BACKGROUND & AIMS
Transcriptional silencing of the p15(INK4b) tumor suppressor pathway overcomes cellular protection against unrestrained proliferation in cancer. Here we show a novel pathway involving the oncogenic transcription factor nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) c2 targeting a p15(INK4b)-mediated failsafe mechanism to promote pancreatic cancer tumor growth.

METHODS
Immunohistochemistry, real-time polymerase chain reaction, immunoblotting, and immunofluorescence microscopy were used for expression studies. Cancer growth was assessed in vitro by [(3)H]thymidine incorporation, colony formation assays, and in vivo using xenograft tumor models. Protein-protein interactions, promoter regulation, and local histone modifications were analyzed by immunoprecipitation, DNA pull-down, reporter, and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays.

RESULTS
Our study uncovered induction of NFATc2 in late-stage pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia lesions with increased expression in tumor cell nuclei of advanced cancers. In the nucleus, NFATc2 targets the p15(INK4b) promoter for inducible heterochromatin formation and silencing. NFATc2 binding to its cognate promoter site induces stepwise recruitment of the histone methyltransferase Suv39H1, causes local H3K9 trimethylation, and allows docking of heterochromatin protein HP1γ to the repressor complex. Conversely, inactivation of NFATc2 disrupts this repressor complex assembly and local heterochromatin formation, resulting in restoration of p15(INK4b) expression and inhibition of pancreatic cancer growth in vitro and in vivo.

CONCLUSIONS
Here we describe a novel mechanism for NFATc2-mediated gene regulation and identify a functional link among its repressor activity, the silencing of the suppressor pathway p15(INK4b), and its pancreatic cancer growth regulatory functions. Thus, we provide evidence that inactivation of oncogenic NFATc2 might be an attractive strategy in treatment of pancreatic cancer.


Background: Cardiac hypertrophy (CH) is the asymptomatic enlargement of ventricular walls witnessed in diabetes and hypertension, for which early metabolite differences and prediction are less stated previously. Aim: The aim of the study was (i) to understand the metabolic and ventricular events in diabetes and nondiabetes induced CH at the end of 2 weeks and (ii) to identify significant metabolite predictors and pathways that influence the seven metabolic and physiological responders of CH, namely, 3-hydroxybutyrate (3-HB); lactic acid; urea; and electrocardiography (ECG) waves (QRS complex, R amplitude, R-R interval, and heart rate). Methods: Diabetic rat models of CH using streptozotocin (40 mg/kg, i. p., single dose), and nondiabetic models using adrenaline (0.3 mg/kg, i. p, 2 weeks) were developed. Blood glucose levels, ECG, heart weight/body weight ratio, histopathological analysis, and serum metabolite analysis using gas chromatography mass spectrometry were performed at the end of 2 weeks. Strong metabolite predictors and pathways were identified using Pearson's correlation, multiple regression (MRA) and metabolite set enrichment (MSEA) analyses. Results: The prevalence of CH was observed through preliminary screenings at the end of 2 weeks. Galactose, leucine, erythrose, sorbitol, and valine were identified as significant (P < 0.05) predictors in SZ model, whereas isoleucine, galactose, leucine, inositol, and palmitic acid were identified in ADR model. However, galactose metabolism, branched-chain amino acid, and lactose degradation pathways were mapped as the highly influential apparent pathways during early CH remodeling in both the models. Conclusion: This study identified putative initial metabolite shifts, significant predictors pathways that can aid in forecasting, intervention, and prevention of CH.


The purpose of this paper is to describe a set of quantified temporal alethic-deontic systems, i.e., systems that combine temporal alethicdeontic logic with predicate logic. We consider three basic kinds of systems: constant, variable and constant and variable domain systems. These systems can be augmented by either necessary or contingent identity, and every system that includes identity can be combined with descriptors. All logics are described both semantically and proof theoretically. We use a kind of possible world semantics, inspired by the so-called T × W semantics, to characterize them semantically and semantic tableaux to characterize them proof theoretically. We also show that all systems are sound and complete with respect to their semantics.


Colloidal inclusions suspended in a bath of smaller particles experience an effective bath-mediated attraction at small intersurface separations, which is known as the depletion interaction. In an active bath of nonchiral self-propelled particles, the effective force changes from attraction to repulsion; an effect that is suppressed, when the active bath particles are chiral. Using Brownian Dynamics simulations, we study the effects of channel confinement and bath chirality on the effective forces and torques that are mediated between two inclusions that may be fixed within the channel or may be allowed to rotate freely as a rigid dimer around its center of mass. We show that the confinement has a strong effect on the effective interactions, depending on the orientation of the dimer relative to the channel walls. The active particle chirality leads to a force imbalance and, hence, a net torque on the inclusion dimer, which we investigate as a function of the bath chirality strength and the channel height.


SOMMARIO: 1. Il discorso del Santo Padre Francesco (Santa Sede in senso proprio) ai membri dell'Assemblea Generale dell'Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite - 2. La posizione della Santa Sede in senso lato e dei vertici della Chiesa italiana - 3. Odierne prospettive nella linea di lavoro politico - 4. La via africana sul debito - 5. Argentina e Fondo Monetario Internazionale (FMI).
Holy See and illegitimate debt. The path to the International Court of Justice (2015-2022)
ABSTRACT: This work offers a synthesis of the main steps of the process towards the International Court of Justice, accomplished over a seven-year period by the Holy See and the Cartel of jurists inspired by the Charter of Sant'Agata de' Goti – Declaration on Usury and International Debt (1997). The starting point is Holy Father Francis' speech at the United Nations General Assembly (New York, September 25, 2015), where the devastating deviations of speculative finance were condemned. Next, the points of convergence with the positions taken on the matter by the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) are described, as well as today's perspectives on debt and the International Court of Justice, in the line of political engagement, with regard to the Gentiloni government and the first Conte government. Completing the discussion is a report on what the author calls the African way on debt and an in-depth look at the differences from a recent wide-ranging initiative aimed at resolving the long-standing issue of the Argentine debt.


The two-dimensional (2D) communication is a novel physical form of communication that utilizes the surface as a communication medium to provide data communication and power supply services to the devices placed on top of it. In the previous works, we have developed 2D communication systems that allow the devices to simultaneously perform both data and power transmission wherever it is placed on the 2D sheet. Instead of spreading the microwave thoroughly in the thin 2D sheet, we can also concentrate it only on the place where the device is put, by adjusting the phase of the multiple input signals. To largely strengthen the efficiency of power supply in the 2D communication, in this paper, we build up an efficient power supply system by using phase control to converge the microwave on a specific area in the 2D sheet, and evaluate its performance by measuring the output power over the developed 2D communication system.


Recent advances in neural prosthetics have provided patients with the ability to use signals derived from motor areas of the cerebral cortex to directly control an external device under visually guided closed-loop control. To attain a more natural form of prosthesis control, it is desirable to develop systems capable of providing real-time somatosensory feedback as well as visual feedback, akin to how we naturally process sensory information to control our limbs. To this end, a sophisticated data acquisition, control and feedback system was developed for neural prosthetics and psychophysics research. The system deterministically collects and processes high volume neural ensemble activity, limb kinematics, and eye movements while generating visual stimuli in an immersive three-dimensional virtual reality (VR) environment. A vibrotactile feedback device was also developed and incorporated into the system. It delivers real-time limb kinematics feedback in the form of continuous, graded vibratory stimulation. A flexible and intuitive user interface allows the researcher to design experimental paradigms and adjust parameters on the fly during experiments. A psychophysical study was conducted using this system to evaluate the potential use of vibrotactile feedback as a sensory substitution method to provide somatosensory feedback for neural prosthesis control. The study also aimed to provide insight into the mechanisms of multimodal sensory processing and sensory-motor control. Able-bodied human subjects performed a trajectory-following reach task in the VR environment under different visual and vibrotactile feedback conditions. The study showed that vibrotactile feedback is capable of enhancing motor performance, implying that subjects were able to integrate and effectively use this new 'proprioceptive-like' sensory modality. Subjects were also able to partially maintain task performance using vibrotactile feedback in the absence of visual feedback. Improved motor learning and motor skill consolidation were also observed after training in the VR environment with vibrotactile feedback. These results suggest that vibrotactile feedback may be a viable method for delivering somatosensory feedback for applications such as neural prosthesis control, motor rehabilitation, and enhanced human-computer interaction.


Br J Sports Med 2012;46:143–149. doi:10.1136/bjsm.2010.075879 143 Accepted 14 December 2010 Published Online First 2 March 2011 ABSTRACT Objective To quantify and categorise medical workload from the 2009 Special Olympics GB (SOL GB) which involved 2500 athletes with learning disabilities across 21 different sports supported by nearly 9000 family members, volunteers and staff over a 7-day period. Design and participants Prospective survey of all medical contacts that took place at the 2009 SOL GB with subsequent analysis of consultation rates, medical problems and medical activity. Results 581 medical consultations occurred during the 2009 SOL GB, with 95% of these for athletes. The majority of the athlete consultations were for musculoskeletal disorders, followed by skin wound care. Most athletes were judged fi t to participate following their consultation. Conclusion A large multisport event for athletes with learning disabilities carries a signifi cant medical workload that has not been studied previously, with different sports having different individual risks and demands. The vast majority of consultations are for systemically well athletes that can be managed locally without necessity for hospital admission. This study identifi es the quantity and nature of medical consultations undertaken during this event in an attempt to inform planning for future events.


ABSTRACT Biocrystallization images are formed in reaction with foods; in the course of the evaporation of the water from food extracts in presence of copper chloride, crystalline structures are formed. The structures are known to reflect food quality, such as degree of decomposition. Individual expert evaluators have suggested that crystallization images of samples from organic production contain fewer signs of decomposition and that this feature can distinguish organic foods from their conventional counterparts. To further assess the scientific merits of this methodology, a panel of nine evaluators was trained in the visual assessment of biocrystallization images and asked to rank the visual Gestalt decomposition level of encoded images of wheat extracts from i) the same production system at five different decomposition stages and ii) organic production systems vs. conventional production systems aged for the same amount of time. The panel was trained by supervised classification on the basis of defined criteria and intra- and inter-personal variation was assessed. Statistical evaluation showed that the panel was highly reliable, and that the method was appropriate for ranking biocrystallization images of five different decomposition levels. Furthermore, images of samples from organic or conventional production systems could be distinguished with high agreement according to their Gestalt decomposition level with fewer signs of decomposition in the images of organic samples. The rank order between the organic systems vs. the conventional systems was significant.


ABSTRACT Question: Can landscape quality be evaluated and compared with a single numerical value using vegetation maps? Location: Northern Apennines (Italy), ca. 44° N, 10–11° E. Methods: Seven phytosociological vegetation maps (1 : 25 000), which correspond to man's different impact on mountain landscapes, were considered. Syntaxa were classified into five degrees of naturalness: urbanized, agricultural, semi-natural, sub-natural, and natural. Vegetation maps showing naturalness were derived in a vectorial GIS. The degrees of naturalness were ordered according to increasing naturalness. If ci is the cumulative relative value of every mapped area of the degrees of naturalness, the sum of these cumulative values A = Σ ci is is a measure of vegetation artificiality. Its maximum value is Amax = n – 1. The Index of Vegetation Naturalness IVN = 1 - A / Amax, ranging from 0 to 1. Our IVN is an extension of the ILC by Pizzolotto & Brandmayr (1996) due to the ordinal character of the vegetation classification into degrees of naturalness. The maps of vegetation naturalness were also analysed by two known metrics for the evaluation of landscape quality: TECI (Total Edge Contrast Index) and MSI (Mean Shape Index). Results: The case studies show that IVN is linearly correlated with decreasing area of urbanized and agricultural vegetation types as well as with increasing area of the highest degree of naturalness. Conclusions: IVN can be joined with the TECI for the evaluation of naturalness of landscapes. TECI can supply additional information about the importance of landscape ecotones. Our case studies suggest that an urbanized landscape should correspond to IVN values lower than 0.20. A natural landscape will have IVN values higher than 0.80. Nomenclature: Oberdorfer (1994) for plant communities, except for mixed oak woods (Ubaldi 1993).


ABSTRACT We investigate the phenomenon of solidarity cryptocurrencies by combining the societal and communitarian aspects of the traditional community currencies with the the blockchain architecture chosen in a cryptocurrency project. We classify and analyze 20 selected solidarity cryptocurrencies from different countries according to three critical aspects of solidarity cryptocurrencies: scale, territorial scope and price stability. Analysis of these aspects is critical to understand the solidarity cryptocurrency concept that connects the originally separated universes of traditional community currencies and cryptocurrencies. This paper contributes to explain the emergent solidarity cryptocurrencies phenomenon by describing particular types captured by our classification. The main findings about solidarity cryptocurrencies in this study are, first, the alignment between type of governance and the respective architecture platform; second, those with closed governance are more likely to be pegged on fiat currencies or other stable measures; third, those focused on local issues tend to have a higher level of adoption.


In this work, we propose a multi-view temporal video segmentation approach that employs a Gaussian scoring process for determining the best segmentation positions. By exploiting the semantic action information that the dense trajectories video description offers, this method can detect intra-shot actions as well, unlike shot boundary detection approaches. We compare the temporal segmentation results of the proposed method to both single-view and multi-view methods, and also compare the action recognition results obtained on ground truth video segments to the ones obtained on the proposed multi-view segments, on the IMPART multi-view action data set.


Previous research has highlighted the effects of receiving interpersonal touch on persuasion. In contrast, we examine initiating touch. Individuals instructed to touch engage in egocentric projection in which they project their own affective reaction onto their expectations for how the recipient will feel (i.e., empathic forecast), how they appear to the recipient (i.e., metaperception), and the evaluation of the interaction itself (i.e., interaction awkwardness). Touch initiators expect that recipients will feel worse with touch, express concern for how they, themselves, will be perceived, and think that interactions are more awkward. Interestingly, touch recipients do not evaluate these interactions more negatively and leave higher tips after having been touched; touch initiators do not expect this to be the case. As a result, instructed touch initiators (vs. volitional touch initiators) are less (more) likely to engage in subsequent interactions with customers, potentially undermining future service provided to customers. Across five studies, four of which involve actual dyadic interactions, we test the consequences of initiating touch with an inquiry into the effects of interpersonal touch on the initiator. We discuss theoretical and managerial implications.


Using polystyrene (PS) spheres as self-assembling templates, a series of natural gully-like TiO2–ZrO2 nanocomposites were prepared using instant centrifugation with one-step hydrolysis in combination with a vacuum and calcination post-processing method. XRD, UV-vis/DRS, XPS, SEM, and N2 adsorption–desorption measurements are employed to analyze and characterize the composition, structure, and morphology of the gully-like TiO2–ZrO2 composites. The results show that this series of TiO2–ZrO2 composite materials have an obvious gully structure, and the gully distribution is uniform. Imitating the formation process of natural ravines, the friction and adhesion between the PS spheres and the TiO2–ZrO2 nanoparticles could be changed by adjusting the reactant ratio. In the meantime, the water in the reaction system continuously flushes the formed loose cover, resulting in a cross-section or a fault with different shapes. Increasing the reaction time or accelerating the stirring speed can be beneficial for the formation of three-dimensional gully erosion, resulting in samples with different gully widths, which provides a new approach for the design of samples with controllable morphology. In this paper, the prepared gully-like TiO2–ZrO2 composites show a high specific surface area and a smaller band gap. We prepared a sample using titanium isopropoxide and n-butoxy polyethylene zirconium with the precursor volume ratio being about 1 : 0.25 (TZ 1 : 0.25), which shows excellent photocatalytic performance under UV light and simulated sunlight, and presents the ability to degrade organic pollutants with different structures. In addition, the cumulative H2 evolution quantity, which the sample (TZ 1 : 4) brings out via photocatalytic H2 evolution from water splitting under 8 h light irradiation, reaches 97.1 μmol g−1, indicating that the sample has the capacity of photocatalytic water splitting into hydrogen. Furthermore, a trapping experiment was performed, indicating that the active radicals ˙O2−, h+, and ˙OH− are responsible for the photocatalytic reaction, and the possible reaction mechanism of gully-like TiO2–ZrO2 in both photocatalytic degradation and photocatalytic H2 evolution from water splitting is also proposed.


Heat sterilization is still the best known method to sterilize all dental instruments. No compromise is acceptable. The use of the so-called cold sterilizing solutions is only palliative. Glutaraldehyde and chlorine compounds seem to possess some sterilizing properties, but these solutions are recognized as being toxic, allergenic and probably carcinogenic. The use of two (2) or more sterilizers may be the ideal method to sterilize the metal, plastic and rubber materials... There are many practical sterilization systems on the market today. An intensive evaluation of these systems is necessary before one is used in a dental office and subsequently an annual reevaluation is suggested. The regular use of physical, chemical and especially biological indicators is the only sure way to control the many failures associated with sterilizers. The choice of equipment is directly related to the total aseptic protocol to be implemented. The objective of this article is to review and clarify certain ideas and controversies associated with this subject matter.


Doping efficiency and thermal stability of intrinsic modulation doping in InP/InGaAs heterostructures, where intrinsic defects (PInantisites) are used as an electron source, are investigated. A high efficiency of the intrinsic doping is demonstrated from a comparison between the intrinsically doped and conventional extrinsically doped structures. The thermal stability of the intrinsically doped heterostructures is shown to be largely affected by the thermal stability of the InP surface.


As the fourth passive circuit component, a memristor is a nonlinear resistor that can "remember" the amount of charge passing through it. The characteristic of "remembering" the charge and non-volatility makes memristors great potential candidates in many fields. Nowadays, only a few groups have the ability to fabricate memristors, and most researchers study them by theoretic analysis and simulation. In this paper, we first analyse the theoretical base and characteristics of memristors, then use a simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis as our tool to simulate the theoretical model of memristors and change the parameters in the model to see the influence of each parameter on the characteristics. Our work supplies researchers engaged in memristor-based circuits with advice on how to choose the proper parameters.


Read more and get great! That's what the book enPDFd rydberg series in atoms and molecules will give for every reader to read this book. This is an on-line book provided in this website. Even this book becomes a choice of someone to read, many in the world also loves it so much. As what we talk, when you read more every page of this rydberg series in atoms and molecules, what you will obtain is something great.


A standard track gauge—the distance between the two rails—enables connecting railway lines to exchange traffic. But despite the benefits of standardization, early North American railways used six different gauges extensively, and even today breaks of gauge at national borders and within such countries as India and Australia are expensive burdens on commerce. In Tracks across Continents, Paths through History , Douglas J. Puffert offers a global history of railway track gauge, examining early choices and the dynamic process of diversity and standardization that resulted. Drawing on the economic theory of path dependence, and grounded in economic, technical, and institutional realities, this innovative volume traces how early historical events, and even idiosyncratic personalities, have affected choices of gauge ever since, despite changing technology and understandings of what gauge is optimal. Puffert also uses this history to develop new insights in the theory of path dependence. Tracks across Continents, Paths through History will be essential reading for anyone interested in how history and economics inform each other.


Transfer learning or multilingual model is essential for low-resource neural machine translation (NMT), but the applicability is limited to cognate languages by sharing their vocabularies. This paper shows effective techniques to transfer a pretrained NMT model to a new, unrelated language without shared vocabularies. We relieve the vocabulary mismatch by using cross-lingual word embedding, train a more language-agnostic encoder by injecting artificial noises, and generate synthetic data easily from the pretraining data without back-translation. Our methods do not require restructuring the vocabulary or retraining the model. We improve plain NMT transfer by up to +5.1% BLEU in five low-resource translation tasks, outperforming multilingual joint training by a large margin. We also provide extensive ablation studies on pretrained embedding, synthetic data, vocabulary size, and parameter freezing for a better understanding of NMT transfer.


Exact prediction of evapotranspiration is necessary for study, design and management of irrigation systems. In this research, the suitability of soft computing approaches namely, fuzzy rule base, fuzzy regression and artificial neural networks for estimation of daily evapotranspiration has been examined and the results are compared to real data measured by lysimeter on the basis of reference crop (grass). Using daily climatic data from Haji Abad station in Hormozgan, west of Iran, including maximum and minimum temperatures, maximum and minimum relative humidities, wind speed and sunny hours, evapotranspiration was predicted by soft computing methods. The predicted evapotranspiration values from fuzzy rule base, fuzzy linear regression and artificial neural networks show root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.75, 0.79 and 0.81 mm/day and coefficient of determination of (R2) of 0.90, 0.87 and 0.85, respectively. Therefore, fuzzy rule base approach was found to be the most appropriate method employed for estimating evapotranspiration.


One of the main challenges in NVH engineering today is not only finding effective methods of reducing noise and vibration from structures, but also the integration of these new methods into a manufacturing process. Acoustic black holes reduce amplitudes of resonant flexural vibrations by reducing edge reflections from structures' free edges via the use of wedges of power-law profile (one dimensional acoustic black holes) or tapered circular indentations of power-law profile (two-dimensional acoustic black holes). Such acoustic black holes can absorb a large proportion of the incident flexural wave energy. In this paper, the manufacturing of acoustic black holes for some practical applications is considered. The effect of geometrical and material imperfections associated with manufacturing on the performance of acoustic black holes is also investigated experimentally. These imperfections are: tip length and corrugations, edge truncations, etc. Also, the effects of commonly used joining techniques are considered. The reported results demonstrate that the effect of geometrical and material imperfections is not detrimental for the performance of the acoustic black holes. In spite of the presence of imperfections, they provide an effective damping of flexural vibrations, as well as an effective reduction of sound radiation from vibrating structures.


Isolated para-arotic lymph node recurrence of endometrial cancer occurs occasionally, but management of such patients has been controversial. The authors performed cytoreductive surgery in four patients with isolated para-aortic lymph node metastasis of recurrent endometrial cancer. They resected metastatic foci by laparoscopic method for three cases and by laparotomy for one case. After the surgery, three cases underwent radiation therapy and one case was given chemotherapy as adjuvant therapy. After the treatment for recurrence, progression-free interval was from 64 to 127 months and all cases had no evidence of disease. Cytoreductive surgery may improve prognosis of isolated para-aortic lymph node metastasis of recurrent endometrial cancer. As laparoscopic surgery is superior to laparotomy in terms of less invasiveness, further examinations will reveal that it is feasible for such an isolated lymph node recurrence situation.


Someone once said, "There is nothing new under the sun only new ways to do things." This could be the anthem of the agencies that produced the advertisements shown in this exciting new book. Perfume magazine ads not only tell the story of the brand, they are on the resumes of many of the world's most famous fine artists. The images shown here represent great perfume houses at the height of their marketing prowess: Guerlain, Schiaparelli, Caron, Lentheric, Hattie Carnegie, Lanvin, Houbigant, and more. To make their brands unforgettable they hired the most creative talents available, including Andy Warhol, Dugo, Vladimir Bobrtsy (aka bobri), and fabulous photographers like Irving Penn and Edward Jacobson. These talents artists thrived in the fast paced, very lucrative perfume industry. For the perfume bottle collector, advertising historian, and those active in graphic arts, this beautiful book has over 370 magnificent images, in full color, that are responsible for the sale of millions of dollars worth of fragrance through the years.


ABSTRACT Although foamy viruses (FVs) are endemic among nonhuman primates, FV infection among humans is rare. Recently, simian foamy virus (SFV) infection was reported in 4 of 231 individuals occupationally exposed to primates (1.8%). Secondary transmission to spouses has not been seen, suggesting that while FV is readily zoonotic, humans may represent dead-end hosts. Among different simian species, SFV demonstrates significant sequence diversity within the U3 region of the long terminal repeat (LTR) and 3′ accessory open reading frames (ORFs). To examine if persistent human SFV infection and apparent lack of secondary transmission are associated with genetic adaptations in FV regulatory regions, we conducted sequence analysis of the LTR, internal promoter, ORF-1, and ORF-2 on a tissue culture isolate and peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples from a human infected with SFV of African green monkey origin (SFV-3). Compared to the prototype SFV-3 sequence, the LTR, internal promoter, and FV transactivator (ORF-1) showed sequence conservation, suggesting that FV zoonosis is not dependent on host-specific adaptation to these transcriptionally important regions. However, ORF-2 contains a number of deleterious mutations predicted to result in premature termination of protein synthesis. ORF-2 codes in part for the 60-kDa Bet fusion protein, proposed to be involved in the establishment of persistent cellular SFV infections. These results suggest that persistent human infection by SFV and reduced transmissibility may be influenced by the absence of a functional ORF-2.


Aminoglycoside antibiotics are widely used for the treatment of life-threatening bacterial infections, but cause permanent hearing loss in a substantial proportion of treated patients. The sensory hair cells of the inner ear are damaged following entry of these antibiotics via the mechano-electrical transducer (MET) channels located at the tips of the hair cell's stereocilia. d-Tubocurarine (dTC) is a MET channel blocker that reduces the loading of gentamicin-Texas Red (GTTR) into rat cochlear hair cells and protects them from gentamicin treatment. Berbamine is a structurally related alkaloid that reduces GTTR labeling of zebrafish lateral-line hair cells and protects them from aminoglycoside-induced cell death. Both compounds are thought to reduce aminoglycoside entry into hair cells through the MET channels. Here we show that dTC (≥6.25 μM) or berbamine (≥1.55 μM) protect zebrafish hair cells in vivo from neomycin (6.25 μM, 1 h). Protection of zebrafish hair cells against gentamicin (10 μM, 6 h) was provided by ≥25 μM dTC or ≥12.5 μM berbamine. Hair cells in mouse cochlear cultures are protected from longer-term exposure to gentamicin (5 μM, 48 h) by 20 μM berbamine or 25 μM dTC. Berbamine is, however, highly toxic to mouse cochlear hair cells at higher concentrations (≥30 μM) whilst dTC is not. The absence of toxicity in the zebrafish assays prompts caution in extrapolating results from zebrafish neuromasts to mammalian cochlear hair cells. MET current recordings from mouse outer hair cells (OHCs) show that both compounds are permeant open-channel blockers, rapidly and reversibly blocking the MET channel with half-blocking concentrations of 2.2 μM (dTC) and 2.8 μM (berbamine) in the presence of 1.3 mM Ca2+ at −104 mV. Berbamine, but not dTC, also blocks the hair cell's basolateral K+ current, IK,neo, and modeling studies indicate that berbamine permeates the MET channel more readily than dTC. These studies reveal key properties of MET-channel blockers required for the future design of successful otoprotectants.


In the title compound, C16H15N3O4, the dihedral angle between the chromane and isoxazole rings [r.m.s. deviations = 0.042 and 0.007 Å, respectively] is 20.33 (12)°. The molecular geometry is stabilized by an intramolecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bond. In the crystal, N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds generate chains along the c-axis direction. The crystal studied was a non-morohedral twin.


: Two neonates with colon atresia and one with colon stenosis presented in Harare over a six month period. The first patient was treated with a local resection and primary anastomosis for a type II colon atresia. The second had an excision of obstructing septum, widening coloplasty and cecostomy for a type I colon atresia. The third patient had a sigmoido-rectoplasty and cecostomy for a sigmoid colon stenosis. The third patient also had a cystic duplication of the small bowel. No other anomalies were noted. All three patients survived and were developing normally at six months post-operatively. A review of medical records at Harare and Parirenyatwa Hospitals revealed no other case of colon atresia in the last 10 years. The incidence by site of gastro-intestinal atresias in Zimbabwe is consistent with other reports.


Force curves collected using an atomic force microscope (AFM) in the presence of adsorbed surfactants are often used to draw conclusions about adsorbed film packing, rigidity, and thickness. However, some noteworthy features of such force curve characteristics have yet to be thoroughly investigated and explained. In this work, we collected force curves from tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide films adsorbed on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG), silica, and silica that had been hydrophobized by functionalization with dichlorodimethyl silane. Breakthrough events in the force curves from several different trials were compared to show that the breakthrough distance, often reported as the adsorbed film thickness, increased with concentration below the critical micelle concentration (CMC) but was approximately 3.5 nm on all surfaces between 2× and 10× CMC; an unexpected result because of the different surface chemistries for the three surfaces. We employed an AFM probe with a different force constant ( k) value as well as a colloidal probe and the breakthrough distance remained approximately 3.5 nm in all cases. Gradient mapping, a variant of force mapping, was also implemented on the three surfaces and resulted in a new technique for visualizing adsorbed surfactant in situ. The resulting maps showed patches of adsorbed surfactant below the CMC and revealed that with increasing concentration, the size of the patches increased resulting in full coverage near and above the CMC. These results are, to our knowledge, the first time force mapping has been used to spatially track patches of adsorbed surfactant. Finally, layers of surfactants on an AFM tip were investigated by collecting a force map on a single AFM tip using the tip of a separate AFM probe. A breakthrough event was observed between the tips, indicating that a layer of surfactant was present on at least one, if not both tips.


La Louve du Capitole. Par J. CARCOPINO. Pp. 90; 5 plates. Paris: " Les Belles Lettres," 1925. IN this pretty brochure, issued for the Association Guillaume Bude, M. Carcopino speaks with authority and persuasiveness so long as he is describing and criticising the famous monument which forms his subject. It is good late Ionian work, probably of the fifth century B.C.; and although the Twins who at present reach up to the She-Wolf's dugs are certainly of the Renaissance, and pretty certainly added between 1471 and 1509, the attitude of the beast so suggests defence of her young against some threatening danger that it is quite likely that similar figures were there in antiquity. Moreover, the reasons for identifying it with the group which we know to have been struck by lightning in B.C. 65 are so strong that we have a further reason for supposing that little gilded human figures originally sat or crouched under it. It is represented on no coin or other monument, probably lying hid in afauissa till about the tenth century A.D., and thus escaping the destruction which overtook the yet more famous monument of the Ogulnii and the wolf in the Lupercal. (By the way, why is M. Carcopino so sure that these figures must have perished, the elder at the hands of the Gauls, who certainly left parts of the Forum region unburned [see T. Frank, Roman Buildings of the Republic, p. 63], the later by the iconoclasm of the Christians, who were not particularly apt to destroy historic figures other than cult-statues ?) When, however, the author proceeds to reconstruct the genesis of the legend, he but replaces one fable by another. There may be, as he says, flaws in the orthodox theory that Romulus and Remus are simply Tyro's twins renamed; but the reconstructed history, derived from Pais, on which his account is based, is purely legendary, and has not the interest of antiquity. But a few fantastic pages towards the end do not suffice to spoil this excellent little work, which all students of Roman antiquity and ancient art should read. H. J. ROSE.


Background Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a common cause of cirrhosis, leading to increased morbidity and mortality. Treatment of the underlying etiology has been shown to improve fibrosis and cirrhosis. Aim We sought to evaluate the impact of a sustained virologic response on liver chemistries, model for end stage liver disease (MELD) score, Child–Pugh–Turcotte score (CPT), and fibrosis 4 score (FIB4) in patients with liver cirrhosis secondary to HCV with portal hypertension, with or without decompensation. Methods Patients with HCV seen in our transplant clinic between June 2013 and September 2015 were identified using ICD-9 code 573.3. Charts were reviewed retrospectively. Results We collected data from 92 patients with a mean pretreatment MELD score of 9.16±2.98. The most common genotype was Ia, n=79 (86%). The mean duration of follow-up was 7.52±2.25 months. Transaminitis improved significantly at follow-up versus pretreatment [mean aspartate transaminase from 81.2±62.9 to 32.4±12.0 (P<0.0001); alanine transaminase 74.7±77.8 to 27.7±19.4 (P<0.0001)]. Albumin, bilirubin, and &agr;-fetoprotein improved significantly. MELD scores improved in patients with pretreatment scores greater than 10 (P<0.0003), but not in patients with pretreatment scores less than 10 (P=0.501). The CPT score decreased from 6.1±0.9 to 5.8±0.9 (P<0.0024). The FIB4 score improved significantly in patients with baseline FIB4 more than 3.24, but not with higher baseline FIB4. Conclusion Use of direct antivirals in patients with decompensated cirrhosis because of HCV leads to improved MELD, FIB4, and CPT scores.


The bandwidth and speed of network connections are continually increasing. The speed increase in network technology is set to soon outpace the speed increase in CMOS technology. This asymmetrical growth is beginning to causing software applications that once worked with then current levels of network traffic to flounder under the new high data rates. Processes that were once executed in software now have to be executed, partially if not wholly in hardware. One such application that could benefit from hardware implementation is high layer routing. By allowing a network device to peer into higher layers of the OSI model, the device can scan for viruses, provide higher quality-of-service (QoS), and efficiently route packets. This thesis proposes an architecture for a device that will utilize hardware-level string matching to distribute incoming requests for a server farm. The proposed architecture is implemented in VHDL, synthesized, and laid out on an Altera FPGA.


End-to-end (E2E) automatic speech recognition (ASR) that directly maps a sequence of speech features into a sequence of characters using a single neural network has received a lot of attention as it greatly simplifies the training and decoding pipelines and enables optimizing the whole system E2E. Recently, such systems have been extended to recognize speech mixtures by inserting a speech separation mechanism into the neural network, allowing to output recognition results for each speaker in the mixture. However, speech separation suffers from a global permutation ambiguity issue, i.e. arbitrary mapping between source speakers and outputs. We argue that this ambiguity would seriously limit the practical use of E2E separation systems. SpeakerBeam has been proposed as an alternative to speech separation to mitigate the global permutation ambiguity. SpeakerBeam aims at extracting only a target speaker in a mixture based on his/her speech characteristics, thus avoiding the global permutation problem. In this paper, we combine SpeakerBeam and an E2E ASR system to allow E2E training of a target speech recognition system. We show promising target speech recognition results in mixtures of two speakers, and discuss interesting properties of the proposed system in terms of speech enhancement and diarization ability.


The implications of the recent institutional crisis in the EU provoked by the failure of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) to impose the sanctions on Germany and France provided for in the Stability and Growth Pact are the subject of this Working Document. The paper situates the debate concerning the application of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) in a broader evolution of the struggle between two schools of thought concerning macroeconomic policy-making in the EU: the school calling for a strengthening of competences at the EU level (federal economic government) and the school arguing for preserving national competences for budgetary policy even in the face of the transfer of competence for monetary policy to the European Central Bank (ECB). The paper argues that the SGP is an acceptable comprise between the two schools in so far as it establishes rules to be respected without actually transferring competence to the Council in the field of budgetary policy. Consequently, the SGP has not and does not add to the 'democratic deficit' within the EU institutional framework. The paper argues, nevertheless, that the excessive deficit procedure (EDP) puts too strong an emphasis on the government budget deficit and suggests that emphasis on the sustainable level of public debt would ensure a stronger basis for assessing whether a given budget deficit may be considered excessive or not.


This study focuses on principal professional development in one school system in the United States to support a performance culture. With the leadership of the superintendent and central office leaders, principal learning communities were established to foster shared learning and professional development that enhanced their roles as lead learners in their buildings. Three primary themes emerged from the research: Beliefs Matter Only if Growth Matters, Transformational Professional Development Builds a Performance Culture, and Effective Professional Development Provides Safe Landing Change. The themes support that leading is learning. The implications of the research lie primarily in the realm of practice.


Influenza viruses are major human pathogens with a global distribution, accounting for more than 500,000 annual deaths worldwide and with considerable impact on the quality of life and productivity of the society. Due to the limited efficacy of vaccination, antiviral drugs constitute a complementary approach in the control and prevention of influenza infections and thus play an important role in the management of influenza outbreaks and pandemics. Currently, adamantanes and neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs) are the only two classes of anti-influenza agents approved for clinical use. However, the worldwide emergence and high prevalence of adamantane-resistant virus variants has discouraged the use of the former drugs. NAIs have proved to be very effective against influenza A and B viruses. Nevertheless, oseltamivir-resistant strains have also been reported quite frequently, as in the case of seasonal H1N1 viruses that circulated between 2007 and 2009. Indeed, the emergence of drug-resistant virus variants is always a matter of concern because it could significantly compromise the usefulness of such intervention. This highlights the need for continuous monitoring of resistance markers, as well as the development of new anti-influenza drugs and combination therapies.


This collection brings together Daniel Bell's best work in essay form. It deals with a variety of topics: technology and culture, religion and personal identity, intellectuals and their societies, and the uses and abuses of doctrines of social class. The Winding Passage demonstrates the author's continuing concern with the salient issues of our times, while its inspiration draws upon an older, humanistic sociological tradition. In a central essay on intellectuals, Bell examines the term new class and calls it a muddle. Though the idea of class has been relevant to Western industrial society for the past two hundred years, the concept is less useful for examining Communist states, the Third World, and even the emerging postindustrial sectors of the West. Bell seeks to establish the idea of situs, the competitive conflict of functional groups for shares in the state budgetary process. A more personal note is struck in the final section of the book. In reflecting on the nature of intellectual life, the special role of the Jewish intellectual, and the tension between the claims of the parochial and the universal, Bell uses as a general framework antinomianism, the claims of individual conscience against authority, law, and established institutions. And in a final statement, "The Return of the Sacred," Bell explores the enlightenment belief in the dissolution of religion and attempts to show why it was wrong. This is a must book for those concerned with the sociology of knowledge, intellectual history, and social stratification. Speaking of The Winding Passage, Seymour Martin Lipset called the book "sociological analysis at its best" Irving Howe noted that "Bell is always worth listening to. He is a true intellectual." And Irving Louis Horowitz, in his review of the book, calls it "the sifted excellence of a civilized and urbane intellectual.


Delay-dependent H2/H∞ control is studied for a class of switched T-S fuzzy systems. The sufficient condition for delay-dependent asymptotical stability H2 and H∞ and performance of the closed-loop switched T-S fuzzy system are derived. Meanwhile, a switching law and fuzzy controller are designed respectively. Moreover, an optimal problem corresponding with time-delay is provided, and an upper bound of time-delay which ensures the system asymptotically stable is obtained using employing MatLab LMI toolbox. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by a numerical example.


Tripyrrole molecules have received renewed attention due to reports of numerous biological activities, including antifungal, antibacterial, antiprotozoal, antimalarial, immunosuppressive, and anticancer activities. In a screen of bacterial strains with known toxicities to termites, a red pigment-producing strain, HDZK-BYSB107, was isolated from Chamaecyparis lawsoniana, which grows in Oregon, USA. Strain HDZK-BYSB107 was identified as Serratia marcescens subsp. lawsoniana. The red pigment was identified as prodigiosin using ultraviolet absorption, LC-MS, and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. The bacterial prodigiosin had an inhibitory effect on both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. The main objective of this study was to explore the anticancer activities and mechanism of strain HDZK-BYSB107 prodigiosin by using human choriocarcinoma (JEG3) and prostate cancer cell lines (PC3) in vitro and JEG3 and PC3 tumor-bearing nude mice in vivo. In vitro anticancer activities showed that the bacterial prodigiosin induced apoptosis in JEG3 cells. In vivo anticancer activities indicated that the prodigiosin significantly inhibited the growth of JEG3 and PC3 cells, and the inhibitory activity was dose and time dependent. The anticancer efficacy of the bacterial prodigiosin on JEG3 and PC3 cells, JEG3 and PC3 tumor exhibited a correlation with the down regulation of the inhibitor of IAP family, including XIAP, cIAP-1 and cIAP-2, and the activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3 accompanied by proteolytic degradation of poly (ADP-ribose)-polymerase. The expressions of P53 and Bax/Bcl-2 in JEG3 and PC3 cells were significantly higher than in untreated groups. Our results indicated that the bacterial prodigiosin extracted from C. lawsoniana is a promising molecule due to its potential for therapeutic applications.


Angiotensin II type 1 (AT(1)) receptors are located on pressor neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla, and their activation results in an increase in arterial pressure. However, the normal role of these AT(1) receptors in cardiovascular regulation is unknown. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that these receptors mediate synaptic excitation of rostral ventrolateral medullary pressor neurons in response to activation of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus. In anesthetized rats, microinjections of the gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor antagonist bicuculline were made into the paraventricular nucleus; this injection causes activation of the nucleus as a consequence of disinhibition. The pressor and sympathoexcitatory responses evoked by paraventricular nucleus activation were significantly reduced (by approximately 40% to 50%) after microinjection of the specific AT(1) receptor antagonists losartan or L-158,809 into the rostral ventrolateral medulla on the ipsilateral, but not contralateral, side. These responses were reduced to a similar degree after microinjections of the neuroinhibitory compound muscimol into the ipsilateral, but not contralateral, rostral ventrolateral medulla. However, bilateral microinjections of the glutamate receptor antagonist kynurenic acid into the rostral ventrolateral medulla had no effect on the responses evoked from the paraventricular nucleus. Conversely, bilateral microinjections of kynurenic acid into the rostral ventrolateral medulla virtually abolished the somatosympathoexcitatory reflex, whereas bilateral microinjections of losartan or L-158,809 had no effect on this reflex. The results indicate that excitatory synaptic inputs to pressor neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla arising from activation of the paraventricular nucleus are mediated predominantly by AT(1) receptors.


Abstract The present study wishes to highlight the effects of some physical training means within the preparatory phase on specific endurance-speed combined motor ability in lower limbs, in Qwan Ki Do martial art. We started from the hypothesis that using an efficient planning and adequate means it is possible to improve the combined motor ability in lower limbs, with positive effects on athletes' efficiency. The experiment was performed over 5 weeks. In the study were included 11 male (group 1) and 8 female (group 2) elite athletes from the Romanian Qwan Ki Do national team. The team was in the preparatory phase for participating in European Championships. The means used for the experiment included long runs with constant tempo, Fartlek runs, intermittent long, medium, and short runs and also general and specific force–endurance and endurance–speed circuits. The results reveal a general significant progress in tests in both groups, suggesting that an adequate programme could conduct to the improvement of specific endurance-speed combination in lower limbs, which may represent an important support in athletes' physical training.


Introduction
 Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (WB-MRI), including multiplanar multisequence technique with diffusion weighted images, is a novel imaging technique being evaluated for patients with multiple myeloma (MM). WB-MRI is ideal for this population due to its high sensitivity for bone marrow signal changes and full anatomic coverage from vertex to mid-thighs. It is well established that patients with unequivocal focal lesions on MRI have worse outcomes. Currently the IMWG recommends that all patients with smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM) undergo WB-MRI (or whole spine MRI if WB-MRI is not available) to rule out two or more focal lesions which would classify the patient as having symptomatic myeloma requiring treatment. There is a clear benefit of using MRI for the detection of early focal myeloma lesions however less is known about findings in the SMM population. Detection of subtle findings such as one small focal lesion or heterogeneous bone marrow in WB-MRI has unknown clinical significance that needs to be further evaluated. This study aimed to evaluate the sensitivity of WB-MRI compared to other highly sensitive functional imaging modalities in patients with SMM both at baseline and after treatment.
 Methods
 Imaging of patients with WB-MRI performed at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center Myeloma Program were reviewed and compared to whole spine MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT completed at the same timepoint. The majority of patients were being evaluated for enrollment on clinical trials. Patients had undergone a WB-MRI with a 3-Tesla system either as a baseline study, after completion of induction treatment, or during follow up determined by the time DWI became available at our institution. The imaging protocol included sagittalT1 weighted (W) and Short tau inversion recovery (STIR) for spine and coronal, axial T1W and axial T2 TSE pulse sequences. The functional component included diffusion weighted imaging in the axial plane (b=0 and 900sec/mm2). Radiological interpretation was performed by two readers using myeloma response assessment and diagnosis system (My-RADS) {Messiou, 2019 #340}. WB-MRIs were categorized as positive if focal lesions or diffuse/heterogenous pattern of bone marrow infiltration were present. Similarly, 18F-FDG PET/CTs and whole spine MRIs were classified as positive if focal lesions or diffuse/heterogenous pattern of bone marrow were present.
 Results
 A total of 34 patients with SMM and 5 patients with relapsed refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) had sequential WB-MRI and 18F-FDG PET/CT. Figure 1 summarizes the radiological data of the SMM population. Eleven of these patients had PET/CT, whole spine MRI, and WB-MRI at baseline. Twenty-five patients had PET/CT and WB-MRI completed after at least 8 cycles of treatment. Thirteen patients had consistently negative imaging at baseline, 7 of which also had negative imaging after treatment, while 2 patients were found to have new lesions seen on WB-MRI after treatment. Six patients had resolution of positive imaging seen at baseline after treatment. Among the 17 patients with a positive WB-MRI, 12 (71%; 95% CI 47% - 87%) had a negative correlating PET/CT. Among 5 patients with positive PET/CT at the same time point as a WB-MRI, only 1 (20%; 95% CI 2% - 64%) correlated to a negative WB-MRI. Figure 2 depicts findings from patients with RRMM for comparison. All imaging modalities showed multiple focal findings in all 5 patients.
 Conclusions
 This study depicts the high sensitivity of WB-MRI in the SMM population. Such a high sensitivity is especially needed in SMM and early myeloma when disease burden is lower and the decision for treatment is being considered. In comparison to the RRMM population where all three imaging modalities easily detect multiple focal lesions, WB-MRI tends to identify myeloma involvement in the SMM patients more than the other imaging techniques. This suggests the importance of utilizing WB-MRI when diagnosing SMM. In the SMM population, the prognostic significance of lesions that are discrepant between MRI and FDG PET/CT is not yet known. Further follow up is needed to evaluate any difference in hard endpoints such as progression free survival between patients with positive findings described by WB-MRI.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Tactical edge networks represent a uniquely challenging environment from the communications perspective, due to their limited bandwidth and high node mobility. Several middleware communication solutions have been proposed to address those issues, adopting an evolutionary design approach that requires facing quite a few complications to provide applications with a suited network programming model while building on top of the TCP/IP stack. Information Centric Networking (ICN), instead, represents a revolutionary, clean slate approach that aims at replacing the entire TCP/IP stack with a new communication paradigm, better suited to cope with fluctuating channel conditions and network disruptions. This paper, stemmed from research conducted within NATO IST-161 RTG, investigates the effectiveness of Named Data Networking (NDN), the de facto standard implementation of ICN, in the context of tactical edge networks and its potential for adoption. We evaluated an NDN-based Blue Force Tracking (BFT) dissemination application within the Anglova scenario emulation environment, and found that NDN obtained better-than-expected results in terms of delivery ratio and latency, at the expense of a relatively high bandwidth consumption.


Gemini Observatory plans to revitalize its AO facility at Gemini North for the benefit of the US and international user community, including a funded MCAO system now in development. Our Strategic Plan calls for the development of a GLAO system enabled by an Adaptive Secondary Mirror. We discuss our plans, progress, and funding outlook.


Software bugs and vulnerabilities cause serious problems to both home users and the Internet infrastructure, limiting the availability of Internet services, causing loss of data, and reducing system integrity. Software self-healing using rescue points (RPs) is a known mechanism for recovering from unforeseen errors. However, applying it on multitier architectures can be problematic because certain actions, like transmitting data over the network, cannot be undone. We propose cascading rescue points (CRPs) to address the state inconsistency issues that can arise when using traditional RPs to recover from errors in interconnected applications. With CRPs, when an application executing within a RP transmits data, the remote peer is notified to also perform a checkpoint, so the communicating entities checkpoint in a coordinated, but loosely coupled way. Notifications are also sent when RPs successfully complete execution, and when recovery is initiated, so that the appropriate action is performed by remote parties. We developed a tool that implements CRPs by dynamically instrumenting binaries and transparently injecting notifications in the already established TCP channels between applications. We tested our tool with various applications, including the MySQL and Apache servers, and show that it allows them to successfully recover from errors, while incurring moderate overhead between 4.54% and 71.56%.


Integration of passive components into electronic packaging will lead to further structural miniaturization, performance and reliability improvements, as well as cost reduction in the microelectronics industry. To replace the discrete capacitors currently employed in packages with the embedded ones, suitable dielectric materials and thin film processes compatible with the PWB technology are desired. Toward this end, we have been investigating a thin film technology based on barium titanate (BaTiO/sub 3/)/epoxy composites, whose advantages in terms of processability, low processing temperature, and versatility make it quite promising. In this process, the homogeneous dispersion of fine-grained barium titanate into the epoxy matrix was achieved through the surface functionalization of the ceramic powders with a silane coupling agent. Particulate coatings were formulated using the functionalized barium titanate powders, bisphenol A epoxy resin, dicyandiamide, and 2-methylimidazole in an organic solvent. The composite dielectric thin layers were processed on Cu substrates by spinor dip-coating followed by curing at 175/spl deg/C. Electrical measurements on these capacitors demonstrate that, for composite dielectric films containing 60 vol% of barium titanate, a dielectric constant of about 40 at 1 kHz and low loss factors of less than 0.035 over a wide frequency region have been obtained.


For short-term investments in equity markets, investors use price points, candlestick patterns, moving averages, support and resistance levels, trendlines, price patterns, relative strength index, and moving average convergence-divergence as reference(s) for making decisions. This study investigates whether investors use daily price extremes (highest and lowest prices for the day) for making short-term investments or trading decisions in the context of the Indian equity market. Using 6,902 observations of daily data of the NIFTY 50 index since its launch, it is observed that daily price extremes (high or low) have no impact on opening returns of the next trading day. Based on the dummy regression analysis, next-day opening returns were found to be statistically significant, which implies the presence of momentum behavior. However, insignificant coefficients for high or low-price extremes of the day mean that investors do not use them as an anchor or reference point for decisions. Results are consistent over time and robust to the rising or falling markets. Further, opening returns were seen to be more volatile than closing returns in the first half of the sample, and they are less volatile in the second half, implying that markets have become more efficient in the last few years.


This study examined the perspectives of three experienced new teachers during their first three months in their new schools. Research was conducted using the method of portraiture—a qualitative method that allows the researcher to create first-person narratives that attempt to portray the essence of a study's participants. The findings of this study revealed that the participants encountered many struggles as experienced new teachers. They expressed concerns about the induction program, the hiring process, learning their new curricula, obtaining materials and teaching supplies, as well as "fitting in." In addition, four underlying themes that seemed to determine these three teachers' levels of satisfaction emerged: the number of previous years spent teaching, the quality of previous teaching experiences, the presence of preconceived ideas about the new school, and the personality of the individual teacher. Implications for further research and for school administrators and colleagues were suggested.


This study explores the effect of four public communication attributes and macroeconomic news surprises on the conditional mean, volatility, and the jump components of the euro-dollar, pound-dollar, and yen-dollar foreign exchange rates from November 1, 2004 to February 28, 2015. We extract key attributes from central bank senior official speeches and examine their impact on currencies. We show that price diffusion components respond differently to such attributes across economic states. In addition, volatility exhibits the highest response to the four attributes during the US crisis compared to return and jump components. We find that even though the central bank chairman position has significant impact in general on the price diffusion components, some chairmen have no effect. Yet, the name and personality of the central bank officials matter for the foreign exchange market. We also find that the market fluctuates significantly to speeches related to Economy, Monetary, Interest rate and Real Estate Market during the US crisis. Additionally, central banks play important roles in influencing the market. ECB has a significant effect on returns across all three currencies during the US crisis and plays an important role by affecting the volatility during all periods. Moreover, the central bank chairman can generate greater market reaction than the other positions as it consistently increases the volatility across our sample.


A positive teacher-student relationship has for long been considered, a developmental asset for children from kindergarten to high school (Birch & Ladd, 1997). Such a relationship is usually characterised by less conflict and increased understanding between both. Students who enjoy a supportive relationship with their teachers, achieve at higher levels and are better accepted by classmates (Ladd et al., 1999). The purpose of the present study was to understand the role of self-fulfilling prophecies in the field of education. Self-fulfilling prophecies are an integral aspect of teacher-student interactions. The participants for the study included ten teachers and ten students from grades 8 to 10. Data was collected using semi-structured, in-depth interviews, to explore how teachers perceived their expectations, predictions, labels, and comments to have self-fulfilling prophecy effects on students and, how students believe it impacts various aspects of their school life. The data obtained was analysed using thematic analysis. The findings of the study indicated that teachers' expectations, predictions, labels, and comments are influenced by several key classroom factors and have a significant impact on the personal, social, psychological, and academic facets of a student's life.


The human body, even at rest, needs energy to perform necessary physiological functions. Strict conditions are required for measuring basal metabolic rate (BMR). Many factors that have a direct impact on BMR including the condition of autonomic nervous. All living systems are affected by external and internal environments. One factor in the external environment is the Earth's magnetic field, which fluctuates over a wide frequency range. A series of studies indicate that low frequency magnetic fields can affect cellular mitochondrial activity and impacts every cell's metabolism. Information on gas metabolism during respiration was obtained by indirect calorimetry using a system where the gas flow was continuously analyzed. Time varying local Earth magnetic field data were recorded at a magnetometer site located in Lithuania using 2 induction coil magnetometers. For all magnetic field data, power spectral density PSD was calculated for every hour (fast Fourier transformation) in the band between 0.32 to 36 Hz. Investigations of metabolic rate were performed in Lithuanian during 2016-2020 years. We assessed 395 persons: 116 men and 279 women. Conclusions: 1) Oxygen consumption has significant negative correlation with local geomagnetic field activity; 2) Metabolic rate decreases with increases in local geomagnetic time varying field power; 3) Measured metabolic rate decreases with increase of local geomagnetic field power.


textabstractTerms like 'human security' try to catch the attention of an audience and to catch the user's own attention; in other words they aim to stimulate and motivate. Having caught attention they try to organize it: they link to a perspective, a direction for and way of looking. Having caught and organized attention, they aspire to influence or even to organize activity: they provide frames for work. Such terms and the frameworks that they mark seem though to often come and quickly go, to rapidly rise and fall in international usage. A few terms become established but in the process often change or lose meaning. How important, persuasive and durable is a 'human security' framework likely to be?

I will suggest, firstly, that a human security perspective promotes some necessary prerequisites for serious discussion of issues in global ethics. Prior to entry into any of the detailed debates in global ethics come a series of related choices about how we see ourselves and the world. First, how far do we see shared interests between people, thanks to a perception of causal interdependence, so that appeals to self-interest are also appeals to mutual interest. Second, how far do we value other people's interests, so that appeals to sympathy can be influential due to interconnections in emotion. Third, how far do we see ourselves and others as members of a common humanity or as members of a national or other limited social community or as pure individuals: is our prime self-identification as interconnected or separate beings? This prior set of perspectives determines our response to proposed reasoning about ethics and justice. Adoption of a human security perspective can influence, even reconfigure, how we see ourselves and others and our interconnectedness, and thereby reconfigure how we think about both ethics and security.

Secondly, with specific reference to issues of global climate change, I will suggest that the necessary transition in predominant societal perspectives and personal life-styles needs a language or languages of transition that make vivid and meaningful what is at stake, that unite and motivate groups committed to change, and that persuade enough of those groups who could otherwise block change. If we look at the value shifts identified as necessary by the Great Transition work we see that human rights language and the capability approach's 'development as freedom' while potentially important are not sufficient. By themselves they are too potentially individualistic and compatible with visions of self-fulfilment through unlimited consumption and exploitation of nature. The emphases required—on human solidarity, stability and prioritization; prudence and enlightened self-interest; sources of richer quality of life, felt security and fulfilment; and ecological interconnection that demands careful stewardship—seem to be more fully present in human security thinking. It can be one of the languages of transition.


The title of Paul Kalanithi's memoir, When Breath Becomes Air, seized my attention. Breath is highly personal, while air is impersonal, shared with plants, animals, and our neighbors. Dr. Kalanithi, a 36-year-old Stanford neurosurgeon, described his first experience as a patient. The CT scans he was looking at—showing masses in the brain and spine—were his own: He had stage IV lung cancer. Dr. Kalanithi lived 2 more years, finishing his neurosurgery residency, welcoming his infant daughter, and writing a poignant memoir, now a New York Times #1 bestseller. Dr. Kalanithi wrote about how different it is to experience firsthand the things we discuss with our patients every day. For example, even though he realized, intellectually, that Kaplan-Meier curves cannot predict an individual's outcome, he badgered his oncologist to forecast his life span—and she refused. He jumped from the role of a physician who understands the limits of statistics to that of a patient who is desperate for definitive answers. While reading his book, I wondered what it might be like for an ophthalmologist to become an eye patient. So I asked a colleague and good friend, who is a busy and skilled anterior segment surgeon, about his experiences. John (not his real name) has had a retinal detachment repair, a vitrectomy, and bilateral cataract surgery. He also has glaucoma. John is not afraid to talk about his ophthalmic tribulations, and he feels that he is a more empathetic doctor because of his own disease. He said, "I sometimes share my story with patients, especially those who have serious fear and can benefit from my reassuring words." When asked about fear of blindness, John shares that he's thought a lot about vision loss. "I know all that can happen and envision the worst-case scenarios. Still, I'm resigned to accept what I cannot control." Many of my patients say that they would rather have cancer or heart disease—or even die—than lose their vision. But John said, "I'd rather be blind and live a little longer, enjoying music and experiencing my family." Perhaps being an ophthalmologist provides him more perspective, and information is an antidote to fear. In a much-quoted editorial in American Journal of Oph thalmology, retina specialist Travis Meredith eloquently described his own experience and visual symptoms after vitreous detachment and subsequent retinal tear. His visual acuity returned to 20/15, but a C-shaped floater remained, along with a diminished sense of brightness as well as light scatter at night. He communicated the distress that can be caused by floaters and by doctors' dismissal of patient complaints. He wrote, "Psychologically, the constant presence of the opacities in my vision was disturbing. Something abnormal was always in my view, causing me to become more tense and irritable as the day progressed. When patients say that their floaters are driving them crazy, it is not such an exaggeration as I had imagined." Dr. Meredith changed after becoming an eye patient: "I now listen to patients with a greater appreciation for both the variety and the emotional impact of their symptoms, and the reassurance I give is to empathize with them because their experiences may be remarkable." We all do our best to listen to patients and glean from them what it's like to live with eye disease. I regard myself as very thoughtful about the challenges of having glaucoma and try to empathize with my patients. However, hearing from a spine surgeon with spinal metastases, from a cataract surgeon with cataracts, and from a retina specialist with a vitreoretinal condition creates a whole new connection. Not only are these voices highly credible but they are also highly personal, because the patient is one of us. In a few months I'll write about eye surgeons who operate on ophthalmologists. You can email me with HIPAA-compliant thoughts at firstname.lastname@example.com, and I might share them with our ophthalmic community.


Composite and porcelain veneers offer a conservative method of masking discolouration of the teeth of younger patients. Composite veneers are the less destructive of tooth tissue, but also the less durable. This two-part article reviews the use of veneers in treating the adolescent patient. Part 1 described the clinical procedure for veneering with composites. Part 2 now gives a guide to porcelain veneer technique, and then draws some overall conclusions.


Objective: To determine whether hematocrit level is associated with pre-eclampsia and assess its predictive value in diagnosing pre-eclampsia.
Study Design: Cross-sectional validation study.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, CMH Quetta, from Jul 2019 to Jan 2020.
Methodology: A total of 561 pregnant women with a singleton pregnancy were included in the study. The diagnosis of preeclampsia was made as per operational definition. The samples were collected by non-probability consecutive sampling. Pregnant females with a parity of 0-4, gestational age > 16 weeks on last menstrual period (LMP) and singleton pregnancy on ultrasound were included in the study. In addition, data on plasma hematocrit findings and incidence of pre-eclampsia (positive/negative) were recorded.
Results: The age range in this study was from 18 to 40 years, with a mean age of 28.805 ± 2.41 years, mean parity of 1.258 ± 1.07 and mean gestational age was 11.352 ± 2.22 weeks. Plasma hematocrit findings predict 26 (4.6%) patients, and the incidence of pre-eclampsia was in 35 (6.2%) patients. Plasma hematocrit findings had shown a sensitivity of 60%, specificity 99%, diagnostic accuracy by 97%, PPV 80.7%, NPV 97.3%, (p<0.001) in diagnosis of preeclampsia.
Conclusion: Haematocrit can be valuable as a screening test for the timely diagnosis of pre-eclampsia in health centres. Women with a hematocrit above the cut-off of 38% must be scrutinized prudently for the signs of pre-eclampsia.


Diffuse Ceiling Ventilation (DCV) is a promising concept to address internal air quality and thermal comfort requirements in contemporary buildings. Sound-absorbing perforated ceiling panels are common in office rooms and can be used as air diffusers without modifications. The optimization of such systems is not a trivial procedure, and numerical simulation can represent an important tool to carry out this task. Today, most of the numerical studies on DCV are performed using porous medium models and focus on the general system performance rather than on the optimization of the diffuser design. In previous studies, a CFD model was used to optimize the size and distribution of the ceiling perforation. In the study presented in this paper, the results of simulations conducted on a full-scale three-dimensional domain and the performance comparison between a continuous and non-continuous perforation distribution are given. The results show that the non-continuous diffuser design does not disturb the internal comfort and does not introduce a negative effect in the system performance. The different configurations lead to a different air distribution in the room, but in both cases, the velocity magnitude is always well below values leading to draft discomfort.


A patient with fracture-dislocation of D9 on D8 had considerable posterolateral displacement. The neurologic injolvement of his left leg proved to be progressive. Treatment consisted of posterior decompression, exploration, open reduction and stabilization by means of Harrington rods, and fusion. All neurologic findings resolved completely. Final evaluation 18 months later showed a good and serviceable spine with no residual neurologic deficits. In my opinion, the treatment used in this case under given circumstances represented a reasonable modality of therapy.


This research builds upon and utilises an emerging field of food and development theory – food sovereignty – as it discusses possibilities for an alternative food system, where the production, distribution and consumption of food may be guided by principles that foster a holistic, ethical and sustainable approach.  The theory of food sovereignty has grown from the writings of La Via Campesina (a global movement of food producers in the Global South) and offers critiques of the current food system, food security and corporate globalisation. As I grapple with the key principles of food sovereignty and explore the ways in which they are visible within Wellington, Aotearoa, I interact with five key organisations and present ways their actions foster a food sovereignty paradigm. By blending the theoretical with the practical, this thesis presents the lived experiences of people working in; Koanga Institute, Biofarm, Commonsense Organics, Workerbe and Kaibosh.  Bringing together the perspectives of these five organisations with relevant literature, this thesis first discusses some potential market-based solutions for achieving ethical consumption. It then examines ideas around the move to 'grow something' as a tool for resistance, reclaiming spaces and healing; to finally explore the ways in which a more holistic approach to food can nurture spiritual connections in profound and unique ways.  Hungry for Progress? Enacting Food Sovereignty is a qualitative research project that embraces notions of positionality and reflexivity and shares my journey of living this research. Through exploring the food sovereignty narratives and worldviews, I seek to promote empowerment among individuals and organisations through constructing knowledge that supports postcolonial, feminist and activist interactions so that good change in the food system (and beyond) may become a reality.


People plan their routes through new environments every day, but what factors influence these wayfinding decisions? In a world increasingly dependent on electronic navigation assistance devices, finding a way of automatically selecting routes suitable for
pedestrian travel is an important challenge. With a greater freedom of movement than vehicular transport, and different requirements, an alternative approach should be taken to find an answer for pedestrian journeys than those taken in cars. Although previous research
has produced a number of pedestrian route recommendation systems, the majority of these are restricted to a single route type or user group. The aim of this research was to
develop an approach to route suggestion which could recommend routes according to the type of journey (everyday, leisure or tourist) a person is making. To achieve this aim, four areas of research were undertaken.
Firstly, six experiments containing 450 participants were used to investigate the preference of seven different environment and route attributes (length, turns, decision points, vegetation, land use, dwellings and points of interest) for two attribute categories (simplicity
and attractiveness) and three journey types (everyday, leisure and tourist). These empirically determined preferences were then used to find the rank-orders of the attributes, by comparing more of them simultaneously than earlier studies, and found either new rankings (for attractiveness, leisure journeys and tourist journey) or extended those already known (everyday journeys).
Using these ranks and previously accepted relationships, an environment model was defined and built based on an annotated graph. This model can be built automatically
from OpenStreetMap data, and is therefore simple enough to be applicable to many geographical areas, but it is detailed enough to allow route selection.
Algorithms based on an extended version of Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm were constructed. These used weighted minimum cost functions linked with attribute ranks, to select routes for different journey types. By avoiding the computational complexity of previous approaches, these algorithms could potentially be widely used in a variety of different platforms, and extended for different groups of users.
Finally, the routes suggested by the algorithms were compared to participant recommendations for 'simple' routes with five start/end points, and for each of the three journey types (everyday, leisure and tourist). These comparisons determined that only length is required to select simple and everyday routes, but that the multi-attribute cost functions developed for leisure and tourist journeys select routes that are similar to those chosen by the participants. This indicates that the algorithms' routes are appropriate for people to
use in leisure and tourist journeys.


As Twitter becomes a more common means for officials to communicate with their constituents, it becomes more important that we understand how officials use these communication tools. Using data from 380 members of Congress' Twitter activity during the winter of 2012, we find that officials frequently use Twitter to advertise their political positions and to provide information but rarely to request political action from their constituents or to recognize the good work of others. We highlight a number of differences in communication frequency between men and women, Senators and Representatives, Republicans and Democrats. We provide groundwork for future research examining the behavior of public officials online and testing the predictive power of officials' social media behavior.


Host-specificity is an important characteristic of fungal pathogens. Changing climate could create more appropriate environmental conditions for phytopathogens, thus formerly host-specify fungi could be able to colonize new hosts. Noxious plant pathogen fungi, which can infect several plant species are well-known worldwide. These genera may expand their range of hosts because of the appearance in new geographic areas due to climate change. This new exposure can result in serious problems in agriculture because of the lack of immunity. The susceptibility of apple tree was studied through testing pathogenicity in vitro with species isolated from walnut twigs and nuts, and identified by ITS sequences. Three of four tested species, Botryosphaeria dothidea, Diaporthe eres and Diplodia seriata colonized and necrotized the infected apple branches, while Juglanconis juglandina was not able to infect the twigs. Members of Botryosphaeriaceae were the most virulent, causing the largest lesions in the fastest way. This experiment draws attention to the threat of new host-pathogen connections, which can arise because of the favourable weather conditions and can spread between neighbouring cultures.


Latent membrane protein-1 (LMP-1) of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) promotes tumorigenesis. Here, we report that LMP-1 activates the immunoregulatory molecule CD69 gene transcription through a nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)-dependent pathway. CD69 expression was upregulated in LMP-1-expressing EBV-immortalized human B-cell lines and an EBV-positive Burkitt's lymphoma cell line. LMP-1 expression increased CD69 expression at the transcriptional level. CD69 promoter was regulated by LMP-1 activation of NF-κB via the carboxyterminal activation region 1 and 2. Promoter deletion analysis indicated that two NF-κB binding sites are necessary for activation of the CD69 promoter. Electrophoretic mobility shift analysis demonstrated that LMP-1 activates both NF-κB binding sites in the CD69 promoter. This is the first report of the regulation of CD69 expression by LMP-1, and this novel finding may, thus, represent an important link between the EBV oncoprotein LMP-1 and its critical role in the development of EBV-associated diseases.


Background and Purpose: Cognitive dysfunction related to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) is an important issue in the management of patients with epilepsy. The aim of the present study was to evaluate relative long-term effects of oxcarbazepine (OXC) on cognition in drug-naive patients with epilepsy. Methods: Fifteen drug-naïve epilepsy patients were enrolled. Electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings and neuropsychological (NP) tests were performed before and after OXC monotherapy. The relative power of the discrete frequency bandwas obtained. In addition, interhemispheric and intrahemispheric spectral coherence was also calculated. Results: NP tests showed significant improvement in visuo-spatial, memory and executive function after OXC treatment. However, neither spectral power nor coherence changed significantly with OXC treatment. Conclusions: Our study supports the notion that OXC has no significant cognitive side effect in patients with epilepsy.


Background: Success for malaria control and elimination implies effective vector control strategies. In Cape Verde, country in the pre-elimination phase of malaria, the Indoor Residual Spraying with insecticides is the main strategy in the vector control. The objective of this study was to assess the level of insecticide sensitivity of Anopheles gambiae sensu lato, populations from Praia, Cabo Verde, to the principal insecticide recommended for IRS, the deltamethrine 0.05%, 0.25% and 0.5%, Bendiocarb 1% and malatahion 5%.
Methods: Larvae of Anopheles gambiae s.l were collected from different sites in Praia and reared to adult stages in the medical entomology lab. The sensibility/resistance status was assessed using the WHO bioassay test kits for adult mosquitoes. The result of studies was analysed, determining the mortality rate for different insecticide, the KD determined with Log-Probit and others data analysis with Excel. Results: A total of 693 females of An. gambiae s.l. was used to determine the sensitivity status. The results of demonstrating an increase of KDR times more pronounced with the lowest concentration of deltamethrin (0.05%), compared to the highest concentrations (0.25% and 0.5%). We found a resistance to deltamethrin 0.05% and Malathion 5%, although less marked with mortality rates above 80%. However, the vector population were found completely susceptible to deltamethrin 0.25%, deltamethrin 0.5% and to bendiocarb 1%.
Conclusion: This study provides updated information about the sensibility of An. gambiae s.l. to insecticides in Praia, Cape Verde. The constant use of this insecticides, for long years, in vector control as well in agriculture, could be the cause to the selection pressure for resistance. We recommend the use of this findings in the definition of the vector control strategies and to the implementation of a routine resistance monitoring to the malaria vector control in the country.


Based on the Hagen–Poiseuille equation, theoretical membrane permeability is inversely and directly proportional to its thickness and pore-radius, respectively, indicating that a thin membrane with an effective pore-radius is extremely permeable. However, the trade-off between selectivity and permeability restricts their applications for pressure-driven separation membranes. Hence, balancing the contradiction between the permeability and selectivity of a separation membrane is desired in future applications. Herein, we report a superpermeable nanoporous carbon (PC) membrane which offers a separation layer (∼80 nm) and effective pore radius (∼20 nm) by selectively removing parts of carbon atoms, thus greatly decreasing the transport resistance of water molecules through the membrane. The experimental results have shown a water flux of ∼8000 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 for the membrane. High selectivity is demonstrated via selective separation of nanoparticles with their narrowly distributed pores. Self-production of H2O2 and self-circulation of Fe2+/Fe3+ was achieved simultaneously on the PC membrane via coupling with electro-Fenton technology, which leads to the in situ production of hydroxyl radicals. The removal efficiencies of organic contaminants (SMX, BPA and phenol) by electro-Fenton driven PC membranes were ∼96.3%, ∼97.4% and 92.1%, respectively. Given their compatible high permeability and high selectivity, our porous PC membranes might provide an alternative as future membranes and motivate the design of innovative membranes.


Author(s): Brooks, Daniel Aaron | Advisor(s): Ram, Harsha | Abstract: This dissertation offers a select history of the literary portrait genre in Russian culture from its genesis in the 1890s through the 1960s. I define the literary portrait as a succinct account of a particular author's individual or creative personality – in Russian, lichnost' – that readily lends itself to anthologization, in which that literary portrait acquires additional meaning through the comparative or cumulative format in which it participates. In tracing the developments in the genre through a series of representative portrait collections, I focus in particular on two historical moments: 1905-1914, when literary portraiture moved beyond its original Symbolist confines, courted a wider reading audience, and became a key genre for the theorization and explication of Russian modernity; and the post-Revolutionary period, when writers both in emigration and within the Soviet Union repeatedly turned to the genre as a means of shaping narratives about late imperial and early Soviet culture. In the first period, I consider the literary critical portraiture of Iulii Aikhenval'd, Kornei Chukovskii, and Maksimilian Voloshin, and in the second, I consider the memoir-portraits of Vladislav Khodasevich, Kornei Chukovskii, and Iurii Annenkov, as well as Annenkov's work in visual portraiture. I posit that these writers, each in their own way and to their own ends, sought common variables that would unite the heterogeneous literary field of late imperial Russia. In doing so, they created forms of literary historical periodization that focused on cultural continuity rather than aesthetic displacement, and on webs of connections between individual authors rather than distinctions between nominally antithetical movements. These holistic interpretations of late imperial Russian literature demonstrate the pedagogical utility of comparative frameworks that take individuals (lichnostoi) as their units of observation. In constructing such frameworks, these portraitists consistently demonstrate that our understanding of dominant aesthetic movements of the time (the Symbolists and Modernists) and the dominant paradigm of cultural periodization that followed it (the Silver Age) are best calibrated against certain figures (especially Leonid Andreev and Maksim Gor'kii) who are otherwise afforded narrow parts in our inherited literary histories. Thus, I aspire to present literary portraiture as a telling artifact of Russian modernity writ large, and a valuable means of re-examining the literary historical narratives that structure our study of early twentieth-century Russian culture.


With a vast number of wireless devices being connected to the system, the need for very high data rates and extremely low latency with ultra-high reliability is becoming more and more challenging. And with such density of network nodes, it is a huge challenge to provide wide coverage and high quality service in indoor environments. Femtocell, a new add-on in the small cell technology, acts as an extension to the existing outdoor macrocell with the aim of providing quality indoor coverage. However, vast deployment of femtocell network in the absence of proper network planning and coverage strategy makes it difficult to maintain the desired quality of service. Additionally, the service of femtocell in densely deployed heterogeneous network is challenged by interference, unwanted handover and signaling overhead in the system. Given the huge potential of the femtocell technology, extensive research has been carried out by companies, service providers and operators to mitigate the interference and to ensure the highest benefit of femtocell deployment. Against this backdrop, a rigorous review has been attempted in this paper with abrief analysis on femtocell technology and its deployment in LTE Heterogeneous Networks. Challenges of vast femtocell deployment and different interference management techniques have been studied with a quantitative comparison. Graphical and tabular analysis on the interference management techniques is also presented along with their advantages and limitations.


In Arabidopsis, TEOSINTE BRANCHED 1, CYCLOIDEA, PCF1 (TCP) transcription factors (TF) play critical functions in developmental processes. Recent studies suggest they also function in plant immunity, but whether they play an important role in systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is still unknown. NON-EXPRESSER OF PR GENES 1 (NPR1), as an essential transcriptional regulatory node in SAR, exerts its regulatory role in downstream genes expression through interaction with TFs. In this work, we provide biochemical and genetic evidence that TCP8, TCP14, and TCP15 are involved in the SAR signaling pathway. TCP8, TCP14, and TCP15 physically interacted with NPR1 in yeast two-hybrid assays, and these interactions were further confirmed in vivo. SAR against the infection of virulent strain Pseudomonas syringae pv. maculicola (Psm) ES4326 in the triple T-DNA insertion mutant tcp8-1 tcp14-5 tcp15-3 was partially compromised compared with Columbia 0 (Col-0) wild type plants. The induction of SAR marker genes PR1, PR2, and PR5 in local and systemic leaves was dramatically decreased in the tcp8-1 tcp14-5 tcp15-3 mutant compared with that in Col-0 after local treatment with Psm ES4326 carrying avrRpt2. Results from yeast one-hybrid and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays demonstrated that TCP15 can bind to a conserved TCP binding motif, GCGGGAC, within the promoter of PR5, and this binding was enhanced by NPR1. Results from RT-qPCR assays showed that TCP15 promotes the expression of PR5 in response to salicylic acid induction. Taken together, these data reveal that TCP8, TCP14, and TCP15 physically interact with NPR1 and function redundantly to establish SAR, that TCP15 promotes the expression of PR5 through directly binding a TCP binding site within the promoter of PR5, and that this binding is enhanced by NPR1.


This paper describes part of a study aimed at developing a computer-based aid for mammogram screening that makes a detailed comparison between mammograms of the same patient acquired at different screenings and detects changes indicative of cancer. The focus is on determining control points in two mammograms; these points are used to put two mammograms into correspondence. The paper details the algorithm for identifying the potential control points and establishing the correspondence between the two sets of control points. The algorithm's performance was evaluated by three observers, one of whom is an experienced radiologist, and found to be adequate.


We propose a recurrent neural network architecture with a Forward Kinematics layer and cycle consistency based adversarial training objective for unsupervised motion retargetting. Our network captures the high-level properties of an input motion by the forward kinematics layer, and adapts them to a target character with different skeleton bone lengths (e.g., shorter, longer arms etc.). Collecting paired motion training sequences from different characters is expensive. Instead, our network utilizes cycle consistency to learn to solve the Inverse Kinematics problem in an unsupervised manner. Our method works online, i.e., it adapts the motion sequence on-the-fly as new frames are received. In our experiments, we use the Mixamo animation data1 to test our method for a variety of motions and characters and achieve state-of-the-art results. We also demonstrate motion retargetting from monocular human videos to 3D characters using an off-the-shelf 3D pose estimator.