Jaw muscles are versatile entities that are able to adapt their anatomical characteristics, such as size, cross-sectional area, and fibre properties, to altered functional demands. The dynamic nature of muscle fibres allows them to change their phenotype to optimize the required contractile function while minimizing energy use. Changes in these anatomical parameters are associated with changes in neuromuscular activity as the pattern of muscle activation by the central nervous system plays an important role in the modulation of muscle properties. This review summarizes the adaptive response of jaw muscles to various stimuli or perturbations in the orofacial system and addresses general changes in muscles as they adapt, specific adaptive changes in jaw muscles under various physiologic and pathologic conditions, and their adaptive response to non-surgical and surgical therapeutic interventions. Although the jaw muscles are used concertedly in the masticatory system, their adaptive changes are not always uniform and vary with the nature, intensity, and duration of the stimulus. In general, stretch, increases neuromuscular activity, and resistance training result in hypertrophy, elicits increases in mitochondrial content and cross-sectional area of the fibres, and may change the fibre-type composition of the muscle towards a larger percentage of slow-type fibres. In contrast, changes in the opposite direction occur when neuromuscular activity is reduced, the muscle is immobilized in a shortened position, or paralysed. The broad range of stimuli that affect the properties of jaw muscles might help explain the large variability in the anatomical and physiological characteristics found among individuals, muscles, and muscle portions.


Abstract Mediator activates RNA polymerase II (Pol II) function during transcription, but it remains unclear whether Mediator is able to travel with Pol II and regulate Pol II transcription beyond the initiation and early elongation steps. By using in vitro and in vivo transcription recycling assays, we find that human Mediator 1 (MED1), when phosphorylated at the mammal-specific threonine 1032 by cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9), dynamically moves along with Pol II throughout the transcribed genes to drive Pol II recycling after the initial round of transcription. Mechanistically, MED31 mediates the recycling of phosphorylated MED1 and Pol II, enhancing mRNA output during the transcription recycling process. Importantly, MED1 phosphorylation increases during prostate cancer progression to the lethal phase, and pharmacological inhibition of CDK9 decreases prostate tumor growth by decreasing MED1 phosphorylation and Pol II recycling. Our results reveal a novel role of MED1 in Pol II transcription and identify phosphorylated MED1 as a targetable driver of dysregulated Pol II recycling in cancer.


This paper presents a new solution for a battery discharge regulator for high-power space applications (power-per-module ≥ 5 kW) using a high-efficiency step-up converter. Basic requirements are efficiency that is higher than 97%, mass that is lower than 2.5 kg, no galvanic isolation necessary, and a high mean time between failures. By taking into account all these parameters, the selected topology has been two interleaved boost converters with passive soft switching. Small-signal analysis of these two interleaved boost converters is also presented.


OCR system plays an important role in automatic identification of a script in a given document image, which provides important applications. A country like India, most of the people use more than one language in their day to day life; the requirement of OCR system is very much essential. There is not much work in developing OCR system for south Indian languages such as Kannada are reported in the literature. Recognition of the Kannada character is more complex and challenging, because it has large set of character with more similarity in properties among characters and characters belonging to same class have higher variability among different set of fonts. Moreover, the Kannada characters are formed by combination of basic symbols; a natural approach for recognition is to segment characters into basic symbol and recognize each symbol subsequently. Therefore a character level segmentation method is highly desirable. Also precise segmentation will certainly reduce the number of classes to recognize. The naïve use of characters images for segmentation may not yield more accurate results. With previous studies which have confirmed that the multi-channel Gabor decomposition represents an excellent tool for image segmentation and texture analysis, we propose a novel character segmentation method using Gabor filters. On comparing with manually segmented benchmark data we obtained overall accuracy of 93.82%.


The 3D reconstruction of an accurate face model is essential for delivering reliable feedback for clinical decision support. Medical imaging and specific depth sensors are accurate but not suitable for an easy-to-use and portable tool. The recent development of deep learning (DL) models opens new challenges for 3D shape reconstruction from a single image. However, the 3D face shape reconstruction of facial palsy patients is still a challenge, and this has not been investigated. The contribution of the present study is to apply these state-of-the-art methods to reconstruct the 3D face shape models of facial palsy patients in natural and mimic postures from one single image. Three different methods (3D Basel Morphable model and two 3D Deep Pre-trained models) were applied to the dataset of two healthy subjects and two facial palsy patients. The reconstructed outcomes were compared to the 3D shapes reconstructed using Kinect-driven and MRI-based information. As a result, the best mean error of the reconstructed face according to the Kinect-driven reconstructed shape is 1.5±1.1 mm. The best error range is 1.9±1.4 mm when compared to the MRI-based shapes. Before using the procedure to reconstruct the 3D faces of patients with facial palsy or other facial disorders, several ideas for increasing the accuracy of the reconstruction can be discussed based on the results. This present study opens new avenues for the fast reconstruction of the 3D face shapes of facial palsy patients from a single image. As perspectives, the best DL method will be implemented into our computer-aided decision support system for facial disorders.


Classic arguments for decentralization, augmented by ideas about how participation empowers the poor, motivate the widely used approach in foreign aid called community-driven development (CDD). CDD devolves control over the selection, implementation, and financial management of public goods to communities. Until recently, policy enthusiasm has outstripped the evidence. I synthesize findings from randomized controlled trials and find that CDD effectively delivers public goods and modest economic returns at low cost in difficult environments. There is little evidence, however, that CDD transforms local decision making or empowers the poor in any enduring way. Part of this failure may be because some constraints believed to be important—like insufficient social capital—appear not to bind. Others, like exclusive local institutions, are a problem, although not one that CDD remedies. These results present a conundrum: How much participation is enough to safeguard the gains of such extreme decentralization while minimizing the opportunity costs imposed on poor people's time?


SUMMARY South Africa has extremely high incidence rates of fatal and non-fatal injuries due to interpersonal violence, motor vehicle crashes (many involving pedestrians), burns, falls and other unintentional injuries. The direct costs associated with the medical treatment, rehabilitation and administration of these victims run into billions of Rands which could be more productively spent on primary prevention to reduce the number of new cases and improve overall life quality. Yet, the costs of injuries in the South African public health sector remain relatively unknown. To provide baseline direct medical costs for the treatment of gun shot wounds (GSWs), pedestrian-motor vehicle collision injuries (PMVCIs), falls and burns at a tertiary public health facility in Johannesburg, South Africa using adapted private health care costing procedures. Fifty-five patients were enrolled in the study, 48 of which were included in the final cost calculations. Gun Shot Wounds (GSWs) accounted for the majority (38.2%) of the injury types costed. On average, this type of injury was the most expensive to treat at ZAR6395.65 per case costed. The average treatment of PMVICs was calculated and ZAR3885.97 and the average direct cost of treating a fall was ZAR2747.83. The pilot study was complicated by the general absence of a culture of costing and a lack of general investment in the practice of injury costing itself. Further attempts to describe the costs of injuries in South Africa must address these challenges in the formative planning stages of the research. Nevertheless, despite these limitations, aggregate direct medical costs of treating these injuries reveal an immense financial burden on the public health system if extrapolated to the total incidence of injuries in South Africa. Furthermore, they support the argument for the re-direction of financial resources to primary prevention initiatives to reduce the number of new cases, improve overall life quality of populations, and minimise fiscal pressures on an already over-burdened health system in South Africa. [Afr J Health Sci. 2010; 17:57-63]


This paper presents an in-depth survey of motors in a refinery and a chemical plant. The potential for energy and demand savings is then determined and hence the dollar savings using a sliding rate structure currently applicable to the petrochemical industry in Louisiana, USA. Extensive use of the program MotorMaster is used and motor manufacturer's data is presented in a form to provide insight into potential areas for savings. >


The future is uncertain. We therefore make predictions and forecasts of the future in order to be able to plan and react to future events. For this purpose, financial analysts are argued to have a responsibility towards investors and the market, in helping to keep the market efficient. Given that financial analysts act in a rational way we argue that analysts should strive to maximize forecast accuracy. The purpose of this study is to investigate how accurate financial analysts' forecasts of Swedish firms' future values are, and what information that analysts use that significantly affect the analysts' forecast accuracy. To investigate this we first examine whether financial analysts contribute with value to investors by comparing their forecast precision against a simple time-series model. Our findings show that financial analysts produce significantly more accurate forecasts than a time-series model in the short term. Furthermore, given that rational analysts act in their own best interest while making accurate forecasts, we argue that analysts will incorporate and use the information that is available to them for the purpose of maximizing forecast accuracy. We investigate this by testing if the analysts' forecast accuracy is affected by; the forecast horizon, the number of analysts following a firm, the firm size, the corporate visibility, the predictability of earnings, and trading volume. We find that the forecast accuracy is better when the amount of analysts following a firm is high, the firm size is larger, the forecasted company's corporate visibility in the news is more frequent, and the predictability of earnings is higher. The trading volume does not have a significant effect on analysts' forecast accuracy. To conclude, we question the value of financial analysts' forecasts for longer forecast horizons.


At sound excitation of a supersonic shear layer, disturbances arise there which can radiate Mach waves at supersonic values of the convective movement velocity. In this paper, results are presented of experimental investigations of the action of the finite‐amplitude saw‐toothed sound waves on the mixing layer of a supersonic air jet issuing from a conical supersonic nozzle designed for M=2.0 at different sound incidence angles onto the jet boundary. It is shown that sound radiation by the excited jet at the external excitation frequency is associated with Mach wave radiation, its directivity is independent of the sound incident angle, and its intensity may exceed the sound intensity in the incident wave by the value up to 20 dB. The amplification value depends on the total pressure in the jet and the sound incidence angle depends on the jet boundary.


The authors report the simulation of temperature distribution and thermally induced stress in the premolar tooth under ND-YAG pulsed laser beam. The Three-Phase-Lag (TPL) non-Fourier model is proposed to describe the heat conduction in the human tooth with nonhomogeneous inner structures. A premolar tooth comprising enamel, dentin, and pulp with real shapes and thicknesses are considered and a numerical method of finite difference was adopted to solve the time-dependent TPL bio-heat transfer, strain and stress equations. The surface heating scheme is applied for simulation of laser therapy. The aim of this laser therapy is that the temperature of pulp reaches to 47oC. The results are achieved as a function of laser heat flux showed when laser beam is irradiated downward (from the top of the tooth), the temperature and thermally induced stress increase as a function of time. The temperature increment is high on the top layers of tooth that is a result of strong absorption of beams by enamel. The thermal stress and strain in the enamel and dentin layers are more than the pulp layer that is a result of weak thermal expansion of them proportional to the pulp layer.


Using Electron Spectroscopic Imaging (ESI), we visualized the in situ binding of nucleic acids to nuclear matrix and 3H-thymidine incorporation which indicates that a small partial DNA bound to nuclear matrix tightly. Furthermore we found that chromosomal telomere DNA could bind to nuclear matrix specifically by the dot and Southern hybridization. The result of the Southwestern blot suggests that telomere DNA has high affinity to lamin B, vimentin and some nuclear matrix proteins. Therefore, the nuclear matrix and lamina of HeLa cell are possibly associated with spatial organization and action of chromosome.


Centrifugal pump design operating with special fluids (high viscosity, non-Newtonian, solid handling) is usually performed by considering water as the working fluid and then by applying empirical correction to the performance according to the fluid processed. CFD techniques allow the analysis of the impact of the fluid properties and the effectiveness of the design correction, rather than only relying on specific empirical data for each specific fluid. In this paper, a CFD analysis is performed on a large-size industrial food processing centrifugal pump originally designed for tomato paste. A model sensitivity analysis on the fluid constitutive law and on the flow regime modeling (laminar or turbulent) was performed. The CFD study showed that a fluid viscosity increase affects pump performances coherently with literature data. Then, pump curves and 3D flow structures obtained with non-Newtonian fluid are similar to those obtained with high viscous Newtonian fluids.


This paper presents a bio-inspired approach for the inverse kinematics problem of 6-DOF serial manipulator. More specifically, we are addressing the trajectory planning and motion planning of the end-effector using the PSO algorithm. Hence, a multi-objective PSO has been investigated to plan the optimal trajectory of the end-effector by avoiding the obstacles, as well as we have introduced the virtual shortest path concept. On the other hand, we have proposed a combination of the modified PSO and the Tabu search algorithm to select the optimal configuration of the manipulator joints. Moreover, the energy consumed by the robot has been taken into consideration.In order to assess the effectiveness of our proposal, it has been evaluated under different simulation scenarios, where the results figured out that our proposal is promising and can be applied to both robot manipulators and mobile robots.


The influence of four commercially available different starter cultures, namely cheese culture CC (Lactoccocus (Lc.) lactis ssp. lactis and Lc. lactis ssp. cremoris), yoghurt culture YC (Streptococcus (St.) thermophilus and Lactobacillus (Lb.) delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus), helveticus culture HC (Lb. helveticus) and YC+HC mixed cultures (St. thermophilus and Lb. delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus + Lb. helveticus; 1:1) on the chemical composition, lipolysis, proteolysis levels and casein fractions of White-brined cheese were investigated during ripening for 90 days. The total solids, fat, protein and pH values of White-brined cheese increased with addition of cheese (CC) and yoghurt (YC) starter cultures. The titratable acidity, WSN, TCA-SN and lipolysis values of cheese samples was affected significantly by the addition of Lb. helveticus during ripening. As other ripening values, the α s1 - and β-caseins of the cheeses were degraded at a higher rate in the HC cheeses containing Lb. helveticus cultures than in the other cheeses. However, α s1 -I peptid and casein breakdown metabolites were higher in the same cheeses than in white cheeses produced with other cultures.


Few studies of problem-solving expertise in professional domains have undertaken independent assessments of how domain-specific knowledge contributes to the development of problem representations as well as subsequent memory for task information. These issues were investigated in the present study by asking participants at three levels of training and experience (novice, trainee, and expert) in a medical specialty to solve two complex diagnostic problems (patient cases) selected from medical records of a university hospital. The subjects were also asked to provide an incidental free recall of the patient information contained in each case immediately after problem solving and one week later. Problem representations (identified as "lines of reasoning") used by each subject in each case were determined from an analysis of thinking-aloud protocols generated during problem solving. The three groups did not differ on the overall amount of case information recalled at the immediate retention test and did not show selective recall for information statements that were directly relevant to the lines of reasoning used during problem solving. After one week, however, the expert physicians remembered fewer information units than novices but showed selective retention for case information contained in the lines of reasoning used to reach a diagnosis. Experts also increased their recall of specific diagnostic interpretations contained in their initial problem-solving experience while novices did not demonstrate evidence of their problem representations in recalling case information.


Purpose:  To find out the anatomical and functional outcomes of rectangular three-snip punctoplasty in primary acquired punctal stenosis.
Study Design:  Quasi Experimental study.
Place and Duration of Study:  Isra Postgraduate Institute of Ophthalmology, Karachi, from July to December 2020.
Methods:  Patients of age 50 years and above, from either gender with primary acquired punctal stenosis of any grade (0-5) presenting with epiphora were recruited from Oculoplasty Outpatient department. Punctal stenosis with secondary causes like lesion on or around punctum or lacrimal drainage system and history of surgery or radiotherapy, lower canalicular or common canalicular stenosis were excluded from the study. Punctal stenosis was graded by Kashkouli scale and epiphora by the Munk score. After local anesthesia, two vertical cuts were given in the posterior wall of the punctum and a third cut was given horizontally to connect the vertical cuts. This resulted in a posterior ampullectomy. Syringing and probing was done to assess patency of the lower lacrimal drainage system. The patients were followed up for 6 months to assess for anatomical and functional success.
Results:  At the end of six month anatomical success was achieved in 85% cases and functional success in 70% patients. Fifteen percent patients suffered re-stenosis of punctum.
Conclusion:  Rectangular punctoplasty is a functionally successful procedure for treating primary acquired punctal stenosis. The anatomy is least distorted and long-term recurrence rate is also low.
Key Words:  Epiphora, Primary acquired punctual stenosis, Punctoplasty, Munk score.


Agricultural productivity in the highlands of Ethiopia is threatened by severe land degradation, resulting in significant reductions in agricultural GDP. In order to mitigate ongoing erosion and soil nutrient loss in the productive agricultural highlands of the country, the government of Ethiopia initiated a Sustainable Land Management Program (SLMP) targeting 209 woredas (districts) in six regions of the country. This study evaluates the impact of SLMP on the value of agricultural production in select woredas by using a panel survey from 2010 to 2014. Whereas previous studies have used cross-sectional data and short timeframe field trials to measure sustainable land management (SLM) effects on agricultural productivity, this analysis exploits data collected over four years to assess impact. The results of this analysis show that participation by farmers in SLMP, regardless of the number of years of participation in the program, is not associated with significant increases in value of production. This may be due to several reasons. First, similar to previous studies, it is possible that longer term maintenance is necessary in order to experience significant benefits. For example, Schmidt and Tadesse (2014) report that farmers must maintain SLM for a minimum of seven years to reap benefits in value of production. Second, this analysis finds that value of production, as well as SLM investments, increased significantly in both treatment and non-treatment areas over the study period. Previous research has found that non-treatment neighbors learn from nearby program areas, and adopt technologies similar to programed areas, which would dilute the impact measurement of program effects (Bernard et al. 2007; Angelucci and DiMaro 2010). Finally, it is important to note that kebeles that were not selected in the SLMP, but are downstream relative to a targeted kebele may receive indirect benefits through reduced flooding, increased water tables, etc. Thus, the impact of the SLMP may be underestimated in this analysis if non-program kebeles are benefiting indirectly from the program.


We introduce Particle-SDCA, a gradient-based optimization algorithm for two-layer neural networks in the mean field regime that achieves exponential convergence rate in regularized empirical risk minimization. The proposed algorithm can be regarded as an infinite dimensional extension of Stochastic Dual Coordinate Ascent (SDCA) in the probability space: we exploit the convexity of the dual problem, for which the coordinate-wise proximal gradient method can be applied. Our proposed method inherits advantages of the original SDCA, including (i) exponential convergence (with respect to the outer iteration steps), and (ii) better dependency on the sample size and condition number than the full-batch gradient method. One technical challenge in implementing the SDCA update is the intractable integral over the entire parameter space at every step. To overcome this limitation, we propose a tractable particle method that approximately solves the dual problem, and an importance re-weighting technique to reduce the computational cost. The convergence rate of our method is verified by numerical experiments.


An inkjet-printed, fully passive sensor capable of either humidity or gas sensing is presented herein. The sensor is composed of an interdigitated electrode, a customized printable gas sensitive ink and a specialized dipole antenna for wireless sensing. The interdigitated electrode printed on a paper substrate provides the base conductivity that varies during the sensing process. Aided by the porous nature of the substrate, a change in relative humidity from 18% to 88% decreases the electrode resistance from a few Mega-ohms to the kilo-ohm range. For gas sensing, an additional copper acetate-based customized ink is printed on top of the electrode, which, upon reaction with hydrogen sulphide gas (H2S) changes, both the optical and the electrical properties of the electrode. A fast response time of 3 min is achieved at room temperature for a H2S concentration of 10 ppm at a relative humidity (RH) of 45%. The passive wireless sensing is enabled through an antenna in which the inner loop takes care of conductivity changes in the 4–5 GHz band, whereas the outer-dipole arm is used for chipless identification in the 2–3 GHz band.


Lagrangian and Hamiltonian neural networks (LNNs and HNNs, respectively) encode strong inductive biases that allow them to outperform other models of physical systems significantly. However, these models have, thus far, mostly been limited to simple systems such as pendulums and springs or a single rigid body such as a gyroscope or a rigid rotor. Here, we present a Lagrangian graph neural network (LGNN) that can learn the dynamics of articulated rigid bodies by exploiting their topology. We demonstrate the performance of LGNN by learning the dynamics of ropes, chains, and trusses with the bars modeled as rigid bodies. LGNN also exhibits generalizability -- LGNN trained on chains with a few segments exhibits generalizability to simulate a chain with large number of links and arbitrary link length. We also show that the LGNN can simulate unseen hybrid systems including bars and chains, on which they have not been trained on. Specifically, we show that the LGNN can be used to model the dynamics of complex real-world structures such as the stability of tensegrity structures. Finally, we discuss the non-diagonal nature of the mass matrix and its ability to generalize in complex systems.


The goal of formalization, proposed in this paper, is to bring together, as near as possible, the theoretic linguistic problem of synonym conception and the computer linguistic methods based generally on empirical intuitive unjustified factors. Using the word vector representation we have proposed the geometric approach to mathematical modeling of synonym set (synset). The word embedding is based on the neural networks (Skip-gram, CBOW), developed and realized as word2vec program by T. Mikolov. The standard cosine similarity is used as the distance between word-vectors. Several geometric characteristics of the synset words are introduced: the interior of synset, the synset word rank and centrality. These notions are intended to select the most significant synset words, i.e. the words which senses are the nearest to the sense of a synset. Some experiments with proposed notions, based on RusVectores resources, are represented. A brief description of this work can be viewed in slides this https URL


Surfaces in the real world exhibit complex appearance due to spatial variations in both their reflectance and local shading frames (i.e. the local coordinate system defined by the normal and tangent direction). For opaque surfaces, existing fabrication solutions can reproduce well only the spatial variations of isotropic reflectance. In this paper, we present a system for fabricating surfaces with desired spatially-varying reflectance, including anisotropic ones, and local shading frames. We approximate each input reflectance, rotated by its local frame, as a small patch of oriented facets coated with isotropic glossy inks. By assigning different ink combinations to facets with different orientations, this bi-scale material can reproduce a wider variety of reflectance than the printer gamut, including anisotropic materials. By orienting the facets appropriately, we control the local shading frame. We propose an algorithm to automatically determine the optimal facets orientations and ink combinations that best approximate a given input appearance, while obeying manufacturing constraints on both geometry and ink gamut. We fabricate the resulting surface with commercially available hardware, a 3D printer to fabricate the facets and a flatbed UV printer to coat them with inks. We validate our method by fabricating a variety of isotropic and anisotropic materials with rich variations in normals and tangents.


Differentiated nuclei can be reprogrammed/remodelled to totipotency after their transfer to enucleated metaphase II (MII) oocytes. The process of reprogramming/remodelling is, however, only partially characterized. It has been shown that the oocyte nucleus (germinal vesicle – GV) components are essential for a successful remodelling of the transferred nucleus by providing the materials for pseudo-nucleus formation. However, the nucleus is a complex structure and exactly what nuclear components are required for a successful nucleus remodelling and reprogramming is unknown. Till date, the only nuclear sub-structure experimentally demonstrated to be essential is the oocyte nucleolus (nucleolus-like body, NLB). In this study, we investigated what other GV components might be necessary for the formation of normal-sized pseudo-pronuclei (PNs). Our results showed that the removal of the GV nuclear envelope with attached chromatin and chromatin-bound factors does not substantially influence the size of the remodelled nuclei in reconstructed cells and that their nuclear envelopes seem to have normal parameters. Rather than the insoluble nuclear lamina, the GV content, which is dissolved in the cytoplasm with the onset of oocyte maturation, influences the characteristics and size of transferred nuclei.


Marine-derived fungi are considered as a promising source for discovering new secondary metabolites with pharmaceutical potential. In this study, 18 marine-derived fungi were isolated and identified from marine invertebrates and investigated with regard to their antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities. DPPH, SO, NO and ABTS assays were used for monitoring free radical scavenging activity, and MTT assay was used for cytotoxic activity. For antimicrobial activity determination minimum inhibitory concentration was calculated. As a result, six Penicillium, five Aspergillus, one Alternaria, Cladosporium, Malassezia, Mycosphaerella, Sporobolomyces, Talaromyces and Trichoderma species were isolated from the marine invertebrate. Some of these fungal extracts such as Aspergillus chevalieri has shown high antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, further Aspergillus awamori, Aspergillus niger and Penicillium brevicompactum have shown significant cytotoxic activity against HCT-116 cells. This was the first study about habitant of marine-derived fungi of Turkey's coasts and their antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxicity activities. Besides, it is also the first report about the antioxidant and cytotoxicity activities of C. funiculosum, A. awamori and P. crustosum. Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of P. rubens were reported for the first time in this study.


Osmotic and oxidative stress have been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic cataract. Nigerloxin, a fungal metabolite, has been shown to possess aldose reductase inhibitory and free radical scavenging potential, in vitro. In the present study, the beneficial influence of nigerloxin was investigated on diabetes-induced alteration in the eye lens of rats treated with streptozotocin. Groups of diabetic rats were administered nigerloxin orally (100 mg·(kg body mass)(-1)·day(-1)) for 30 days. The activity of lens polyol pathway enzymes (aldose reductase and sorbitol dehydrogenase), lipid peroxides, and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) were increased in the diabetic animals. Levels of glutathione as well as the activity of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, glutathione-S-transferase, and glutathione peroxidase) were decreased in the eye lens of the diabetic animals. The administration of nigerloxin significantly decreased levels of lipid peroxides and AGEs in the lens of the diabetic rats. Increase in the activity of aldose reductase and sorbitol dehydrogenase in the lens was countered by nigerloxin treatment. The activity of glutathione and antioxidant enzyme in the lens was significantly elevated in nigerloxin-treated diabetic rats. Examination of the treated rats' eyes indicated that nigerloxin delayed cataractogenesis in the diabetic rats. The results suggest the beneficial countering of polyol pathway enzymes and potentiation of the antioxidant defense system by nigerloxin in diabetic animals, implicating its potential in ameliorating cataracts in diabetics.


The dependence of the lamellar thickness (I) of an extended-chain single crystal (ECSC) of polyethylene (PE) crystallized at various pressures below or at the triple-point pressure (Ptri= 0.5 GPa) on the degree of super-cooling (ΔT) and the pressure have been studied. The value of I increased with the decrease in ΔT[i.e. increase in the crystallization temperature (Tc)] at a fixed pressure, similar to the well known ΔT dependence of I for a folded-chain single crystal (FCC). The observed maximum value of I, obtained at the lowest ΔT(Imax) increased with increasing pressure and the crystal changed from FCC to an extended-chain crystal (ECC) at ca. 0.25 GPa. Application of the chain-sliding diffusion theory, previously proposed by one of the authors (M.H.) was found to explain well observed significant ΔT dependence of I and the pressure dependence of Imax. It was proposed that the value of I is determined by the cessation of lamellar thickening growth at the phase transition from metastable hexagonal to stable orthorhombic. The phase transition was also studied and it is suggested to be a nucleation-controlled process of the primary nucleus.


Intramammary lymph nodes were observed in four cases, one containing metastatic melanoma from an unidentified source, one carcinoma metastatic from the opposite breast, one carcinoma metastatic from the same breast, and one containing no malignant neoplasm. A review of the literature showed lymph nodes to occur very rarely in the true intramammary location. No evidence is available as to whether the nodes observed in these cases were normally occurring nodes or if they had arisen in response to some stimulus.


Psychological perspectives have long been reflected in educational theory and practice. Therefore, we expect psychology to contribute to our understanding of the impact of technology on the temporal aspects of teaching and learning in this digital age. Understanding how we learn, and how learning and teaching can be facilitated, are key to understanding the temporal dimension of e-learning. In this article the authors review the research literature with the purpose of developing a psychologically informed understanding of the temporal aspects, challenges and skills required for successful digital mediated learning. They consider how time has previously been addressed in educational theories and evaluate whether these theories retain their psychological validity in the context of e-learning. How is time perceived and experienced? How do such perceptions and expectations impact on e-learning? What skills will learners require? The authors' consideration of these and other issues leads them firstly to advance five psychologically informed challenges associated with the temporal aspects of e-learning. Secondly they identify three categories of psychological skills that support the ability to manage these temporal challenges and illustrate how they function as psychological enablers to e-learning. Psychological insights will not only deepen our understanding of the temporal aspects of e-learning, they will also inform the design of educational materials and the deployment of technology to support their effective use.


On 11 March 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake hit eastern Japan, causing an enormous tsunami that swept through a wide area of the Pacific coast of Japan. Black Brant Branta bernicla nigricans , which forage on sea grass and marine algae in the shallow coastal waters, were one of the many bird species affected by this event. Here we overlay satellite-tracking data upon GIS landform and land-use layers to assess the consequences of the tsunami on habitat utilisation by the geese. Satellite-tracking of Black Brant following the tsunami showed that along the southern Sanriku coast in northern Honshu, where habitat had been affected by the tsunami, the geese exploited not only their traditional coastal areas but also terrestrial sites including paddy fields. Overall, 37 (4.3%) of the 868 satellite locations were confirmed to be in terrestrial habitats, possibly resulting from habitat loss in intertidal areas following the tsunami. Field observations also found geese feeding in flooded paddy fields 2 km inland of the coast. These results illustrate an adaptive behaviour by the geese to large-scale environmental changes.


Tumors arising from the upper GIT are usually of epithelial origin and are mostly benign. Even when they do occur, they are usually considered as premalignant lesions with a risk of transformation to malignant ones.Tubulo-villous adenomas represent lesions that are histologically intermediate between tubular and villous polyps. These account for the majority of colonic polyps.We present a case of benign adenomas arising from the duodenum, an extremely rare diagnosis with an average annual incidence rate of 9.9 per million people.Among these uncommon tumors,Duodenal tumors are even rarer with average incidence rate of 0.4% only. Histopathological examination mostly shows villous type.Tubulovillous histology is extremely rare with an incidence of less than 1% of all duodenal tumors. However, these tumors are being diagnosed with increasing frequency due to more widespread


Introduction: The burden of stroke on the community is growing, and therefore, so is the need for a therapy to overcome the disability following stroke. Cellular-based therapies are being actively investigated at a pre-clinical and clinical level. Studies have reported the beneficial effects of exogenous stem cell implantation, however, these benefits are also associated with limited survival of implanted stem cells. This exploratory study investigated the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as a complementary therapy to increase stem cell survival following implantation of human dental pulp stem cells (DPSC) in the rodent cortex. Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were anesthetized and injected with 6 × 105 DPSC or control media via an intracranial injection, and then received real TMS (TMS0.2 Hz) or sham TMS (TMSsham) every 2nd day beginning on day 3 post DPSC injection for 2 weeks. Brain sections were analyzed for the survival, migration and differentiation characteristics of the implanted cells. Results: In animals treated with DPSC and TMS0.2 Hz there were significantly less implanted DPSC and those that survived remained in the original cerebral hemisphere compared to animals that received TMSsham. The surviving implanted DPSC in TMS0.2 Hz were also found to express the apoptotic marker Caspase-3. Conclusions: We suggest that TMS at this intensity may cause an increase in glutamate levels, which promotes an unfavorable environment for stem cell implantation, proliferation and differentiation. It should be noted that only one paradigm of TMS was tested as this was conducted as a exploratory study, and further TMS paradigms should be investigated in the future.


Abstract This paper summarizes information about recently worked bentonite deposits in Slovakia and presents the results of studies on bentonite from the Central Slovakia Volcanic Field (CSVF). The authors compared the mineralogy of commercial bentonites exploited in the Stara Kremnička (Jelšový potok), Kopernica, and Hliník nad Hronom deposits. X-ray diffraction (XRD), chemical analyses and microscopy showed that the main component is montmorillonite (37-88%), followed by opal C/CT (5-25%), clinoptilolite (up to 15%), feldspars (3-12%), quartz (up to 8%), biotite (2-5%), and kaolinite (up to 2%). The microscopic imaging provided information valuable for the technological assessment of bentonites, particularly the evaluation of mineralogy determined by XRD. The low variability of the mineral composition of commercial bentonites exploited in the western CSVF, together with the significant reserves and localization of deposits close to the Polish-Slovak state border prove that this raw material deserves more attention from Polish industry.


In constraint or preference reasoning, a typical task is to compute a solution, or an optimal solution. However, when one has already a solution, it may be important to produce the next solution following the given one in a linearization of the solution ordering where more preferred solutions are ordered first. In this paper, we study the computational complexity of finding the next solution in some common preference-based representation formalisms. We show that this problem is hard in general CSPs, but it can be easy in tree-shaped CSPs and tree-shaped fuzzy CSPs. However, it is difficult in weighted CSPs, even if we restrict the shape of the constraint graph. We also consider CP-nets, showing that the problem is easy in acyclic CP-nets, as well as in constrained acyclic CP-nets where the (soft) constraints are tree-shaped and topologically compatible with the CP-net.


Simple and accurate calculations are made of the flow process in a continuous compressorless Lorin jet-propulsion unit. Experimental confirmation is given from towing tests on an airplane at flying speeds up to 200 miles per second. An analysis is made of the performance of a fighter-type airplane designed for utilization of this propulsion system.


Atomic broadcast is a fundamental building block in the construction of fault tolerant distributed applications. Although a number of algorithms have been published, the implementation of such a primitive is still considered costly in terms of communication latency. To solve this problem, some algorithms based on optimistic assumptions are proposed. When the optimistic assumption holds, those algorithms are more efficient than conservative algorithms. However, if the assumption does not hold, the efficiency of those algorithms deteriorates. In this paper, we propose a novel optimistic algorithm which exploits the optimistic assumption in a way that never leads to high latency. Simulation experiments have been performed to evaluate the algorithm and the results show it achieves satisfactory performance


There are only few discoveries and new technologies in physical sciences that have the potential to dramatically alter and revolutionize our electronic world. Topological insulators are one of them. The present book for the first time provides a full overview and in-depth knowledge about this hot topic in materials science and condensed matter physics. Techniques such as angle-resolved photoemission spectrometry (ARPES), advanced solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) or scanning-tunnel microscopy (STM) together with key principles of topological insulators such as spin-locked electronic states, the Dirac point, quantum Hall effects and Majorana fermions are illuminated in individual chapters and are described in a clear and logical form. Written by an international team of experts, many of them directly involved in the very first discovery of topological insulators, the book provides the readers with the knowledge they need to understand the electronic behavior of these unique materials. Being more than a reference work, this book is essential for newcomers and advanced researchers working in the field of topological insulators.


There is increasing evidence that particulate air pollutants, such as diesel exhaust particles (DEP), potentiate chronic inflammatory processes as well as acute symptomatic responses in the respiratory tract. The mechanisms of action as well as the cellular targets for DEP remain to be elucidated. We show in this paper that the phagocytosis of DEP by primary alveolar macrophages or macrophage cell lines, RAW 264.7 and THP-1, leads to the induction of apoptosis through generation of reactive oxygen radicals (ROR). This oxidative stress initiates two caspase cascades and a series of cellular events, including loss of surface membrane asymmetry and DNA damage. The apoptotic effect on macrophages is cell specific, because DEP did not induce similar effects in nonphagocytic cells. DEP that had their organic constituents extracted were no longer able to induce apoptosis or generate ROR. The organic extracts were, however, able to induce apoptosis. DEP chemicals also induced the activation of stress-activated protein kinases, which play a role in cellular apoptotic pathways. The injurious effects of native particles or DEP extracts on macrophages could be reversed by the antioxidant, N -acetyl-cysteine. Taken together, these data suggest that organic compounds contained in DEP may exert acute toxic effects via the generation of ROR in macrophages. The Journal of Immunology, 1999, 163: 5582–5591.


The effectiveness of modern spirals in the processing of fines from Brazilian coals is assessed and discussed. Coals representing the four major coalfields in Brazil have been cleaned in Reichert LD 9 spirals in pilot and industrial plants and performance results are here presented. Normalized distribution curves for all equipment and splitters are presented and were modeled using an empirical model. These data have been compared with those for shaking tables and water-only cyclones (WOC), and it has been observed that, in the size interval investigated, spirals have indeed superior accuracy than WOC and comparative performance to tables. By analyzing experimental as well as simulation results it could be observed that although limited by the poor liberation characteristics of most Brazilians coals, significant ash and sulfur removal could be achieved using spirals.


In this study, a total of 924 enterprises and 15708 companies were used for listed companies in 2001-2017, and two industries were identified as scientific and technological industries and traditional industries from the research samples, among which 556,9452 (60.17%) were in the science and technology industry and 6256 in traditional industries. The proportion of total sales of overseas sales was regarded as the index of internationalization. The results demonstrated that the influence of internationalization of the technology industry on the performance of companies exhibited an inverse U relationship, and the traditional industry exhibited a positive U relationship. Moreover, the international degree of the science and technology industry was more than 71.68%. The strengthening of internationalization will exert a negative impact on the performance of a company. In addition, traditional industry was more dependent on the domestic market, international reaches 38.49%, and the party can accelerate a company's performance. This finding is ascribed to that the effect of internationalization on the performance of a company differs markedly as long as the degree of dependence of the two industries in the international market and the domestic market is different.


: Previous work has given evidence of the frequency of Salmonella carriage by healthy dairy cows, the increased excretion of Salmonella by talent carriers at the calving time, and the frequency of clinical salmonellosis during that period. From this the authors evaluated the relevance of 3 risks factors supposed to play a role in the triggering clinical salmonellosis, namely: metabolic and hepatic parameters; Fasciola hepatica infestation; and bovine virus diarrhoea (BVD) infection. The prevalence of F hepatica and BVD, identical in infected and control herds, suggested that flukes and BVD did not play a significant role in the development of salmonellosis in the conditions of the present work. Although the mean values of metabolic and hepatic parameters were not different between healthy animals within infected herds and controls, the sequential monitoring performed in 2 reference herds gave evidence of important modifications at the calving time and during the early stages of milk production. If not formally demonstrated in this study, it is suggested that metabolic and hepatic changes observed during the peripartum, could result in a disruption of the intestinal ecosystem (pH, volatile fatty acids, NH3, peristalsis) and in the emergence of a Salmonella population. The excretion of considerable amounts of Salmonella by the first sick animals allows it to spread to the others, especially those with impaired hepatic functions.


To provide continuity of balancing demand and generation, renewable sources will be more active than today in near future due to the tendency of massive investment on renewable energy sources (RESs) by countries. However, due to the uncertain and intermittent nature of RESs, RESs would create problems on power system operations such as power quality, efficiency, stability and reliability. Owing to having problems with RESs integration, virtual power plant (VPP) has introduced to make this integration smooth without compromising the grid stability and reliability along with offering many other techno-economic benefits. This study reviews structures, types, architecture and operations of VPP along with the status of present implementations worldwide. The types of VPP are introduced in details with the optimisation algorithm used with each type. In addition, VPP is linked with the most of the components in power systems such as distributed generation, active prosumers, transmission system operator and distribution system operator, grid services such as fault ride through, reactive power control as well as with the help of technology such as communications, control and optimisations. This study gives a comprehensive outline of transforming microgrid to VPP that is useful for researchers, consumers, prosumers and utility operators.


This study employs a sub-module concept to develop high-brightness light-emitting diode (HB-LED) fishing light arrays to replace traditional fishing light attractors. The horizontal/vertical (H/V) plane light intensity distribution curve (LIDC) of a LED light source are mapped to assist in the design of a non-axisymmetric lens with a fish-attracting light pattern that illuminates sufficiently large areas and alternates between bright and dark. These LED fishing light attractors are capable of attracting schools of fish toward the perimeter of the luminous zone surrounding fishing boats. Three CT2 boats (10 to 20 ton capacity) were recruited to conduct a field test for 1 y on the sea off the southwestern coast of Taiwan. Field tests show that HB-LED fishing light array installed 5 m above the boat deck illuminated a sea surface of 5 × 12 m and achieved an illuminance of 2000 lx. The test results show that the HB-LED fishing light arrays increased the mean catch of the three boats by 5% to 27%. In addition, the experimental boats consumed 15% to 17% less fuel than their counterparts.


The significance of the kinship relationship between the mother's brother and sister's son (avunculate) was one of the most discussed topics in the history of social anthropology. Two theories of pre-Schneiderian age – descent and alliance approaches – both consider avuncular relations as being tense and contradictive, associated with certain privileges of the maternal uncle and his senior hierarchical position in relation to Ego. This paper tries to establish the relevance of this classical anthropological theme to contemporary social and political realities in Buriad society, specifically to extend the discussion of the classificatory/metaphorical use of avuncular kinship terminology to a new context – that of diaspora relationships with homeland and host society. A recent tendency in kinship studies argues that kinship terminology can be employed flexibly to handle relationships of various kinds, and suggests that kinship terms should often be understood as referring to a kind of social relationship rather than to a specifically genealogical connection. Two cases, which I present in the paper, show how Buriad diaspora communities in Mongolia and Inner Mongolia (China) involve the avuncular relationship to define their concerns and tensions in relation both to colonisers in the homeland in Russia and to the social inequality of migrants in their host societies. This local phenomenon shows that kinship terminology continues to have a wider social significance, being used, for example, to express current inequalities of power and the impact of political changes on local experience.


Facies indicators and geochemical proxies of early Palaeozoic global climate cooling suggest episodes of fluctuating glacio-eustasy and severe cold or glaciation from the Mid–Late Cambrian to Silurian (c. 85 myr), with a mean frequency of 2.6 myr. Long-period orbital time series predicted through the Phanerozoic are used to generate sine waves to test against these data; the null hypothesis of no orbital influence is rejected with a high confidence level. Cooling episodes appear most frequent through the Late Ordovician leading up to the Hirnantian glacial maximum, but even 'greenhouse' intervals of the Early–Mid-Ordovician and early Silurian provide evidence for periodic cooling episodes.


In this paper, we present analysis of air cathode performance, taking into account both electrode passivation and transport resistance raised by insoluble products. Both effects are theoretically evaluated and compared. Validation is carried out against experimental data under low currents. The effects of electrode pore structure, such as porosity and tortuosity, on both the influence of insoluble precipitates and discharge capability are investigated.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


Abstract. Dust particles of different size and origins, form major part of air pollution in the atmosphere. The qualitative and quantitative estimates of dust from ground-based measurements provide accurate information at regional scales. However, data from space-borne instruments provide continuous spatial information at a variety of different spatial scales. In this paper, we attempt to study signals of dust as observed from CALIOP (Cloud Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization) sensor on-board CALIPSO satellite. Utilization of these freely available datasets can effectively contribute to the capacity building in the domain of aerosol science. This analysis is supplemented by absorbing aerosol levels as seen by OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) sensor on-board AURA satellite. This study was conducted over the Middle-East and North Africa during JJA (June, July and August) season. For this study, we have used Level-3 AOD (Aerosol Optical Depth) due to dust from CALIOP at spatial resolution of 2° × 5° and Level-3 Absorbing Aerosol Optical Depth (AAOD) data from OMI at spatial resolution of 1° × 1°.The time frame for the study was 2005 to 2016.


ObjectiveTo increase the availability and accessibility of standardized environmental health data for public health surveillance and decision-making.IntroductionIn 2002, the United States (US) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program (Tracking Program) to address the challenges in environmental health surveillance described by the Pew Environmental Commission (1). The report cited gaps in our understanding of how the environment affects our health and attributed these gaps to a dearth of surveillance data for environmental hazards, human exposures, and health effects. The Tracking Program's mission is to provide information from a nationwide network of integrated health and environmental data that drives actions to improve the health of communities. Accomplishing this mission requires a range of expertise from environmental health scientists to programmers to communicators employing the best practices and latest technical advances of their disciplines. Critical to this mission, the Tracking Program must identify and prioritize what data are needed, address any gaps found, and integrate the data into the network for ongoing surveillance.MethodsThe Tracking Program identifies important environmental health topics with data challenges based on the recommendations in the Pew Commission report as well as input from federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local partners. For each topic, the first step is to formulate the key surveillance question, which includes identifying the decision-maker or end user. Next, available data are evaluated to determine if the data can answer the question and, if not, what enhancements or new data are needed. Standards are developed to establish data requirements and to ensure consistency and comparability. Standardized data are then integrated into the network at national, state, and local levels. Standardized measures are calculated to translate the data into the information needed. These measures are then publically disseminated via national, state, and local web-based portals. Data are updated annually or as they are available and new data are added regularly. All data undergo a multi-step validation process that is semi-automated, routinized, and reproducible.ResultsThe first set of nationally consistent data and measures (NCDM) was released in 2008 and covered 8 environmental health topics. Since then the NCDM have grown to cover 14 topics. Additional standardized data and measures are integrated into the national network resulting in 23 topics with standardized 450 measures (Figure). On the national network, measures can be queried via the Data Explorer, viewed in the info-by-location application, or connected to via the network's Application Program Interface (API). On average, 15,000 and 3300 queries are run every month on the Data Explorer and the API respectfully. Additional locally relevant data are available on state and local tracking networks.Gaps in data have been addressed through standards for new data collections, models to extend available data, new methodologies for using existing data, and expansion of the utility of non-traditional public health data. For example, the program has collaborated with the Environmental Protection Agency to develop daily estimates of fine particulate matter and ozone for every county in the conterminous US and to develop the first national database of standardized radon testing data. The program also collaborated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and its academic partners to transform satellite data into data products for public health.The Tracking Program has analyzed the data to address important gaps in our understanding of the relationship between negative health outcomes and environmental hazards. Data have been used in epidemiologic studies to better quantify the association between fine particulate matter, ozone, wildfire smoke, and extreme heat on emergency department visits and hospitalizations. Results are translated into measures of health burden for public dissemination and can be used to inform regulatory standards and public health interventions.ConclusionsThe scope of the Tracking Program's mission and the volume of data within the network requires the program to merge traditional public health expertise and practices with current technical and scientific advances. Data integrated into the network can be used to (1) describe temporal and spatial trends in health outcomes and potential environmental exposures, (2) identify populations most affected, (3) generate hypotheses about associations between health and environmental exposures, and (4) develop, guide, and assess the environmental public health policies and interventions aimed at reducing or eliminating health outcomes associated with environmental factors. The program continues to expand the data within the network and the applications deployed for others to access the data. Current data challenges include the need for more temporally and spatially resolved data to better understand the complex relationships between environmental hazards, health outcomes, and risk factors at a local level. National standards are in development for systematically generating, analyzing, and disseminating small area data and real-time data that will allow for comparisons between different datasets over geography and time.References1. Pew Environmental Health Tracking Project Team. America's Environmental Health Gap: Why the Country Needs a Nationwide Health Tracking Network. Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management; 2000.


Treating people with ill health is a major problem in developed and underdeveloped countries. Most of these countries allocate a considerable portion of their budgets to ensuring that their citizens are healthy. However, countries remain unable to meet the demand for ideal medical services of their citizens because of the shortage of medical expertise in various hospitals. Medical diagnosis systems have been widely applied to diagnosing the symptoms of diseases such as cancer and diabetes. However, the analysis tools and methods are insufficient for identifying hidden relationships in the symptoms of coronary heart disease (CHD). Consequently, the ratio of people who suffer from this disease is growing rapidly; 12 million deaths each year are attributed to CHD. Meanwhile, the complex interdependency on various symptoms of this ailment indicates the difficulties in diagnosing CHD at an early stage. Furthermore, the diagnosis of CHD is a complex task that requires precision and effectiveness. Doctors do not have adequate time to devote to each case and encounter difficulties in keeping abreast of the newest application developments. Many alternative methods have been suggested for medical diagnosis in the healthcare domain. However, evaluating the functionality of CHD diagnosis systems remains challenging. Therefore, this study aims to develop a system that diagnoses CHD via fuzzy logic and evaluate the functionality of the proposed diagnostic CHD system. This study contributes to the healthcare domain as the developed system can assist doctors in accurately diagnosing when CHD symptoms have an ambiguous relationship. Therefore, the developed system will decrease doctors' workloads during consultations.


This article represents the first effort to measure the changing global supply and composition of lawyers over a period of several decades. In it I assemble data on lawyer populations and gender compositions from eighty-six countries and use them to calculate estimates for the rest of the world in order to paint a truly global picture of the changing supply of lawyers in general and of female lawyers in particular. Most of the data supporting my analyses come from a unique and hitherto untapped source: individual-level census data. Results reveal a clear sequence in the global process of lawyer feminization. Bar expansion beyond a critical threshold almost always precedes—and is thus a general precondition of—the attainment of a critical threshold of lawyer feminization. More specifically, almost no country's legal profession has attained a feminization level of at least 30 percent of women before its lawyer density surpassed a level of 2,000 people per lawyer. According to estimates, although almost one-half of all the world's countries (containing almost 30 percent of the world's population) have crossed both thresholds, almost 30 percent of all countries (containing 55 percent of the world's population) remain in contexts that have crossed neither. From a global perspective, therefore, the process of lawyer feminization has hardly begun. I conclude this article by discussing an important implication of this pattern. The growing global supply of lawyers has enhanced access to legal services for both men and women. However, because the production of female lawyers has been faster than the production of male lawyers, and to the extent that female lawyers are more likely than their male counterparts to represent female clients, the growing supply of lawyers has probably improved women's access to lawyers more than it has improved men's access to lawyers. Global growth in the production of lawyers is likely a good thing from the standpoint of both women seeking legal careers and women seeking legal assistance.


ABSTRACT The name Macaronichnus segregatis is here proposed for a distinctive trace fossil that occurs in Jurassic and younger sand or sandstone. The trace fossil consists of a cylindrical smooth-sided, sinuous intrastratal trail, 0.3-0.5 cm in diameter, filled with sand slightly fighter in color than the host sand. Mica flakes or heavy minerals generally are concentrated around the margin. The trails interpenetrate but do not branch, tend to be more or less horizontal, and generally occur in dense concentration. The trace fossil has been found only in deposits thought, on the basis of other evidence, to be of shallow marine origin. A similar intrastratal trail occurs in modern intertidal and shallow subtidal sand in Willapa Bay, Washington, where it is produced by the marine polychaete, Ophelia limacina. This polychaete is a deposit feeder that largely sustains itself on bacteria and organic matter on the surface of sand grains. The trail is a feeding trace, apparently formed by the selective ingestion of grains with rough surface texture, which have a relatively larger surface area and potentially higher bacteria count than do smooth grains such as mica flakes, clay mineral aggregates, or certain heavy minerals. When engaged solely in locomotion, O. limacina produces a trace that disrupts layering but shows no mineralogic segregation. The genus, Ophelia, occurs in intertidal and shallow subtidal sands over a broad geographic range. The ancient examples of Macaronichnus segregatis, although not necessarily produced by Ophelia, were probably formed by a deposit feeding polychaete of similar size and shape. The depositional setting of the known occurrences of this trace fossil, and the production of the trace by a modern shallow marine polychaete, suggest that it may be an excellent indicator of ancient intertidal and shallow subtidal deposits.


The annealing behaviour of an Fe – 22%Cr – 3%Ni ferritic stainless steel processed by bar rolling/swaging to total strain of 4.4 at an ambient temperature was studied in the temperature range of 400 ~ 700oC. The annealing behaviour was characterised by the development of continuous recrystallization involving recovery processes followed by a normal grain growth. The large strain deformation caused the very fast recovery resulting in the development of almost equiaxed polygonized microstructure in place of the highly elongated deformation (sub)grains. The polygonization development was accompanied by some increase in the transverse (sub)grain size and the formation of many low-angle subboundaries. The latter ones could be composed from the dislocations, which were emitted by the strain-induced deformation (sub)boundaries. In spite of relatively large fraction of low-angle subboundaries, such polygonized microstructure was essentially stable against a discontinuous grain coarsening. Upon further annealing, therefore, the microstructure evolution was considered as a normal grain growth.


Background Partnership break-up and living alone is associated with several negative health-related outcomes. Little is known about the association with physical functional ability in a life course perspective. The aim of this study is to investigate (1) the association between number of partnership break-ups and years living alone across 26 years of adult life respectively and objectively measured physical capability in midlife, (2) how the joint exposure of accumulated break-ups or years living alone respectively, and education relates to physical capability in midlife and (3) potential gender differences. Methods Longitudinal study of 5001 Danes aged 48–62. Accumulated number of partnership break-ups and years living alone were retrieved from national registers. Handgrip strength (HGS) and number of chair rises (CR) were recorded as outcomes in multivariate linear regression analyses adjusted for sociodemographic factors, early major life events and personality. Results Increasing number of years living alone was associated with poorer HGS and fewer CR. Concomitant exposure to short educational level and break-ups or long duration of time living alone respectively was associated with poorer physical capability compared with the groups with long educational level and no break-ups or few years lived alone. Conclusion Accumulated number of years living alone but not break-ups was associated with poorer physical functional ability. Joint exposure to a high number of years lived alone or break-ups respectively and having a short education was associated with the lowest levels of functional ability, which points towards an important target group for interventions. No gender differences were suggested.


Liquid crystal variable retarders (LCVRs) are starting to be widely used in optical systems because of their capacity to provide a controlled variable optical retardation – an important technical parameter for LCVRs. In this paper, using polarization condition change of polarized light, a set of measurement systems is built. Through the measurement of the relative value of luminous intensity instead of the absolute value which can be easy affected by ambient light and the illuminant instability, it can comparative accurately acquire electrically controlled phase retardation of LCVRs. With the light source of He-Ne laser with the wave 632.8 nm, at temperature 25 °C, a standard quarter-wave plate has been measured, with the relative error less than 1 %.


Dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Science in Technology to be presented with due permission for public examination and debate in Auditorium S4,


The human lung carcinoma H2981, was characterized as a preclinical model for evaluating immunoconjugates consisting of monoclonal antibody (MAb) L6 and drugs of the mitomycin (MMC) chemotype. The H2981 tumor, implanted subcutaneously in athymic, mice grew progressively in greater than 95% of recipients. Spontaneous regressions of established tumors were not observed. The administration of tolerated doses of MMC resulted in dose-dependent delays in tumor growth. The incidence of tumor regressions was low indicating the potential to observe increased efficacy with immunoconjugates. The antitumor effects of MMC were independent of the schedule and route of administration. MAb L6 delayed the outgrowth of tumors when administered 24 h after tumor implant. Antitumor activity was not observed when MAb L6 was administered to mice bearing established tumors. The efficacy of mixtures of MAb L6 and optimal doses of MMC was not significantly better than that of optimal doses of MMC given alone.


Multicore architectures require parallel computation and explicit management of the memory hierarchy, both of which add programming complexity and are unfamiliar to most programmers. While MPI and OpenMP still have a place in the multicore world, the learning curves are simply too steep for most programmers. New technologies are needed to make multicore processors accessible to a larger community. The signal and image processing community stands to benefit immensely from such technologies. This article provides a survey of new software technologies that hide the complexity of multicore architectures, allowing programmers to focus on algorithms instead of architectures.


This paper uses a multivariate analysis of variable agreement in existentials with plural reference in a corpus of Quebec English to determine the status of variable agreement as a vernacular universal. Excluding the frequent invariant form there's from analysis, both structural and processing considerations are shown to operate. A separate multivariate analysis provides support for the hypothesis that there's is a lexicalized form with its own set of constraints. Cross-variety comparison reveals little evidence of regional diversification and suggests instead that differences observed between studies reflect the distribution of data in each corpus. Similarities of language-internal constraints across studies provide support for variable agreement as a vernacular universal.


Populist politicians are often associated with the successful use of social networking sites (SNS). However, it is still unclear whether the popularity of populist posts is driven by the nature of the messages, by the populist actors as the source, or by the interaction of both factors. By following a 2 × 2 experimental design (N = 647) and by manipulating populist versus nonpopulist messages in a Facebook post and a typically populist versus mainstream politician as the source, this study contributes to the existing literature in two ways. First, it shows that both populist messages and populist actors foster the perception of a Facebook post as populist but that only populist messages are drivers of user reactions. Second, complementing content analyses on populism and user reactions, the study demonstrates that the effect of populist communication on user reactions is moderated by recipients' populist attitudes. Users with strong populist attitudes share populist messages more often than they share nonpopulist messages.


A 2‐year‐old girl presented with ulnar‐sided duplication of the left thumb distal to the interphalangeal joint and syndactyly of the first web space. She also had several asymptomatic pink‐tan cutaneous papules, involving the first and second ray of the left hand and wrist, clinically resembling a linear epidermal nevus. Microscopically, the papules were composed of well‐circumscribed aggregates of basaloid epithelium within the dermis. No normal hair follicles were identified. Follicular germ and papillae were identified, representing abortive attempts at hair follicle formation. The features were remarkably similar to a novel entity described by Finn and Argenyi as congenital panfollicular nevus. In our case, the congenital panfollicular nevus was associated with distal thumb polysyndactyly, which may suggest an important link between limb patterning and hair follicle development.


I analysed the influence of some biological and ecological variables on population
growth and spatial behaviour of a wild boar population. This research was carried out in
Tuscan Apennine (Italy). I collected lower jaws and utera of hunted females. From this study
emerged an high reproductive potential of this specie. Also piglets females could reproduce,
when they exceed the body mass threshold of 35 Kg. The litter size was higher in comparison
with other ungulate species. Wild boar females were able to adjust their reproductive features
in according to climate and food conditions. For the spatial analysis wild boar localizations
were obtained with radio tracking technique. I observed smaller home range when food
availability was high for both sexes. In comparison with males, females were more sensible to
climate conditions. Wild boar spatial behaviour was affected by the presence of water in the
environment. In particular when water quantity in creeks was high, wild boars increased their
movements and they tend to stay more distance from water resources (ditches). I showed the
importance of shrubs as refuge area in wild boar. All individuals stayed farer to shrubs during
the night comparing to other part of the day. Piglets were more sensible to predation and used
more frequent areas near shrubs in confront to other age classes. Females were closer to
shrubs during Spring, while males increased the used of shrubs in Autumn and Winter.


Membrane processes are currently used in several ways to purify water and wastewater. Because
of their high performance and smaller footprint, membranes are likely to grow in importance as
compared to other conventional technologies. Therefore, there is a critical need for development
of improved membranes that have higher flux, greater selectivity, and are less prone to fouling.
Recently, multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT) electrochemical (EC) filter was reported to be
extremely effective as a point-of-use technology in achieving complete removal and inactivation
of pathogens. In order to scale-up the electrochemical filtration technology to utilize it in a plantscale
centralized water treatment plant, conductive nano-composite ultrafiltration membranes
were developed in this project, through incorporating amine and carboxylic functionalized
MWNTs (MWNT-NH2, MWNT-COOH) into polysulfone (PSf) substrates. A novel fabrication
method, vacuum-assisted layer-by-layer self-assembly was used for surface modification of
polysulfone ultrafiltration membrane.
First, the polysulfone membrane was functionalized with oxygen containing negatively charged
functional groups through oxygen plasma treatment. In order to optimize the degree of
functionalization of polysulfone membrane with increasing plasma duration, a comprehensive
physicochemical characterization of the plasma treated membrane was performed by using ATRFTIR,
XPS, contact angle, EKA and SEM analyses. Water permeability test was also conducted
to investigate the differential performance of the plasma-treated membrane with increase in
plasma treatment duration. The ATR-FTIR analyses revealed the peaks at specific wavelengths
for hydroxyl, carboxyl and carbonyl functional groups, while the XPS results showed an increase
in oxygen content of the pristine polysulfone from 18.6% to 30.7%, after being plasma treated.The contact angle of the plasma-treated membrane dropped down to 44.2° from 68.6° of the
pristine membrane and the EKA showed an increase in surface zeta potential from -22.5mV to -
42.8mV for varying plasma duration. Based on these analyses, 60s plasma treatment time was set
as optimum for further modification of PSf membrane with MWNT.
The MWNT modified PSf membrane was characterized with a SEM that showed the uniform
distribution of MWNTs throughout the membrane thickness as well as a linear growth in
membrane thickness with increasing number of MWNT bilayers. The water contact angle
analyses revealed that the modified membrane became more hydrophobic with increasing
number of bilayers. The modified membrane exhibited reasonable permeability, higher
conductivity and high antifouling properties due to application of very low DC potential (0V-
3V). Due to high conductivity of the MWNT modified membrane an application of 3V DC
voltage showed almost 100% inactivation of E. coli inactivation suggesting the effectiveness of
the MWNT modified polysulfone membrane in controlling the biofouling in electrofiltration
system. Moreover, this study showed over 99% degradation of methyl orange during
electrofiltration that could contribute to reducing the organic fouling of the modified membrane.
Overall, the new MWNT modified polysulfone membrane has huge potential to be used in large
scale electrofiltration systems.


Many existing MAbs raised against the human milk fat globule or against carcinoma cells recognise epitopes on high‐molecular‐weight glycoproteins. In a comparative ELISA assay a number of these antibodies have been shown to react with an extract of the human milk fat globule. In comparative immunoblots of cultured normal milk cells and breast cell lines, all were found to bind to large molecules which show some variation in molecular weight depending on the cell source. The HMFG‐2 antibody, which is widely used in cancer diagnosis, also recognises epitopes on lower‐molecular‐weight components. In T47D cells these may be as small as 80,000 Mr, and with electron microscopy this cell line can be shown to accumulate HMFG‐2‐reactive components in the Golgi apparatus. Using an HMFG‐2 affinity column we have immunopurified HMFG‐2‐reactive material from the 2 breast cancer cell lines MCF‐7 and T47D and shown that all of the above antibodies react in a solid‐phase ELISA with the purified material. In addition to high‐molecular‐weight components, the immunopurified material was found to contain lower‐molecular‐weight components including a glycoprotein of 68,000 Mrthat was not, however, recognised by the HMFG‐2 antibody on a Western blot. We have used this immunopurified material to generate new MAbs. All of these recognise the high‐molecular‐weight bands seen with the other antibodies, but 2 of them also recognise a band at 68,000 Mr in blots of MCF‐7 and T47D. The Second‐generation antibodies show a spectrum of reactivity on tissues similar to HMFG‐2 and one reacts at least as strongly as HMFG‐2 with methanol‐acetone‐fixed sections of breast cancers.


Micromachining processes deal with the production of parts characterized by features in the micro range (i.e., with dimension lower than 1 mm). Several works are present in literature analyzing the tool behaviors, the material influence on the process, and the machine design. In fact, the downsize of the process up to the microscale needs a full review of all the knowledge coming from the meso and macro scale. As a consequence, machines suitable for micromachining processes were recently introduced in the market.Usually, these machines are classified by the classical gantry layout structure supported by a granite frame and, in order to guarantee the needed requirements of precision and accuracy in the micro scale, they are based on fluid-supported axes and active and/or passive vibration control systems.This paper proposes a new concept design: a high precision machine (HPM) based on an innovative layout exploiting a differential mechanism with three motors for two degrees of freedom using pulleys and metal belts. This new layout exhibits relevant advantages. The most significant is that all the worktable servo drives, that moves along x and y axes, are ground-fixed. This allows to isolate the working area of the machine from the servo drives. The system of pulleys and belts holding the working table slides on air bearings in order to minimize the micro vibrations induced by all the drives. A further peculiarity of the machine consists of the double z-axis each of them is motorized by a micrometer slide with linear absolute encoder. The first z-axis is equipped with a spindle for performing micro machining processes (drilling and milling). The second z-axis is equipped with a laser head for micro ablation. The servo drives of the two z-axes are controlled by the same control system of the worktable. Another important feature of the proposed layout is that the differential configuration of the xy mechanism admits the use of a constant speed signal to each control reference with no output displacements. This allows to guarantee non-inversion of motion of the servo-drives and so the avoidance of problems due to backlash and/or static friction. Drives are controlled by position and speed control loops with PID architecture, anti-windup and feed forward strategies. Controllers have been tuned by the use of a genetic algorithm applied to a dynamic model of the system.As a general consideration, the quality of the investigated micro machining processes can be improved with the designed machine structure.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


AIMS
Long QT syndrome (LQTS), a potentially fatal disorder, has to be distinguished from non-fatal conditions. Our aim was to investigate whether history-taking can be used in identifying patients likely to have LQTS.

METHODS AND RESULTS
We compared the characteristics of a group of LQTS patients with syncope patients presenting at the emergency department (ED) and vasovagal patients younger than 40 years of age. Thirty-two LQTS patients were included. We included 113 patients at the ED and 69 vasovagal patients. Family history of syncope, sudden cardiac death, or cardiovascular disease was found more often in LQTS patients. Palpitations were the only symptom reported more often in this group. Syncope while supine, during emotional stress and associated with exercise was also more common among LQTS. Standing as a trigger was found more often in ED and vasovagal patients.

CONCLUSION
We conclude that a family history for syncope and sudden cardiac death, palpitations as a symptom, supine syncope, syncope associated with exercise, and emotional stress place patients at higher risk for LQTS. These findings should alert physicians to the potentially life-threatening illness of LQTS, and act accordingly by obtaining an electrocardiogram and paying specific attention to the QT interval.


The phase noise of a 20 GHz picosecond optical pulse train generated by a modulator-based optical frequency comb generator is analysed. The residual timing jitter is≤10 fs for Fourier frequencies from 10 Hz to 10 MHz. Photodetection of the optical pulse train provides millimetre-wave signals with similarly low residual jitter at 40, 60, and 80 GHz with applicable powers of −7.5, −10.5, and −13 dBm, respectively.


Abstract. Since its origins as an engineering discipline, with its widespread use of "black box" (empirical) modeling approaches, hydrology has evolved into a scientific discipline that seeks a more "white box" (physics-based) modeling approach to solving problems such as the description and simulation of the rainfall–runoff responses of a watershed. There has been much recent debate regarding the future of the hydrological sciences, and several publications have voiced opinions on this subject. This opinion paper seeks to comment and expand upon some recent publications that have advocated an increased focus on process-based modeling while de-emphasizing the focus on detailed attention to parameter estimation. In particular, it offers a perspective that emphasizes a more hydraulic (more physics-based and less empirical) approach to development and implementation of hydrological models.


Galectin-3, a beta-galactoside-binding lectin, is overexpressed in many neoplasms and may be useful when differentiating between benign and malignant thyroid neoplasms. Recently, interest has focused on the classification and biologic behavior of hyalinizing trabecular tumors (HTTs). In this study we compared galectin-3 expression in a number of different thyroid neoplasms to gain insight into the biologic behavior of HTT. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues from 153 thyroid neoplasms were stained with a monoclonal antibody to galectin-3. These tumors included 58 HTTs, 60 papillary carcinomas, 21 follicular carcinomas, and 14 follicular adenomas. Reactivity was graded as negative, weak, or strong by three observers. The average patient age was similar in the patients with HTTs, papillary carcinomas, and follicular adenomas. The patients with follicular carcinomas were approximately a decade older than all other groups of patients. All groups of thyroid neoplasms occurred more frequently in female patients. Follow-up revealed metastatic disease in patients with papillary (36.6%) and follicular carcinomas (19%) but not in patients with follicular adenomas or HTTs. Galectin-3 immunostaining showed that 60% of the HTTs were negative or had weak (H) (1+) staining and 40% had strong (2–3+) staining. In the majority of the reactive cases, staining was diffuse and predominantly cytoplasmic. Fifty of the 60 (83%) papillary carcinomas and 11 of the 21 (52%) follicular carcinomas showed strong immunostaining. The immunostaining was also diffuse in the majority of papillary and follicular carcinomas. The strong immunoreactivity seen in most of the carcinomas was in contrast to the relatively weak or negative immunostaining in the majority of follicular adenomas (93%). The immunophenotype of HTT, as characterized by galectin-3 expression, is intermediate between that of benign and malignant thyroid tumors, suggesting that some tumors with strong staining may behave like carcinomas, although this was not noted in our cases. Our study suggests that the variable pattern of galectin-3 expression may reflect a difference in biologic behavior between HTT and papillary thyroid carcinoma.


We consider dynamic route planning for a fleet of Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) doing fetch and carry tasks on a shared factory floor. In this paper, we propose Stochastic Work Graphs (SWG) as a formalism for capturing the semantics of such distributed and uncertain planning problems. We encode SWGs in the form of a Euclidean Markov Decision Process (EMDP) in the tool Uppaal Stratego, which employs Q-Learning to synthesize near-optimal plans. Furthermore, we deploy the tool in an online and distributed fashion to facilitate scalable, rapid replanning. While executing their current plan, each AMR generates a new plan incorporating updated information about the other AMRs positions and plans. We propose a two-layer Model Predictive Controller-structure (waypoint and station planning), each individually solved by the Q-learning-based solver. We demonstrate our approach using ARGoS3 large-scale robot simulation, where we simulate the AMR movement and observe an up to 27.5% improvement in makespan over a greedy approach to planning. To do so, we have implemented the full software stack, translating observations into SWGs and solving those with our proposed method. In addition, we construct a benchmark platform for comparing planning techniques on a reasonably realistic physical simulation and provide this under the MIT open-source license.


This article proposes a cultural analysis of Henry Rider Haggard's nineteenth-century classic King Solomon's Mines (1885) through an interdisciplinary perspective that draws from Victorian material culture, Thing theory and postcolonial studies. The ways in which objects contribute to the characters' delineation will be taken into consideration in order to analyse the function they perform in relation to the mythopoeia of the British Empire and to the novel's blatant racism and implicit colonial politics. In terms of methodology, a close reading of the text will be carried out in an attempt to investigate the boundaries between fiction and reality and the extent to which objects become symbols of an epoch and emblems of the Empire.


Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to investigate the extended defects in 3C-SiC films deposited on atomically flat 4H-SiC mesas. The nominal layer thickness was 10 μm and was considerably larger than the critical thickness determined by either the Matthews and Blakeslee or People and Bean models. Threading dislocation densities determined by KOH etching are far below densities typical of relaxed heteroepitaxial layers, down to as low as 104cm-2 densities found in 4H-SiC. Misfit dislocations with Burgers vectors of <11 2 0> were observed in planes parallel to the 3C/4H SiC interface. These defects were interpreted as due to nucleation of dislocation half loops at mesa edges and glide along the 3C/4H interface.


A key question in setting up take-back systems for discarded consumer electronics is how much environmental improvement can be realized per amount of money invested. With the eco-efficiency concept developed, the environmental and economic performance of single products within various end-of-life scenarios can be quantified as well as the contribution of individual materials and material fractions to this performance. Also analysis of the effectiveness and efficiency of optimization and changes in the system like, glass recycling and plastic recycling, and design for end-of-life activities is determined. Finally the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed WEEE/RoHS Directives can be reviewed. The strength of the eco-efficiency concept is demonstrated on a large number of products and scenarios. It is shown that, "eco-efficient improvements" vary substantially per product category. The quantitative eco-efficiency concept as such is proven to be very useful in monitoring take-back system performance in general and in addressing the role of all actors and stakeholders in particular. Subjects addressed are the performance of individual products in complex end-of-life systems, the eco-efficiency of plastic recycling versus the size of housings and many other eco-efficiency directions.


This essay is written about how the physical environment affects teachers' own learning. The purpose is to see how the teachers' work is affected by various factors, such as the uses and placement of the teachers' offices, common room, or any other places where a meeting may occur. The survey was conducted using both interviews and observations of the teacher's office. For the analysis of both the interviews and the observations we used Design for Learning by Rostvall and Selander (2008).The paper concludes that the physical environment influences learning in many ways. The design of the office and its distance from the common room had an impact on how teachers socialized with each other which is essential for learning to occur. Furthermore, there are other aspects that affect the teachers in how learning can take place in their office, such as how well the Internet works or the noise levels around it.The discussion in the paper is about the importance of teacher's learning and further development, but also how this study can be applied to other professions. Keywords: Physical environment, learning, teacher, school building.


To study the distribution of blood pressure (BP) in children we measured the BP of 1928 children (aged 6-14 years) living in Torrejon de Ardoz, Spain. Of these, 441 children, representative of all ages, supplied a 24-h urine sample from which sodium and potassium were determined. There was a progressive rise in systolic BP of 1.8 mmHg and in diastolic BP of 0.8 mmHg per year of age. The correlations between BP, height and weight were positive and almost always statistically significant. Sodium excretion varied from 159 +/- 30 mmol/day at 6-7 years to 170 +/- 40 mmol/day at 13-14 years. There was a positive correlation between BP and sodium excretion which was statistically significant for diastolic BP in girls aged 6-7 years (P < 0.01) and for systolic BP in boys aged 10-12 (P < 0.05) and 13-14 (P < 0.01) years.


Rare-earth elements (REE) are considered Critical Raw Materials (CRM; EC 2018; US Department of the Interior 2018) and essential in the technological transformation of the energy sector into carbon-free technologies such as wind turbines, electrified transport and LED-lights. The new technologies have led to swiftly expanding markets for REE products, in which China has achieved a monopolistic role in all segments of the REE value chains. Political strategies aimed to establish REE supplies outside China are currently being implemented within the EU and in other Western countries in order to ensure an adequate future REE supply. However, new REE value chains outside China have not yet materialised. The aim of this paper is to assess whether the global REE supply from present and potential mines can keep pace with the REE demand for the expanding offshore wind energy sector (Fig. 1). A successful development of this sector outside China relies on an adequate supply of particularly neodymium (Nd) and to some extent praseodymium (Pr), terbium (Tb) and dysprosium (Dy), used in permanent magnets for windmill generators. In 2015, about 82% of the global Nd-oxide production was used in the permanent magnets production (Adamas 2016). Here we evaluate the future supply and demand situations for Nd, Pr, Tb and Dy in the global wind energy sector in the form of three scenarios, one for 2020 and two for 2030 based on high and low demand. The balance is discussed. Our assessment reflects the challenge caused by limited insight into the REE supply chains inside China, and the figures presented in this paper are therefore only indicative.


This paper demonstrates the application of a recently developed methodology, the combination of directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) with Bernanke structural vector autoregression (VAR) models, to model a system of U.S. commodity-related and value-added markets. As an example, the paper applies this methodology to a quarterly system of U.S. markets: the wheat market and a set of downstream milling and bakery markets that use wheat as an input. Analyses of the model's impulse response simulations and forecast error variance decompositions provide updated estimates of market elasticity parameters that drive these markets, and updated policy-relevant information on how these quarterly markets run and dynamically interact. Results suggest that movements in commodity-based markets strongly influence each other, although most of these effects occur in the long run beyond a single crop cycle. The paper illuminates how important U.S. food prices respond to wheat farm market shocks in price and quantity.


Alström syndrome is characterized by a progressive loss of vision and hearing, a form of heart disease that enlarges and weakens the heart muscle (dilated cardiomyopathy), obesity, type 2 diabetes (the most common form of diabetes), and short stature. This disorder can also cause serious or life-threatening medical problems involving the liver, kidneys, bladder, and lungs. Some individuals with Alström syndrome have a skin condition called acanthosis nigricans, which causes the skin in body folds and creases to become thick, dark, and velvety. The signs and symptoms of Alström syndrome vary in severity, and not all affected individuals have all of the characteristic features of the disorder.


Abstract Corruption is a perennial obstacle to the Philippines' pursuit of development. The Department of Education (DepEd) is considered to be one of the most corrupt agencies in the Philippines. However, there are two DepEd programmes with different levels of effectiveness in controlling corruption. The Textbook Delivery Programme has been ineffective while the Programme on Basic Education has been successful. The article explains the different levels of implementing these programmes by using local perspectives via the 'narratives of implementation actors'. Apart from providing insights on the challenges facing the evolving educational bureaucracy in the Philippines, this article also demonstrates the utility of network actor perspectives in appreciating the many concerns that determine and impede implementation performance and discusses the causes and impact of corruption and policy implementation on two public educational programmes.