The present study was undertaken to investigate the regulation of intracellular pH in human thyroid epithelial cells and to characterize the kinetics of the acid-extruding processes operating in the absence and presence of HCO3-, Na+ and Cl-. A dynamic technique of dual excitation microfluorimetry and the pH-sensitive fluorescent probe 2',7'-bis-(2-carboxyethyl)-5(and-6)-carboxyfluorescein was employed. The intracellular pH was 7.01 +/- 0.27 (n = 29) and 6.94 +/- 0.25 (n = 54) in the absence and presence of HCO3- respectively. Both in the absence and presence of HCO3-, the recovery from intracellular acid loads was not only due to an Na+/H+ exchange, but also to an Na(+)-dependent HCO3-/Cl- exchange. In alkaline conditions caused by NH4Cl pulsing, an HCO3-/Cl- exchange was also found. The cells in HCO3- responded with a wide range of maximal hydrogen efflux rates in experiments where cells were either pretreated with 4,4'-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulphonic acid or incubated with amiloride. The heterogeneity might be due to subpopulations of thyrocytes in different metabolic states or at different points in the cell cycle. It is concluded that recovery from intracellular acidification in human thyroid cells is due to both Na+/H+ exchange and Na(+)-dependent Cl-/HCO3- exchange even in nominally HCO3(-)-free conditions, and that recovery from intracellular alkalinization is due to a Cl-/HCO3- exchange which needs to be characterized further.


Abstract. A distinguishable feature of overland tsunami propagation is the incorporation of solids within the flow column, either sediment from the natural environment or remains from built infrastructure. This article describes a 2DH (two-dimensional horizontal) mathematical model particularly suited for tsunami propagation over complex and dynamic geometries, such as river and estuarine mobile beds. The discretization scheme is based on a finite-volume method using a flux-splitting technique featuring a reviewed Roe–Riemann solver, with appropriate source-term formulations to ensure full conservativeness. The model is validated with laboratory data and paleo-tsunami evidence. As a forecasting application, it is applied to a tsunami scenario in the Tagus estuary, an effort justified by the numerous catastrophic tsunamis that are known to have struck this location over the past two millennia. The obtained results show that, despite the significant differences in Lisbon's layout and morphology, a 1755-like tsunami would still inflict a devastating impact on this major city.


The new Master of Science in Medical Physics (MSMP) (https:// radonc.wustl.edu/education/master-of-science-in-medicalphysics) offered through the Department of Radiation Oncology at the School of Medicine and the Post-PhD Graduate Certificate in Medical Physics (https://radonc.wustl.edu/education/postphd-graduate-certificate-in-medical-physics) are available for graduate and postgraduate physics students who are interested in exploring pathways to prepare for residency programs as well as for careers in the field of medical physics.


The reentrant spin glass behaviour was observed in half doping (La,Pr)1/2Ca1/2MnO3 manganites with a CE-type antiferromagnetic structure. It shows sequential multiple magnetic transitions from the paramagnetic to the ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic, spin glass (SG) transitions, which reflects the complex magnetic interaction in the ground state of manganites. This can be explained by the competition interaction between the ferromagnetic and the CE-type antiferromagnetic matrix, and the disorder due to the tolerance factor t and A-cation size variance σ2. The results reveals the coexistence of ferromagnetic clusters and SG clusters in the background of the antiferromagnetic matrix in the ground state of half doping (Pr,La)1/2Ca1/2MnO3 systems.


Background The recent interferon-free direct-acting antiviral (DAA) regimens have very good safety and efficacy profiles and are highly recommended for kidney transplant (KT) recipients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Methods All KT recipients with CHC followed at our hospital and who received therapy with the current DAAs were included. At the baseline visit, demographic, clinical and laboratory variables before and after KT, as well as at the commencement of DAAs, at the end of antiviral therapy and the end of follow up, were recorded, including assessment of glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). The changes in eGFR (DGFR) between baseline and end of therapy (1st period), and between end of therapy and end of follow up (2nd period), were evaluated. Results Twelve KT recipients were retrospectively evaluated: 2 had received antiviral therapy in the past; 4 (33.3%) patients had genotype 1 and 3 (25%) genotype 4 CHC. The median stiffness was 11.9 kPa (range 5-16.8), while 5 patients, none with decompensated cirrhosis, had stiffness >12.5 kPa. Eight patients received a sofosbuvir-containing antiviral regimen (Group 1) and 4 patients received an antiviral regimen without sofosbuvir (Group 2). Eleven (91.7%) patients achieved a sustained virological response (SVR). One patient discontinued DAAs early after treatment and did not achieve SVR. Otherwise, DAAs were well tolerated and no rejection episode was recorded. The DGFRs in the 1st period and 2nd period did not differ significantly between Group 1 and Group 2 patients. Conclusion In this real-world study of KT recipients with CHC, the high efficacy and clinically acceptable tolerability of DAAs were confirmed.


Aluminium doping TaNx thin films were deposited on Al2O3 ceramic wafers by DC reactive magnetron sputtering. The influences of nitrogen partial flux on the phase structures and the electrical properties of the samples were investigated in detail. The results show that the main phases in the samples are gradually changed from poor nitrogen phases to rich nitrogen phases with the increase of the nitrogen partial flux. The deposition rate of the samples is decreased with the increase of the nitrogen partial flux. With the increase of the nitrogen partial flux, the resistivity and the absolute value of the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of the samples increase slowly at lower nitrogen partial flux, and then increase remarkably at higher nitrogen partial flux. These experimental results can be explained by the presentation of rich nitrogen phases with higher resistivity and absolute value of the TCR when the samples were prepared at higher nitrogen partial flux.


A continuously tunable high impedance surface (HIS) is presented and experimentally demonstrated at approximately 60 GHz. An optimized phase-shifting HIS consisting of a periodic surface placed over a ground plane is designed and employed to obtain the desired reflection phase. Tuning of the HIS is achieved by virtue of four compact piezoelectric actuators that produce a displacement between the two layers, when voltage is applied to them. This produces a continuous change of the reflection phase response of the structure. Simulated and experimental results are presented, demonstrating a dynamic surface impedance performance with a measured phase shift of over 200 $^\circ$ at about 60 GHz.


Implicit solvent models are important for many biomolecular simulations. The polarity of aqueous solvent is essential and qualitatively captured by continuum electrostatics methods like Generalized Born (GB). However, GB does not account for the solvent‐induced interactions between exposed hydrophobic sidechains or solute‐solvent dispersion interactions. These "nonpolar" effects are often modeled through surface area (SA) energy terms, which lack realism, create mathematical singularities, and have a many‐body character. We have explored an alternate, Lazaridis–Karplus (LK) gaussian energy density for nonpolar effects and a dispersion (DI) energy term proposed earlier, associated with GB electrostatics. We parameterized several combinations of GB, SA, LK, and DI energy terms, to reproduce 62 small molecule solvation free energies, 387 protein stability changes due to point mutations, and the structures of 8 protein loops. With optimized parameters, the models all gave similar results, with GBLK and GBDILK giving no performance loss compared to GBSA, and mean errors of 1.7 kcal/mol for the stability changes and 2 Å deviations for the loop conformations. The optimized GBLK model gave poor results in MD of the Trpcage mini‐protein, but parameters optimized specifically for MD performed well for Trpcage and three other small proteins. Overall, the LK and DI nonpolar terms are valid alternatives to SA treatments for a range of applications. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


This is an account of the author's 40 years experience in a school named Summerhill in England. What he described is not so much a radical approach to child rearing as the literal and patient application of ideas that have received much lip-service in the past half-century. The school was conducted on complete faith in the natural goodness of children and their need for affection. Happiness, rather than fame or material success, is taken as life's aim. The book is stimulating reading if only because it describes a unique experiment. The author seems to recount his experience with great objectivity. He does not even claim that the children who went through Summerhill School behaved remarkably differently in later life from others educated in more orthodox establishments, except for chosen examples who exhibited happiness and self-confidence to a gratifying degree.


Background: Home parenteral nutrition (HPN) has been shown to delay deterioration in cancer patients with malnutrition. Its risk-benefit ratio, however, is determined by the threat of central venous catheter (CVC) complications. Only few prospective studies on this subject exist, most of them based on small samples. The objective of this study was to provide reliable estimates of incidence rates of CVC complications in everyday HPN patient care in Germany. Patients and Methods: Aiming for a large prospective cohort study, we cooperated with a service provider caring for HPN patients nationwide. Between July 1 and November 30, 2006, all consecutive adult patients with more than 10 infusion days and no previous history of HPN were recruited. Follow-up ended on January 31, 2007. Data were collected in a standardised way by the provider's staff. To prevent underreporting, we used computer-assisted telephone interviews with medical caregivers as a provider-independent data source. Results: 481 patients met the inclusion criteria, contributing a total of 31,337 catheter days. 52 patients experienced a total of 63 CVC complications, resulting in an incidence rate of 2.01 CVC complications per 1,000 catheter days including 1.02 CVC infections per 1,000 catheter days. Conclusion: HPN administration can be safely performed with a relatively low rate of CVC complications.


Background: Neuroimaging studies have used magnetic resonance imaging-derived methods to assess brain volume loss in multiple sclerosis (MS) as a reliable measure of diffuse tissue damage. Methods: In the CLARITY study (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00213135), the effect of 2 years' treatment with cladribine tablets on annualized percentage brain volume change (PBVC/y) was evaluated in patients with relapsing MS (RMS). Results: Compared with placebo (–0.70% ± 0.79), PBVC/y was reduced in patients treated with cladribine tablets 3.5 mg/kg (–0.56% ± 0.68, p = 0.010) and 5.25 mg/kg (–0.57% ± 0.72, p = 0.019). After adjusting for treatment group, PBVC/y showed a significant correlation with the cumulative probability of disability progression (HR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.571, 0.787; p < 0.001), with patients with lower PBVC/y showing the highest probability of remaining free from disability progression at 2 years and vice versa. Conclusions: Cladribine tablets given annually for 2 years in short-duration courses in patients with RMS in the CLARITY study significantly reduced brain atrophy in comparison with placebo treatment, with residual rates in treated patients being close to the physiological rates.


A low-cost adsorbent (wheat plant ash) has been prepared using a common agricultural waste (wheat straw) and its physicochemical characteristics, including chemical, physical, mineralogical, and morphological, and adsorption efficacy are investigated. WPA is characterized by SEM (scanning electron microscopy), CHNS(ultimate analysis) analysis, Brunauer–Emmett–Tellersurface area technique, and Fourier transform infrared method. The BET surface area of wheat plant ash was found to be 37 m 2 /g. To evaluate its adsorption capacity, paraquat is chosen as the adsorbate. Batch adsorption is performed by varying adsorbent dosage, initial concentration, and contact time. Experimental data are fitted to both kinetic and isotherm models. Pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models are applied to experimental data, which indicated that the latter model had the best fit. Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm models are then applied to the equilibrium data. The adsorption capacity of WPA for paraquat removal, determined using the Langmuir isotherm, is found to be approximately 241.3 mg/m 2 at 303 K.


Objective: To determine the relative frequencies of various vesiculobullous disorders of skin in our patients and the morphological and direct immunofluorescent patterns of these disorders. Methodology: This retrospective study was carried out in the Department of Pathology, Basic Medical Sciences Institute, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, Pakistan on all the cases of vesiculobullous disorders of skin diagnosed in the department from January 2002 to June 2007. All the skin biopsies received during the study period were reviewed and cases of vesiculobullous disorders were selected for detailed study. Direct immunofluorescent (DIF) staining was done on these cases using fluorescein isothiocyanate conjugate (FITC) labelled antibodies for IgG, IgA, IgM, C3c and Fibrinogen. The data was analysed statistically using SPSS software. Results: A total of 62 DIF proven cases of vesiculobullous disorders of skin were studied. Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) was found to be the most frequent disorder (32.25%) followed by bullous pemphigoid (BP) with a frequency of 27.42%. The relative frequencies of pemphigus foliaceus (PF), dermatitis herpetiformis (DH), childhood bullous pemphigoid (CBP) and chronic bullous dermatosis of childhood (CBDC) were 20.96%, 6.45%, 4.83% and 6.45% respectively. One case each of IgA pemphigus (IgAP) and herpes gestationis (HG) were seen. IgA pemphigus can only be diagnosed after having observed the immunofluorescence pattern of this disorder. Conclusions: Definitive diagnosis of certain blistering lesions of skin requires the DIF microscopy. However, in special circumstances it needs to be reinforced with either salt split skin technique or immune electron microscopy.


The Northwestern University Costs of Cancer Program consists of a series of pilot studies that address the costs of cancer care. The program is designed to serve as a template in preparation for undertaking a large-scale study of a nationally representative sample of cancer patients--i.e., in preparation for a cancer costs and services utilization study in the future. In this article, we outline the theoretical framework associated with a study of cancer costs and summarize findings from our ongoing pilot studies in this area.


ABSTRACT Iron occurs naturally as Fe2+, Fe3+, and, to a lesser extent, as Fe0. Many fundamental (bio)geochemical processes are based on redox cycling between these oxidation states. Mössbauer spectroscopy provides quantitative information about the distribution of Fe among its oxidation states, identification of Fe-bearing phases, and relative distribution of Fe among those phases. Portable, miniaturised Mössbauer spectrometers were developed for NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers (in operation since 2004) and provide a means for non-destructive, in-situ field investigations. On Mars, these instruments provided evidence for aqueous activity with implications for habitability, were applied in geological mapping of the landing sites, and helped to identify meteorites, for example. On Earth, they were used in field studies of green rust, the identification of air pollution sources, or the study of archaeological artefacts. Their application to in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU) on the Moon has been demonstrated in a recent NASA field test of hardware for oxygen production. A new detector system in an advanced version of these instruments is based on Si Drift Detectors and permits the simultaneous acquisition of X-ray fluorescence spectra to determine elemental compositions.


The objectives of this article are to discuss the construction and development of an online case-based collaborative learning (CBCL) theoretical model and to evaluate the quality of the developed module after it was implemented first for one week and then subsequently for onesemester. The participants of the study were 22 students from the Faculty of Business, Rajamangala Institute of Technology Lanna, Lampang Campus,(RMUTLL),Lampang, Thailand. The quality of the developed module was then assessed qualitatively and quantitatively for one semester with the 22 participants. Quantitative data were analyzed via analysis of arithmetic means, t-test dependent sample,the effect size (ES) on students' gained scores,and level of effectiveness index (E1/E2). Qualitative data were investigated using a semi-structured interview.The findings showed that the developed module was effective since the students' listening and reading skills had improved. The findings confirmed the quality of the developed module since the students viewed it as a good language course. The students also had positive attitudes towards the CBL method and the collaborative learning (CL) settings. Discussion and implications of the module are included.


In this study, wear behaviours of fiber-reinforced and matrix composite materials are experimentally investigated under different speeds, loads and temperature. Composite materials were made of Kevlar-epoxy resin, glass fibre-epoxy resin and glass fibre -polyester resin materials. Tests were conducted for speeds of 0.390 and 0.557 m/s at two different loads of 5N and 10N respectively. Wear in the experiments was determined as lost in mass.In addition, the wear behaviour of samples was investigated through the SEM observation.


With the rapidly growing popularity of the delivery of health services through the Internet, it is timely to examine online health service (OHS) diffusion from the human decision process perspective for its development and diffusion. The health service possesses an offline-to-online nature; that is, its online service is an extension of its offline service. Therefore, we develop a research model to bridge offline healthcare and the OHS-decision, which is contingent on different levels of offline healthcare habits, drawing on user satisfaction literature, the Innovation Diffusion Theory, and the habit literature. Data were collected from 323 Internet users, and our empirical results show that high satisfaction on offline healthcare hinders the awareness of OHS and subsequently influences adoption intention. On the other hand, offline healthcare habits weaken the effects of offline health satisfaction on the OHS awareness. Discussions and implications are also proposed in the concluding sections of this research.


Ageing is the gradual decline in organismal fitness that occurs over time leading to tissue dysfunction and disease. At the cellular level, ageing is associated with reduced function, altered gene expression and a perturbed epigenome. Somatic cell reprogramming, the process of converting somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), can reverse these age-associated changes. However, during iPSC reprogramming somatic cell identity is lost, and can be difficult to reacquire as re-differentiated iPSCs often resemble foetal rather than mature adult cells. Recent work has demonstrated that the epigenome is already rejuvenated by the maturation phase of reprogramming, which suggests full iPSC reprogramming is not required to reverse ageing of somatic cells. Here we have developed the first "maturation phase transient reprogramming" (MPTR) method, where reprogramming factors are expressed until this rejuvenation point followed by withdrawal of their induction. Using dermal fibroblasts from middle age donors, we found that cells reacquire their fibroblast identity following MPTR, possibly as a result of persisting epigenetic memory at enhancers. Excitingly, our method substantially rejuvenated multiple cellular attributes including the transcriptome, which was rejuvenated by around 30 years as measured by a novel transcriptome clock. The epigenome, including H3K9me3 histone methylation levels and the DNA methylation ageing clock, was rejuvenated to a similar extent. The magnitude of rejuvenation instigated by MTPR is substantially greater than that achieved in previous transient reprogramming protocols. MPTR fibroblasts produced youthful levels of collagen proteins, suggesting functional rejuvenation. Overall, our work demonstrates that it is possible to separate rejuvenation from pluripotency reprogramming, which should facilitate the discovery of novel anti-ageing genes and therapies. Highlights We developed a novel method by which human fibroblasts are reprogrammed until the maturation phase of iPSCs and are then returned to fibroblast identity DNA methylation memory in fibroblast enhancers may allow recovery of cell identity when fibroblast gene expression programmes are already extinct Molecular measures of ageing including transcriptome and DNA methylation clocks and H3K9me3 levels reveal robust and substantial rejuvenation Functional rejuvenation of fibroblasts by MPTR is suggested by reacquisition of youthful levels of collagen proteins


Micro-businesses are the lifeblood of any functioning economy: they are more numerous and, collectively, have a higher turnover than any other form of business in the majority of countries around the globe. In all parts of the world, developed and undeveloped, however, they are starved of finance, and the finance that is available is often on unsuitable and unsatisfactory terms. This paper maps out the reasons for this, as well as particular problems caused by the unique characteristics of micro-businesses, and suggests some legal and institutional responses. Some responses are designed to increase access to finance for micro-businesses, by proposing measures to eliminate barriers, decrease costs and increase lender certainty. Others, however, are suggested in order to protect the borrowers, as by their nature, micro-businesses are vulnerable to abuse of bargaining power, and, since many of the risk-takers are individuals, lack of protection leads to social problems. These two rationales for legal response are in direct tension with each other in that a legal response designed to achieve the former usually cuts across the aim of the latter and vice versa. Without an appropriate balance being reached, changes designed to facilitate the financing of micro-businesses can either end up being so oppressive that the very people the changes are designed to assist fail to thrive economically or socially, or go too far towards protecting the borrowers and fail to increase access to credit. The actual decisions as to the appropriate balance are, of course, a matter of policy and will vary from state to state, depending on many factors. This paper seeks to identify responses and the resulting tensions, and go some way towards mapping out a framework for achieving that appropriate balance.


Objective: The purpose of this report is to examine (a) gender-specific correlates of colorectal cancer test use using recent national data from 2003 and (b) patterns of colorectal cancer screening by gender and test modality over time. Methods: We analyze data from the 1987, 1992, 1998, 2000, and 2003 National Health Interview Surveys. Our sample consists of men and women ≥50 years never diagnosed with colorectal cancer and who reported a recent fecal occult blood test and/or endoscopy. Results: In 2003, both men and women reported higher rates of colonoscopy (32.2% and 29.8%, respectively) than use of FOBT (16.1% and 15.3%, respectively) or sigmoidoscopy (7.6% and 5.9%, respectively). Men reported higher use of endoscopy than women if they had a usual source of health care, had talked to a general doctor, and had two to five visits to the doctor in the past year. Men and women 65 years and older had higher rates of any recommended colorectal cancer test (55.8% and 48.5%, respectively) than persons 50 to 64 years (males, 41.0%; females, 31.4%). Use of colorectal cancer tests also was higher among both genders if they were not Hispanic, had higher educational attainment, were former smokers, had health insurance or a usual source of care, or if they talked to a general doctor. Recent use of colorectal cancer tests has increased since 2000 for both women and men largely due to increased use of colonoscopy. Conclusions: Colorectal cancer testing is increasing for both men and women, although the prevalence of testing remains higher in men. Our data support previous findings documenting socioeconomic disparities in colorectal cancer test use. Access barriers to screening could be particularly difficult to overcome if colonoscopy becomes the preferred colorectal cancer screening modality. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2006;15(2):389–94)


The objectives of this paper are to find the compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) of recycled concrete with various percentages of natural fine aggregate replaced by Recycled brick fine aggregate (RBFA) as well as the residual strength and residual UPV of recycled concrete subjected to elevated temperatures. Experiment results showed that the compressive strength and UPV decreased as amount of RBFA in concrete increased, the long-term performance of compressive strength and UPV development increased as the RBFA content increased. The residual strength of recycled concrete increased slightly after heating to 300°C and the residual UPV of recycled concrete decreased gradually as the exposed temperature increased beyond 300°C. In the range of 580 -800°C, recycled concrete lost most of its original compressive strength and UPV. After subjected to the temperature of 800°C, compared to plain concrete, recycled concrete with 100% RBFA had a greater discount rate of compressive strength and UPV of the order of 5-15% and 6-10%. Regression analysis results revealed that the residual strength and residual UPV of recycled concrete had a high relevance after elevated temperatures exposure.


Historians writing on the subject of race have largely focused on the period after the SecondWorld War: the arrival of the SS Empire Windrush in 1948 has become a defining symbol ofBritain?s immigration history. Studies that examine the earlier decades of the twentiethcentury privilege either imperial or scientific discourses on race. This focus neglects thevariety of social and cultural discourses through which the idea of racial difference wasdisseminated to the British public. This thesis focuses on the idea of race in the 1920s and1930s and explores how other peoples and places were constructed in the British imaginationthrough three separate but interconnected themes: religion, entertainment and childhoodexperiences. The thesis has three central arguments: firstly it argues that racial discourseswere varied; secondly, that while Britain?s cities offered opportunities for interracial contact,most British people?s experiences of the racial other were limited to the realm of theimagination, nourished by a variety of constructions emanating from churches, schools,entertainment venues and the home; thirdly, that the racial other was constructed in theBritish imagination as a source of both fear and desire.Religion was one of the dominant forces disseminating ideas about racial difference tothe British public in the interwar years. Religious leaders were able to construct an image ofother peoples and places through their connection to important annual events such as EmpireDay and in their commentaries on current events; their response to the 1919 race riotsillustrates how religion, empire and politics intersected on matters of race and nationalidentity. Missionary groups also played an important role in constructing ideas about race,especially to children, through missionary exhibitions. The role of religion in society in theinterwar years has been underplayed and yet religious discourses on race that were familiar inthe nineteenth century continued well into the twentieth.In the realm of popular entertainment, both blackface and orientalist productionsexcelled in the art of racial disguise. These productions underline the contradiction at theheart of race discourse between fear and desire; fear of a difference that undermined thenotion of white supremacy and thus the strength of Britain?s Empire, and a simultaneousdesire to ?know? the ?other?, be that through cultural interactions or physical intimacy. Theact of dressing-up as the racial ?other? was a crucial means of exploring fantasies of the?other? without transgressing contemporary racial boundaries. Newspaper reviews of popularentertainments constructed a narrative on race that used both positive and negativestereotypes. The history of licensing and censorship in the files of the Lord Chamberlain?sArchive reveals contemporary anxieties about race focusing particularly on miscegenation.People were encouraged to imagine racial difference in a variety of ways and from ayoung age. The stereotyped images presented to children are open to less nuancedinterpretation than those aimed at adults and more than any other were composed of binaryoppositions between black and white, civilised and savage, ancient and modern. Evidencefrom newspapers and the Mass-Observation Archive highlights how children wereencouraged to imagine racial difference and the variety and complexity of childhoodexperiences that defined people?s ideas about race.This thesis builds on an established body of work on the subject of race and uses avariety of sources in order to advance the discussion beyond a narrow focus on empire orscientific debates towards a more comprehensive analysis of the circulation of the idea ofrace in interwar Britain. It focuses on an era that has received less scholarly attention than theyears after 1945 and highlights the variety of discourses on race that permeated the social andcultural life of interwar Britain.


SUMMARY On seven apple cultivars (Gala Must, Gloster, Granny Smith, Idared, Jonagold, Jonathan Csany and Mutsu), the author studied the influence of N-phenyl-phthalamic acid (Nevirol 60 WP) and fertilization on fruit setting and fruit quality. The research results show that by using Nevirol 60 WP and applying fertilization, we can improve the fruit setting and number of fruit per tree. As a result of this process, the yield amount will increase. Nevirol 60 WP has a great effect on the improvement of yield amount, especially by good nutrient supply. There is a significant difference between the reactions of different cultivars. The most sensitive to these treatments were the cultivar Gala Must and Granny Smith. Before using Nevirol 60 WP we have to take into consideration that the increased yield needs a higher nutrient supply; otherwise, fruit mass, diameter and fruit height will decrease, and the yield will frittered away. In the study, the most favourable effect of Nevirol 60 WP was detected under additionally fertilized conditions by the author.


American cutaneous leishmaniasis acquired epidemic characteristics on the northern coastline of the State of São Paulo beginning in the 1990s. From secondary data, a descriptive study of the disease in the four municipalities making up this region over the period from 1993 to 2005 was conducted. The frequency of phlebotomine capture in the probable transmission locations was analyzed. 689 autochthonous cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis were notified, with single and grouped cases, thus determining that the spatial distribution was heterogenous. There was synchronism and cyclicity of disease manifestation, at intervals of six to eight years. All ages were affected, with slight predominance among males, without association with any specific occupation. Among the 2,758 phlebotomines captured, Nyssomyia intermedia predominated (80.4%) inside homes and in areas surrounding them. The disease presented a transmission profile inside homes and in areas surrounding them, between the urban fringe and forests, and inside forests. In such cases, transmission would be more related to enzootic foci.


We provide an expanded environmental scan to assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) faced by education communities. Grounded in the literature, we identified 48 indicators and grouped them into 6 broad categories: (1) budget levels, (2) funding patterns, (3) community needs, (4) external economic conditions, (5) political culture, and (6) children outcomes. We then created sub-categories for each of these six groupings based on whether the data came from school reports, non-school, governmental data, or not-for-profit entities. From these data, we developed a template with strategic guidelines for education leaders in varying environmental contexts. The discussion integrates school finance, fiscal condition analysis, leadership and organizational research to develop a framework that is then applied to the Minneapolis Public Schools for school years 2004 through 2008. The retrospective examination supports the utility of the strategic guidelines offered in the framework. Education leaders found a mixed educational climate in Minneapolis Public Schools for the years examined. There was cause for concern in the declining revenues for children services by other governmental agencies and increasing numbers of schools not making annual yearly progress. However, there were also opportunities apparent in the number of schools that offered International Baccalaureate and other rigorous programs and the support of schools as indicated by passage of local referenda. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */
 table.MsoNormalTable
 {mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
 mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
 mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
 mso-style-noshow:yes;
 mso-style-priority:99;
 mso-style-parent:"";
 mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
 mso-para-margin:0in;
 mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
 mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
 font-size:10.0pt;
 font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}


INTRODUCTION
Bone tissue has an intrinsic ability to repair and regenerate itself through a continuous remodelling cycle of resorption of old or damaged bone and deposition of new. However, significant morbidity and mortality arise when bone cannot heal itself. Effective bone regeneration strategy can improve the current clinical therapies of many orthopaedic disorders. Cell activity stimulation, growth factors, and appropriate mechanical conditions are essential components of clinical treatment. However, growth factors tend to degrade over time in the human body. Gene therapy offers an alternative method to cure bone defects, with the advent of exciting new delivery capabilities via gene vectors. Gene vectors accurately deliver regenerative molecules to the lesion site. Additionally, gene therapy provides a highly efficient treatment option with a lower effective concentration. Compared with viral gene vectors, non-viral gene vectors have proven to be more potent due to their safety, non-immunogenicity, and ease of manufacture.

CONCLUSION
Thus, in this paper, we review the application and progress of non-viral gene vector therapy in bone regeneration.


The paper presents the dynamic association of several gradients of separation with electrophoresis and the laboratory implementation of a prototype device for dynamic electrochromatography in a centrifugal and electromagnetic gradient (DECGOE), based on patent PL171643. The object of the study was to compare the separation capacity and repeatability of the location of edge parameters (xx(1), yy(1), d) of the contours of a proteinogram fraction for conventional electrophoresis (EF), radial SR-DECGOE separation and three variants of radial-transverse SR-SPM, SR-SPE, SRSPRRM distribution as well as the reproducibility of the following prototype parameters: PV(1), PV(2), PV(3)[V] potentials, PV(3)[F] frequency, ω(1) and ω(2) rotational speed, MC mixer chamber buffer [pH] and volume[ml], and B [T] magnetic induction. Human blood serum was used in the study, 50 samples for each separation type. The highest rate of fraction formation was registered for the SR-SPRRM (8,07/s) variant. The percentage values of standard deviations for the edge parameters of proteinograms were the lowest for conventional electrophoresis (EF), slightly higher for radial distribution SR, while among the radial-transverse separations, the highest accuracy was obtained for the SR-SPRRM variant.


The reaction of the oxidovanadium(V) complexes with N,N-dimethylhydrazine was demonstrated to afford the corresponding vanadium(V) dimethylhydrazido complexes. The substituent at the 3-position of the tris(2-hydroxyphenyl)amine ligand was found to influence the electronic environment of the vanadium center. The crystal structure of the non-substituted vanadium(V) dimethylhydrazido complex exhibited a distorted trigonal bipyramidal geometry with phenolate oxygen atoms in equatorial positions and the near-linear V(1)–N(2)–N(3) angle. The vanadium(V) diphenylhydrazido complexes could be obtained by the reaction of the oxidovanadium(V) complexes with N,N-diphenylhydrazine. A distorted trigonal bipyramidal geometry with phenolate oxygen atoms in equatorial positions was also observed in the crystal structure of the non-substituted vanadium(V) diphenylhydrazido complex.


COVID-19 and long COVID-19 vulnerabilities may be caused indirectly by albumin binding deficiency (ABD), which can be corrected by the correct administration of human serum albumin (HSA). The liver is the primary site of nutrient regulation and fluid volume maintenance; control of both is by changes to albumin concentration. In healthy subjects, the HSA lymphatic nutrient pump (HSALNP) ensures continual pumping of nutrients from the liver and that nutrients are appropriately distributed to organs. Nutrients are delivered to cells according to the availability of binding to HSA. The HSALNP, therefore, maintains the correct nutrient and colloidal pressure balance in all tissues independently. In unhealthy tissues, following COVID-19 infection, the passage of HSA/nutrients through the interstitial spaces and lymph will be impeded. Fluid therapy into the periphery leads to the dilution of essential nutrients attached to the protein carriers such as albumin. The levels of albumin being charged by the liver with nutrients is critical in maintaining immune stability by maintaining nutrient support and colloidal pressure of the cellular structures. The site of HSA binding by the liver is of great importance, and direct infusion of albumin into the hepatic portal vein is the most appropriate method of maintaining colloid pressure and cellular nutrient levels.


On the example of recent coin emissions the author explores the possibilities of managing this form of money and discusses economic effects of such activities.


Global radiosonde data are required by meteorological analysis centers for initializing numerical prediction models for weather forecasting, and represent an increasingly valuable resource for studies of climate change and in the development, calibration and validation of retrieval techniques for atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles from satellite. Unfortunately, the usefulness of radiosonde data is limited by sensor accuracy, by data reporting practices, and by the fact that sonde and sensor types vary by location and with time. Numerous studies and reports have called for a reference sonde to serve as a transfer standard to compare and connect data from past, present and future sonde systems. We are working on developing a reference radiosonde system at the Atmospheric Technology Division (ATD) at NCAR. The reference radiosonde system will carry the best sensors, have a flexible infrastructure to host multiple and different user-provided sensors and will be recoverable to reduce costs. The first version of the reference radiosonde system was deployed in the Oklahoma panhandle and Dodge City, KS (NWS radiosonde site) during the International H2O Project (IHOP_2002). A total of sixteen reference sondes were launched during IHOP either with Vaisala RS80 or Sippican (VIZ) radiosondes. The humidity data from the reference humidity sensor (Snow White, SW) are compared with Vaisala and VIZ data. The comparisons show that (a) VIZ carbon hygristor fails to respond to humidity changes in the upper troposphere, (b) the carbon hygristor inside the reference sonde has slower response than that inside NWS VIZ sonde, (c) Vaisala RS80-H agrees with SW very well in the middle and lower troposphere, and (d) SW can detect cirrus clouds near the tropopause and possibly estimate their ice water content (IWC). The climate impacts of these results are also discussed.


Identifying the polarity of a given text is a complex task that usually requires an analysis of the contextual information. This task becomes to be much more complex when, in such analysis, we consider smaller textual components than paragraphs, such as sentences, phraseological units or single words. In this paper, we consider the automatic identification of polarity for linguistic units known as idioms based on their contextual information. Idioms are a phraseological unit made up of more than two words in which one of those words plays the role of the predicate. We employ three lexicons for determining the polarity of those words surrounding the idiom, i.e., in its context and using this information we infer the possible polarity of the target idiom. The lexicons we are using are: ElhPolar dictionary, iSOL and ML-SentiCON Sentiment Spanish Lexicon, all of them containg the polarity of different words. One of the aims of this research work is to identify the lexicon that provides the best results for the task proposed, which is to count the number of positive and negative words in the idiom context, so that we can infer the polarity of the idiom itself. The experiments carried out show that the best combination obtain results close to 57.31%, when the texts are lemmatized and 48.87%, when they are not lemmatized.


Data Mining is a technology that is used for the process of analyzing and summarizing useful information from different perspectives of data. The importance of choosing data mining software tools for the developing applications using mining algorithms has led to the analysis of the commercially available open source data mining tools. The study discusses about the following likeness of the data mining tools-KNIME, WEKA, ORANGE, R Tool and Rapid Miner. The Historical Development and state-of-art; (i) The Applications supported, (ii) Data mining algorithms are supported by each tool, (iii) The pre-requisites and the procedures to install a tool, (iv) The input file format supported by each tool. To extract useful information from these data effectively and efficiently, data mining tools are used. The availability of many open source data mining tools, there is an increasing challenge in deciding upon the apace-updated tools for a given application. This study has provided a brief study about the open source knowledge discovery tools with their installation process, algorithms support and input file formats support.


We study the Auger effect in the presence of strong x-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) propagating through resonant argon vapors by solving the Maxwell–Bloch equations numerically. The simulations are based on the three-level system with the carrier frequency tuned in the 2p3/2–4s resonance. It is shown that the Auger branching is sensitive to the pulse area and duration. The relative Auger yield can be suppressed in the course of pulse propagation due to the interplay between the Auger decay and stimulated emission. Further suppression can be achieved by chirping the initial pulse, which is more effective for the long-pulse case. In addition, the sign and magnitude of the chirp rate play important roles in pulse reshaping and Auger emission.


Cancer immunotherapies, especially immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), have changed the landscape of treatment in various types of cancer ever since 2013, when cancer immunotherapy was rated as the breakthrough of the year by Science journal. Immune checkpoint proteins, such as PD-1, could facilitate tumor immune evasion by suppressing T-cell function via binding to PD-L1, which is often expressed on tumor cell surface. ICIs could release the immune break and remotivate T-cells to attack tumor cells. Due to the unique mechanism of action, ICIs have been shown to be effective in many malignancies, both solid tumors and hematologic cancers, such as melanoma, nonsmall cell lung cancer, gastric cancer, head and neck squamous cell cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma, extranodal NK/Tcell lymphoma, and so on. Moreover, there has been an avalanche of clinical trials underway in the whole pipeline of cancer treatment.


We recently investigated three cases of bacterial meningitis that were reported from a midwestern radiology clinic where facemasks were not worn during spinal injection of contrast agent during myelography procedures. Using pulsed field gel electrophoresis we linked a case strain of S. salivarius to an oral specimen of a radiology physician assistant (RPA). We also used a real-time PCR assay to detect S. salivarius DNA within a culture-negative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimen. Here we extend this investigation through using a nested PCR/sequencing strategy to link the culture-negative CSF specimen to the case strain. We also provide validation of the real-time PCR assay used, demonstrating that it is not solely specific for Streptococcus salivarius, but is also highly sensitive for detection of the closely related oral species Streptococcus vestibularis. Through using multilocus sequence typing and 16S rDNA sequencing we further strengthen the link between the CSF case isolate and the RPA carriage isolate. We also demonstrate that the newly characterized strains from this study are distinct from previously characterized S. salivarius strains associated with carriage and meningitis.


Altered frequency of the menstrual cycle accompanied by pain are manifestations of functional anomalies of the female reproductive system. These symptoms require prompt and accurate diagnosis and therapy to prevent a chronic condition that can seriously disturb the adolescent's psychic well being. The most common anomalies of the menstrual cycle and the causes of altered cycle frequency are outlined, as are useful criteria for diagnosing premenstrual syndrome dysmenorrhea and for distinguishing the causes and alterations in frequency and amount of menstrual discharge from other disturbances, including amenorrhea and abnormal uterine bleeding. The treatment of dysmenorrhea and quantitative alterations of the menstrual cycle is the focus of this article.


Build Your Own 2D Game Engine and Create Great Web Games teaches you how to develop your own web-based game engine step-by-step, allowing you to create a wide variety of online videogames that can be played in common web browsers. Chapters include examples and projects that gradually increase in complexity while introducing a ground-up design framework, providing you with the foundational concepts needed to build fun and engaging 2D games. By the end of this book you will have created a complete prototype level for a side scrolling action platform game and will be prepared to begin designing additional levels and games of your own. This book isolates and presents relevant knowledge from software engineering, computer graphics, mathematics, physics, game development, game mechanics, and level design in the context of building a 2D game engine from scratch. The book then derives and analyzes the source code needed to implement these concepts based on HTML5, JavaScript, and WebGL. After completing the projects you will understand the core-concepts and implementation details of a typical 2D game engine and you will be familiar with a design and prototyping methodology you can use to create game levels and mechanics that are fun and engaging for players. You will gain insights into the many ways software design and creative design must work together to deliver the best game experiences, and you will have access to a versatile 2D game engine that you can expand upon or utilize directly to build your own 2D games that can be played online from anywhere. What youll learn Understand essential concepts for building 2D games Understand basic architecture of 2D game engines Understand illumination models in 2D games Understand basic physics in 2D games Understand how these core concepts affect game design and game play Be able to build simple 2D game engines Be able to design and develop 2D interactive games that are fun to play Who this book is for Build your own 2D Game Engine and Create Great Web Games is perfect for game enthusiasts, hobbyists, and anyone who is interested in building interactive games but is unsure of how to begin. Build your own 2D Game Engine and Create Great Web Games can also serve as a textbook for a Junior- or Senior-level "Introduction to Game Engine" elective course in a Computer Science department.


Abstract Aims To quantify the association of self-reported walking pace and handgrip strength with all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality. Methods and results A total of 230 670 women and 190 057 men free from prevalent cancer and cardiovascular disease were included from UK Biobank. Usual walking pace was self-defined as slow, steady/average or brisk. Handgrip strength was assessed by dynamometer. Cox-proportional hazard models were adjusted for social deprivation, ethnicity, employment, medications, alcohol use, diet, physical activity, and television viewing time. Interaction terms investigated whether age, body mass index (BMI), and smoking status modified associations. Over 6.3 years, there were 8598 deaths, 1654 from cardiovascular disease and 4850 from cancer. Associations of walking pace with mortality were modified by BMI. In women, the hazard ratio (HR) for all-cause mortality in slow compared with fast walkers were 2.16 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.68–2.77] and 1.31 (1.08–1.60) in the bottom and top BMI tertiles, respectively; corresponding HRs for men were 2.01 (1.68–2.41) and 1.41 (1.20–1.66). Hazard ratios for cardiovascular mortality remained above 1.7 across all categories of BMI in men and women, with modest heterogeneity in men. Handgrip strength was associated with cardiovascular mortality in men only (HR tertile 1 vs. tertile 3 = 1.38; 1.18–1.62), without differences across BMI categories, while associations with all-cause mortality were only seen in men with low BMI. Associations for walking pace and handgrip strength with cancer mortality were less consistent. Conclusion A simple self-reported measure of slow walking pace could aid risk stratification for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality within the general population.


In late 1966 road work uncovered, for a tragically short time, the most fabulous fossil locality that it has ever been the writer's privilege to visit. The construction was for a toll road stretching across the Everglades from Naples, Florida, due east to Fort Lauderdale, and bearing the delightful name of "Alligator Alley." Unfortunately subsequent work completely covered the fossil locality and it is no longer in existence. "Alligator Alley" crosses Florida Highway 29 just south of Sunniland, and at this point the underlying formation is the Tamiami Limestone of late Miocene age. Traveling to the east one passes through exposures of the Buckingham facies of the Tamiami and at a point 13 miles east of Highway 29 the molluscan fauna of the upper Miocene Pinecrest Beds is well developed for about one-quarter mile in either direction. On to the east the Pinecrest is still present for several miles but the collecting was poor. This locality was fraught with exciting fossils but for the writer the single most spectacular find was the discovery of the genus Vitularia in the western Atlantic.


Various theories have been advanced to account for the present features of the earth's surface. Formerly it seems to have been a very general belief that these features were all more or less due to movements in the crust of the earth, combined with marine denudation. Hutton seems to have been the first to broach the theory that the present surface was principally sculptured by meteoric abrasion. The senior geologists of the present day appear still to lay most stress upon former movements of the earth's crust; but, as a rule, the younger geologists may be divided into "Marinists" and "Subaerialists" the latter class being, perhaps, at present the more numerous. No one can deny that meteoric abrasion is capable of executing a vast amount of work, especially in tropical climates. In the temperate zones a third part, at least, of the earth's surface is enveloped by peat, timber, grass, or the like; consequently the work performed under these circumstances by meteoric abrasion is more limited, as no denudation can take place except on the bottoms or sides of ravines, river beds, and such places; while in Arctic and Alpine regions the effect of atmospheric denudation seems to be even less. It appears to me, therefore, that those who would account for the main features of the present surface, by such denudation, ascribe to it far greater results than it can fairly be held to have accomplished. I still believe, for example, that many of the valleys in the south-west This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract


While the European Union (EU) has one of the most extensive and sophisticated supranational water policy worldwide, its transboundary governance framework has certain structural deficiencies that may eventually give rise to significant cooperation gridlocks over shared river basins. Most prominently, EU water law as well as the numerous European basin treaties almost comprehensively ignore transboundary water quantity management and allocation questions. This lacuna is due to a series of hydro-geographical, political and institutional factors prevailing at the time when the foundations of today's European framework of transboundary water governance were laid down in the 1980s and 1990s. Yet, changing hydrological conditions points to increasing fluctuations in water quantities in European river basins. Due to their one-sided ecological focus, however, the existing European governance mechanisms may prove unable to handle a growing competition for water among riparian states in case of flow variations beyond historical ranges. This article investigates the roots and the possible future implications of the unresolved transboundary allocation question within the EU.


The commenter acknowledges that the practical criteria provided in the above-titled paper (see ibid., vol.16, no.5, p.537-42, 1990), offer substantive guidelines for designing module interfaces. He points out that the results obtained can be further improved and certain remaining conflicts resolved through consideration of established principles of structured design and software engineering. He illustrates his point with an example involving the specification of a stack interface that requires two or three separate references to replace one. He presents two designs and argues that the first is better. The author refutes the commenter's arguments and argues that the second design is better. >


Abstract Objective: This prospective observational study evaluates the utility of expert focused cardiac ultrasound (eFCU) with spectral Doppler to inform decision making in established patients with specific, selected congenital cardiac defects in outreach clinics. Secondary objectives include determining if the addition of eFCU expands capacity in paediatric cardiology outreach clinics and if it improves the patient experience. Methods: Patients aged 2 months to 19 years old with a diagnosis of ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect, atrioventricular septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus, aortic valve stenosis, or pulmonary valve stenosis with the need for follow-up echocardiography in an outreach clinic from August 2017 to June 2018 were studied. A novel assessment tool was used to determine the success of eFCU. Results: Forty-two patients from 11 clinics underwent eFCU with one unsuccessful exam making the failure rate 2.3% (95% CI 0.0006–0.1256). Addition of eFCU led to a significant increase in volume of patients able to be seen 19 versus 15.5 (p < 0.01). A majority of parents/patients reported a positive experience with eFCU. Conclusion: Expert focused cardiac ultrasound with spectral Doppler can be used successfully for follow-up in patients with select CHD and the addition of eFCU permits increased patient capacity in outreach clinics and has the potential to improve the patient experience.


One considers the problem of finding hard to round cases of a periodic function for large floating-point inputs, more precisely when the function cannot be efficiently approximated by a polynomial. This is one of the last few issues that prevents from guaranteeing an efficient computation of correctly rounded transcendentals for the whole IEEE-754 double precision format. The first non-naive algorithm for that problem is presented, with a heuristic complexity of O(20.676p) for a precision of p bits. The efficiency of the algorithm is shown on the largest IEEE-754 double precision binade for the sine function, and some corresponding bad cases are given. We can hope that all the worst cases of the trigonometric functions in their whole domain will be found within a few years, a task that was considered out of reach until now.


StyleGANs are at the forefront of controllable image generation as they produce a latent space that is semantically disentangled, making it suitable for image editing and manipulation. However, the performance of StyleGANs severely degrades when trained via class-conditioning on large-scale long-tailed datasets. We find that one reason for degradation is the collapse of latents for each class in the $\mathcal{W}$ latent space. With NoisyTwins, we first introduce an effective and inexpensive augmentation strategy for class embeddings, which then decorrelates the latents based on self-supervision in the $\mathcal{W}$ space. This decorrelation mitigates collapse, ensuring that our method preserves intra-class diversity with class-consistency in image generation. We show the effectiveness of our approach on large-scale real-world long-tailed datasets of ImageNet-LT and iNaturalist 2019, where our method outperforms other methods by ∼ 19% on FID, establishing a new state-of-the-art.


— In this research, the diabetes conditions of people (healthy, prediabete and diabete) were tried to be identified with non-invasive palm perspiration measurements. Data clusters gathered from 200 subjects were used (1.Individual Attributes Cluster and 2. Palm Perspiration Attributes Cluster). To decrase the dimensions of these data clusters, Principal Component Analysis Method was used. Data clusters, prepared in that way, were classified with Support Vector Machines. Classifications with highest success were 82% for Glucose parameters and 84% for HbA1c parametres.


An amorphous layer acting as a quenching center at the surface of oleic acid-capped NaGdF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ nanoparticles is observed directly, which can be reconstructed via a novel post-chemical annealing process. The amorphous phase of the surface layer of NaGdF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ nanoparticles gradually crystallizes as the post-chemical annealing temperature increases; meanwhile, the good dispersibility of the as-obtained nanoparticles is maintained. The reduction of surface defects and higher local symmetry of the crystal field environment around the doped rare-earth ions contribute to drastically increased up-conversion (UC) emission intensity of the NaGdF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ nanoparticles. In particular, the blue emission of Tm3+ at 450 nm enhances 10-fold after the post-chemical annealing process at 250 °C compared with the counterpart without further surface-state treatments. The color gamut of well-crystallized NaGdF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ with a modified surface covers the blue to yellow region in CIE chromaticity coordinates via a non-steady-state UC process. The results indicate that the surface states of these UC nanoparticles can be feasibly improved via the post-chemical annealing process without encouraging agglomeration, which further optimizes their UC properties for practical applications.


Body fluid permeability and blood compatibility of biomaterials are especially critical properties for regenerative bone therapy [1, 2]. To have a role in bone repair, biomaterials must have the adsorptive performance of various bone growth factors. The bone-inductive property of rabbit dentin was discovered in 1967 [3]. In our previous study, we have been researching the autograft of human demineralized dentin matrices (DDM) as a clinical study [4]. DDM is an acid-insoluble collagenous material. On the other hand, hydroxyapatite (HAp) is a mineralized material. Commercially available HAp block (APACERAM-AX®,85%-porosity with micropore) has been used as the artificial biomaterial in bone therapy [5]. Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are the strong hard tissue-inducing factors [6]. In this study, we investigated the existence of BMP-2 and -7, among proteins adsorbed to DDM and HAp, using immunoblottong analyses. The DDM granules and HAp blocks (64mm3) were implanted subcutaneously in 8-week-old Wistar rats, and sacrificed at 2 days after the implantation. Explanted DDM and HAp were homogenized by the ultrasonic procedure in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and the adsorbed proteins were separated on a 5-20% sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) polyacrylamide gradient gel by electrophoresis. For Western blotting, proteins in the gel were transferred to a polyvinylidene difluoride membrane and detected by anti-BMP-2 monoclonal antibody and anti-BMP-7 monoclonal antibody. BMP-2 and BMP-7 were detected as a major band at 50 kDa among proteins collected from the in vivo implanted DDM and HAp. BMP-2 was detected the second major band at 125 kDa in HAp and both BMP-2 and BMP-7 were detected the some minor bands in DDM and HAp. The bands of BMP-2 were stronger than those of BMP-7 in all. The DDM and HAp adsorbed BMP-2 and BMP-7. These results indicate that DDM is a useful bone substitute as much as HAp, adsorbed to the bone-inducing factors, in the bone engineering field.


Patient's adherence is crucial to get the best out of antiretroviral therapy (ART). This study explores in-depth the barriers to and facilitators of ART adherence among Nepalese patients and service providers prescribing ART. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with 34 participants. Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed, and translated into English before being analyzed thematically. ART-prescribed patients described a range of barriers for failing to adhere to ART. Financial difficulties, access to healthcare services, frequent transport blockades, religious/ritual obstacles, stigma and discrimination, and side-effects were the most-frequently discussed barriers whereas trustworthy health workers, perceived health benefits, and family support were the most-reported facilitators. Understanding barriers and facilitators can help in the design of an appropriate and targeted intervention. Healthcare providers should address some of the practical and cultural issues around ART whilst policy-makers should develop appropriate social policy to promote adherence among ART-prescribed patients.


Strawberry lethal yellows (SLY) disease in Australia is associated with the phytoplasmas Candidatus Phytoplasma australiense and tomato big bud, and a rickettsia-like-organism (RLO). Ca. P. australiense is also associated with strawberry green petal (SGP) disease. This study investigated the strength of the association of the different agents with SLY disease. We also documented the location of SLY or SGP plants, and measured whether they were RLO or phytoplasma positive. Symptomatic strawberry plants collected from south-east Queensland (Australia) between January 2000 and October 2002 were screened by PCR for both phytoplasmas and the RLO. Two previously unreported disease symptoms termed severe fruit distortion (SFD) and strawberry leaves from fruit (SLF) were observed during this study but there was no clear association between these symptoms and phytoplasmas or the RLO. Only two SGP diseased plants were observed and collected, compared with 363 plants with SLY disease symptoms. Of the 363 SLY samples, 117 tested positive for the RLO, 67 tested positive for Ca. P. australiense AGY strain and 11 plants tested positive for Ca. P. australiense PYL variant strain. On runner production farms at Stanthorpe, Queensland the RLO was detected in SLY diseased plants more frequently than for the phytoplasmas. On fruit production farms on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Ca. P. australiense was detected in SLY disease plants more frequently than the RLO.


We have cloned and sequenced a cDNA encoding a novel zinc finger protein (Fzf-1) containing two tandem repeats of zinc finger motifs of the C2H2 type. The cDNA is 3.0 Kb long and has an open reading frame which codes for a protein of 789 amino acids. The expression pattern of the zinc finger gene was studied in chick embryonic skin and feathers by in situ hybridization. The expression of the gene is found to be temporally and spatially regulated. In stage 38 chick embryos, the transcripts are localized to the epidermis but in 10-day-old embryos, the signal is localized to the forming dermis. In 12-day-old chick, the transcripts are localized to the mesenchymal region of the elongated feather buds. Reverse transcription followed by Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) did not detect the transcripts in any other tissues.


The genus Madhuca, of the family Sapotaceae is a multi-functional tropical tree with the species, Madhuca indica (latifolia), M. longifolia, and M. butyracea being the most prevalent. The nutritional and health benefits of mahua are due to the richness of its anti-oxidant, vitamin, mineral, and biochemical composition. Mahua plant (flowers, fruits, roots, bark, seeds, and leaves) extracts have a variety of bioactivities and ethnomedicinal applications (antidiabetic, anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, etc.). They are traditionally well-known for their ability to prevent/treat various ailments. The phytochemical constituents have a defense mechanism and therapeutic role in the treatment of disease. Madhuca spp. has built the linkage between ethnic people, traditional knowledge, and livelihood support of the resources. This study/literature review has been undertaken to investigate the mahua as a forest resource that can be used for building livelihood resilience among ethnic communities. This review gives an extensive overview of the scientifically evaluated mahua plant extract bioactive molecules and a possible mechanism for the therapeutic potential for treating various diseases. Further, analyses of the opportunities and scope with future openings for the development of health-giving properties/abilities are extensively summarized.


Although studies on scaffolds for tissue generation have mainly focused on the chemical composition and pore structure, the effects of scaffold shape have been overlooked. Scaffold shape determines the scaffold surface area (SA) at the single-scaffold level (i.e., microscopic effects), although it also affects the amount of interscaffold space in the tissue defect at the whole-system level (i.e., macroscopic effects). To clarify these microscopic and macroscopic effects, this study reports the osteogenesis abilities of three types of carbonate apatite granular scaffolds with different shapes, namely, irregularly shaped dense granules (DGs) and two types of honeycomb granules (HCGs) with seven hexagonal channels (∼255 μm in length between opposite sides). The HCGs possessed either 12 protuberances (∼75 μm in length) or no protuberances. Protuberances increased the SA of each granule by 3.24 mm2 while also widening interscaffold spaces and increasing the space percentage in the defect by ∼7.6%. Interscaffold spaces were lower in DGs than HCGs. On DGs, new bone formed only on the surface, whereas on HCGs, bone simultaneously formed on the surface and in intrascaffold channels. Interestingly, HCGs without protuberances formed approximately 30% more new bone than those with protuberances. Thus, even tiny protuberances on the scaffold surface can affect the percentage of interscaffold space, thereby exerting dominant effects on osteogenesis. Our findings demonstrate that bone regeneration can be improved by considering macroscopic shape effects beyond the microscopic effects of the scaffold.


Exceptions have traditionally been used to handle infrequently occurring and unpredictable events during normal program execution. Current trends in microprocessor and operating systems design continue to increase the cost of event handling. Because of the deep pipelines and wide out-of-order superscalar architectures of contemporary microprocessors, an event may need to nullify a large number of in-flight instructions. Large register files require existing software systems to save and restore a substantial amount of process state before executing an exception handler. At the same time, processors are executing in environments that supply higher event frequencies and demand higher performance. We have developed an alternative architecture, "concurrent event handling", that incorporates multithreading into event handling architectures. Instead of handling the event in the faulting thread's architectural and pipeline registers, the fault handler is forked into its own thread slot and executes concurrently with the faulting thread. Microbenchmark programs show a factor-of-3 speedup for concurrent event handling over a traditional architecture on code that takes frequent exceptions. We also demonstrate substantial speedups on two event-based applications. Concurrent event handling is implemented in the MIT's MAP (Multi-ALU Processor) chip.


In the field of solid waste management, the 1990s are most aptly described as the decade of recycling. The remarkable growth in the national recycling rate from 9 percent in 1989 to 28 percent in 1996 indicates robust popular support and suggests that this form of civic environmentalism has entered the mainstream of behavioral norms in America (Goldstein, 1997). That so many Americans have changed their waste disposal practices is evidence that recycling may well be the singular environmental success story of the decade. During this era, the business of recycling also evolved from the periodic paper drives by scout troops and volunteers into a challenging, complex, and expensive service that now competes with other local programs for scarce resources. Contemporary recycling managers contend with budget-busting swings in material prices, variable levels of state financial support, and growing competition for local resources engendered by federal and state devolution efforts. In addition, perennial critics challenge the economic prudence and environmental benefits of recycling. Their core charge is that traditional methods of solid waste disposal are less expensive and that communities should recycle only when it "pays for itself" through the revenue generated from materials sales (Alexander, 1993; Boerner and Chilton, 1994; Tierney 1996). Faced with these challenges, local managers realize it is imprudent to coast toward the millennium on the hope that the popularity of recycling alone will be sufficient to sustain future funding requirements for this service. As Ackerman (1997) warns, "it is important to keep trying to improve the bottom-line results of recycling programs." Sustaining and expanding popular support for recycling in the future depends on making this service as convenient as possible and on educating citizens about the true costs of traditional disposal methods compared to a full accounting of the costs and benefits of recycling. This article examines municipal recycling performance over time and identifies the factors that distinguish the higher performing programs. Change in recycling performance between 1989 and 1996 is measured by differences in the rate of recycling participation, the percent of the local solid waste stream diverted from disposal by recycling, and the inflation-adjusted cost of the recycling program. The analysis focuses on the costs of recycling and the factors that help to explain change in these costs over time. Finally, recycling costs are compared with the costs of solid waste collection and disposal. The premise of this research is that local officials can make more informed judgments about how to improve the performance of their recycling programs if they know how other communities have achieved success. A decade ago, recycling was new to many jurisdictions. Faced with rising tipping fees, shrinking landfill space, and the politically unpopular prospect of siting either new landfills or incinerators, hundreds of cities launched recycling programs at the urging of their staff, elected officials, residents, or state governments. Cities devised an amazing variety of recycling programs and began to learn what worked best in their communities to divert a larger proportion of their waste streams. Some early recycling research helped to identify the factors that affected recycling participation and waste stream diversion success (Folz, 1991 a, 1991 b; Folz and Hazlett, 1991; West, Feiock, and Lee, 1992; Feiock and West, 1993; Khator and Huffman, 1993; Miranda, Everett, Blume, and Roy, 1994; Apotheker, 1993; Guerra, 1992; U.S. EPA, 1994). To date, however, no analysis has explained the extent to which particular program changes account for the variation in recycling success over time. One thing is abundantly clear: recycling is not cheap. Recycling critics correctly assert that material revenues rarely cover program costs. This panel study indicates that cities are now at a point where they need to justify the growing costs of their recycling programs. …


iv Abstract Knowledge transferred from universities is known to pass through many mechanisms to influence innovation in firms. Nonetheless, research on university knowledge transfer in less developed economies is not readily available in the extant literature. At the heart of this is a lack of analytical framework to guide university knowledge transfer in developing economies. The current study therefore elicits a comprehensive understanding of university knowledge transfer in the West African country of Ghana. The study adapts a generic integrated university knowledge transfer framework that suites the context of developing economies and evaluates how university knowledge transfer mechanisms influence innovation in firms in primary, manufacturing and service sectors in Ghana. To achieve the study aim, explanatory sequential mixed methods was employed from which the study contends that universities interactions with industry in Ghana are effective through both formal and informal mechanisms. However, the two are found not to directly lead to the ultimate results of innovation performance in firms and will have to be expedited through other means such as technology transfer offices, knowledge networks and collaborative research projects between universities and firms. In addition, the study shows that firms in different sectors of Ghanaian economy have some similarities as well as differences by which they acquire new knowledge from universities to significantly improve their products and services. These disparities in particular are explained accordingly by specific characteristics the sectors, pace of innovation adoption in each sector and greatly influenced equally by size, socio-cultural factors and general background of management staff in all sectors. Based on these, primary and manufacturing sectors firms are found to have comparatively weak relations with universities, whereas service sector firms have stronger interactions. The study concludes that interactions driving universities and industry are productive and worth pursuing as one of many instruments for innovative changes in all aspects of Ghanaian economy. The study suggests that knowledge generation players in Ghana need to have a well-defined national innovation agenda that seeks to facilitate and address sector specific needs. Significantly, the government of Ghana needs to create avenues for local firms, particularly small to medium scale enterprises in primary and manufacturing sectors to gain additional capabilities to absorb knowledge. Nevertheless, a stronger relationship between universities and firms in Ghana will by no means usher in the required knowledge for wealth and prosperity. Finally, the study recommends a rigorous adjustment in current universities' physical and administrative structures to accommodate industry interactions and create knowledge that suits basic characteristics needs of individual sectors. Most of all, economic policies will have to be carefully designed and efficiently directed by dedicated experts to work to successful realisation of the country's industrialisation objective. Lastly, more research will need to be conducted in the area of innovation policy effectiveness and impact evaluation for deeper understanding and to help to create ideal environment for productive research outcomes in all sectors of the economy.


We present a novel strategy based on metallic arrays of nanoparticles for enhancing the optical absorption in a monolayer of graphene. The collective resonances sustained by the metallic array and arising from the radiative coupling of localized surface plasmon resonances favour the interaction between the graphene layer and the light distributed in the structure. We measure the dispersion diagram of the allowed hybrid plasmonic-photonic modes and we calculate that one of these modes leads to an enhancement of the optical absorption of graphene by a factor 7. We propose to exploit this result for the rational design of graphene-based photodetectors.


The throughput of electron microscopes has increased significantly in recent years, enabling detailed analysis of cell morphology and ultrastructure. Analysis of neural circuits at single-synapse resolution remains the flagship target of this technique, but applications to cell and developmental biology are also starting to emerge at scale. The amount of data acquired in such studies makes manual instance segmentation, a fundamental step in many analysis pipelines, impossible. While automatic segmentation approaches have improved significantly thanks to the adoption of convolutional neural networks, their accuracy still lags behind human annotations and requires additional manual proof-reading. A major hindrance to further improvements is the limited field of view of the segmentation networks preventing them from exploiting the expected cell morphology or other prior biological knowledge which humans use to inform their segmentation decisions. In this contribution, we show how such domain-specific information can be leveraged by expressing it as long-range interactions in a graph partitioning problem known as the lifted multicut problem. Using this formulation, we demonstrate significant improvement in segmentation accuracy for three challenging EM segmentation problems from neuroscience and cell biology.


This study investigated the role of the Generalized System of Preference (GSP) from the EU on Thai exports and the implications of an EU FTA on trade and investment in Thailand. The findings indicated that Thai exporters did not maximize the use of the GSP as their exports under the system amounted to 63% of GSP eligible goods. The OLS regressions failed to observe any significant role the GSP had on Thai exports. From international experience, fixed and random effects models suggested that signing an FTA was not a significant determinant of exports to the EU and obtaining investments from the EU.


Abstract. Harrya is described as a new genus of Boletaceae to accommodate Boletus chromapes, a pink-capped bolete with a finely scabrous stipe adorned with pink scabers, a chrome yellow base and a reddish-brown spore deposit. Phylogenetic analyses of large-subunit rDNA and translation elongation factor 1α confirmed Harrya as a unique generic lineage with two species, one of which is newly described (H. atriceps). Some Chinese taxa were recently placed in a separate genus, Zangia, supported by both morphology and molecular data. Multiple accessions from Queensland, Australia, support the synonymy of at least three species in a separate Australian clade in the new genus, Australopilus. The truffle-like Royoungia is also supported as a separate lineage in this clade of boletes. Even though it lacks stipe characters, it possesses the deep, bright yellow to orange pigments in the peridium. Additional collections from Zambia and Thailand represent independent lineages of uncertain phylogenetic placement in the Chromapes complex, but sampling is insufficient for formal description of new species. Specimens from Java referable to Tylopilus pernanus appear to be a sister group of the Harrya lineage.


The results of investigations of spent moulding sands taken from the mould in which the metal core cooling system - to increase the cooling rate of the ladle casting - was applied, are presented in the hereby paper. The changes of the spent moulding sand at the casting external side being the result of degradation and destruction processes of organic binder, were analysed in this publication. Since the reclaimed material, obtained as a result of the mechanical reclamation of spent sands of the same type, is used as a grain matrix of the moulding sand, the amount of a binder left from the previous technological cycle is essential for the sound castings production. On the bases of investigations of the thermal analysis, ignition losses, dusts contents and pH values of the samples taken from the spent sand the conditions under which the process of gases displacing in the casting mould was realised as well as factors limiting the efficient mould degassing - were considered in this study. The possible reason of a periodical occurrence of an increased number of casting defects due to changing gas volume emission, being the reason of the realised technological process, was indicated.


This paper presents the integrated circuit design for a wireless bi-directional transmission micro-stimulator. This implantable device includes an internal RF front-end circuit, a control circuit, a stimulator, and an on-chip transmitter. The operation of this system is to receive a 2 MHz amplitude modulated signal generated by external circuits. This signal includes the power and data necessary for the whole internal circuit. Through the internal circuit, a stable DC voltage and digital data can be extracted to stimulate neuromuscular stimulation. Besides, the system can acquire biological sensing signals by means of an onchip transmitter. In this study, most of the integrated circuits for the implantable device have been verified by using Hspice simulations of a TSMC 0.25 /spl mu/m CMOS process technology implementation.


This study develops and empirically tests a model that links alternative strategic orientations with intellectual capital (IC) by mediating the effects of value-creating activities. Field visits and interviewbased questionnaires are used to collect data. A structural equation model is used to examine Taiwanese smalland medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China. Empirical results show that a resource-oriented strategy indirectly affects innovation capital by capitalizing on the manufacturing process and development of local innovation centers. Finally, innovation capital contributes to customer capital. Furthermore, a cause–effect relationship exists among market-orientation strategies, value-creation activities, and IC. Market-orientation strategies affect the cultivation of human resource, development of communication channels to customers, and establishment of localized social networks. The development of communication channels to customers and the establishment of localized social networks affect human capital, which in turn influences customer capital.


Take example for the Neural Networks Distinguishing Chemical Agents (NNDCA) model, the study and application about the multi-sensors information fusion (MSIF) technology is researched, the model of Naval Ships Chemical Detection (NSCD) system based on multi-sensors fusion is built, the basic method of the NNDCA is analyzed, and the realization idea of the NNDCA model is put forward. For fastness and accuracy and automation, connecting the wavelet analysis with the neural networks organically, the model of the NNDCA by the returning neural networks with deviation unit and the method of the feature extraction for the chemical agents based on the wavelet analysis are established. After analyzing and discussing the results a conclusion is drawn that it is a kind of valid method to realize the automation and intelligence of distinguishing chemical agents using the neural networks combined with the multi-sensors.


This paper reassesses the gains from trade for sub-Saharan Africa, and draws their implications for labour market adjustment and poverty reduction. It reviews previous studies on multilateral liberalization, focusing on the findings from computable general equilibrium (CGE) models with relevance to African economies. The implications of these findings for poverty reduction are discussed. Our own CGE exercise supports the hypothesis that African countries cannot expect substantial gains from further multilateral liberalization. Moreover, given the sharp contraction of import-competing sectors in response to trade liberalization in many African economies, coupled with insufficient compensation through labour market adjustments in other sectors, this study suggests that the ultimate impact on poverty reduction is likely to be small or even negative.


Abstract. This paper introduce a new method for validating the precision of an airborne or a mobile LiDAR data set. The proposed method is based on the knowledge of an a Combined Standard Measurement Uncertainty (CSMU) model which describes LiDAR point covariance matrix and thus uncertainty ellipsoid. The model we consider includes timing errors and most importantly the incidence of the LiDAR beam. After describing the relationship between the beam incidence and other variable uncertainty (especially attitude uncertainty), we show that we can construct a CSMU model giving the covariance of each oint as a function of the relative geometry between the LiDAR beam and the point normal. The validation method we propose consist in comparing the CSMU model (predictive a priori uncertainty) t the Standard Deviation Alog the Surface Normal (SDASN), for all set of quasi planr segments of the point cloud. Whenever the a posteriori (i.e; observed by the SDASN) level of uncertainty is greater than a priori (i.e; expected) level of uncertainty, the point fails the validation test. We illustrate this approach on a dataset acquired by a Microdrones mdLiDAR1000 system.


New air-stable ruthenium(II) complexes that contain the aryldiamine ligand [C6H3(CH2NMe2)2-2,6] - (NCN) are described. These complexes are [RuCl{ 2 -C,N-C6H3(CH2NMe2)22,6}( 6 -C10H14)] (2 ;C 10H14 ) p-cymene ) C6H4Me- i Pr-4), [Ru{ 2 -C,N-C6H3(CH2NMe2)2-2,6}( 5 C5H5)(PPh3)] (5), and their isomeric forms [RuCl{ 2 -C,N-C6H3(CH2NMe2)2-2,4}( 6 -C10H14)] (3) and [Ru{ 2 -C,N-C6H3(CH2NMe2)2-2,4}( 5 -C5H5)(PPh3)] (6), respectively. Complex 2 has been prepared from the reaction of [Li(NCN)]2 with [RuCl2( 6 -C10H14)]2, whereas complex 5 has been prepared by the treatment of [RuCl{ 3 -N,C,N-C6H3(CH2NMe2)2-2,6}(PPh3)] (4) with [Na(C5H5)]n. Both 2 and 5 are formally 18-electron ruthenium(II) complexes in which the monoanionic potentially tridentate coordinating ligand NCN is 2 -C,N-bonded. In solution (halocarbon solvent at room temperature or in aromatic solvents at elevated temperature), the intramolecular rearrangements of 2 and 5 afford complexes 3 and 6, respectively. This is a result of a shift of the metal-Caryl bond from position-1 to position-3 on the aromatic ring of the NCN ligand. The mechanism of the isomerization is proposed to involve a sequence of intramolecular oxidative addition and reductive elimination reactions of both aromatic and aliphatic C-H bonds. This is based on results from deuterium labeling, spectroscopic studies, and some kinetic experiments. The mechanism is proposed to contain fully reversible steps in the case of 5, but a nonreversible step involving oxidative addition of a methyl NCH2-H bond in the case of 2. The solid-state structures of complexes 2, 3, 5, and 6 have been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. A new dinuclear 1,4phenylene-bridged bisruthenium(II) complex, [1,4-{RuCl( 6 -C10H14)}2{C6(CH2NMe2)4-2,3,5,6C,N,C′,N′} ]( 9) has also been prepared from the dianionic ligand [C6(CH2NMe2)4-2,3,5,6] 2(C2N4). The C2N4 ligand is in an 2 -C,N- 2 -C′,N′-bis(bidentate) bonding mode. Compound 9 does not isomerize in solution (halocarbon solvent), presumably because of the absence of an accessible Caryl-H bond. Complex 9 could not be isolated in an analytically pure form, probably because of its high sensitivity to air and very low solubility, which precludes recrystallization.


Further progress in reducing biodiversity loss relies on the improved quantification of the connections between drivers of habitat loss and subsequent biodiversity impacts. To this end, biodiversity impact metrics should be able to report linked trends in specific human activities and changes in biodiversity state, accounting for both the ecology of different species and the cumulative effects of historical habitat losses. These characteristics are not currently captured within a single metric. Here, we develop a globally applicable methodological framework that uses freely and publicly available datasets to quantify the relative impacts of anthropogenic activities on biodiversity. We use species‐specific habitat suitability models to link specific land uses to ensuing changes in the likelihood that local populations of those species will persist. To illustrate our approach, we assess the impacts of soy expansion and other land uses within the Brazilian Cerrado on over 2,000 species of amphibians, birds, mammals and plants for three periods between 2000 and 2014. Our results showed that mammals and plants suffered the greatest overall reduction of suitable habitat. However, among endemic and near‐endemic species—which face greatest risk of global extinction from habitat conversion in the Cerrado—birds and mammals were the most affected groups. While conversion of natural vegetation to grassland and planted pastures were together responsible for most of the biodiversity impact of recent changes, soy expansion (via direct conversion of natural vegetation) had the greatest impact per unit area. The total biodiversity impact of recent land‐use change was concentrated in the southern states of the Cerrado—Minas Geráis, Goiás and Mato Grosso—but the impact on biodiversity of production of soy was greatest within the agricultural frontiers of Bahía and Piauí. The flexibility of our approach to examine linkages between biodiversity loss and specific human activities has clear potential to better characterize the pathways by which habitat loss drivers operate. Its capacity to incorporate species‐specific ecological needs, through a globally applicable methodology, can improve the tangibility of biodiversity loss assessments.


Background: The reason why Black and South Asian healthcare workers are at a higher risk for SARS-CoV- 2 infection remain unclear. We aimed to quantify the risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare staff who belong to the ethnic minority and elucidate pathways of infection. Methods: A one-year follow-up retrospective cohort study has been conducted among National Health Service employees who were working at 123 facilities in Lincolnshire, UK. Results: Overall, 13,366 professionals were included. SARS-CoV-2 incidence per person-year was 5.2% (95% CI: 3.6–7.6%) during the first COVID-19 wave (January–August 2020) and 17.2% (13.5–22.0%) during the second wave (September 2020–February 2021). Compared with White staff, Black and South Asian employees were at higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection during both the first wave (hazard ratio, HR 1.58 [0.91–2.75] and 1.69 [1.07–2.66], respectively) and the second wave (HR 2.09 [1.57–2.76] and 1.46 [1.24–1.71]). Higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection persisted even after controlling for age, sex, pay grade, residence environment, type of work, and time exposure at work. Higher adjusted risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection were also found among lower-paid health professionals. Conclusion: Black and South Asian health workers continue to be at higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection than their White counterparts. Urgent interventions are required to reduce SARS-CoV-2 infection in these ethnic groups.


ABSTRACT This article draws on a multi-phase study of collaboration in tertiary education programmes. This commenced with a survey of 111 students in Engineering and Creative Arts, contrasting their experiences of the teaching of collaboration in different faculties. This led to an iterative action research cycle, in which the conceptual boundaries that surrounded teachers' approaches to teaching collaboration were explored through qualitative interviews with teachers and observations of teaching practices. Within this article we discuss five specific threshold concepts that subsequently informed the design of the SALAM professional development programme for tertiary educators: enhancing explicit metacognition, scaffolding socialization, animating symmetry, animating pluralism, and embedding values. By bringing greater clarity to the graduate attribute of 'collaborative dexterity', we argue how these five threshold concepts present pedagogic responsibilities to teachers in Higher Education who are seeking to constructively align the teaching of collaborative dexterity with assessment procedures, teaching activities and course content.


CROHN'S DISEASE. killing infection wherever it may happen to occur" but to say that this proceeding' is a fundamental principle in the antiseptic method is utterly wrong and misleading to a harmful degree, because it obscures and turns attention away from what is the essence and only true idea of Listerism. This is nothing more or less than the provision of an outlet or means of evacuation for the wastage of contending forces with every precaution against interference from without. By this effective blockade (antiseptic) the invaders cannot possibly be reinforced while the besieged have no obstacle in the way of calling all the aid the full and plentiful resources of the body have at call. That these are powerful and could be relied upon is a fact that Lister was the first to proclaim. Yours, ete., Wickham House, A. C. F. HALFORD. Wickham Terrace, Brisbane. June 6, 1939.


Hydrogen adsorption and storage on nickelactivated, pure graphene and boron-doped graphene was study using density functional theory simulations based on generalized gradient approximation methods (DFT-GGA). It was found that the nickel atoms tend to clustering on the surface of pure graphene due to the high cohesive energy of nickel compared to the energy of nickel binding to the surface of pure graphene, which decrease the storage capacity of hydrogen. It was also found that the storage capacity of seven hydrogen molecules on pure and activated graphene with a nickel atom is equal to (10.2 wt.%) With an average binding energy (0.27 eV), and the storage capacity for the same number of hydrogen molecules is (11.3 wt.%) With an average binding energy (0.22 eV), This indicates that the adsorption process will take place at ambient conditions. The process of inoculating graphene-doped boron and nickel activating is an effective strategy for improving the average binding energies and the storage capacity of hydrogen molecules in the graphene nanostructures.


Production of molecular scale palladium (Pd) nanoparticles (NPs) is important due to their catalytic function in electrochemical oxidation of a number of core fuel molecules in fuel cells. Biogenic methods offer an economic and environmentally friendly synthesis route. In this work, the electrochemically active bacterium Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 is employed as a reducing agent to generate PdNPs as well as a support for the immobilization of the PdNPs. The synthesis was carried out at 28 °C and pH 7.0, and completed within one hour. The PdNPs are monodisperse (6.2 nm) and located on the bacterial membrane surface. Mapping by conductive atomic force microscopy shows that the presence of these PdNPs promotes electron transfer and enhances the electric conductivity of the cells. Compared to electrodeposited PdNPs, PdNPs generated by S. oneidensis MR-1 catalyze electrochemically the oxidation of formate with 200 mV less over-potential. Notably they show unique selective activity toward electrochemical oxidation of formate, whereas no electrochemical catalysis was found for oxidation of ethanol, methanol and acetate. This work demonstrates a sustainable and low-cost method for producing efficient PdNP catalysts with high catalytic selectivity.