Abstract: Energy poverty is a major problem in the developing world, with nearly 1.3 billion people lacking household electricity. Strikingly, the electrification rate is not only low, but is falling in many countries as population growth outpaces efforts to give more people access to electricity. Seizing the opportunities presented by rapid changes in technology and the availability of renewable energy at continually falling costs, social enterprises have begun to light the darkness and fill in the gap between the public and private provision of electricity. We review the extent of energy poverty and explain why neither the public, nor the private sector has successfully addressed this problem. We also discuss institutional factors that have created an environment conducive to the spread of solar power. To illustrate the social enterprise response, we explain the sector's three most common approaches to solar electrification. Since the potential benefits of any social innovation revolve around its scalability, we discuss various paths to scale before outlining A.T. Kearney's "Social Enterprise Accelerator" model as a template for scaling up individual social businesses. To enable greater consistency with an institutional economic framework, we suggest an adaptation of the model. We conclude by highlighting potential benefits and challenges facing solar electrification, including the limits of social enterprise as a stand-alone solution to utility provision.


In this paper, we propose a new type of islanding detection system based on voltage angle difference between the utility network and distributed generation sites. Intranet and PMU (phasor measurement unit) technology are applied for easy implementation of the system. The system consists of two types of equipment. One is located in the utility substation and measures voltage angle with time stamp, while the other is located at the interconnection point of a distributed generator. The two pieces of equipment are connected by WAN and communicate with each other over TCP/IP. A prototype system has been developed to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed system. Performance tests were conducted using the prototype system and an analog-simulator. The two units of the prototype system were connected by LAN. The prototype system was shown to be capable of detecting islanding conditions as small as 1% power imbalance, as opposed to a conventional frequency-based system that can only detect islanding conditions with more than 4% power imbalance. Test results indicate that the proposed system is superior to the original frequency-based type for reliable detection of islanding of distributed generators.


Acrylamide (AA), a rodent carcinogen, is widely used in industry and present in cigarette smoke as well as in foods processed at high temperatures. The metabolic activation of AA to glycidamide (GA) could be critical for AA carcinogenicity since GA causes DNA adduct formation in vivo. N7-(2-carbamoyl-2-hydroxyethyl) guanine (N7-GAG), the most abundant DNA adduct of AA, is subjected to spontaneous and enzymatic depurination and excreted through urine. Urinary N7-GAG analysis can confirm AA genotoxicity and identify active species of AA metabolites in humans, thereby serving as a risk-associated biomarker for molecular epidemiology studies. This study aimed to develop an isotope-dilution solid-phase extraction liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method to comparatively analyze urinary N7-GAG levels in nonsmokers and smokers. Urinary N-acetyl-S-(propionamide)-cysteine (AAMA), a metabolite of AA, was also analyzed as a biomarker for current AA exposure. Urinary N7-GAG was quantified by monitoring m/z 239 → 152 for N7-GAG and m/z 242 → 152 for (13)C3-labeled N7-GAG under positive electron spray ionization and multiple reaction mode. The median urinary N7-GAG level was 0.93 μg/g creatinine in nonsmokers (n = 33) and 1.41 μg/g creatinine in smokers (n = 30). Multiple linear regression analysis of data revealed that N7-GAG levels were only significantly associated with AAMA levels. These results demonstrate that urinary N7-GAG of nonsmokers and smokers is significantly associated with a very low level of dietary AA intake, assessed by analyzing urinary AAMA.


We present new observations of solar-energetic particles (SEPs) associated with impulsive solar flares that show evidence for their confinement to interplanetary magnetic field lines. Some SEP events exhibit intermittent intensity dropouts because magnetic field lines filled with and empty of particle flux mix together. The edges of these dropouts are observed to be very sharp, suggesting that particles cannot easily move from a filled to an empty field line in the time available during their transport from the Sun. In this paper, we perform high time-resolution observations of intensity fall-off at the edges of observed SEP dropouts in order to look for signatures of particle motion off field lines. However, the statistical study is dominated by one particularly intense event. The inferred length scale of the intensity decay is comparable to the gyroradii of the particles, suggesting that particles only rarely scatter off magnetic field lines during interplanetary transport.


An extended tail or prolonged depolarizing afterpotential (PDA) follows the receptor potential of a locust retinula cell when the stimulating light is in the intensity range that saturates the receptor potential. The amplitude and duration of this afterpotential depend on the intensity and duration of the stimulus. As the afterpotential decays, apparently exponentially, it becomes resolved into bumps, which we call light-induced dark bumps (LID bumps). The intervals between light-induced dark bumps are distributed in a way that is indistinguishable from a random (Poisson) distribution. As previously demonstrated, LID bumps are indistinguishable from bumps directly induced by low intensity light in light-adapted cells, which in turn grade into the slightly larger bumps produced, each by a single photon, in dark-adapted cells. The light-induced dark bumps continue for up to an hour in darkness, slowly becoming like dark-adapted bumps in amplitude and shape. To account for the random occurrence and discrete features of bumps after so long a latency, we propose that intense light generates a significant amount of an intermediate molecule or packet which decays slowly to start the same process that normally generates bumps with a short delay.


The chapter discusses the myth of Sweden as the most gender equal country in the world, seen from point of view of negative images projected onto Sweden in mainstream media in neighbouring country Denmark, which in some respects may stand in for more general international trends. Via two case studies, Danish media debates on the 'gender-neutral' pedagogy of the kindergarden, Egalia, in Stockholm, and the Danish debates following in the wake of Swedish-Iranian journalist and poet Athena Farrokzhad's review of Danish-Palestinian poet Yahya Hassan's poetry collection in the Swedish newspaper, Aftonbladet, the chapter pinpoints how Sweden is rendered as fundamentalist, but also exceptional in terms of the way in which issues of equality, gender, race, feminism and anti-racism are taken into account in the country. Against the background of the analysis, the chapter claims that it is important to unpack these debunking and anti-Swedish discourses on Swedish 'equality fundamentalism', produced outside of Sweden, among others because they contribute to confirm the myth of Sweden as exceptionally (gender) equal, glossing over actual inequalities in Sweden.


Cultures of human epithelial cells (keratinocytes) are used as an additional surgical tool to treat critically burnt patients. Initially, the production environment of keratinocyte grafts was regulated exclusively by national regulations. In 2004, the European Tissues and Cells Directive 2004/23/EC (transposed into Belgian Law) imposed requirements that resulted in increased production costs and no significant increase in quality and/or safety. In 2007, Europe published Regulation (EC) No. 1394/2007 on Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products. Overnight, cultured keratinocytes became (arguably) 'Advanced' Therapy Medicinal Products to be produced as human medicinal products. The practical impact of these amendments was (and still is) considerable. A similar development appears imminent in bacteriophage therapy. Bacteriophages are bacterial viruses that can be used for tackling the problem of bacterial resistance development to antibiotics. Therapeutic natural bacteriophages have been in clinical use for almost 100 years. Regulators today are framing the (re-)introduction of (natural) bacteriophage therapy into 'modern western' medicine as biological medicinal products, also subject to stringent regulatory medicinal products requirements. In this paper, we look back on a century of bacteriophage therapy to make the case that therapeutic natural bacteriophages should not be classified under the medicinal product regulatory frames as they exist today. It is our call to authorities to not repeat the mistake of the past.


Tracing attackers' traffic through stepping stones is a challenging problem, especially when the attack traffic is encrypted, and its timing is manipulated (perturbed) to interfere with traffic analysis. The random timing perturbation by the adversary can greatly reduce the effectiveness of passive, timing-based correlation techniques. We presented a novel active timing-based correlation approach to deal with random timing perturbations. By embedding a unique watermark into the inter-packet timing, with sufficient redundancy, we can make the correlation of encrypted flows substantially more robust against random timing perturbations. Our analysis and our experimental results confirm these assertions. Our watermark-based correlation is provably effective against correlated random timing perturbation as long as the covariance of the timing perturbations on different packets is fixed. Specifically, the proposed watermark-based correlation can, with arbitrarily small average time adjustment, achieve arbitrarily close to 100% watermark detection (correlation true positive) rate and arbitrarily close to 0% collision (correlation false positive) probability at the same time against arbitrarily large (but bounded) random timing perturbation of arbitrary distribution (or process), as long as there are enough packets in the flow to be watermarked.


The steady-state gain distribution in cladding pumped thulium-doped fiber laser(TDFL) is analytically and numerically solved based on the rate equations including loss coefficients and cross relaxation effect. With the gain curve, a problem, which is named optical feedback inhibition(OFI) and always occurs in tandem TDFL-Ho:YAG laser system, is analyzed quantitatively. The actual characteristics of output spectra and power basically prove the conclusion of theoretical analysis. Then a simple mirror-deflected L-shaped cavity is employed to restrain the external feedback and simplify the structure of fiber-bulk Ho:YAG laser. Finally, 25 W of 2097-nm laser power and 51.2% of optical-to-optical conversion efficiency are obtained, and the beam quality factor is less than 1.43 obtained by knife-edge method.


A physically based model of camera, sensor, light source, object geometry and surface characteristics in conjunction with the path tracing algorithm is suggested and enhanced to allow for accurate simulation of active photogrammetric 3d measurement systems. This allows for effects to be simulated which are not inherent to common simulation approaches. The theory is based on the rendering and measurement equations which are solved using Monte Carlo methods. The minimal number of samples to achieve an accurate physical simulation can be adapted for each pixel by estimating the residual standard deviation of each calculated gray scale value.


Toner-based microfluidic devices have emerged since 2003 as promising platforms for bioanalytical applications. The simplicity of the fabrication process, the low instrumental requirements and the global affordability of required consumables are some key features that encourage the use of this kind of substrate for chemical and biochemical assays. This review aims to cover the recent advances regarding the fabrication procedures involving the laser printing of microfluidic devices on polyester films as well as the association of printing, laser cutting and lamination to create devices assembled in a multi-layer architecture. Examples of applications involving electrophoresis, mixing, concentration, purification, extraction, amplification, rotation-driven fluidic transport, enzyme-linked immunoassays and colorimetric lateral assays on toner-based platforms will be presented and discussed. Lastly, the versatility of the toner-based fabrication technique to enable the production of hydrophobic valves, droplet generator devices, and mimetic vein-on-a-chip and hybrid devices will also be covered.


A simple classroom complementation experiment Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License. This methods for teaching is available in Fungal Genetics Reports: http://newprairiepress.org/fgr/vol21/iss1/8 METHODS FOR TEACHING Se1itrennikoff.C. P. Use of conidial separation ,-defective strains. The problem of contominofion of laboratories by Neurospora mocroconidia is well known and has prompted the use of morphological mutants or even other fungi (e.g., Scardoria) for class experiments (Barratt 1965 NN*10:33; Gardner and-M&t&r 1970 Genetics Lobor&ry Investigations, Burgess). I suggest the use of conidial separation defective strains (csp-1 and csp-2). These mutants produce chains of conjoined conidia, yet are comparable in macroscopic appearance to normal cultures. The virtual absence of free conidio formed by these strains permits their experimental manipulation (even student loop tronsfers)without the fear of aerial dispersal of canidia. Prototrophic and wxotrophic cultures containing the CSJ-J and csp-2 mutations ore available from the Fungal Genetics Stock Center. _-Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Fullerton, CA 92634. Selitrennikaff,C. P. and M. Bailey. A simple The utility of Neurospora in an undergraduate genetics laboratory course for classr00m complementation experiment. demonstrating basic genetic principles has been previously described (Neurospore in teaching 1966 NN#IO: 15). A reliabl e, visual method for demonstrating intergenic complementotion is presented here. This procedure exploits the observation that csp-I and csp-2 strains produce conjoined conidio so that when agor slant cultures are inverted and sharply tapped no freed conidio ore observed falling the "tap test" (Sel'tI rennikoff and Nelson 1973 NN#20:34). However, when either wildtype cultures or forced heterokaryons of csp-I/& ore topped, they release an easily observed copious cloud of freed conidio. The one allele ofe(UCLA37) and the three alleles of csp-2 (FS591, FS590, UCLA 101) were each crossed to nit-2 (43002) and nit-3 (Y31881 ) and heterokoryon compatable double mutant cultures isolated (Selitrennikoff; in preparation). These compatable strains can be used in a classical "cis-trans" test requiring only the top test to detect the presence or absence of complementation. To illustrate, we present an ex,iz which was performed by the Fall 1973 Genetics Laboratory students at California State University ot Fullerton. Each group of 3 students was given ogor slant cultures ( Vogel's medium N + 1.5% sucrose + 50 pg/ml nicotinamide) of the following strains ( each tube was labeled with only the allele number and the appropriate OUXOtrophic locus designation) and 20 sterile slants of Vogel's N + 1.5% sucwse minimal medium. I. nit-2 A L 2 . nit-3 A 3. csp-1 (UCLA37), nit-2 A 4. 3 (UCLA37); nit-3 A 5. csp-2 (FS590); oic-2 A 6. csp-2 (FS590), nit-3 A 7. up-2 (FS591); nit-2 A 8. csp-2 (FS591), n i t 3 A 9 . csp-2 (UCLA IOmc-2 A IO. csp-2 (UCLA 101); nit-3 A. Table 1. Heterokaryotic cultures were formed by co-inoculation of aerial hyphae onto minimal medium. After 7 days' growth ot 25'C, tubes were scored by the tap test. + = Free conidio = conjoined conidia. The students were asked to design their own experimental protocol in or.der to obtain data which would allow them to ~lnswer these questions: 1) Is each morphological mutant gene recessive to its wild-type allele? 2) How many loci do the 4 mutant genes i.e., UCLA37, FS591, FS590 and UCLA 101, represent? All groups independently performed the heterokoryon analysis with the G&Its indicated in Table 1 and concluded that FS590, FS591 and UCLA 101 were functional alleles, UCLA37 was o separate locus, and all were recessive. The oboe IO strains me available from the Fungol Genetics Stock Center. This work was supported in port by on NSF predoctoral traineeship to CPS. Deportment of Biological Sciences, California State University, Fullerton, CA 92634.


This article describes the collective experience of a multidisciplinary network of researchers, practitioners, and program evaluators who support appropriate research and evaluation methods in working with Native peoples. Our experience underlines the critical importance of culture in understanding and conducting research with the diverse populations of American Indians and Alaska Natives, and documents the need for community-based, collaborative, participatory action research. We discuss the major findings of the first American Indian Research and Program Evaluation Methodology national symposium, and articulate a set of 20 guiding principles for conducting research and program evaluation.


I AM A HISTORIAN OF EARLY modern Spain. I first came into contact with Jose Antonio Maravall in graduate school, when I wrote a paper about the 1520 Comuneros Revolt and I read Las Comunidades de Castilla. My teacher had been a friend of Maravall. I had lived in Spain for over a decade just after Franco's death and during the transition to democracy, so immediately I realized two things about the book, aside from what it had to say about the Comuneros: The author had a tremendous chip on his shoulder about Spain's peculiar political development over the past few centuries, and he was the father of the Socialist minister of education. Soon I realized the relationship was the other way around. A few years later, I was fortunate to attend several graduate seminars in Berkeley's Spanish Department, where for the first time I became aware of Maravall's enormous impact on scholars of literature. I heard, for example, that the seventeenth century was a time of rigid absolutism and secularization, both of which I knew for a fact to be untrue, and that is when I began thinking about the Maravall problem.I cannot pretend to rule on Maravall's gifts as a scholar of literature and political philosophy, and I certainly do not question his erudition or breadth. But I can state that, despite his reputation and self-description as a social historian, his work is neither social nor is it history, and I think it is fair to say that I am not alone among historians in thinking this. I have spent most of my career thinking about social class, power, and political authority; this essay therefore will look at Maravall's historical analysis of power at the top, his understanding of those at the bottom, and his account of how those two levels interact.Critics and reviewers often note that Maravall historicized literature in the context of social considerations. For example, a reviewer of his enormous study of picaresque literature said, "Social history and literary text are here joined in a hermeneutic circle. The mentalidad is skillfully constructed from the documentary and historical evidence, then confirmed by appeal to the literary texts" (Dunn 280). But this circular linkage between the social and the literary, which is attractive and desirable, is never, in fact, complete, as the reviewer says, for Maravall offers little historical and virtually no documentary evidence beyond the use of normative treatises, the occasional nugget from Cortes minutes, and secondary sources. My trouble with Maravall comes from this incomplete linkage, not because it is incomplete, because at some point we have to learn to live with the gap, but because he pretends that it is not. To be fair, he does provide a caveat on this point:This does not mean to say that for me literature offers a portrait of a society. Not in this case nor in any other; neither the Spanish Baroque comedia nor the picaresque novel are realist documents. ... [But] the documents of the time that speak to us of the life of some student in the lecture halls of Salamanca or Alcala de Henares or of a thief in the Seville jail transmit visions that are impregnated with what one might see in a gracioso or a picaro on stage in a corral de comedias or in the pages of a printed book. ... Literary works thus were elements incorporated into the manner of living of these individuals in society. Literature, particularly theater and the picaresque novel, is not a portrait, but it is a testimony in which the mental image of society is reflected. There may not always be a material correlation or a true correspondence between one and the other, but the active participation of literature in the life of [social] groups is no less real for that ... (Maravall, Picaresca 12-13)Read this carefully, and count the sleights of hand. In particular, I do not know what to make of the last sentence, but I know that in practice the proviso is discarded both by the author and his readers, who do end up identifying literature and society. …


Physical therapy faculty share similarities with faculty across allied health fields, such as nursing, and other clinical disciplines that educate students in licensing and board certification programs. Most have clinical experience and discipline-based expertise, however they may not have had the benefit of continuous learning aimed at enhancing their teaching repertoires. Because of the rapid influx of clinicians into the academy, faculty development is considered essential to their integration. The purpose of this study was to describe how faculty development impacted physical therapy professors' understanding and use of new instructional skills. Eight physical therapists from a university located in the Southeast U.S. participated in a six-week, 12-hour teaching seminar focusing on curriculum and teaching where participants kept reflective journals to record their responses to question prompts. Basic unitizing, coding, and categorizing were used to conduct a multi-stage analytical process. Eight themes emerged including assessment, instructional strategies, teaching styles, and individuals' planned changes to their classroom practice, among others. Findings showed that professional development is essential for enriching faculty instructional capacity to promote student learning and patient care. Investing in the professional development of faculty may help ensure quality teaching so that professors become conduits to knowledge production. Faculty development is "the continuous learning that professionals may need to pursue throughout their careers in order to maintain, enhance, and broaden their professional competence" (Gottlieb, Rogers & Rainey, 2002, p. 280). Studies in physical therapy, and other health professions, have shown that the faculty development process is central to effective teaching and the preparation of future healthcare practitioners and professional educators (Behar-Horenstein, Childs, & Graff, 2008, 2009, 2010; Farmer, 2004; Mahara & Jones, 2005, Steinert et al., 2006). Keeping physical therapists continuously informed about new knowledge, skills and technology is essential to their capacity as instructors. Historically physical therapy (FT) programs have been disadvantaged. They have been forced to hire an overwhelming number of clinicians as faculty rather than individuals who have been trained in higher educational instruction and assessment (Harrison, «Sc Kelly, 1996). Most of the clinical instructors, while quite skillful, often lack teaching abilities (Gottlieb, Rogers «Sc Rainey, 2002). Hiring clinicians resulted because universities were in the initial stages of developing physical therapy degree programs. Such an action highlights the importance of developing a mechanism to continuously determine faculty effectiveness and productivity. Faculty development can help new faculty examine their own beliefs about teaching and consider how they might apply their thinking. New faculty from clinical disciplines are often different from traditional academicians who earn several degrees and typically experience graduate student teaching and research roles aimed at faculty-type expertise. The American Physical Therapy Association's (APTA) former director of professional development, Marilyn Phillips, encourages the use of faculty development. This process can be a vehicle to create one's own plan or "blueprint for career development" (Starcke, 2005, p. 42). APTA' s Board of Directors acknowledges varied modes of faculty development including where and how it can occur. " [It] may occur in formal instructional settings or in natural societal settings and may include . . . academic courses of study, organized continuing education, independent study, and self- and external assessment" (p. 42). Although some individuals benefit from structured activities, others may work on their own plan of professional growth. However, the APTA directors emphasize the role of assessment in professional development stating, "All professional development experiences should be planned and assessed" (p. …


BACKGROUND
The release of allergenic proteins from natural rubber vial closures (stoppers) into aqueous pharmaceuticals may induce allergic reactions in individuals with latex allergy (LA) receiving medications from such vials.

OBJECTIVE
The goal of this study was to determine whether solutions stored in vials containing natural rubber closures release allergenic proteins detectable by skin testing of subjects with LA.

METHODS
Five pharmaceutical vial closures (2 natural rubber and 3 synthetic) were coded, inserted onto vials containing phenol-saline-human serum albumin, and stored in an inverted position before use. Twelve volunteers with and 11 volunteers without LA underwent skin testing with solutions from each of the 5 vials, either those not punctured (0P) or those punctured 40 times with a 21-gauge needle 12 to 24 hours before testing (40P).

RESULTS
All intradermal skin test responses in the group without LA were negative. Two and 5 of the 12 subjects with LA had positive intradermal skin reactions to 0P and 40P solutions, respectively, from vials containing rubber closures. Two subjects with LA had inexplicable, positive, nonreproducible intradermal skin test reactions to solutions from vials containing bromobutyl but not vials with isoprene synthetic closures. In vitro inhibition analysis detected 6 to 7 AU/g latex allergen in extracts of cut natural rubber containing closures but not in extracts of synthetic closures.

CONCLUSION
Natural rubber vial closures released allergenic latex proteins into the tested solutions in direct contact during storage in sufficient quantities to elicit positive intradermal skin reactions in some individuals with LA. These data support a recommendation to eliminate natural rubber from closures of pharmaceutical vials.


We report photometric observations for comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) obtained during the time period immediately after discovery (r = 6.28 AU) until it moved into solar conjunction in mid-2013 June using the UH2.2 m, and Gemini North 8 m telescopes on Mauna Kea, the Lowell 1.8 m in Flagstaff, the Calar Alto 1.2 m telescope in Spain, the VYSOS-5 telescopes on Mauna Loa Hawaii and data from the CARA network. Additional pre-discovery data from the Pan STARRS1 survey extends the light curve back to 2011 September 30 (r = 9.4 AU). The images showed a similar tail morphology due to small micron sized particles throughout 2013. Observations at submillimeter wavelengths using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on 15 nights between 2013 March 9 (r = 4.52 AU) and June 16 (r = 3.35 AU) were used to search for CO and HCN rotation lines. No gas was detected, with upper limits for CO ranging between 3.5–4.5 × 1027 molecules s−1. Combined with published water production rate estimates we have generated ice sublimation models consistent with the photometric light curve. The inbound light curve is likely controlled by sublimation of CO2. At these distances water is not a strong contributor to the outgassing. We also infer that there was a long slow outburst of activity beginning in late 2011 peaking in mid-2013 January (r ∼ 5 AU) at which point the activity decreased again through 2013 June. We suggest that this outburst was driven by CO injecting large water ice grains into the coma. Observations as the comet came out of solar conjunction seem to confirm our models.


Abstract There are many factors that go into high educational and occupational achievement, including hard work, motivation, and luck. But how important is talent? Specifically, how likely were global innovators and leaders intellectually talented or gifted when younger? This paper reviews retrospective data on multiple US samples (Total N = 11,745), including Chief Executive Officers, federal judges, politicians, multi-millionaires and billionaires, business leaders, elite journalists, and the "most globally powerful men and women", examining to what extent these groups were in the top 1% in general intellectual talent in youth, also examining their educational backgrounds. About 50% of these leaders were in the top 1% of our indicator of ability, so overrepresented by a factor of about 50. Elite education, and especially the impact of Harvard, was notable, suggesting that in addition to talent, elite education and networks were important. These data suggest that various occupations may draw from different levels of intellectual giftedness. Based on this data and a synthesis of prior literature, concrete policy recommendations for gifted education are provided. We recommend a policy focus on talented low income and disadvantaged students, who are greatly underrepresented among these leaders of US society.


The promotion of active transport has been considered as a fundamental objective of transport planning policies since it can improve passenger's health, relieve traffic congestion, and reduce air pollution. However, the share of active transport in planning studies has not traditionally been estimated accurate enough. One of the main reasons for this problem is the inability of conventional travel survey methods to identify trips made by active modes in the travel behaviour of individuals. Nowadays, the employment of smartphones/GPS devices and elaborated algorithms has improved the accuracy of travel data collections. Yet, the accuracy of current algorithms in detecting active modes of transport is questionable. This paper addresses this concern by proposing a comprehensive and practical framework for detecting trips especially those made by an active mode of transport. In this study, a smartphone application has been developed in conjunction with an improved post-processing analysis framework. It is suggested to revise the conventional method of trip detection and employ smoothing techniques after trip detection instead of employment on GPS raw data to improve the accuracy of data collection. In addition, important attributes for trip detection are applied in a rule-based model. The results demonstrate that the model can detect trips more accurately compared to an active travel data collection approach, and increase the number of detected active-mode trips by 22%. The proposed approach can be employed in all GPS-assisted travel surveys, thereby improving their accuracy and reduce the under-reporting rate, specifically for trips made by active modes of transport.


In the Middle East 40% of energy is used in buildings, more than in industry or transport, and the absolute figure is rising fast, because of the recent construction boom. In hot arid climate, the energy consumption in office building for cooling and lighting is enormous due to problems of overheating and high solar gain. Since the building envelope functions as an environmental filter, and controls the influence of the outdoor on the indoor environment, appropriate design strategies and technologies are necessary to create a climate responsive envelope. This paper is directed to optimizing thermal, visual comfort and energy efficiency through the application of different technologies and design strategies for office building envelope in hot arid climate. The study analysed the outdoor and indoor climatic conditions, to understand the problems of overheating, discomfort, and the energy needed to achieve the indoor environment quality. Building simulation programs were used to evaluate the effects of different technologies and design strategies on the comfort and energy consumption. The technologies included: glazing performance, shading and solar control, insulation, thermal mass, and daylight systems. In addition, the design strategies included: opaque to transparent ratio, orientation, and natural day and night ventilation. The results show the potential for a significant decrease in energy consumption for cooling and lighting. On the other hand, thermal and visual comfort can be increased. Reducing the energy consumption for cooling and lighting as well as improving the indoor comfort are of great importance towards sustainable and climate responsive buildings.


During the last few years, many houses in Sweden have had problems with the so-called Sick Building Syndrome (SBS). People become sick because of the indoor climate, with health hazards like asthma, allergies among other problems. These problems can for instance be caused by durability failures in a wall structure. If the mass content in a wall structure is increasing from year to year, due to moisture accumulation in the wall structure or reach too high levels, the building component can cause health hazard for the inhabitants for instance due to mould growth in the building envelope (Hagentoft 1998, Samuelson, 1985). To prevent these problems from occurring it is of great importance to estimate the risks already in the design stage. One way of getting these estimations is by simulations using accurate material properties and accurate in- and outdoor conditions (Harderup 1998). For the engineers a design tool, which easily shows the advantages and disadvantages of a certain structure, can help predicting service life and durability. This paper shows a method to support the prediction of service life and/or to make durability checks on a multi-layered building component. The indoor and outdoor climate, the design of the building structure and the material properties, govern the hygrothermal behaviour of a building component. This study will provide a method of how to show hygrothermal stresses required to determine the durability of building component or/and material layers in the structure.


The frizzy (frz) genes of Myxococcus xanthus are required to control directed motility during vegetative growth and fruiting body formation. FrzCD, a protein homologous to the methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins from enteric bacteria, is modified by methylation in response to environmental conditions. Transfer of cells from rich medium to fruiting medium initially caused rapid demethylation of FrzCD. Subsequently, the amount of FrzCD increased, but most remained unmethylated. At about the time of mound formation (9 h), most of the FrzCD was converted to methylated forms. Dispersal of developing cells (10 h) in buffer led to the demethylation of FrzCD, whereas concentration of these cells caused methylation of FrzCD. Some mutants which were unable to form fruiting bodies still modified their FrzCD during incubation under conditions of starvation on a surface.


Current situation of Leishmaniasis calls for search of more effective drug. Multiplication of Leishmania resembles the development of mammalian tumor cells and both are regulated by the same mechanisms and having similar CDKs as cell cycle regulators. Our approach here is to test known CDK inhibitors on the growth of different stages of Leishmania spp. Field isolates of L. donovani was used in this study to check for the virulence effect (if any) on the possible inhibitory effect. We have tested the effect of Olomoucine on the growth of L. donovani promastigotes and Flavopiridol on the growth of L. mexicana axenic-amastigotes. Our data showed that Leishmania promastigotes (L. donovani) and amastigotes (L. mexicana) susceptibility to CDK chemical inhibitors is parasite intrinsic, stage specific, and macrophage independent. The Leishmania parasite has low sensitivity to chemical inhibitors, when tested in vitro culture. The amastigotes is more sensitive to Flavopiridol than the promastigotes. These data will be useful as baseline for macrophage infectivity and other preclinical studies. Our findings suggest the possibility of repurposing the anticancer drugs as anti-leishmanial and consequently reducing the cost of developing new drug.


Industrial development has lead to higher energy consumption, and emission of greenhouse gases. Cement industry plays an important role in energy consumption and overall greenhouse gases emissions. This paper reviews the preceding studies concentration on the provision of energy saving, carbon dioxide emission reductions correlated with implementation of a number of technologies applicable to improve the energy efficiency in the cement industry. Energy efficiency measures for clinker production. It is found the largest amounts of thermal energy saving, electrical energy saving, emission reductions are 4.1 Giga Joule per ton, 35 kilo Watt hour per ton, 112,61 kilogram CO2 per ton respectively.


Male sagebrush crickets, Cyphoderris strepitans, offer an unusual nuptial food gift to females during mating: females chew on the ends of the males' fleshy hind wings and ingest hemolymph seeping from the wounds they inflict. Previous studies have shown that once a male had mated, his probability of obtaining an additional copulation is reduced relative to that of a virgin male seeking to secure his first mating, a pattern known as the virginmale mating advantage. One hypothesis to account for the virgin-male mating advantage is that nonvirgin males, having lost a substantial portion of their energy reserves at mating, may be unable to sustain the costly acoustical signaling activity required for the passive attraction of additional females. If the future mating prospects of non-virgin males are diminished because of sexual fatigue, this could stem either from the resources required to manufacture a new spermatophore or through the energy needed to replenish haemolymph lost through female wingfeeding. To distinguish between these two alternatives, we experimentally depleted virgin males of varying amounts haemolymph (0, 5 and 10 ul) in a way that mimicked hemolymph loss of non-virgin males, without the attendant costs of spermatophore production. After they had been treated, males were released in the field and recaptured over the course of the breeding season to monitor their mating success. Control males mated significantly sooner than did males depleted of 5 or 10 ul of hemolymph. We conclude, therefore, that the depletion of hemolymph that occurs through female wing feeding is sufficient by itself to diminish a non-virgin male's ability to secure another mating, acting as a brake on the operation of sexual selection in this species.


Introduction: Full Outline of Unresponsiveness (FOUR) score is one of the existing scoring scales, which has been used for evaluating the level of consciousness in recent years. Objective: The present study has been done with the aim of evaluating the ability to predict the outcome of patients with head trauma based on FOUR score on admission to emergency department (ED). Methods: In the present prospective cross-sectional study, head trauma patients with any changes in alertness level presenting to ED were evaluated. FOUR score measurement was done on admission and 6 hours after that. The studied outcomes in the current study included discharge without sequel, discharge with neurologic sequel, brain death or death during 1 month after admission of the patients. To evaluate the correlation between FOUR score and the studied outcomes, area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used. Results: In the end, 52 patients with the mean age of 32.67 ± 15.20 years were evaluated (84.6% male). Traffic accident with the frequency of 39 (75.0%) patients was the most common mechanism of trauma among the studied patients and finally, after 1 month follow up it was determined that 13 (25%) patients were discharged without sequel and 31 (59.6%) died. Area under the ROC curve for prediction of the final outcome of death using FOUR score on admission and after 6 hours were 0.889 (95% confidence interval: 0.800 0.977) and 0.974 (95% confidence interval: 0.938 – 1.000), respectively. Best cutoff points for FOUR score were the scores 8 and 9 on admission of the patients, and the score 5, six hours after admission. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, it seems that FOUR score is applicable for prediction of probable death outcome in patients with head trauma presenting to ED.


The genetic diversity of 20 cabbage ( Brassica oleracea var. capitata , including sub.var. alba and rubra ) cultivars and landraces from the Gene bank of Crop Research Institute was estimated using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) marker technology. Two cultivars of Brassica pekinensis (syn. Brassica rapa var. pekinensis ) were used as outliers in the study. Thirty AFLP primer combinations produced a total of 1084 fragments. A total of 806 fragments, 364 (45%) of them polymorphic, were found across 20 Brassica oleracea var. capitata accessions. The accessions were clustered into two main groups. Special subgroups, reflecting place of origin, were observed within these groups. Ten selective primer pairs were found to be most informative because each of these uniquely identified all of the accessions used. Furthermore, two accessions of Brassica pekinensis were clearly differentiated from the Brassica oleracea var. capitata accessions. AFLP is an efficient tool for determination of genetic diversity of cabbage gene bank accessions.


This study quantified the numbers and sex ratio of adult Sericania hidana (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in a subalpine forest in 2017. Data from an area littered with coarse woody debris (CWD) created by a typhoon in 1959 were compared with those from an area where CWD had been cleared by salvage logging. Three types of traps were used: flight interception traps (FITs) with a black light, pitfall traps (PITs), and soil emergence traps (SETs). Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes were analyzed to evaluate S. hidana diets and habitats. Overall, there were more S. hidana in the unsalvaged sites than in the salvaged sites. The FITs captured only males but SETs captured both males and females. The SETs on CWD captured more S. hidana than did SETs on soil in both the salvaged and unsalvaged sites. The PITs captured only a few individuals; thus, PITs are not suitable for studying this insect, although such traps were previously reported to capture S. hidana adults. Stable isotope analyses suggested that S. hidana feeds on a variety of plant materials, including living plants and CWD. These results suggest that CWD has long‐term effects on insect populations. Soil emergence traps provide an effective method to quantitatively evaluate insect ecology, and FITs can effectively screen for the existence of insects.


Based on many experiments of CO2 laser welding of high strength two-sided galvanized steel thick with 1.5mm to vehicle body, joint microstructure and stress-strain curves of specimen are acquired. It has inferred theoretically relations among critical power, welding speed and focal point position under given welding technological conditions. With coaxial and side-blown protective gas, craft parameter are optimized, the laser deep melt welding may avoid effectively heat-affected zone (HAZ) softened phenomenon, as well as welded porosity may controlled effectively. The experimental result shows that hardness value in weld zone becomes low with increasing of energy input, at the same time the cracked zone of tensile specimen, the dimple size and the distribution of cross-section in welding seam are also different, tensile crack of welding seam extends to the base metal, which indicates deep penetration laser welding can effectively avoid softening of welding joints during laser welding of high strength galvanized steel.


We have shown the existence of a homogeneous population of specific binding sites for [3H]prazosin in membranes from rat lacrimal glands. The value of the equilibrium dissociation constant was 0.186 +/- 0.07 nM, and the density of specific binding sites was 20.4 +/- 1 fmol/mg protein. Taking into account the potency sequences for adrenergic agonists and antagonists for competition with these [3H]prazosin binding sites, we identified them as alpha 1-adrenergic receptors. Moreover, we have demonstrated that the stimulation of protein discharge evoked by epinephrine could be partly attributed to the occupation of this alpha-adrenergic receptor subtype. However, the inhibition pattern of the epinephrine effect by a beta-adrenergic antagonist, 1-propranolol, and the characteristics of the secretory response observed when selectively stimulating the alpha 1- and beta-adrenergic receptors, either separately or simultaneously, suggest that 1) a simultaneous activation of both receptors is necessary to produce a maximal secretory response to catecholamines; and 2) a synergism may exist between these two routes of stimulation, leading to an amount of protein discharge higher than that expected in the case of additive effects.


Since the introduction of the fractional FGM(1,1) model, it has been widely used in all aspects of society. However, the original FGM(1,1) model has certain defects. Therefore, many experts and scholars have proposed many optimization methods for the shortcomings of the fractional FGM(1,1) model, and have been well applied. Since the gray action of the FGM(1,1) model is a fixed constant, the dynamic variation characteristics of the system cannot be well described. Based on this, this paper proposes a new SFGM(1,1,k) model by optimizing the gray action amount and reconstructing the background value of the optimized model using Simpson formula to improve the FGM(1,1) model. Then, apply it to the numerical examples of import and export totals. The results show that the combined optimization of SFGM(1,1,k) has higher fitting accuracy and better prediction effect. The validity and practicability of the SFGM(1,1,k) model are verified. The application range of FGM(1,1) model is extended.


Monolayer (ML) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are thought to be highly promising materials for the optoelectronic and nanophotonic applications. However, the low absorption cross section and photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield in such atomically thin layers restrict their applications. Considering that the energy transfer in a heterostructure can modulate TMDCs' optical properties, a type I heterostructure geometry comprising ML TMDCs and lead halide perovskite quantum dots (QDs) has the potential to overcome these shortcomings. In this work, spin-coating the CsPbBr3 QDs on ML WS2 results in ~12.7 times enhancement in the PL intensity of ML WS2 at 295K. This giant enhancement is attributed to the energy transfer process from CsPbBr3 QDs to WS2 with a ~40% energy transfer efficiency and ~2 × 108 s−1 energy transfer rate. Besides, we observed that the internal quantum efficiency of ML WS2 is increased from 6.35% to 29.01%. The result demonstrates the feasibility of using perovskite QDs and ML TMDCs to form a type I heterostructure and improve the performance of the TMDC-based optoelectronic devices.


In aged humans, diminished mineralocorticoid receptor (MR)-mediated feedback in the brain could contribute to impaired feedback regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, but no study specifically compared young and old individuals with regard to MR function. We examined 10 healthy young (mean age +/- SD [standard deviation] 26.1 +/- 2.9 years) and 10 elderly men (68.3 +/- 4.7 years) at the nadir of cortisol levels (2:00 pm-9:00 pm) when HPA activity is mainly controlled by the MR. After pretreatment with 3 g metyrapone to minimize the impact of basal endogenous cortisol secretion, participants received orally, in randomized order on two separate occasions, either 0.5 mg of the MR agonist fludrocortisone or placebo. Fludrocortisone significantly decreased maximum adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol concentrations in both groups. ACTH and cortisol values after fludrocortisone were significantly higher in older men compared with young men. Our results implicate that a decrease in MR-mediated negative feedback contributes to the diminished feedback activity in older humans.


This book presents numerical computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solutions for studying the effect of fluid-structure interaction (FSI) on evaluation of pressure waves in pipelines with cavitation. The authors develop a uniform one-dimensional model using coupled models. These models consider unsteady friction (UF), Poisson coupling, axial vibration (junction coupling), gas release and viscoelasticity.

The authors consider two cases: elastic pipelines and viscoelastic (VE) pipelines.

The book starts with a detailed literature review on the relevant methods for calculating transient fluid flow, followed by chapters that explain the mathematical development for calculations and the numerical steps for water hammer and transient cavitation. The concluding chapters present the results for the two pipeline cases.

The book is presented in simple language intended for engineering students who want to understand CFD simulations for transient flow in pipelines. Equations are explained in simple steps for easy understanding, and concepts are illustrated with detailed diagrams. The information and the codes demonstrated in the book will equip readers with the knowledge to study hydraulic problems where transients are caused by pump starting, stopping and failure.


The principal novelty of this paper lies in offering explanations of changing priorities and of the stop-go-stop sequence of policies in Poland in the years 1990-1991. The paper suggests that, in the first year of the reform, achieving price stability was secondary to the following three other aims: a substantial increase of the international reserves (large up-front devaluation required), a drastic reduction of the share of dollar currency in the total money supply (large monetary expansion is required) and a major improvement of the quality of the price system (drastic increases of some administrative prices needed). It is shown that the money supply was effectively the only nominal rate and the incomes policy became nominal anchors only in the second year of the reform. The paper also discusses the causes of the budget crisis in 1991 and the relationship between the quality of the macroeconomic control and the pace of structural change.


There is growing evidence that even the most abstract capacities of human cognition are not entirely amodal and disembodied. The present study presents two empirical studies which aim to demonstrate that relational reasoning is grounded in our sensory-motor experience. Experiment 1 shows that the affordances of tool-like objects have an effect on comparing functional relations. Experiment 2 makes sure that this finding can not be explained by an automatic activation of motor systems. The results are interpreted as evidence that at least certain functional relations are perceived by simulating interactions with the environment. It is also asserted that the process of comparing such relations is constrained by the properties of the human body such as hand-dominance.


Background Carcinoma of the external auditory canal is a rare malignancy that originates in the external auditory canal and has a tendency to spread to adjacent structures such as the periorbital soft tissues, parotid gland, temporomandibular joint and mastoid. It is difficult to determine the primary tumour from the external ear canal or from adjacent structures. In addition, the lack of a unified classification system, along with the rarity of the disease, is a major obstacle in providing specific treatment guidelines for this disease. Case presentation In this report, we describe a clinical case of a 59-year-old male patient who was admitted to the hospital because of ear pain and discharge from the outer ear canal with swelling in the right temporal region. The initial diagnosis is highly suggestive of an advanced external auditory canal malignancy with involvement of the parotid gland. The patient underwent surgery to remove the entire tumour, neck lymph nodes, followed by plastic surgery. The patient then received adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. There was no recurrence of cancer for 28 months, to date, after completing treatment. Conclusions Extensive tumour resection combined with reconstruction and adjuvant chemoradiotherapy is a treatment strategy with good outcomes for patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the external ear canal.


Herein, we present the synthesis, characterization and micellization of amphiphilic diblock terpolymers. Poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(allyl glycidyl ether-co-tert-butyl glycidyl ether) PEO-b-P(AGE-co-tBGE) and poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(furfuryl glycidyl ether-co-tert-butyl glycidyl ether) PEO-b-P(FGE-co-tBGE) with hydrophobic blocks of different molar masses containing 10 wt% of a crosslinkable monomer were synthesized by anionic ring opening polymerization (AROP) starting from a PEO macroinitiator. Micelles were formed and crosslinked in aqueous solution via either a Diels–Alder reaction or thiol–ene chemistry, respectively. Different amounts of crosslinker were used and advanced HR-MAS 1H NMR spectroscopy allowed subsequent semi-quantitative evaluation of the crosslinking reactions occurring. Hereby, crosslinking and monoaddition of the respective crosslinker to the diblock terpolymer side chain as well as the identification of any unreacted crosslinker within the micellar core allowed the evaluation of the reaction efficiency. Structural stability of the micelles in non-selective solvents was demonstrated using DLS measurements. Such in-depth analysis of crosslinking reactions may allow the fine-tuning of crosslinking processes in nanostructured materials to control swelling abilities or uptake and release of guest molecules in the future.


Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the world and includes one third of
cancers in women. Although the role of age in the incidence of breast cancer has been documented
but the effect of age on prognosis and its association with factors in the progression of cancer is
controversial. Age at diagnosis of an independent factor in determining life expectancy and prognosis
of the disease should be considered. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between
age at diagnosis in patients below 40 years and above 40 years with an overall survival of the patients
studied.
Materials & Methods: This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study examined the years 2001 to
2013. The study population included patients with confirmed breast cancer were presented to the
Omid Hospital. Sampling was census, and patient gathered data from their files. And for completing
data telephone follow-up was done. In order to calculate differences in survival between two groups
Kaplan-Meier and Log- ranking methods were used.
Results: In this study, 1410 patients with breast cancer were studied during 12 years. The mean age at
diagnosis was 47.83 with a standard deviation of 10.76 years, and the survival of people in the age
group below 40 years was significantly more than those aged over 40 years.
Conclusions: Breast cancer survival has direct relationship with age which means that the disease in
old age reduces survival and disease-free survival time


In the order to know both the sensitivity and positivity between the allergenic extracts of cockroach (C), house dust (HDJ, and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Dpt) we made a transversal study in 783 allergic patients who underwent intradermal skin tests with the antigens of C, HD and Dpt. Allergic asthma and rhinitis were the more frequent diagnosis. There was no significative difference between the sensitivity to C and HD (p = 0.1),-women were more sensitive to C than to HD (p < 0.05). We found a greater sensitivity to Dpt than C and HD (p < 001). There were more positive patients to C than to HD (p = 0.01) and although we observed more positive patients to Dpt than to C (p = 0.01) this difference was not significative for women (p = 0.05). We can conclude than cockroach, as an allergic source, has similar importance that house dust mite, and it is inadequate its substitution with house dust extracts in skin tests screening.


One of the major mechanisms that plant growth-promoting bacteria use to facilitate plant growth is through the lowering of plant ethylene levels by the bacterial enzyme 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase. Many of the bacterial ACC deaminase genes (acdS) that have been examined to date are under the transcriptional control of a leucine-responsive regulatory protein, Lrp, encoded by acdR and referred to here as AcdR. The work presented here is focused on how AcdR and the newly discovered AcdB protein from Pseudomonas putida UW4 are involved in the regulation of acdS expression. First, the results of gel retardation experiments showed that AcdR binds to the acdS regulatory region, and this binding activity in vitro is not affected by the addition of 2 mmol x L-1 ACC but can be eliminated by addition of 20 microg x mL-1 leucine. Second, a potential regulatory protein, AcdB, involved in the regulation of acdS expression, was identified through both yeast 2-hybrid screen and coimmunoprecipitation based on its ability to bind to AcdR; subsequently, its binding to the acdS regulatory region in the presence of ACC was shown by gel retardation experiments. The data are interpreted in terms of a model in which AcdR and AcdB co-regulate the expression of the acdS gene.


The present work focuses on earthquake locations and seismogenic stress in the eastern offshore of Sicily, a sector of the central Mediterranean region where geophysical information available is not good enough, yet, for proper geodynamic modeling. I have applied to an updated seismic database of the study area a Bayesian non-linear hypocenter location method already proven to be more effective than linear methods when the recording network geometry is poor, like in the present case. Then, I have selected from literature and official catalogs the local earthquake focal mechanisms computed by waveform inversion, and inverted them for stress tensor orientations. The results confirm the main finding of the previous investigations, i.e. that NW-trending convergence between Africa and Eurasia is a main source of tectonic stress in this area, however they also furnish evidence of additional tectonic factors locally acting together with convergence. In particular, extensional dynamics are detected inside the convergence-related compressional domain: these are characterized by a minimum compressive stress oriented SW-NE (perpendicular to convergence) and can be related to the rifting process (opening SW-NE) detected by previous investigators at the southwestern edge of the Ionian subduction slab. The findings of the present study may also concur to answer several open questions left by previous investigators.


Studies across the cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) growing regions of the United States have shown boron and nitrogen to be essential nutrients for profitable cotton production. Four levels of nitrogen (N) (0, 34, 67, and 101 kg/ha for 1996 and 0, 67, 101, and 135 kg/ha for 1997) and four levels of boron (B) (0, 0.56, 1.12, and 2.24 kg/ha) were used on DPL-50 in a split-plot design with B subplot treatments randomly assigned within N whole plot treatments. The treatments were replicated four times. Nitrogen as sodium nitrate and ammonium nitrate for 1996 and 1997, respectively, were side-dressed and boron was foliarly applied as solubor. Yield parameters were measured for each treatment. There was no N X B interaction so data were averaged over N and B rates, respectively. In both years, increased N rate up to 101 kg/ha N increased lint yield (P < 0.01). The increase in lint yield for 1996 was 96, 369 and 455 kg/ha for 34, 67, and 101 kg/ha N over the untreated control, respectively. In 1997, however, the only significant yield increase was observed for the 101 kg/ha N rate. For both years, the maximum yield was achieved with 101 kg/ha N and 0.56 kg/ha B rates. Adding foliar boron at 2.24 kg/ha, however, decreased lint yield over the untreated control. Leaf blade tissue level increased with increasing B rates compared with the initial B level. Additional research is needed to fully understand the benefit of B in N utilization.


In this work, we propose an ID-preserving talking head generation framework, which advances previous methods in two aspects. First, as opposed to interpolating from sparse flow, we claim that dense landmarks are crucial to achieving accurate geometry-aware flow fields. Second, inspired by face-swapping methods, we adaptively fuse the source identity during synthesis, so that the network better preserves the key characteristics of the image portrait. Although the proposed model surpasses prior generation fidelity on established benchmarks, personalized fine-tuning is still needed to further make the talking head generation qualified for real usage. However, this process is rather computationally demanding that is unaffordable to standard users. To alleviate this, we propose a fast adaptation model using a metalearning approach. The learned model can be adapted to a high-quality personalized model as fast as 30 seconds. Last but not least, a spatial-temporal enhancement module is proposed to improve the fine details while ensuring temporal coherency. Extensive experiments prove the significant superiority of our approach over the state of the arts in both one-shot and personalized settings.


The problem of attribute reduction is an important problem related to feature selection and knowledge discovery. The problem of finding reducts with minimum cardinality is NP-hard. This paper suggests a new algorithm for finding exact reducts with minimum cardinality. This algorithm transforms the initial table to a decision table of a special kind, apply a set of simplification steps to this table, and use a dynamic programming algorithm to finish the construction of an optimal reduct. I present results of computer experiments for a collection of decision tables from UCI ML Repository. For many of the experimented tables, the simplification steps solved the problem.


Abstract : Results of reverberation measurements made with a low-frequency activated towed array sonar system in two deep-water locations of the Mediterranean Sea are presented. Measurements took place under a variety of environmental conditions; the frequencies used, in the sub-kilohertz regions, were in two bands around 370 and 740 Hz. Monostatic reverberation data were collected with a variety of waveforms (pulsed continuous wave and linear frequency modulated pulses) in order to obtain an adequate sample of the scattering function. The build-up of the data base has stressed data collection under possibly typical operational conditions for further performance analysis studies. Preliminary findings of the data analysis indicate that volume reverberation does not seem to be significant for this experimental set-up and that surface reverberation appears almost always overshadowed by seafloor scattering. Bottom scattering dominates returns through both the so-called fathometer effect and direct backscattering from the range of grazing angles. Scattering strengths appear independent of frequency and spectral histories show no significant doppler shift. Long-range returns are dominated by bottom highlights. Reverberation time series, which are highly non-stationary, can however be assumed to be locally covariance stationary, and logarithmic normalization techniques could usefully be applied.


Drug resistance is one of the reasons for treatment failure in hematologic and other malignancies. MicroRNAs are small noncoding RNAs involved in the initiation and progression of human cancer. MicroRNA expression profiles were found useful for the diagnosis, staging and assessment of the prognosis of human cancer [1]. The microRNA expression profile of human myeloma was recently characterized and compared with the signature of normal plasma cells and plasma cells isolated from patients with monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance. Some of these microRNAs modulate the expression of proteins critical to the pathogenesis of myeloma [2]. Drug resistance can be de novo or acquired and is one of the reasons why cancer treatment fails. We previously characterized a leukemia cell line resistant to cyclophosphamide by gene expression profiling [3]. In multiple myeloma, drug-resistant cell lines were developed as a model for acquired drug resistance [4]. We here asked the question if a microRNA resistance profile exists for 2 myeloma cell lines (RPMI8226 and U266) made resistant to 2 common cytostatic drugs (melphalan and doxorubicin) which would ultimately be useful for prognosticating clinical resistance in patient samples.

The cell lines RPMI8226 and U266 and their resistant variants RPMI8226/Dox6 and RPMI8226/LR5, respectively U266Dox and U266/LR7 were obtained from Drs. Bharat Aggarwal (M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Tex., USA) and Atanasio Pandiella (Salamanca, Spain). All 4 resistant cell lines originated from Dr. William Dalton (H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, Fla., USA). The cell lines were cultured in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum and penicillin-streptomycin according to standard tissue culture conditions. RPMI8226/Dox6 was pulsed once weekly with 6 × 10−8M doxorubicin, whereas RPMI8226/LR5 was pulsed once weekly with 5 × 10−6M melphalan.

For cytogenetics, exponentially growing cells from each of the cell lines were fixed using standard laboratory procedures. Cell suspensions were prepared and dropped onto precleaned, warm, wet slides. The slides were aged at 90°C for 1 h, banded with trypsin and stained with Wright stain. Banded metaphases were analyzed using a Zeiss Axioskop 40 microscope. For each cell line, metaphases were karyogramed with an Applied Imaging Karyotyping System. The metaphases were described using ISCN nomenclature [5].

The results of these analyses showed that although distinct, both the Dox6 and LR4 resistant cell lines were closely related to their parental cell line, RPMI8226, and similarly that although distinct both, the U266Dox and U266/LR7 cell lines were closely linked with their parental cell line, U266.

Screening cytogenetics were performed on all 6 cell lines according to standard methods and showed, based on 2 metaphases of each cell line counted, a close relationship of the resistant with the parental lines (data not shown).

Total RNA isolation was performed using the Trizol method (Invitrogen) according to the manufacturer's instructions. RNA labeling and hybridization on microRNA array was performed as described previously [6]. Briefly, 5 μg of total RNA from each sample was biotin labeled by reverse transcription using 5′ biotin end-labeled random octamer oligo primer. Hybridization of biotin-labeled cDNA to gene-specific microRNA probes was carried out on an microRNA microarray chip (OSU version 4.0), which contains 1,600 microRNA oligoprobes derived from 474 human and 373 mouse microRNA genes and printed in duplicates. Hybridization signal amplification was performed by biotin affinity binding of probe/target complex with a Streptavidin Alexa-647 conjugate and detected by using Axon Scanner 4000B (Axon Instrument Inc., Calif., USA). The images were quantified by Gene Pix 6.0 software (Axon Instrument Inc.). For the microarray experiments, duplicate samples were used.

Average values of the replicate spots of each microRNA were background subtracted, normalized (global median method) and further analyzed with Bioconductor, which is an open source and open development software project for the analysis and comprehension of genomic data (www.bioconductor.org).

Finally, the microRNAs measured were selected as present in at least as many samples as the smallest class in the data set (50%). Absent calls were thresholded to 4.5 (log2 scale) before statistical analysis, representing the average minimum intensity level detectable in the system.

MicroRNA signatures were determined by class prediction using BRB tools (http://linus.nci.nih.gov/BRB-ArrayTools.html) that calculates a crossvalidated misclassification rate and performs a permutation test to determine if the crossvalidated misclassification rate is lower than would be expected by chance.

Six methods of prediction were performed: compound covariate predictor, diagonal linear discriminant analysis, nearest neighbor, nearest centroid and support vector. The criterion for inclusion of a gene in the predictor is a p value less than a specified threshold value (0.05). The output contains the result of the permutation test on the crossvalidated misclassification rate and a listing of genes that comprise the predictor, with parametric p values for each gene and the CV-support percent.

The single-tube Taq Man MicroRNA Assays were used to detect and quantify mature microRNAs on Applied Biosystems Real-Time PCR instruments. All reagents, primers and probes were obtained from Applied Biosystems (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, Calif., USA). All RNA samples were normalized with RNU6B. Triplicate RNA samples were used. Reverse transcriptase (RT) reactions and real-time PCR were performed according to the manufacturer's protocols except that we used half volumes, 7.5 μl for the RT reaction and 10 μl for the PCR reaction, respectively. RNA concentrations were determined with a Nanodrop (Nanodrop Technologies, Inc.). One nanogram RNA per sample was used for the assays. All RT reactions, including no-template controls and RT minus controls, were run in a Gene Amp PCR 9700 Thermocycler (Applied Biosystems). Gene expression levels were quantified with the ABI Prism 7900HT sequence detection system (Applied Biosystems). Comparative real-time PCR was performed in triplicate, including no-template controls. Relative expression was calculated using the comparative Ct method.

The results of the chip analysis are shown in table table1.1. When the individual resistant cell lines were compared with the respective parental cell lines, multiple microRNAs were up- or downregulated. For 3 microRNAs (miR21, miR181a/miR181b and miR565), the results were verified by real-time PCR and showed concordance in 9 comparisons and discrepancies in 3 (table (table2,2, the discrepant results were in a low expressed microRNA). According to the chip analysis, no microRNAs were commonly dysregulated in the resistant versus the parental clones. Only 1 microRNA (miR21) was commonly upregulated in the melphalan-resistant versus parental clones (confirmed by RT-PCR). However, when the drug-resistant clones of U266 and RPMI8226 were compared with their individual parents, there were 22 changes common to the RMPI8226 resistant clones (11 up- and 11 downregulated) and 6 changes common to the U266 resistant clones (1 up- and 5 downregulated). It will be interesting to test if the antagonization of miR21 reverses the resistance of myeloma cell lines to melphalan. Overall, our results argue for the involvement of multiple individual changes, as far as microRNAs are concerned, in drug-resistant cell lines or for random gains and losses of genetic material during the induction of drug resistance. In all systems, multiple pathways are activated in cell line models and clinical samples resistant to cytostatic drugs (e.g. detoxifying enzymes, multidrug efflux pumps and antiapoptotic genes; for a review, see [7]). Using gene arrays, a complex gene expression pattern involving genes of the Fanconi anemia DNA repair pathway was identified in myeloma cell lines resistant to melphalan [8]. In ovarian cancer cells made resistant to paclitaxel and cisplatin, 6 microRNAs were found to be divergently expressed (let-7e, miR30c, miR125b, miR-130a and miR-335) [9]. In 2 non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines, the in vitro resistance to TRAIL was found to correlate with the overexpression of miR221 and miR222 [10]. In the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7, made resistant to doxorubicin, 181 microRNAs were differentially expressed (165 upregulated and 16 downregulated) [11]. Among these overexpressed microRNAs, only 3 were overexpressed in the doxorubicin-resistant clone of RPMI8226 (let7, miR21, miR155), and none were overexpressed in our doxorubicin-resistant clone of the cell line U266. Taken together, multiple genetic events, some of which may be random, take place in the generation of drug resistance. The field is open for discoveries of how the different genes, pathways and microRNAs interact in the acquired or de novo resistance to drugs and ligands. Ultimately, the question needs to be resolved if and which microRNAs can be used to diagnose and overcome resistant phenotypes in cancer.

Table 1

Comparison of microRNA patterns among different myeloma cell lines by microarray chip analysis

Table 2

V erification of chip data by RT-PCR for selected Micro-RNAs

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Drs. Flavia Pichiorri, Rami Aqeilan and Carlo M. Croce for helpful discussions, the National Cancer Institute for grant support and Jadwiga Labanowska for her technical assistance. R.M. thanks Louisiana State University in Shreveport for being granted a leave of absence (mini-sabbatical).


Motion-compensated lifted wavelets have received much interest for video compression. While they are biorthogonal, they may substantially deviate from orthonormality due to motion compensation, even if based on an orthogonal or near-orthogonal wavelet. A temporal transform for video sequences that maintains orthonormality while permitting flexible motion compensation would be very desirable. We have recently introduced such a transform for integer-pel accurate motion compensation from one previous frame. In this paper, we extend this idea to half-pel accurate motion compensation. Orthonormality is maintained for arbitrary half-pel motion compensation by cascading a sequence of incremental orthogonal transforms. The half-pel intensity values are obtained by averaging neighboring integer-pel positions. Depending on the number of averaged integer-pel values, we use different types of incremental transforms. The cascade of incremental transforms allows us to choose in each step the optimal type of incremental transform and, hence, the optimal half-pel position. Half-pel motion-compensated blocks of arbitrary shape and size can be used as the granularity of the cascade can be as small as one pixel. The new half-pel accurate motion-compensated orthogonal video transform compares favorably with the integer-pel accurate orthogonal transform


We have developed a current range extension method to obtain the ratio error and phase displacement of a current transformer (CT) by using absolute evaluation method and two different CTs. The method was applied to CTs under test with the current ratios in the range of 5,000 A / 1 A - 20,000 A / 1 A. The ratio error and phase displacement of the CT under test obtained in this study are consistent with those measured at the national institute in Germany using the same CT under test within an expanded uncertainty (k = 2) in the overall current ratios.


NIA CHRISTIN. The Consequences of Chronic Unpredictable Stress Exposure to Spatial Memory of Adolescent Mice (Mus musculus albinus). Supervised by BERRY JULIANDI, ARIEF BOEDIONO, and NORIAKI SASAI. Adolescence is a sensitive period when neurogenesis rate is increases. Chronic stress that occurs during adolescence can cause a long-term effects on adult behavior and morphology of hippocampus. Light-dark transition test showed that CUS successfully produced depressed adolescent mice. Y-alternation test revealed that short-term effect of CUS improved spatial memory in mice, resembled the capability of non-stressed adult while cell counting performed with HE staining did not showed a significant effect on proliferation, cell maturing, and cell survival in DG. Complexity of dendrites in DG and pyramidal neurons of CA1 performed using Golgi-Cox staining. Apical dendrites of DG did not showed a significant effect of CUS on dendritic complexity of DG. In contrast, both of apical and basal dendrites of CA1 showed a significant short-term effect of CUS, seen from the number of intersections. Maximum dendritic span and total dendritic length did not show a significant differences. It is remarkable that both short and long-term effect of CUS is changes the complexity of CA1 pyramidal neuron and transciently increases spatial memory on adolescent mice.


Pruning aims to reduce the number of parameters while maintaining performance close to the original network. This work proposes a novel \emph{self-distillation} based pruning strategy, whereby the representational similarity between the pruned and unpruned versions of the same network is maximized. Unlike previous approaches that treat distillation and pruning separately, we use distillation to inform the pruning criteria, without requiring a separate student network as in knowledge distillation. We show that the proposed {\em cross-correlation objective for self-distilled pruning} implicitly encourages sparse solutions, naturally complementing magnitude-based pruning criteria. Experiments on the GLUE and XGLUE benchmarks show that self-distilled pruning increases mono- and cross-lingual language model performance. Self-distilled pruned models also outperform smaller Transformers with an equal number of parameters and are competitive against (6 times) larger distilled networks. We also observe that self-distillation (1) maximizes class separability, (2) increases the signal-to-noise ratio, and (3) converges faster after pruning steps, providing further insights into why self-distilled pruning improves generalization.


: We studied the effect of dicarbamine and leucostim on myelopoiesis in experimental post-radiation bone marrow syndrome. Dicarbamine in different modes of administration and doses provided a high level of protection of proliferating hematopoietic precursors in the early period after radiation, which was reflected in a statistically significant decrease in the depth and duration of post-radiation deficit of cells, such as of granulocytes, lymphocytes, megakaryocytes and erythroid cells. The greatest effect of the drug appeared at a dose of 4 mg/kg (prophylactic administration) and a dose of 15 mg/kg (curative double dose). In the bone marrow of experimental animals leucostim prevented development of post-radiation deficit of granulocytes and lymphocytes to a lesser extent, than dicarbamine, and it was effective for erythroid cells and megakaryocytes.


Epithelial cells display distinct apical and basolateral membrane domains, and maintenance of this asymmetry is essential to the function of epithelial tissues. Polarized delivery of apical and basolateral membrane proteins from the trans Golgi network (TGN) and/or endosomes to the correct domain requires specific cytoplasmic machinery to control the sorting, budding and fission of vesicles. However, the molecular machinery that regulates polarized delivery of apical proteins remains poorly understood. In this study, we show that the small guanosine triphosphatase Rab14 is involved in the apical targeting pathway. Using yeast two‐hybrid analysis and glutathione S‐transferase pull down, we show that Rab14 interacts with apical membrane proteins and localizes to the TGN and apical endosomes. Overexpression of the GDP mutant form of Rab14 (S25N) induces an enlargement of the TGN and vesicle accumulation around Golgi membranes. Moreover, expression of Rab14‐S25N results in mislocalization of the apical raft‐associated protein vasoactive intestinal peptide/MAL to the basolateral domain but does not disrupt basolateral targeting or recycling. These data suggest that Rab14 specifically regulates delivery of cargo from the TGN to the apical domain.


Clusterin is a heterodimeric multifunctional protein expressed in a variety of tissues and cells. It forms high density lipid complexes in plasma and participates in the control of the lytic activity of the late complement complex (TCC, C5b-9). Together with vitronectin, clusterin binds to the nascent amphiphilic C5b-9 complex, rendering it water soluble and lytically inactive. To define the interactions that underlie the complement-inhibitory function of clusterin, we have examined the binding interactions between [125I]clusterin and the isolated components of the complex, C5b-6, C7, C8, and C9 and vitronectin. By using ligand blotting in the presence of Tween, specific binding of the labeled clusterin with C7, the beta-subunit of C8 and C9 was detected. Binding to C9 was competed by polymerized C9, but not by C8, C7, C6, and CD59, suggesting that the conformational change occurring during the hydrophilic-amphiphilic transition of C9 exposes the interaction site for clusterin. When thrombin-treated C9 was analyzed, clusterin was found to recognize the C9b fragment containing the hydrophobic membrane interaction segment. Both subunits of clusterin interact with C9 and are similarly potent in inhibiting C5b-9-mediated hemolysis and Zn+(+)-induced C9 polymerization. These results show that clusterin exerts its inhibitory effect by interacting with a structural motif common to C7, C8 alpha, and C9b.


Background. Self-esteem (SE), a widely used construct in the social sciences, is usually conceptualized as a reflection of socialization and interpersonal experiences that may differ considerably between the genders. Methods. The Rosenberg self-esteem scale was assessed at personal interview in both members of 3793 unselected twin pairs (1517 male–male, 856 female–female and 1420 male–female) from the population-based Virginia Twin Registry. Gender effects on SE were assessed by both analysis of variance and biometrical twin modelling. Results. The mean SE score was slightly but significantly lower in women v. men, and in women who grew up with a male v. a female co-twin. Twin modelling suggested that: (i) individual differences in self-esteem in both men and women were best explained by genetic and individual-specific environment factors; (ii) heritability estimates were similar in women (32%) and in men (29%); and (iii) the same genetic factors that influenced SE in women also influenced SE in men. Analyses supported the validity of the equal environment assumption for SE. The heritability of SE cannot be explained by the moderate correlation between SE and symptoms of depression. Conclusions. These results are inconsistent with prominent gender-related aetiological models for SE, which postulate that individual differences arise from socialization experiences both within and outside the home of origin which differ widely for the two genders. Instead, a significant proportion of the population variance in SE is due to genetically-influenced temperamental variables that are the same in men and women.


The APEL (Accreditation/Assessment of Prior Experiential Learning) systems in the UK and France are probably the best developed in Europe, but they are underpinned by different conceptions of learning and experience. In this article, we attempt to understand the two different approaches to APEL within the framework of Goethe's 'natural phenomenology', which essentially attempts to understand phenomena in their own right, without analysing them into parts. An initial analysis would suggest that in the UK the APEL process reflects a conception of experience and learning as being built up of a number of smaller units. In France, on the other hand, the process involves instead a more holistic approach to the evaluation and understanding of experience and learning


Purpose: This paper deals with the undergraduate "Industrial Engineering and Management" curriculum. The research's purpose was to examine the in-depth coverage of teaching/learning in the combined field of industrial engineering and management, as opposed to the extent of widthwise multidisciplinary teaching/learning in this field (T-Shape dilemma). According to this purpose, the following research question was derived: With respect to widthwise multidisciplinary teaching and the depth extent of teaching in industrial engineering and management, what is the desired situation as opposed to the actual situation? Design/methodology/approach: In order to examine the T-shape dilemma, 16 in-depth interviews were conducted with senior-level managers in industry, and with leading academics in the fields of industrial engineering and management. The interviewees were asked questions regarding the planning and design of the curriculum in these fields. An analysis of the interviews was carried out by dividing the interviews into categories, and presenting the categories with the highest frequency occurring in all of the interviews. Findings and Originality/value : One of the most significant results was the great variability between the answers of senior-level managers in industry and those of the academics. While individuals in the business field (senior-level managers) place great importance on focusing studies on the management-business aspect, and acquiring multidisciplinary knowledge, academics emphasized the great importance of understanding the theories and rationale behind the learned material, acquiring a strong theoretical basis, and studying the basic principles, whose implementation is then expressed in a wide diversity of applications. Research limitations/implications: Owing to time limitations, the research only included 16 in-depth interviews. In order to enlarge the external validity of this research more interviews should be executed. Originality/value: The framework of this research is unique in term of its topic and analysis processes.


In recent years, the private equity market has grown sharply as investors have warmed to it as a means of diversifying their portfolios and companies have increasingly depended on it as a means of finance. Although there are many forms of private equity investing, it can be generally described as any investment strategy that includes the purchase of equity in a private company.


Present study is on the rural household food in security in the Kelafo woreda of Somali Regional State of Ethiopia. Situated on the Eastern tip of the country, the area has tough arid climate, almost flat terrain with extremely sparse population and a predominant pastoral economy. Food security is an acute problem in this highly remote and politically sensitive region close to Somalia.  The area suffers with acute food insecurity and so the dependency on FAO food program is very high. Factors affecting food security is the prime concern of this study. Following the FAO (2012-13) food security/ insecurity classification, the study area was divided into food secured and food in secured kebeleys.  Both random and non random sampling techniques were used for the selection of households from food secured and in secured kebeles. A descriptive survey method was used. Questionnaire, interview, field observations and focus group discussion were the main tool used for collation of information. Descriptive statistical techniques were used for the data analysis and findings were displayed by statistical diagrams. Besides being the conventional thought for food insecurity like arid climate, remote location and problem of civil unrest and security, a series of other important factors were also identified during study. Most of the respondents were formally illiterate and only 13.4 % children were going to the formal school. The food secured and in secured kebeles are distinctly different from each other in terms of their ethnic identity, economic activity and perception for the work ethics. The major cause for food insecurity were identified as tough climatic conditions, failure in utilizing their own crop and animal products, limited nonfarm activities, and increasing population pressure. Extreme dependency on the food supply is reflected as the adoption of non conventional food like Pasta, Macaroni and Burris as their staple food. Data shows that only 54% of households were self dependent for food, while rests were dependent on other sources.  The major copping strategies opted at household level were reduction in the livestock population, fishing, sale of charcoal, change in food habit, and finally outmigration. Still two fifth of total households have no option but to depend on food aid program and borrowing from their relatives. Study recommends an extensive awareness cum teaching program to natives to change their tradition mindset for tribal superiority and work ethics, and motivate for development. Promotion of formal education, setting up a marketing system for local produce and development of irrigation from Shebelle river is must for food security of the study area. Keywords: China insurance industry, Foreign fund, Challenge


Humins, humic and fulvic acids represent molecules with complex structures. These compounds comprising humic substances (HS) exist naturally in soil, brown coal, peat, and water. They are formed during the decomposition and transformation of organic matter (animal and plant remains) and their formation explains several theories. Within their chemical structures, there are numerous phenolic and carboxyl groups and their derivatives that affect their different properties, such as their solubility in water or their absorption of cations or mycotoxins. The manifold chemical structure of HS alters their polyelectrolyte character and thus their chelating efficiency. For many years, HS have been studied due to their detoxification, anti-, and pro-inflammatory or anticancer and antiviral ability. This article summarizes the antioxidant and adsorption properties of humic acids, highlighting their usefulness in intoxications.


The brake performance of a hydrodynamic tractor-retarder assembly, which is the combination of torque converter and hyaulic retarder, was studied to explore its work mechanism. Spiral vortex distribution pattern of internal flow field in the assembly was discovered on the basis of reasonable boundary condition, where runaway speed of stator was determined by CFD analysis. Comparison of experimental data and flow field analysis shows that accurate brake performance of hydrodynamic tractor-retarder assembly can be calculated only by 3D flow field analysis presently and numerical simulation results is close to experimental data, and approximate linear relationship exists between runaway speed of stator and rotating speed of pump.


Deregulation of the retinoblastoma protein (pRB) pathway is a hallmark of human cancer. The core members of this pathway include the tumor suppressor protein, pRB, which through binding to a number of cellular proteins, most notably members of the E2F transcription factor family, regulates progression through the cell division cycle. With the aim of identifying transcriptional changes provoked by deregulation of the pRB pathway, we have used cell lines that conditionally express a constitutively active phosphorylation site mutant of pRB (pRBΔCDK) or p16INK4A (p16). The expression of pRBΔCDK and p16 resulted in significant repression and activation of a large number of genes as measured by high density oligonucleotide array analysis. Transcriptional changes were found in genes that are essential for DNA replication and cell proliferation. In agreement with previous results, we found a high degree of overlap between genes regulated by p16 and pRB. Data we have obtained previously for E2F family members showed that 74 of the genes repressed by pRB and p16 were induced by the E2Fs and 23 genes that were induced by pRB and p16 were repressed by the E2Fs. Thus, we have identified 97 genes as physiological targets of the pRB pathway, and the further characterization of these genes should provide insights into how this pathway controls proliferation. We show that Gibbs sampling detects enrichment of several sequence motifs, including E2F consensus binding sites, in the upstream regions of these genes and use this enrichment in an in silico filtering process to refine microarray derived gene lists.


BACKGROUND
Many patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) now reach adulthood, at which time the risk of cancer is increased. The aim of this study was to determine cancer risks in nontransplanted and transplanted CF patients.

METHODS
From 1990 to 2009, we followed 41,188 patients who received care at one of the 250 CF care center programs in the United States and compared the observed number of cancers in nontransplanted and transplanted patients with that expected in the general US population.

RESULTS
In 344,114 patient-years of observation of nontransplanted patients, the overall cancer risk was similar to the background risk (standardized incidence ratio [SIR] = 1.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.0 to 1.3). However, we observed an elevated risk of digestive tract cancer (SIR = 3.5, 95% CI = 2.6 to 4.7) involving the esophago-gastric junction, biliary tract, small bowel, and colon. There was also an increased risk of testicular cancer (SIR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.02 to 2.7) and lymphoid leukemia (SIR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.2 to 3.1) and a decreased risk of malignant melanoma (SIR = 0.4, 95% CI = 0.2 to 0.9). In 8235 patient-years of observation of transplanted patients, 26 tumors were observed compared with 9.6 expected (SIR = 2.7, 95% CI = 1.8 to 3.9). The increased risk was particularly high for digestive tract cancers (SIR = 17.3, 95% CI = 10.7 to 26.5), with most cases arising in the bowel.

CONCLUSIONS
The overall burden of cancer in CF patients remains low; however they have an increased risk of digestive tract cancer, particularly following transplantation. They also have increased risk of lymphoid leukemia and testicular cancer, and decreased risk of melanoma.


The uncertainty in the availability of wind generation and the lack of coincidence between wind generation and system peak demand make wind farms (WFs) to be nondispatchable energy resources and impose limits on the potential penetration of wind generation in the generation mix. Battery energy storage systems (BESSs) integrated with WFs can reduce the variability of wind generation output allowing them to be dispatched for the network support, especially under peak load conditions. This paper proposes an effective power dispatch control strategy of WFs with the aid of BESSs to improve the supply reliability taking into account the uncertainties in wind generation output and load demand. A stochastic programming model is formulated considering uncertainty in wind generation and energy price to schedule WF dispatch. A novel rank-based BESS dispatch control algorithm is developed to achieve the assured WF power output levels for dispatch. Also, the application of the power dispatch control strategy is presented with the simulation study. Simulation results suggest that the implementation of the proposed strategy will improve supply reliability and revenue stream of the WFs.


The spatial distribution of small signal gain has been investigated on the RADICL device, a supersonic chemical oxygen-iodine laser (COIL). A frequency-stabilized, narrow linewidth diode laser system operating on the F=3/spl rarr/F=4 hyperfine levels of the (/sup 2/P/sub 1/2/) to (/sup 2/P/sub 3/2/) spin-orbit transition in atomic iodine was used as a small signal probe. A peak gain of 1.2%/cm was measured along the horizontal centerline of the single-slit, supersonic nozzle, which is about two times greater than measurements made on ReCOIL by Hager et al. (1988) and compares favorably with measurements made on the RotoCOIL device by Keating et al. (1990). Gain distribution was investigated under three I/sub 2/ flow conditions. Scans across the supersonic expansion indicate a gradient in gain distribution due to higher gas temperatures along the walls and mixing phenomena. >


Despite ample anecdotal evidence, previous research on violent conflict has found little evidence that religion is an important factor in organized violence. Quantitative work in this area has been largely confined to the interreligious character of conflict and measures of religious diversity, and has strongly neglected the peace aspect of religion. The Religion and Conflict in Developing Countries (RCDC) dataset helps to fill this gap with innovative and fine-grained data for 130 developing countries between 1990 and 2010. RCDC includes four types of religious violence (assaults on religious targets, attacks by religious actors, clashes between religious communities, and clashes with the state). In addition, RCDC contains data on interreligious networks and peace initiatives. This article demonstrates the usefulness of RCDC by applying our data to a preliminary analysis. The results indicate that interreligious networks are a reaction to identity overlaps and previous interreligious conflict.