Some unconsolidated water-laid sediments acquire a remanent magnetization as a result of the orientation during settling of the small fraction of their particles that have a permanent magnetic moment. Their alinement is affected by factors other than the direction of the geomagnetic field, such as the slope of the bed on which they are deposited, and the velocity with which the water moves over it. The paper describes measurements of the remanence of Swedish and Icelandic varved sediments, with average particle sizes lying between 5 and 25μ, in which these factors were studied. Measurements of the remanence of these sediments redeposited in the laboratory under controlled conditions were also made. In these artificially deposited sediments the inclination of the remanence may be some 20° less than that of the magnetic field, but this 'inclination error' seems to be never more than 5 to 10° in natural sediments. In neither case was the dependence of inclination error on particle size suggested by earlier work confirmed. Under both natural and artificial conditions deposition on a sloping bed produces a deviation of the remanence from the direction for deposition on a horizontal surface. The direction of rotation of the remanence is the same as that produced by tilting a bed subsequent to deposition. The deviation is less under natural than under artificial conditions, never exceeding about twice the angle of dip of the bed. Experiments on deposition in running water indicate that velocities up to about 30 cm/s produces deviations of the remanence of up to about 20° in a direction related to that of the current flow, the magnitude of the effect being almost independent of velocity over the range of velocities between 5 and 30 cm/s. Size and shape analyses of the sediments show that the magnetic particles have a size distribution very similar to that of the sediment as a whole, and that they are not clearly divided into well-contrasted groups of spherical and plate-like particles, as was suggested in an earlier paper. A theory is proposed to account for the known facts of depositional magnetization. Deviations of the remanence from the field direction are explained mainly as a result of the rolling of particles on the bed during the last stage of settling. To a limited extent quantitative agreement between theory and observation is attained, but the process is clearly too complex to be adequately described in simple geometrical terms. It has not therefore been found possible to use the theory for the purpose of prediction. From a review of the evidence it would seem to be possible in principle to determine the magnetic secular variation from varved sediments, but a very large number of experiments would be needed for useful results to be obtained.


Reaching in the A-not-B situation is not the product of a single person, but rather of a person-person system. We argue that models of embodied cognition distributed over persons may be necessary to capture the essential qualities of evolving behaviors, even those as simple as perseverative reaching.


Tailoring of the doping profile is a powerful tool in reducing the intermodulation distortion (IMD) in GaAs power FET's. Reproducible and uniform preparation of the required profiles is a difficult task for epitaxial techniques. This shortcoming has motivated the present investigation of fabricating highly linear power FET's by ion implantation. An analytical divice model was developed for exploring the relationship between the active layer profile and the IMD. These calculations revealed a complex behavior in the variation of the distortion levels due to partial correlation between the contributions arising from nonlinear transconductance and output conductance. The device model was used to identify implant doses and energies for approaching an optimum active layer profile. Based on the results, a deep Se implant followed by a shallow compensating Be implant to reduce the doping level close to the surface was used in the device fabrication. The IMD of the transistors was measured by the two-tone method. Conventional epitaxial FET's with a flat doping profile were evaluated for comparison purposes. This comparison demonstrated that a 4-dB increase in the intercept point for the third-order intermodulation product can be realized by using the tailored implanted profile. The experiments demonstrated that the tuning conditions for maximum output power and minimum IMD are virtually identical for the implanted transistors, in contrast to the behavior of conventional devices with flat doping profiles. These performance advantages, coupled with the high levels of uniformity and reproducibility of doping parameters, show ion implantation to be a powerful technique in the fabrication of highly linear power FET's.


Abstract : As the information age comes to fruition, terrorist networks have moved mainstream by promoting their causes via the World Wide Web. In addition to their standard rhetoric, these organizations provide anyone with an Internet connection the ability to access dangerous information involving the creation and implementation of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Unfortunately for governments combating terrorism, IED education networks can be very difficult to find and even harder to monitor. Regular commercial search engines are not up to this task, as they have been optimized to catalog information quickly and efficiently for user ease of access while promoting retail commerce at the same time. This thesis presents a performance analysis of a new search engine algorithm designed to help find IED education networks using the Nutch open-source search engine architecture. It reveals which web pages are more important via references from other web pages regardless of domain. In addition, this thesis discusses potential evaluation and monitoring techniques to be used in conjunction with the proposed algorithm.


This article examines the construction of national and racial identities within Ben Jonson's and Inigo Jones's Masque of Blackness against the backdrop of King James' investment in creating a 'British' union at the start of his reign. The article re-examines the blackface performance of the Queen and her ladies in the contexts of the Queen's and Inigo Jones' European connections, the Queen's reputation as 'wilful', and her pregnant body's ability to evoke widespread cultural beliefs about the maternal imagination's power to determine a child's racial make-up. We argue that the masque's striking use of blue-face along with black and white-face reveals a deep investment in Britain's ancient customs which stands in tension with Blackness' showcasing of foreign bodies, technologies, and cultural reference points. By demonstrating the significance of understanding Queen Anna's pregnancy and her 'wilful' personality within the context of early modern humoral theory, moreover, we develop existing discussions of the humoral theory that underpins the masque's representation of racial identities. We suggest that the Queen's pregnant performance in blackface, by reminding the viewer that her maternal mind could 'will' the racial identity of royal progeny into being, had the power to unsettle King James I's white male nationalist supremacy in the very act of celebrating it before their new English court and its foreign guests.


In the search for the fully aligned 27 − state in 140 Nd predicted by cranked Nilsson-Strutinsky calculations, new close-to-spherical high-spin states have been discovered. Both the close-to-spherical and the triaxial calculated states are in good agreement with the experimental results, supporting the existence of shape coexistence up to very high spins. Shell-model calculations using a newly developed effective interaction for the 50 (cid:2) N,Z (cid:2) 82 mass region are in good agreement with the observed spherical states. The comparison between the experimental and calculated level energies allowed the relative energy to be established between several proton and neutron orbitals at high energy and spins.


We describe two novel sequence similarity search algorithms, FASTS and FASTF, that use multiple short peptide sequences to identify homologous sequences in protein or DNA databases. FASTS searches with peptide sequences of unknown order, as obtained by mass spectrometry-based sequencing, evaluating all possible arrangements of the peptides. FASTF searches with mixed peptide sequences, as generated by Edman sequencing of unseparated mixtures of peptides. FASTF deconvolutes the mixture, using a greedy heuristic that allows rapid identification of high scoring alignments while reducing the total number of explored alternatives. Both algorithms use the heuristic FASTA comparison strategy to accelerate the search but use alignment probability, rather than similarity score, as the criterion for alignment optimality. Statistical estimates are calculated using an empirical correction to a theoretical probability. These calculated estimates were accurate within a factor of 10 for FASTS and 1000 for FASTF on our test dataset. FASTS requires only 15–20 total residues in three or four peptides to robustly identify homologues sharing 50% or greater protein sequence identity. FASTF requires about 25% more sequence data than FASTS for equivalent sensitivity, but additional sequence data are usually available from mixed Edman experiments. Thus, both algorithms can identify homologues that diverged 100 to 500 million years ago, allowing proteomic identification from organisms whose genomes have not been sequenced.


A 49-year-old male patient was diagnosed with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease while the evaluation of urinary tract infection in 2010. He was suffering from nutritional problems due to gastro-intestinal disturbances and vomiting secondary to the pressure of the kidneys. He was also a candidate for kidney transplantation, but there was no adequate and enough space in the abdomen for the transplant kidney. Therefore, we performed open unilateral nephrectomy to the bigger kidney. As we know there is not too many cases regarding giant polycystic kidney nephrectomy, we presented our case to make additional contribution to the current literature.


ZnO nanorods have been successfully grown on Ga doped (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 wt%) ZnO seed layer by using simple hydrothermal method. The seed layer was coated on the substrate by using Dip coating technique. The effects of Ga doped seed layer on optical and structural morphology of ZnO nanorods are investigated in detail by using Field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Photo luminescence spectroscopy (PL). It has been observed that the Ga doped seed layer strongly affected the structural morphology of ZnO nanorods. XRD results show that all the samples have hexagonal wurtzite shape and [002] is preferred direction of growth. The intensity of (002) peak increases with increasing Ga concentration in seed layer indicating that the Ga doped seed layer has promoted growth of nanorods along [002]. SEM images show a decrease in diameter of ZnO nanorods with increasing Ga concentration in seed layer. The PL spectra of all the samples have two emission bands, UV and defect emission. UV emission shows a small blue shift with increasing Ga concentration in seed layer.


With rapid urbanization and wide use of underground space, the behaviour of underground structures under various conditions has gained significant attention. Twin tunnels are two closely constructed tunnels. Underground structures are generally supported by the surrounding medium like soil or rock. Due to this additional constraint from the ground, the underground structures are not as vulnerable as compared to the surface structures during an earthquake event. But recent earthquakes have shown that these structures are also prone to damages. Unlike surface structures, the soil-structure interaction is very important in the seismic analysis of underground structures. Moreover, in the case of structures like tunnels, rather than inertial forces the deformation behaviour is controlling the seismic behaviour. The various waves generated during an earthquake event generate additional forces and moments, which may jeopardize the stability of tunnels/underground structures. Among the different types of ground instability associated with seismic loading, the upward and downward movement of the ground due to seismic waves is studied here. In this study, a two dimensional numerical simulation using finite element method is done to understand the response of twin tunnels in weathered type of rock. The dynamic load is applied in the form of earthquake loading. The effect of relative spacing between tunnels is studied when they are subjected to earthquake loading. The results show that due to the dynamic loading the effects on ground settlement is significant especially when the relative spacing between the tunnels is less.


Tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) is among the most important fish species of the Amazon and one of the most cultivated in Brazil. In the present work we have evaluated the genetic variability of wild and captivity populations of C. macropomum. Enzymatic markers were used to estimate the genetic variability of 41 specimens from a wild group; and 30, 33 and 45 from three captivity groups, which came from Pentecostes (Ceara State), Jaboticabal (Sao Paulo State) and Itacoatiara (Amazonas State), respectively. Nine isoenzymic systems were used to evaluate the genetic variability of these populations. Using zimogram data we obtained the polymorphism level, allele number, allelic frequency, observed and expected heterozigosity, Wright F statistics (FIS, F ST), genetic distance, level of similarity and group analysis. The isoenzymic data showed that, from the nine systems, six presented polymorphic loci (Fbp-2, G6pdh-2, G6pdh-3, Pgi-1, Pgi-2 and Pgm-1). The populations from Pentecostes and Jaboticabal presented loss of genetic variability and low heterozigosity, compared to the wild population and to the artificial population acquired at Itacoatiara fish farm. Based on these results and on fish farmer information we could consider the population from Itacoatiara as recently derived from a wild population. Concluding, we suggest that the artificial populations of tambaqui, which contain animals originated from this funding population at Pentecostes, should be renewed with the introduction of a new group of individuals with genetic variability equivalent to the wild population.


Ethnographic fieldwork is common in many fields of research. When I got accepted for doctoral studies, I had worked on my idea for many years. I thought I knew what to expect from my field studies with First Nations children in British Columbia, Canada, diagnosed with autism, but ultimately, I had to change my plans several times during the research project. Unexpected challenges, but also fantastic opportunities, were offered and dealing with them was sometimes confusing, frightening and discouraging. Ethical and methodological issues were constantly present. The aim of this text is to give a personal account of my experiences to give aspiring ethnographers an idea of what doing research with Indigenous peoples might entail.


This study compared the preferences of 12 subjects with mild-to-moderate hearing losses for a linear circuit when the type of output limitation could be changed between asymmetrical peak clipping and output limiting compression. Through a paired-comparison paradigm, subjects rated the sound quality and clarity of speech in quiet, speech in noise, and music when the output levels were well below saturation and when slight saturation and high saturation occurred. A significant preference was found for the output limiting compression for each of the three stimuli for both sound quality and clarity. The preference became stronger with increases in saturation. The results suggest that if linear hearing aids are being used, the output should be limited with compression rather than peak clipping.


Nummulites pachoi Said, 1951 is described and illustrated for the first time from topotypic material from the Late Lutetian Mokattam Formation of El Arag Oasis, Egypt, including the first photographs of both microspheric and megalospheric generations. Nummulites pachoi spans the SBZ 16 of Late Lutetian age. This species is phylogenetically parallel to N. praelyelli Boukhary & Kamal, 2003. Although, N. pachoi and N. praelyelli exhibit the same ontogenetic trend, from tight to lax, the development of granulation in the megalospheric form of N. pachoi is a progressive character through time, unlike that in N. praelyelli . Nummulites pachoi is larger, flatter and with an opposite ontogenetic trend compared with Nummulites gizehensis , although both have similar protoconch diameters. The author who first recognized the name " pachoi " as a species-level designation should be given credit for naming the species. Because Said (1951) raised the rank of de la Harpe's race pachoi to specific level, according to the rules of zoological nomenclature, Said should be recognized as the author of the species.


Peace and conflict dynamics in South Sudan are intertwined with political governance, institutional capacities, and leadership. Nevertheless, in the specific South Sudanese intractable civil wars since signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, territorial and economic governance are also certainly strictly connected to any possible prospect of sustainable peace for the country. As such, after carefully defining these concepts, this article emphasizes that territorial governance in South Sudan relates to boundaries definition and to the division of the national territory in states with a certain degree of autonomy. The issues and divergences engendered by territorial governance are intertwined with economic governance concerns. The uneven distribution of natural resources (especially oil) produces wealth and power redistribution concerns that are at the core of contentious relations between social and ethnic groups. These circles of tensions rapidly degenerate into conflict in a context of widespread poverty, inequality, and consequent social vulnerability. The article defines and illustrates a "good enough" territorial and economic governance framework for the South Sudanese case study. Keywords : South Sudan; Governance; Resources; Territory; Political System.


Initiatives to address the human resource crisis in African health systems have included expanded training of mid-level workers (MLWs). Currently, MLWs are the backbone of many health systems in Africa but they are often de-motivated and they often operate in circumstances in which providing high quality care is challenging. Therefore, assuming that introducing additional people will materially change health system performance is unrealistic. We briefly critique such unifocal interventions and review the literature to understand the factors that affect the motivation and performance of MLWs. Three themes emerge: the low status and inadequate recognition of MLWs, quality of care issues and working in poorly managed systems. In response we propose three interrelated interventions: a regional association of MLWs to enhance their status and recognition, a job enrichment and mentoring system to address quality and a district managers' association to improve health systems management. The professionalisation of MLWs and district managers to address confidence, self-esteem and value is considered. The paper describes the thinking behind these interventions, which are currently being tested in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda for their acceptability and appropriateness. We offer the policy community a complementary repertoire to existing human resource strategies in order to effect real change in African health systems.


Alcohol is more harmful than any other drug overall, when physical, psychological and social harm are taken into account. There were 8664 alcohol-related deaths in the UK in 2009. Every GP is estimated to see around 364 heavy drinkers every year and will see more who are drinking less heavily but whose alcohol consumption is still putting their health at risk. GPs are therefore in an ideal position to prevent the significant mortality and morbidity associated with high alcohol consumption. This can be done by early identification of those who are drinking more than is healthy and by providing brief interventions before drinking becomes harmful.


This paper focuses on the evaluation of the therapeutic use of photocards by prisoners and facilitators in a counselling psychology led European project, based on responses to open-ended questionnaires. It is part of a wider project, involving seven partner organisations in six European countries (England, Finland, Greece, Italy, Malta and Romania), which developed and trialled four different approaches to using photography in the context of counselling in prisons. Of the 51 inmates that participated in the project, 48 (94%) completed the questionnaires; of those, 39 (77%) were available for individual analysis due to prison restrictions in one partner organisation only allowing group data. Of those 39, who returned their completed questionnaires, over 92% found the therapeutic use of photographs either very helpful (56.4%) or helpful (35.9%), and the remaining 7.7% described it as average. From the thematic analysis, main themes emerging regarding inmates' experiences of working with photocards were that it: facilitates emotional expression and sharing; unlocks memories and reconnects with life outside; fosters insight, reflection and self-growth; breaks the monotony of prison life and, overall aids emotional learning. A thematic analysis of 11 psychological therapists/facilitators' perspectives showed that the use of photocards: gives clients a voice; provides a safe and collaborative frame and a therapeutic relationship; and, provides a useful icebreaker, helpfully overcoming anxieties of both client and psychotherapist/facilitator. Overall, photocards were considered useful as their projective nature can help facilitate prisoners' strong need for expression in a context where there are limited opportunities and trust is fragile.


"10 Successful Colombian executives Working Abroad" gives us a portrait of how a group of Colombian executives was able to overcome language barriers and develop a convincing and fluid discourse which has allowed them to stand out and empower themselves in the global entrepreneurial arena. Entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, high executives, and professionals alike, need tools in order to dominate the interior voice which inhibits their free and assertive functioning in English. The content of this book brings us closer to successful experiences and models that we can all learn from. It shows us cases where the ability to express ideas in English has enabled these skilled executives to open the doors of excellence and achievement in their careers.


The overhead catenary truck is an interesting technology for long-haul transportation with heavy-duty trucks because it can combine the advantage of energy supply via catenary while driving and the flexibility of a battery truck on routes without catenary using the traction battery. This study investigates the energy consumptions of overhead catenary trucks on German highways and considers different configurations for the traction battery and catenary power system. Afterwards the life cycle costs of overhead catenary trucks are calculated for a specified long-haul transportation scenario and the results are compared to battery electric truck and diesel truck using the findings of a previous study by the authors. The energy consumption of the considered overhead catenary trucks is approximately equal to that of a battery electric truck but only about a half of the equivalent energy consumption of a conventional diesel truck. According to the cost assumptions in this study, the total life cycle costs of overhead catenary trucks can be in the range of the conventional diesel truck, showing the competitiveness of this alternative truck technology.


At microwave frequencies the dielectric properties of ceramic and composite materials can be determined on the basis of free space measurements with the help of a vector network analyzer. For the accurate calibration of the measurement setup the newly developed LN1N2-method (Line Network) and the LNN-method are presented in this article. In contrast to the TRL-technique (Through Reflect Line), the calibration standards of the LNN- and LN1N2-method are all of equal length. This is advantageous for free space applications where a variation of the antenna positions might be critical due to changes of the beam propagation. Whereas the calibration standards of the LNN-method consist of three consecutive positions for the placement of obstacle networks, the LN1N2-method is only in need of two positions. Besides the reduced need of space the obstacle networks can thus be placed symmetrically around the focusing area of the free-space antenna-lens system.


This paper analyses the poems of Dobrisa Cesaric, poet whose not very large oeuvre permits the easy discernment of specific features. One of these is the way in which his poems begin, i.e., the temporal datum (time of day, year or duration of some event). Mention of the moment of which the poem speaks guarantees the realistic nature of the experience and facilitates the identification between reader and poem. Cesaric's poems are dedicated to little things and by the highlighting of the temporal dimension the character of the poem is underlined: it is an experience of an ordinary man in ordinary circumstances and so identification is pos- sible. Poems without a temporal datum tend to speak of something that is eternal or something that lasts very long.
Time does not interest Cesaric as a destructive force; rather he is interested in the moments in its duration in which something exceptional happens. Mentioning temporal data is not the consequence of a manner of the poet; rather is the direct fruit of his experience of the world. The paper concludes that poems beginning with something ephemeral conclude with something lasting or definitive. In the little, the big is concealed, in the moment of eternity.


Nowadays, packet error rate in fixed net- works can be considered as a negligible value. However, the increasing requirements for transmission speed of mobile devices, heterogeneous technology, and other high frequency sources cause interference growth within the electromagnetic spectrum. This aects the overall reliability and throughput of the network and may cause undesirable operation malfunction of application-level services. Higher speeds can be achieved by advanced modulation techniques, but at the price of lower re- sistance against the interference. On the other hand, error-correcting codes or higher-level protocols are uti- lized to correct the delivery failures. We introduce a novel method for increasing robustness of communica- tion for multi-homed systems in heterogeneous environ- ment. Furthermore, we propose a security measure to ensure confidentiality, integrity and availability of the transmitted data without influencing the transmission parameters. Finally, we show positive impact of the proposed method on transmission eciency and eec- tive throughput, especially in networks with high prob- ability of error occurrence.


This study aimed to investigate the motivation of whether pursuing postgraduate study or not among Chinese students in Inner Mongolia University and Dalian Nationalities University. All in all fourteen specific questions were designed in the questionnaire. Psychodynamic theory, social cognitive theory and Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory have been employed to analyze the data. The results indicate that students' motivations to pursue postgraduate studies have both internal and external causes. For those who want to pursue postgraduate studies, the internal causes can be listed as following: a higher degree for a decent job and students' thirst for knowledge. The external causes include peer influence and extra expectation to fulfill parents' dreams. Those who do not want to pursue postgraduate studies hold more than a different idea on the relation between a better job and a higher degree. They think they can find a good job without a higher degree, and higher education level will not make any difference.


The aim of this work is to investigate the influence of vibrations on the material of the board. For that purpose a cascade of navigation devices boards was installed on the vibrational stand. Experiments were performed in the 0,5–10 Hz vibrational diapason range; 0–3 V voltage range; 0 – +45 °C allowed temperature range. Amplitude method was applied to determine the coordinates of localized sources of acoustic emission. The results indicate the initial increase in tension and relative deformation and further their decrement. Growth rate reduction of mechanical stress dσ/dε is due to destruction of material structure. The receiving piezo converter based on ЦТС-19 ceramics and a waveguide that was in acoustic contact with the sample were used during experiments. The acquired experimental data on acoustic emission reflect the formation of microdefects and the instability of mechanical tension, its avalanche and explosive tendency in the material when the microvolumes of material are torn. (E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com)


To solve deep metric learning problems and producing feature embeddings, current methodologies will commonly use a triplet model to minimise the relative distance between samples from the same class and maximise the relative distance between samples from different classes. Though successful, the training convergence of this triplet model can be compromised by the fact that the vast majority of the training samples will produce gradients with magnitudes that are close to zero. This issue has motivated the development of methods that explore the global structure of the embedding and other methods that explore hard negative/positive mining. The effectiveness of such mining methods is often associated with intractable computational requirements. In this paper, we propose a novel deep metric learning method that combines the triplet model and the global structure of the embedding space. We rely on a smart mining procedure that produces effective training samples for a low computational cost. In addition, we propose an adaptive controller that automatically adjusts the smart mining hyper-parameters and speeds up the convergence of the training process. We show empirically that our proposed method allows for fast and more accurate training of triplet ConvNets than other competing mining methods. Additionally, we show that our method achieves new state-of-the-art embedding results for CUB-200-2011 and Cars196 datasets.


As part of its overall function as a major regulator of calcium homeostasis, PTH stimulates bone resorption and inhibits osteoblast-mediated biomineralization. To determine the basis for the inhibitory actions of this hormone, we compared the time course of PTH-dependent inhibition of mineralization in MC3T3-E1 osteoblast-like cells with changes in mRNA levels for several extracellular matrix proteins previously associated either with induction or inhibition of mineralization. Mineralizing activity was rapidly lost in PTH-treated cells ( approximately 30% inhibition after 3 h, 50% inhibition at 6 h). Of the proteins examined, changes in matrix gamma-carboxyglutamic acid protein were best correlated with PTH-dependent inhibition of mineralization. Matrix gamma-carboxyglutamic acid protein mRNA was rapidly induced 3 h after PTH treatment, with a 6- to 8-fold induction seen after 6 h. Local in vivo injection of PTH over the calvaria of mice also induced a 2-fold increase in matrix gamma-carboxyglutamic acid protein mRNA. Warfarin, an inhibitor of matrix gamma-carboxyglutamic acid protein gamma-carboxylation, reversed the effects of PTH on mineralization in MC3T3-E1 cells, whereas vitamin K enhanced PTH activity, as would be expected if a gamma-carboxyglutamic acid-containing protein were required for PTH activity. Levels of the other mRNAs examined were not well correlated with the observed changes in mineralization. Osteopontin, an in vitro inhibitor of mineralization, was induced approximately 4-fold 12 h after PTH addition. Bone sialoprotein mRNA, which encodes an extracellular matrix component most frequently associated with mineral induction, was inhibited by 50% after 12 h of PTH treatment. Osteocalcin mRNA, encoding the other known gamma-carboxyglutamic acid protein in bone, was also inhibited by PTH, but, again, with a significantly slower time course than was seen for mineral inhibition. Taken together, these results show that the rapid inhibition of osteoblast mineralization induced by in vitro PTH treatment is at least in part explained by induction of matrix gamma-carboxyglutamic acid protein.


Conversion of fuel-N into HCN and NH3 during the pyrolysis and gasification of coal and biomass in steam were compared using fluidized-bed/fixed-bed and two-stage fluidized-bed/tubular reactors. During the pyrolysis and gasification of coal and biomass in steam, the thermal cracking of volatile-N was the main route for the formation of HCN while a small amount of HCN was formed from the breakdown of relatively unstable N-containing structures in char. Our results indicate that once the fuel-N in both biomass and coal is condensed/polymerized into the solid-phase char-N during the gasification in steam, the main nitrogen-containing gaseous product from char-N would be NH3. However, the thermal-cracking/reforming of volatile-N constitutes an additional important route of NH3 formation during the gasification of biomass (e.g., cane trash) in steam while this route is negligible for the gasification of coal. The selectivity of char-N toward HCN and NH3 is largely controlled by char-N stability and/or the avai...


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Hereditary systemic amyloidoses are autosomal dominant, late-onset disorders caused by mutations in the genes for a group of plasma proteins including transthyretin, lysozyme, fibrinogen Aalpha chain, gelsolin, apolipoprotein A-I, and apolipoprotein A-II. We investigated both phenotypic and genotypic aspects of apolipoprotein A-I amyloidosis unexpectedly disclosed by liver biopsy in 13 unrelated individuals with asymptomatic, persistent elevation of alkaline phosphatase and gamma-glutamyltransferase levels.

METHODS
Immunoelectron microscopy was used for in situ characterization of amyloid deposits on liver biopsy specimens. Mutation analysis was performed by sequencing of the apolipoprotein A-I gene in all patients. Wild-type/variant apolipoprotein A-I ratio in plasma high-density lipoproteins was assessed by a peptide mass fingerprinting approach after purification of total apolipoprotein A-I of 2 patients.

RESULTS
Family history was informative in 5 cases. Renal failure developed in 9 cases. Hypogonadism due to testicular involvement was observed. Amyloid fibrils specifically stained with anti-apolipoprotein A-I antibody. A novel (Leu75Pro) heterozygous mutation in the apolipoprotein A-I gene was present in affected individuals but not in controls. Variant apolipoprotein A-I was about 10% of the total protein in high-density lipoproteins.

CONCLUSIONS
The high number of individuals with apparently sporadic disease might reflect widespread occurrence of this mutation in the population and a milder phenotype of this variant compared with other apolipoprotein A-I amyloidogenic mutants. These findings suggest that specific staining for amyloid should be performed on liver biopsy of individuals with asymptomatic chronic elevation of alkaline phosphatase and gamma-glutamyltransferase levels.


During the last decade, water scarcity in terms of quantity and quality degradation has become a major issue in Indonesia. In 2006, Universitas Indonesia (UI) supported by the Ministry of Public Works built a recharge pond as a field model to overcome flood and drought in Jakarta and its surroundings. However, since then, a lack of research has been conducted to monitor and analyze the rate of change in water quality in the UI recharge pond. The purposes of this study are to identify the characteristics of UI recharge pond and evaluate the surface water quality changes. Water samples were taken from the pond and analyzed in the laboratory for water quality tests. The evaluation method used for simulation of water quality was a numerical model using Runge-Katta Order 4. Laboratory analysis results show concentrations of Mn, Fe, BOD and COD are exceeding the water quality standards (GR No.82/2001). The water purification process in the pond was found to be faster in response to BOD (= 0.5 d -1 ) and for Mn, Fe, and COD are found to have similar results at = 0.4 d -1 . The 95% response time of the pond was found to be longer for Mn, Fe, and COD (t95 = 7.5 d) and the faster rate is BOD (t95 = 6.0 d). The result of numerical modeling demonstrates Mn concentration in the pond will be doubled (0.45 mg/L) on the day-15 th and asymptotically converges on a steady state. The Fe, BOD, and COD reaches the steady state concentration around on the day-11 th (0.95 mg/L), on the day-13 th (56.6 mg/L), and on the day-17 th (224 mg/L), respectively.


Groh To investigate cultural lifestyle preferences in different cultural contexts, a forced-choice questionnaire was constructed, based on Thurstone's Law of Comparative Judgement, an almost forgotten statistical method of 1927, which is a useful tool for assessing groups. This study's questionnaire items targeted job and living conditions in the spectrum from traditional to globalised lifestyles. Subjects were indigenous representatives at the UNO in Geneva, and students in Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa and Germany. The preferences ascertained reflect attitudes on a scale ranging from very traditional to very globalised lifestyles. Although being an uncommon assessment tool, Thurstone's Comparative Judgement indicates to yield highly valid outcomes, as the results of the African university students, though from three different countries, resembled each other, but were complementary to the results of the indigenous representatives, which, in turn, mirrored the Berlin controls' profiles, according to expectations. Findings are discussed in light of the Symbolic Self-Completion


The purpose of this study was to evaluate the in vitro responses to preload and afterload of our total artificial heart (TAH), the MagScrew TAH. The TAH consists of two blood pumps and a control logic, developed at the Cleveland Clinic, OH, and the MagScrew actuator and its electronic control system, developed by Foster-Miller Technologies, Inc., Albany, NY. Tests were performed on a mock circulatory loop, using water as a test fluid. Preload sensitivity of the MagScrew TAH demonstrated a Frank-Starling response to preload in automatic mode. A peak flow of 10 L/min was obtained, with a left atrial pressure of 13 mm Hg. The relationship between right atrial pressure and left atrial pressure was well balanced when tested with a left bronchial shunt flow of 5% and a range of pulmonary artery and aortic pressures. With respect to afterload response, the left pump showed a relatively low sensitivity, which allowed the pump to maintain perfusion over a wide range of aortic pressures. The right pump, on the other hand, was much more sensitive to pulmonary artery pressure, which provided a measure of protection against pulmonary congestion. The very effective physiologic response of the MagScrew TAH is believed to result from employment of a left master, alternating ejection control logic, high inherent sensitivity of the blood pumps to atrial pressure, a lower effective stroke volume for the right pump, and a scaling of right side motor ejection voltage to 80% of that used for the left side ejection.


The purpose of this paper is to develop a water allocation and technology adoption model under the prior appropriation doctrine that recognizes informational asymmetry among water users and between water users and water authorities. We consider informational asymmetry about the agent's type, defined by a mix of land quality and knowledge. Adverse selection is found to significantly reduce the adoption of modern irrigation technology and to lead to less retirement of poor quality lands than under full information. Further investigation shows that even with asymmetric information, incentives for water trades can exist and lead to additional technology adoption with gains to all parties. Our results suggest that under asymmetric information, even a thin secondary market can improve the allocation of water resources.


The European Union is moving towards a sustainable, decarbonized, and circular economy. It has identified seven key value chains in which to intervene, with the battery and vehicle value chain being one of them. Thus, actions and strategies for the sustainability of batteries need to be developed. Since Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a strategic tool for evaluating environmental sustainability, this paper investigates its application to two configurations of a sodium–nickel chloride cell (planar and tubular), focusing on the active material and the anode, with the purpose of identifying the configuration characterized by the lowest environmental impacts. The results, based on a "from cradle to gate" approach, showed that the tubular cell performs better for all environmental impact categories measured except for particulate matter, acidification, and resource depletion. With nickel being the main contributor to these impact categories, future sustainable strategies need to be oriented towards the reduction/recovery of this material or the use of nickel coming from a more sustainable supply chain. The original contribution of the paper is twofold: (1) It enriches the number of case studies of LCAs applied to sodium/nickel chloride cells, adding to the few studies on these types of cells that can be found in the existing scientific literature. (2) The results identify the environmental hot spots (cell configuration and materials used) for improving the environmental footprint of batteries made from sodium/nickel chloride cells.


Several estimators in the nonparametric regression approach that are often used are the Spline estimator and the Fourier series. Both estimators have high flexibility and can adapt to the local nature of the data effectively. This study applies these two methods to compare the best performance of the formed model. The data used in this study are multi-response data in the form of types of government assistance and multi-predictor data in the form of factors that are thought to affect the distribution of aid receipts in the community. This research is important to optimize the distribution of welfare assistance in Indonesia, especially during the Coronavirus Disease-19 (Covid-19) pandemic. By using the Generalized Cross-Validation (GCV) criteria for the parsimony model, the estimator chosen to predict the distribution of welfare assistance in Indonesia is the Fourier series estimator with cosine and sine bases. The goodness of the nonparametric regression model with the Fourier series estimator can be seen from the minimum GCV value generated with one oscillation parameter, which is 1.483961, with a Mean Square Error (MSE) of 2.1257374, and R2 of 0.923143. The prediction results are expected to be the government's recommendation for the restoration of community welfare through equitable distribution of aid to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). © 2022 the author(s).


Abstract. The Pearl River Delta (PRD) region in South China is faced with severe ambient O3 pollution in autumn and summer, which mostly coincides with the occurrence of typhoons above the Northwest Pacific. With increasingly severe O3 pollution in the PRD under the influence of typhoons, it is necessary to gain a comprehensive understanding of the impact of typhoons on O3 transport, production and accumulation for efficient O3 reduction. In this study, we analysed the general influence of typhoons on O3 pollution in the PRD via systematic comparisons of meteorological conditions, O3 processes and sources on O3 pollution days with and without typhoon occurrence (denoted as the typhoon-induced and no-typhoon scenarios, respectively), and also examined the differences in these influences in autumn and summer. The results show that the approach of typhoons was accompanied by higher wind speeds and strengthened downdrafts in autumn as well as the inflows of more polluted air masses in summer, suggesting favourable O3 transport conditions in the typhoon-induced scenario in both seasons. However, the effect of typhoons on the production and accumulation of O3 were distinct. Typhoons led to reduced cloud cover, and thus stronger solar radiation in autumn, which accelerated O3 production, but the shorter residence time of local air masses was unfavourable for the accumulation of O3 within the PRD. In contrast, in summer, typhoons increased cloud cover, and weakened solar radiation, thus restraining O3 formation, but the growing residence time of local air masses favoured O3 accumulation. The modelling results using the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model for the typical O3 pollution days suggest increasing contributions from the transport processes as well as sources outside the PRD for O3 pollution, confirming enhanced O3 transport under typhoon influence in both seasons. The results of the process analysis in CMAQ suggest that the chemical process contributed more in autumn but less in summer in the PRD. Since O3 production and accumulation cannot be enhanced at the same time, the proportion of O3 contributed by emissions within the PRD was likely to decrease in both seasons. The difference in the typhoon influence on O3 processes in autumn and summer can be attributed to the seasonal variation of the East Asian monsoon. From the meteorology-process-source perspective, this study revealed the complex influence of typhoons on O3 pollution in the PRD and their seasonal differences. To alleviate O3 pollution under typhoon influence, emission control is needed on a larger scale, rather than only within the PRD.


Annual National Assessment (ANA) performance in Mathematics across the primary grades in South Africa indicates a decrease in mean performance across Grades 1-6. In this paper, we explore the apparently high performance in Grade 1 through a comparative investigation of learner responses on two assessments: the Grade 1 ANA taken in February 2011 by Grade 2 learners and a diagnostic oral interview test drawn from the work of Wright et al. (2006), administered at the same time. Our findings point to a predominant pattern of high performance on the ANA and low performance on Wright et al.'s tests. In-depth analysis of the responses of two learners in this group indicates that this discrepancy is due to acceptance in the ANA of correct answers produced through highly rudimentary counting strategies. The diagnostic test, in contrast, awards lower marks when correct answers are produced in inefficient ways. We conclude with concerns that acceptance of low-level counting strategies in the ANA may well work against persuading Grade 1 and 2 teachers to work towards more sophisticated strategies.


A detrimental consequence of industrial growth has been the steady increase in heavy metal pollution which has major, negative impacts on living organisms. Heavy metals still pose a significant health threat, despite the implementation of many strategies to reduce pollution. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible effects of zinc on the accumulation of some heavy metals in honeybees. Groups totalling 15 hives of Apis mellifera were included in this study. Group A was fed sugar syrup, Group B was fed sugar syrup with Cu, Cd and Pb, and Group C was fed sugar syrup with Cu, Cd, Pb and Zn. Food stocks, number of mature worker bees, environment and colony management were standardised across the 15 hives. The data demonstrated that the co-administation of zinc to honeybees, exposed to heavy metals reduced Cu and Cd concentration in tissue samples, but had no effect on Pb concentration. Furthermore, Zn dietary supplementation was effective in reducing both the suppression of dopamine production and the negative effects of heavy metals on dopamine. The results of our study suggest that zinc supplementation in the diet of A. mellifera has a beneficial effect by reducing the cellular accumulation of some heavy metals.

 Key word: Environment, honeybee, heavy metal, toxicity, zinc.


Abstract Conclusion: Three-dimensional multi-detector computed tomography (3D MDCT) analysis of the upper airway suggested that the lengthening of the upper airway in the absence of volumetric change may independently contribute to the severity of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) in adults. Objectives: We sought to investigate the relationships among the length and volume of the upper airway to the severity of OSAS. Methods: A total of 73 subjects underwent 3D MDCT scanning and standard polysomnography. We measured the upper airway length (UAL), which was defined as the vertical distance from the hard palate to the hyoid in the mid-sagittal plane. We also used the height-adjusted UAL for analyses. Upper airway volume was measured using a 3D reconstruction of the cross-sectional area from the hard palate to the hyoid. Results: The adjusted UAL showed a significant positive correlation with the apnea hypopnea index (AHI, r = 0.523, p < 0.000) and was a significant variable for predicting the AHI of OSAS patients in multiple stepwise regression analysis. Although the severe OSAS group had a greater adjusted UAL compared with that of other groups (p = 0.001), the volume of the upper airway did not show differences among groups.


This paper presents a numerical CFD study of the turbulent flow at up to 4 m/s of water around an underwater hydrophone from the company Ocean Sonics. At such high flow rates in tidal environments, pseudo-noise, coming from turbulence induced pressure fluctuations around the hydrophone, contaminate the acoustic noise reading obtained with the device. Through the use of fine scale large eddy simulations (LES) in ANSYS Fluent, this study shows the impact of increasing flow velocities on the generated turbulence and vorticity, as well as identifying regions in the flow, and geometric aspects of the device, that are playing the larger role in pseudo-noise generation.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


This collection of papers comprises five contributions with a social science or social historical perspective that present the current state of the art in the field of re-using and publishing digital qualitative data. The articles address the use of digital sources in qualitative research in both research and teaching, charting types of use over the past 10 years, and looking forward to emerging practices and methods, such as the promise and potential that technological innovations can bring to enable new ways of presenting and publishing qualitative research. Some of the papers make use of direct linking allowing the reader to explore "live" data sources, offering an opportunity to see how research transparency might be operationalized in the presentation of qualitative findings and reporting. The papers reference major contributions to the literature and present stimulating debates on the topic and build on previously well-cited publications in which the editors have presented state-of-the-art articles on secondary analysis of qualitative data.


Time affects all elements of the intellectual scene or the theatrical scene. It came along with the theatrical doctrines according to the conditions of those doctrines and their conceptual ideas or the method of their mechanisms in the application. While it is classically or realistically integrated, we see it in the expressionist doctrine inconsistent and its inconsistency makes it responsive for the deconstruction strategy. Hence the researcher entitled his study (deconstruction the theatrical time in the expressionist doctrine) so that deconstruction would be a field for his study.   The study starts with an introduction presenting the research problem, importance and objective. The theoretical framework consisted of three sections. The first section (time deconstruction strategy), the second section (time in the expressionist doctrine) and the third section (time deconstruction in the expressionist doctrine). The research procedures include an intentional sample represented by the play show (playing and worry). A number of results reached at are as follows: the insufficiency of any time significance will give the audience constant presence and will give the readers diversity and spread. The most important conclusion was that recalling the time of the multiple reading results in recalling of the subconscious time


The LPI (NSW) is implementing a new system of lodgement of digital land title plans in NSW known as E-Plan. The E-Plan program will utilise LandXML files for the electronic submission, processing and registration of land title or survey plans. This will be the first system of plan lodgement Australia wide to use electronic examination from submission through to registration. LandXML was created in 2000 by surveyors and engineers for surveyors and engineers and has been tailored to suit the E-Plan process. LandXML is seen as the new emerging format for the transfer of digital data files between different software environments.
The objectives of this dissertation are to identify LandXML files and their origin, to investigate the E-Plan process and to identify the main stakeholders involved in E-Plan. A SWOT analysis will be used to compare the current systems of survey plan lodgement against the new E-Plan process. By doing a pre and post E-Plan analysis it can be shown how the current weaknesses may become strengths and how the current threats to the LPI may be turned into opportunities. The comparison of the two SWOT analyses will also highlight future weaknesses and threats to the LPI upon implementing E-Plan.
The main problem with the current systems of land title plan lodgement from submission through to registration is the manual and multiple handling of the survey plans. Currently plans are submitted in hard or paper copy and are a non-intelligent format so that the survey plan examiners cannot easily enquire information on the plan without having to recreate the plan in the digital environment. E-Plan uses LandXML digital data file format that allows the electronic examination through the use of automated rules engines possible thus reducing the need for multiple and manual handling of plans and reducing the cost and timeframe for the registration of survey plans.
E-Plan will provide a faster and less costly registration process for surveyors through the use of LandXML files. Through using the pre-validation tool available online surveyors can validate their LandXML prior to submission of the land title plan which will reduce requisition rates thus utilising the resources of the LPI more efficiently


Recently discovered Au in boulder conglomerate between the Mesoarchean West Pilbara superterrane basement and the overlying volcano-sedimentary stratigraphy of the Neoarchean Fortescue Group in Western Australia has renewed comparisons with the Witwatersrand conglomerate Au deposits in South Africa. As such, this has reignited the question of the Pilbara and Kaapvaal cratons being linked as part of the postulated Vaalbara continent during the Archean. However, little is known about the origin of the Pilbara conglomerate Au and its host conglomerates, as they are hitherto unstudied, and their formation and/or source is uncertain.
 Here we present a detailed study on the textures, composition, and sedimentology of one newly discovered Pilbara conglomerate Au deposit at the base of the Neoarchean Fortescue Group in the northwestern Pilbara craton. The Pilbara conglomerate Au occurrences are characteristically Ag-bearing but Hg-poor polycrystalline discoid masses that are overgrown by Au-poor chloritic halos, which are further enveloped by a hydrothermal alteration halo of disseminated Au within chlorite. Both the discoids and the auriferous chlorite halo are Ag bearing, with up to ~9 wt % Ag, consistent with a hydrothermal (orogenic) origin. The discoids do not display any physical or chemical evidence for sedimentary transport; thus, their formation (placer versus hydrothermal) remains unclear. However, the position of the Au in the conglomerate, limited to the basal section of the conglomerate, is difficult to account for in a purely hydrothermal deposit model.
 We argue the Pilbara conglomerate Au represents a modified placer deposit from a primary orogenic Au source, with surface evidence for sedimentation removed by partial dissolution during later hydrothermal alteration in the host conglomerate and the crystalline basement. While the basal Fortescue Group conglomerate Au shares commonalities with the time equivalent (>~2.7 Ga) Venterspost Conglomerate Formation, which overlies the Witwatersrand Supergroup, inconsistencies remain, with different Au chemistries and tectonic, magmatic, sedimentary, and metamorphic-metallogenic histories of the Pilbara and Kaapvaal cratons prior to deposition of the >2.7 Ga conglomerate sequences. This collectively indicates the drivers of Au metallogenesis and ultimate Au deposition in conglomerate facies were fundamentally different in the Pilbara and Kaapvaal cratons.


In this paper we propose a new approach to handle the problem of restoration of grayscale textured images. The purpose is to recovery missing data of a damaged area. The key point is to decompose an image in its bit-planes, and to process bits rather than pixels. We propose two texture synthesis methods for restoration. The first one is a random generation process, based on the conditional probability of bits in the bit-planes. It is designed for images with stochastic textures. The second one is a best-matching method, running on each bit-plane, that is well suited to synthesize periodic patterns. Results are compared with a state-of-the-art restoration algorithm.


As a major place of employment for occupational therapists within a rural community, school systems present the therapist with a foreign and oftentimes bureaucratic organizational form. The therapist is trained in the medical model of occupational therapy, and the transition to an educationally based care model is difficult and fraught with professional hazards. A survey assessing therapists' adjustment to the school environment and perceptions of the adequacy of their training was mailed to all 2,000 occupational therapists in Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana; 236 responded. The average respondent was 34 years old, female, and married; had a bachelor's degree; and had been a therapist for 10 years. About 79 percent were currently employed in a school system, and 31 percent lived in a rural area. Initial findings suggest that therapists felt a lack of ability to work autonomously with special needs children in the school system. Further, they felt they had limited or no exposure to the school environment during their on-campus education and were unprepared for the lack of professionalism there. About 53 percent of respondents intended to leave their current employment, and this intention was related to lower levels of job satisfaction, higher levels of education, absence of peers on-site, and fewer years as a practicing therapist. Feelings of preparedness to work in a school system and absence of peers on-site were related to perceptions of ability to work autonomously with children. (SV) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY


PURPOSE
To analyze the relationship among macular ganglion cell complex (GCC) thickness, peripapillary nerve fiber layer (NFL) thickness, and visual field (VF) defects in patients with glaucoma.

METHODS
A Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) system was used to map the macula and peripapillary regions of the retina in 56 eyes of 38 patients with perimetric glaucoma. The macular GCC and peripapillary NFL thicknesses were mapped and standard automated perimetry (SAP) was performed. Loss of GCC and NFL were correlated with the VF map on both a point-by-point and regional basis.

RESULTS
Correlation between GCC thickness and peripapillary NFL thickness produced a detailed correspondence map that demonstrates the arcuate course of the NFL in the macula. Corresponding regions within the GCC, NFL, and VF maps demonstrate significant correlation, once parafoveal retinal ganglion cell (RGC) displacement is taken into account.

CONCLUSIONS
There are significant point-specific and regional correlations between GCC loss, NFL loss, and deficits on SAP. Using these different data sources together may improve our understanding of glaucomatous damage and aid in the management of patients with glaucoma.


Zoos are in a unique position to affect the development of youth in ways that are consistent with cultivating pro-environmental behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine three intrinsic traits of youth important to the goals of conservation education: prior knowledge about animals, interest in animals, and value for animals. The framework of this study is the conceptual model of learning that posits that any changes that occur during a single visit to an informal learning institution (such as a zoo) will be affected and informed by the intrinsic traits of the individual and various external factors. This study explored three intrinsic traits predicted to be important for informal learning. The research design followed a constructivist design meant to capture measurements of prior knowledge, interest, and value from the participants' own perspectives. This study describes these three traits in a sample of 37 youth between the ages of 7 and 14, largely zoo members, attending the zoo with their parents. In particular, I describe unique methods of measuring these three traits including a drawing activity meant to assess the children's construction of knowledge about animals, and questionnaires meant to assess the youth's interest and value. The data analysis in this paper provides descriptions of the three traits as they are constructed among the youth participants in order to inform future correlations between intrinsic traits and in-zoo behavior. The results of the study indicated that youth organize their knowledge about animals around ecological and morphological concepts and that this forms the basis for their interest in and value for animals.


Autonomic dysfunction syndrome is a polyetiological syndrome characterized by dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system and functional (inorganic) disorders by all body systems, the prevalence of which ranges from 20 to 56% of all diseases in young people. Most researchers consider heart rate variability as an integral marker that reflects the state of all the body's regulatory systems and is now considered an affordable, non-invasive, reasonably simple and relatively inexpensive method for evaluating the autonomic nervous system. The ability to correct autonomic dysfunction through diaphragmatic breathing in biological feedback using portable computer devices has been demonstrated. However, there is little scientific evidence on the use of breathing exercises in yoga to influence the functional state of the autonomic nervous system. The aim of the study was to investigate the possibility of using "pranayama" breathing exercises to correct autonomic dysfunction in young adults. The study involved 30 healthy young foreigners aged 18 to 24 years. Heart rate variability was recorded using the CardioLab Computer Diagnostic Complex (KhAI-Medica, Ukraine) in the supine position after 10 minutes of adaptation to the registration conditions. The last 5 min utes of registration were used as background metrics. The distribution of the examined into the dependent groups was performed according to the indicators of the output tone of the activity of autonomic system's regulation. Subsequently, for a period of 30 days, a 15-minute session of respiratory gymnastics was conducted daily, which consisted of 3 periods of 5 minutes, during which the subject performed 5-6 breathing cycles per minute. Each period was completed with 3 spontaneous breathing cycles. The obtained numerical data were processed by the methods of variational statistics using Student's test. The dynamics of heart rate variability was assessed by pairwise comparisons, and intergroup differences were determined using one-way ANOVA. Under the influence of a 30-day course of breathing gymnastics "pranayama" indicators of the functional state of the autonomic nervous system have undergone significant changes, in particular in groups of people with initial sympathicotonia. The overall heart rate variability according to TP at the end of the course remained higher than the background values, respec -tively, by 697±101ms2 (p<0.05) in the sympathotonic group and by 398 ± 95ms 2 (p<0,05) in the parasympathicotonic group. Changes in TP in the sympathotonic group occurred mainly due to a decrease in the contribution of the low-frequency (VLF) heart rate regulation (by 98 ± 35ms2 (p <0,05) and a significant increase in the contribution of the high-frequency component of HF (by 682±72 ms2 (p<0,05) There were also significant changes in the structure of the heart rate spectrum according to the percentage contribution of waves of different frequencies at TP. At the end of the course in the sympathotonic group, HF% increased by 31 ± 2,4% (p < 0,01) and VLF% - decreased by 19,3 ± 3,6% (p <0,05), in the parasympathicotonic group of the significant change in the percentage contribution of different parts of the autonomic nerve this system was not detected in the TP. Under the influence of the 30-day course of respiratory gymnastics, there is an increase in overall variability due to the suppression of central link (VLF) regulation of cardiac rhythm and increased activity of parasympathetic influences of HF in the group of sympathotonics in the redistribution of regulatory activity of the ANS between the central and peripheral chains.


This paper describes the application of remotely sensed precipitation to the monitoring of floods in a region that regularly experiences extreme precipitation and flood events, often associated with cyclonic systems. Precipitation data, which are derived from spaceborne radar aboard the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission and from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's infrared-based products, are used to monitor areas experiencing extreme precipitation events that are defined as exceedance of a daily mean areal average value of 50 mm over a catchment. The remotely sensed precipitation data are also ingested into a hydrologic model that is parameterized using spatially distributed elevation, soil, and land cover data sets that are available globally from remote sensing and in situ sources. The resulting streamflow is classified as an extreme flood event when flow anomalies exceed 1.5 standard deviations above the short-term mean. In an application in the Limpopo basin, it is demonstrated that the use of satellite-derived precipitation allows for the identification of extreme precipitation and flood events, both in terms of relative intensity and spatial extent. The system is used by water authorities in Mozambique to proactively initiate independent flood hazard verification before generating flood warnings. The system also serves as a supplementary information source when in situ gauging systems are disrupted. This paper concludes that remotely sensed precipitation and derived products greatly enhance the ability of water managers in the Limpopo basin to monitor extreme flood events and provide at-risk communities with early warning information


The use of electromagnetic (EM) power for therapeutic applications has existed since EM sources have been available to man. Physical medicine has been a major user of both shortwave (27.33 MHz) and microwave (2450 MHz) diathermy over the decades in which the EM power has been used to heat deep tissues for stimulating various medically beneficial physiologic responses in the relief of certain pathological conditions. Experimental and clinical research indicates that these responses will occur as a result of elevating the tissue temperatures in the range 41° to 45°C requiring absorbed power densities from 50 to 170 W/kg in the deep tissues where treatment is desired. The combination of pain responses and a large reserve of blood cooling capacity seems to be sufficient for limiting the heating to safe, but therapeutic levels in vasculated and innervated tissue. Recent research has shown that the use of the industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) frequency of 915 MHz is more efficient than the currently used 2450-MHz microwave frequency in terms of maximum power transfer to deep tissues. The results also show that in addition to thermal applications, microwave energy can be used for the controlled transcutaneous stimulation of nerve action potentials via implanted miniature microwave diodes.


57 Intransitive competition networks, those in which there is no single best competitor, 58 may ensure species coexistence. However, their frequency and importance in 59 maintaining diversity in real-world ecosystems remains unclear. We used two large 60 datasets from drylands and agricultural grasslands to assess: 1) the generality of 61 intransitive competition, 2) intransitivity-richness relationships, and 3) effects of two 62 major drivers of biodiversity loss (aridity and land-use intensification) on intransitivity 63 and species richness. Intransitive competition occurred in >65% of sites and was 64 associated with higher species richness. Intransitivity increased with aridity, partly 65 buffering its negative effects on diversity, but was decreased by intensive land use, 66 enhancing its negative effects on diversity. These contrasting responses likely arise 67 because intransitivity is promoted by temporal heterogeneity, which is enhanced by 68 aridity but may decline with land-use intensity. We show that intransitivity is 69 widespread in nature and increases diversity, but it can be lost with environmental 70 homogenization.


The poultry industry is one of the largest and fastest growing sectors of livestock production in the world. The estimated 2010 world flock was over 18 billion birds with a yearly manure output of 22 million tonnes. Storage and disposal of raw poultry manure has become an environmental problem because of the associated air, water and soil pollution. Environmental and health problems such as odor and pathogens that may arise during and after land application of raw manure can be eliminated by drying. Dried manure can be utilized as a soil conditioner to improve soil tilth and reduce the problems associated with soil compaction and as a feed for ruminants because of its high nitrogen content. The aim of this study was to investigate the kinetics of thin layer drying of poultry manure and evaluate the effects of drying with heated air on the chemical and biological properties of manure. The effects of temperature and depth of manure layer were evaluated. The profile of the moisture content of poultry manure followed an exponential decay curve. The moisture decay constant was affected by the drying temperature and the depth of the manure layer. At the three temperature levels studied, the time required to dry poultry manure in 1 cm-deep layer was the least, followed by 2 and 3 cm-deep layers, respectively. The diffusion coefficient increased with both temperature and depth of drying layer, but did not show a linear increase with either variable. The optimum depth for drying manure (at which the highest drying effectiveness occurred) was 3 cm. Drying manure at 40-60°C resulted in the loss of 44-55% of the total Kjeldahl nitrogen, with losses increasing with both the temperature and depth of manure. The pH of the manure decreased from the initial value of 8.4 before drying to about 6.6 after drying. The odor analysis indicated that dried poultry manure did not have an offensive odor. Drying achieved 65.3 and 69.3% reductions in odor intensity and offensiveness, respectively. Reductions in the number of bacteria, mold/yeast and E.coli were 65-99, 74-99 and 99.97% respectively. The greatest reductions in microbial population occurred at the highest temperatures (60°C) and the thinest manure depths (1 cm). Heated air drying of poultry manure at temperatures between 40 and 60°C was effective in killing pathogens and removing odor.


Advanced age is an adverse prognostic factor in patients with DLCL. CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) has frequent dose-limiting toxicities, including myelosuppression. We retrospectively reviewed 50 consecutive patients >60 years of age (median age 72) with B-cell DLCL who received CHOP with G-CSF. Patients received CHOP (median 6 cycles) at three-week intervals. G-CSF was given following all cycles of chemotherapy ("prophylactic G-CSF") in 28 of 50 patients, and following an episode of febrile neutropenia and thereafter in 19 patients, according to ASCO guidelines. Dose intensity, treatment delays, episodes of febrile neutropenia, complete response (CR) rate, disease-free survival, time-to-treatment failure, and overall survival were all analyzed according to the age-adjusted International Prognostic Index (aaIPI). The actual dose intensity for cyclophosphamide was 225.9 mg/m2/week and 0.90, respectively and for doxorubicin was 14.9 mg/m2/week (90% of ideal CHOP dosing for both drugs)., Median followup was 4 years for the patients still living. Treatment delays and episodes of febrile neutropenia were less frequent among patients receiving G-CSF with all cycles of CHOP. The CR rates were 100%, 81%, 85%, and 36% for the low, low-intermediate, high-intermediate, and high aaIPI risk groups, respectively. The 5-year actuarial relapse-free and overall survival for our patients were comparable to that of the cohort ≤60 years of age and superior to the >60 years of age cohort used to establish the aaIPI. With optimization of CHOP dosing, advanced age may not be an adverse prognostic factor for patients with DLCL. The routine use of G-CSF in elderly patients with DLCL should be further investigated.


The article presents results of energy inspection of educational building "Gidrocorpus-2" of SaintPetersburg State Polytechnical University. The energy audit was realized for estimation of use efficiency of energy resources and determination of opportunities for its increase. According to the results of energy audit the analyses of state of energy consumption are provided. The class of energy efficiency is defined. The recommendations and possible opportunities of energy saving and increase of power efficiency of "Gidrokorpus2" is presented in conclusion of article.


In the article, we show that a daily dietary intake of 16 g of salmon protein hydrolysate powder for 42 days statistically significantly reduced Body Mass Index by 5.6% in overweight subjects, in comparison with a placebo-control of whey protein isolate. Four metabolism-relevant serum biomarkers - bile acid, interleukin-6, Preheparin lipoprotein lipase mass and adiponectin - were also positively impacted using one-tailed, paired student t-test analysis, leading to the proposed metabolism-elevating mode-of-action. Exercise levels were maintained for each subject as per their normal levels. Further research will seek to identify the active individual peptide components from the salmon protein hydrolysate with specific biological activity for obesity control. Salmon protein hydrolysate powder in supplemental doses may be a useful tool in the long-term management of obesity.


ATP diphosphohydrolase from tegumental membranes of Schistosoma mansoni was solubilized with Triton X-100 plus deoxycholate and separated by preparative nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Two isoforms with ATP-hydrolytic activity were identified and excised from nondenaturing gels. For each of the active bands, two protein bands (63 and 55 kDa) were detected with Coomassie Blue staining, following sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Western blots developed with polyclonal anti-potato apyrase antibody revealed a single protein of 63 kDa, either with samples excised from active bands or with total S. mansoni tegument. Anti-potato apyrase antibody immobilized on Sepharose-Protein A depleted over 95% of ATPase and ADPase activities from detergent-solubilized tegument. Confocal laser scanning microscopy showed anti-potato apyrase antibody on the outer surface of S. mansoni tegument. A different antibody against a fusion protein derived from recently cloned Toxoplasma gondii nucleoside triphosphate hydrolase (Bermudes, D., Peck, K. R., Afifi, M. A., Beckers, C. J. M., and Joiner, K. A. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 29252-29260) revealed the same 63-kDa band in Western blots of S. mansoni tegument. Since anti-potato apyrase antibodies exhibited cross-reactivity with S. mansoni ATP diphosphohydrolase, we decided to gain further information on the primary structure of potato apyrase by sequencing the protein. Three novel peptides were obtained: amino-terminal sequence and two internal sequences from tryptic fragments. Eight sequences recently deposited in the data bank, including that of T. gondii nucleoside triphosphate hydrolase, have considerable homologies to potato apyrase suggesting a new family of nucleoside triphosphatases which contains a conserved motif (I/V)(V/M/I)(I/L/F/C)DAGS(S/T) near the amino-terminal. Antibody cross-reactivities in the present work suggest that conserved epitopes from S. mansoni ATP diphosphohydrolase are present in this family of nucleotide-splitting enzymes.


In the cooling Earth the fluid outer core consists of a molten alloy over the solidifying inner core. Here, compositional convection due to the preferential solidification of the heavy phase releases a low density residual liquid. The buoyancy flux generated by this process is thought to be the main driving force sustaining the geodynamo.The effect of rotation on compositional convection and channel formation during unidirectional solidification of a binary eutectic system is investigated experimentally. A vertically oriented cylindrical annulus filled with an aqueous ammonium chloride solution is cooled from the bottom and can be rotated about its axis at rates of up to 10.5 rad/s, corresponding to Ekman numbers down to 7.5E-6. The solidifying layer forms a crystal mush consisting of a network of solid dendrites with fluid in the interstices. Compositional stratification in the mushy layer causes the interstitial fluid to be buoyantly unstable. In non-rotating cases the upwelling in the mushy layer takes the form of narrow, crystal free cylindrical channels or of chimneys resulting in plumes that rise into the fluid above the mush-liquid interface. Return flow into the mush is diffuse.The main features of convection described above are retained if the experiment is rotated. The experiments show that, for the rotation rates presented, chimney formation and convection in the mushy layer are unaltered. Accordingly, the pattern of channels is found to be a result of the initial solidification conditions and not primaryly caused by the convection in the porous layer. However, rotation has a strong effect on the form of convection in the fluid above the mush-liquid interface.In the fluid over the mushy layer rotational shear due to the Coriolis force causes an instability characterized by secondary plume formation from sub-horizontal primary plume conduits. This new instability has the form of small fluid parcels or blobs. The height at which this instability sets in is proportional to the Ekman number. Thus, the flow pattern becomes increasingly complex on smaller length scales for growing rotation rates. At Ekman numbers less than 9.5E-6 the plume conduits are completely unstable when leaving the porous layer.


Abstract Geologists and engineers have frequently made the premise that the amount of gas in place per unit volume increases as greater depths are penetrated, because of the attendant higher reservoir pressures. In order to test the validity of this premise, a study was made of the effect of depth of burial upon the other variables in the standard formula used to calculate the amount of oil and gas in place. Sandstone porosity data were obtained for more than 17,000 samples of conventional cores, including samples from 101 fields of South Louisiana. A curve constructed from these data demonstrates that the amount of void space per unit volume available for the accumulation of oil and gas decreases with increasing depth. This decrease in porosity, 1.285 per cent of total volume per 1,000 feet of burial, is the most important single factor controlling the amount of oil or gas in place per unit volume of sandstone reservoir rock. Exploration and development management should be conscious of the diminishing returns to be anticipated as greater depths are explored. Porosities associated with abnormally pressured reservoirs were studied, as was the incidence of abnormally pressured reservoirs in South Louisiana as a function of depth burial. The porosities of the abnormally pressured reservoirs, averaged by 1,000 foot depth increments, fit a straight line plot of porosities from all reservoirs. It appears to be a reasonable hypothesis that the observed decrease in sandstone porosities with depth provides the mechanism creating the abnormal pressures so frequently encountered in oil and gas reservoirs of South Louisiana.


The neuropeptide bombesin has a powerful but transient stimulatory effect on insulin secretion in the pancreatic islet cell line HIT-T15. We have previously shown that pretreatment of HIT-T15 cells with a saturating concentration of bombesin (100 nM) for 1.5-2 hr abolishes their secretory response to a second challenge with peptide and decreases [125I-Tyr4]bombesin binding by over 90%. In this study we examined the mechanisms involved in desensitization to bombesin. To determine whether receptor modulation was responsible, we compared the effect of bombesin pretreatment on [125I-Tyr4]bombesin binding and on the ability of bombesin to stimulate insulin release. Both effects occurred very rapidly and were maximal by 10 min. Although pretreatment of cells for 90 min with a subsaturating concentration of bombesin did not affect either the ED50 for bombesin-stimulated secretion or the apparent Kd for bombesin binding, it decreased both the maximum secretory response to a subsequent challenge with the peptide and bombesin receptor number. However, the extent of desensitization was greater than the extent of receptor down-regulation at all times examined during pretreatment and recovery. Furthermore, bombesin was 3 times more potent at inducing desensitization (ED50 = 0.35 +/- 0.08 nM) than down-regulation (ED50 = 1.1 +/- 0.4 nM). These results suggest that desensitization was not due solely to a reduction in receptor number. Because bombesin stimulates diacylglycerol production in HIT-T15 cells, we used the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) to determine whether protein kinase C also played a role in desensitization to the peptide. Pretreatment of cells with TPA did not affect either [125I-Tyr4]bombesin binding or the dose dependence for bombesin-stimulated hormone release. However, TPA pretreatment did decrease the maximum secretory response to bombesin by 40% and caused a 50% reduction in bombesin-induced accumulation of inositol triphosphates and elevation of intracellular free calcium. Conversely, bombesin pretreatment reduced the secretory response to TPA by 40%. These studies indicate that the mechanism for desensitization to bombesin is a complex process that involves down-regulation of the bombesin receptor, inhibition of intracellular second messenger production, and reduction of protein kinase C-stimulated secretion.


Epilepsy is defined as a disorder of the brain characterized by an enduring predisposition to generate epileptic seizures. Of patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy, 70–80% respond well to medical treatment, while 20–30% develop intractable epilepsy. For intractable epilepsy patients with a clearly localized, or at least lateralized epileptic focus, epilepsy surgery is a valuable treatment option. The aims of epilepsy surgery are to achieve postoperative seizure freedom, stop the developmental regression caused by intractable seizures, and to decrease the adverse effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) on cognition through withdrawal of AEDs. This thesis focusses on functional outcome, seizure outcome and antiepileptic drug policies after childhood epilepsy surgery. We first studied if indications for epilepsy surgery changed over the years and if indications for surgery had broadened. We found that although more complex cases were operated on over time and medication was withdrawn earlier after surgery, success rates at two years remained stable. Secondly, we assessed integrity of the brain by studying underlying etiology, MR imaging and EEG recordings that were part of clinical investigations in children, in relation to their motor, cognitive and seizure outcome. We found etiology to be an important predictor for functional outcome. Children with developmental etiology more often lost hand function postoperatively and showed less improvement in gross motor function compared to others. Loss of hand function could be predicted based on corticospinal tract damage on preoperative MRI. Furthermore, unambiguous contralateral MRI abnormalities were associated with seizure recurrence, severe mental delay, and lack of cognitive improvement after hemispherectomy, while contralateral EEG abnormalities did not negatively influence postsurgical outcome. Nevertheless, contralateral MRI abnormalities should not be a contra-indication for surgery, as even the 'failures' do better than they would have done without surgery.Thirdly, we studied if early discontinuation of AEDs after surgery would be safe, and whether it would improve functional recovery in terms of cognition. In our large European TimeToStop (TTS) cohort of 766 children, we studied AED withdrawal policies and found that, although shorter time intervals to both start and completion of AED withdrawal slightly increased the risk for seizure recurrences, early AED withdrawal did not affect long-term seizure outcome. It might unmask incomplete surgical success sooner, identifying children who need continuous drug treatment and preventing unnecessary continuation of AEDs in others. Furthermore we found that complete AED withdrawal improved psychomotor speed 24 months after surgery in 57 Dutch children, and that start of AED withdrawal, number of AEDs reduced, and complete AED withdrawal were all associated with improved postoperative IQ scores and gain in IQ, independent of other determinants of cognitive outcome in a subgroup of the TTS cohort of 301 patients. To confirm our non-experimental findings prospectively, we are close to starting the randomized TimeToStop trial, in which we will investigate whether early AED withdrawal improves cognitive function in terms of attention and intelligence, quality of life and behaviour, and aim to confirm safety of early reduction, in terms of seizure recurrences, eventual seizure freedom and "seizure and AED freedom".


On a slippery surface the forelegs of a decapitated stick insect walk forwards and the hindlegs, backwards. Animals with only forelegs but that are otherwise intact walk forwards, whereas animals with only hindlegs walk mostly backwards. Usually when intact animals start to walk, their hindlegs exert a rearwards thrust on the substrate, but occasionally the starting forces are directed forwards. A rampwise extension of the femoral chordotonal organ in the fixed foreleg of a walking animal first excites the flexor tibiae muscle (positive feedback). Towards the end of the ramp stimulus the activity of the flexor decreases, and the extensor tibiae motor neurones become strongly active. All experiments indicated that the inherent direction of movement of the metathorax is rearwards. In intact animals there must be a coordinating pathway from the prothorax to the metathorax that, together with the suboesophageal ganglion, induces the hindlegs to walk forwards.


Hydroxyapatite (HA) doped with 3% Yttria-stabilized 20vol%m-ZrO2 composite were synthesized by solid state reaction between tricalcium phosphate (TCP) and Ca(OH)2 at various temperature(1000 to 1200°C) for 3h with adding 5~20wt% calcium fluoride (CaF2), respectively. The effects of various amount of CaF2 on crystallization characteristics of HA-20vol%ZrO2 composite were investigated in details. The results show that when small amount of CaF2 was added, the reactions of HA with CaF2 occurs, which leads to the formation of fluorapatite (FA). With the increasing of the amount of CaF2, the decomposition of HA to β-TCP decreases gradually and the CaZrO3 peaks disappear, while t-ZrO2 increases because of the formation of thermally stable FHA solid solutions. When the sintered temperature is above 1100°C and the addition of CaF2 is about 10wt%, the main phases are FHA and t-ZrO2 with a negligible amount of Ca5P8, which suppress the reaction between HA and ZrO2. From SEM, it can be seen that with 10wt% of CaF2 addition, the morphology of the composite powder is a mixture of spherical ZrO2 particles embedded within agglomerated HA shaped like a small rod.


Political power has been much contested and debated, culminating in the development and measurement of many distinct and narrow facets of power. This thesis makes an original contribution to knowledge by providing a conceptual and operational framework for researching power in a political system in a relevant, observable, comprehensive and meaningful way. Using this framework to consider the power of the Labour Party in local government, as perceived by practitioners, has provided new insights into existing understandings of power in both theory and practice.
Many different facets of power are relevant to researching the power of the Labour Party in local government. These were brought together using an abstract model of a political system to provide a comprehensive and meaningful framework for researching power. The framework makes it possible to operationalise power by identifying three principal dimensions that are observable - capacity, decision making and power – and connect the different facets together. This framework makes clear the distinction between conceptions of power at micro-level, which concern the capacity to influence others, and macro-level, which concern the capacity to influence outcomes; and the significance of applying the appropriate conception to the research context.
The conceptual and operational framework was used to research the power of the Labour Party in local government through a case study of Kirklees Council. The research was conducted between October 2012 and August 2013 and used a mixed methods approach incorporating a survey of Labour Party councillors, interviews with Labour Party members, and observation of various meetings, this research explores each facet of power. This case study shows that central government controls the capacity of Kirklees Council, but the Labour Party has the potential to influence local political outcomes well beyond the sphere of the Council. In terms of decision making, the Leader dominates the Labour Party, but due to the professional expertise of officers and bargaining power of other political parties has less control over Kirklees Council. Regarding outcomes, the activities of the Labour Party in local government makes marginal differences to the electorate and policies of Kirklees Council, but a significant difference to the Labour Party itself. So, even though political parties dominate the governance of local authorities, this case study shows that local party politics in practice makes only marginald differences in the locality.


We investigate how overlapping activities of bank regulators and supervisors and bank auditors influence banks' internal control quality, auditor-client contracting (audit fees and audit effort), and financial statement reliability. Using material weaknesses in internal controls as a proxy for internal control quality, we find that banks exhibit fewer internal control problems than do nonbanks. Using audit fees, earnings announcement lags and audit report lags as alternative proxies for audit effort, we find that auditors expend less effort in audits of banks than in audits of nonbanks. Despite the lower audit effort, we find that banks report fewer and less severe restatements of prior period financial statements than do nonbanks, suggesting that the aggregate efforts of bank regulators/supervisors and bank auditors generate more reliable financial reporting by banks. A notable implication of our study is that bank regulation and supervision alter the auditor-client contracting equilibrium, with a notable benefit being an increase in banks' financial reporting quality.


ABSTRACT Although the benefits of addressing cognitive, social and affective aspects of learning in order to support conceptual change have been discussed in the literature, there are few studies of such interventions in the normal classroom. This study used a multidimensional conceptual change framework in order to teach five biology and physics topics over one year to two classes, one from Grade 9 and one in Grade 10. Pre- and post-tests were administered to determine the degree of conceptual change. Results were compared with those from teaching comparison classes using more traditional methods. Interviews were conducted with students at various points throughout the year to determine their perceptions of the learning framework. Significant positive changes in conceptual test results were observed for all topics. In most cases these changes were significantly greater than those of students in comparison classes. Students also reported increased interest in studying science, adoption of mastery goals for learning and confidence in being able to understand concepts and write scientific explanations. This study has presented research findings within a framework that can be adopted to effectively teach a variety of topics through a multidimensional conceptual change lens.


Background and Objectives Ketamine is currently the only N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor channel blocker in clinical use. This study evaluated the analgesic efficacy of epidurally coadministered ketamine and morphine in postoperative pain control. Methods The patient population consisted of ASA class I and II patients undergoing major joint replacement. Epidural lidocaine was used as the primary anesthesia for the surgery. In phase I of the study, either ketamine (10-30 mg) or morphine (0.5-2 mg) was administered via epidural catheter immediately after surgery. This was done to evaluate the dose-response effect of these drugs when used for postoperative pain relief, and the results were applied to phase II of the study, in which all patients received ketamine pretreatment (total 30 mg) with each dose of lidocaine administered before and during surgery. Forty patients were randomly divided into four groups, each of which received one of three different pain control regimens mixed with 10 mL of saline: group B received 10 mg ketamine, group C 2 mg morphine, and group D 10 mg ketamine plus 0.5 mg morphine while the control group A received 10 mL of saline with no additive. The intensity of pain expressed by patients, as well as the number of intramuscular meperidine (1 mg/kg) injections administered and any side effects that may have occurred, were recorded. Results Ketamine produced no significant pain relief. A 2-mg morphine dose did produce significant analgesia but was accompanied by a high incidence of side effects. Coadministration of subanalgesic doses of ketamine, 10 mg and morphine, 0.5 mg, however, also produced a strong analgesic effect. Conclusions Ketamine, although not itself an epidural analgesic agent, potentiates the analgesic effect of morphine, especially when administered as a pretreatment. The resulting lowered dosage of epidural morphine needed for postoperative pain relief reduces, in turn, the incidence of side effects. Pretreatment of patients with ketamine epidurally, followed by injections of combined morphine and ketamine could be a promising new analgesic regimen.


Amyloid fibrillation of proteins is associated with a great variety of pathologic conditions. Development of new molecules that can monitor amyloidosis kinetics and inhibit fibril formation is of great diagnostic and therapeutic value. In this work, we have developed a biocompatible molecule that functions as an ex situ monitor and an in situ inhibitor for protein fibrillation, using insulin as a model protein. 1,2-Bis[4-(3-sulfonatopropoxyl)phenyl]-1,2-diphenylethene salt (BSPOTPE) is nonemissive when it is dissolved with native insulin in an incubation buffer but starts to fluoresce when it is mixed with preformed insulin fibril, enabling ex situ monitoring of amyloidogenesis kinetics and high-contrast fluorescence imaging of protein fibrils. Premixing BSPOTPE with insulin, on the other hand, inhibits the nucleation process and impedes the protofibril formation. Increasing the dose of BSPOTPE boosts its inhibitory potency. Theoretical modeling using molecular dynamics simulations and docking reveals that BSPOTPE is prone to binding to partially unfolded insulin through hydrophobic interaction of the phenyl rings of BSPOTPE with the exposed hydrophobic residues of insulin. Such binding is assumed to have stabilized the partially unfolded insulin and obstructed the formation of the critical oligomeric species in the protein fibrillogenesis process.