Crystals with curved diffraction planes (CDP crystals) are an emerging technology in hard X-ray optics. Through them, it is possible to condition hard X-ray beams with high energy efficiency and flexibility. Optical instruments for visible light are not effective to manipulate high-energy radiation. In fact, the phenomena of reflection and refraction on which they are based become unimportant for electromagnetic waves with high energy. For this reason, optics of hard X-rays and gamma rays has been up to now based direct view instruments.
In contrast, diffraction phenomena can be important even at high energies. Therefore, it is possible to condition hard X-ray beams by Bragg diffraction. Bragg diffraction is called Laue diffraction when the electromagnetic wave goes through the crystal. Due to the length of penetration of high-energy photons, this configuration appears to be preferable than diffraction in reflection geometry (Bragg diffraction). Recently, optical systems have been developed based on perfect crystals or mosaic crystals. However, instruments based on these materials have constructive difficulties, poor reproducibility, and finally a limited efficiency.
Crystals with curved lattice planes have an efficiency in the manipulation of X-rays that approaches the unity. Through the curvature of their plans, they offer a continuum of possible angles of diffraction to incident radiation. Thus, the curvature of planes allows to influence photons in a wide range of energies. It is also possible to apply more than one curvature to a single crystal, deforming the symmetry, thus turning it into a focusing element.
The curved crystals have elective application in the construction of lenses for hard X-rays (Laue lenses), composed by a set of crystal with diffraction planes oriented towards a common point, so as to diffract the incident radiation towards the focus of the lens. This tool is especially useful in the field of astrophysics and medical physics. The observation of the sky over energy of 70 keV is still left to direct view instruments. These have a low angular resolution, a low signal to noise ratio, and a high weight, which is an important parameter because the observation of X-rays is only possible out of the atmosphere. The cosmic sources of X-rays produce a very low flux of photons, so the signal to noise ratio of the instrument becomes a key factor for the investigation of these sources. Today, only the spectra of the most intense sources are known at energies above 70 keV.
Another discipline that can benefit from the use of CDPs crystals is nuclear medicine. Indeed, it would be possible to increase the sensitivity and accuracy of instruments for nuclear medicine by using focusing optics based on curved crystals. The spatial resolution of the instrument would be increased to a sub-millimeter precision, with which it would be possible to accurately locate tumors and other phenomena of interest, and to provide more information on the same. Due to the high reflectivity of the CDPs crystals, even the number of photons that can be collected on the detector would be increased, with a consequent improvement in the sensitivity of the instrument, and a decrease in the dose of radio-drug to be injected into the patient.
The formalism developed so far under the dynamical theory of diffraction allows to describe effectively crystals with flat diffraction planes, or crystals with diffraction planes strongly deformed. Various applications require CDPs with low curvatures, in particular when crystals with high atomic number are used. In this case, the formalism of dynamical theory is not applicable in a simple way. To know the performance of the CDPs crystals in these areas of application, it is necessary the development of a treatment dedicated to the purpose. The theoretical work has touched the
development of the dynamic theory of diffraction in order to cover its weaknesses for CDPs with low curvature.
The work of technological development and construction of hardware for scientific research focused on the development and production of innovative crystals for the construction of hard X-ray lenses. The construction of Laue lenses has been simplified with the introduction of focusing crystals. The thesis work was partially carried out within the LAUE Project, funded by ASI, whose purpose was the construction of a large-area Laue lenses. The work done during the doctoral thesis has led to a rethinking of the project in order to use focusing crystals and thus to increase the resolution and sensitivity of the lens.
The work on crystals for Laue lenses did not end with the LAUE Project, but it continued with a series of technological innovations with the aim to increase the maximum resolution and sensitivity achievable by Laue lenses. These innovations include the introduction of crystals with multiple curvatures and focusing crystals, the study of novel methods with which to produce crystals with CDPs, the construction of stacks of multi-crystals, the use of curved asymmetric diffraction planes. The experimental tests were performed at the facilities of ESRF (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France), ILL (Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France) and LARIX (LARge Italian X-ray facility, Ferrara, Italy).
Simulations were also performed to estimate the possible interferences that a Laue lens could suffer in orbit because of the interaction with cosmic rays and the consequent production of parametric X-rays. This source of X-rays may interfere with measurements of celestial X-ray sources. The work has led to the exclusion of this possibility, since the emission of parametric X-rays would be less than the sensitivity of the lens itself.
Finally, the technologies developed to produce CDPs crystals were used for the construction of a crystalline undulator built as a prototype of X-ray source with high-energy and high flux. Lattice planes of a crystals where shaped in an undulated structure. Characterization of these lattice planes showed near-ideal results. High-energy charged particles channeled through these planes would produce coherent X-rays. The prototype will be part of an experiment at the SLAC accelerator (San Francisco, USA).


Aquilaria crassna (agarwood) has been used in traditional Asian medicine to treat vomiting, rheumatism, asthma, cough and inflammation. Despite the wide range of ethno-pharmacological use of agarwood, its anti-angiogenic effect has not previously been evaluated through systematic studies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to prepare essential oils extracts from the stem bark of A. crassna native to Malaysia, and determine their anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic activities. Stem bark samples were extracted with 80% ethanol and hydrodistillation methods. The resulting essential oils from both extraction approaches were subjected for cytotoxic activity using four cancer cell lines and one normal cell line. Hydrodistilled essential oils displayed significant cytotoxic effect against HCT 116 cells with the lowest IC50 value calculated (28.0 ± 1.5 μg/mL). Furthermore, we have investigated the effect of hydrodistilled essential oils (active extract) on angiogenesis in vitro and ex vivo, and found that essential oils directly inhibited tube formation after plating endothelial cells on matrigel. In addition, essential oils caused significant inhibition of microvessels outgrowth of rat aortic ring assay in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05) with an IC50 (43.13 μg/ml). The GC-MS analysis of the most active extract showed the presence of several potent phytochemicals such as β-caryophyllene, 1-phenanthrenecarboxylic acid, α-caryophyllene, benzenedicarboxylic acid and azulene. It can be concluded that the anti-cancer and anti-angiogenic effects of the essential oils could be due to the synergistic effect of the biologically active phytoconstituents.


The objective of this investigation is to examine the validity of applying the assumed modes method and the generalized impulse momentum approach that involves the coefficient of restitution in the analysis of transverse impact in constrained elastic systems. A simple impact model that consists of a rotating beam which is subjected to a transverse impact by a mass (impact hammer) moving with a constant velocity is used. For the purpose of comparison and in order to check the validity of using the proposed technique, the transverse deformation of the beam with respect to the beam coordinate system is described using three different assumed sets of orthogonal functions. The different sets of modes are the clamped-free modes, pin-free modes, and a set of assumed harmonic functions. The system mass matrix that accounts for the coupling between the rigid body motion and the elastic deformation is identified and used with the Jacobian matrix of the kinematic constraints and the coefficient of restitution to define the algebraic generalized impulse momentum equations that describe the transverse impact. The series solution obtained using the generalized impulse momentum equations is used to define the generalized impulse, the jump discontinuity in the system reference and modal velocities, and the jump discontinuities in the generalized joint reaction forces. It is shown in this investigation, that by increasing the number of elastic degrees of freedom, the jump discontinuity in the angular velocity of the rod as well as the generalized impulse converge to zero regardless of the assumed complete set of modes used. The effect of the coefficient of restitution and the mass ratio on the jump in the system velocities and the generalized reaction forces is also examined.


The objective of this study is to assess the potential applicability of an extracellular biopolymer (PA-2) produced by Pseudomonas alcaligenes as biosorbent remove the Cu(II) ions from environmental and industrial wastewater. The effects such as pH, Cu(II) initial concentration and sorbate-sorbent contact time and agitating speed on the adsorption capacities of PA-2 were studied. Biosorption equilibriums were rapidly established in about 60 min and the adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo-second order kinetic model. Biosorption equilibrium datas were better described by Langmuir isotherm model. The maximum Cu(II) adsorption capacity determined from Langmuir isotherm were 81.36 mg /g PA-2. The carboxyl and hydroxyl groups of the PA-2 were involved in chemical interaction with the Cu(II) ions depicted by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic (FTIR) results. The present study indicated that PA-2 may be used as an inexpensive, effective and easily cultivable biosorbent for the removal of Cu(II) ions from environmental and industrial wastewater.


Many applications of representation learning, such as privacy preservation, algorithmic fairness, and domain adaptation, desire explicit control over semantic information being discarded. This goal is formulated as satisfying two objectives: maximizing utility for predicting a target attribute while simultaneously being invariant (independent) to a known semantic attribute. Solutions to invariant representation learning (IRepL) problems lead to a trade-off between utility and invariance when they are competing. While existing works study bounds on this trade-off, two questions remain outstanding: 1) What is the exact trade-off between utility and invariance? and 2) What are the encoders (mapping the data to a representation) that achieve the trade-off, and how can we estimate it from training data? This paper addresses these questions for IRepLs in reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHS)s. Under the assumption that the distribution of a low-dimensional projection of high-dimensional data is approximately normal, we derive a closed-form solution for the global optima of the underlying optimization problem for encoders in RKHSs. This yields closed formulae for a near-optimal trade-off, corresponding optimal representation dimensionality, and the corresponding encoder(s). We also numerically quantify the trade-off on representative problems and compare them to those achieved by baseline IRepL algorithms.


We present an analytic methodology to guide the selection of a surface within an optical design to apply freeform optimization. The methodology is discussed in the context of other means currently available, such as human intuition, aberration theory, and other direct surface construction methods. We describe the selection criteria for our proposed method and provide the form of the parametric fitness function used to combine the criterion. Finally, a case study comparing a design optimization procedure guided by the proposed methodology to human intuition is presented based on a real instrument designed for a millimeter-wave astronomy application. The methodology is shown to be effective even in the case of an optical system with a large number of freeform/optical surfaces. The proposed approach provides an objective and scalable solution to guide freeform optical system design by aiding a human's design intuition.


Histamine and prostaglandins (PGs) play a variety of physiological roles as autacoids, which function in the vicinity of their sources and maintain local homeostasis in the body. They stimulate target cells by acting on their specific receptors, which are coupled to trimeric G proteins. For the precise understanding of the physiological roles of histamine and PGs, it is necessary to clarify the molecular mechanisms involved in their synthesis as well as their receptor-mediated responses. We cloned the cDNAs for mouse l-histidine decarboxylase (HDC) and 6 mouse prostanoid receptors (4 PGE2 receptors, PGF receptor, and PGI receptor). We then characterized the expression patterns and functions of these genes. Furthermore, we established gene-targeted mouse strains for HDC and PG receptors to explore the novel pathophysiological roles of histamine and PGs. We have here summarized our research, which should contribute to progress in the molecular biology of HDC and PG receptors.


This work evaluates the suitability of linear scaling (LS) and empirical quantile mapping (EQM) bias correction methods to generate present and future hydrometeorological variables (precipitation, temperature, and streamflow) over the Chitral River Basin, in the Hindukush region of Pakistan. In particular, LS and EQM are applied to correct the high-resolution statistically downscaled dataset, NEX-GDDP, which comprises 21 state-of-the-art general circulation models (GCMs) from the coupled model intercomparison project phase 5 (CMIP5). Raw and bias-corrected NEX-GDDP simulations are used to force the (previously calibrated and validated) HBV-light hydrological model to generate long-term (up to 2100) streamflow projections over the catchment. Our results indicate that using the raw NEX-GDDP leads to substantial errors (as compared to observations) in the mean and extreme streamflow regimes. Nevertheless, the application of LS and EQM solves these problems, yielding much more realistic and plausible streamflow projections for the XXI century.


Abstract. A combined scheme using the light source of a reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA) and an optical signal processing unit (OSPU) based on the compact TO-can package is fabricated and characterized for a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing system. Due to the optical feedback behavior from the FBG sensor, the RSOA is self-injection locked and lasing occurs at the Bragg wavelength. Using the wavelength-dependent filter method, all of the components in the OSPU are compactly integrated on the TO-can package with a height of 17.6 mm and diameter of 6.0 mm. The wavelength demodulating output signals are based on the optical power difference, depending only on the wavelengths without the effect of input optical power variations. The sensitivity of the output signal to temperature shows 0.026  dB/°C. The entire FBG sensing system has an excellent linear response to temperatures controlled with an accuracy of ±0.3°C.


SUMMARY Sedimentation velocity studies have revealed an abnor mal component in the sera of Wilms' tumor patients. This substance can also be detected by Alcian blue staining after electrophoresis of the sera on cellulose acetate strips, and can be precipitated from serum with 3% acetic acid. All of these tests are positive with sera from Wilms' tu mor patients. Cell-free extracts of freshly excised Wilms' tumor tis sue have been prepared by treating the tumor mince with dilute solutions of ethylenediaminetetraacetate or trypsin in isotonic media. Although these two types of extract are not the same, each contains only one or two major com ponents identifiable by sedimentation velocity and electrophoretic analyses. A close similarity between the ab normal serum component and material extracted from the tumor with ethylenediaminetetraacetate is apparent from these analyses. Both extracts contain mucopolysaccharide, as revealed by analyses for hexosamines and uronic acids. These findings may be useful for laboratory diagnosis of Wilms' tumor with serum samples. Moreover, they point to a close similarity between a carbohydrate-protein complex secreted by the tumor and the abnormal sub stance identified in the serum.


GnRH controls the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in all vertebrate species. Yet despite intense efforts, limited progress has been made toward determining how production of this neuropeptide is regulated. An alternative approach to this problem is to study species whose reproductive status is sensitive to behavioral influences and then to use behavioral interactions to probe the GnRH neuronal system. In this review, data on behaviorally induced alterations in the GnRH system will be presented. In several species of fishes, reproductive status and sex can be altered in adults by changes in the social environment. In these fishes, the numbers and size of GnRH-immunoreactive (GnRH-ir) neurons are modified by an individual's social and sexual status. In the ring dove, courtship activates ovarian follicular development and stimulates androgen production in males. During courtship, mast cells containing GnRH-like immunoreactivity enter the brain. This finding presents a new avenue for examining behavioral endocrine and immune interactions. In the musk shrew, most aspects of female reproduction are activated by contact with a male. Interactions with males trigger changes in the numbers of GnRH-ir cells and rapid production of GnRH peptide. The use of comparative animal models provides us with new insights into neuronal plasticity, neuroendoimmunology, and reproductive biology.


SUMMARY Eurythermal ectotherms commonly thrive in environments that expose them to large variations in temperature on daily and seasonal bases. The roles played by alterations in gene expression in enabling eurytherms to adjust to these two temporally distinct patterns of thermal stress are poorly understood. We used cDNA microarray analysis to examine changes in gene expression in a eurythermal fish, Austrofundulus limnaeus, subjected to long-term acclimation to constant temperatures of 20, 26 and 37°C and to environmentally realistic daily fluctuations in temperature between 20°C and 37°C. Our data reveal major differences between the transcriptional responses in the liver made during acclimation to constant temperatures and in response to daily temperature fluctuations. Control of cell growth and proliferation appears to be an important part of the response to change in temperature, based on large-scale changes in mRNA transcript levels for several key regulators of these pathways. However, cell growth and proliferation appear to be regulated by different genes in constant versus fluctuating temperature regimes. The gene expression response of molecular chaperones is also different between constant and fluctuating temperatures. Small heat shock proteins appear to play an important role in response to fluctuating temperatures whereas larger molecular mass chaperones such as Hsp70 and Hsp90 respond more strongly to chronic high temperatures. A number of transcripts that encode for enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of nitrogen-containing organic osmolytes have gene expression patterns that indicate a possible role for these `chemical chaperones' during acclimation to chronic high temperatures and daily temperature cycling. Genes important for the maintenance of membrane integrity are highly responsive to temperature change. Changes in fatty acid saturation may be important in long-term acclimation and in response to fluctuating temperatures; however cholesterol metabolism may be most critical for short-term acclimation to fluctuating temperatures. The variable effect of temperature on the expression of genes with daily rhythms of expression indicates that there is a complex interaction between the temperature cycle and daily rhythmicity in gene expression. A number of new hypotheses concerning temperature acclimation in fish have been generated as a result of this study. The most notable of these hypotheses is the possibility that the high mobility group b1 (HMGB1) protein, which plays key roles in the assembly of transcription initiation and enhanceosome complexes, may act as a compensatory modulator of transcription in response to temperature, and thus as a global gene expression temperature sensor. This study illustrates the utility of cDNA microarray approaches in both hypothesis-driven and `discovery-based' investigations of environmental effects on organisms.


Barium sodium niobate (BNN) glass-ceramics were successfully synthesized through a controlled crystallization method, using both a conventional and a microwave hybrid heating process. The dielectric properties of glass-ceramics devitrified at different temperatures and conditions were measured. It was found that the dielectric constant increased with higher crystallization temperature, from 750°C to 1000°C, and that growth of the crystalline phase above 900°C was essential to enhancing the relative permittivity and overall energy storage properties of the material. The highest energy storage was found for materials crystallized conventionally at 1000°C with a discharge energy density of 0.13 J/cm3 at a maximum field of 100 kV/cm. Rapid microwave heating was found to not give significant enhancement in dielectric properties, and coarsening of the ferroelectric crystals was found to be critical for higher energy storage.


Transport properties of systems based on diluted magnetic semiconductors (Ga,Mn)As are investigated theoretically by means of the Kubo linear response theory. The underlying electronic structure is obtained within the local spin-density approximation using the scalarrelativistic tight-binding linear muffin-tin orbital (TB-LMTO) method. The effect of substitutional randomness on the electronic structure and on the transport properties is systematically described in the coherent potential approximation (CPA). The quantities studied include the residual resistivities of the bulk alloys as well as conductances of epitaxial trilayers Cr/(Ga,Mn)As/Cr (001) in the current-perpendicular-to-plane (CPP) orientation. The results witness that various compensating defects such as As antisite atoms and Mn interstitials have much stronger detrimental effect on the spin polarization of the CPP conductances as compared to their influence on the spin polarization of the bulk conductivities.


The podcast is a unique configuration of IText precisely because it foregrounds sound in the current cultural moment of secondary orality. This return to an oral—aural tradition offers several unique benefits. Podcasts adapt well to today's unstructured work spaces. Moreover, podcasts blur boundaries between virtual and face-to-face communication and virtual and physical spaces. Finally, podcasts are fragmented, reflecting the fluidity of previous ITexts; yet, unlike ITexts, podcasts mostly exist as complete, scripted texts. This article raises questions concerning what the podcast contributes to overall knowledge of how texts are mediated through evolving information technologies.


OBJECTIVES
The treatment of refractory and recurrent acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is still a challenge with poor response rates and short survival times. In an attempt to solve this problem, we constructed a tandem bispecific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) targeting CD123 and C-type lectin-like molecule 1 (CLL-1), two different AML antigens, and verified its cytotoxic effects in vitro.

METHODS
We established and cultured K562 cell lines expressing both CD123 and CLL1 antigens. Single-target CAR-T cells specific to CD123 and CLL1 were engineered, alongside tandem CD123/CLL1 bispecific CAR-T cells. Flow cytometry was used to determine cell phenotypes, transfection efficiencies, cytokine release, and CAR-T-cell proliferation, and an lactate dehydrogenase assay was used to detect the cytotoxicity of CD123/CLL-1 bispecific tandem CAR-T cells in vitro.

RESULTS
Two types of tandem CAR-T cells exhibited significant killing effects on CLL-1 + CD123+ leukaemia cell lines and primary AML tumour cells. The killing efficiency of tandem CAR-T cells in the case of single antigen expression is comparable to that of single target CAR-T cells. When faced with dual target tumour cells, dual target CAR-T cells significantly surpass single target CAR-T cells. CD123/CLL-1 CAR-T cells in tandem targeted and killed CD123- and CLL-1-positive leukaemia cell lines and released a large number of cytokines.

CONCLUSIONS
CD123/CLL-1 CAR-T cells in tandem can simultaneously target CD123 and CLL-1 on AML cells, demonstrating a significant ability to kill single antigens and multi-target tumour cells. This suggests that CD123/CLL-1 CAR-T cells exhibit significant advantages in the expression of multiple antigens in a wide range of target cells, which may help overcome the challenges posed by tumour heterogeneity and evasion mechanisms.


infection, were found to have hypergammaglobulinmmia rather than the expected hypogammaglobulinimia. Other papers range widely over recent advances in inherited metabolic disorders and include descriptions of some previously undescribed conditions. The inclusion of the subsequent discussion at the end of each paper adds to the value of the book. This is a unique collection of papers, brought together in an attractive volume. Once again the Society's editors are to be congratulated on ensuring that a wide audience has the opportunity to share in what must have been an exciting yet homely conference.


We describe an approach to simultaneous localization and mapping, SLAM. This approach has the highly desirable property of robustness to data association errors. Another important advantage of our algorithm is that non-linearities are computed exactly, so that global constraints can be imposed even if they result in large shifts to the map. We represent the map as a graph and use the graph to find an efficient map update algorithm. We also show how topological consistency can be imposed on the map, such as, closing a loop. The algorithm has been implemented on an outdoor robot and we have experimental validation of our ideas. We also explain how the graph can be simplified leading to linear approximations of sections of the map. This reduction gives us a natural way to connect local map patches into a much larger global map.


A Dallas-based telephone manufacturer, that imports semi-finished products from a supplier in Malaysia, wants to develop a risk mitigation plan to minimise the operational risk it may face due to supply disruptions at a US port. Disruptions at the port can render the supply unavailable for a considerable period of time, resulting in a loss of business. We analyse two sourcing policies that evaluate the trade-off between risk-inventory cost and expected loss of business from disruptions. We examine the sensitivity of the policies to the cost parameters and demonstrate how a payment contract affects the selection of a sourcing policy.


BACKGROUND
Workers with disabilities have a higher risk of nonfatal occupational injuries than workers without disabilities. The characteristics of these injuries are not well described.

METHODS
Using 1997-2011 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data, we compared the nonfatal occupational injuries sustained by U.S. workers with and without disabilities.

RESULTS
Overexertion or strenuous movements and falls accounted for 56.7% of all occupational injuries in workers with disabilities, compared with 45.6% in workers without a disability. Workers with disabilities were more frequently injured in the lower extremity (32.3% vs. 26.6%) or torso (22.9% vs. 16.9%). Workers with disabilities sustained more unspecified injuries (13.5% vs. 7.9%) and fewer open wound injuries (15.7% vs. 24.2%) than their counterparts without a disability.

CONCLUSIONS
U.S. workers with disabilities had a higher rate of occupational injuries and these injuries tended to be more severe and were more likely to be caused by overexertion/ strenuous movement or falls.


Almost every household in Norway has a smart electricity meter installed. The advanced functionality of the meters and the large amounts of data transmitted from them have the potential to contribute to more than just a more accurate billing of customers. This report is a result from the ENERGYTICS project, which aims at exploring this potential. This state-of-the-art includes a description of experiences and technical advances regarding deployment of smart meters in the Scandinavian countries and Finland and possible benefits and advantages of deploying data science on data from the electricity grid. Different data sources in the distribution electricity grid and relevant data science techniques are presented. The focus of the state-of-the-art is on two applications of data science: clustering of customers and disaggregation of total electricity consumption into the consumption of individual loads.


Research and development in the field of automated vehicles has increased along with related works about its software. Software testing in automated vehicles is key to launching safe and reliable vehicles. Several issues in the software testing of automated vehicles have been raised including extremely large space of test input, the high cost of test executions in a physical environment, test oracles not being simple Boolean properties, and so on. Automated vehicle simulations are a solution of cost reduction in test execution. However, space of test input is extremely large. Extremely large space of test input comes from sensing data. In this paper, we discuss the software architecture of automated vehicle simulation as the target software. We raise issues on software testing in these simulations on the basis of the related works. We then discuss test design techniques used in automated vehicle simulations.


We present a detailed study of the localized coupled-cavity modes in a photonic molecule formed from two dielectric spherical microcavities with CdTe nanocrystals. A layer-by-layer deposition technique provides controllable coating of the microspheres with a shell of close-packed nanocrystals of approximately 4 nm in diameter. The observed spectral structures originate from the coupling of the electronic transitions in nanocrystals and the photon states of interacting microspheres and, in analogy to the formation of molecular electronic orbits, can be assigned to bonding and antibonding photon localized states.


This article develops a search and matching model of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and uses it to evaluate the implications of merger activity for aggregate economic outcomes. The theory is consistent with a rich set of facts on U.S. M&A, including sorting among merging firms, a substantial merger premium and serial acquisition. It provides a sharp link between these facts and the nature of merger gains. At the micro-level, both complementarities between merging firms and productivity improvements of target firms are important in generating gains. At the macro-level, the model suggests a significant beneficial impact of M&A on aggregate outcomes—the contribution to steady state output is 14$\%$ and 4$\%$ for consumption—which occurs through the reallocation of resources across firms and equilibrium effects on firm selection and new entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, the economy is not efficient, suggesting a scope for policy improvements—a simple flat tax on M&A can raise steady state consumption as much as 2$\%$ relative to the laissez-faire equilibrium. In short, the boundaries of the firm can matter for macroeconomic outcomes.


A single impinging jet (SIJ) produces a high heat transfer rate around an impinging position on an impinging wall, while the heat transfer performance (HTP) decays increasing the distance from the impinging position. Thus in order to overcome the shortcoming of SIJ: the occurrence of both inhomogeneous heat distribution on the wall and the narrow heating area, multiple impinging jets (MIJ) are generally introduced, however, nonuniformity of heat transfer still occurs. Therefore, the viewpoint of new jet control is required in order to further improvement of the uniformity of heat transfer. On the other hand, blooming jets occur with superimposition of axial and helical excitations on the inlet velocity profile. Blooming jets are characterized by vortex rings moving along branches of separate streams. In previous studies, it is observed that blooming jets change its flow pattern with different frequency ratio of axial to helical, and its mixing and diffusion characteristics. However, there are no studies that observe heat transfer performance of the blooming jet. In this study, we conduct a direct numerical simulation of blooming jet that impinges upon the wall, and investigate its flow characteristics and heat transfer performance. As a control parameter, the distance from the wall is varied. From the view of vortex structures and velocity magnitude, it reveals how the generation of flow phenomena are modulated through the blooming control. Further in order to quantify the heat transfer of the blooming, distributions of mean local Nusselt Number are examined. Compared to the uncontrolled jet, it is confirmed that the uniformity of heat transfer is improved, suggesting that the blooming jets can be expected to be useful for the improvement of uniform heat transfer performance of impinging jets.


Cancer stem cell (CSC) markers have been identified for CSC isolation and proposed as therapeutic targets in various types of cancers. CD90, one of the characterized markers in liver and gastric cancer, is shown to promote cancer formation. However, the underexpression level of CD90 in ovarian cancer cells and the evidence supporting the cellular mechanism have not been investigated. In the present study, we found that the DNA copy number of CD90 is correlated with mRNA expression in ovarian cancer tissue and the ovarian cancer patients with higher CD90 have good prognosis compared to the patients with lower CD90. Although the expression of CD90 in human ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells enhances the cell proliferation by MTT and anchorage-dependent growth assay, CD90 inhibits the anchorage-independent growth ability in vitro and tumor formation in vivo. CD90 overexpression suppresses the sphere-forming ability and ALDH activity and enhances the cell apoptosis, indicating that CD90 may reduce the cell growth by the properties of CSC and anoikis. Furthermore, CD90 reduces the expression of other CSC markers, including CD133 and CD24. The inhibition of CD133 is attenuated by the mutant CD90, which is replaced with RLE domain into RLD domain. Importantly, the CD90-regulated inhibition of CD133 expression, anchorage-independent growth and signal transduction of mTOR and AMPK are restored by the β3 integrin shRNA. Our results provide evidence that CD90 mediates the antitumor formation by interacting with β3 integrin, which provides new insight that can potentially be applied in the development of therapeutic strategies in ovarian cancer.


A total of 10 cases of non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis (NBTE) were found among 1640 adult patients, autopsied in a 24-year period. Eight out of 10 patients had an underlying malignant tumor, NBTE was more common in cancer patients than in patients without malignancy (1.25% vs 0.2%, P less than 0.05). Patients with adenocarcinoma were at higher risk than patients with other malignant processes (2.70% vs 0.47%, P less than 0.05); especially in cases of pancreatic cancer in comparison with other kinds of adenocarcinoma (10.34% vs 1.55%, P less than 0.05). Systemic embolization was the main cause of morbidity. Any thromboembolic event in cancer patients should prompt a search for NBTE. NBTE may be present in undisseminated cancers in otherwise curable patients.


Salmonella infection of chickens that leads to potential human foodborne salmonellosis continues to be a major concern. Chickens serve as carriers but, in contrast to humans, rarely show any clinical signs including diarrhea. The present investigations aimed to elucidate whether the absence of diarrhea during acute Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (Salmonella Enteritidis) infection may be linked to specific changes in the electrophysiological properties of the chicken gut. Immediately after slaughter, intestinal pieces of the mid-jejunum and cecum of either commercial broiler or specific pathogen-free (SPF) chickens were mounted in Ussing chambers in 2 separate experimental series. Living Salmonella Enteritidis (3 × 10(9)) or Salmonella Enteritidis endotoxin (20 mg/L), or both, were added to the mucosal side for 1 h. In both experimental series, the Salmonella infection decreased the trans-epithelial ion conductance G(t) (P < 0.05). In the jejunum of SPF chickens, there was also a marked decrease in net charge transfer across the epithelium, evidenced by decreased short-circuit current (I(sc), P < 0.05). Interestingly, the mucosal application of Salmonella endotoxin to the epithelial preparations from jejunum and cecum of SPF chicken had an effect similar to living bacteria. However, the endotoxin had no additional effect on the intestinal function in the presence of bacteria. The decreasing effect of Salmonella and or its endotoxin on G(t) could be partly reversed by serosal addition of histamine. To our knowledge, this is the first study to address the functional response of native intestinal epithelium of chicken to an in vitro Salmonella infection. For the first time, it can be reported that intestinal ion permeability of chicken decreases acutely by the presence of Salmonella. This type of response could counteract ion and fluid secretion and may thus, at least in part, explain why chickens do not develop overt diarrhea after Salmonella infection.


In this work, a method for the determination of benzoic acid (BA) and sorbic acid (SA) in soy sauce and vinegar was developed by field-amplified sample stacking open-tubular capillary electrochromatography (FASS-OT-CEC) with a new triethylamine aminated polychloromethyl styrene nanolatex coated capillary column (ccc-TEAPL). The ccc-TEAPL was characterized with steady electroosmotic flow (EOF) values of ca. −16.7–19.8 × 10−5 cm2 V−1 s−1. Under the optimized conditions, BA and SA were well separated within 5 min (Rs > 1.5), and the limits of detection were 30 ng mL−1 and 5 ng mL−1, respectively. The recoveries were between 98.0 and 101.0%. These results demonstrate that the developed FASS-OT-CEC method is simple, rapid, sensitive and practical for the determination of BA and SA in the soy sauce and vinegar samples.


Performance Analysis of Queuing and Computer Networks develops simple models and analytical methods from first principles to evaluate performance metrics of various configurations of computer systems and networks. It presents many concepts and results of probability theory and stochastic processes. After an introduction to queues in computer networks, this self-contained book covers important random variables, such as Pareto and Poisson, that constitute models for arrival and service disciplines. It then deals with the equilibrium M/M/1/queue, which is the simplest queue that is amenable for analysis. Subsequent chapters explore applications of continuous time, state-dependent single Markovian queues, the M/G/1 system, and discrete time queues in computer networks. The author then proceeds to study networks of queues with exponential servers and Poisson external arrivals as well as the G/M/1 queue and Pareto interarrival times in a G/M/1 queue. The last two chapters analyze bursty, self-similar traffic, and fluid flow models and their effects on queues.


This paper will describe how the poster-sized 'Eyewitness' photographs from The Guardian newspaper have been used weekly with trainee teachers undertaking a PGCE teaching qualification for the lifelong learning sector. The aim has been to raise awareness of current affairs through photography and open up discussion and critical reflection as educators with reference to equality and diversity, perception and perspective. The teaching strategy will be described and then demonstrated in the presentation with the audience themselves asked to 'view' a gallery of the previous week's 'Eyewitness' photographs. Evaluation has shown the effectiveness and impact of the approach, and this will be discussed with reference to transformative learning theory (Mezirow 2000).


Decorin-binding protein A (DBPA) is an important lipoprotein from the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease. The absence of DBPA drastically reduces the pathogenic potential of the bacterium, and biochemical evidence indicates DBPA's interactions with the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) portion of decorin are crucial to its function. We have determined the solution structure of DBPA and studied DBPA's interactions with various forms of GAGs. DBPA is determined to be a helical bundle protein consisting of five helices held together by a strong hydrophobic core. The structure also possesses a basic patch formed by portions of two helices and two flexible linkers. Low-molecular mass heparin-induced chemical shift perturbations for residues in the region as well as increases in signal intensities of select residues in their presence confirm residues in the pocket are perturbed by heparin binding. Dermatan sulfate fragments, the dominant GAG type found on decorin, were shown to have lower affinity than heparin but are still capable of binding DBPA.


Objective Alexithymia is considered to be a personality trait with a tendency to express psychological distress in somatic rather than emotional form and, therefore, may play a vital role in somatization. Although, such a propensity can be found in patients suffering from tinnitus, the relationship between alexithymic characteristics and the subjective experience of tinnitus severity remains yet unclear. Our aim was to evaluate which alexithymic characteristics are linked to the subjective experience of tinnitus symptomatology. Methods We evaluated tinnitus severity (Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, THI), alexithymia (20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, TAS-20), and depression (Beck Depression Inventory, BDI) in 207 outpatients with tinnitus. Correlation analyses and multiple regression analyses were calculated in order to investigate the relationship between alexithymic characteristics, tinnitus severity, and depression. Results Highly significant positive correlations were found between THI total score and TAS-20 total score as well as BDI score. Regarding the TAS-20 subscales, multiple regression analyses showed that only the TAS-20 subscale "difficulty in identifying feelings" (DIF) and the BDI significantly predicted the subjective experience of tinnitus severity. Regarding the THI subscales, only higher scores of the THI subscale "functional" demonstrated an independent moderate association with higher scores for DIF. Conclusion We found an independent association between the subjective experience of tinnitus severity and alexithymic characteristics, particularly with regard to limitations in the fields of mental, social, and physical functioning because of tinnitus and the difficulty of identifying feelings facet of alexithymia. These findings are conducive to a better understanding of affect regulation that may be important for the psychological adaptation of patients suffering from tinnitus.


Education is considered a prerequisite for all individuals to make meaningful impact in their society. It enlightens the individuals and engrains in them the capacity to develop critical ability that would enable them transform their society in the best way they can. However, the actual teaching method and the structure of the curricula across the tiers of learning seem to have defeated this basic purpose of education. In most cases, education has been designed as an instrument of conservatism, where the learner becomes a passive receptor of certain knowledge. This makes the learner unproductive and sterile so much so that rather than the learner utilizing the knowledge acquired, the learner gives value to the certificate awarded. Paulo Freire considers this method of education as a banking system of education, which for him is a dangerous approach to impacting knowledge. He suggests problem-posing as the alternative model to the banking system of education. This alternative model engrains in the learner the liberty to develop thinking abilities, which aid such person to contribute in the learning process. This model conceives education as a kind of symbiotic method of learning. While we appreciate Freire's alternative model, our work assesses it as inadequate. This paper therefore aims at exposing the limitations and pragmatic bankruptcy of a problem-posing pedagogy as espoused by Freire in contradistinction to a problemsolving type of education, which our paper strongly advocates. Our study also underscores the fact that it is not enough for a learner to participate in the learning process, which only results in posing problem. Adopting the constructivist approach, this paper strongly argues that the most appropriate model that gives the learner that huge independent capacity to transform the society is the problem-solving type. Through this model, the learner develops critical abilities to address societal and contextual problems.


This paper reports on the work of Berkeley group at the second NTCIR workshop on Japanese & English IR and Chinese IR. A number of runs were submitted on all subtasks in the two main tasks. Our main focus on the Japanese monolingual subtask was on comparing the retrieval effectiveness of different segmentation methods. The experimental results show the bigram indexing outperformed the word-based indexing in Japanese monolingual retrieval. The bigram indexing was also highly effective in Chinese monolingual retrieval. This paper presents an alternative segmentation method that breaks text into onecharacter terms and two-character terms that do not overlap with each other, which overcomes the disadvantage of producing large index files by bigram indexing. This paper describes a technique for building bilingual word lexicons from parallel text by sentence alignment and word association. A purely rank-based document polling strategy is presented for combining monolingual retrieval results in multilingual retrieval.


Climate change is a major global challenge and governments around the world are now promoting environmental technologies to address both climate change and realize new employment and growth opportunities in this rapidly expanding area. Investments have reached unprecedented levels and stimulus packages to tackle the recent economic crisis also contain noticeable commitments to green technologies. Innovation policies are now under pressure to capitalize these investments and define priorities in the application of environmental technologies to both boost competitiveness and eco-innovation. The aim of this paper is to clarify foreseen impacts of growing environmental technology investments, green components of economic stimulus packages and the ideas of a Global Green New Deal and Green Growth and to assess how Finland is positioned in environmental technologies. The paper reviews existing studies, analyzes global and Finnish patenting and considers the role of environmental technologies in its industrial context in Finland. The findings suggest that renewable energy is the most rapidly expanding environmental technology area, while the economic stimulus packages will play a lesser role than originally anticipated in transitions to low-carbon economies. Finland is comparatively well positioned in environmental technologies by overall levels of patenting activity. Nonetheless, Finland does not have a specific specialization profile in the area, neither a comparative advantage in renewable energy technologies as the most rapidly expanding fields globally. Environmental technologies are developed in the context of a broad range of Finnish industries whereby the application potentials of these technologies are manifold


OBJECTIVES
In the United States, more than 75,000 autistic adolescents graduate from high school each year, and many lack the skills to successfully transition to college, work, and independent living. Daily living skills (DLS) in autistic adolescents without an intellectual disability (ID) fall 6 to 8 years behind peers. Better DLS are linked to more positive adult outcomes for autistic individuals. Surviving and Thriving in the Real World (STRW) is the only known evidence-based intervention that targets age-appropriate DLS in autistic adolescents without ID. The study objective was to evaluate STRW's efficacy compared with an active comparator (Program for the Evaluation and Enrichment of Relational Skills [PEERS]).

METHOD
Autistic adolescents in their last 2 years of high school were randomized to STRW or PEERS. Outcome measures were the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Third Edition (VABS-3), DLS domain and subdomains (Personal, Domestic, Community), and DLS Goal Attainment Scaling (DLS-GAS) areas (Morning Routine, Cooking, Laundry, Money).

RESULTS
Adolescents were randomly assigned to STRW (n = 34) or PEERS (n = 30). Owing to COVID-19, 28.1% received in-person intervention and 71.9% received telehealth intervention. STRW youth made significant gains on the VABS-3 DLS domain (p = 0.01) and Domestic subdomain (p = 0.005) and DLS-GAS Total, Laundry, and Money areas (all p's < 0.05) compared with PEERS.

CONCLUSION
STRW shows promise for acquiring age-appropriate DLS compared with PEERS. Adolescents in STRW progressed toward achieving DLS in the average range and closing the gap between chronological age and DLS. By improving DLS, STRW may facilitate more successful adult outcomes.


In this work, we investigated a scalability of spin accumulation signal for various device sizes. We found that the spin accumulation signal is enhanced by shrinking Cu wire width and thickness. Moreover we estimate the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of a spin accumulation head structure by using the size dependence of spin accumulation signal. The SNR increases with reducing nonmagnetic wire width and thickness, which are corresponding to a track width and a gap width, respectively. And it has the maximum value around 2 ~ 3 Tbit/inch2 resolution. From these results, it has a possibility that spin accumulation effect is applicable to a new read head for high density hard disk drive.


OBJECT
The sella turcica usually appears partially empty in MR images obtained from patients with chronic elevation of intracranial pressure. The authors measured the size of the sella turcica to determine if enlargement of the pituitary fossa explains the partially empty sella associated with pseudotumor cerebri.

METHODS
The medical records from 2005 to 2011 of a single neuro-ophthalmologist were searched to identify consecutive patients with pseudotumor cerebri. Age-matched control patients were selected from the same practice. The sella turcica and pituitary gland were measured on sagittal T1-weighted MR images.

RESULTS
Measurements were obtained for 48 patients with pseudotumor cerebri and 48 controls. The cross-sectional area of the sella was 38% greater in the patients with pseudotumor cerebri, with only a slight reduction in mean pituitary gland size.

CONCLUSIONS
Chronic elevation of intracranial pressure is associated with bony enlargement of the sella turcica. Enlargement of the sella turcica contributes to its partially empty appearance.


Administration of 4 mg of the antisteroid RU486 over 8 consecutive days to adult male rats dissociated in vivo and in vitro gonadotrophin secretion, increasing FSH and decreasing LH secretion. In subsequent experiments we evaluated the involvement of testicular or adrenal secretory products, as well as hypothalamic LHRH, in the effects of 4 consecutive days of RU486 treatment on the secretion of gonadotrophins. The first day of RU486 injection was designated day 1, subsequent days being numbered consecutively. Groups of rats injected with oil (0.2 ml) or RU486 (4 mg) were: (i) injected s.c. from day 1 to day 4 with the antiandrogen flutamide (10 mg/kg); (ii) bilateral orchidectomized (ORCH) on day 1; and (iii) bilateral adrenalectomized (ADX) on day 1. Controls were given flutamide vehicle or were sham operated. To ascertain whether the secretion of LHRH is involved in the effects of RU486 on gonadotrophin secretion, we measured the LHRH secretion into the pituitary stalk blood vessels at 1100 h on day 5 in oil- or RU486-treated rats. Additional oil- and RU486-treated rats were injected i.p. with 100 ng LHRH at 1000 h on day 5, or s.c. with 1 mg LHRH antagonist (LHRH-ANT) at 1000 h on days 2 and 4. Controls were given saline. All animals were decapitated at 1100 h on day 5, trunk blood collected and serum stored frozen until FSH, LH and testosterone assays.%While ADX had no effect on FSH and LH secretion in either oil- or RU486-treated rats, the removal of androgen negative feedback with flutamide treatment or by ORCH substantially increased serum levels of FSH and LH in both oil- and RU486-treated rats, and thus annulled the effects of RU486. No differences in pituitary stalk plasma LHRH concentrations were found between oil- and RU486-treated rats. Injection of LHRH increased serum FSH and LH concentrations in oil-treated rats but only, and to a lesser extent, LH concentrations in RU486-treated rats. Treatment with LHRH-ANT decreased serum concentrations of FSH and LH in both oil- and RU486-treated rats. These results suggest that RU486 inhibited LHRH-stimulated LH secretion at the pituitary level, and that FSH secretion increased in response to a reduction in the negative feedback of androgen.


Many flaviviruses are human pathogens of global importance, but no antiviral medicines are currently available to manage these diseases. Over the past decade, significant progress has been made towards the understanding of flavivirus biology. Structural information is available for all of the important proteins of the dengue virus, which has provided important insight into the mechanistic aspects of replication. Mechanistic and structural studies on the envelope protein have provided information on the cell entry mechanism of the flavivirus genus. All of these advances have established the foundation for the development of pharmacological treatments of flavivirus infections using modern drug discovery. While both industry and academia have invested considerable effort on the development of flavivirus antivirals and a number of compounds with efficacies in cell culture and animal models have been obtained, very few drug candidates have reached the stage of clinical development. In this review we summarize the current status of flavivirus drug discovery, focusing on the challenges and discussing potential paths forward.


The emergence of interdisciplinary animal studies during recent decades challenges sociologists to critically reflect upon anthropocentric ontology and to paint a more comprehensive picture of the social. This article focuses on the recent emergence of the sociology of climate change during the last twenty years, with a warning that it may have proceeded without critical interrogation of residual humanism evidenced by the exclusion of nonhuman animals. The inclusion of these nonhuman animals in the discussion of human/animal relations is vital in the societal discourse of climate change. After surveying key texts and leading journal literature, it is clear that this discussion of human/animal relations is lacking or altogether omitted. It is then worth considering how animalized environmental sociology could contribute to redefining the discipline of sociology as a whole.


Abstract The magnetohydrodynamic model for fusion plasma dynamics governs the large-scale equilibrium properties, and sets the most stringent constraints on the parameter space accessible without violent disruptions. In conjunction with linear stability analysis in the complex tokamak geometry, the MHD paradigm is also routinely being used to diagnose recurring wave modes and identify potential MHD mode triggers of consequent non-MHD phenomena. On the other hand, it is currently computationally feasible to perform fully nonlinear simulations in tokamak geometry, and determine nonlinear, long-term (i.e. on resistive time scales) evolutions for individual MHD dominated plasma scenarios. It can be expected that this success continues its evolution towards a fully integrated computational analysis of the experimental campaigns, certainly in view of the desired steady-state self-burning plasmas.


Medicinal plants are used in herbalism and thought to have some medicinal properties. They form the easily available source for healthcare purposes in rural and tribal areas. Ethanobotany is a distinct branch of natural science dealing with various aspects such as anthropology, archaeology, botany, ecology, economics and medicine, religious, cultural and several other disciplines. Recently, great interest in the above given studies of herbal drugs and traditional remedies is indicated worldwide and there has been an upsurge in the scientific investigations in this area. The Murraya koenigii plant is widely used as herb, spice, condiments and also used to treat various types of ailments in Indian traditional system. World's about 80% population relies upon herbal products, because they have been considered as safe, effective and economical. The present study was aimed to review the ethanobotanical properties, pharmacognostic, phytochemical and pharmacological properties of Murraya koenigii plant. The various parts of this plant are widely used by different tribal communities. The leaves of plant are use as tonic, stomachic, carminative, internally in dysentery, vomiting. Used as antihelminthic, analgesic, cures piles, allays heat of the body, thirst, inflammation and itching. Following various claims for cure of numerous diseases, efforts have been made by researchers to verify the efficacy of the plant through scientific biological screening. A scrutiny of literature reveals some notable pharmacological activities of the plant such as activity on heart, anti diabetic and cholesterol reducing property, antimicrobial activity, antiulcer activity, antioxidative property, cytotoxic activity, anti diarrhea activity, phagocytic activity and many more medicinal values.


Practice-led research develops tacit knowledge through practice. This personal knowledge needs to be shared, to be accepted in academia. Autoethnography, which is an ethnographic method relating subjectivity to social science, is sometimes used to connect tacit knowledge with academic one in practice-led research. Through fashion and textile practice-led PhD case studies from renowned UK institutions such as the Royal College of Art and University of the Arts London, the characteristics of autoethnography in fashion and textile practice-led research are identified. Firstly, autoethnography in practice-led research adopts various areas of the social sciences as practice-led research does. Secondly, autoethnography makes readers feel intimate with the author and helps readers to understand practice-led research and tacit knowledge. Thirdly, it is used as a way of knowing, and sometimes leading research. Fourthly, it sometimes leads to unexpected results. Fifthly, a researcher can review the process to find something wrong, missing or unnecessary. Thus, autoethnography is an effective and reliable method not only to make a subjective practice objective but also to develop practice and fashion and textile practice-led research through investigating its process. This study contributes to producing tacit knowledge by using autoethnography in practice-led research and helps understand the nature of practice-led research in order for it to be expanded into art and design area.


Bacterial biofilms are cellular communities that produce an adherent matrix. Exopolysaccharides are key structural components of this matrix and are required for the assembly and architecture of biofilms produced by a wide variety of microorganisms. The human bacterial pathogens Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica produce a biofilm matrix composed primarily of the exopolysaccharide phosphoethanolamine (pEtN) cellulose. Once thought to be composed of only underivatized cellulose, the pEtN modification present in these matrices has been implicated in the overall architecture and integrity of the biofilm. However, an understanding of the mechanism underlying pEtN derivatization of the cellulose exopolysaccharide remains elusive. The bacterial cellulose synthase subunit G (BcsG) is a predicted inner membrane–localized metalloenzyme that has been proposed to catalyze the transfer of the pEtN group from membrane phospholipids to cellulose. Here we present evidence that the C-terminal domain of BcsG from E. coli (EcBcsGΔN) functions as a phosphoethanolamine transferase in vitro with substrate preference for cellulosic materials. Structural characterization of EcBcsGΔN revealed that it belongs to the alkaline phosphatase superfamily, contains a Zn2+ ion at its active center, and is structurally similar to characterized enzymes that confer colistin resistance in Gram-negative bacteria. Informed by our structural studies, we present a functional complementation experiment in E. coli AR3110, indicating that the activity of the BcsG C-terminal domain is essential for integrity of the pellicular biofilm. Furthermore, our results established a similar but distinct active-site architecture and catalytic mechanism shared between BcsG and the colistin resistance enzymes.


Readiness for change is one of the constructs that fosters positive behaviours, attitudes and thinking towards new adjustments on the part of employees. As one of the internal context variables, trust acts as a catalyst for supportive behaviours in times of change and uncertainty by reducing change related resistance and stress. Based on this understanding, this study explores the predictive value of organizational trust for cognitive, emotional and intentional readiness for change among a group of primary and secondary school teachers in Turkey. The data from 603 public school teachers were collected using the Omnibus T-Scale and Readiness for Change-Cognitive Emotional Intentional Scale. Taking each dimension of readiness for change as a criterion variable, three sets of predictors were defined for three separate hierarchical regression analyses. The results provided empirical evidence concerning the relationship between intentional, emotional and cognitive readiness for change and perceived faculty trust in colleagues and in the principal after statistically controlling for the school level and teacher demographics at primary and secondary level public schools. The results were interpreted within the scope of the current literature as well as structural and functional characteristics of Turkish education system.


National Ports Authority of South Africa (NPASA) adopted and declared its commitment to a set of eleven corporate values, included them in their performance management toolkit and regarded them as the organizational driving force. It was therefore important that a study to determine how these values have been embraced is conducted. This is critical since the organization might think that having corporate values equates to being a value based organization. In most cases, senior leadership has an impression that all is well in the organization and most if not all employees are indeed committed to these corporate values. The study was therefore aimed at critically reviewing the corporate values with the focus being on the perception of employees. The perception of employees is an ideal measure on determining whether NPASA is gaining ground on its strategic drive of being a value based organization. The perception held by employees has a bearing on the organizational performance. It is indeed critical that organizations communicate and listen honestly to the opinion of staff as they are integral in driving business. A questionnaire on the set corporate values of NPASA was developed to allow the employees to choose whether they agree or disagree with the given statements. The statements in the questionnaire were linked to the research objectives. The study has found that the employees do perceive NPASA as a value driven organization and are of the opinion that their experiences as staff members are in keeping with the professed corporate values. The employees have shown an understanding of the values and saw the enactment of corporate values as bringing positive developments to the organization. The employees have also indicated to NPASA what needs to be done so as to facilitate and encourage commitment to corporate values. The study concludes that the majority of employees are generally identifying with the set corporate values. Although the employees are embracing and showing commitment to the current corporate values, it is still critical that NPASA continue to review, facilitate and encourage commitment from all its employees. The employees of NPASA are of diverse background and the perception that their, organization is driven by corporate values is a positive achievement for the organization. Corporate values bring these, employees together and the belief that NPASA is value driven assist in building commitment to the organization which ultimately translates to better performance.


We investigated the in vitro regulation of leptin expression in adipose tissue from severely obese women and men before and after culture with insulin (7 nM) and/or dexamethasone (25 nM). Leptin mRNA and leptin secretion were two- to threefold higher in subcutaneous vs. omental adipose tissue before culture. Dexamethasone transiently increased leptin mRNA approximately twofold in both depots after 1 day of culture [ P < 0.01 vs. basal (no hormone control)], but leptin secretion was only increased in omental adipose tissue ( P < 0.005 vs. basal). Insulin did not increase leptin mRNA in either depot but increased leptin secretion ∼1.5- to 3-fold in subcutaneous tissue throughout 7 days of culture ( P < 0.05 vs. basal). The combination of insulin and dexamethasone increased leptin mRNA and leptin secretion approximately two- to threefold in both depots at day 1( P < 0.005 vs. basal or insulin) and maintained leptin expression throughout 7 days of culture. We conclude that insulin and glucocorticoid have depot-specific effects and function synergistically as long-term regulators of leptin expression in omental and subcutaneous adipose tissue from obese subjects.


Background: This study has been undertaken to assess treatment response of interproximal vertical defects using an alloplast (Periobone-G) and calcium sulfate (Capset) as a barrier both clinically and radiographically. Materials and Methods: Eight patients were selected with 16 sites that were divided into control and experimental sites based on split mouth study design. Plaque index, gingival index, probing depth, clinical attachment level, gingival margin position were recorded at baseline and 9 months and radiographic assessment was done at baseline and 9 months after recording clinical parameters, the sites were randomly treated either with hydroxyapatite granules Periobone-G or hydroxyapatite granules (control group) was used to fill the osseous defect and calcium sulfate (Capset) (experiment group) barrier was placed. Result: The plaque score reduction was statistically highly significant within control and experimental groups. The gingival score reduction was significant within control and experimental groups, although there were no significant difference between the 2 groups. The pocket depth reduction was significant within control and experimental group, however, the hydroxyapatite + capset group showed significant reduction as compared with hydroxyapatite alone group. The clinical attachment gain and gingival margin position was significant within control and experimental groups, although there was no significant difference between the 2 groups. The amount of defect fill was significant in both control and experimental groups but the difference between the 2 groups was not significant. The mean change in alveolar crest level between control and experimental groups was significant (P=0.02). The percentage of original defect resolved was not significant. Conclusion: The use of calcium sulfate as a barrier proved its role in the treatment of interproximal defects. The application of calcium sulfate (Capset) barrier is easy and simple. The multifaceted properties of calcium sulfate demonstrate its usefulness in periodontal practice.


OBJECTIVE The authors present long-term follow-up data on patients treated with Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) for acoustic neuroma. METHODS Six hundred eighteen patients were radiosurgically treated for acoustic neuroma between 1992 and 2016 at the Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University Vienna. Patients with neurofibromatosis and patients treated too recently to attain 1 year of follow-up were excluded from this retrospective study. Thus, data on 557 patients with spontaneous acoustic neuroma of any Koos grade are presented, as are long-term follow-up data on 426 patients with a minimum follow-up of 2 years. Patients were assessed according to the Gardner-Robertson (GR) hearing scale and the House-Brackmann facial nerve function scale, both prior to GKRS and at the times of follow-up. RESULTS Four hundred fifty-two patients (81%) were treated with radiosurgery alone and 105 patients (19%) with combined microsurgery-radiosurgery. While the combined treatment was especially favored before 2002, the percentage of cases treated with radiosurgery alone has significantly increased since then. The overall complication rate after GKRS was low and has declined significantly in the last decade. The risk of developing hydrocephalus after GKRS increased with tumor size. One case (0.2%) of malignant transformation after GKRS was diagnosed. Radiological tumor control rates of 92%, 91%, and 91% at 5, 10, and 15 years after GKRS, regardless of the Koos grade or pretreatment, were observed. The overall tumor control rate without the need for additional treatment was even higher at 98%. At the last follow-up, functional hearing was preserved in 55% of patients who had been classified with GR hearing class I or II prior to GKRS. Hearing preservation rates of 53%, 34%, and 34% at 5, 10, and 15 years after GKRS were observed. The multivariate regression model revealed that the GR hearing class prior to GKRS and the median dose to the cochlea were independent predictors of the GR class at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS In small to medium-sized spontaneous acoustic neuromas, radiosurgery should be recognized as the primary treatment at an early stage. Although minimizing the cochlear dose seems beneficial for hearing preservation, the authors, like others before, do not recommend undertreating intracanalicular tumors in favor of low cochlear doses. For larger acoustic neuromas, radiosurgery remains a reliable management option with tumor control rates similar to those for smaller acoustic neuromas; however, careful patient selection and counseling are recommended given the higher risk of side effects. Microsurgery must be considered in acoustic neuromas with significant brainstem compression or hydrocephalus.


We developed a modification of the posterior mini-incision for total hip arthroplasty, which was initially used by Sculco at The Hospital for Special Surgery, in response to the movement in the orthopaedic community to perform total hip arthroplasty with smaller incisions. Our approach preserves the piriformis and quadratus femoris muscles of the external rotators, uses three incisions into the capsule but does not excise the capsule, does not incise the tensor fascia/iliotibial band, and leaves intact the insertion of the gluteus maximus onto the femur. We have used this incision since 2004, and our published results and those of others show that the greatest advantage is cosmetic and patients' perception of less violation of their body. It is a contributor to the same-day surgery program and rapid recovery protocol on which we have reported. The steps of the procedure include (1) an incision made along the posterior edge of the greater trochanter from the level of the vastus tubercle to one fingerbreadth from the tip of the greater trochanter; (2) a deep L-shaped incision parallel to the piriformis tendon, and along the posterior edge of the greater trochanter through the small external rotator muscles and hip capsule to the proximal edge of the quadratus to expose the femoral head and neck; (3) measurement of the neck cut from the distal edge of the femoral head and amputation of the femoral head; (4) exposure of the cut neck of the femur with retractors and broaching of the femur; (5) exposure of the acetabulum with retractors and acetabular reaming to prepare it for the cup; (6) implantation of the cup and stem and a femoral head of the correct length to restore lower-limb length and offset; and (7) closure of the wound in layers with the skin with subcutaneous sutures and sealing of the wound with a DERMABOND dressing (Ethicon). The expected outcome is that the patient will walk with full weight-bearing on the day of the operation and be discharged home that day or the next. Patients with occupations that do not require physical labor can return to work in one week, and according to our data 98% of patients under sixty-five can walk one mile (1.6 km) by three weeks. Recovery is in three phases: for the first month, the patient has soreness and swelling from the surgical trauma to the tissues; at three months, the muscles are well healed; and at six months, bone healing is mature. The hip is "forgotten" (the patient goes days without thinking about it) after six months.


Smart community provides opportunities to develop the elder care system with information technologies for elderly people. Most existing studies on elder care system are from the macro level and there lacks practical development in this area, especially has ignored diversified elderly people's health needs. This study tried to investigate the elderly people's health needs by conducting interviews in two smart communities (Sanli community and Tieli community in Hefei city, Anhui province). We have interviewed 16 older adults and 16 of their grown-up children in the communities. With the help of Nvivo12, health needs about elderly people are coded into 57 free nodes and 8 tree nodes elderly people, which are further divided into four aspects based on the social support angle, information needs, instrument needs, substance needs, and emotion needs. Finally, we developed the health service system of smart communities from the subjects and functions of social support perspective. Through this study, we can better understand health needs of older adults and provide references for the development of health services in smart communities.


Alcohol and drug-related problems are common in clinical populations but are often stigmatized by the public and the professions. These attitudes may interfere with patients obtaining effective help. The reasons for these barriers are explored, including the views that these problems are self-inflicted--and therefore less worthy of help--and the stereotypes and resistances that abound in working with those who have become addicted. Training and public education may go some way to improve this situation.


Learning is a lifelong, continual process. The increasing capabilities of technology have changed how and when learning can happen (Yumurtaci, 2017). With the immense volume of information available on the Internet, adult learners are increasingly taking advantage of informal learning opportunities, but these can prove to be shallow, and one-sided. Both the professional world and higher education entities have struggled to identify and implement instructional design standards and processes to meet new demands for short segment, high quality, flexible, and nimble learning opportunities that are rigorous and relevant within constantly changing cultural, contextual, and technological environments (Friedman, 2016; Siemens, 2005). This is especially true for smaller, faith-based institutions (Prescott, 2010). There is a need for a re-envisioning of instructional design to support the ability to rapidly develop online professional learning opportunities; especially from a faith-based perspective with firm grounding in biblical truth. This paper proposes an instructional design model for building professional development courses on a biblical foundation. Systems theory is used as a framework to understand the key elements needed for continual professional learning. What members of a profession know, do, and create form the subgroups from which learning outcomes can be derived. Understanding by Design (Wiggins and McTighe, 2008) is the curriculum development framework used. Approaches Jesus demonstrated in the Sermon on the Mount, specifically the thoughtful, practical, and relational aspects modeled, provide the NOW framework for connecting design stages, biblical truth factors, and learning outcome


A global ocean general circulation model with idealized geometry and coupled to a simple representation of atmospheric energy fluxes is used to investigate which physical factors determine meridional heat transport. A particular focus is on causes for the common underestimation of heat transport in ocean general circulation models. The model is also forced by an idealized wind stress and moisture flux profiles. The zonal average of surface heat flux is obtained from a simple radiation parameterization and the divergence of observed atmospheric heat transport. In addition, zonal mixing in the atmosphere is implied by the relaxation of the sea surface temperature (SST) to its zonal average. A finite relaxation timescale results in a substantial increase in the meridional mass overturning in the ''Atlantic'' basin compared to the case with ''infinitely efficient'' zonal atmospheric mixing, owing to the admittance of zonal SST gradients. However, heat transport changes only by a small amount. When atmospheric zonal mixing is changed to interbasin mixing, meridional heat transport increases significantly. Doubling the width of the Pacific basin leads to a large increase in the Pacific heat transport, induced by both the meridional overturning and the horizontal gyre circulations. If the horizontal viscosity is decreased and the zonal resolution is increased near the boundaries, the resulting larger speed of the western boundary currents causes a noticable increase in the Atlantic basin's heat transport. The introduction of the Gent‐McWilliams eddy parameterization leads to a substantial decrease in the strength of the overturning circulation in the Atlantic basin, presumably because the overall amount of diapycnal mixing is reduced. However, the decrease in the heat transport is much smaller because the thermocline is sharper and the deep ocean colder, resulting in enhanced vertical temperature contrast. Apparent disagreements with and among previous results are explained through the different effects of diapycnal mixing in the North Atlantic and elsewhere in the model.


The principal design objective of this paper is to facilitate extremely secure digital communication using chaotic shift keying in existing frequency-hop spread spectrum systems. Generally in chaotic shift keying, the incoming digital bit stream is mapped onto one of the available chaotic signals. Our scheme proposes the use of antipodal chaotic signals, which means they are signals which are out of phase with each other by 180°. Data bits 0 and 1 can be mapped onto either of the antipodal signals using required convention. Also, in FH-spread spectrum (FH-SS) techniques, there exists a p-n code generator based on the output of which the frequency synthesizer selects a particular carrier frequency. Usual FH-SS systems use MFSK modulation in the stage following the frequency hopper. As our case involves the use of chaotic reference signals and their basic shapes need to be preserved throughout, we propose the use of binary frequency shift keying. The digital data, which is now in the form of chaotic signals, is turned into a BFSK signal. This resultant signal is mixed with a carrier frequency at the frequency synthesizer. This carrier is chosen by the frequency hopper, whose output, in turn depends on the output of a p-n sequence. We assume the transmission channel to contribute additive white noise. At the receiver, we propose to perform FSK demodulation as a first stage recovery to get back the chaotic signal. Now this recovered signal is either an exact copy of the chaotic reference signal or its inverse. To decide which of the two was sent by the transmitter, we can use a correlator receiver, which uses a locally generated chaotic reference signal. Keywords: Chaotic shift keying, orthogonal chaotic


Development of the anti-CD20 antibody, rituximab, heralded the start of monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapy as an effective means of treating cancer. Despite its undoubted impact, clinical responses remain variable and cures are rarely achieved. Evidence from pre-clinical models and human trials indicates that mAbs primarily act through engaging low-affinity Fc gamma receptor (FcγR)-expressing effector immune cells. The low-affinity FcγR genes, FCGR2A, FCGR2B, FCGR2C, FCGR3A and FCGR3B, are located within a highly homologous 200 kb region at 1q23, which is the result of an ancestral segmental duplication event (Figure 1). The locus also contains numerous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), many of which can affect receptor affinity and/or function and are associated with differential responses following mAb immunotherapy. Moreover, the region contains extensive copy number variation (CNV) that also can affect the expression and function of these receptors, but its impact on mAb immunotherapy remains unknown.

To investigate the full impact of SNPs and CNV in the FcγR locus, we have optimised a number of sensitive and specific assays which are amenable to formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) material in order to apply them to clinical trial samples in a high-throughput manner. Initially we assessed the accuracy of established TaqMan and novel allele-specific (KASP) genotyping assays for FCGR2A-131H/R (rs1801274), FCGR3A-158F/V (rs396991) and FCGR2B-232I/T (rs1050501) SNPs by analysing 2085 DNA samples derived from peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from a large, multi-centre cohort. Our data showed that although clear discrimination was possible at the FCGR2A-131H/R SNP, we needed additional selective Sanger sequencing to discriminate the FF/FV and IT/TT genotypes for the FCGR3A-158F/V and FCGR2B-232I/T SNPs, respectively. This difficulty in genotype discrimination in the cases of FCGR3A and FCGR2B is likely due to sequence homology with other genes and CNV in the gene regions which complicate assay design and interpretation of certain genotypes. Secondly, we applied a combined KASP genotyping and Sanger sequencing approach to matched PBL DNA and FFPE-extracted DNA from follicular lymphoma (FL) patients [n=14] and showed that while FFPE material was more likely to fail genotyping, successfully genotyped cases were concordant with the matched genomic DNA samples. FFPE samples which failed to amplify PCR products of at least 100 bp using the BIOMED-2 multiplex PCR protocol were more likely to fail genotyping assays.

Finally, we assessed the ability of a multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) assay to concurrently determine SNP genotype and CNV in the low-affinity FCGR locus in a cohort of 155 normal donors and DNA from seven matched PBL-/FFPE-derived FL cases. We employed a paralog ratio test (PRT) assay for FCGR3A and FCGR3B CNV confirmation. In our normal donors, MLPA and PRT results were concordant. 16% of normal donors harboured a deletion [n=15] or duplication [n=10] affecting the FCGR2C locus (A summary of regions of CNV is shown in Figure 1). CNV of FCGR3B was associated with variation at FCGR2C and no CNV was observed in FCGR2A and FCGR2B. CNV affecting FCGR3A was observed in 5% of donors with deletions and duplications in 4 and 5 donors, respectively. In the FFPE-derived DNA samples, we observed elevated variability in data quality that was most noticeable in probes targeting HSPA6, FCGR2C exon 4 and HSPA7. Poor quality data correlated with samples that failed to amplify at least the 100 bp PCR product using the BIOMED-2 multiplex PCR protocol. As such, the preclusion of HSPA6, FCGR2C exon 4 and HSPA7 probes and FFPE samples that failed to amplify any BIOMED-2 PCR product from the analysis permitted the production of high-quality MLPA data. Finally, we designed, and are currently optimising, a targeted re-sequencing platform (Haloplex, Agilent) to interrogate informative regions of the FcγR region, which includes those with unique sequence identify for CNV analysis, and those that include known SNPs.

In conclusion, we have evaluated a suite of assays for the genomic analysis of the FcγR locus that are scalable for application in large clinical trials of antibody therapy. This work will ultimately provide a detailed architecture of the region and establish the importance of FcγR genetics in predicting response to antibody therapeutics.


Little controversy exists regarding the costs to society, both financial and in terms of human pain and suffering, associated with slip and fall injuries. Yet, for all the very valuable research published to date in the United States and abroad, controversy still exists regarding the biomechanics of initial foot-to-ground contact (that is, footstrike). Studies of foot kinetics have been limited by the use of force plate sensitivities chosen to capture the entire stance phase, rather than footstrike alone, necessitating the use of calculation thresholds. The present study of young adults (2 male, 2 female; 8 foot contacts each) was conducted to address these limitations. Two strain gage force plates, with sensitivities set to optimize amplitude resolution at footstrike (+100 ms), were sampled at 1000 Hz. A net shear force Fs was calculated as the vector sum of medio-lateral Fy and anteroposterior Fx shear forces. Since Fx predominantly affected the direction of impending slip, a novel shear force Fs' was given the amplitude of Fs and the sign of Fx. In this way, impending slips could be identified as predominantly forward or backward. Utilized slip resistance μ sr was calculated for each sampled instant as the ratio of Fs' to the normal force Fz. For comparison purposes, a geometric approximation of μ sr was calculated using leg length and half step length (from force plate center-of-pressure data) to derive the tangent of an apex angle. Results showed two distinct patterns for μ sr over the first 100 ms of foot contact. Pattem 1 began with an initial backward slip tendency, with peak μ sr values near -0.4 occurring at approximately 10 ms. This was followed by a forward slip tendency peaking between 0.2 and 0.3, at approximately 45 ms. Pattern 1 did not seem to put the subjects at risk for slipping. Pattern 2 began with a profound forward slip tendency, with μ sr values above 1.0 occurring during the first 20 ms. This was followed by a brief period of backward slip tendency (|μ sr | < 0.3), and a second forward slip tendency (0.2 < μ sr < 0.3) for the remainder of the 100 ms sampling interval. Pattern 2 did seem to put the subjects at risk for an initial forward slip, though none were reported. The geometric approximations for μ sr typically had magnitudes near 0.4 and always predicted forward slips. We concluded that variations can be expected in foot contact patterns among normal adults. Although Patterns 1 and 2 were divided according to sex here, this may have been a coincidental finding confounded by small sample sizes, more related to shoe construction or preferred gait kinematics than to sex. Finally, geometric approximations for μ sr grossly oversimplified initial foot contact, and should be discontinued in favor of more accurate methodology.


We present further development and application examples of a thermometry approach capable of producing real-space temperature maps of operating nanoscale devices with sub-10nm resolution. The technique relies on scanning thermal microscopy with a resistive element coupled to a cantilevered tip. The resistive element acts both as integrated heater and as sensing element. A modulated temperature field is generated in the sample by exciting the device under investigation with an electrical AC bias. A map of the sample's temperature response due to different physical effects, such as Joule heating and thermoelectric effects, can be inferred from the demodulated sensor signal. As application examples, we demonstrate the investigation of thermoelectric heating/cooling at crystal phase heterostructures in InAs nanowires and Joule self-heating of individual multi-walled carbon nanotubes.


The Tm-2a gene of tomato confers resistance to the viral pathogen, tobacco mosaic virus. Like many economically important plant genes, Tm-2a has been characterized phenotypically and by classical linkage analysis, yet nothing is known about its gene product. We report here the isolation of two DNA clones which are very tightly linked to the Tm-2a gene. These clones were identified by testing 122 genomic clones as hybridization probes against Southern blots consisting of DNA from pairs of nearly isogenic lines with or without the Tm-2a gene. Screening such a large number of clones in a short period of time was facilitated by co-labeling and simultaneous probing of sets of up to 10 random genomic clones. Tightly linked clones were distinguished by the fact that they exhibited one or more restriction fragment length polymorphisms between the nearly isogenic lines. Tight linkage of the clones with Tm-2a was verified in a segregating F(2) population. Both mapped to the same locus 0.4 +/- 0.4 centimorgans away from Tm-2a and may provide starting points for a genomic ;;walk'' to this gene. Due to the availability of isogenic lines in many plant species, the strategy outlined in this paper should be widely applicable for selecting DNA clones tightly linked to genes of interest.


This paper describes the "pairing - dissociation" behaviour of metal-acceptor pairs and proposes a method to measure metal concentrations in p-type boron doped silicon based on a contactless measurement technique. The first part of this paper sums up the previous non destructive electrical characterization methods that have led to the evaluation of iron concentrations in p-type boron- doped silicon by the inspired contactless techniques. It is demonstrated that the lifetime measurement method proposed allows the detection of contaminants at concentrations as low as 109at.cm-3. In the second part, the specific cases of iron and chromium that are among the most harmful metal contaminants are discussed. We show that these contaminants, even if their concentrations are not known, are identifiable by contactless measurements that allow the analysis of their kinetics of pairing with boron atoms and of their respective interactions with extended defects, such as grain boundaries in multicrystalline silicon.


Using thinking tools engages students in a variety of critical and complex thinking, such as evaluating, analyzing, and decision making. The aim of this study was to explore patterns in student critical thinking performance and motivation in Evidence-Centered Concept Map (ECCM) mode, compared to basic notepad mode. One hundred ninety 14-year-old students from the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, and South Africa participated in the study. Students in both modes were able to analyze a multifaceted dilemma by using similar information resources. In the ECCM mode, students used ECCM to organize their thinking; in another mode, students were provided with a basic online notepad to make records as needed. Overall, the findings showed that students assessed in ECCM mode outperformed their peers in notepad mode in critical thinking skills. Students who worked with ECCM provided more informed recommendations by using supporting evidence from the available resources and discussing alternative points of view on the topic. In addition, the results demonstrated that it did not matter for students' motivation whether they analyzed the dilemma with or without ECCM. Directions for future research are discussed in terms of their implications for large-scale assessment programs, teaching, and learning.


In this thesis research is reported studying the possibility to directly drive a switching mixer with a Voltage Controlled Oscillator without buffers in between. The feasibility research is carried out with an LC-oscillator and a Balun/LNA I/Q mixer (BLIXER) [1] topology. At first the VCO is modeled as an LC-tank with an ideal compensation network to study the effect on the oscillation frequency when loaded with a capacitive load. Spread of capacitances in the oscillator will demand a certain tuning range of the tuneable capacitance in the oscillator to compensate for the spread and keep the oscillation frequency fixed. The required tuning range of the tuneable capacitance in the tank is studied as function of the load capacitance and spread of the load capacitance and tank capacitance. Secondly a practical CMOS oscillator is used with an NMOS cross-coupled pair with a parallel LC-tank for simulation of the performance of the VCO when loaded with at first a fixed capacitive load and later on with the BLIXER topology. Effects on performance of the BLIXER driven with sine wave oscillator signals have been compared to the performance of the BLIXER driven with square wave signals. The mixer will be driven with sine wave oscillator signals, which will give a small decrease in conversion gain for the mixer. Finally the effects on performance of the BLIXER have been analyzed when driven directly with the CMOS LC-oscillator without buffers in between. Leaving the buffers between a VCO and a mixer can give benefit in power consumption but appear to give a number of difficulties when combining the VCO and mixer. It is shown that interaction between the VCO and mixer appears to give an increase in noise in both the VCO as well as the mixer. The switching transistors of the mixer appear to be part of the oscillator and since their capacitance varies in time, also the total capacitance will vary in time. Since the oscillation frequency is dependent on the total capacitance in the tank, this will give an increase in phase noise of the oscillator. The VCO appear also become susceptible for low frequent noise sources within the mixer.The capacitances of the switching transistors will be dependent on the applied gate-source voltage and also low-frequent noise sources within the mixer can slowly vary these capacitances. Careful design of the mixer will be necessary to prevent low frequent noise contribution of the mixer to be up converted to phase noise of the VCO. Induced gate noise of the switching transistors has a dominant noise contribution in the degraded phase noise of the VCO. The noise figure of the mixer will be degraded for low IF-frequencies as a result of the degraded phase noise of the VCO.


The main objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between self-esteem, specific coping strategies and marital adjustment. The sample consists of 216 subjects from 108 couples who completed the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Ways of Coping Checklist. The results confirm the presence of a relationship between self-esteem, specific coping strategies and marital adjustment in men and women. High self-esteem and marital adjustment are associated with the use of problem solving strategies and less avoidance as a way of coping. Moreover, cross analyses reveal that one's feelings of self-worth are associated with his/her spouse's marital adjustment. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.


A stability-indicating RP-HPLC method was developed and validated for the estimation of Flupirtine in pharmaceutical dosage forms. An Inertsil ODS C18 column (150 mm x 4.6 mm), 5 µ particle size was used as stationary phase with mobile phase consisting of 0.01M potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate buffer having pH 3.6 adjusted with orthophosphoric acid and acetonitrile in the ratio of 75:25 V/V. The flow rate was maintained at 1 mL/min and effluents were monitored at 246 nm. The retention time was 4.12 min. The stress studies were performed as per ICH guidelines under acidic, alakiline, neutral, oxidative, UV and thermal conditions. The linearity of the method was observed in the concentration range of 100-600 µg/mL with a correlation coefficient of 0.999. The percentage assay of Flupirtine was found to be 99.84 %. The method was validated for its accuracy, precision and system suitability studies. The results obtained in the study were within the limits of ICH guidelines and hence this method can be used for the estimation of Flupirtine in pharmaceutical dosage forms.