A series of interconnected soils were studied: Albic-Haplic Podzols, Albic-Stagnic Podzols, Histic-Albic Podzols и Epi-Histic Gleysols. The study area was located in the Northern taiga subzone, at the central part of the South Nadym-Pur province, in the Pyakupur River basin. Our article deals with the distribution of elements in the soil mineral horizons. The degree of profile differentiation of chemical elements was assessed using the illuviation coefficient Ki = СB/СE, where СB and СE are the content of the element in the illuvial and eluvial horizons and the coefficient of radial differentiation, where Kr = Ci/Cip, where Ci is the content of a chemical element in a particular genetic soil horizon, and Cip is the content in the parent rock. We also calculated the coefficient of lateral migration (Kl) - the ratio of the content of a chemical element in the studied subordinate landscape (Сp.) to its content in the autonomous landscape (Сl.) = Сp./Сl. Differences in the content of major and trace elements in the catenary gradient of environmental conditions were revealed. The series of accumulation of major and trace elements in different positions of the catena are close to each other, but not identical. The distribution of most elements along the soil profile occurs according to the eluvial-illuvial type, but the position in the relief determines the degree of migration of elements. At the border of the forest and the swamp, where the most intensive differentiation of elements along the soil profile was noted, a powerful geochemical barrier was revealed that accumulates substances coming from both lateral and horizontal runoff.

Keywords: soil, podzols, gleysols, major and trace elements, catena, Western Siberia

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Scholars have explored the ways that hierarchical North–South relations are preserved and reproduced in the spaces of international volunteering. Global structural inequalities are widely understood to permeate relations between volunteers and hosts where even the intimacies of empathy and care are ascribed values drawn out of North–South divides. This article has two objectives. First, to explore the affective experience of volunteering for development as a potential realm in which more equitable volunteer–host relations unfold, and second, to include hosts (not just volunteers) in writing on international volunteering. Negotiating the politics of representation, the main body of the article draws on empirical data from fieldwork in India to write a performative account of volunteer–host relations. As the narrative progresses, volunteer-host relations from outside the dichotomies imposed by the very uneven patterns of development that make hosts hosts, and volunteers volunteers. The article thus makes the argument that affective life in the spaces of volunteering opens up new possibilities for subjectivity that are insubordinate to – and therefore transcendent of – the subject positions delineated by the uneven flows of global power and privilege. The article closes by moving the discussion from transcendence to potential, suggesting that we might research further the potential political agencies that emerge from affective experience in volunteering and development.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of our study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of an ultrafast ECG-triggered black blood-prepared HASTE sequence with chest radiography for the detection of pulmonary nodules. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Sixty-four patients with various primary malignancies who had undergone radiography and MDCT of the chest also underwent ECG-triggered black blood-prepared HASTE MRI of the lung. MR images and radiographs were interpreted separately. The number, location, and size of detected lesions were recorded, and each hemithorax was classified as affected or not affected on the basis of a grade reflecting the conspicuity of nodular involvement. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for the detection of pulmonary nodules with diameters of 5 mm or larger were determined, using MDCT findings as the standard of reference. Lesions with diameters smaller than 5 mm were not evaluated. Additional lesion-by-lesion comparisons between MDCT and MRI findings were performed.

RESULTS
MDCT confirmed pulmonary lesions in 32 patients, whereas HASTE MRI revealed lesions in 30 patients and chest radiography, in 19 patients. MDCT revealed 226 nodules in 32 patients, whereas MRI HASTE revealed 227 lesions in 30 patients. Conspicuity scale-based sensitivity and specificity for chest radiography were 55.8% and 92.4%, respectively, whereas HASTE MRI had a sensitivity of 93.0% and a specificity of 96.2%. Positive and negative predictive values for chest radiography were 80% and 79.3%, respectively, and for HASTE MRI, 93.0% and 96.2%, respectively. The sensitivity of HASTE MRI increased with lesion size, ranging from 94.9% for nodules between 5 and 10 mm in diameter to 100% for lesions exceeding 3 cm in diameter.

CONCLUSION
ECG-triggered black blood-prepared HASTE MRI is reliable for detecting pulmonary nodules exceeding 5 mm and has proven significantly more accurate than conventional chest radiography. The technique appears useful as an adjunct to MRI of the heart, great vessels, or chest, potentially increasing the diagnostic yield of MRI examinations.


Oxygen adsorption and desorption processes can strongly slow down the response speed of ZnO-based ultraviolet photodetectors. Surface passivation of ZnO-based films is a common method to increase the response speed, but the effect of the traditional passivation technology is usually not very obvious, and often accompanies a decrease in responsivity. Herein we propose a new method to overcome this problem: treating ZnMgO UV photodetectors with HF solution. Interestingly, after treatment with HF solution, the 90–10% decay time of the device is decreased by more than one order of magnitude (from 4.6 ms to 0.34 ms), which can be attributed to the enhancement of the oxygen adsorption speed on the surface of ZnMgO due to the F-modified surface. Moreover, the dark current is decreased from 0.7 pA to 0.4 pA at a bias of 10 V and the responsivity is increased from 145 A W−1 to 326 A W−1. Thus, chemical treatment with HF solution should be a useful and effective method for improving the performance of ZnMgO UV photodetectors.


Abstract. The ambient concentrations of particulate matters (PM2.5 and PM10) are significant indicators for monitoring the air quality relevant to living conditions. Most of the existing approaches for the estimation of PM2.5 and PM10 employed the remote sensing Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) products as the main variate. Nevertheless, the coverage of missing data is generally large in AOD products, which can cause inconvenience to the researchers. To efficiently address this issue, our study explores a novel approach using the datasets of the precursors and chemical compositions for PM2.5 and PM10 instead of AOD products. Specifically, the daily full-coverage ambient concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 are estimated at 5-km (0.05°) spatial girds across China based on Sentinel-5P and GEOS-FP. In this paper, the Light Gradient Boosting Machine is exploited to train the estimation models, which will fully fuse the multi-source data. For comparison, the Deep Blue AOD product from VIIRS is adopted in a similar framework as a baseline (AOD-based). The validation results show that the ambient concentrations are well estimated through the proposed approach, with the sample-based Cross-Validation R2s and RMSEs of 0.93 (0.9) and 8.982 (17.604) μg/m3 for PM2.5 (PM10), respectively. Meanwhile, the proposed approach achieves better performance than the AOD-based in different cases (e.g., overall and seasonal). Compared to the related previous works over China, the estimation accuracy of our method is also satisfactory. Furthermore, all the variates of the precursors and chemical compositions for PM2.5 and PM10 positively contribute to the estimation in the proposed approach, as expected. With regard to the mapping, the estimated results through the proposed approach present consecutive spatial distribution and can exactly express the seasonal variations of PM2.5 and PM10. It is concluded that the full-coverage estimated results in our study are conducive to the researches on PM2.5 and PM10 over the regions where the AOD values are missing.


Implementing event-study analysis, I find that President Trump's tweets about publicly traded companies cause daily abnormal returns of 0.25% in a company's stock in the same direction as the sentiment of the tweet: positive tweets increase abnormal returns by 0.25% on the day's end, while negative tweets will cause -0.25% abnormal returns. Additionally, I find that President Trump's company-specific tweets increase the daily abnormal trading volume and volatility of a company's stock by 19%, regardless of tweet sentiment. For abnormal returns and abnormal trading volume, the effects of President Trump's tweets do not last multiple days after a tweet. However, company stocks experience persistent higher volatility up to four days after President Trump tweets about them. When breaking the sample into subsets, I find that President Trump's positive sentiment company-specific tweets have an asymmetrically stronger impact on a company's abnormal returns and abnormal trading volume than that of negative sentiment company-specific tweets. For most measures, President Trump's Twitter influence increases greatly when he tweets about a company during U.S. market trading hours. Outlier robust regressions confirm that the main abnormal returns results are not driven by outliers, while the results for volume and volatility appear to be inflated by outliers. Because this type of stock market influence causes persistent increased volatility and has potential to be abused, I recommend that lawmakers consider limiting the scope of presidents' ability to tweet about publicly traded companies.


A practical and stylish illustrated guide, Essential Knots shows how to tie each knot, step-by-step, with expert guidance on which knot to tie when and why. Each knot is categorised by its use in a particular sport or hobby, with a brief explanation as to why it is the best knot for the job. Whilst some knots have a very specific use, the book also contains knots with many practical applications across a broad range of activities, as well as ornamental knots and trick knots. And there is a length of practice cord so that readers can try the knots for themselves. Includes: - Everyday knots - Sailing knots - Fishing knots - Camping knots - Climbing knots - Caving knots - Pioneering knots - Ornamental knots - Trick knots The uses for each knot are described and each is rated for its level of difficulty. Clear, uncomplicated photographs show the required steps to tie each knot, and there is also a picture of the finished knot put to use.


There are passages in Nietzsche that can be read as contributions to the free will/determinism debate. When read in that way, they reveal a fairly amateurish metaphysician with little of real substance or novelty to contribute; and if these readings were apt or perspicuous, it seems to me, they would show that Nietzsche's thoughts about freedom were barely worth pausing over. They would simply confirm the impression—amply bolstered from other quarters—that Nietzsche was not at his best when addressing the staple questions of philosophy. But these readings sell Nietzsche short. He had next to no systematic interest in metaphysics, and his concern with the question of freedom was not motivated by metaphysical considerations. Rather—and as with all of Nietzsche's concerns—his motivations were ethical. He was interested, not in the relation of the human will to the causal order of nature, but in the relation between freedom and the good life, between the will and exemplary human living. Read from this perspective, Nietzsche's remarks about freedom actually add up to something. And what they add up to is one aspect of his attempt to understand life after the model of art. Beauty, for Kant, was an image of the moral.1 For Nietzsche, by contrast—and the contrast can be hard to spell out—art was an image of the ethical.2 My hope here is to begin to explain why Nietzsche might have thought that the issue of freedom was relevant to that. In sections 1–3, I attempt to show why Nietzsche is not best read as a participant in the standard free will/determinism debate; in sections 4–6, I try to spell out the ethical conception of freedom that he develops instead


Cereal grains include some of the most important crops grown in South Africa and play a major role in the local economy. Maize, wheat and sorghum are extensively consumed by humans and farm animals, and are also utilised in industrial processes. Grain crops that are grown commercially contribute up to 33% of the country's total gross agricultural production, whereas subsistence farmers grow grains mainly to sustain their families. In rural communities an average intake of maize grain of more than 300 g dry weight per person per day is not uncommon. The production of grains is often constrained by pests and diseases that may reduce their yields and quality. In South Africa, 33 mycotoxin-producing Fusarium species have been associated with grain crops. Mycotoxins, such as fumonisins and deoxynivalenol, have been found in levels exceeding the maximum levels imposed by the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Union and therefore pose a serious public health concern. We provide an extensive overview of mycotoxigenic Fusarium species associated with grain crops in South Africa, with particular reference to maize, wheat and sorghum.


This paper addresses the performance of spatial division multiplexing (SDM) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques together with frequency domain packet scheduling (FDPS) in both theory and practice. We start with a theoretical analysis under some ideal assumptions to derive the performance bounds of SDM-FDPS. To facilitate the analysis, a unified SINR concept is utilized to make a fair comparison of MIMO schemes with different number of spatial streams. The effect of packet scheduling is included in the post-scheduling SINR distribution using an analytical model. Based on that, the performance bounds are obtained with a more realistic SINR to throughput mapping metric. The system-level performance of SDM-FDPS has been evaluated under practical constraints using detailed simulations based on the UTRAN long term evolution (LTE) downlink cellular system framework. The purpose is to investigate the impact of realistic factors on performance. Results confirm that the combination of SDM and FDPS can increase the spectral efficiency significantly, particularly in a micro-cell scenario, and up to 30%-60% gain is observed over 1times2 with FDPS depending on the traffic models considered. Finally, the more practical simulation results are compared against the theoretical performance bounds. A performance loss is seen in the simulations due to realistic coding/modulation, impact of frequency selectivity, signalling constraints, imperfect channel quality indicator (CQI), etc.


The real-time electronic dynamics on material surfaces is critically important to a variety of applications. However, their simulations have remained challenging for conventional methods such as the time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) for isolated and periodic systems. By extending the applicability of TDDFT to systems with open boundaries, we achieve accurate atomistic simulations of real-time electronic response to local perturbations on material surfaces. Two prototypical scenarios are exemplified: the relaxation of an excess electron on a graphene surface and the electron transfer across the molecule-graphene interface. Both the transient and long-time asymptotic dynamics are validated, which accentuates the fundamental importance and usefulness of an open-system TDDFT approach. The simulations also provide insights into the characteristic features of temporal electron evolution and dissipation on surfaces of bulk materials.


At the basis of cell shape and behavior, actomyosin organization and force-generating property are widely studied, however very little is known about the regulation of the contractile network in space and time. Here we study the role of the epithelial-specific protein EpCAM, a contractility modulator, in cell shape and motility, and we show that it is required for the maturation of stress fibers and frontrear polarity acquisition at the single cell level. There, EpCAM ensures the remodeling of a transient active RhoA zone in the cortex of spreading epithelial cells. GTP-RhoA follows the endosomal pathway mediated by Rab35 and EHD1, where it co-evolves together with EpCAM. In fact, EpCAM balances GTP-RhoA turnover in order to tune actomyosin remodeling for cell shape, polarity and mechanical property acquisition. Impairment of GTP-RhoA endosomal trafficking either by EpCAM silencing or Rab35 / EHD1 mutant expression prevents correct myosin-II activity, stress fiber formation, and ultimately cell polarization. Collectively, this work shows that the coupling of EpCAM/RhoA co-trafficking to actomyosin rearrangement is critical for spreading, and advances our understanding of how biochemical and mechanical properties can be coupled for cell plasticity.


The manipulation of colour, form and texture within a commercial design activity is a core competency for an industrial designer. The job of the Industrial designer is to use colour, form, texture, temperature and movement to deliver a sensory experience that evokes a desired response. The core deliverables of an industrial designer are embedded within an evidence-based and user-centred approach to product design. Social functionality may often be most easily seen through the delivery of Brand. The aim of this paper is to provide education practitioners with a template to facilitate the introduction of Brand construction to undergraduate industrial design students through the visual and physical embodiment of a product. The objectives of this paper are to: provide signposting to the underpinning theories of the template; describe the template; show examples of student work that demonstrate the outcomes of template application; and, highlight where students have used the template within brand related design competitions to produce successful design outcomes.


We recommend the application of a strategically designed step-wise approach to transfer cell-based assays that includes assessing analytical performance (through a fit for purpose validation and/or design of experiment robustness characterization), clinical performance (i.e., concordance) and performance or proficiency testing for long-term method monitoring. Here we focus on the application of this strategy to cell-based assays for the measurement of neutralizing anti-drug antibodies. This application is unique in that it requires a custom cell-based assay to be used over a long period of time (potentially phase 1a through the life of a marketed product) with the confidence of consistent method performance and result reporting. But, the process is adaptable to a variety of assay types and applications. We present lessons learned from two cell-based assay transfers that met relevant challenges while implementing alternative permutations of the recommended method transfer process.


A series of Pd/γ-Al2O3 catalysts with different additons of Pd were prepared by impregnation. The effect of calcination condition and Pd loading on catalytic performance of catalysts for one-step dimethyl ether synthesis has been investigated. The physic-chemical performance and structure of Pd/γ-Al2O3 catalysts were characterized by CO-TPD, TGA and nitrogen physisorption. The results show that the dispersion of Pd and the amount of adsorbration on the CO-bridge of Pd could be increased to by the moderate microwave heating on the catalysts, and the catalyst performance can be improved. But a large number of surface acidic sites of Pd/γ-Al2O3 are covered by highly fragmented Pd-grain, it causes DME selectivity reduced. And the excessive Pd can reduce the samples' surface acid, decrease the dispersion of the metal Pd and block up the pore of γ-Al2O3. The CO conversion rate and DME space-time yield could reach 60.1% and 28.76 mmol·g-1·h-1 respectively at 2% Pd loading, at this time Pd/γ-Al2O3 has a high Pd activity surface and ideal acid sites.


Substituted 3-hydroxy-δ-lactones (3HLs) are valuable intermediates in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and other biologically active natural products. Herein we report the first example of the catalytic carbonylation of substituted homoglycidols to 3HLs using HCo(CO)4. Upon optimization of the catalyst and reaction conditions, a functionally diverse set of 3HLs was prepared. Mechanistic insight was gained by observation of the carbonylation reaction using in situ IR spectroscopy, and we propose a mechanism that is consistent with previously studied epoxide carbonylation systems.


Objective To examine independent associations of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), parathyroid hormone (PTH) and calcium with a range of cardiovascular risk factors in adolescents. Design Cross-sectional population-based study. Setting A nationally representative sample of the US adolescent population. Participants Healthy adolescents (aged 12–19) participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2001 and 2006. Numbers varied between 740 and 5609 for given exposure and outcome associations. Main outcome measures Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), lipids (triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)), fasting insulin and glucose, postload glucose and glycohaemoglobin (HbA1c). Results 25(OH)D was inversely associated with SBP (−0.068 standard deviations (SD), 95% CI −0.118 to −0.018), and positively associated with HDL-C (0.101; 0.040 to 0.162) and HbA1c (0.073; 0.021 to 0.125) after adjustment for gender, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and waist circumference. In adjusted models, PTH was inversely associated with triglycerides (−0.115; −0.188 to −0.042) and LDL-C (−0.133; −0.207 to −0.060). In adjusted models, calcium was positively associated with fasting insulin (0.110; 0.060 to 0.160), postload glucose (0.116; 0.000 to 0.232), HbA1c (0.079; 0.035 to 0.123), triglycerides (0.182; 0.122 to 0.242), HDL-C (0.049; 0.010 to 0.088) and LDL-C (0.137; 0.080 to 0.195). The associations of each exposure with risk factors remained after mutual adjustment for each other. Conclusion Higher calcium levels might be a more important predictor of increased cardiovascular risk in adolescents than lower 25(OH)D levels or PTH levels, but the findings require replication in additional studies and examination in prospective studies.


Within the scope of three-dimensional brain imaging and brain functional mapping, we present a retrospective evaluation framework of inter-individual fusion scheme to register brain cortical anatomy and functional activations. The evaluation methodology relies on global and local criteria such as gray/white matter segmentation map overlap, correlation ratio of the mean Lvv intensities (i.e. 3D measure of the curvature of the cortex from the MRI volumes), distance and shape variation of cortical sulcal landmarks (segmented using the "active ribbon" approach). Visual and global measures seem to promote the non-linear global registration methods while local measures, based on sulci, did not show any significant differences between all global methods. As a perspective, new approaches are introduced to account for these local cortical deformations by means of either introducing sparse constraints in global registration methods or by introducing a local non-linear registration framework based on active shape models of local cortical features.


INTRODUCTION
It is shown that beta-D-glucan is an immunologic system booster with radioprotectory effects. Radioprotectors are chemical components that can alleviate biological damage produced by ionizing radiation.

AIM
This study was designed to investigate the synergistic radioprotectory effects of beta-D-glucan and vitamin E on irradiated mice with 60Co source.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 240 female mice were arranged in four, equal population groups of control group (C), treated group with beta D-glucan (G), treated group with vitamin E (E), and treated group with both beta D-glucan and vitamin E (G+E). Each group was divided into three equal population groups of D6, D7 and D8 exposed to 60Co radiation with prescribed total body dose of 6, 7 and 8 Gray (Gy), respectively. After the exposure, the number of survived animals was counted by time, then Lethal Dose50/30 (LD50/30), Lethal Dose50/60 (LD50/60) and Dose Reduction Factor (DRF) were calculated in all groups and corresponding groups.

RESULTS
Based on the results of current study, treatment of the animals with vitamin E did not change values of LD50/30 and LD50/60, in comparison to control group. LD50/30 and LD50/60 of treated groups with beta D-glucan and beta D-glucan + vitamin E showed significant difference with those of control group (p<0.01). The DRF values in groups E, G and G + E, were calculated respectively as 1, 1.25 and 1.375 based on LD50/30, and respectively as 1, 1.17 and 1.33 based on LD50/60. While values of DRF in groups G and G + E showed significant difference in comparison to that of control group (p<0.01), but the difference between DRF of groups G and G + E was not significant (p=0.395).

CONCLUSION
The findings of study obviously showed that, presence of beta D-glucan in the body of mice, during exposure to ionizing radiation, leads to DRF of higher than one, proving the radioprotectory effect of this agent. Also, we demonstrated that, while vitamin E had no radioprotectory effect on irradiated mice, beta D-glucan in combination with vitamin E increased resistance of mice against ionizing radiation.


The paper presents basic elements of the Stage-Gate and Open innovation models, and possible connection of these two, resulting in what is frequently called an "Open Stage-Gate" model. This connection is based on opening up the new product development process and integration of the open innovation principles with the Stage-Gate concept, facilitating the import and export of information and technologies. Having in mind that the Stage Gate has originally been classified as the third generation model of innovation, the paper is dealing with the capabilities for applying the sixth generation Open innovation principles in today's improved and much more flexible phases and gates of the Stage Gate. Lots of innovative companies are actually using both models in their NPD practice, looking for the most appropriate means of opening up the well-known closed innovation, especially in the domain of ideation through co-creation.


Crowdsourcing provides companies with access to widespread knowledge pools and constitutes a well-established inbound open innovation practice. More recently, some companies have introduced the approach of open innovation within their company boundaries. Using internal crowdsourcing (IC), companies can apply open innovation principles to overcome information silos. Multinational corporations often have thousands of employees around the globe, embedded in divisions and virtually separated from each other. Although a large proportion of companies nowadays use social IT to mitigate problems of distance, only a few companies can access their employees' wisdom effectively—let alone efficiently. With almost 100,000 employees worldwide, SAP possesses significant resources, which IC can help to unlock and develop. In this business case study, we report the findings of our investigation of five IC implementations at SAP. Based on interviews and secondary data, we analyze the process and related governance tasks of the different IC approaches. The applications for IC range from the search for new and sustainable business models to an approach that uses crowdsourcing for the competence development of SAP's employees. Our paper contributes to our understanding of open innovation and crowdsourcing by conceptualizing IC as a form of internal open innovation. Further, from our observations, we derive six lessons learned to support managers in implementing and executing IC initiatives successfully. Our findings will subsequently help managers to increase the innovation capabilities of their companies, create more sustainable business models, further the entrepreneurial mindset of their employees and thus provide a competitive advantage.


Giant plagioclase basalts, rich in plagioclase megacrysts commonly 5 cm long, form widespread lava flows and dikes in the Deccan Traps continental flood basalt province. They also occur in the Scottish Hebrides, Columbia River, and Emeishan continental flood basalt provinces, and closely similar rocks are known from Archean and Proterozoic terrains and oceanic settings. The giant plagioclase basalts have usually been interpreted as end products of magmatic cycles operating in high-level chambers, and taken as the boundaries of stratigraphic formations. A new model is proposed in which the plagioclase megacrysts grow over long (15 k.y.) time periods in a deep crustal (possibly Moho-level) sill complex, which forms tens to hundreds of thousands of years before the continental flood basalt eruptions. Megacryst flotation produces anorthositic mushes containing ferrodioritic interstitial liquids. Giant plagioclase basalts form when these components (and any melt from the crust heated by the sill complex) are remobilized by a newly injected tholeiitic magma batch, and brought to the surface or high crustal levels by dikes. Giant plagioclase basalts are thus mixed, heterogeneous rocks from the deep continental crust. The new model explains a range of geological, petrological, mineralogical, and geochemical data on the giant plagioclase basalts. Formation and remobilization of anorthositic mushes appear to be fundamental processes producing highly feldspar-phyric basalts over a wide range of tectonic settings. An important corollary of the new model is that anorthosites have continued to form well after the Precambrian, on a smaller scale, during Phanerozoic continental flood basalt events. Therefore, continental flood basalt provinces should be recognized as sites of anorthosite formation in the deep continental crust.


Abstract The yeast Nhp6A protein (yNhp6A) is a member of the eukaryotic HMGB family of chromatin factors that enhance apparent DNA flexibility. yNhp6A binds DNA nonspecifically with nM affinity, sharply bending DNA by >60°. It is not known whether the protein binds to unbent DNA and then deforms it, or if bent DNA conformations are 'captured' by protein binding. The former mechanism would be supported by discovery of conditions where unbent DNA is bound by yNhp6A. Here, we employed an array of conformational probes (FRET, fluorescence anisotropy, and circular dichroism) to reveal solution conditions in which an 18-base-pair DNA oligomer indeed remains bound to yNhp6A while unbent. In 100 mM NaCl, yNhp6A-bound DNA unbends as the temperature is raised, with no significant dissociation of the complex detected up to ∼45°C. In 200 mM NaCl, DNA unbending in the intact yNhp6A complex is again detected up to ∼35°C. Microseconds-resolved laser temperature-jump perturbation of the yNhp6a–DNA complex revealed relaxation kinetics that yielded unimolecular DNA bending/unbending rates on timescales of 500 μs−1 ms. These data provide the first direct observation of bending/unbending dynamics of DNA in complex with yNhp6A, suggesting a bind-then-bend mechanism for this protein.


Aim: To describe work place based assessment (WPBA) and their possible application in dental education- an overview. The dental students need to develop and master the clinical procedural skills in preclinical and clinical postings. The dental education imparted to these students is from cognitive as the psychomotor domain. Going through the curriculum of the dentistry at undergraduate and post graduate level, the students have to master the complex procedural skills. Can we take their formative assessment as workplace-based assessment? The WPBA is performed in clinics with real patients. Workplace-based assessments target the highest level of the Miller's pyramid by collecting information about how doctors perform in their normal practice and how they behave in their real life on a day-to-day basis. WPBA help in evaluating students, from all aspects the cognitive, psychomotor, communication skills, management and professionalism. The formative assessment systems being used today are taken in clinics in all clinical subjects, but they are not structured. Norcini JJ in his article on work place based assessment described various assessments in working place. These include mini-CEX, CEC, CWS, BPE, DOPS, CbD, MSF(360 0 ). Although awareness of these techniques is increasing, very few dental faculties from various dental schools have carried out the studies of these WPBA. This article is aimed at detailing the various WPBA methods available. The author has searched the literature for articles describing these techniques to concise these. These are used in medical education in few institutes as per literature. This overview of WPBA will help the dental educators to utilize these WPBA in their institutes. Conclusion: This article reviewed the WPBA from the literature. The dentistry being a procedure based, the trainees can be benefitted from this formative assessment. The dental education in our country can implement WPBA for the competency of trainees and improved dental health care. Keywords: Work place based assessment, DOPS, Dental education, Three sixty degree assessment.


Conventional wisdom regarding nonprofit firms is that they are inefficient, due to the absence of a profit motive. However, the costs and product quality realized by profit-taking firms is determined by how well those firms deal with a host of internal incentive and information issues. A similar approach to the study of nonprofit organizations has not been attempted. This paper undertakes such an investigation, centered on the problem of providing incentives for members of a team to provide efficient effort. Holmstrom(1982) showed that the introduction of a budget-breaker, or principal, into a team allowed for the provision of such incentives where it would otherwise be impossible. A similar result obtains for a nonprofit team, but the role of principal differs from that found in profit-taking teams. It is shown that any of; donors, government regulators, or Trustees can fulfill this role in a nonprofit team. One implication of this is that nonprofit firms may indeed pay employees less than otherwise identical employees filling identical posts in profit-taking firms.


An important driving force behind urban expansion is the growth of the urban population. But for Europe, this is not a sufficient explanation. The major trend is that European cities have become much less compact. Since the mid-1950s European cities have expanded on average by 78%, whereas the population has grown by only 33%. In the PLUREL project - an integrated project within the EU's 6th Research Framework Programme - more than 100 researchers from 15 countries analysed the impacts of urban land consumption at a pan-European level and, through six European and one Chinese case studies, identified how land use conflicts and the pressure towards peri-urban areas can be strategically managed in different development and regulatory contexts. To summarise, the following strategies were identified as important steps towards more sustainable urban-rural futures: (i) better coordination of transport, land use and open space planning; (ii) urban containment and densification - development of a green compact city; (iii) preservation of blue and green infrastructure; and (iv) preservation of agricultural land and the promotion of local production. The need also remains to strengthen governance at the regional level while at the pan-European level there is clearly a need for more policy attention to be given to urban-rural linkages.


The low throughput at IC (integrated circuit) testing is mainly due to the increasing test data volume, which leads to high ATE (automatic test equipment) memory requirements and long test application times. In contrast to previous approaches that address either test data compression or abort-on-fail testing, we propose an architecture for combined test data compression and abort-on-fail testing. The architecture improves throughput through multi-site testing as the ATE memory requirement is constant and independent of the degree of multi-site testing. For flexibility in modifying the test data at any time, we make use of a test program for decompression; only test independent evaluation logic is added to the IC. Major advantages compared to MISR (multiple-input signature register) based schemes are that our scheme (1) allows abort-on-fail testing at clock-cycle granularity, (2) does not impact diagnostic capabilities, and (3) needs no special care for the handling of unknowns (X).


New advancement of technology and never satisfying demands of the civilization are putting huge pressure on the natural fuel resources and these resources are at a constant threat to its sustainability. To get the best out of the automobile, the optimum balance between performance and fuel economy is important. In the present state of art, either of the above two aspects are taken into mind while designing and development process which puts the other in the loss as increase in fuel economy leads to decrement in performance and vice-versa. In-depth observation of the vehicle dynamics apparently shows that large amount of energy is lost during braking and likewise large amount of fuel is consumed to reclaim the initial state, this leads to lower fuel efficiency to gain the same performance. Current use of Kinetic Energy Recovery System is only limited to sports vehicles only because of the higher cost of this system. They are also temporary in nature as power can be squeezed only during a small time duration and use of superior parts leads to high cost, which results on concentration on performance only and neglecting the fuel economy. In this paper Kinetic Energy Recovery System for storing the power and then using the same while accelerating has been discussed. The major storing element in this system is a Flat Spiral Spring that will store energy by compression and torsion. The use of spring ensure the permanent storage of energy until used by the driver unlike present mechanical regeneration system in which the energy stored decreases with time and is eventually lost. A combination of internal gears and spur gears will be used in order to make the energy release uniform which will lead to safe usage. The system can be used to improve the fuel efficiency by assisting in overcoming the vehicle's inertia after braking or to provide instant acceleration whenever required by the driver. The performance characteristics of the system including response time, mechanical efficiency and overall increase in efficiency are demonstrated. This technology makes the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) more flexible and economical allowing specific application while at the same time increasing the time frame and ease of usage. Keywords—Electric control unit, Energy, Mechanical KERS, Planetary Gear system, Power, Smart braking, Spiral Spring.


During Wenchuan Ms 8.0 earthquake, masonry buildings have suffered severely damaged and collapsed, causing heavy casualties and huge economic losses. In this paper, based on seismic site survey data, some new phenomena and characteristics of earthquake damage in comparison with the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, such as seismic damage of large space buildings, inclined or "X" shaped crack in wall between windows or spandrel wall, stair damage, falling of precast reinforced concrete slab and horizontal crack at the bottom of structure, are discussed in detail. Then, the impact factors of seismic capacity of masonry building in Wenchuan earthquake, including construction age, seismic fortification, bay size, floor (roof) form, layer number, thickness of bearing wall are analyzed, respectively; Finally, some recommendations on seismic design and reconstruction of masonry structure by the seismic design code are proposed.


As we move deep into nanometer regime of CMOS VLSI (45nm node and below), the device noise margin gets sharply eroded because of continuous lowering of device threshold voltage together with ever increasing rate of signal transitions driven by the consistent demand for higher performance. Sharp erosion of device noise margin vastly increases the likelihood of intermittent failures (also known as parametric failures) during device operation as opposed to permanent failures caused by physical defects introduced during manufacturing process. The major sources of intermittent failures are capacitive crosstalk between neighbor interconnects, abnormal drop in power supply voltage (also known as droop), localized thermal gradient, and soft errors caused by impact of high energy particles on semiconductor surface. In nanometer technology, these intermittent failures largely outnumber the permanent failures caused by physical defects. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to come up with efficient test generation and test application methods to accurately detect and characterize these classes of failures.
Soft error rate (SER) is an important design metric used in semiconductor industry and represented by number of such errors encountered per Billion hours of device operation, known as Failure-In-Time (FIT) rate. Soft errors are rare events. Traditional techniques for SER characterization involve testing multiple devices in parallel, or testing the device while keeping it in a high energy neutron bombardment chamber to artificially accelerate the occurrence of single events. Motivated by the fact that measurement of SER incurs high time and cost overhead, in this thesis, we propose a two step approach: 〈i〉 a new filtering technique based on amplitude of the noise pulse, which significantly reduces the set of soft error susceptible nodes to be considered for a given design; followed by 〈ii〉 an Integer Linear Program (ILP)-based pattern generation technique that accelerates the SER characterization process by 1-2 orders of magnitude compared to the current state-of-the-art.
During test application, it is important to distinguish between an intermittent failure and a permanent failure. Motivated by the fact that most of the intermittent failures are temporally sparse in nature, we present a novel design-for-testability (DFT) architecture which facilitates application of the same test vector twice in a row. The underlying assumption here is that a soft fail will not manifest its effect in two consecutive test cycles whereas the error caused by a physical defect will produce an identically corrupt output signature in both test cycles. Therefore, comparing the output signature for two consecutive applications of the same test vector will accurately distinguish between a soft fail and a hard fail. We show application of this DFT technique in measuring soft error rate as well as other circuit marginality related parametric failures, such as thermal hot-spot induced delay failures.
A major contribution of this thesis lies on investigating the effect of multiple sources of noise acting together in exacerbating the noise effect even further. The existing literature on signal integrity verification and test falls short of taking the combined noise effects into account. We particularly focus on capacitive crosstalk on long signal nets. A typical long net is capacitively coupled with multiple aggressors and also tend to have multiple fanout gates. Gate leakage current that originates in fanout receivers, flows backward and terminates in the driver causing a shift in driver output voltage. This effect becomes more prominent as gate oxide is scaled more aggressively. In this thesis, we first present a dynamic simulation-based study to establish the significance of the problem, followed by proposing an automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) solution which uses 0-1 Integer Linear Program (ILP) to maximize the cumulative voltage noise at a given victim net due to crosstalk and gate leakage loading in conjunction with propagating the fault effect to an observation point. Pattern pairs generated by this technique are useful for both manufacturing test application as well as signal integrity verification for nanometer designs. This research opens up a new direction for studying nanometer noise effects and motivates us to extend the study to other noise sources in tandem including voltage drop and temperature effects.


The effect of a homogeneous anisotropic initial stress on the propagation of infinitesimal amplitude elastic body waves in a perfectly elastic, homogeneous medium is investigated. If the medium is inherently isotropic in the reference configuration and if the magnitude τ0 of the deviatoric part of the initial static stress is small compared to the rigidity μ of the medium, then the apparent body-wave velocities of P waves are unaffected by the initial stress to first order in τ0/μ. The apparent body-wave velocities of S waves are rendered anisotropic to first order, and this effect is described explicitly. It is concluded that the direct effect of an anisotropic initial stress cannot contribute appreciably to the observed velocity anisotropy of horizontally propagating P waves in the oceanic upper mantle. Those observations require an inherent elastic anisotropy of the oceanic uppermantle material.


The effect of aqueous extract of Citrus sinensis peel on some biochemical parameters in alloxan-induced diabetic rats was investigated. Sixteen (16) adult male albino rats (181 g to 206 g) were randomly divided into four groups (A-D). 150 mg/kg body weight of alloxan was administered intra-peritoneally to the rats to induce diabetes. A normal control group, diabetic group, treated group with the aqueous extract (400 mg/kg of body weight) and metformin (500 mg/kg of body weight) were separated. Treatment was done for 21 consecutive days. The result of the study showed significant variation in blood concentrations of glucose, liver enzymes, creatinine, urea, uric acid, electrolytes, total protein, total bilirubin, lipid profile high density lipoprotein and albumin between the normal control and diabetic control groups (P<0.05). The result of this study revealed a significant role of the extract of Citrus sinensis peel and metformin in restoring blood glucose, liver enzymes and lipid profile to levels approximate to or below the normal control groups (P<0.05). However, metformin has more profound effect in restoring blood glucose compared with the extract of Citrus sinensis at the employed dosage. Other results of the study showed that Citrus sinensis peel extract increased blood urea, potassium, total bilirubin to values approximate to normal control and decreased creatinine and sodium to values approximate to normal control (P<0.05). The effects of the extract on other biochemical parameters differ significantly from the normal control (P<0.05).


ABSTRACT:Alt.support.depression (ASD) was an online forum for patients with depression that operated in the 1990s on the computer network Usenet. At its peak, the forum had an estimated readership of 57,000 and saw upwards of 500 posts a day. Aligning with recent efforts by historians to deinstitutionalize the history of psychiatry, this study traces the emergence of ASD as a new extramural space for mental health care in the 1990s. Its users created a unique therapeutic milieu informed by the consumer-survivor movement and 1990s cyberculture. As ASD grew in size and complexity, its users sought to redesign their forum, opening what had previously been a technological black box. Working by a process of inscription—a concept described by science and technology studies scholar Madeleine Akrich—they created a unique psychiatric constituency whose attitude towards technologies of mental health care was neither submissive nor subversive. Rather, the forum's users developed their own notions of patient empowerment and lay expertise in psychiatry.


Two recent papers in this Journal address the issue of applying the dichlorofluorescein assay to measure so-called reactive oxygen species (ROS) after irradiating cells, with diametrically opposed conclusions (1, 2). A number of related earlier papers [e.g. ref. (3)] are based on this assay, which relies on the oxidation by ROS of dichlorodihydrofluorescein (DCFH2) to fluorescent dichlorofluorescein (DCF). While not seeking to adjudicate in the argument (1, 2) of whether the assay as applied in individual protocols is measuring species originating in extracellular medium or not—more experimental studies are desirable—it does seem remarkable that in most of the over 2000 studies in biology using this assay, little attention has been paid to the chemical parameters that define what the assay reports. Most notable is the general lack of discussion as to which ROS are being measured, which must reflect the reactivities of individual ROS toward the probe, and the chemical mechanisms involved in transformation of the DCFH2 probe to the measured DCF. An overview of the use of this and related probes (4) concluded with an aide memoire of questions we should attempt to answer before using such probes, or at least before drawing definitive conclusions from the results. For brevity, only some of the headings from that aide are listed below, together with brief notes specific to the DCF assay that it is hoped will help in the resolution of controversies arising from the application of the technique, and be useful in designing future studies. Probe reactivity. ROS is a crude and increasingly inadequate descriptor of over 20 species, both radical and non-radical entities, and many not oxygen-centered; some examples and pathways in biology are included in the review in ref. (4), to which the reader is also referred for supporting references in the discussion below. Superoxide ( ) and its product H2O2 • O2 are major examples; other oxidants include products of the reaction of with nitric oxide, including and . General radical damage • • • O NO CO 2 2 3 will result in thiyl radical production, e.g. of that from glutathione, GS. Of these species, and H2O2 do not react directly with DCFH2 under • O2 biologically relevant conditions at a significant rate, but other radical oxidants (e.g. , and GS) all oxidize DCFH2 rapidly (rate con• • NO CO 2 3 stants k 107 108 M 1 s 1 at pH 7–8) to form a radical (DCFH) rather than to form DCF directly, by the rule of spin conservation. The final product, DCF, is almost as reactive as DCFH2 toward some radical oxidants. It is possible that the reactivity of radical-based oxidants toward DCFH2 is less influenced by a reduction in temperature, as used in some studies (2), than peroxidase-facilitated oxidation as described below. Catalyst. DCFH2 is oxidized efficiently by H2O2 providing a catalyst is available. Hemes are typical and cytochrome c is of major importance since it is released from mitochondria to cytosol during apoptosis, and so in some circumstances an increase in DCF signal might reflect this phenomenon rather than changes in ROS production. Oxidation by H2O2 and cytochrome c involves typical peroxidase behavior, in which oxidation proceeds via DCFH rather than to DCF directly. DCF, as a phenol, is further degraded by peroxidases. While pH indicators might be omitted in media for fluorescence measurements, typical indicators such as phenol red are good peroxidase substrates and could conceivably act as ''enhancers'' of the peroxidase cycle on oxidation to phenoxyl radicals and generation of superoxide by GS [cf. refs. (5, 6)]. Hypochlorous acid (e.g. from irradiated PBS) is an inefficient oxidant of DCFH2 (7), but it markedly enhances the peroxidase action of cytochrome c (8). Reactions of probe intermediates. The initial oxidation product DCFH reacts rapidly with oxygen (k 5 108 M 1 s 1 at pH 7.4) to generate the superoxide radical, i.e. more ROS, along with DCF, the species measured in the assay. Thus the assay involves chain amplification of the signal to an extent that could depend on several parameters (e.g. pH, O2, NO, cytochrome c and superoxide dismutase levels, and reaction of both and DCFH with antioxidants). • O2 Probe distribution. DCFH2 is a weak acid with pKas for dissociation of the two phenolic moieties of 7.9 and 9.2 and another pKa of 4; DCF has pKas of 0.9, 3.5 and 5.2. These parameters control leakage of DCFH2 and DCF from cells to media, and pH-induced concentration gradients, including variations in probe distribution across intracellular organelles of different pH, e.g. lysosomes compared to mitochondria. They also define pH-dependent absorbance of the excitation light in fluorescence measurements (unless the excitation wavelength is at an isosbestic point), pH-dependent fluorescence quantum yield, and pH-dependent reactivity (phenolates are often oxidized much more rapidly than phenols). Effects of antioxidants. The competition for reaction of ROS with DCFH2 compared to endogenous antioxidants would be easily assessed by comparing the products of rate constant concentration, but hardly any studies measure intracellular loading of DCFH2. In the author's laboratory we found that exposing V79 fibroblasts to 10 M DCFH2 diacetate for 15 min at 37 C resulted in an average intracellular loading of 300 M DCFH2, from which it was estimated that only 4% of • NO2 (for example) would react with the probe. Hence the assay is probably usually used under ''non-saturating'' conditions, and small variations in probe loading or antioxidant levels may influence the signal independently of ROS flux. Photochemical reactions. Like many dyes, light activates DCF to a triplet state reactive toward thiols and NADH, both reactions leading to superoxide generation, so high light intensities in fluorescence instrumentation may have unwanted consequences. In this context even room lighting can similarly generate superoxide from riboflavin in some cell culture media, leading to e.g. nitric oxide depletion by peroxynitrite-mediated chain oxidation (9). For brevity, only the key headings in the earlier review (4) are addressed above. Other factors that will influence probe response include radiation-induced nitric oxide synthase activity (10), which might enhance DCF formation because NO ''diverts'' superoxide from H2O2 formation to form, via peroxynitrite, the highly reactive and . • • NO CO 2 3 In conclusion, measurements using the DCF assay for ROS can reflect a number of parameters. It is hoped this brief outline of these factors will be useful to researchers making use of the assay. Overall, the method has very much the status of caveat emptor, and studies of oxidative/nitrosative stress are best supplemented by additional methodology such as measurements of 8-oxoguanosine or nitrotyrosine. In the wider context, the widespread use of chemical probes without considering their chemical reactivities or the mechanisms involved might be viewed as a paradigm for the place of radiation chemistry in 21st century radiobiology; it is certainly a salutary illustration of the need for multidisciplinary input in radiobiological research.


With the further advancement of the research on marine environmental science, more and more attention has been paid to modern data monitoring technology. In order to obtain the current water quality information quickly, this paper combines the advantages of Canopy algorithm and FFCM algorithm, and proposes an improved Canopy-FFCM clustering algorithm. The algorithm firstly uses Canopy algorithm to quickly obtain the best clustering number, and then iterates through FFCM algorithm. Through the use of FCM algorithm, FFCM algorithm and improved Canopy-FFCM algorithm to conduct simulation analysis on samples for many times respectively, the experimental results show that compared with the traditional algorithm, the improved algorithm effectively reduces the time required for the analysis process and has good application value. Keywords—Water quality analysis; FCM clustering algorithm; Canopy-FFCM algorithm


Olfaction enables most mammalian species to detect and discriminate vast numbers of chemical structures called odorants and pheromones. The perception of such chemical compounds is mediated via two major olfactory systems, the main olfactory system and the vomeronasal system, as well as minor systems, such as the septal organ and the Grueneberg ganglion. Distinct differences exist not only among species but also among individuals in terms of their olfactory sensitivity; however, little is known about the mechanisms that determine these differences. In research on the olfactory sensitivity of mammals, scientists thus depend in most cases on behavioral testing. In this article, we reviewed scientific studies performed on various mammalian species using different methodologies and target chemical substances. Human and non-human primates as well as rodents and dogs are the most frequently studied species. Olfactory threshold studies on other species do not exist with the exception of domestic pigs. Olfactory testing performed on seals, elephants, and bats focused more on discriminative abilities than on sensitivity. An overview of olfactory sensitivity studies as well as olfactory detection ability in most studied mammalian species is presented here, focusing on comparable olfactory detection thresholds. The basics of olfactory perception and olfactory sensitivity factors are also described.


We report the development of a new class of water-dispersible polyphosphate-grafted Fe3O4 nanomagnets (PPNMs) by a facile soft chemical approach. The grafting of polyphosphate with Fe3O4 nanoparticles is evident from Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and zeta-potential measurements. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses reveal the formation of highly crystalline Fe3O4 nanoparticles with an average size of about 10 nm. These nanoparticles show good colloidal stability, strong magnetic field responsivity and protein resistance characteristics. Induction heating studies confirm localized heating of these superparamagnetic PPNMs with good intrinsic loss power under an AC magnetic field (AMF). The drug loading and release behavior of the PPNMs was explored using doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) as a model drug. The decrease in fluorescence intensity and increase in surface charge of drug-loaded PPNMs strongly suggest the conjugation of DOX with the PPNMs. The cell viability and hemolysis assays suggest that the PPNMs do not have adverse toxic effects for further in vivo use. Specifically, high loading affinity for DOX with sustained release, substantial cellular internalization and self-heating capacity makes these novel magnetic nanoparticles suitable for drug delivery and hyperthermia therapy applications.


A finite element method is proposed to determine the chord side wall failure load of welded RHS T-joints with axial compression branch. The width ratios β (=b1/b0) vary from 0.8 to 0.9, and the range of wall slenderness is 16.1≤h0/t0≤42.3. With strain hardening of the material not take into account, the validity of the FEM model is verified using existing experimental results. The failure of the joints is mainly due to the buckling or crippling of the chord side wall, which agree well with the experiment. The mean failure load determined by FEM is about 93% of the test and with a coefficient of vibration of 0.037. The ultimate strength so determined is also compared with the existing design formulae. The proposed method is more reliable. Further investigations are required to develop design formulae for the side wall failure of RHS joints with width ratio β≠1.0.


The major conclusion of this thesis is that Henry Watterson, while representative of the Redeemer element, was the product of a Jacksonian, rather than a Whig, heritage which had an ideology quite similar to the Redeemer appeal. In determining his exact philosophy the study shows that the editor was quite different from his contemporaries in the New South in both the substance and integrity of his beliefs.


ADIPOQ, encoding adiponectin, is a candidate gene for type 2 diabetes (T2D) identified by genome-wide linkage analyses with supporting evidence showing the protein function in sensitizing insulin actions. In an endeavor to characterize candidate genes causing T2D in Thai patients, we identified 10 novel ADIPOQ variations, several of which were non-synonymous variations observed only in the patients. To examine the impact of these non-synonymous variations on adiponectin structure and biochemical characteristics, we conducted a structural analysis of the wild-type and variant proteins by in silico modeling and further characterized biochemical properties of the variants with predicted structural abnormalities from the modeling by molecular and biochemical studies. The recombinant plasmids containing wild-type and variant ADIPOQ cDNAs derived from the variations identified by our study (R55H, R112H, and R131H) and previous work (G90S and R112C) were constructed and transiently expressed and co-expressed in cultured HEK293T cells to investigate their oligomerization, interaction, and secretion. We found that the novel R55H variant impaired protein multimerization but it did not exert the effect over the co-expressed wild-type protein while novel R131H variant impaired protein secretion and also affected the co-expressed wild-type protein in a dominant negative fashion. The R131H variant could traffic from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi, trans-Golgi network, and early endosome but could not be secreted. The R131H variant was likely to be degraded through the lysosomal system and inhibition of its degradation rescued the variant protein from secretion defect. We have shown the possibility of using in silico modeling for predicting the effect of amino acid substitution on adiponectin oligomerization. This is also the first report that demonstrates a dominant negative effect of the R131H variant on protein secretion and the possibility of using protein degradation inhibitors as therapeutic agents in the patients carrying adiponectin variants with secretion defect.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of valence and arousal dimensions of music on physiological and subjective recovery from stress, and how these effects might be moderated by trait absorption. In Experiment 1, 40 participants experienced stress after being told to prepare a speech, and then listened to peaceful music or white noise. In Experiment 2, 88 participants experienced stress using the same methodology, and then listened to happy, peaceful, sad or agitated music. Music with a positive valence promoted recovery better than music with a negative valence, and low arousal music was more effective than high arousal music. In both experiments, differences in recovery were largely driven by individuals who were high in absorption.


The aim of this work was to develop a biochemical approach to study (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan (callose) biosynthesis using suspension cultures of Arabidopsis thaliana. Optimal conditions for in vitro synthesis of callose corresponded to an assay mixture containing 50 mM Mops buffer, pH 6.8, 1 mM UDP-glucose, 8 mM Ca2+ and 20 mM cellobiose. The enzyme was Ca2+-dependent, and addition of Mg2+ to the reaction mixture did not favour cellulose biosynthesis. Enzyme kinetics suggested the existence of positive homotropic cooperativity of (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan synthase for the substrate UDP-glucose, in agreement with the hypothesis that callose synthase consists of a multimeric complex containing several catalytic subunits. Detergents belonging to different families were tested for their ability to extract and preserve membrane-bound (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan synthase activity. Cryo-transmission electron microscopy experiments showed that n-octyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside allowed the production of micelle-like structures, whereas vesicles were obtained with Chaps and Zwittergent 3-12. The morphology and size of the (1-->3)-beta-D-glucans synthesized in vitro by fractions obtained with different detergents were affected by the nature of the detergent tested. These data suggest that the general organization of the glucan synthase complexes and the properties of the in vitro products are influenced by the detergent used for protein extraction. The reaction products synthesized by different detergent extracts were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, methylation analysis, 13C-NMR spectroscopy, electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. These products were identified as linear (1-->3)-beta-D-glucans having a degree of polymerization higher than 100, a microfibrillar structure, and a low degree of crystallinity.


Discourse relations bind smaller linguistic units into coherent texts. Automatically identifying discourse relations is difficult, because it requires understanding the semantics of the linked arguments. A more subtle challenge is that it is not enough to represent the meaning of each argument of a discourse relation, because the relation may depend on links between lowerlevel components, such as entity mentions. Our solution computes distributed meaning representations for each discourse argument by composition up the syntactic parse tree. We also perform a downward compositional pass to capture the meaning of coreferent entity mentions. Implicit discourse relations are then predicted from these two representations, obtaining substantial improvements on the Penn Discourse Treebank.


The paper discusses - by way of a case study - the effects of globalisation on small businesses in Malaysia. It examines how globalisation affects the work values of Malaysian corporate managers, which in turn influence their decisions regarding the small business community. Due to weaknesses in domestic governance systems and their own limited understanding of human rights and business management, small business owners often find it hard to overturn many of these decisions which inevitably cause hardship for them. The case is analysed in the context of existing literature on globalisation, cultural homogeneity and economic disparity, and derives implications for various stakeholders. The final part of the paper recommends measures that can help Malaysian small businesses enhance sustainability in a highly globalised environment. These measures include building a united and persistent small business community, improving domestic governance, raising public awareness of the rights of small business players and improving their innovativeness, efficiency and effectiveness.Keywords: Small Business, Globalisation, Economic Disparity Cultural Homogeneity, Governance, Malaysia


We investigate the feasibility of measuring weak gravitational lensing using 21 cm intensity mapping with special emphasis on the performance of the planned Square Kilometer Array (SKA). We nd that the current design for SKA Mid should be able to measure the evolution of the lensing power spectrum at z 2 3 using this technique. This will be a probe of the expansion history of the universe and gravity at a unique range in redshift. The signal-to-noise is found to be highly dependent on evolution of the neutral hydrogen fraction in the universe with a higher HI density resulting in stronger signal. With realistic models for this, SKA Phase 1 should be capable of measuring the lensing power spectrum and its evolution. The signal-to-noise's dependance on the area and diameter of the telescope array is quantied. We further demonstrate the applications of this technique by applying it to two specic coupled dark energy models that would be dicult to observationally distinguish without information from this range of redshift. We also investigate measuring the lensing signal with 21 cm emission from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) using SKA and nd that it is unlikely to constrain cosmological parameters because of the small survey size, but could provide a map of the dark matter within a small region of the sky.


Highly purified insulin receptor was shown to be a substrate for cAMP kinase. Approximately 1 phosphate was incorporated per molecule of receptor, and the cAMP kinase's affinity for the receptor was at least as high as its affinity for histone. The sites phosphorylated by cAMP kinase seemed distinct from those phosphorylated by the protein kinase C. Phosphorylation by cAMP kinase had no effect on the ability of several monoclonal antibodies to recognize the receptor or on the insulin-binding activity of the receptor. However, cAMP phosphorylation partially inhibited the tyrosine kinase activity of the receptor (∼25%). These results suggest that catecholamine-induced resistance to insulin may be partly due to a direct phosphorylation of the receptor by cAMP kinase and a subsequent inhibition of the ability of the receptor kinase to be activated by insulin.


Summarise outcomes following cochlear implantation (CI) in patients with post-meningitis deafness. Systematic review and narrative synthesis. Databases searched: Medline, Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Collection and ClinicalTrials.gov. No limits placed on language or year of publication. Studies with a minimum of 20 individuals with post-meningitis deafness were included. Review conducted in accordance with the PRISMA statement. Searches identified 906 abstracts and 291 full texts. Of these, 19 studies met the inclusion criteria, reporting outcomes in 610 patients with 650 implants. Audiological outcomes improved across all studies following cochlear implantation. 7 studies demonstrated a statistically significant difference between pre and post-CI outcomes. Patients with no cochlear ossification, full electrode insertion, shorter duration of deafness and no neurological sequelae generally appeared to perform best. A total of 31 minor and 19 major complications were reported, with 15 cases of reimplantation. The methodological quality of the included studies was sufficient, predominantly consisting of cohort studies. 15 studies were OCEBM grade III and 4 studies were OCEBM grade IV. All studies had a minimum of 20 individuals with post-meningitic deafness and used multi-channel cochlear implant devices. Audiological outcomes following cochlear implantation in meningitis are satisfactory, providing functional levels of speech perception and intelligibility. Improvement in hearing is dependent on the amount of cochlear ossification, duration of deafness prior to implantation, electrode insertion depth and presence of neurological sequalae. Cochlear implantation in meningitis patients can be challenging due to the presence of ossification and inaccuracies of pre-operative imaging. Therefore, early and bilateral implantation is recommended in all patients with post-meningitis hearing loss to improve the likelihood of full electrode insertion.


Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are cytoprotective proteins that are expressed constitutively and/or at elevated levels upon the exposure of cells to stress. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential effects of HSP preinduction by cold- (CWI) or hot-water immersion (HWI) on pro-inflammatory cytokine production (IL-1, IL-6, TNF-alpha) in cholecystokinin-octapeptide(CCK)-induced acute pancreatitis. Rats were injected with 3 x 75 microg/kg CCK subcutaneously at intervals of 2 h at the peak level of HSP synthesis, as determined by Western blot analysis. The animals were killed by exsanguination through the abdominal aorta 2 h after the last CCK injection. The serum IL-1, IL-6, TNF-alpha, and amylase levels, the pancreatic weight/body weight ratio, and the pancreatic contents of DNA, protein, amylase, lipase and trypsinogen were measured; biopsy for histology was taken. HWI significantly elevated the HSP72 expression, while CWI significantly increased the HSP60 expression. HWI pretreatment decreased all of the measured serum cytokine levels in this acute pancreatitis model. CWI and HWI pretreatment ameliorated most of the examined laboratory and morphological parameters of CCK-induced pancreatitis. The findings suggest the possible roles of HSP60 and HSP72 in the protection against CCK-induced pancreatitis. HSP72 might also participate in the reduction of pro-inflammatory cytokine synthesis.


Atherosclerosis, a disease of large arteries is the primary cause of heart disease and stroke and is the cause of 50 % of all deaths in industrialized countries. Epidemiological studies have revealed several important environmental (smoking, sedentary life, feeding) and genetic risk factors associated with atherosclerosis. Knowledge on molecular and cellular causes of atherosclerosis have considerably progressed for 20 years. However, it is highly difficult to propose a valuable atherogenesis model because numerous molecular and cellular abnormalities interact together to induce atheroma. Nevertheless, over the past decade, transgenic animals gave interesting physiopathological models of atherogenesis and the opportunity to elaborate a pertinent theory of plaque formation. It is now demonstrated that atherosclerosis is not a simple chronic degenerescence of vascular wall, depending on age and other risk factors (dyslipidaemia, smoking, diabetes) but rather a chronic inflammatory disease, which induces plaque rupture and acute cardiovascular disease (myocardial infarction and stroke).


This study presents a comparison of the drug dispersion capability of various catheters which can be used to inject medication or stem cells into the arterial system. The study was carried out by the use of numerical simulation so that various geometric and physical operating parameters could be investigated. The blood was modeled with a power-law viscosity and the medication had two levels of viscosity to represent upper and lower bounds expected in practice. Two different medication flowrates were also incorporated into the study. Finally, the impact of an inflated balloon up-stream of the injection was studied. The artery was simply modeled as a straight circular tube with the catheters concentrically positioned. It was found that in some cases, dispersion was improved by use of a multi-lumen device, particularly when an upstream balloon was employed to regulate blood flow and drug residence time. In other cases, the dispersion from the single-lumen device was superior. Another finding was that the multi-lumen device had a reduced hydraulic resistance to blood flow, compared to the single-lumen device when an upstream balloon was inflated.


The field station of the School for Smallholder Community, Sekaran Village, Kasiman District is one ofthe places for beef cattle development in Bojonegoro Regency. Sekaran Field Station has several breedsof cattle, including Ongole Crossbred. Ongole Crossbreeds have a large population in the Sekaran Schoolfor Smallholder Community with a population of 38%. Evaluation of breeding programs is based ongenetic parameters and can be used to obtain the latest information on the successful implementation ofbreeding programs in a population of livestock. The aim of this study was to evaluate the developmentprogram of Ongole Crossbreed cattle at the Sekaran School for Smallholder Community field stationusing genetic and phenotypic parameters. This study uses a survey method based on questionnaires byconducting interviews with farmers. The data observed were recorded data from 190 heads of OngoleCrossbreeds. The parameters observed were breeding values, genetic and phenotypic correlations, aswell as genetic and phenotypic patterns. The results showed that the highest estimation of breedingvalue in Ongole Crossbred was 5.71 (6 heads) and the lowest was 0.10 (2 heads). The genetic correlationof age at first giving birth, calving distance and empty period ranged from -0.03–0.13. The phenotypiccorrelation of the three reproductive traits ranged from -0.12-0.09. The genetic patterns of age at firstgiving birth, calving distance and empty period were -0.97 months/year, -2.51 days/year and 0.05 days/year, respectively. The phenotypic patterns of the three reproductive traits were 36 months/year, 388days/year and 84 days/year, respectively. Based on the results of the evaluation of the breeding programusing genetic and phenotypic parameters, the development of Ongole Peranakan cattle needs to becontinued by implementing good and digital-based management in order to provide success in the OngoleCrossbred development program at the Sekaran field station of the School for Smallholder Community.


The PCA linear transformation method is used for feature extraction to the secondary structure prediction problem. The method of dimensionality reduction is applied on PSI-Blast profiles built on NCBI's Nonredundant Protein database. Different numbers of components extracted are used as input to three artificial neural networks with 30, 35 or 40 nodes in the hidden layer. Those classifiers are trained with the RPROP algorithm. To estimate the accuracy of the predictor the sevenfold cross-validation method is applied to CB396, a database used previously to evaluate the performance of several predictors. Aiming to increase the efficiency of the predictor presented here, the outputs of the classifiers are combined through five simple rules: product, average, voting, minimum and maximum. This original application for the PCA method derives relevant results. Even with a drastic reduction from 260 to 80 components, the accuracy obtained is at least 1% superior to the best one published for another predictor, the CONSENSUS, a combination of four other predictors. With a reduction from 260 to 180 components the performance is even better, achieving an Q/sub 3/ accuracy of 74.5%. The results flag the PCA as a promising method for feature extraction in the secondary structure prediction problem.


Objective With the introduction of MRI in diagnosis and tumour necrosis factor inhibitors for treatment, the field of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) has undergone significant changes. We carried out a population-based study of the trends in incidence and prevalence of AS over the past 15 years. Methods This is a retrospective analysis of provincial health administrative databases. Residents of Ontario, Canada aged 15 years or older diagnosed with AS between 1995 and 2010 were included in the study. Crude as well as age-standardised and sex-standardised incidence and prevalence of AS between 1995 and 2010 were calculated. Trends in prevalence and incidence of male and female patients with AS were separately analysed. Results We identified 24 976 Ontarians with AS. Age/sex-standardised AS prevalence increased from 79/100 000 in 1995 to 213/100 000 in 2010. Men had higher prevalence than women, but the male/female prevalence ratio decreased from 1.70 in 1995 to 1.21 by 2010. A higher proportion of male compared with female patients with AS were diagnosed in the 15–45 age group. Annual incidence rates revealed increasing diagnosis of AS among women after 2003. Conclusions The prevalence of AS in Ontario has nearly tripled over the past two decades. The proportion of women with new diagnosis of AS is increasing, a trend that began around the year 2003. A higher proportion of male compared with female patients with AS are diagnosed at an earlier age.


ABSTRACT Using longitudinal survey data, this study explores patterns and predictors of the sexual harassment and sexual assault of women by male Navy personnel (N = 573) in their second year of service. A modifiversion of the Malamuth Confluence Model, informed by the Navy Sexual Assault Continuum of Harm, was used to predict both types of sexual aggression. Perpetration of sexual assault was significantly associated with perpetration of sexual harassment (Odds ratio = 4.66), and a common set of risk factors could be used to predict both types of sexual aggression. In a longitudinal evaluation of the relative importance of multiple risk factors (hostility toward women, impersonal sex, heavy drinking, delinquency/misconduct, and hypermasculinity), both prior levels of risk and recent increase in risk across multiple factors significantly predicted second-year sexual harassment and sexual assault. Furthermore, current harassment perpetration partially mediated the effects of other risk factors on current sexual assault perpetration. These results support the hypothesis that sexual harassment is both a part of the spectrum of sexual aggression and an important independent risk factor for sexual assault perpetration by male service members. Military public health efforts should continue to target the modifiable risk factors for sexual aggression identified in this study.


Background and aims Thrombocytopenia is a relatively common feature in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, although severe thrombocytopenia is rare. Splenectomy is considered an acceptable treatment option for refractory thrombocytopenia in different haematological conditions. However, its role in SLE has been controversial, due to potential surgical complications and to its possible association with SLE flares. The aim of this study was to determine safety and efficacy of splenectomy in a cohort of SLE patients. Methods We included all patients with SLE who fulfilled ≥4 ACR criteria, and underwent splenectomy between 2000 and 2015 in a tertiary care centre in Mexico City. Patients with other rheumatic diseases (except for anti-phospholipid syndrome) were excluded. We recorded demographic, clinical and serological characteristics at the time of surgery and during follow-up. Results Thirty-six patients were included, 91.7% were women and mean age was 33.31±12.95. Refractory thrombocytopenia was the surgical indication in 28 patients (77.7%). Laparoscopic splenectomy was performed in 80.6% of cases. Two patients had surgical complications (intra-abdominal sepsis and pancreatic fistula). There were no deaths directly associated with the procedure. Among patients with thrombocytopenia, 85.7% achieved complete remission, in a mean period of 1.65±3.13 months. Cumulative prednisone dose in the year after the surgery was lower than the year before (8.7±5.8 vs 4.2±3.2 grams, p<0.01). Mean SLEDAI score at baseline was 3.53±2.9, and it decreased at 3 and 6 months (1.15±2.07 and 1.21±2.38, p<0.01, respectively) during follow-up. Conclusions Splenectomy is a safe procedure in SLE patients, and it represents an effective therapeutic option for refractory thrombocytopenia.


We present a face detection system based on a class of convolutional neural networks, namely shunting inhibitory convolutional neural networks (SICoNNets). The topology of these networks is a flexible feedforward architecture with three different connections schemes: fully-connected, toeplitz-connected and binary-connected. SICoNNets were trained, using a hybrid method based on Rprop, Quickprop and least squares, to discriminate between face and non-face patterns. All three connection schemes achieve 99% detection accuracy at 5% false alarm rate, based on a test set of 7000 face and non-face patterns. Furthermore, toeplitz-connected network was trained on a larger training set and has achieved a 99% correct classification rate with only 1% false alarm rate based on the same test set. A face detection system is built based on the trained convolutional neural networks. The system accepts an input image of arbitrary size and localizes the face patterns in the image. To localize faces of different sizes, the convolutional neural network is applied as a face detection filter at different scales. The detection scores from different scales are aggregated together to form the final decision.


Background Pneumococcal colonization is a precursor to pneumonia, and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) can decrease vaccine-type (VT) colonization. Pneumococcal colonization studies are traditionally done among healthy children in the community; however, VT colonization prevalence may differ between these children and those with pneumonia. We assessed overall and VT pneumococcal colonization and factors associated with colonization among children with and without pneumonia after Mozambique introduced 10-valent PCV (PCV10) in 2013. Methods We used data from ongoing pneumonia surveillance in children aged <5 years and from cross-sectional nasopharyngeal colonization surveys conducted in October 2014 –April 2015 and October 2015 –May 2016. Pneumonia was defined using WHO standard criteria for radiologically confirmed pneumonia. Children with pneumonia enrolled from January 2014 –April 2016 were compared to children without pneumonia enrolled from the cross-sectional surveys. Clinical data and nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs were collected from each child. NP specimens were cultured for pneumococci, and culture-negative specimens from children with pneumonia underwent polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results Of 778 and 927 children with and without pneumonia, 97.4% and 27.0% were exposed to antibiotics before swab collection, respectively. Based on culture, pneumococcal colonization was 45.1% for children with and 84.5% for children without pneumonia (P<0.001); VT pneumococcal colonization was 18.6% for children with and 23.4% for children without pneumonia (P = 0.02). The addition of PCR in children with pneumonia increased overall and VT-pneumococcal colonization to 79.2% and 31.1%, respectively. In multivariable analysis including PCR results, pneumonia was associated with VT pneumococcal colonization (adjusted OR: 1.4, 95%CI: 1.10–1.78). Conclusion Vaccine-type pneumococcal colonization remains common among children with and without pneumonia post-PCV10 introduction in Mozambique. In a population of children with high antibiotic exposure, the use of PCR for culture-negative NP swabs can improve assessment of pneumococcal colonization and circulating serotypes.


This paper draws on prior exploration on human resource development in a learning organization, including theories about a learning organization, its features, human resource development and learning styles in organizations. The main aim of this paper is to explore human resource development and learning styles in organizations. The author introduces results of the survey covering 37 Lithuanian organizations selected from various industries ranging from a newspaper and transportation, insurance and radio station, to those in trade and manure production. The research shows that mostly explored organizations have a formalized approach to learning and has only a few features of a learning organization.


Recent work [Appl. Phys. Lett. 100, 193108 (2012)] has demonstrated that uniaxial strain applied to wurtzite (WZ) GaAs nanowires leads to an interesting direct-indirect band gap transition. Here, we explored the potential of strain engineering on electronic structures of one-dimensional WZ and zinc-blende (ZB) GaAs nanowires along the [0001] and [111] directions, respectively. The studied strain includes uniaxial strain, radial strain, and strain along zigzag and armchair directions in the cross section of the nanowires and shear strains. It was found that the WZ and ZB GaAs nanowires with a diameter of ∼2 nm have an indirect band gap, whereas, bulk GaAs has a direct gap. The near-gap states (valence-band maximum/conduction-band minimum) are dominated by s or p orbitals of Ga or As atoms. The energies of these states respond very differently to the applied strains. For example, the energy increases with a positive uniaxial expansion while decreasing with a negative uniaxial compression for a state dominated by bonding s orbitals. However, for a state dominated by antibonding s orbitals, an opposite trend of its energy response to strain is observed. Furthermore, the energy response to strain of bonding p orbitals was found to be different from that of bonding s orbitals. Due to the different responses of the near-gap state energies with respect to strain, the direct-indirect band gap transition was produced. It was further found that whether a strain can trigger the direct-indirect band gap transition in the GaAs nanowires depends strongly on the type of applied strain. It requires less strain energy to convert the indirect gap to be direct in both the WZ and the ZB nanowires through applying a radial strain in the cross section, compared with applying a strain in the zigzag direction.


Personalized and content-adaptive image enhancement can find many applications in the age of social media and mobile computing. This paper presents a relative-learning-based approach, which, unlike previous methods, does not require matching original and enhanced images for training. This allows the use of massive online photo collections to train a ranking model for improved enhancement. We first propose a multi-level ranking model, which is learned from only relatively-labeled inputs that are automatically crawled. Then we design a novel parameter sampling scheme under this model to generate the desired enhancement parameters for a new image. For evaluation, we first verify the effectiveness and the generalization abilities of our approach, using images that have been enhanced/labeled by experts. Then we carry out subjective tests, which show that users prefer images enhanced by our approach over other existing methods.


In this classic work by one of America's most distinguished historians, Daniel Boorstin enters into Thomas Jefferson's world of ideas. By analysing writings of 'the Jeffersonian Circle, ' Boorstin explores concepts of God, nature, equality, toleration, education and government in order to illuminate their underlying world view. "The Lost World of Thomas Jefferson" demonstrates why on the 250th anniversary of his birth, this American leader's message has remained relevant to our national crises and grand concerns. "The volume is too subtle, too rich in ideas for anyone to do justice to it in brief summary, too heavily documented and too carefully wrought for anyone to dismiss its thesis. . . . It is a major contribution not only to Jefferson studies but to American intellectual history. . . . All who work in the history of ideas will find themselves in Mr. Boorstin's debt." Richard Hofstadter, "South Atlantic Monthly" "


This paper employs a multidimensional approach to gauge the degree of regional integration and analyze impact on growth, inequality, and poverty. It constructs a multidimensional regional integration index (MDRII) series that embodies six key facets of regional integration: (i) trade and investment, (ii) money and finance, (iii) regional value chains, (iv) infrastructure and connectivity, (v) movement of people, and (vi) institutional and social integration. The MDRII confirms that regional integration is most advanced in the European Union which scores high in all six dimensions; Asia comes second with the largest contribution from infrastructure and connectivity. Empirical analysis suggests significant and positive development impact of regional integration even when trade and financial openness is controlled. The regional value chain, movement of people, and institutional and social integration dimensions have been significant drivers of economic growth. Infrastructure and connectivity improve income distribution. Overall integration alongside the dimensions of trade and investment, money and finance, and institutional and social integration appear to significantly and robustly reduce poverty.


Six cases of bronchial carcinoma in Nigerians are reported. The clinical presentations were not different from those described in temperare countries. The view is expressed that bronchial carcinoma is rare in Nigerians. Two factors are suggested as being responsible for this: decreased longevity and decreased contact with external carcinogens, of which the most likely are cigarette smoke and atmospheric pollution.