I examined singing activity and spatial behaviour of male nightingales with regard to possible functions in mate attraction, territory defence, and sperm competition. Male nightingales sang at night before pair formation. They stopped nocturnal song upon pairing, but resumed it if their mate deserted. In contrast, unmated males sang nocturnal song throughout the breeding season. These findings suggest that nocturnal song plays a role in mate attraction. Diurnal singing activity was highest in the hour before sunrise. This pattern was consistent throughout the breeding cycle and was hardly influenced by mating status, indicating that mate attraction is not the main function of the "dawn chorus" in the nightingale. I tested the alternative hypothesis that territorial males sing at dawn to defend their territory against non-territorial males: I translocated unpaired males to the study site (the "Petite Camargue Alsacienne") and found that the radio-tagged males made extensive excursions visiting several singing males at dawn, but after dawn remained stationary outside occupied territories. These results suggest that non-territorial males use the dawn chorus to assess singing residents or territory occupancy. It also appears that dawn singing of territorial males is important to announce territory occupancy to non-territorial males and thus to defend the territory. In contrast to the hour before sunrise, singing activity later in morning was strongly influenced by the reproductive state of females and peaked during the egg-laying period. This elevated singing activity may not serve primarily to repel cuckolder males pursuing extrapair copulations, since during the morning hours when egg-laying takes place, copulations are thought to less likely result in fertilization than in the days before egg-laying. Accordingly, male nightingales showed the greatest distances to their mates in the morning hours during the egglaying period. Furthermore, extrapair fertilization may not play a major role in influencing singing and spatial behaviour in the nightingale: the rate of extrapair fertilization was relatively low (7.5% of the young as indicated by microsatellite genotyping), and males showed no distinct mate guarding activity. In contrast, the probability for a male to stay unpaired was, on average, 33% per year. I suggest that the high singing activity as well as frequent extra-territorial excursions of males after the fertile period of females serve to maintain the own territory and to gather information on other territories and territory occupancy. This information may be vital for defending a good territory and attracting a mate in the current and subsequent breeding seasons. As only unpaired males sing regularly at night, the proportion of unpaired males can be assessed by comparing the number of nocturnally and diurnally singing males. In an extended study area of 18 km2, I found that about half of 200 – 240 singing males were unpaired. The male-biased adult sex ratio thus may be a general pattern and play an important role in sexual selection of singing activity and spatial behaviour in the nightingale.


BACKGROUND
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common morbidity after off-pump coronary revascularization. We investigated whether perioperative administration of sodium bicarbonate, which might reduce renal injury by alleviating oxidative stress in renal tubules, prevents postoperative AKI in off-pump coronary revascularization patients having renal risk factors.

METHODS
Patients (n=162) having at least one of the following AKI risk factors were enrolled: (i) age >70 yr; (ii) diabetes mellitus; (iii) chronic renal disease; (iv) congestive heart failure or left ventricular ejection fraction <35%; and (v) reoperation or emergency. Patients were evenly randomized to receive either sodium bicarbonate (0.5 mmol kg-1 for 1 h upon induction of anaesthesia followed by 0.15 mmol kg-1 h-1 for 23 h) or 0.9% saline. Acute kidney injury within 48 h after surgery was assessed using the Acute Kidney Injury Network criteria.

RESULTS
The incidences of AKI were 21 and 26% in the bicarbonate and control groups, respectively (P=0.458). Serially measured serum creatinine concentrations and perioperative fluid balance were also comparable between the groups. The length of postoperative hospitalization and incidence of morbidity end points were similar between the groups, whereas significantly more patients in the bicarbonate group required prolonged mechanical ventilation (>24 h) relative to the control group (20 vs 6, P=0.003).

CONCLUSIONS
Perioperative sodium bicarbonate administration did not decrease the incidence of AKI after off-pump coronary revascularization in high-risk patients and might even be associated with a need for prolonged ventilatory care.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION
NCT01840241.


Objective: Allograft tympano-ossicular systems (ATOS) can provide superior outcomes in particular circumstances, for example, in case of a need for total reconstruction of the eardrum and chain. ATOS are preserved in a 2.7%–4% formaldehyde solution after procurement at room temperature (15-25°C) for 2–5 days, followed by 4 °C for a total storage of at least 14 days. This study aimed to review the literature on the virucidal effect of formaldehyde on viruses such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Methods: Narrative review of the literature available on the virucidal effect of formaldehyde, as searched in the scientific database PubMed. Results: Both free and intracellular HIV as well as HBV and HCV are significantly reduced at low concentrations of formaldehyde and short exposure time. Factors increasing the effectivity of formaldehyde solutions are high concentration, long exposure time, and high temperature. It has been demonstrated that HIV-infected allografts are disinfected by formaldehyde preservation. No case of HIV, HBV, or HCV transmission through ATOS has been reported. Coronaviruses closely related to SARS-CoV-2, such as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, are inactivated by low concentrations of formaldehyde solution, even at short exposure times. Conclusion: These findings indicate that formaldehyde is effective in inactivating HIV, HBV, HCV, and coronaviruses. ATOS are stored in a high concentration formaldehyde solution for a long period. The applied preservation method of ATOS, including temporary storage at room temperature, should be maintained for effective inactivation. The formaldehyde preservation method in combination with donor screening and serological and nucleotide amplification testing make ATOS a very safe reconstruction material.


This paper describes an algorithm for calculating the direction to a flicker source with respect to a monitoring point. The proposed algorithm is based on sampling of both the voltage and current. The low-frequency fluctuations in voltage and current are recovered from the input signals by demodulation, and passed through a bandpass filter as described in IEC 61000-4-15. A new quantity-flicker power-is defined from the output signals of the two filters. The direction to a flicker source is obtained from the sign of this flicker power. The proposed algorithm has been validated by simulations and several field measurements.


: Laparoscopic herniorrhaphy is still a controversial procedure. Two cases of intestinal obstruction after laparoscopic herniorrhaphy are reported. The clinical features, possible mechanisms, managements, and outcomes were analyzed. The results showed that preexisting mesenteric defect, fibrin depositions, and longer operation time were predisposing factors for post-laparoscopic herniorrhaphy intestinal obstruction. These findings suggest that cleansing of fibrin deposition and shorter operation times may be important to avoid postoperative intestinal obstruction.


VRSonic's VibeStudio Designer 2 is a three-dimensional audio design suite for composing and rendering spatial audio to binaural headphones and speakers in 2.1, 4.1, 5.1, 7.1, 8.1, and 10.2 configurations. The suite is made up of two applications: VibeStation and Profiler. The VibeStation application provides an interactive 3-D canvas onto which the user drags scene elements (see Figure 1). These elements can include audio files, ReWire, audio or VOIP inputs, scene geometry, or motion paths. A timeline editor or Open Sound Control (OSC) can then be used to control the behavior of the elements. A full sound propagation model, including attenuation, air absorption, material absorption, propagation delay, reverberation, and occlusion effects, is used to render audio in real-time. A configurable audio pipeline architecture is used to simulate the propagation of sound in an environment and a pipeline editor allows the user to turn on or off any of the pipeline stages. The company's Wave Point Sampling (WPS) technology is used to render the 3-D audio on loudspeakers. The construction of audio scenes is independent of rendering in VibeStation so once a scene has been created it can be auditioned and rendered for any surround format. The VibeStation scenes are stored as XML documents and the application can act as a ReWire device or mixer. The Profiler application in the audio suite is designed for rendering sound binaurally for headphones. It takes the user through a series of listening tests to select an optimal Head Related Transfer Function (HRTF) specific to the user from a database of more than 90. The VibeStudio Deisgner 2 is listed for US$ 595. Contact: VRSonic, Inc., 2533 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Virginia 22201, USA; phone (+1) 703-248-3200; electronic mail email@example.com;Web www.vrsonics.com/.


A farm survey was carried out in 1992 among 138 individual farm households located in seven provinces in Thailand to provide a detailed input-output characterization of mung bean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] growing in Thailand, to analyse its profitability, to investigate the major constraints, and to assess the adoption of modern mung bean varieties. The survey data were analysed for dry season lowland and wet season upland mung bean growers, separately and as a whole. The results indicated that, despite large differences between individual growers, the average net income per unit area of mung bean was at least as high as that of alternative crops. However, returns to labour earned from mung bean substantially exceeded those from other crops. Wet season mung bean cultivation tended to be considerably more profitable than dry season mung bean production, mainly due to higher yields. Adoption of modern mung bean varieties has been rapid with currently over 90% of the total mung bean area under varieties developed with parent material from the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center. Podborer infestation was by far the most serious factor reducing yield in mung bean in Thailand. Drought stress in the lowlands was the second most important. The supportive role of government policies in increasing the adoption of improved mung bean technologies, as well as the importance of close collaboration among farmers, extension services, researchers, and traders are highlighted. Several suggestions are offered for further improvements in mung bean productivity in Thailand.


AIM
Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a cluster of risk factors favoring the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The prevalence of MS diagnosis is dependent of used diagnostic criteria. The aim of the study is to compare the prevalence of MS in overweight and obese women without concomitant diseases according to the different diagnostic criteria and their sensitivity to identify subjects with insulin resistance.

METHODS
The study involved 126 overweight and obese women without concomitant diseases. In all subjects body mass, height, waist circumference and blood pressure were measured and plasma glucose, insulin and lipids levels were determined. MS was diagnosed using WHO, NCEP ATP III, IDF 2005 and IDF 2009 modified criteria. The insulin resistance was assessed based on the homeostatic model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR≥2.5).

RESULTS
The prevalence of MS was 43.8%, 43.8%, 38.1% and 18.1% according to IDF 2005, IDF 2009 modified, NCEP ATP III and WHO criteria, respectively. Insulin resistance was diagnosed in 89 women (70.6%). None of MS definitions allowed for proper discrimination of insulin resistant subjects. The highest sensitivity, but lowest specificity of insulin resistant discrimination had both IDF criteria (44.9% and 72.9%, respectively), while the highest specificity WHO criteria was missing sensitivity (91.8% and 17.9%, respectively).

CONCLUSION
On the basis of both IDF criteria MS is diagnosed in significantly larger subset of overweight and obese women. However, NCEP ATPIII and both IDF criteria identify only less than half insulin resistant overweight and obese women as those with MS.


Importance
It is unknown how well cell phone location data portray social distancing strategies or if they are associated with the incidence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in a particular geographical area.

Objective
To determine if cell phone location data are associated with the rate of change in new COVID-19 cases by county across the US.

Design, Setting, and Participants
This cohort study incorporated publicly available county-level daily COVID-19 case data from January 22, 2020, to May 11, 2020, and county-level daily cell phone location data made publicly available by Google. It examined the daily cases of COVID-19 per capita and daily estimates of cell phone activity compared with the baseline (where baseline was defined as the median value for that day of the week from a 5-week period between January 3 and February 6, 2020). All days and counties with available data after the initiation of stay-at-home orders for each state were included.

Exposures
The primary exposure was cell phone activity compared with baseline for each day and each county in different categories of place.

Main Outcomes and Measures
The primary outcome was the percentage change in COVID-19 cases 5 days from the exposure date.

Results
Between 949 and 2740 US counties and between 22 124 and 83 745 daily observations were studied depending on the availability of cell phone data for that county and day. Marked changes in cell phone activity occurred around the time stay-at-home orders were issued by various states. Counties with higher per-capita cases (per 100 000 population) showed greater reductions in cell phone activity at the workplace (β, -0.002; 95% CI, -0.003 to -0.001; P < 0.001), areas classified as retail (β, -0.008; 95% CI, -0.011 to -0.005; P < 0.001) and grocery stores (β, -0.006; 95% CI, -0.007 to -0.004; P < 0.001), and transit stations (β, -0.003, 95% CI, -0.005 to -0.002; P < 0.001), and greater increase in activity at the place of residence (β, 0.002; 95% CI, 0.001-0.002; P < 0.001). Adjusting for county-level and state-level characteristics, counties with the greatest decline in workplace activity, transit stations, and retail activity and the greatest increases in time spent at residential places had lower percentage growth in cases at 5, 10, and 15 days. For example, counties in the lowest quartile of retail activity had a 45.5% lower growth in cases at 15 days compared with the highest quartile (SD, 37.4%-53.5%; P < .001).

Conclusions and Relevance
Our findings support the hypothesis that greater reductions in cell phone activity in the workplace and retail locations, and greater increases in activity at the residence, are associated with lesser growth in COVID-19 cases. These data provide support for the value of monitoring cell phone location data to anticipate future trends of the pandemic.


Super-resolution (SR) image reconstruction refers to methods where a higher resolution image is reconstructed using a set of overlapping aliased low-resolution observations of the same scene. Although edge preservation has been a widely explored topic in SR literature, texture-specific regularisation has recently gained interest. In this study, texture-specific regularisation is handled as a post-processing step. A two stage method is proposed, comprising multiple SR reconstructions with different regularisation parameters followed by a restoration step for preserving edges and textures. In the first stage, two maximum-a-posteriori estimators with two different amounts of regularisation are employed. In the second stage, pixel-to-pixel difference between these two estimates is post-processed to restore edges and textures. Frequency selective characteristics of discrete cosine transform and Gabor filters are utilised in the post-processing step. Experiments on synthetically generated images and real experiments demonstrate that the proposed methods give better results compared with the state-of-the-art SR methods especially on textures and edges.


China has now taken Great Britain's place as Africa's third largest business partner. Where others only see chaos, the Chinese see opportunities. With no colonial past and no political preconditions, China is bringing investment and needed infrastructure to a continent that has been largely ignored by Western companies or nations. Traveling from Beijing to Khartoum, Algiers to Brazzaville, the authors tell the story of China's economic ventures in Africa. What they find is tantamount to a geopolitical earthquake: The possibility that China will help Africa direct its own fate and finally bring light to the so-called "dark continent," making it a force to be reckoned with internationally.


Dose spectra from energetic particles and neutrons (DoSEN) are an early‐stage space technology research project that combines two advanced complementary radiation detection concepts with fundamental advantages over traditional dosimetry. DoSEN measures not only the energy but also the charge distribution (including neutrons) of energetic particles that affect human (and robotic) health in a way not presently possible with current dosimeters. For heavy ions and protons, DoSEN provides a direct measurement of the lineal energy transfer (LET) spectra behind shielding material. For LET measurements, DoSEN contains stacks of thin‐thick Si detectors similar in design to those used for the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation. With LET spectra, we can now directly break down the observed spectrum of radiation into its constituent heavy‐ion components and through biologically based quality factors that provide not only doses and dose rates but also dose equivalents, associated rates, and even organ doses. DoSEN also measures neutrons from 10 to 100 MeV, which requires enough sensitive mass to fully absorb recoil particles that the neutrons produce. DoSEN develops the new concept of combining these independent measurements and using the coincidence of LET measurements and neutron detection to significantly reduce backgrounds in each measurement. The background suppression through the use of coincidence allows for significant reductions in size, mass, and power needed to provide measurements of dose, neutron dose, dose equivalents, LET spectra, and organ doses. Thus, we introduce the DoSEN concept: a promising low‐mass instrument that detects the full spectrum of energetic particles, heavy ions, and neutrons to determine biological impact of radiation in space.


A 31-month-old Japanese Black cow (Bos taurus) aborted at 5 months of gestation with no clinical symptoms. Histopathological examination of the placenta and fetus revealed severe necrotic placentitis associated with numerous irregular degenerative fungi and inflammatory cells. Regular filamentous fungi were also detected, without inflammatory response in the fetal digestive and respiratory organs. Both fungi had aleurioconidia and septa in the placenta and fetal organs and immunohistochemically stained with antibodies against Aspergillus spp. Aspergillus terreus was isolated from the fetal lung and abomasal contents as confirmed using mycological and molecular methods. This is the first immunohistochemical, morphological, and molecular identification of A. terreus in bovine placenta and aborted fetuses.


Using smartphone location data from Colombia, Mexico, and Indonesia, we investigate how non-pharmaceutical policy interventions intended to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic impact human mobility. In all three countries, we find that following the implementation of mobility restriction measures, human movement decreased substantially. Importantly, we also uncover large and persistent differences in mobility reduction between wealth groups: on average, users in the top decile of wealth reduced their mobility up to twice as much as users in the bottom decile. For decision-makers seeking to efficiently allocate resources to response efforts, these findings highlight that smartphone location data can be leveraged to tailor policies to the needs of specific socioeconomic groups, especially the most vulnerable.


The purpose of the study was to identify relationships between clinical characteristics, time and costs of the treatment in patients with post-stroke pneumonia and uro-infection. The retrospective analysis included 256 patients with acute stroke, who were treated in the stroke unit of Klaipėda university hospital in 2010. Medical records of patients with stroke (form 003/a) were used as a data source. Brain computer tomography was applied to all patients included in the study. Pneumonia and urinary tract infection diagnosis (ICD-10, codes J18 and N39.0, respectively) was established based on the clinical, laboratory and radiological analysis and the appropriate specialist's consultation. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 15. The chi-square (χ2) test and Spearman correlation coefficient (r) were used to determine the relationship between characteristics. The linkage of complications to the type of stroke, gender, age and duration of treatment was established by applying logistic regression. The data difference was statistically significant at p <0.05. The mean age of patients included in the study was 71.3 ± 11.9 years. It was found in the course of the study that 32 patients (12.5 percent) were diagnosed with post-stroke pneumonia and 6 patients (3.2 percent) with urinary tract infection, accordingly. Older age appeared to be linked to the development of after stroke pneumonia OR = 1.08 (1.04 to 1.14), p <0.001. Urinary tract infection, regardless of gender and age, was associated with hemorrhagic stroke (OR = 9.6, p = 0.027). A median of 9 bed days was observed, range 1 to 22 days. Pneumonia and urinary tract infection increased the length of inpatient treatment (median 13 days, range 7 to 22 days). The treatment duration of patients with pneumonia and urinary tract infection exceeded one and a half times that of patients without complications [OR = 1.52 (1.29 to 1.78) and 1.51 (1.17 to 1.94), respectively]. Significantly higher treatment costs per patient were observed in patients with pneumonia (43 percent above the average costs for the treatment of patients without complications, p <0.001) and urinary tract infection (51 percent above the treatment of patients without complications) (p=0,002) compared with treatment costs of patients who had no complications. Conclusions: Post-stroke pneumonia and urinary tract infection (12.5 and 3.2 percent, respectively) are common complications of acute stroke, the frequency of which depends on the stroke severity. The treatment duration of patients who had been diagnosed with pneumonia and urinary tract infection exceeded one and a half times that of patients without complications. Treatment costs for patients with post-stroke pneumonia and uro-infection are significantly higher compared to patients for whom these complications were not diagnosed. Effective prevention and management of early complications after acute stroke is needed. doi:10.5200/sm-hs.2013.083


The majority of the human genome is transcribed, yielding a rich repository of non-coding transcripts that are involved in a myriad of biological processes including cancer. However, how non-coding transcripts such as long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) function in prostate cancer is still unclear. In this study, we have identified a novel set of clinically relevant androgen-regulated lncRNAs in prostate cancer. Among this group, we showed LINC00844 is a direct androgen-regulated target that is actively transcribed in androgen receptor (AR)-dependent prostate cancer cells. The expression of LINC00844 is higher in normal prostate compared to malignant and metastatic prostate cancer samples and patients with low expression demonstrate poor prognosis and significantly increased biochemical recurrence, suggesting LINC00844 may function in suppressing tumor progression and metastasis. Indeed, in-vitro loss-of-function studies revealed that LINC00844 prevents prostate cancer cell migration and invasion. Moreover, findings from gene expression analysis indicated that LINC00844 functions in trans, affecting global androgen-regulated gene transcription. Mechanistically, we provide evidence to show LINC00844 is important in facilitating AR binding to the chromatin. Finally, we demonstrated LINC00844 mediates its phenotypic effects in part by activating the expression of NDRG1, a crucial cancer metastasis suppressor. Collectively, our findings suggest LINC00844 is a novel coregulator of AR that plays a central role in the androgen transcriptional network and the development and progression of prostate cancer.


BACKGROUND
This study evaluated critical thresholds for fresh frozen plasma (FFP) and platelet (PLT) to packed red blood cell (PRBC) ratios and determined the impact of high FFP:PRBC and PLT:PRBC ratios on outcomes in patients requiring massive transfusion (MT).

METHODS
Retrospective review of a cohort of massively transfused blunt trauma patients admitted to a Level I trauma center. MT was defined as transfusion of ≥10 units of PRBC within 24 hours of admission. Critical thresholds for FFP:PRBC and PLT:PRBC ratios associated with mortality were identified using Cox regression with time-dependent variables. Impacts of high blood component ratios on 12-hour and 24-hour survival were evaluated.

RESULTS
During the 10-year study period, a total of 229 blunt trauma patients required a MT. At 12 hours and 24 hours after admission, a FFP:PRBC ratio threshold of 1:1.5 was found to have the strongest association with mortality. At 12 hours, 58 patients (25.4%) received a low (<1:1.5) and 171 patients (74.6%) a high (≥1:1.5) FFP:PRBC ratio. Patients in the low ratio group had a significantly higher mortality compared with those in the high ratio group (51.7% vs. 9.4%; adjusted hazard ratio [95% confidence interval] = 1.18 [1.04-1.34]; adjusted p = 0.008). A similar statistically significant difference was found at 24 hours after admission. For PLTs, a PLT:PRBC ratio of 1:3 was identified as the best cut-off associated with both 12-hour and 24-hour survival. At 12 hours, 79 patients (34.5%) received a low (<1:3) and 150 patients (65.5%) a high (≥1:3) PLT:PRBC ratio. After adjusting for differences between the ratio groups, no statistically significant survival advantage associated with a high PLT:PRBC ratio was found (40.5% vs. 9.3%; adjusted hazard ratio [95% confidence interval] = 1.11 [0.99-1.26]; adjusted p = 0.082).

CONCLUSION
For massively transfused blunt trauma patients, a plasma to PRBC ratio of ≥1:1.5 was associated with improved survival at 12 hours and 24 hours after hospital admission. However, for PLTs, no statistically significant survival benefit with increasing ratio was observed. The results of this analysis highlight the need for prospective studies to evaluate the clinical significance of high blood component ratios on outcome.


The effect of the temperature and microstructure on the fatigue crack growth behaviors of two microstucturally different AISI type 347 stainless steel(SS)s are studied at reactor operating temperature conditions. From the results, it was observed that the fatigue crack growth rate(FCGR) of type 347 SS increased as the test temperature was increased. However, its temperature sensitivity was reduced when the ΔK was large. The measured FCGRs for both TP347-LP and TP347-HP at 25oC and 345oC were lower than those presented in the ASME code. Especially near the threshold region, the trend curve in ASME code overestimated the FCGR of type 347 SS when compared with the obtained data. Even though the effect of the microstructure on the macro-crack growth rate was not significant during stage 2, the differences between threshold values for the specimen with a high precipitate density and the one with a low precipitate density were observed. It is assumed that these differences in the precipitate density, which resulted in a difference in mean free path length of dislocation movement, are the source of the difference in ΔKth of type 347 steels.


Background and Aim: Reflux laryngitis is extremely common among patients with voice disorder. Medical therapy approaches are not efficient enough. The main goal of this study is to assess the acoustic and laryngeal characteristics of patients with dysphonia before and after medical or voice therapy, and to evaluate the effectiveness of each. Methods: In this retrospective study, 16 reflux laryngitis patients were assessed. Five received complete voice therapy, tow ceased voice therapy and nine received medication. Perceptual voice evaluation was performed by a speech-language pathologist, the severity of voice problem was calculated, based on the affected acoustic and laryngeal characteristics pre- and post-treatment. Results: Post-treatment evaluation in patients who received complete voice therapy indicates 80 percent improvement in the severity of disorder and 100 percent improvement in the perceptual voice evaluation. After medical therapy, we observed that voice disorder and perceptual voice evaluation are improved 44 and 66 percent respectively. The improvement was statistically significant in both treatment approaches: complete voice therapy (P=0.039) and medical therapy (p=0.017). Conclusion: In patients with reflux laryngitis, most acoustic and laryngeal characteristics were normal and satisfying after the treatment. It can be concluded that the proficiency of voice therapy in improving the acoustic and laryngeal characteristics is comparable to medical therapy.


In his extensive body of work, Professor Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim challenges both historical interpretations of Islamic Sharia and neo-colonial understanding of human rights. To advance the rationale of scholarship for social change, An-Naim proposes advancing the universality of human rights through internal discourse within Islamic and African societies and cross-cultural dialogue among human cultures. This book proposes a transformation from human rights organized around a state determined practice to one that is focused on a people-centric approach that empowers individuals to decide how human rights will be understood and integrated into their communities. Decolonizing Human Rights aims to illustrate the decisive role of human agency on the subject of change, without implying that Islamic or any other society are exceptionally disposed to politically motivated violence and consequent profound political instability.


Transposable elements (TEs) are DNA sequences that have the ability to replicate within a genome using a variety of mechanisms. They are present in almost all eukaryotic genomes, and they play an important role in genome evolution by creating genetic variation through their mobility. TEs can be divided into two classes (I and II) based on their replication mechanism.
Class I elements use an RNA intermediate for transposition and are called retrotransposons. They can be further subdivided into LTR and non-LTR elements, named after the presence or absence of long terminal repeat (LTR) sequences in the element. Class II elements use a DNA intermediate and are therefore called DNA transposons. The evolutionary factors that influence transposable element abundance have received considerable attention but are still not fully understood. In my thesis I have focused on three different projects concerning the evolutionary dynamics of TEs.
In my first project I analyzed the evolutionary dynamics of the LTR family roo and it's highly diverged relative rooA in 12 closely related Drosophila species. Roo is the most abundant retrotransposon in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Its evolutionary origins and dynamics are thus of special interest for understanding the evolutionary history of Drosophila genome organization. Within the 12 genomes I found a broad spectrum for the evolutionary dynamics of roo and rooA ranging from recent intense transpositional activity to slow decay and extinction.
Furthermore I suggest an origin of roo/rooA within the Drosophila clade based on the balance of phylogenetic evidence, sequence divergence distribution, and the occurrence of solo-LTR elements.
The second project in my thesis regards the BEL/Pao subclass of LTR retrotransposons. LTR elements are the most abundant class of TEs. In contrast to the other subclasses of LTR elements, little attention has been paid to elements belonging to the metazoan BEL/Pao subclass. I
therefore searched for all BEL/Pao elements in a set of 62 metazoan genomes and analyzed their evolutionary history. My work shows that BEL/Pao elements are the second most abundant class of LTR retrotransposons in metazoan species and are therefore much more frequent than I previously thought. Furthermore, I identified two novel BEL/Pao superfamilies. The presence
of BEL/Pao elements in both metazoan kingdoms suggest that they arose during early metazoan evolution. In my third project I studied the in
uence of the mating system on TE dynamics in the predominantly
selfing plant A. thaliana and its close outcrossing relative A. lyrata. There are two opposing hypotheses that make predictions regarding the impact of selfing and outcrossing on TE abundance. The first predicts a higher TE number in a selfing species due to less ectopic recombination that eliminates TE copies. The second predicts a lower TE number in selfing species, because TEs can spread more easily in outcrossing species through recombination. I conducted the �first genome-scale analysis regarding the influence of the mating system on TE abundance. I identified more than three times more TE copies in the outcrossing A. lyrata than in the selfing A. thaliana, as well as ten times more TE families unique to A. lyrata. On average, elements in A. lyrata are younger than elements in A. thaliana. In particular, A. thaliana shows a marked decrease in element number starting approximately 0.5 million years ago, around the time predominant selfing originated. My observations suggest that if the mating system is an important factor in determining TE copy numbers, then selfing species are likely to have fewer transposable elements.


Author(s): Rubin, Yoram | Abstract: Monitoring of soil water content is a vital component for agricultural and ecological programs, and the key component for rational water resources management. The information obtained from monitoring is critical for optimizing crop yields, achieving high irrigation efficiencies, planning irrigation scheduling, and minimizing lost yield due to waterlogging and salinization. Such water content monitoring is also important for addressing issues of water quantity and quality, both relevant for managing the environmental impacts of irrigated agriculture and for protecting functional ecosystems. Water content information is also needed for a variety of other scientific investigations, such as climate change, environmental remediation, and engineering investigations.There are currently no techniques available to yield information about soil heterogeneities and water content at both the resolution and spatial coverage needed to assist in many subsurface problems, and in particular, vineyard management. We investigated the applicability of a surface based geophysical tool, Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR), for estimating soil water content under both controlled and natural field conditions. Our studies focused on use of travel time data obtained from both the ground wave and from the reflected wave of the GPR signal. Our research shows that GPR groundwave techniques offer an accurate, quick, and reliable approach for estimating shallow (top 20 cm of soil surface) soil water content in very high resolution and in a non-invasive manner, and we recommend further development of this approach for use as a field tool (i.e., technology transfer). Investigations using the reflected component of the GPR signal suggests that accurate estimates of water content can be obtained using this approach when the depth to the reflector is known. More work is necessary to assess the accuracy and feasibility of the GPR reflection approach under natural field conditions.


In 2014 New Perspectives Theatre Company staged the first adaptation on the stage of a short story by Saul Bellow, "Him with His Foot in His Mouth." The changes made to the story in its adaptation for the stage inform our understanding of the comic effect of the story, particularly in relation to the different endings involved. The dynamic of the story depends upon the deployment of two different concepts of comedy — as the expression of an aggressive, materialistic society (Freud, The Joke in Relation to the Unconscious) or as a means of reforming society in green comedy (Northrop Frye, The Anatomy of Criticism). The story focusses upon the legitimate irresponsibility of comedy, and on the relation of comedy to freedom, defending it as a social and even a sacred good. The one-liners uttered by the hero exemplify comedy of a corrective nature, offering a healthy critique of social behavior, particularly in terms of the relation of art to money, and contest Freud's theory as tainted by its social context and economic basis.


Previous experimental and analytical studies conducted to compare the performance of transonic swept rotors in single stage fans have demonstrated the potential of significant improvements in both efficiency and stall margin with forward swept blading. This paper extends the assessment of the payoff derived from forward sweep with respect to aerodynamic performance and stability to multistage configurations. The experimental investigation compares, on a back-to-back test basis, two builds of an advanced good efficiency, high pressure ratio, two-stage fan configuration tested alternately with a radial and a forward swept stage 1 blade. In the two-stage evaluations, the testing was extended to include the effect on inlet flow distortion. While the common second stage among the two builds prevented the overall fan from showing clean inlet performance and stability benefits with the forward swept rotor 1, this configuration did demonstrate superior front stage efficiency and tolerance to inlet distortion. Having obtained an already low distortion sensitivity with the radial rotor 1 configuration relative to current production military fan standards, the sensitivity to inlet distortion was halved with the forward swept rotor 1 configuration. In the case of the 180degree one-per-rev distortion pattern, the two-stage configuration was evaluated both with and without inlet guide vanes (IGVs). The presence of the inlet guide vanes had a profound impact in lowering the two stage fan's sensitivity with inlet distortion. NOMENCLATURE


Abstract Glyphosate-resistant (GR) weeds, including giant ragweed, are among the most challenging weeds for growers to control in cotton. A field study was conducted in 2011 and 2012 to determine the competitiveness of giant ragweed with densities of 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, or 1.6 plants m−1 of row. Early in the growing season, giant ragweed competition with densities of at least 0.8 plants m−1 row reduced cotton height compared with the weed-free control. Based on node above white flower (NAWF) and node above cracked boll (NACB) data, a delay in cotton maturity was observed for treatments with giant ragweed present at a density of 1.6 m−1 of cotton row for NAWF and 0.8 m−1 or 1.6 m−1 of row for NACB. Lint yield losses of 50% were estimated for cotton with rows growing along side of giant ragweed at a density of 0.26 plants m−1 row. Cotton in rows located 140 cm away from giant ragweed required an estimated 1.85 plants m−1 row to reduce yield by 50%. These data suggest that giant ragweed sphere of influence was at least 1 m wide. Cotton fiber quality was not affected by giant ragweed at any density. Giant ragweed is a highly competitive weed in cotton, even at low densities, and efforts should be implemented to control giant ragweed early in the season to prevent cotton yield loss. Nomenclature: Cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., giant ragweed, Ambrosia trifida L., glyphosate resistant, GR.


Political participation rates have declined steadily in Mexico since the 1990s. The decline has been most severe among the poor, producing a stratified pattern that more and more mirrors Mexico s severe socioeconomic inequalities. Poverty of Democracy examines the political marginalization of Mexico s poor despite their key role in the struggle for democracy.Claudio A. Holzner uses case study evidence drawn from eight years of fieldwork in Oaxaca, and from national surveys to show how the institutionalization of a free-market democracy created a political system that discourages the political participation of Mexico s poor by limiting their access to politicians at the local and national level. Though clean elections bolster political activity, Holzner shows that at the local level, and particularly in Mexico s poorest regions, deeply rooted enclaves of authoritarianism and clientelism still constrict people s political opportunities.To explain this phenomenon, Holzner develops an institutional theory in which party systems, state-society linkages, and public policies are the key determinants of citizen political activity. These institutions shape patterns of political participation by conferring and distributing resources, motivating or discouraging an interest in politics, and by affecting the incentives citizens from different income groups have for targeting the state with political activity.Holzner s study sheds light on a disturbing trend in Latin America (and globally), in which neoliberal systems exacerbate political and economic disparities and create institutions that translate economic inequalities into political ones."


This study explores and quantifies the social costs and benefits of grid-scale electrical energy storage (EES) projects in Great Britain. The case study for this report is the Smarter Network Storage project, a 6 MW/10MWh lithium battery placed at the Leighton Buzzard Primary substation to meet growing local peak demand requirements. This study analyses both the locational and system-wide benefits to grid-scale EES, determines the realistic combination of those social benefits, and juxtaposes them against the social costs across the lifecycle of the battery to determine the techno-economic performance. Risk and uncertainty from the benefit streams, cost elements, battery lifespan, and discount rate are incorporated into a Monte Carlo simulation. Using this framework, society can be guided to cost-effectively invest in EES as a grid modernization asset to facilitate the transition to a reliable, affordable, and clean power system.


1. Organic farming is based on principles of co-existence with natural systems, the minimisation of pollution and damage to the environment, and the promotion of the health of soil, plant and animal to produce healthy food with high standards of animal welfare and respect for the wider social and ecological impacts of the agricultural system.
2. Organic Farming has become an important aspect of EU agri-environment policy. Since the implementation of EC Reg. 2078/92 the EU promotes organic farming explicitly on its positive effects on the environment.
3. The environmental and biodiversity benefits of organic systems in the lowlands for mixed farming is generally accepted (Shepherd, 2003) but similar benefits for upland systems have not been identified. This report has been produced by OCW with funding from CCW to address this gap. Where relevant, means to ensure the beneficial impacts through changes to agri-environment schemes, organic standards, and education and dissemination are identified.
4. Hill and uplands are characterised as areas over 200m above sea level where the physical landscape results in production constraints.
5. Biodiversity losses linked to changes in hill and upland agriculture include the erosion of genetic diversity in farmed livestock and crops as well as in wildlife and flora, a reduction in habitat, soil and wildlife diversity and the loss of local knowledge and farming culture.
6. The organic approach to sustainable agriculture in hill or upland systems is through the use of multi species swards and mixed stocking.
7. The report identifies potential points of difference between organic and conventional management practices with regard to hill and upland farming and highlights research requirements to confirm or explore those potentials.
8. Conventional farms can adopt any or all of the practices of the organic farming system, but the engagement with the entire system and annual inspections are specific to the organic farmer.
9. The impacts are not just determined by the system of organic regulations and but also by the management ability and technical skills of the farmer and workers.
10. The practices on organic livestock farms identified that may differ from conventional and have direct biodiversity or environmental impacts are: lower stocking rates (overall manure loading maximum of 170kg/N/ha/yr); an adjustment of the stocking balance (increasing ratio of cattle to sheep); keeping indigenous breeds and strains adapted to the environmental conditions on the farm; limitation on products to control external parasites; reduction and restriction on the use of prophylactic veterinary medicines; the use of foragebased diets; storage and use of slurries, manures and composts, and constraints on the import and export of nutrients.
11. Organic practices in management of grassland and crops identified that may differ from conventional and have direct biodiversity or environmental impacts are: cessation of N fertiliser use; restriction on P & K use; use of lime to maintain pH; use of clovers and herbs in grass leys; cessation of use of chemical pesticides and all herbicides; mechanical and manual weed control and sensitive and timely cultivations; the use of mixed farm systems and rotations on in-bye land; the use of cover crops and undersowing; the use of green manures.
12. Organic regulations do not require habitat creation, but standards state, "that concern for the environment should manifest"…"in high standards of conservation management throughout the organic holding".
Discussion
13. Apart from practices that impact directly on biodiversity or the environment, each management decision on the farm will have knock-on effects that have their own consequences, for example welfare standards for livestock require bedding materials and greater housing space.
14. Organic farms operating solely in the hills and uplands can only be part of a system. Use of in-bye land or having a relationship with lowland holdings to provide winter-feed and forage is necessary to comply with regulations. This will increase the amount of lowland managed organically, bringing widely recognised environmental benefits.
15. Organic agriculture is, by legal definition, a system of production and is based on principles and uses practices adopted to optimise the health of the system. Any farmer may adopt individual practices, and the Tir Gofal scheme provides an opportunity for farmers to provide positive conservation measures, whether conventional or organic. Farming under the EU Regulation defining Organic farming provides assurance to the end consumer that the system used to produce or process the food product was according to that system. This provides a reliable means for consumers to support a system of agriculture that fits more closely with their expectations than intensive systems.
16. Any advantages of lower stocking rates and mixed stocking will only be maintained while organic farms are viable. Organic labelling provides an opportunity for consumers to make a positive choice for high welfare, environmentally benign systems; however the difficulties of marketing, the lack of consumer awareness of food production issues and unwillingness to pay are barriers to access to premium markets for many producers.
Conclusions:
17. The potential benefits of individual practices outlined in the document are often clear, but there are currently few data to confirm the extent of some of the practices that may have most beneficial impact. The need for data on actual practices of the organic farmers in the hills and uplands is therefore highlighted.
18. Few Standards changes are recommended, however the monitoring of derogations to standards and use of restricted veterinary inputs is recommended.
19. Research and development needs, technical, education and dissemination, and agri-environment policy issues which may establish, ensure, or enhance the environmental and biodiversity impacts of organic farming in the hills and uplands are outlined.
20. Infrastructure work to integrate hill and upland and lowland systems is necessary to facilitate organic farming in the uplands; this may assist the viability of lowland organic holdings: the environmental benefits of which are established.


This paper is to study the benefits of using the Facebook from the Malaysian perspectives. In finding the answers to this study, the questions posted were related to the hours spend, language used, types of knowledge sharing, and the interaction pattern. The respondents' feedback responses were analyzed through the content analysis. Findings showed Facebook culture is related to knowledge sharing as a way of life. It can be a platform for future research on the capabilities and benefits of online social networking. This research gives an insight on how Malaysians shared knowledge and benefits that they obtained through Facebook.
Keywords: Social interaction; culture; way of life
eISSN 2514-7528 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.


Investigations were undertaken on the pathotypes and heterogeneity of Italian populations of the potato cyst nematodes, Globodera rostochiensis and G. pallida. All nematode populations were collected from the field and reproduced on a susceptible potato cultivar. To identify pathotypes, the differential Solanum spp. clones were grown in pots containing 1000 cm3 of soil infested with 5 eggs/cm3 of either nematode species, in a glasshouse at 20 ± 2 °C. Seventy days after potato emergence, the nematode population density in each pot was determined and the pathotype identified according to nematode reproduction rate. There were sixteen populations of G. rostochiensis and ten of G. pallida. All populations of G. rostochiensis reproduced more or less exclusively on both Solanum tuberosum cv. Spunta (susceptible) and cv. Saturna (possessing the H1resistant gene), so were considered pathotype Ro2. Of the populations of G. pallida, six were pathotype Pa3 as they reproduced on all of the differential clones, three did not reproduce on the clone (Vtn)262.33.3 of S. vernei and were classified as Pa2, and one population could not be clearly classified. The heterogeneity of seven populations of G. rostochiensis was investigated by examining the reproduction of ten single cyst derived populations for each of the original populations on potato cvs Spunta and Saturna, and on clone KTT/60.21.19 of S. kurtzianum. All of the single cyst populations derived from five of the parent populations were identical to their parent populations as they reproduced only on the first two cultivars, while one from a population from Puglia and five from a population from Calabria also reproduced on clone KTT/60.21.19.


Site dedicated to the poet, to cantor of the romanticism and to politician, that was Alphonse de LAMARTINE, born in Mâcon in 1790


UTGe compounds absorb hydrogen up to 2 H atoms/f.u., which has a dramatic impact on the 5f magnetism. The TC value of UCoGe increases to 50 K. Magnetic susceptibility of spin fluctuator UFeGe markedly increases. For ferromagnetic URhGe only α-hydride could be obtained, which moderate increase of TC and spontaneous moment. The α-hydride of UCoGe is surprisingly paramagnetic despite of a small volume expansion (0.25 %).


BACKGROUND
This study aims to compare histopathology of nasal polyp and ethmoid mucosa for diagnosing eosinophilic mucin rhinosinusitis (EMRS).

METHODOLOGY
Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with polyps (CRSwNP) were enrolled. Using eosinophilic mucin as a reference, histopathology of polyp apex, polyp pedicle and ethmoid mucosa was compared for density of tissue eosinophil and sensitivity for diagnosing EMRS. Associations with asthma were assessed for each site.

RESULTS
Thirty patients with CRSwNP were enrolled. When polyp apex, polyp pedicle and ethmoid mucosa were assessed for tissue eosinophilia, consistent results were reported in 16 patients (53%). Median tissue eosinophil was greater in polyp apex (58, IQR: 7-100) than ethmoid mucosa (10, IQR: 2-21), but not different from polyp pedicle (22, IQR: 1-96). Sensitivity for diagnosing EMRS were 100% (95%CI: 47.8 - 100) for polyp apex, 60% (95%CI: 14.7 - 94.7) for polyp pedicle, 80% (95%CI: 28.4 â€" 99.5) for ethmoid mucosa. Associations with asthma were significant for polyp pedicle, and ethmoid mucosa but not polyp apex.

CONCLUSION
Density of tissue eosinophil was greater in nasal polyp than in ethmoid mucosa. Histopathology of polyp apex had good sensitivity for diagnosing EMRS. Polyp pedicle and ethmoid mucosal eosinophilia associated with asthma.


In this study an optimal load frequency controller for two area interconnected power system is presented to quench the deviations in frequency and tie line power due to different load disturbances. In classical LFC problems, PI type controllers are used to control of system. But due to some disadvantages of the PI type controllers, the researchers are toward finding a better control scheme. Although many different advanced method have been carried out to LFC problem, but the industries are willing to use simple PI controllers. In this scope, this paper presents IP type controller for LFC problem. The parameters of the proposed IP controller are tuned using Harmony Search (HS) method. A two-area electric power system with a wide range of parametric uncertainties is given to illustrate the proposed method. To show effectiveness of the proposed method and also comparison purposes, a PI type controller optimized by HS is also designed. The simulation results visibly show the validity of IP controller in comparison with PI controller.


The electrodynamic effects on the low-mid lat- itude ionospheric region have been investigated using GPS (global positioning system) data, ionosonde data and 1H values, during the very large solar flare (X17.2/4B) of 28 Oc- tober 2003. The results bring out the flare induced unusual behaviour of the equatorial ionosphere on this day just prior to sunset. The important observations are i) Large and pro- longed Ne enhancements observed from ionosonde data just after the flare-related peak enhancement in EUV flux. The observed enhancement in Ne is due to the increase in ioniza- tion production due to the enhanced EUV flux and the persis- tence of the enhancement is probably due to the prompt pene- tration related upliftment of the F layer (just prior to the flare peak phase) to higher altitudes, where recombination rates are lower. ii) A significant enhancement in total electron content (TEC) ( 10 TEC units) at regions around the Equa- torial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) crest region (Ahmedabad) during the flare in association with the flare related EUV flux enhancement. iii) Similar enhancements seen at stations of Jodhpur and Delhi in the mid latitude sector. iv)The flare re- lated flux enhancements in different longitude sectors in the equatorial electrojet region have been shown to produce pos- itive and negative variations in electrojet strength indicating the presence of current systems having positive and nega- tive polarities in different longitude sectors. Thus the flare effect reveals the longitudinal variation of the counter elec- trojet events in the Equatorial Electrojet (EEJ) region.


SUMMARY Online chat systems, e.g.., Twitter and Slack, have been used in academic conferences or study meetings as a means of instant discussion and sharing related information alongside a real presentation. We propose a system for activating online discussion by providing a bot that suggests webpages related to current timeline of the discussion. Our sys- tem generates keyword vectors according to discussion timeline, searches best related webpages from several web sites, and timely provides these pages to the discussion timeline. This paper describes deployments of our system in two types of meetings: lightning talk format meetings and group meetings; and daily exchanges using online chat system. As a result, we could not find good enough reactions to the bot's postings from meeting participants at the lightning talk format meetings, but we could observe more reactions and progress of discussion caused by the bot's postings at the relaxed meetings and daily exchanges among group members.


Direct aeroacoustic simulation, which simulates acoustic radiation associated with unsteady fluid flows, involves capturing waves in both aerodynamic and acoustic scales. The presence of a thermal field further complicates this simulation. There are few analytical thermal-acoustic problems that could serve as benchmark to validate computational aeroacoustics schemes. This paper attempts to seek a theoretical solution of a simple problem involving scattering of acoustic plane waves by a localized zero-heat-gain/loss thermal disturbance and use it as a benchmark to verify the validity and extent of a numerical gas-kinetic scheme based on the modeled Boltzmann equation for the study of aeroacoustics resulting from thermal-flow/acoustic interaction. Two limiting cases with different acoustic wavelengths are attempted. Theoretical solutions are established for both cases, with the center of an axisymmetric thermal disturbance located at the origin of the physical domain. The incident acoustic wave has a dimensionless amplitude given by 1 x 10 -4 and is propagated from left to right of the coordinate system. The simulation of the gas-kinetic scheme is carried out using the same computational setting as for the theoretical solutions. Riemann invariants are stipulated at the open boundaries. Numerical results are compared with the theoretical solutions and good agreement is obtained for the short-wavelength case only. The discrepancy for the long-wavelength case could be partially attributed to the inappropriateness of the Riemann invariants for oblique waves at the boundaries.


Rotational grazing is commonly assumed to improve livestock distribution compared to continuous grazing, but little evidence supports this contention. Research was conducted on the effects of rotational grazing (RG) compared to continuous grazing (CG) on the preference of cattle for plant communities. Different livestock densities in the RG treatments were created by varying the size of paddocks in a 465-ha, 16-paddock, cell designed RG treatment stocked at a rate of 3.6 ha/cow/yr. Paddock sizes of 30 and 10-ha were used to simulate RG with 14 (RG-14) and 42-paddocks (RG-42), respectively. The CG treatment consisted of a 248-ha pasture stocked at 5.9 ha/cow/yr. Data consisted of hourly daylight observations of cattle location and activity during 8 seasonal trials lasting 6-15 days. These data were expressed as a percent of the time cattle were observed in each of 4 plant communities and the area surrounding permanent water. Relative electivity (RE), a preference index, and a selectivity index (SI) that measures departures from random distribution were calculated from these data. Relative electivity (i.e., preference) for plant communities was not affected by grazing treatment. However, cattle were less selective for plant communities as livestock density decreased from the RG-42 to the CG treatment. In the RG-14 treatment, the cattle were either unaffected or less selective on the last day than on the first day in a paddock. We hypothesize that grazing systems influence cattle preference for plant communities by affecting the availability of forage biomass per unit land area rather than by their effect on grazing pressure.


SARS-CoV-2 (2019-nCoV) is the pathogenic coronavirus responsible for the global pandemic of COVID-19 disease. The Spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 attaches to host lung epithelial cells through the cell surface receptor ACE2, a process dependent on host proteases including TMPRSS2. Here, we identified small molecules that can reduce surface expression of TMPRSS2 using a 2,700 FDA-approved or current clinical trial compounds. Among these, homoharringtonine and halofuginone appear the most potent agents, reducing endogenous TMPRSS2 expression at sub-micromolar concentrations. These effects appear to be mediated by a drug-induced alteration in TMPRSS2 protein stability. We further demonstrate that halofuginone modulates TMPRSS2 levels through proteasomal-mediated degradation that involves the E3 ubiquitin ligase component DDB1- and CUL4-associated factor 1 (DCAF1). Finally, cells exposed to homoharringtonine and halofuginone, at concentrations of drug known to be achievable in human plasma, demonstrated marked resistance to SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviral infection. Given the safety and pharmacokinetic data already available for the compounds identified in our screen, these results should help expedite the rational design of human clinical trials designed to combat COVID-19 infection.


The investigation of the dialectical relationship between structure and history is essential for a proper understanding of the nature and the defining characteristics of any social formation in which sustainable solutions are being sought to the encountered problems. This is particularly important in the case of capital's social formation, with its inexorable tendency toward an all-embracing, structurally embedded determination of all aspects of societal reproduction and the—feasible for the first time ever—global domination implicit in that form of development. It is therefore by no means accidental that, in the interest of the required structural change , Marx had to focus critical attention on the concept of social structure , in the historical period of crises and revolutionary explosions of the 1840s when he articulated his own—radically new—conception of history. This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website , where most recent articles are published in full. Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


The product of the teacher as a human resource is the achievement of the students and graduates of a school. These graduates must be able to compete in the world of academics and the world of work which is nothing but focusing on quality. This illustrates human resources as an important factor for success educational institutions. For this reason, the HR needs to be managed as well as possible so that it can truly be utilized for the benefit of the institution Quality Management of Educators and Education Personnel at Dlanggu 1 Public Middle School can already be said to be good with indicators of teacher achievement towards qualifications listed in the national education standard. But not enough, management functions continue to be pursued and optimized to achieve better quality or above the standard


The market for storable goods is worth more than £1 trillion and accounts for a large portion of household grocery expenditures. Their defining characteristics are that they can be stored for future consumption and are often sold using promotions. Both create inter-temporal links in consumer demand. Measuring both intra and inter-temporal substitution patterns is therefore central to understanding consumer behaviour for this large class of industries. Quantification of substitution patterns is made more challenging because choice sets facing consumers tend to be large (i.e. 100 products). Therefore, demand is inherently dynamic and high-dimensional. As a result, dynamic demand models suffer from the curse of dimensionality and are computationally intensive to estimate and solve. In this thesis I develop two complementary approaches to the estimation of demand models for storable goods that incorporate demand dynamics and apply them to the UK laundry detergent industry. The first is a computationally light approach that can be easily implemented within a policy making timeframe and only requires data routinely collected in antitrust investigations. It shows how accounting margins can be combined with a static demand model to estimate a set of price elasticities that are consistent with dynamic demand responses to price changes. I show how these can be input into empirical tools used by firms and policy makers. The second paper develops a high-dimensional dynamic discrete-continuous demand model for storable fast moving consumer goods. Assumptions of existing dynamic demand models are relaxed while retaining computational tractability. As a result, the model captures rich inter- and intra-temporal substitution patterns, allows for a detailed understanding of dynamic consumer behaviour, and provides a framework with wide applicability. To estimate and solve the dynamic demand model, I use techniques from approximate dynamic programming, large-scale dynamic programming in economics, machine learning, and statistical computing.


This paper presents a field programmable gate array (FPGA) implementation of a digital circuit that measures in real-time first harmonics of voltage and current medium-frequency (25 kHz–70 kHz) induction-heating cooking appliances. The inverter output voltage and load current are sensed using first-order delta-sigma (ΔΣ) analog to digital converters. The coefficients of the Discrete-Time Fourier Series (DTFS) of voltage and current are computed over a half period of the mains. The DTFS coefficients are computed directly from the ΔΣ modulated 1-bit data stream signals. The main advantages are that the digital low-pass filter implementation at the output of the modulator is not needed and the arithmetic complexity is reduced since a bit-stream is processed. The system is simulated using a mixed-signal simulation tool and it is experimentally verified.


Area-selective deposition (ASD) enables
the growth of materials on target regions of patterned substrates for
applications in fields ranging from microelectronics to catalysis. Selectivity
is often achieved through surface modifications aimed at suppressing or
promoting the adsorption of precursor molecules. Here we show, instead, that
varying the surface composition can enable ASD by affecting surface diffusion
rather than adsorption. Ru deposition from (carbonyl)- (alkylcyclohexadienyl)Ru
and H2 produces smooth films on metal nitrides and nanoparticles on
SiO2. The latter form by surface diffusion and aggregation of Ru
adspecies. Kinetic modeling shows that changing the surface termination of SiO2
from -OH to -CH3, and thus its surface energy, leads to larger and
fewer nanoparticles because of a 1000-fold increase in surface diffusion rates.
Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations show that even surface diffusion alone can
enable ASD because adspecies tend to migrate from high- to low-diffusivity
regions. This is corroborated by deposition experiments on 3D TiN-SiO2
nanopatterns, which are consistent with Ru migrating from SiO2 to
TiN. Such insights not only have implications for the interpretation of
experimental results but may also inform new ASD protocols, based on chemical
vapor and atomic layer deposition, that take advantage of surface diffusion.


The SPI was applied in food industry widely, but the component which could affect the functionalities and it may change during storage. The effect of store temperature, time, RH and package material on SPI oil absorption were studied, when SPI was packaged in 100% N2 and Al, 80%N2:20%CO2 and Al, 60%N2:40% CO2 and Al, vacuum and Al, white paper/plastic/LDPE, and PE and then stored for 5 months in the conditions of RH55%,4°C. It was shown that the 7S/11S of SPI in all packages not change significantly. But it was observed by SDS-PAGE that the subunit of SPI disaggregated and molecules aggregated. Focus on the sulfhydryln group and disulfide bond; it was found that the content of sulfydryl decreases while disulfide bond increased sharply especially in the later three months.


In this paper we study the problem of designing and specifying standard program components applicable to a wide variety of tasks; we choose for this study the specific problem domain of data structures for general searching problems. Within this domain Bentley and Saxe [1] have developed transformations for converting solutions of simple searching problems to solutions of more complex problems. We discuss one of those transformations, specify precisely the transformation and its conditions of applicability, and prove its correctness; we accomplish this by casting it in terms of abstract data types–specifically by using the Alphard form mechanism. The costs of the structures derived by this transformation are only slightly greater than the costs of the original structures, and the correctness of the transformation definition together with the correctness of the original structure assure the correctness of the derived structure. The transformation we describe has already been used to develop a number of new algorithms, and it represents a new level of generality in software engineering tools.


AIMS
An understanding of the temporal trends on the risks of arrhythmic death (AD) vs. non-arrhythmic deaths (NAD) after myocardial infarction (MI) is crucial in deciding the optimal timing for risk stratification and treatment window for prophylactic antiarrhythmic treatment. However, contemporary data on such information is lacking.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Individual patient data were pooled from the placebo arms of EMIAT, CAMIAT, SWORD, TRACE, and DIAMOND-MI who had a recent MI and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <40% or frequent ventricular premature beats (VPBs). Temporal trends were investigated for all studies from day 45 after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) to account for different recruitment periods between trials, and then from the onset of MI for TRACE and DIAMOND-MI that recruited patients within 2 weeks after MI. In total, 3104 patients (median age 65, range: 23-92; 2471 males) were pooled from all five studies, with a total of 487 deaths at 2-year follow-up; 220 deaths were ADs and 172 were NADs. The risks of both AD and NAD were highest in the first 6 months but the risk of AD was consistently higher than that of NAD throughout the 2-year period [rate of death/100 person-year at risk (AD/NAD): 8.09/6.07 (45 days to 6 months), 4.07/3.35 (>6-12 months), 4.34/3.60 (>12-18 months), 3.76/2.77 (>18-24 months)]. There were significant interactions between the temporal trends of mortalities and gender (P=0.03) and history of hypertension (P=0.04). A similar trend was observed when mortality was measured from time of onset of MI from the combined TRACE and DIAMOND-MI dataset.

CONCLUSION
Our study provided the first contemporary evidence that in high-risk post-MI patients with LVEF <40% or frequent VPBs, the risk of AD was higher than that of NAD for up to 2 years although in female patients, they became increasingly more likely to die from NAD after 6 months. Therefore, risk stratification of post-MI patient at high risk of AD remains a worthwhile exercise. However, the risks of AD (and NAD) were highest in the first 6 months after AMI and level-off thereafter, suggesting that the optimal window period for risk stratification for implantable cardioverter defibrillator after AMI is in the first 6 months.


This guide is intended to provide students in the College of Pharmacy with a starting point for research and study. It can also be used by students in other colleges who need drug information.


The Reflexive Interactive Design (RIO) approach has been applied in several system innovation projects in Dutch husbandry. The main aim is to inspire and mobilise stakeholders in a socio-technical system (e.g. animal husbandry system) to take steps towards sustainability. Structural change (i.e. system in-novation) is needed to get to coherent solutions for the complex challenge animal husbandry faces. By including a wide variety of stakeholders in and around animal husbandry in a transdisciplinary multi-stakeholder process, including reflexivity and design, the approach tackles this complex challenge. The first phase of the RIO approach – system and actor analysis – includes a collective system analysis (CSA) adapted from the Innovation Systems Framework. This tool is deemed to increase reflexivity: it helps in opening up the perceived solution space and reveals (joint) perspectives for action among those involved in the process. Awareness is growing that the cultural and institutional context plays a role in the success of co-innovative approaches, such as the RIO approach and its CSA tool. When exporting these co-innovative approaches it appears that application in another context is not straightforward. In this study the influence of the context is investigated by means of a case-study that examines the (Dutch-born) CSA in the Ethiopian context. Characteristics of the Ethiopian institutional and cultural con-text that are deemed to influence the success of the CSA with regards to reflexivity (i.e. opening up of solution space and joint construction of perspectives for action) are indicated. Additionally, the implica-tions for the design of the tool, especially with regards to the casting of participants and the facilitation, are discussed. Finally, an outlook on what this means for applying co-innovative approaches in different contexts is given.


The Swedish industry uses large volumes of compressed air. The compressed air process isenergy intensive and creates large amounts of excess heat. It is therefore important to utilizethe excess heat, optimize the operation of the compressors and to have a regular maintenanceon the system. This thesis is a pre-study to make a compressed air system energy efficient andis done in collaboration with Ljunghall AB. Ljunghall AB is one of Northern Europe's leadingdie casting companies and are located in Sodra Vi, Sweden. The purpose is to describe andmap the compressed air system in the old part of the facility in Sodra Vi. The thesis will alsogive an explanation of how Ljunghall AB can improve the compressed air system. Providethem suggestions for energy savings and lower the environmental impact of production. Theobjective of the thesis is to create an understanding of how improvements in the compressedair system can be done by studying the operation, compressor, pipe system and leak detecting.The economic aspects of the solutions together with the effect of noise and engine operationof the compressors have not been taken into consideration. To reach improvement measures avisit to the facility in Sodra Vi was made, where measuring and mapping was executed andthen compared with earlier studies and literature. The conclusions of the thesis show thatLjunghall AB has a good operation and control of the compressors, through the variable speeddrive and steering system. It also showed that the choice of the existing compressors are goodfor their compressed air usage. The study also resulted in the following suggestions for theenergy efficiency and lowering of the environmental impact of production at Ljunghall AB'scompressed air system: Water heat recovery, replacement of old pipes, cover the leakage,regular maintenance of compressors and fittings, training in compressed air for workers,centralized compressor central and sectioning of the pipe system.


A large number of nuclear energy power plants being set up across India with 22 nuclear power plants working produce 2.8% of the total electricity generated across the country. Also, there are 6 under construction and 31 under a proposal for construction have the basic fuel requirement as the radioactive minerals like uranium isotopes, plutonium, and thorium. The demand for the fuel is going to increase with time and there is a need to either import or to excavate out the ores of radioactive substances like the Uraninite ore deposits found across the states of Jharkhand, Telangana, Meghalaya, etc. that fulfill the requirement. The ore is excavated out by the Uranium Corporation of India Limited which is controlled by the Department of Atomic Energy and the mining and processing of the same is regulated by the Atomic Energy Act 1962. In the research paper, the author has acknowledged the issue of contradiction between the mining grants given to Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the environment protection laws like Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 which declared the area as restricted area for any human activity. The scope of powers given to UCIL under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 for the mining of uranium and the restrictions that can be put on the same by the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 is also critically analyzed. India's ratification of the International Atomic Energy Association's Additional protocols and the UCIL's way of dealing with the sustainable development goal of IAEA, in line with its "Atoms for peace and development" set out in the United Nations Agenda (2030) for Sustainable Development is also examined. In its conclusion, the author has said that there was a violation of the Article 19 (1) (d) and (e) and Article 21 in the Jaduguda mining project and non-compliance with the procedures mentioned under the various environmental laws in the uranium mining projects in Nalgonda like Environment Protection Strategy (EPS) 2002, Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act 2006 and Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006. It is also concluded that the best stand of government could be to import uranium from the other nations by complying with the IAEA guidelines and by bilateral treaties like the Indo-US nuclear deal of 2007 thus surpassing the restrictions placed on the country for not being the signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and not being the member of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).


A new title from the best-selling _Read & Respond_ series. * Differentiation advice and assessment guidance. * Plot, character and setting, speaking and listening activities. * Guided reading noes and texts for shared reading. * Extended writing projects.


Chest computed tomography (CCT) evaluation for trauma encompasses two main objectives: (1) The evaluation of the acutely injured in the search for diagnoses and (2) follow up assessment or diagnosis of pulmonary complications in the hospitalised patient. In the acute phase of evaluation, CCT has become particularly helpful for the diagnosis of blunt thoracic aortic injury (BAI), great vessel injury, extent of lung contusion, occult hemothorax, occult pneumothorax, spinal fractures and spinal cord injuries and to determine the tract of transmediastinal gun shot wounds. In the subacute phase, CCT has gained popularity for diagnosing pulmonary embolism and evaluation of retained hemothorax. Technological advances have lead to better diagnostic capabilities that can be obtained quickly but, particularly in the trauma patient, there is little consistent data supporting an outcome improvement in the majority of patients despite changes in clinical management. Further data is needed to support use of CCT in select trauma patient populations to increase useful diagnostic yield and cost effectiveness.


One of the most intriguing and important discussions in international law today is the potential impact of emerging technologies on the law of armed conflict (LOAC), including weapons that incorporate machine learning and/or artificial intelligence. Because one of the likely characteristics of these advanced weapons would be the ability to make decisions implicating life and death on the battlefield, these discussions have highlighted a fundamental question concerning the LOAC: does the law regulating armed conflict require human input in selecting and engaging targets or can that decision be made without human input? This article analyzes views expressed by scholars and NGOs, but focuses on views expressed by States, many of which have been publicized as part of the discussions of States Parties to the Certain Conventional Weapons Convention. As a result of this analysis, It is clear that States have not yet come to a consensus on the issue of the legal role of human decision making in LOAC compliance. Given that lack of consensus, one can only conclude that the law does not currently require a human decision for selecting and engaging targets to be lawful. Though the international community may come to such a decision, it has not yet done so. Therefore, States should continue to research and develop weapons that incorporate machine learning and artificial intelligence because such weapons offer the promise of not only greater compliance with existing norms and processes, but also increased opportunities to provide protections in new and creative ways in the future.


This paper proposes a novel method for learning highly nonlinear, multivariate functions from examples. Our method takes advantage of the property that continuous functions can be approximated by polynomials, which in turn are representable by tensors. Hence the function learning problem is transformed into a tensor reconstruction problem, an inverse problem of the tensor decomposition. Our method incrementally builds up the unknown tensor from rank-one terms, which lets us control the complexity of the learned model and reduce the chance of overfitting. For learning the models, we present an efficient gradient-based algorithm that can be implemented in linear time in the sample size, order, rank of the tensor and the dimension of the input. In addition to regression, we present extensions to classification, multi-view learning and vector-valued output as well as a multi-layered formulation. The method can work in an online fashion via processing mini-batches of the data with constant memory complexity. Consequently, it can fit into systems equipped only with limited resources such as embedded systems or mobile phones. Our experiments demonstrate a favorable accuracy and running time compared to competing methods.


Abstract Inflammation is a key feature of preterm and term labor. Proinflammatory mediators are produced by gestation-associated tissues in response to pathogen-associated molecular patterns and damage-associated molecular patterns. Interleukin (IL)4, IL10, and IL13 are anti-inflammatory cytokines with potential as anti-inflammatory therapies to prevent preterm birth. The objective of this study was to determine if IL4 and IL13 exert anti-inflammatory effects on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated production of proinflammatory cytokines produced by human term gestation-associated tissues (placenta, choriodecidua, and amnion). Both IL4 and IL13 reduced LPS-stimulated IL1B and macrophage inflammatory protein1A; this effect diminished with delay to exposure to either cytokine. There was no effect on LPS-stimulated prostaglandin production. Interleukin 4 receptor alpha (IL4RA) was expressed throughout the placenta, choriodecidua, and amnion, and the inhibitory effects of IL4 and IL13 were IL4RA dependent. Combined IL4 and IL13 did not enhance the anti-inflammatory potential of either cytokine; however, a combination of IL4 and IL10 had a greater anti-inflammatory effect than either cytokine alone. These findings demonstrate that human term gestation-associated tissues are responsive to the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL4 and IL13, which could downregulate LPS-induced cytokine production in these tissues. Antiinflammatory cytokines might offer an adjunct to existing therapeutics to prevent adverse obstetric outcome. Summary Sentence The anti-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)4 and IL13 can downregulate the lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory response by human gestation-associated tissues in an IL4 receptor alpha-dependent manner.


Paediatric patient access to rehabilitation services following trauma has significant long-term implications for clients, their families and the community. The aim of this research was to examine and compare the process by which patients are discharged from acute care and enter rehabilitation in the USA and Australia. The subjects were 31 American and 29 Australian discharge and rehabilitation admission coordinators. Subjects were surveyed about how they currently make trauma to rehabilitation referrals for children. Clinicians in both countries considered the severity of a child's injury and their social situation the most important factors when determining placement for a child. However, there were differences between Australian and US respondents in terms of how important they considered the factor 'medical coverage'. In addition, it was found that clinicians are not consistently using both standardized assessments and formal guidelines to assist them to determine which children should receive rehabilitation following acute care. Benefits of this research include a greater understanding of clinician discharge and admission decision making, and the equity of such decisions. However, further research is required on the influence of payment systems on access to paediatric rehabilitation.


The potential of using ICT in guidance is very big, but the real integration into the practice is still unknown in Romania. The articles presents the results of a quantitative study on the use of ICT in the Romanian school guidance community, based on Anthony Barnes`(1) distinction in relation to the way in which ICT can be used in such a context: as a resource, as a medium and/or for the development of further resources. 130 practitioners from 41 Romanian counties, plus Bucharest, participated in an online survey during November 2013-January 2014. The research questionnaire has been developed based on the instruments developed within international ICT Skills 1 and 2 Leonardo da Vinci projects (2). Results are discussed in relation to earlier Romanian studies and initiatives on the same topic (Stanescu, 2000; Jigau, 2002; ICT skills 1 and 2 project, 2005-2009). Some short overview on the policies and legal provisions for the guidance system is offered, as well as discussions on the initial training and continuous professional development of counsellors. Conclusions are drawn in relation to the most frequently used tools, as well as on the access on ICT in rural versus urban schools in which practitioners are working. Difficulties and obstacles mentioned by respondents are analysed together with good practices, in order to offer a comprehensive picture related to the daily practice on using ICT in guidance and counselling in Romania. Trends, future challenges for guidance counsellors and recommendations are drawn with the view of improving policies and practices in the field.

(1) Cogoi, C., Barnes, A., La Gro, N. Orientare ?i TIC: contextul. In: Competen?e TIC 2. Instrumente TIC ?i formarea practicienilor de orientare care utilizeaz? computerul. Afir Publishing House, Bucharest, 2009.
(2) *** ICT Skills 2.ICT Tools and Training for e-Guidance practitioners. ASTER Scienza Tecnologia Impresa S. Cons. p. a, Publishing House, Bologna, Italy, 2009.


In stratified sampling, methods for the allocation of effort among strata usually rely on some measure of within-stratum variance. If we do not have enough information about these variances, adaptive allocation can be used. In adaptive allocation designs, surveys are conducted in two phases. Information from the first phase is used to allocate the remaining units among the strata in the second phase. Brown et al. [Adaptive two-stage sequential sampling, Popul. Ecol. 50 (2008), pp. 239–245] introduced an adaptive allocation sampling design – where the final sample size was random – and an unbiased estimator. Here, we derive an unbiased variance estimator for the design, and consider a related design where the final sample size is fixed. Having a fixed final sample size can make survey-planning easier. We introduce a biased Horvitz–Thompson type estimator and a biased sample mean type estimator for the sampling designs. We conduct two simulation studies on honey producers in Kurdistan and synthetic zirconium distribution in a region on the moon. Results show that the introduced estimators are more efficient than the available estimators for both variable and fixed sample size designs, and the conventional unbiased estimator of stratified simple random sampling design. In order to evaluate efficiencies of the introduced designs and their estimator furthermore, we first review some well-known adaptive allocation designs and compare their estimator with the introduced estimators. Simulation results show that the introduced estimators are more efficient than available estimators of these well-known adaptive allocation designs.


To provide precedents for the possible interactions of platinum DNA adducts with zinc finger proteins, the complexes [Pt(dien)Cl]Cl (dien = diethylenetriamine) and [Pt(terpy)Cl]Cl (terpy = 2,2':6',2''-terpyridine) were exposed to the N,N'-bis(2-mercaptoethyl)-1,4-diazacycloheptanezinc(II) dimer, [Zn(bme-dach)]2, and the products defined by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), X-ray crystallography and (195)Pt NMR spectroscopy. The presence of a leaving chloride in both platinum(II) complexes facilitates electrophilic substitution involving sulfur-containing zinc finger synthetic models or, as in previous studies, zinc finger peptidic sequences. Monitored via ESI-MS, both reactants yielded evidence for Zn-(mu-SR)-Pt bridges followed by zinc ejection from the N2S2 coordination sphere and subsequent formation of a trimetallic Zn-(mu-SR)2-Pt-(mu-SR)2-Zn-bridged species. The isolation of Zn-(mu-SR)-Pt-bridged species [(Zn(bme-dach)Cl)(Pt(dien))]Cl is, to our knowledge, the first Zn-Pt bimetallic thiolate-bridged model demonstrating the interaction between Zn-bound thiolates and Pt(2+). In the case of the [Pt(terpy)Cl]Cl reaction with the [Zn(bme-dach)]2, ESI-MS analysis further suggests metal exchange by formation of [Zn(terpy)Cl](+), whereas the [Pt(dien)Cl]Cl reaction does not yield the corresponding [Zn(dien)Cl](+) ion. Direct synthesis of the Zn-Pt thiolate-bridged species and the Pt(N2S2) chelate, where Pt has displaced the Zn from the chelate core, permitted the isolation of X-ray-quality crystals to confirm the bridging and metal-exchanged structures. The ESI-MS, (195)Pt NMR spectroscopy, and molecular structures of the di- and trinuclear complexes will be discussed, as they provide insight into the metal-exchange mechanism.


There are three human pathogenic species of the genus Yersiniae: Yersinia pestis, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. To cause disease, these strains inhibit several key innate defense mechanisms, including phagocytosis, the critical process for bacterial clearance. The ability of Yersinia to evade the immune defense is dependent on delivery of virulence effectors, Yersinia outer proteins (Yops), into the interacting cell by a mechanism involving the type III secretion machinery. We have shown that the virulence protein YopK plays an important role in the control of Yop effector translocation via a feedback mechanism involving another virulence protein, YopE. We also found that YopK participated in regulation of Yop effector translocation by modulating level and ratio of the pore-forming proteins YopB and YopD in the target cell membrane. Further, using a yeast two-hybrid screen with YopK as a bait, the eukaryotic protein RACK1 was identified as a target for this virulence protein. We found that RACK1 was engaged upon Y. pseudotuberculosis-mediated β1-integrin activation, where it was recruited to phagocytic cups. Downregulation of RACK1 by RNAi resulted in a reduced ability of Y. pseudotuberculosis to block phagocytosis, indicating that RACK1 is required for efficient Yersinia-mediated antiphagocytosis. Based on our data, we suggest a model where Yersinia, via YopK, targets RACK1 to ensure a directed delivery of the Yop effectors to the "right place" where they bind to and inactivate their targets, resulting in efficient inhibition of phagocytosis. A yopK mutant strain over-delivers Yop effectors, but is still avirulent in mice, indicating that YopK is important for the fine-tuning of effector protein delivery during infection. To analyse this, we investigated the importance of YopK during in vivo infection. We found that a yopK mutant colonized Peyer's patches and the mesenteric lymph node more rapidly compared to wild-type Y. pseudotuberculosis, but was unable to spread systemically to liver and spleen and cause full disease in mice. Further, we showed that a yopK mutant was able to colonize liver and spleen and cause full disease in mice lacking the main phagocytes, polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs). We also showed that YopK was important for Yersinia-mediated silencing of the PMN response. To summarize, we suggest that YopK is important for Yersinia to evade the PMN defense and thereby spread systemically and cause disease. YopK is proposed to do this by allowing a controlled, directed Yop effector delivery that is just sufficient to inhibit host immune defense mechanisms. The controlled and precise delivery of virulence effectors avoids inappropriate triggering of PMNs and thereby an enhanced immune response favoring the host.


In this study, we report a straightforward and reproducible hydrothermal synthesis of copper oxide nanowires, their morphological and chemical characterization, and their application in gas sensing. Results show that the hydrothermal process is mainly influenced by the reaction time and the concentration of the reducing agent, demonstrating the synthesis of fine and long nanowires (diameter of 50–200 nm and length of 25 µm) after 10 h of reaction with 0.1 M of pyrrole. Two different annealing temperatures were tested (205 and 450 °C) and their effect on the morphology, chemical composition, and crystal size of the nanowires was analyzed by SEM, XPS, and XRD techniques, respectively. The analysis shows that the Cu2+ oxidation state is mainly obtained at the higher annealing temperature, and the nanowires' shape suffers a transformation due to the formation of agglomerated crystallites. The gas sensing tests for acetone, ethanol, toluene, and carbon monoxide show preferential response and sensitivity to acetone and ethanol over the other analytes. The annealing temperature proves to have a higher influence on the stability of the nanowires than on their gas sensitivity and selectivity, showing better medium-term stability for the nanowires annealed at 450 °C.


The vector control drive system is a very important method to get high dynamic performance. To increase the reliability and decrease the cost of this system, the sensorless speed control is used. Here sensorless speed control conventional model reference adaptive system was studied. It was studied due to have many advantages. Although it has many advantages, but also, it has some drawbacks. These drawbacks an increase in the torque ripples, an increase in distortion of the stator currents, fluxes and motor speed. The aim of this paper is beating the drawbacks of the chosen system through simulation only. Three level inverter with space vector modulation constant switching frequency is used to overcome these drawbacks. To show the effect of the proposed system, it was compared to the conventional system. The conventional system here uses the two-level inverter with space vector modulation. To show the advantages of the constant switching frequency, the three-level inverter was used without keeping the constant switching frequency. The comparison held among the conventional model, the improved model which using the three-level inverter only and proposal model (the three-level inverter which using constant switching frequency). In the conventional model, the reference currents and the estimating currents compared to generate the reference voltage of the space vector modulation. In proposal model, the stator fluxes were estimated and compared to the reference stator fluxes to generate the same voltage of the space vector modulation through keeping the switching time constant. The simulation results proved that importance of the proposed model to improve the drawbacks of the conventional model reference adaptive system.