The compound 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), an important bio-based monomer for the production of various polymers, can be obtained from 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). However, efficient production of FDCA from HMF via biocatalysis has not been well studied. In this study, we report the identification of key genes that are involved in FDCA synthesis and then the engineering of Raoultella ornithinolytica BF60 for biocatalytic oxidation of HMF to FDCA using its resting cells. Specifically, previously unknown candidate genes, adhP3 and alkR, which were responsible for the reduction of HMF to the undesired product 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl) furan (HMF alcohol), were identified by transcriptomic analysis. Combinatorial deletion of these two genes resulted in 85.7% reduction in HMF alcohol formation and 23.7% improvement in FDCA production (242.0 mM). Subsequently, an aldehyde dehydrogenase, AldH, which was responsible for the oxidation of the intermediate 5-formyl-2-furoic acid (FFA) to FDCA, was identified and characterized. Finally, FDCA production was further improved by overexpressing AldH, resulting in a 96.2% yield of 264.7 mM FDCA. Importantly, the identification of these key genes not only contributes to our understanding of the FDCA synthesis pathway in R. ornithinolytica BF60 but also allows for improved FDCA production efficiency. Moreover, this work is likely to provide a valuable reference for producing other furanic chemicals.


Almost all video players use interaction features similar to those invented for traditional, sequential VCRs. In our current world where video is intensively used in many areas and in many different ways, existing features are not sufficient anymore. Although video abstraction is a means to ease the handling of videos, it lacks rich interactivity. We propose a video browsing tool that provides more flexibility and interactivity to the end-user. It should enable a user to get knowledge quickly about the content of a video and to easily find relevant parts in a video. We will evaluate our current implementation with user studies performed in a usability-lab.


The SIMD parallelism of the Connection Machine (eM) allows the construction of neural network simulations by the use of simple data and control structures. Two approaches are described which allow parallel computation of a model's nonlinear functions, parallel modification of a model's weights, and parallel propagation of a model's activation and error. Each approach also allows a model's interconnect structure to be physically dynamic. A Hopfield model is implemented with each approach at six sizes over the same number of CM processors to provide a performance comparison.


Abstract Coated copper sulphate (CCS) could be used as a Cu supplement in cows. To investigate the influences of copper sulphate (CS) and CCS on milk performance, nutrient digestion and rumen fermentation, fifty Holstein dairy cows were arranged in a randomised block design to five groups: control, CS addition (7·5 mg Cu/kg DM from CS) or CCS addition (5, 7·5 and 10 mg Cu/kg DM from CCS, respectively). When comparing Cu source at equal inclusion rates (7·5 mg/kg DM), cows receiving CCS addition had higher yields of fat-corrected milk, milk fat and protein; digestibility of DM, organic matter (OM) and neutral-detergent fibre (NDF); ruminal total volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration; activities of carboxymethyl cellulase, cellobiase, pectinase and α-amylase; populations of Ruminococcus albus, Ruminococcus flavefaciens and Fibrobacter succinogenes; and liver Cu content than cows receiving CS addition. Increasing CCS addition, DM intake was unchanged, yields of milk, milk fat and protein; feed efficiency; digestibility of DM, OM, NDF and acid-detergent fibre; ruminal total VFA concentration; acetate:propionate ratio; activity of cellulolytic enzyme; populations of total bacteria, protozoa and dominant cellulolytic bacteria; and concentrations of Cu in serum and liver increased linearly, but ruminal propionate percentage, ammonia-N concentration, α-amylase activity and populations of Prevotella ruminicola and Ruminobacter amylophilus decreased linearly. The results indicated that supplement of CS could be substituted with CCS and addition of CCS improved milk performance and nutrient digestion in dairy cows.


ABSTRACT Different ecological parameters are associated with the selection of nests and breeding sites in birds. Understanding nest-site selection and the subsequent consequences for reproductive success are critical to a full understanding of how natural selection shapes birds' nesting behavior. Between 2007 and 2008, we evaluated nest-site characteristics and nesting success of Tropical Screech-Owls (Megascops choliba) in an area of Cerrado interspersed with cultivated areas in central Brazil. We compared the characteristics of cavities used for nesting by owls and unused nesting cavities and modeled nest survival in MARK. Models were assessed using Akaike's Information Criterion for small sample sizes (AICc) and model averaging was used to infer model parameters. Tropical Screech-Owls nested in tree and termite-mound cavities. Nest success was 44.4%, with predation being the main cause of nest failure. We found that Tropical Screech-Owls nested in cavities with different orientations, and closer to the ground than unused cavities. Although the top-ranked models included nest height and nest concealment, multimodel inference showed that these variables had no clear effect on nest survival. Despite the lack of effect of these variables on nest survival, nest-site characteristics commonly associated with a cavity's microclimate (i.e., orientation of cavity entrance) may still have a stronger influence on nest-site selection.


Background: Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) is an critical and menacing problem of Type 1 as well as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). DKA is associated with high amount of risk of mortality and morbidity (hospital stay). The prognostic factors of DKA are important factors affecting the outcome of the patients (as treated or death). S. Albumin is one of the prognostic factor less studied up till now. Objectives: To determine Clinical profile of DKA patients: aetiologies, precipitating factors, biochemical parameters and other complications of T2DM patients and to corelate serum albumin level with mortality, duration of stay among DKA patients. Methodology: This cross sectional study will be conducted among 100 diabetic patients with and without ketoacidosis from May 2019 to May 2021. Biochemical parameters: glycated Haemoglobin, urine ketones and serum albumin will be gathered to determine the prognosis. Controls will be adult diabetic patients without ketoacidosis. Data from Cases and controls will be statistically analysed and then compared accordingly. Expected Results: It is expected that decreased Sr. albumin will be associated with poor prognosis in DKA patients. Sr. Albumin might be an indirect prognostic marker of diabetes control due anabolic effect of Insulin, which affects both ketosis possibility and glucose


Abstract Objective: To demonstrate that nosocomial transmission of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) can be terminated and endemicity prevented despite widespread dissemination of an epidemic strain in a large tertiary-care referral hospital. Interventions: Two months after the index case was detected in the intensive care unit, 68 patients became either infected or colonized with an epidemic strain of vanB vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium despite standard infection control procedures. The following additional interventions were then introduced to control the outbreak: (1) formation of a VRE executive group; (2) rapid laboratory identification (30 to 48 hours) using culture and polymerase chain reaction detection of vanA and vanB resistance genes; (3) mass screening of all hospitalized patients with isolation of carriers and cohorting of contacts; (4) environmental screening and increased cleaning; (5) electronic flagging of medical records of contacts; and (6) antibiotic restrictions (third-generation cephalosporins and vancomycin). Results: A total of 19,658 patient and 24,396 environmental swabs were processed between July and December 2001. One hundred sixty-nine patients in 23 wards were colonized with a single strain of vanB vancomycin-resistant E. faecium. Introducing additional control measures rapidly brought the outbreak under control. Hospital-wide screening found 39 previously unidentified colonized patients, with only 7 more nonsegregat-ed patients being detected in the next 2 months. The outbreak was terminated within 3 months at a cost of $2.7 million (Australian dollars). Conclusion: Despite widespread dissemination of VRE in a large acute care facility, eradication was achievable by a well-resourced, coordinated, multifaceted approach and was in accordance with good clinical governance.


This essay examines empirically the effect of the Supreme Court's 2008 judgment in Boumediene v. Bush, which held that detainees at the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba had a right to invoke federal court habeas jurisdiction. Boumediene marked a sharp temporal break because it introduced a new regime of constitutionally mandated habeas jurisdiction for non-citizens detained as "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo. The Boumediene Court envisaged habeas jurisdiction as serving a twofold purpose. First, it claimed habeas vindicates physical liberty interests in line with a longstanding historical understanding of the Writ. Second, the Court viewed habeas as a mechanism to generate or preserve legal boundaries on executive discretion. This essay gathers empirical evidence of the opinion's effect up to January 2010 to determine whether these goals were fulfilled. While the data is in many respects ambiguous, it strongly suggests the effect of Boumediene on detention policy was not as significant as many believe. For example, less than four percent of releases from the Cuban base have followed a judicial order of release. Even in those cases, it is unclear if judicial action or something else caused release. Because the effects of habeas jurisdiction have been uncertain and perhaps marginal, effusive praise or blame of the Court's 2008 decision is premature.


1. Biological communities are organized in complex interaction networks such as food webs, which topology appears to be non-random. Gradients, compartments, nested subsets and even combinations of these structures have been shown in bipartite networks. However, in most studies only one pattern is tested against randomness and mechanistic hypotheses are generally lacking. 2. Here we examined the topology of regional, coexisting plant-herbivore and host-parasitoid food webs to discriminate between the mentioned network patterns. We also evaluated the role of species body size, local abundance, regional frequency and phylogeny as determinants of network topology. 3. We found both food webs to be compartmented, with interaction range boundaries imposed by host phylogeny. Species degree within compartments was mostly related to their regional frequency and local abundance. Only one compartment showed an internal nested structure in the distribution of interactions between species, but species position within this compartment was unrelated to species size or abundance. 4. These results suggest that compartmentalization may be more common than previously considered, and that network structure is a result of multiple, hierarchical, non-exclusive processes.


Applying Behrendt & Young's (B&Y's) model of thalamocortical synchrony to complex visual hallucinations in neurodegenerative disorders, such as dementia with Lewy bodies and progressive supranuclear palsy, leads us to propose that the primary pathology may be cortical rather than thalamic. Additionally, the extinction of active hallucinations by eye closure challenges their conception of the role of reduced sensory input.


So-called bioactive ceramics bond to living bone through the apatite layer formed on their surfaces in the body. The apatite deposition is triggered by dissolution of calcium ion (Ca2+) and by silanol (Si-OH) group formed on the surfaces of the ceramics. It is expected that organic modification of these components would produce bioactive materials with high flexibility. In this study, we examined bioactivity and mechanical properties of the organic-inorganic hybrids from starch by modification with silanol group and calcium ion. Effect of cross-linking agent was also investigated. The obtained hybrids showed bioactivity and mechanical properties analogous to those of human cancellous bone by appropriate control in their compositions. Addition of cross-linking agent to improve mechanical strength of the hybrids did not decrease their bioactivity.


As the cell sizes in cellular networks shrink, the inter-cell interference becomes more of an issue. Instead of operating each cell autonomously, we can connect all the access points (APs) together to form a cell-free massive MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) system that can alleviate interference by spatial processing. Previous studies have focused on Rayleigh fading channels, but in densely deployed systems, it is likely that some of the users will have line-of-sight (LoS) propagation to some of the APs. In this paper, we model this by arbitrarily distributed Rician fading channels. Two types of channel estimators are considered: a classical least-square (LS) estimator and a Bayesian minimum mean square error (MMSE) estimator. We derive closed-form spectral efficiency (SE) expressions for the uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) when using each of these estimators for maximum ratio (MR) processing. The performance difference is evaluated numerically to figure out under which conditions it is beneficial to know the channel statistics when estimating a channel.


e-mail: email@example.com This paper presents a model of agent-based architecture for fighting fires on ships. The introduction of agent technology in firefighting decision-making is a step towards safe autonomous vessels. The human factor can be excluded through the introduction of agent-based technology for the detection and extinguishing of fires onboard ships. The aim is to reduce the number of injuries and deaths, and minimize loss of ships and cargo. Another advantage of agent-based technology is its easy interoperability with other automated onboard systems. The presented model was implemented on a prototype in a simulation environment. The results of the experiment conducted on the implemented prototype are also presented. Agent Based Onboard Firefighting System


Grounded in nearly a century of scientific research, Mastering Self Control is an academic 'how to' in the mastery of self control. Though most of us have an acute awareness of the goals we want to achieve, we have little insight into how we respond to questions central to successful goal attainment. What is a realistic goal? Can we turn intentions to actions? Why do we need a support system? It is within this context that this volume identifies a series of actionable strategies to push readers to master self-control and consequently optimize goal progress.


Adolescence is a stage that brings about multiple developmental changes for an individual. Parents of adolescent children often find these changes challenging. Parenting programmes have been created however, to help alleviate some of these problems. The review of the literature in this article selects and reviews a few parenting programmes that focus on the adolescent population. The current study then focuses specifically on one in particular; Teen Triple P and its use with 4 families. The participants included were a community sample with identifiable, but non-diagnosable, behavioural problems between the ages of 12-13 years old. Using a triangulation method of results; including a multiple-baseline of behaviour monitoring, parental and youth self-reports, and an observational task, the current study evaluates the effectiveness of Teen Triple P. The results indicate that notable changes were observed and reported in young person and parental behaviour for three of the four families. The other family encountered a crisis prior to the measures being completed at post-intervention which may have influenced their findings. Conclusions regarding this study, limitations, and future focuses for research are also discussed. Teen Triple P: An evaluation utilising a within-participant design 10 CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW 1.


L-Histidinol (LHL), a structural analogue of the essential amino acid l-histidine, can improve the therapeutic index of antimetabolites and alkylating agents. The objective of the study was to determine whether LHL would modulate the antitumour activity and acute cardiotoxicity of the anthracycline antibiotic, doxorubicin (DOX). LHL (1.0 mM) potentiated the cytotoxicity of DOX (0.05-0.8 microg ml-1) in cultured Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells. LHL (250 mg kg-1, i.p.) administered for five consecutive doses at 2-h intervals starting 2 h before DOX (5 mg kg-1, i.p.) single injection, enhanced the antitumour activity of DOX in EAC-bearing mice as manifested by a significant increase in average life span and cure rate of mice. In normal mice, LHL, in the same dose regimen, could not alter the acute cardiotoxicity and lethality of DOX (10 mg kg-1, i.p.). The present data indicate that LHL may improve the therapeutic efficacy of DOX in EAC-bearing mice without compromising its toxicity. Also, our finding supports the LHL/anticancer drug combination approach.


Sheath blight of rice caused by Rhizoctonia solani is an economically important disease affecting rice production. Eight Pseudomonas fluores-cens strains were isolated from rhizosphere of rice seedlings collected from Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu. These strains were characterized with PCR based RAPD technique and tested for their in-vitro antago-nistic activity against R. solani. Crude metabolites from one particular isolate of P. fluorescens (P.f 003) were extracted with organic solvents such as ethyl acetate and petroleum ether and these were tested against R. solani. Commonly used fungicides in rice sheath blight disease management such as hexaconazole, carbendazim, copper oxy chloride and mancozeb at 150 ppm were screened against mycelial growth of R. solani using poisoned food technique. All the strains tested were exhibited antagonistic activity against R. solani. One isolate, P.f 003 gave 78% inhibition compared to control. All the fungicides and crude extracts of P.f.003 inhibited the mycelial growth of R. solani. Highest inhibition was recorded with hexaconazole and ethyl acetate crude metabolite extract. The results offer a scope for integrating P. fluorescens with chemical fungicides for control of sheath blight of rice.


Pasteurella multocida (PM) can cause progressive atrophic rhinitis and suppurative bronchopneumonia in pigs. The present study performed antimicrobial susceptibility testing and serotype and genotype identification on the 62 PM strains isolated from the lungs of diseased pigs with respiratory symptoms. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing examined 13 antimicrobial agents (amoxicillin, cefazolin, doxycycline, flumequine, enrofloxacin, florfenicol, kanamycin, lincomycin, Linco-Spectin (lincomycin and spectinomycin), erythromycin, tylosin, tilmicosin and tiamulin). Antimicrobial resistance ratios were over 40% in all of the antimicrobial agents except for cefazolin. The highest levels of resistance (100%) were found for kanamycin, erythromycin and tylosin. The majority of isolated strains was serotype D:L6 (n=35) followed by A:L3 (n=17). Comparison of the antimicrobial resistance levels between the two serotypes showed that the antimicrobial resistance rates were higher in D:L6 than in A:L3 for all the tested antimicrobials except for tylosin and tilmicosin. For PM with erm(B), erm(T) or erm(42), the results showed no significant difference compared with non-resistance gene strains in phenotype. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis genotyping using ApaI restriction digestion of the genomic DNA demonstrated that there were 17 distinct clusters with a similarity of 85% or more, and the genotyping result was similar to that of serotyping. The results of the present study demonstrated that the PM isolated from diseased pigs in Taiwan was resistant to multiple antimicrobials, and the distribution of antimicrobial resistance was associated with pulsotype and serotype.


Moringa oleifera leaves may have the potential to enhance nutritional status, growth performance, and health of ruminant animals when used as part of their diets. However, the nutritional value of the leaves for goats is largely unknown and needs to be investigated. Consequently, eighteen West African Dwarf (WAD) bucks weighing 7.0 ± 0.33 kg were used in a completely randomized design to evaluate the effects of diluting a conventional supplement with three levels of M. oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) on growth performance, haematology, and blood biochemical constituents. The MOLM was included in the commercial supplement at a rate of 0, 50, and 100 g/kg dry matter (DM). Including MOLM in the supplement did not significantly affect weight gain, dry matter intake, and metabolic weight gain of bucks. Packed cell volume (PCV), red blood cell (RBC), haemoglobin concentration (hb), and total protein were not significantly influenced by MOLM inclusion, either. However, blood urea concentration was significantly increased in bucks that were offered MOLM-based diets. All blood parameters, as well as alanine transaminase (ALT) and urea, were within the normal reference ranges for clinically healthy goats. The MOLM-based supplements had significantly lower feed cost per kilogram of weight gain and higher profit per kilogram of gain. It was concluded that diluting the commercial supplement with MOLM up to 100 g/kg DM does not impair the nutritional status, growth performance and health status of the goats while reducing the feed cost per gain. Keywords: Cost, feed, growth, health, nutrition


A climate model of the estimated potential distribution of Chromolaena odorata has been revised. The new model fits the known distribution better, eliminates several internal inconsistencies, and employs more biologically appropriate cold-stress mechanisms. The revised model reduces the estimated potential distribution of C. odorata, particularly in terms of the poleward and inland extents of suitable climates. Mediterranean, semi-arid and temperate climates are now predicted to be unsuitable. However, the revised model supports the previous conclusions that much of tropical Africa, the north-eastern coast of Australia and most Pacific islands are at risk of invasion. The distribution of C. odorata in South Africa extends further south than predicted by the model based on Asian and American distribution records. This anomaly supports the contention that the South African variety of C. odorata has different climatic requirements to the varieties commonly found elsewhere.


The main purpose of this study was to assess the factors hindering the efficiency of peer counselling program in high schools in Kenya with specific focus on Meru South District, Meru County. This paper undertakes to probe the four proposed pillars of effective peer counselling program namely, selection, training, supervision and evaluation. A descriptive survey research method and purposive sampling were used. Data was collected using questionnaires to probe the issues under the study. The research data were thematically analysed. The results revealed that peer counselling program is available in most of the schools but there are no coordinated criteria for selection, the training provided is inadequate, peer counsellors' supervision is not done and peer counselling programs are rarely evaluated. The challenges faced by peer counsellors include lack of confidence, criticism by other students, lack of well defined roles, lack of skills in counselling and shortage of time to engage in peer counselling.


Contemporary views of science education regard scientific inquiry and the ability to reason scientifically as the essential core of science education (American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 1993; Chinn & Malhotra, 2002; NRC, 1996; Krajcik et al, 1998; Songer et al, 2003). According to White and colleagues, scientific inquiry is an active process comprised of four primary components: theorizing, questioning and hypothesizing, investigating, analyzing and synthesizing (White & Frederiksen, 1998; White, Frederiksen & Collins, in preparation). Measuring these inquiry processes as well as the products that result from the processes has long been a challenge for educators and researchers (Marx et al, 2004); however, advances in technology and measurement are creating new possibilities for assessing both process and product (Pellegrino, Chudowsky & Glaser, 2001; Behrens, 2009). There are three themes that this symposium is addressing: what inquiry is and is not, the best way to teach inquiry, and the best way to measure inquiry. We have chosen a widely accepted definition of what inquiry is by White et al, described above, and are focusing our work on the latter, how to best measure inquiry.


Chromosomal rearrangements are recurrent findings in human cancer and result in aberrant restructuring of the genome. The majority of known fusion genes are the consequence of reciprocal (balanced) translocations. However, most translocations described in human cancer are unbalanced, suggesting that other cancer genes remain to be identified. Historically, it was assumed that these unbalanced rearrangements affected gene function through the loss or gain of chromosomal material. However, emerging data supports direct disruption of genes located at or close to the unbalanced translocation breakpoints. New approaches are required for the identification of those gene loci underlying unbalanced translocations in cancer, as traditional methods have had limited success. This review focuses on one such strategy, using traditional and innovative molecular technologies to characterize breakpoint heterogeneity within a series of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients with dicentric chromosomes. This approach has shown that in ALL, specific gene loci can be targeted by heterogeneous translocation breakpoints involving multiple partner chromosomes. Carcinomas have a high proportion of unbalanced rearrangements and relatively few significant genes have been identified. The application of the same strategy to their analysis will lead to the discovery of novel cancer genes and improve our understanding of the genetic basis of tumorigenesis


This pharmacy policy document describes the status of pharmaceutical information and/or technology at the time the document was developed. Since that time, new information relating to drug efficacy, interactions, contraindications, dosage, administration routes, safety, or FDA approval may have changed. This Pharmacy Policy will be regularly updated as scientific and medical literature becomes available. This information may include new FDA-approved indications, withdrawals, or other FDA alerts. This type of information is relevant not only when considering whether this policy should be updated, but also when applying it to current requests for coverage.


The accuracy, applicability and limitations of several kinds of models to simulate the dispersion processes are discussed. An Eulerian-lagrangian model based on the advection of particles is presented. This model is particularly adequate to study plumes with high concentration gradients like those developed by outfall discharges. The model uses the velocity field computed by a 2D depth-integrated hydrodynamical model. The linkage of the near and far field solutions is taken into account using particles of variable thickness. The initial thickness is estimated using an empiric relation for the near field depending on the local discharge conditions. Some results are presented and discussed.


: Carcinoma of the breast is, with 26.7% of all malignancies, the most commonly diagnosed tumour in women, every eighth female Austrian suffers from this disease. Similar figures are reported from other European countries. Following recommendations of scientific societies like the European School of Mastology (ESOMA) or the British Breast Group, breast diseases should be treated by interdisciplinary teams in dedicated breast centers. Many such institutions exist in Austria and international, but only few of them are organized optimally and fulfill the requirements of an internationally accredited breast cancer centre.


We previously reported that the glycosylated MUC1 tumor antigen circulating as soluble protein in patients' serum is not processed by dendritic cells and does not elicit MHC-Class II-restricted T helper responses in vitro. In contrast, a long synthetic peptide from the MUC1 tandem repeat region is presented by Class II molecules, resulting in the initiation of T helper cell responses. Here we addressed the ability of dendritic cells to present various glycosylated or not glycosylated forms of MUC1 by MHC Class I. We found that three different forms of MUC1, ranging from glycosylated and underglycosylated protein to unglycosylated synthetic peptide, were able to elicit MUC1-specific, Class-I-restricted CTL responses. The efficiency of processing and the resulting strength of CTL activity were inversely correlated with the degree of glycosylation of the antigen. Furthermore, the more efficiently processed 100mer peptide primed a broader repertoire of CTL than the glycosylated protein.


The paper aimed to present a comparative approach of price indices development in agriculture and price variation in ressources and services purchasement by agricultural producers. Based on the analysis of price development report "industry agriculture," the author gives an appreciation of the phenomenon of "price scissors" for the period 2005-2014. The data sources are the studies from the issue of the National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova. The data were processed with the following methods: monograph, analysis, synthesis, trend analysis, graphical method, etc. It was concluded that the state should support a manufacturer's target price. The target price of the manufacturer supported by the state should provide producers a profit above the average in economy. Such an approach to the subsidization of agriculture will provide an increased reproduction without excessive expenses, will reduce the risk of overproduction due to excessive subsidies, and at the same time entities will have an incentive to increase the efficient use of assets.


The aggregation and sedimentation of nanoparticles affect the dispersion stability and application of nanosuspension. TiO 2 nanoparticles were coupled on zirconium phosphate (ZrP) disks with different diameters to study the effect of ZrP size on the dispersion stability of nanocomposite suspensions. Four suspensions, namely, TiO 2 nanosuspensions and three exfoliated TiO 2 ‒ ZrP nanocomposite suspensions with diameters of 729.6, 1004.5 and 1168.5 nm were prepared. Dispersion stability was compared among the suspensions. The zeta potential, viscosity, particle morphology and particle size distribution of the suspensions were also tested to analyze the stability mechanism of the nanocomposite suspensions. Results of the stability tests within 100 days show that the TiO 2 ‒ ZrP nanocomposite suspensions exhibited slower sedimentation, higher ultraviolet-visible absorbance, smaller light transmission and backscattering variation and lower Turbiscan Stability Index than those of the pure TiO 2 suspension. Among the samples, the smallest TiO 2 ‒ ZrP nanocomposites exhibited improved stability. The absolute zeta potential and viscosity of each nanocomposite suspension were comparable with one another, but higher than those of the TiO 2 suspension. The transmission electron microscope images and particle size distribution suggest that TiO 2 ‒ ZrP can better control the aggregation of small TiO 2 nanoparticle clusters. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.24.2.18154


Stem cells regenerate differentiated cells to maintain and repair tissues and organs. They also replenish themselves, i.e. self-renewal, for the regenerative process to last a lifetime. How stem cells renew is of critical biological and medical significance. Here we use the skeletal muscle stem cell (MuSC) to study this process. Using a combination of genetic, molecular, and biochemical approaches, we show that MPP7, AMOT, and TAZ/YAP form a complex that activates a common set of target genes. Among these targets, Carm1 can direct MuSC renewal. In the absence of MPP7, TAZ can support regenerative progenitors and activate Carm1 expression, but not to a level needed for self-renewal. Facilitated by the actin polymerization-responsive AMOT, TAZ recruits the L27 domain of MPP7 to up-regulate Carm1 to the level necessary to drive MuSC renewal. The promoter of Carm1, and those of other common downstream genes, also contain binding site(s) for YY1. We further demonstrate that the L27 domain of MPP7 enhances the interaction between TAZ and YY1 to activate Carm1. Our results define a renewal transcriptional program embedded within the progenitor program, by selectively up-regulating key gene(s) within the latter, through the combination of protein interactions and in a manner dependent on the promoter context.


Sequences from the volcanic apron of Gran Canaria of the Canary Islands were evaluated for continuity, steadiness of deposition rate, and age resolution to determine their fitness for study of geologic cycles through time. An age model was constructed using regression analysis of the polarity record for Site 953, which had relatively complete magnetostratigraphy from the Brunhes Chron through the middle Miocene. Local ages for biostratigraphic datum levels were estimated from the polarity record at Site 953, and were used to construct age models for the other sites, where polarity records were highly discontinuous. The regression age models were refined using biostratigraphic and sedimentologic data to delimit hiatuses, slumps, and repeated sequences, and the accuracies of the age models were checked with radiometric dates where possible. Local ages of foraminifer and calcareous nannofossil first and last occurrences were estimated from magnetostratigraphy of the sequence. Local ages of the first and last occurrences of most species do not differ significantly from current global/oceanwide ages, except those of nine species: the last occurrences of Globoquadrina dehiscens and Discoaster loeblichii and the first occurrences of Neogloboquadrina acostaensis, Globigerina nepenthes, Discoaster berggrenii, Minylitha convallis, Discoaster hamatus, Discoaster coalitus, and Discoaster kugleri. Hiatuses at the four sites generally group within four periods: the late Fataga eruptive period, the pre-Roque Nublo eruptive period, the Roque Nublo eruptive period, and the Late Pliocene and Quaternary Epochs, when changes in sea level were large and volcanic eruptions were sporadic on Gran Canaria. Bioand magnetostratigraphic evaluations of the Canary Island sites of Leg 157 clearly show that the section cored at Site 953 is the most continuous with the steadiest rates of sedimentation and the finest age resolution. Most bioand magnetostratigraphic zones are present, and hiatuses last <0.4 m.y. Site 954 ranks second, but is flawed by several hiatuses >1.0 m.y. The best intervals at these sites, with standard errors of the age estimate <0.1 m.y., are adequate to resolve the broad highs and lows of volcanic activity since the early middle Miocene, third-order sea-level changes, and broad environmental cycles, possibly even 0.4 m.y. Milankovitch cycles, but they are inadequate to resolve shorter cycles, like fourth-order sea-level changes, without improvement to the age models. By contrast, stratigraphic sequences at Sites 955 and 956 were generally unsuitable for time series studies requiring anything but crude age resolution over long intervals.


This article calls attention to a database devoted to women composers and songwriters and points to a few of the historical issues that this database makes it possible to investigate. The focus is women who composed songs between roughly 1890 and 1930, and who published in the United States, Great Britain, and the British Commonwealth. The database contains more than 15,500 entries of songs and song publications by 1,607 women who wrote in all styles (including classical, popular, and a range of styles in between). The database documents the extraordinary rise and decline of women song composers that occurred in the years before and after the First World War, to identify the leading composers and the most popular poets, and to discuss differences in the careers of American and British women songwriters. Among these was the propensity for American women to self-publish, not only successful women such as Anita Owen and Carrie Jacobs Bond, but also hundreds of amateurs who published just one or two songs. The thirty women with the best representation have at least eighty songs or song collections. At the top of the list are Liza Lehmann (with 334 songs and cycles), Lily Strickland (309), Maude Valerie White (233), and Carrie Jacobs Bond (194). World War I affected women composers deeply, reducing productivity and even ending some careers as songwriters. The database also makes it possible to study shifts in the poetry women chose to set before and after the war.


Increased communication between people of different cultures has led to the development of the field of intercultural studies. The field is interdisciplinary in nature, as it draws from theories by scholars in other fields, one of which is social psychology. This dissertation examines aspects of social psychology that are particularly relevant to intercultural communication, as a greater understanding of certain social psychological concepts may increase the effectiveness of intercultural interaction. Central to the argument is the notion of the group, as group inclusion provides norms, roles, and social identities to its members. The relationship between group membership and identity is examined in detail, especially with respect to individuals' sense of identity and how they relate to members of their in-groups and out-groups. The social comparison theory is an integral part of identity construal because when forming a social identity, people need to compare themselves to others who are not part of their in-groups. How people view members of their out-groups (and compare themselves against them) is related to stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. Group identity and the use of stereotypes are related to self-esteem, as there is a tendency to view in-group members as inherently superior to out-group members. While this dissertation focuses on social psychological factors that are important to intercultural communication, the psychological aspects of cross-cultural adaptation are briefly discussed, as they also have the potential to influence intercultural interaction. Contexts in which intercultural communication is most likely to take place are examined, focusing on the social psychological factors that underlie such communication. The role of the cultural marginal is also discussed, as people who are socialized into the periphery of two or more cultures develop a unique cultural perspective that, in recent years, has become a socially desirable view.


The effect of minor amounts of impurities on the course of chemical reactions is often overlooked. Analyzing commercial 1-dodecene feeds, hydroperoxides were identified as critical impurities. The influence of varying hydroperoxide concentrations in olefin feeds was systematically investigated, experimentally studying rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation using a diphosphite ligand. A significant loss of n-aldehyde selectivity and linear-to-branched ratio (l/b) was observed for increasing hydroperoxide concentrations. Feeding of an additional ligand and/or purification of 1-dodecene restored the catalyst performance.


Purpose: To compare the functional results of posterior cruciate-retaining (PCR) and posterior substituting (PS) replacement in patients undergoing primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for osteoarthritis. Materials and Methods: A randomized controlled study was carried out to compare the clinical and radiological outcomes of PCR and PS primary P.F.C. ® TKA. One hundred and sixty eight patients (188 cases), who had a primary diagnosis of osteoarthritis, and an intact functioning posterior cruciate ligament, were enrolled in this study. The patients were randomized regardless of the level of posterior cruciate ligament preservation. One hundred and eighty eight cases had a minimum 6-year follow-up, which included 96 and 92 cases in the PCR and PS groups, respectively. Results: The Knee Society Score, the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) knee rating scores, average flexion contracture and radiologic alignment improved significantly, but there were no significant difference between the two groups. On the other hand, the mean postoperative flexion angles in the PCR and PS knees increased from 114.7° to 121.2° and 119.3° to 131.3°, respectively (p<0.05). Conclusion: There were no significant differences between PCR and PS TKA in the follow-up knee scores. However, the level of postoperative improvement in further flexion was better in the PS group.


The development of portable devices that make the reliable diagnosis of faults in electric motors possible has become a challenge for many researchers and maintenance enterprises. These machines intervene in a huge amount of processes and applications and their eventual failure may imply important costs in terms of time and money. However, the aforementioned issue remains unsolved because most of the developed fault diagnosis techniques rely on the user expertise, since they are based on a qualitative interpretation of the results. This complicates the implementation of these methodologies in condition monitoring systems or devices. The objective of this paper is to propose an integral methodology that is able to diagnose the presence of rotor bar failures in an automatic way. The proposed algorithm combines the Discrete Wavelet Transform with the scale transform for feature extraction and correlation coefficient for pattern recognition. The algorithm is applied to both small and large motors operating in a wide range of conditions. The results illustrate the validity and generality of the approach for automatic condition monitoring of electric motors.


The study of the systematic oscillations of the Sun has led to better understanding of the Sun's inner structure and dynamics, and may help to resolve inconsistencies between observations and the standard solar model. Recent studies have concluded that solar modal structure remains coherent past turbulence in the convection zone and imprints its signatures on the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field fluctuations, and these structures are coherent with atmospheric pressure variations, terrestrial seismic oscillations, and data from communications systems. Time series containing modal structure can be expected to contain several thousands of resolved and unresolved line components in very short bands in frequency, and the measurement of these modes pushes spectrum estimation methods for time series to its limit. This thesis presents two theoretical contributions for modeling solar oscillations in power spectra (i) expressions for the expected number and shape of significant spurious peaks in spectrum estimates are given, in the absence of modal structure, and a permutation test for the identification of spectra containing pathological numbers of modal components. (ii) A model for maximum likelihood estimation of the solar oscillation parameters in composite spectra is given. The scientific contributions of this thesis are (a) identification of highly significant modal artifacts in solar wind measurements as seen by the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) on the 2 − 3mHz band and (b) quantification of the presence of modal structure in secondary cosmic rays (specifically neutrons) on Earth.


This study explores the risk and return characteristics of convertible arbitrage, a dynamic trading strategy employed by hedge funds. To circumvent biases in reported hedge fund data, a simulated convertible bond arbitrage portfolio is constructed. The returns from this portfolio are highly correlated with convertible arbitrage hedge fund indices and the portfolio serves as a benchmark o f fund performance. Default and term structure risk factors are defined and estimated which are highly significant in explaining the returns of the hedge fund indices and the returns of the simulated portfolio, and when specified with a convertible bond arbitrage risk factor in a linear factor model, these factors explain a large proportion of the risk in convertible arbitrage hedge fund indices. The residuals of the hedge fund indices estimated from this model are serially correlated, and a lag of the hedge fund index return is specified correcting fo r the serial correlation and the coefficient o f this term is also interpretable as a measure o f illiq u id ity risk. A linear multi-factor model, incorporating several lags o f the risk factors is specified to estimate individual fund performance. Estimates o f abnormal performance from this model provide evidence that convertible arbitrageurs generate abnormal returns between 2.4% and 4.2% per annum. The convertible arbitrage hedge fund indices and individual hedge fund returns used to evaluate performance generally exhibit negative skewness and excess kurtosis. Residual Augmented Least Squares (RALS), an estimation technique which explicitly incorporates higher moments is used to robustly estimate multi-factor models o f convertible arbitrage hedge fund index returns. Functions o f the hedge fund index residuals are specified as common skewness and kurtosis risk factors in a multifactor analysis of individual fund performance. Results from this analysis provide evidence that failing to specify third and fourth moment risk factors w ill bias upward estimates o f convertible arbitrage individual hedge fund performance by 0.60% per annum. Theoretical non-linearity in the relationship between convertible arbitrage hedge fund index returns and default and term structure risk factor is then modelled using Logistic Smooth Transition Autoregressive (LSTAR) models.


Parkinson's disease (PD) is a complex neurodegenerative disorder whose aetiologies are largely unknown. To date, mutations in six genes have been found causal for some rare familial forms of the disease and common variation within at least three of these is associated with the more common sporadic forms of PD. LRRK2 is the most recently identified familial PD gene, although its role in sporadic disease is unknown. In this study, we have performed the first comprehensive evaluation of common genetic variation within LRRK2 and investigated its contribution to risk of sporadic PD. We first characterized the linkage disequilibrium within LRRK2 using a panel of densely spaced SNPs across the gene. We then identified a subset of tagging-SNPs (tSNP) that capture the majority of common variation within LRRK2. Both single tSNP and tSNP haplotype analyses, using a large epidemiologically matched sporadic case-control series comprising 932 individuals, yielded significant evidence for disease association. We identified a haplotype that dramatically increases disease risk when present in two copies (OR=5.5, 95%CI=2.1-14.0, P=0.0001). Thus, we provide the first evidence that common genetic variation within LRRK2 contributes to the risk of sporadic PD in the Chinese population.


We propose Filtering Inversion (FINV), a learning framework and optimization process that predicts a renderable 3D object representation from one or few partial views. FINV addresses the challenge of synthesizing novel views of objects from partial observations, spanning cases where the object is not entirely in view, is partially occluded, or is only observed from similar views. To achieve this, FINV learns shape priors by training a 3D generative model. At inference, given one or more views of a novel real-world object, FINV first finds a set of latent codes for the object by inverting the generative model from multiple initial seeds. Maintaining the set of latent codes, FINV filters and resamples them after receiving each new observation, akin to particle filtering. The generator is then finetuned for each latent code on the available views in order to adapt to novel objects. We show that FINV successfully synthesizes novel views of real-world objects (e.g., chairs, tables, and cars), even if the generative prior is trained only on synthetic objects. The ability to address the sim-to-real problem allows FINV to be used for object categories without real-world datasets. FINV achieves state-of-the-art performance on multiple real-world datasets, recovers object shape and texture from partial and sparse views, is robust to occlusion, and is able to incrementally improve its representation with more observations.


Collective nostalgia for the good old days of the country thrives across the world. However, little is known about the social psychological dynamics of this collective emotion across cultures. We predicted that collective nostalgia is triggered by collective angst as it helps people to restore a sense of in-group continuity via stronger in-group belonging and out-group rejection (in the form of opposition to immigrants). Based on a sample (N = 5,956) of individuals across 27 countries, the general pattern of results revealed that collective angst predicts collective nostalgia, which subsequently relates to stronger feelings of in-group continuity via in-group belonging (but not via out-group rejection). Collective nostalgia generally predicted opposition to immigrants, but this was subsequently not related to in-group continuity.


Increasing energy expenditure through activation of brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a critical approach to treating obesity and diabetes. In this study, rutin, a natural compound extracted frommulberry and a drug used as a capillary stabilizer clinically formany years without any side effects, regulated whole‐body energymetabolism by enhancing BAT activity. Rutin treatment significantly reduced adiposity, increased energy expenditure, and improved glucose homeostasis in both genetically obese (Db/Db) and diet‐induced obesity (DIO) mice. Rutin also induced brown‐like adipocyte (beige) formation in subcutaneous adipose tissue in both obesity mouse models. Mechanistically, we found that rutin directly bound to and stabilized SIRT1, leading to hypoacetylation of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor γ coactivator‐1α protein, which stimulated Tfam transactivation and eventually augmented the number of mitochondria and UCP1 activity in BAT. These findings reveal that rutin is a novel small molecule that activates BAT and may provide a novel therapeutic approach to the treatment of metabolic disorders.—Yuan, X., Wei, G., You, Y., Huang, Y., Lee, H. J., Dong, M., Lin, J., Hu, T., Zhang, H., Zhang, C., Zhou, H., Ye, R., Qi, X., Zhai, B., Huang, W., Liu, S., Xie, W., Liu, Q., Liu, X., Cui, C., Li, D., Zhan, J., Cheng, J., Yuan, Z., Jin, W. Rutin ameliorates obesity through brown fat activation. FASEB J. 31, 333–345 (2017) www.fasebj.org


Pulmonary agenesis is an uncommon anomaly that has been reported in isolation and in association with other congenital defects. Such defects include oesophageal atresia, cardiac malformation, horseshoe kidney, and anal atresia. Over a period of three years we have seen five neonates or fetuses with unilateral agenesis of the lung. All the cases had three or more anomalies seen in the VACTERL sequence in addition to the pulmonary atresia. None had a tracheo-oesophageal fistula. None were the products of consanguineous marriages. There had been no recurrence of this range of defects in any of the families at the time of writing. We suggest that pulmonary agenesis may occur as an alternative to tracheo-oesophageal fistula in the VACTERL sequence.


The output of individual neurons is dependent on both synaptic and intrinsic membrane properties. While it is clear that the response of an individual neuron can be facilitated or inhibited based on the summation of its constituent synaptic inputs, it is not clear whether subthreshold activity, (e.g. synaptic "noise"- fluctuations that do not change the mean membrane potential) also serve a function in the control of neuronal output. Here we studied this by making whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from 29 mouse thalamocortical relay (TC) neurons. For each neuron we measured neuronal gain in response to either injection of current noise, or activation of the metabotropic glutamate receptor-mediated cortical feedback network (synaptic noise). As expected, injection of current noise via the recording pipette induces shifts in neuronal gain that are dependent on the amplitude of current noise, such that larger shifts in gain are observed in response to larger amplitude noise injections. Importantly we show that shifts in neuronal gain are also dependent on the intrinsic sensitivity of the neuron tested, such that the gain of intrinsically sensitive neurons is attenuated divisively in response to current noise, while the gain of insensitive neurons is facilitated multiplicatively by injection of current noise- effectively normalizing the output of the dLGN as a whole. In contrast, when the cortical feedback network was activated, only multiplicative gain changes were observed. These network activation-dependent changes were associated with reductions in the slow afterhyperpolarization (sAHP), and were mediated at least in part, by T-type calcium channels. Together, this suggests that TC neurons have the machinery necessary to compute multiple output solutions to a given set of stimuli depending on the current level of network stimulation.


Accurate quantitation of androgen receptors requires a radioactive ligand which has affinity and specificity for the receptor and which is stable to metabolic enzymes. In this report, we have characterized the properties of 7α,17α‐dimethyl‐17β‐hydroxy‐4‐estren‐3‐one (mibolerone) in human benign hyperplastic prostate cytosol and compared them to those of 17β‐hydroxy‐17α‐methyl‐estra‐4,9,11‐trien‐3‐one (R1881). Mibolerone was found to have an affinity (Kd = 1.5 nM) greater than R1881. (Kd = 2.3 nM) for the androgen receptor in human prostate tissue. Surprisingly, mibolerone was found to bind with high affinity to the progesterone receptor in both human prostate (Kd = 5.9 nM) and rabbit uterus (Kd = 1.1 nM). However, binding to this receptor in both species could be blocked with a 500‐fold excess of triamcinolone acetonide. [3H]Mibolerone binding to the androgen receptor was competed effectively with unlabeled dihydrotestosterone, R1881, and mibolerone but not by progesterone, diethylstilbestrol or R5020, in the presence of triamcinolone acetonide. Interestingly, mibolerone was more resistant to metabolism than R1881 in prostate cytosol when exposed to elevated temperatures (30°C) for extended periods of time. However, when exposed to high‐intensity ultraviolet irradiation, both compounds lost 50% of their binding ability in about 30 minutes. Mibolerone was found to have a very low affinity (Ki = 540 nM) for human sex steroid binding protein. These studies demonstrate that mibolerone is a useful ligand for androgen receptor assays. They also emphasize the need for including competitors of progesterone receptor binding in assays utilizing this steroid for androgen receptor measurements.


Background: Most women want to do surgery Sectio Caesarea for avoiding pain and for ease of parturition. The most common response in patients with preoperative one of which is a response to psychological (anxiety), mental patients who will be facing surgery should be prepared because there is always the possibility of anxiety and fear (Stuart in Hand, et al, 2014).
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the Relationship Research methods anxiety with hemodynamic status (Pulse) patient preoperative Sectio Caesarea in the Central Surgery Unit of Muslim Hospital of Siti Hajar, Sidoarjo.
Methods: Research type is quantitative with correlational research design using Cross Sectional. In this study rated independent and dependent variables simultaneously at one time so there is no follow-up (Nursalam, 2014). This study will link between the level of anxiety with the hemodynamic status (Pulse). This study using incidental sampling technique of sampling. The population are the womwnt who will to partution sectio Caesaria operation at the Central Surgical Unit (UBS) of Muslim Hospital Siti Hajar Sidoarjo on April 5 to May 5, 2018. Research tool used include HARS questionnaire used as a measure of anxiety, Hamilton Anxiety (HARS) with a total of 14 statements and the total value of 56.
Results: The majority of respondents are severe anxiety was to Pulse at 14 people (23.3%), while a small portion of respondent's anxiety level is severe anxiety with the Pulse is equal to 3 (5%). Based on the analysis using analysis Kendall's Tau note that the p value 0.000 is smaller than α (0.05) means that there is a relationship between the level of anxiety in Pulse.
Discussion: Anxiety is felt to increase the sensitivity to a stimulus that overreact in the circulatory system that cause the veins and small blood vessels to constrict very strong and than held in response to the pulse (Semiun, 2010).

Key words: Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, Sectio Caesarea, pulse.


Abstract Background One of the cardinal points to be considered during endodontic procedures in children is the measure of postoperative pain. Aim and objective To evaluate the quality of obturation and its effect on postoperative pain with three file systems in primary mandibular molars during 1 week follow-up. Materials and methods The study was conducted as a double-blinded randomized controlled trial. The participants between 6 years and 9 years old requiring a pulpectomy were recruited for the trial. Forty-five primary mandibular molars were randomly allocated into 15 teeth each in Hand K-files; Kedo-SH and Kedo-SG Blue groups. Wong Baker's FACES Pain Rating Scale was used for assessing the postoperative pain in the children for 1 week. Pearson's Chi-square test, Kruskal–Wallis test, and Mann–Whitney U test were used for analyzing the data statistically. Results Optimal fillings were observed more in the Kedo-SG Blue group (80.0%) compared to the other two groups (p < 0.017). On intergroup analysis, the Kedo-SG Blue group reported less postoperative pain compared to Kedo-SH group on day 1 while on day 7 no postoperative pain was experienced in either of the groups. Less postoperative pain was reported by the children in whom the canals were optimally filled compared to overfilling and underfilling. Conclusion Kedo-SG Blue resulted in less postoperative pain when compared to Kedo-SH and hand K-files, whereas optimally filled children experienced less postoperative pain compared to overfilling and underfilling. Clinical significance A felicitous pediatric dental practice includes appropriate assessment and management of postoperative pain in children. Hence, the present study is important in highlighting the affiliation of postoperative pain with quality of obturation following an endodontic intervention in children. How to cite this article Jeevanandan G, Govindaraju L, Subramanian EMG, et al. Comparative Evaluation of Quality of Obturation and Its Effect on Postoperative Pain between Pediatric Hand and Rotary Files: A Double-blinded Randomized Controlled Trial. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2021;14(1):88–96.


A Historical Background of Tea in Assam Gadapani Sarma Assistant professor, Karimganj College, Karimganj, Assam, India Abstract Tea is one of the most popular beverages in the world. Tea in India is so popular that liking for it has reached the point of adoration. The best quality tea in India pours chiefly from Assam. It was way back in 1823 that Robert Bruce . a merchant and soldier, first spotted tea plant in Assam and this eventually led to East-India company developing a trade in it. A visit from Dr. Wallich to Assam in 1834 saw the formation of the Assam Company in England. Among the Indians, it was, however, Maniram Dewan, an Assamese noble man, who initiated planting tea leading many others, mostly Assamese, to follow in his footsteps. After independence, as the scenario change, Indian Companies like-Birla Tata entered the fray to become biggest producers of the coveted "Assam Tea". The picture, however, is not completely rosy as the tea plantation, teaestate have been severely affected in recent years by the militancy in the state. Dwindling economic condition, stiff competition in international market and recurrent slumps have not helped the cause either. This paper is an earnest effort to highlight the historical background of the development of tea industry of Assam.


Background It was reported previously that at an early stage of the Huntington's disease (HD), patients had lower body mass index, without change in intake of calories, than matched controls. This suggested that HD is associated with a metabolic problem, and shed new light on the role of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in HD. However, despite many years of intensive research, the role of mtDNA in HD remains unknown. Aims The aim of this study is to compare the ratio of the number of copies of mtDNA to nuclear DNA (nDNA) in leukocytes of patients with HD and normal subjects. Furthermore we aimed to evaluate the relationship between the change in the level of mtDNA and various factors which were proposed as indicators of the progress and severity of the disease (e.g. characteristics of disease disturbances, CAG repeat number, age of onset). We assumed that understanding of the role of mtDNA copy number in the pathogenesis of HD could be important for development of new biological maker(s). Methods DNA was isolated from leucocytes of blood collected from a group of patients and a control group in different ages, sexes, and at different levels of severity of the disease. The quantitative PCR with SYBR Green was used to determine the mtDNA copy number per cell by using the estimation of the threshold cycle number of 16S rDNA, a chosen mitochondrial gene, and a gene coding for β-globin (a nuclear gene). The data were analysed statistically with regard to factors predicting progress and severity of the disease. Results Our results show that the average number of copies of mtDNA in healthy subjects has a high volatility. The average level of mtDNA was lower in patients relative to controls. Correlations with different factors predicting progress and severity of the disease were assessed. Conclusions We suggest that the level of mtDNA could be useful in predicting the course of the disease, along with other factors. This project is funded by National Research Centre, Poland, No UMO-2011/03/B/NZ2/01422.


Rural hospitals in sub-Saharan African countries play a key role in dealing with a high level of disease burden, but are usually poorly equipped with resources. Ward nurse managers in rural hospitals are in an ideal position to negotiate resources and bridge gaps in quality improvements. The aim of this study was to explore nurse managers' perspectives on quality and safe care in rural hospitals in Uganda. This was a qualitative interpretive study in which 11 ward nurse managers with at least two years' experience in the role were purposively selected to participate in the study. In-depth interviews using a semi-structured interview guide were applied for data collection. Thematic analysis was applied to analyse the data. Four themes were identified from the interviews. These themes explained how nurse managers engaged stakeholders in quality and safe care for patients; supported staff through supervision; improvised practices to cope with resource and equipment constraints; and being constrained by poor working conditions. Nurse managers in rural hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa face unique challenges in ensuring quality and safe care for patients due to a lack of basic human and material resources. The strategies they apply in quality improvements have implications for policy and resource development.


Previous work has shown that polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) could have acted to substantially warm high latitude regions during past warm climates such as the Eocene (55 Ma). Using a simple model of stratospheric water vapor transport and polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) formation, we investigate the dependence of PSC optical depth on tropopause temperature, cloud microphysical parameters, stratospheric overturning, and tropospheric methane. We show that PSC radiative effects can help slow removal of water from the stratosphere via self-heating. However, we also show that the ability of PSCs to have a substantial impact on climate depends strongly on the PSC particle number density and the strength of the overturning circulation. Thus even a large source of stratospheric water vapor (e.g. from methane oxidation) will not result in substantial PSC radiative effects unless PSC ice crystal number density is high compared to most current observations, and stratospheric overturning (which modulates polar stratospheric temperatures) is low. These results are supported by analysis of a series of runs of the NCAR WACCM model with methane concentrations varying up to one thousand times present levels.


improvement. Intermediate customers are also profiled and strategies are presented to cater to this user community. The voice of the customer (VoC) concepts extend quality into the customer satisfaction space, and make this section relevant for both marketing and customer support functions. The sections on surveys, complaints, and warranties are most enlightening and relevant, and can be immediately applied to diagnose and correct external failures and major quality issues. The supplier management section includes some very beneficial diagnostic approaches (comparison of urgency and importance) and metrics to track and report results, instilling objectivity and rigor in the analysis. The management of suppliers and materials is appended to this section at the end (following the sequence of the body of knowledge), but in alignment with supplier-input-process-outputcustomer (SIPOC) sequences; this should logically be explained earlier in the book. As a handbook, this reference is supported by an appendix with the CQIA Body of Knowledge and glossaries. This publication overall met my expectations as a serious and relevant reference. While the complexity of the material likely goes beyond the current understanding of inexperienced or entry-level staff members, the introduction to quality is outstanding, and the sections on process improvement methods and techniques are relevant and applicable. This would also be a very useful book for someone aspiring to prepare themselves for the ASQ Certified Quality Auditor (CQA), Certified Quality Process Analyst (CQPA), or equivalent peer recognition.


Encephalomyelitis is relatively rare (10.5–13.8/100,000 children) but may be fatal, and frequently causes permanent disability. The cause remains unknown in more than half the cases [1,2].

Cardinal symptoms of encephalitis include fever, headache, neck stiffness, photophobia, confusion and seizures. Clinical examination will reveal altered mental status ranging from somnolence to lethargy and coma. Delirium, cranial nerve palsies, ataxia, rash and sign of increased intracranial pressure may be seen. It is not always possible to ascertain the specific cause of encephalitis from clinical presentation alone. However there are features that can give some clue to possible etiology. Arbovirus encephalitis often heralds with a flu-like syndrome followed by increasing confusion and stupor. Herpes simplex encephalitis often presents with an abrupt change in behavior, memory loss, focal or generalized seizures, and speech concerns. West Nile encephalitis may present with flaccid, asymmetric motor weakness with altered sensorium of variable degree. Varicella may manifest with cerebellar features as Japanese encephalitis presenting with basal ganglia symptoms.

The current evaluation of encephalomyelitis requires a battery of tests including neuroimaging, expensive and often limited by the inability to obtain enough specimens in pediatric population along with unacceptable turnaround time. It is warranted to explore newer methodologies to establish early diagnosis, which is detrimental to favorable clinical outcome.

Proton NMR Metabolomics
The concept that biological fluids reflect the health of an individual has existed for a long time. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is based on measuring the absorption of light (radio waves) due to changes in nuclear spin orientation of molecules of different metabolites. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) metabolomics can be used to study metabolic profile of cerebrospinal fluid and urine. NMR is fully quantitative, highly reproducible, and detects all metabolites simultaneously in one snapshot. The samples are completely recoverable. Distinct Cerebro Spinal Fluid (CSF) metabolomics profile for normal controls, human rabies,6 West Nile encephalitis, and Lyme meningitis have been well described.

One can correlate CSF and urine metabolomics with clinical course, imaging, and laboratory findings, to develop a rapid screen to differentiate infectious from auto-inflammatory and autoimmune causes of encephalomyelitis by cluster analysis.

We have already used proton nuclear magnetic resonance (H+-NMR) to identify and quantify 56 metabolites from normal and diseased CSF using 0.5 ml of CSF in under 2 hours, and discriminate a CSF metabolomics profile by unsupervised (unbiased) cluster analysis.

Contrast this with the standard diagnostic approach –almost a century old– of quantifying two (2) substances (glucose and protein) from the same CSF volume with similar turn-around time.

Preliminarily, we can with high accuracy discriminate 6 central nervous system (CNS) diseases using NMR metabolomics. Contrast this with turn-around time of 4–7+ days for conventional encephalitis testing for oligoclonal bands, serology for EBV, Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) or Lyme disease, and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), Voltage –gated potassium channel (VGKC) or aquaporin-4 autoantibodies.

We conducted a study of CSF metabolomics comparing persons under treatment for rabies encephalitis, to normal controls. We were able to describe a metabolomic profile for human rabies across a number of weeks of illness. We also identified metabolic changes that correlated with clinical worsening or, alternatively, with survival. More recently, we compared CSF metabolomics profiles from patients without infection, rabies encephalitis, West Nile encephalitis, Lyme meningitis, fungal meningitis, malaria encephalopathy, and multiple sclerosis.

CSF profiles clustered well and were surprisingly distinct between diseases. We hypothesize that these same findings may hold true for other forms of infectious encephalitis and will cleanly distinguish these from (ADEM) acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (approximating MS)

We do not intend to supplant highly accurate and definitive testing for specific viruses or autoantibodies, but NMR might accelerate and focus initiation of effective therapies, to improve outcomes, and improve patient safety and financial risk by limiting expensive, CSF- or blood-consuming diagnostics.


is needed on the method-related, practical, organisational and other factors that impact its effectiveness and play a part in its diffusion. This paper aims at shedding light on the prerequisites of co-design for services by identifying empirically grounded barriers and enablers that hinder or support co-design activities in cross-organisational networks that are developing services. The focus is on co-design as facilitation of collaboration rather than on participatory design with users. The paper is based on follow-up interviews that assess the course and impacts of six As interest towards co-design for services in the public sector and in companies is growing, the benefits and challenges of applying it in organisations have become a topical issue. This article opens up factors that influence the success of co-design activities in the development of services among cross-disciplinary networks. It presents the findings from follow-up interviews assessing the impacts of six service co-design projects realised by a university with partners from healthcare, education and technology. The focus is on the barriers and enablers of co-design that the participants had encountered. The central findings are that a university-led service co-design project remains a superimposed activity with low impact on actual design decisions or core activities in the client organisations and that the utilisation of co-design greatly relies on individual, committed participants. Based on the empirical material, 20 barrier-enabler couples related to collaboration, the organisation, processes, implementation and methods are identified and described, the consideration of which can lead to more impactful service co-design practice. Relevance to The study provides empirically grounded guidelines for developing the methods and practices of service co-design towards greater leverage and viability. The results can be utilised by practitioners when designing for services in complex real-life contexts.


The reaction of the imidazole group of histidine hydantoin with bromoacetate was studied as a model for carboxymethylation of histidine residues in proteins. pK values of 6.4 and 9.1 (25 degrees C) and apparent heats of ionization of 7.8 and 8.7 kcal/mol were determined for the imidazole and hydantoin rings, respectively. At pH values corresponding to the isoelectric points for histidine hydantoin, the rates of carboxymethylation at 12, 25, 37, and 50 degrees C were determined; the modified hydantoins were hydrolyzed to the corresponding histidine derivatives for quantitative amino acid analysis. At pH 7.72 and 25 degrees C, the imidazole tele-N was alkylated (k = 3.9 X 10(-5) M-1 s-1) twice as fast as the pros-N. The monocarboxymethyl derivatives were carboxymethylated at the same rate at the pros-N (k = 2.1 X 10(-5) M-1 s-1) but 3 times faster at the tele-N (k = 11 X 10(-5) M-1 s-1). The enthalpies of activation determined for carboxymethylation of the imidazole ring and its monocarboxymethyl derivatives were similar (15.9 +/- 0.7 kcal/mol). delta S for the four carboxymethylations was -25 +/- 2 eu. The electrostatic component of delta S (delta S es) was calculated from the influence of the dielectric constant on the reaction rate at 25 degrees C. delta S es was slightly negative (-4 +/- 1 eu) for mono- or dicarboxymethylations, indicating some charge separation in the transition state. The nonelectrostatic entropy of activation was -21 +/- 2 eu for all four carboxymethylations.


∗ Background & Aim: Nowadays in the NICU, family-centered care is the foundation of care, and communication is at the core of family-centered care. This study aimed to compare the perceptions of nurse-mother communication between neonatal intensive care nurses and mothers of hospitalized neonates. Methods & Materials: This is a cross-sectional study. 70 mothers of hospitalized newborns and 70 nurses working in the NICU ward of university hospitals and social security hospitals in Yazd, were selected by convenience sampling in 2015. The study questionnaires included the mothers' and nurses' demographic characteristics questionnaire, "nurses' perceptions of nurse-mother communication" questionnaire and "mothers' perceptions of nurse-mother communication" questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistical tests and independent t -test on SPSS software version 19. Results: The mean age for nurses was 33.36±6.99 years and for mothers was 29.77±6.40 years. Mean score and standard deviation of perception of "nurse-mother communication" for nurses was 69±6.92 and for mothers was 57.66±11.99. Independent t -test showed statistically significant differences between mean scores ( P <0.001). Conclusion: Due to difference in nurses' and mothers' perceptions of nurse-mother communication, it seems necessary that interventions be designed and implemented to familiarize nurses with mothers' expectations of quality and way of nurse-mother communication.


Many studies have explored the impact of response variability on the quality of sensory codes. The source of this variability is almost always assumed to be intrinsic to the brain. However, when inferring a particular stimulus property, variability associated with other stimulus attributes also effectively act as noise. Here we study the impact of such stimulus-induced response variability for the case of binocular disparity inference. We characterize the response distribution for the binocular energy model in response to random dot stereograms and find it to be very different from the Poisson-like noise usually assumed. We then compute the Fisher information with respect to binocular disparity, present in the monocular inputs to the standard model of early binocular processing, and thereby obtain an upper bound on how much information a model could theoretically extract from them. Then we analyze the information loss incurred by the different ways of combining those inputs to produce a scalar single-neuron response. We find that in the case of depth inference, monocular stimulus variability places a greater limit on the extractable information than intrinsic neuronal noise for typical spike counts. Furthermore, the largest loss of information is incurred by the standard model for position disparity neurons (tuned-excitatory), that are the most ubiquitous in monkey primary visual cortex, while more information from the inputs is preserved in phase-disparity neurons (tuned-near or tuned-far) primarily found in higher cortical regions.


The power and validity of compound-specific radiocarbon dating was evaluated using sediments from Saanich Inlet, Canada, in age ranging from recent to 5000 yr BP. Compounds characteristic of higher plants, phytoplankton and archaea, were isolated by preparative GC and semi-preparative HPLC. For preparative HPLC a new method was designed, to be able to rapidly isolate relatively polar and high molecular weight biomarkers. After radiocarbon analysis, compound 14C ages were calibrated to produce calendar ages, for comparison with the sediment ages and the age of the total organic carbon (TOC). Phytoplanktonic and archaeal lipids showed on average age differences with the sediment of ~800 years, consistent with published DIC reservoir ages. Because the sediment ages were known, specific reservoir ages could be determined and compared with model reservoir ages. Planktonic biomarkers showed considerable variation, while crenarchaeol, from ubiquitously occurring marine archaea, showed minor variations in reservoir age. This indicates that compound specific 14C dating of crenarchaeol proves to be a promising new dating method for marine, carbonate-poor sediments, because it was relatively easy to isolate in sufficient amounts and consistent regarding reservoir effects. An increasing relative age of the terrestrial biomarker towards recent times pointed towards an ongoing aging of the soil in the fjord environs, due to the ongoing accumulation of the refractory soil organic carbon after deglaciation of the area. The results suggest that the terrigenous organic carbon pool in temperate regions may still be increasing as a long-term response to the end of the last ice-age. A 400 year sedimentary record of the anoxic Kyllaren Fjord (West Norway) was investigated using organic geochemical, geochemical and sedimentological approaches in order to reconstruct environmental changes. The results show that in the first half of the 19th century an environmental change occurred, likely caused by a change in the precipitation regime, vegetation and/or land use. In the last century a distinct increase in primary productivity is observed, likely caused by 'natural' eutrophication due to the transformation of the fjord from an open to a confined system by the building of a partially open dam in 1954, possibly combined with anthropogenic eutrophication. Decreased delta-13C values of several biomarkers point towards enhanced carbon recycling in the fjord over the last century. The results of a similar biogeochemical study on the South Norwegian Drammensfjord, covering the last millenium, show that eutrophication already started halfway the 19th century. This was concurrent with the industrialization of sawmills and papermills along the river Drammen and upstream water bodies, which could be traced by 'coniferous' biomarkers in the sediment. The concurrent disappearance of a suite of (bi)cyclobotryococcenes from the upper fjord sediments also revealed that eutrophication likely caused the demise and eventual disappearance of the alga Botryococcus braunii from the fjord. Because of the preference of this alga for oligotrophic and slightly brackish conditions, and the possibility to easily trace these specific biomarkers, it is argued that the disappearance of this alga from a sedimentary record can serve as an palaeoenvironmental indicator for early eutrophication.


According to most models of selective visual attention, our goals at any given moment and saliency in the visual field determine attentional priority. But selection is not carried out in isolation--we typically track objects through space and time. This is not well captured within the distinction between goal-directed and saliency-based attentional guidance. Recent studies have shown that selection is strongly facilitated when the characteristics of the objects to be attended and of those to be ignored remain constant between consecutive selections. These studies have generated the proposal that goal-directed or top-down effects are best understood as intertrial priming effects. Here, we provide a detailed overview and critical appraisal of the arguments, experimental strategies, and findings that have been used to promote this idea, along with a review of studies providing potential counterarguments. We divide this review according to different types of attentional control settings that observers are thought to adopt during visual search: feature-based settings, dimension-based settings, and singleton detection mode. We conclude that priming accounts for considerable portions of effects attributed to top-down guidance, but that top-down guidance can be independent of intertrial priming.


In this article we focus on the balanced truncation linear quadratic regulator (LQR) with constrained states and inputs. For closed-loop, we want to use the LQR to find an optimal control that minimizes the objective function which called "the quadratic cost function" with respect to the constraints on the states and the control input. In order to do that we have used formal asymptotes for the Pontryagin maximum principle (PMP) and we introduce an approach using the so called The Hamiltonian Function and the underlying algebraic Riccati equation. The theoretical results are validated numerically to show that the model order reduction based on open-loop balancing can also give good closed-loop performance.


In recent years, interest in butanol and butyric acid as a potential substitute for traditional fuels has grown. Microbiological production of butanol and butyric acid from carbohydrates is not economically advantageous due to several process defects. The cost reduction potential of the product is related to expanding the substrates used and optimizing the process' economics. The metabolism of the strains Clostridia is in two stages acidic and solvatogenic. In the beginning, carboxylic acids are formed, and afterward, these acids induce the preparation of solvents. The aim of this work is to study the effect of unusual substrate on butyric acid production by Clostridium beijerinckii 4A1. The experiments performed were based on a Reinforced Clostridial medium, using different concentrations of lactic acid as carbon source, at Т = 37 °C, and anaerobic conditions.


Obtaining models of dynamic 3D objects is an important part of content generation for computer graphics. If the states or poses of the dynamic object repeat often during a sequence (but not necessarily periodically), we call such a repetitive motion. There are many objects, such as toys, machines, and humans, undergoing repetitive motions. Our key observation is that for repetitive motions we can use one fixed camera to perform robust motion analysis and a second capture-device to provide 3D information of each motion state. After the motion sequence, we group temporally disjoint observations of the same motion state and produce a smooth space-time reconstruction of the scene. Effectively, the dynamic scene modeling problem is converted to a series of static scene reconstructions, which are much easier to tackle. The second device can be either a passive camera or an active-light projector, resulting in two different modeling techniques. Based on this observation, we present an efficient passive multi-viewpoint acquisition and a robust structured-light acquisition of repetitive motions.


Abstract. Depth-integrated (1-D) flowline models have been widely used to simulate fast-flowing tidewater glaciers and predict change because the continuous grounding line tracking, high horizontal resolution, and physically based calving criterion that are essential to realistic modeling of tidewater glaciers can easily be incorporated into the models while maintaining high computational efficiency. As with all models, the values for parameters describing ice rheology and basal friction must be assumed and/or tuned based on observations. For prognostic studies, these parameters are typically tuned so that the glacier matches observed thickness and speeds at an initial state, to which a perturbation is applied. While it is well know that ice flow models are sensitive to these parameters, the sensitivity of tidewater glacier models has not been systematically investigated. Here we investigate the sensitivity of such flowline models of outlet glacier dynamics to uncertainty in three key parameters that influence a glacier's resistive stress components. We find that, within typical observational uncertainty, similar initial (i.e., steady-state) glacier configurations can be produced with substantially different combinations of parameter values, leading to differing transient responses after a perturbation is applied. In cases where the glacier is initially grounded near flotation across a basal over-deepening, as typically observed for rapidly changing glaciers, these differences can be dramatic owing to the threshold of stability imposed by the flotation criterion. The simulated transient response is particularly sensitive to the parameterization of ice rheology: differences in ice temperature of ~ 2 °C can determine whether the glaciers thin to flotation and retreat unstably or remain grounded on a marine shoal. Due to the highly non-linear dependence of tidewater glaciers on model parameters, we recommend that their predictions are accompanied by sensitivity tests that take parameter uncertainty into account.


A new implementation of EVM measurement has been developed in a production test environment using an FPGA-based DSP processor within an ATE test solution. The focus of interest is in identifying key areas of the DSP that affect measurement quality and optimizing their execution on an FPGA to increase measurement accuracy, precision, repeatability, and reduce test time. This approach defines a real-time processing methodology for signal demodulation and EVM calculation as opposed to traditional PC-based post processing and offline computation of EVM. The analysis of the DSP elements and their corresponding error artifacts are presented in a standard approach to EVM measurement. The experimental results of the digital demodulation system and EVM measurement in MATLAB/Simulink are compared against a bench-top Rohde&Schwarz complex signal generator and vector signal analyzer to qualify the results.


This study was undertaken to purify cystic fluid (CF) antigen of Taenia solium metacestodes by affinity chromatography using specific monoclonal antibody (McAb) and to characterize the antigenicity of the purified antigen. The hybridoma cell lines, prepared by fusion between mouse plasmacytoma and spleen cells from BALB/c mice immunized with CF, secrected antibodies reacting to various helminthic antigens. Majority of cell lines reacted to CF only but some also reacted to parenchymal antigen of T. solium metacestodes, adult T. saginata, sparganum, hydatid cystic fluid, Paragonimus westermani and Clonorchis sinensis, either in combination with CF, other antigens or independently. Cloned cells derived from monoclonal lines also produced antibodies reacting either to CF only or to other helminthes in combination or independently. These results indicated that CF of T. solium metacestodes contained proteins which possessed antigenic determinants not only specific to CF but also cross reactive with the afore-mentioned helminthes. CF of T. solium metacestodes was purified by affinity chromatography using the McAb which reacted to CF and parenchymal antigens. The affinity-purified antigen(A-Ag) and unbound pool(U-Ag) were separated. A-Ag showed 2 protein bands by disc-PAGE whereas CF exhibited 6 bands and U-Ag consisted of all bands CF had. The diagnostic significance of A-Ag was evaluated by ELISA in human neurocysticercosis and other helminthic and neurologic diseases. By A-Ag, the levels of the specific IgG antibody, as shown by absorbance in sera and CSF, were lower than those of CF and U-Ag. Accordingly, the sensitiviy was about 70 % of CF and U-Ag. However, the nonspecific positive reactions to CF and U-Ag, observed in sparganosis, T. saginata infection and paragonimiasis did not occur when A-Ag was used. These results indicated that the affinity-purified A-Ag had the higher specificity but the lower sensitivity as a diagnostic antigen in cysticercosis, probably because it only detected a single or limited numbers of monospecific antibodies among the diverse polyclonal antibodies produced in the patients with neurocysticercosis.


Background In peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC), increased life span and disease-free survival times are shown in patients with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) and early postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy (EPIC) following cytoreductive surgery (SRC). In this study, our main objective was to present our experience of performing SRC and perioperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC and EPIC) on patients with PC, in light of the literature. Methods Demographic data, follow-up results, peritoneal carcinomatosis index (PCI), completeness of cytoreduction (CCR) score, and morbidity and mortality rates of 180 patients treated with SRC + HIPEC + EPIC for PC at the Department of Surgical Oncology at Sivas Cumhuriyet University between January 2008 and July 2020 were analyzed retrospectively. Results Distribution of 180 PC cases according to primary organs included 53 ovarian, 39 colorectal, 33 stomach, 25 primary peritoneum, 10 uterus, 10 tuba, five soft tissue, and five appendix originated carcinoma. The average PCI of the cases detected preoperatively was 21 (5–30). Completeness of cytoreduction scores of CCR-0 in 102 cases, CCR-1 in 67 cases, CCR-2 in eight cases, and CCR-3 in three cases was obtained. Median operation time was 300 (200–540) minutes. Perioperative morbidity rate was 47.0%, and perioperative mortality rate was 13.5%. Conclusion The peritonectomy procedure is a difficult, long-lasting, troublesome intervention, but it is the most important treatment option with acceptable morbidity and mortality rates in patients selected for PC treatment in experienced centers.


In this study, vector control of an AC brushless servomotor is performed using the current controlled, voltage source inverter and hysteresis PWM method. Using vector control, three phase variables are transformed on the synchronously rotating d and q axis, and control can be performed as in the DC motor. In order to generate PWM signals, an error value is calculated by comparing the current reference and actual current, and it is used as an input for hysteresis control. Then, the voltage vector is obtained, and the motor is driven by using the inverter to follow current reference values. Finally the servomotor speed is controlled by using this card, and results are presented. Using this custom-designed motion control card, high performance drive systems and complex algorithms can be developed. Since the proposed control system is very flexible, it is also applicable for studies on sensorless servomotor control by only modifying the software. Therefore in this paper, sensorless speed control results with ANN are also presented


We propose a new architecture for adapting a sentence-level sequence-to-sequence transformer by incorporating multiple pre-trained document context signals and assess the impact on translation performance of (1) different pretraining approaches for generating these signals, (2) the quantity of parallel data for which document context is available, and (3) conditioning on source, target, or source and target contexts. Experiments on the NIST Chinese-English, and IWSLT and WMT English-German tasks support four general conclusions: that using pre-trained context representations markedly improves sample efficiency, that adequate parallel data resources are crucial for learning to use document context, that jointly conditioning on multiple context representations outperforms any single representation, and that source context is more valuable for translation performance than target side context. Our best multi-context model consistently outperforms the best existing context-aware transformers.


This paper is devoted to the development of a two-dimensional computer-simulation model that is based on the rigid constraints of optical diffraction theory with careful attention paid to the generation of sample realizations of Gaussian distributed, spatially random, isotropic wave fronts that have zero-mean and prescribed-covariance functions. Although we used a Gaussian covariance in our calculations, the simulation can incorporate any permissible covariance function. Given a sample realization of the wave front, the corresponding centered point-spread function and optical-transfer function are evaluated. A detailed study is made of the statistics of random wave-front tilt, point-spread function, modulus squared of transfer function, and phase of transfer function.


This study represents the first systematic investigation of long-term anhydrobiotic survival in tardigrades, rotifers and nematodes inhabiting mosses and lichens. Sixty-three different samples from public and private collections, kept dry for 9-138 years, were examined. Rotifers of the genus Mniohia and the eutardigrade Ramazzottius oberhaeuseri (hatched from eggs) were found alive from one of the samples (9 years old). These observations represent the longest record for rotifers in the anhydrobiotic state. For tardigrades, our results confirm previous reports on the upper limit of anhydrobiotic survival under atmospheric oxygen conditions. This study suggests the possibility that tardigrade eggs are able to withstand longer periods in anhydrobiosis than animals. Some problems related to the evaluation of long-term anhydrobiotic survival, such as contamination and chemical treatments of samples, are reported. The possible role of the microenvironment in which the anhydrobiotic animals are kept is discussed. (Less)


Findings of 222 needle biopsies were evaluated to determine the accuracy of the procedure in diagnosis, the role of the biopsy in limb-salvage procedures, the contribution of needle biopsy in the assessment of tumor effect in patients receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy, and reasons for failure to obtain diagnostic tissue. The overall accuracy of needle biopsy in diagnosis of benign and malignant tumors was 78.6%. The major tumor categories included osteosarcoma (50 patients), giant-cell tumor (33 patients), Ewing sarcoma (22 patients), and spindle-cell sarcoma (15 patients). The accuracy of needle biopsy in diagnosis for these tumors was 78%, 88%, 95%, and 87%, respectively. The results of follow-up needle biopsy were encouraging, with roughly a 70% adequacy in the patients who had osteosarcoma and 50% in the patients who had Ewing sarcoma. The major reason for failure to obtain tissue for diagnosis in 17 of 35 patients was the presence of blastic tumors. The presence of cystic lesions and faulty technique were other reasons for failure. Percutaneous needle biopsy in patients who have primary bone tumors is a helpful diagnostic tool, forms an important part of the limb-salvage procedure, and contributes to the assessment of tumor effects in patients receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy. To minimize failure in obtaining adequate tissue for diagnosis, biopsy specimens of blastic tumors should be obtained from their soft tissue components, lytic areas, or the least dense areas, while a smear of aspirate from cystic lesions should be prepared for cytologic examination and the clot embedded in paraffin for histologic study.


We have previously proposed an automatic hexahedral mesh generator. It is necessary to understand about the quality and characteristic of the generated mesh to perform hexahedral edge finite element analysis in electromagnetic. Therefore, we have compared high-quality meshes with poor-quality meshes, and investigated about the factors that affect the accuracy and the computation time. In addition, we investigated about the effect of the templates used in the proposed method. We will conclusively apply the result to improving the automatic hexahedral mesh generator.