image quality is task dependent, i.e. dependent on the type of clinical procedure, which makes it hard to generalize in the selection of a certain table. Two methods have been proposed when selecting a table, one which can be considered as quantification of the trade-off between image quality and radiation dose, the other one is a fast method for comparing a large amount of tables.


Platelet mixed membrane fractions can be separated into discrete vesicle subpopulations of surface and intracellular origin. Intracellular membrane vesicles are the predominant site of phospholipid-modifying enzymes that liberate arachidonic acid. We report the selective enrichment in intracellular membranes of cyclo-oxygenase and thromboxane synthetase activities. Surface membrane fractions show no such enrichment. These results suggest that a sequence of activities leading to the biosynthesis of thromboxane from arachidonate is associated with the intracellular membrane elements known as dense tubular membranes.


Background Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a common inherited cardiac condition. Multiple factors have been identified towards high risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) as outlined in the ESC guidelines. LV wall thickness (LVwt) is an identified risk. Left ventricular mass indexed to body surface area (LVIBSA) increases with wall thickness and may predict risk not currently utilised in the risk score. Objectives 1. Compare differences in LVwt using transthoracic echocardiogram(TTE) and MRI and the effect on ESC risk score. 2. Observe for association of LVIBSA and incidence of non-sustained ventricular tachycardia(NSVT) either on 24 hour holter monitor or following ICD insertion. Methods We retrospectively reviewed patients between January 2010 to July 2015 who were confirmed to have HCM on MRI. ESC Risk was calculated using LV TTE and MRI LVwt. LVIBSA was calculated from MRI images and compared with incidence of VA on holter monitors. Patients who received ICD had follow up and VA incidence recorded. Results 103 patients with confirmed HCM were identified with median age of 60 (range 15–87). Non sustained VT (NSVT) was recorded in 20 (19.4%) patients while 16 patients had missing or no record of holter. Primary prevention ICDs (ICD 1*) were inserted in 20 (19.4%) patients. MRI identified a higher absolute LVwtcompared to TTE in 68.9% of patients. This lead to an increase in ESC risk score from low risk to high risk in 5% of the patients (ESC score>4). LVIBSA was higher in the patients with holter positive for VA (mean 109.7g/m2, 95% CI [92.8, 126.6] vs 89.8g/m2, 95% CI [83.2, 96.4], p=<0.05). Patients with ICD (n=20) were followed up for 52.6 months±5.8 months. One patient with ICD 1* had VA detected after 7 months of ICD insertion and treated successfully with 1 anti-tachycardia pacing algorithm. Conclusion The detection of HCM through use of MRI allows for earlier diagnosis of patients and provides for accurate and reproducible measurements of LVwt and LVIBSA x as opposed to TTE. In our retrospective study it is suggested that higher LVIBSA is related to increase incidence of VA. If LVIBSA derived from MRI were applied to ESC guidelines, this could result in more patients ICD 1*. We feel this should be explored with larger studies to see if LVIBSA is an independent risk factor for SCD.


1. The process of neural excitation in hair cell systems was studied in an in vitro preparation of the Xenopus laevis (African clawed toad) lateral line organ. A specially designed stimulus chamber was used to apply accurately controlled pressure, water movement, or electrical stimuli, and to record the neural responses of the two afferent fibers innervating each organ or stitch. The objective of the study was to determine the characteristics of the neural responses to these stimuli, and thus gain insight into the transduction process. 2. A sustained deflection of the hair cell cilia due to a constant flow of water past the capula resulted in a maintained change in the mean firing rate (MFR) of the afferent fibers. The data also demonstrated that the neural response was proportional to the velocity of the water flow and indicated that both deflection and movement of the cilia were the effective physiological stimuli for this hair cell system. 3. The preparations responded to sinusoidal water movements (past the capula) over the entire frequency range of the stimulus chamber, 0.1-130 Hz, and were most sensitive between 10 and 40 Hz. The variation of the MFR and the percent modulation indicated that the average dynamic range of each organ was 23.5 dB. 4. The thresholds, if any, for sustained pressure changes and for sinusoidal pressure variations in the absence of water movements were very high. Due to the limitations of the stimulus chamber it was not possible to generate pressure stimuli of sufficient magnitude to elicit a neural response without also generating suprathreshold water-movement stimuli. Sustained pressures had no detectable effect on the neural response to water-movement stimuli. 5. The preparations were very sensitive to electrical potentials applied across the toad skin on which the hair cells were located. Potentials which made the ciliated surfaces of the hair cells positive with respect to their bases increased the MFR of the fibers, whereas negative potentials decreased it. The responses to sinusoidal electrical stimuli were similar to responses to water-movement stimuli with respect to frequency and dynamic ranges. Thresholds as low as 100 muV peak to peak (p-p) for 16-Hz stimuli were found. 6. The characteristics of the neural responses to electrical stimulation as well as supporting data obtained from the studies of the effects of anoxia on the evoked responses indicate that the electrical stimulus acts on the hair cells or on the synapses, rather than directly on the nerve fibers. This finding suggests that receptor potentials or their associated currents play an important role in the process of neural excitation in hair cell systems.


To minimize problems caused by sample introduction into a microwave-induced plasma (MIP), we have developed a system consisting of a spark ablation cell and a pulse-operated microwave-induced plasma (pulsed-MIP). An aerosol is generated from solid samples with the use of a spark discharge. The resultant material is swept into a pulsed-MIP. Design and fabrication criteria for the spark source and the spark ablation cell are presented. The combined sources show enhanced precision, stability, signal-to-noise levels, and detection limits relative to direct spark emission. Analytical calibration curves and detection limit data are shown for nickel, manganese, and chromium in steel samples. Time-resolved data are also shown.