We report on an 8-year-old girl with minor anomalies consistent with 18q- syndrome and mild developmental delay. Initially cytogenetics showed a terminal deletion of chromosome 21 with mosaicism for a small ring chromosome 21 as the only apparent karyotypic abnormality: mos 45,XX,-21/46,XX,+r(21) (48%/52%). Further studies including FISH and DNA analysis demonstrated a de novo unbalanced translocation of chromosomes 18 and 21 with the likely breakpoints in 18q23 and 21q21.1. Most of 21q was translocated to the distal long arm of one chromosome 18, and this derivative 18 appeared to lack 18q23-qter. The small ring chromosome 21 [r(21)], present in only 52% of the patient's blood lymphocytes, did not appear to be associated with the abnormal phenotype since all 13 chromosome 21 markers that were examined in genomic DNA were present in 2 copies, and the phenotype of the patient was consistent with the 18q- syndrome. The karyotype was reinterpreted as mos 45,XX,-18,-21,+der(18) t(18;21) (q23;q21.1)/46,XX,-18,-21,+der(18) t(18;21) (q23;q21.1), +r(21) (p13q21.1) (48%/52%). These results demonstrate the power of FISH in conjunction with DNA analysis for examination of chromosome rearrangements that may be misclassified by traditional cytogenetic studies alone.


Hydrodynamical cosmological simulations have recently made great advances in reproducing galaxy mass assembly over cosmic time – as often quantified from the comparison of their predicted stellar mass functions to observed stellar mass functions from data. In this paper, we compare the clustering of galaxies from the hydrodynamical cosmological simulated light-cone Horizon-AGN to clustering measurements from the VIDEO survey observations. Using mocks built from a VIDEO-like photometry, we first explore the bias introduced into clustering measurements by using stellar masses and redshifts derived from spectral energy distribution fitting, rather than the intrinsic values. The propagation of redshift and mass statistical and systematic uncertainties in the clustering measurements causes us to underestimate the clustering amplitude. We then find that clustering and halo occupation distribution (HOD) modelling results are qualitatively similar in Horizon-AGN and VIDEO. However, at low stellar masses, Horizon-AGN underestimates the observed clustering by up to a factor of ∼3, reflecting the known excess stellar mass to halo mass ratio for Horizon-AGN low-mass haloes, already discussed in previous works. This reinforces the need for stronger regulation of star formation in low-mass haloes in the simulation. Finally, the comparison of the stellar mass to halo mass ratio in the simulated catalogue, inferred from angular clustering, to that directly measured from the simulation validates HOD modelling of clustering as a probe of the galaxy–halo connection.


Protetive atmospheres are used in powder metallurgy to prevent oxidation and to reduce oxides, to control carbon contents of iron and iron alloys, and to flush volatilized lubrificants from the furnace. Another important function of the atmosphere during sintering is to burn and remove the hydrocarbon lubrificants used to compact the powdered metal. However, one of the most important services that the Air Products "industrial gas company" can provide to its heat treat customers is assistance in troubleshooting their furnace(s) when there are problems. To be able to troubleshoot a furnace, it is important to know what the typical problems are that arise, what causes them and how to fix or minimize to problem. This work should aid in finding the source of the problem with analysis equipment, and, by using your knowledge of the furnace and the process, solve the problem. Summarizing, (1) ensure system integrity, (2) Know the required safety interlocks, and (3) Verify their operation.


The Aedes genus of mosquito is the vector for at least three viral diseases Dengue Fever (DF), Zika and Chikungunya. In many regions of the world, an upward trend in DF and Zika infections is observed. Using disease data from the Singaporean Ministry of Health and population data from the Singapore Department of Statistics, various statistical models are fit to DF, Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF; an often-fatal complication of Dengue Fever) and Chikungunya. These models differ in their consideration of the overall data structure, and have different underlying assumptions. Of particular interest is a prediction model based on neural networks, which we present. The merits and performance of these models are discussed and the accuracy of predictions made by each model are compared. The statistical method for determining prediction bounds for the neural network model is also discussed. These prediction models provide an objective method for public health management and policy making.


In this paper, we purpose to assess the crack and deterioration level of composed stones in Angkor Monument, Cambodia, by an elastic wave test. The degree of deterioration and crack is generally examined by supersonic wave test, electromagnetic wave test and hardness test. However, the above general methods are difficult to be applied to the stones in Angkor Monument, because there are some problems such as damages on the surface relief and an accuracy of the test results which highly depend on the surface deterioration level. Therefore, in this paper, we suggest the method of an elastic wave test by slightly knocking on the stones. Then, we analyze the elastic wave's profile, such as velocity, amplitude ratio and frequency etc. From the results, we examine about the relationship between the elastic wave profile and existence of crack or deterioration level of stone. The above examinations are applied to assess the structural safety of composed stones in Angkor Monument.


Clays are essentially composed of crystalline particles of one or more members of a small group of minerals. The ability of clays to intercalate certain organic substances has been known for a very long time. There is a scope in these clay structures for isomorphous replacement, that is, for substitution of Na+ by cations of similar size but usually of lower valency. This research aims at identifying suitable additives for pretreatment of clay and determining the effect of different classes of compounds (intercalants) on the d-spacing expansion of clay layers. This paper addresses a different approach to ion exchange for treatment of sodium montmorillonite, with different functional groups: aldehyde, ether, alcohol, glycol, and stearates. The results were compared with commercially available clays, Cloisite 25A and Cloisite 30B (Southern Clay Products), which are montmorillonite (MMT) clays intercalated with quaternary ammonium salts. The d-spacing increment in this research was consistent with the d-spacing achieved in commercially available clays. Future research will be to utilize the treated clay to produce polymer composites.


The System Wide Risk Assessment (SWRA) is an essential first step in the pipeline integrity management program. It is required by both Canadian and US regulators and is expected to estimate risk due to all threats, interaction of threats, and consequences. The main objective of the SWRA is to identify high risk segments so that segments with excessive risk can be mitigated.The SWRA models developed in this study employs quantified likelihood models and consequence models. A companion paper explains the consequence models. This paper presents the framework and rationale used to produce quantifiable measures of likelihood for each threat. The quantification enables sensible comparisons between threat likelihood values and also enables realistic combining of likelihood values to produce total likelihood of failure due to all threats. It also facilitates identification of key parameters that contribute to each threat.It is important to have a consistent risk framework that systematically applies to all the threats and accommodates all the different aspects and mitigative actions in each threat management process. For effective continuous improvement it is essential that the models are transparent and updatable. A consistent framework that is systematic, rigorous, transparent and updatable is utilized with explicit consideration to threat interactions.The main advantages of the likelihood models developed in this study are:• It is based on all evidence that is available for each threat (failure histories, observations from assessments, i.e., digs, HTs, and ILIs, and mechanistic understanding)• It considers all nine threat categories and relevant subcategories where causal factors are different (such as SCC and Circumferential SCC within the crack threat category)• It clearly considers all three types of threat interactions (Interacting coincident defects, Interacting-activating threats, and Interacting common-mode conditions) among all threat categories.• It is based on subsystem specific historical failure rates for each threat, where subsystem is defined as a subset of pipelines that have different performance characteristics with respect to at least one threat. This basis enables the failure frequencies predicted to be more in line with reality and consequently improves accuracy of predictions and appropriate quantification.• The subsystem specific historical failure rates are then calibrated to correlate to different mechanistic characteristics so that within-pipeline-subsystem variation due to changes in parameters is represented.• Finally assessments or observations are used to appropriately update threat likelihood with latest knowledge from measured local observations.All of the improvements mentioned above have helped the SWRA 2013 to produce more representative results. The comprehensive set of validation exercises verify that the results are realistic.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


: Postmortem microscopic examinations and morphometry of the tissue components of the major duodenal papilla in 90 residents of the Tobolsk district who had long time suffered from opisthorchiasis revealed three variants of chronic proliferative papillitis: adenomatous, adenofibroplastic, and sclerosing. They reflect the successive stages of the inflammatory and immunologic reactions of the patients to long-term parasitising of opisthorchiases. Hyperplastic and inflammatory-sclerosing processes in the wall of the papilla ampoule are the main factor in the pathogenesis of diffuse cylindrical cholangiectasia frequently observed in chronic opisthorchiasis.


Developing specialized software tools is essential to support studies of solar activity evolution. With new space missions such as Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), solar images are being produced in unprecedented volumes. To capitalize on that huge data availability, the scientific community needs a new generation of software tools for automatic and efficient data processing. In this paper a prototype of a modular framework for solar feature detection, characterization, and tracking is presented. To develop an efficient system capable of automatic solar feature tracking and measuring, a hybrid approach combining specialized image processing, evolutionary optimization, and soft computing algorithms is being followed. The specialized hybrid algorithm for tracking solar features allows automatic feature tracking while gathering characterization details about the tracked features. The hybrid algorithm takes advantages of the snake model, a specialized image processing algorithm widely used in applications such as boundary delineation, image segmentation, and object tracking. Further, it exploits the flexibility and efficiency of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), a stochastic population based optimization algorithm. PSO has been used successfully in a wide range of applications including combinatorial optimization, control, clustering, robotics, scheduling, and image processing and video analysis applications. The proposed tool, denoted PSO-Snake model, was already successfully tested in other works for tracking sunspots and coronal bright points. In this work, we discuss the application of the PSO-Snake algorithm for calculating the sidereal rotational angular velocity of the solar corona. To validate the results we compare them with published manual results performed by an expert.


A family with low-density lipoprotein (LDL) deficiency was detected during the course of screening cord blood samples. The initial diagnosis in the proband was based on the cord blood LDL cholesterol and lipoprotein electrophoretic pattern, and was confirmed by repeated studies at the age of 8 months. The infant had none of the clinical abnormalities previously ascribed to the condition. Further investigation did not disclose any other significant biochemical or histological abnormalities. Hypo-beta-lipoproteinemia was found to exist in the proband's mother and only sibling. Hence the diagnosis of familial hypo-beta-lipoproteinemia is possible by unselected cord blood LDL cholesterol measurement and lipoprotein electrophoresis in conjunction with kindred studies.


This study aimed to prepare a high performance plastic concrete made of epoxy resin and Portland type-I cement mixed with at least one inorganic solid waste of demercurated lighting phosphor powder or municipal solid waste incineration scrubber residue. The ratio between liquid epoxy resin and cement was 1:2; the scrubber residue and demercurated phosphor powder were added as modifiers for cement component in order to improve the strength and thermal properties of synthesized plastic concrete. The results indicate that, the addition of scrubber residue causes a decrease in both strength and thermal properties; whereas, the demercurated phosphor powder can replace 100% of the contents of cement without any significantly change in either strength or thermal properties. Atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the chemical structure of cured concrete and the results indicate that the surface softness increases with an increase in the mixed percentage of epoxy resin.


The aim of this research was to facilitate the voices being heard of two
young people at secondary school bearing an autistic spectrum diagnosis
using a narrative approach. By definition this diagnosis suggested impaired
communication and social interaction skills that should have made the
open questioning style recommended for narrative interviewing difficult to
access. However, insightful descriptions generated by autistic 'insiders', my
own professional encounters and my experience as a mother of a child
with a diagnosis inclined me towards more optimistic constructions of the
autistic spectrum. Adopting a psychosocial, constructionist approach, I
hoped to use narratives to illustrate the complexity of social constructs like
the autistic spectrum and to facilitate the potential for agency:
emancipation from thin, 'problem saturated' discourses. I was keen to coconstruct
thicker narratives as a form of action research that might
generate 'unique outcomes' for my subjects as co-researchers.
I used free-association narrative interviewing to facilitate the coconstruction
of narratives with the two young people. I hoped to explore
meanings the experience of their diagnosis might generate for these young
people against the context of a range of other narratives being told around
them. I reflected upon and analysed each narrative to identify wider
discourses, interpretative repertoires and identity scripts that might be
interacting with the voices of the two young people. I realised that my own
powerful voice as adult co-researcher also required interrogation.
The 'storying' of their experiences suggested to me there was potential for
agency for these young people. Externalising autism as a functional
repertoire could position it as a strength within their experience. However, I
sensed competition between complex, powerful and inter-woven
narratives. Some, like the discourse of normalcy, introduced ambiguous
meanings. I concluded that meaning-making through language was
interactive and inevitably subjective, but could also be unique, generative
and optimistic.


The boreal forest is a carbon reservoir containing roughly 40% of the world's reactive soil carbon, which is mainly cycled by wildland fires. Climate warming in boreal Alaska has changed the wildfire regime such that an increase in broadleaf forest relative to conifer forest is likely, which may reduce landscape flammability. However, the current and future flammability of broadleaf forest in a warming climate is not well understood. We used pre-fire and post-fire geospatial data to investigate the flammability of upland boreal forest patches in Interior Alaska in relation to summer weather conditions. Our objectives were to assess burning of broadleaf forest patches during "Normal" vs. "Large Fire Years", by week within a fire season, and by topographic position. Using 30-meter land-cover and fire-severity grids, we estimated the flammability of upland broadleaf forest patches during Large and Normal Fire Years. We then tested for topographic effects using a solar radiation index to eliminate potential deviations within the vegetation. Finally, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) hotspots were used to track the spatial extent of burns during the fire season by examining the periods of fire activity and intensity. Flammability of broadleaf forest patches varied both in time and space. Even during Normal Fire Years, broadleaf forest patches exhibited substantial flammability, with a mean of over 50% patch area burned. Patch flammability was significantly higher during Large Fire Years. Burning of broadleaf patches varied with topographic position and correlated with potential insolation. Broadleaf forest patches burned most frequently in late June-early July. Contrary to "conventional wisdom'", broadleaf forest patches in boreal Alaska are susceptible to burning even during Normal Fire Years. With climate warming, the flammability of broadleaf forest is likely to increase due to more extreme fire weather events. Thus, although the frequency of broadleaf forest patches on the landscape is likely to increase


The field of mine hoist in the coal mine has an important role, its relationship with the safe operation of coal mine production safety and the lives of many miners. This article of mine hoist began to study the current situation, put forward specific measures for improvement. And the introduction of PLC control system to improve the performance of mine hoist. In this paper, the specific principles of experimental program with the specific design, the study proved of great economic and practical significance.


SIR,-I do indeed welcome Mr. W. C. W. Nixon's letter, for I feel that it illustrates so well several of the points I have tried to make, and I am glad of any evidence of interest in the use of x rays in midwifery. First, I would draw attention to the excellent x-ray report, which shows so clearly the mechanical factors involved. My only criticism of it is that there should be no expression of opinion as to the outcome of labour. That is a clinical problem, and should be left to the obstetrician. It has always been recognized that in this type of pelvis there is ample room once the brim is passed (indicated here by the wide inter-ischial diameter) and that the apparently impossible often happened. Why did it happen in Mr. Nixon's case? How did a head with a biparietal diameter of 3.65 inches pass a true conjugate of 3.1 inches? Clearly not because of any hidden mysterious forces, but because the head happened to be plastic. This is the whole basis of my argument for induction. A head that is truly premature-that is, with a biparietal diameter of from 3.4 to 3.65 inches-is always plastic, almost like a rubber ball full of water, and will compress to an astonishing extent without injury. Had labour in this case commenced, as it so often does, ten or more days after the expected date instead of a few days early, there would have been a very different outcome, for in that fortnight the biparietal diameter would have increased by 0.2 inch, and, what is more important, the head would have become much more rigid, and delivery could occur only after gross overlap with internal lacerations. In a pelvis of this kind a greatly reduced true conjugate is permissible, but on probabilities I also should have chosen Caesarean section-unnecessarily, as was seenbut if this patient has another baby I would do an induction when the biparietal diameter reached 3.55 inches and not trust to spontaneous labour on the strength of her first success, risking a late onset of labour. Only after much experience of induction in different types of pelvis will it be possible to arrive at what constitutes a reasonable risk for the baby. No one as yet has this experience. So far I have not had occasion to induce until the biparietal diameter was 3.5 inches. Mr. Nixon notes that the biparietal diameter had recovered to 3.5 inches immediately after birth, but he would surely not suggest that the head passed the brim with that measurement? Finally, he predicts that induction for disproportion will lead to: (1) unnecessary inductions, (2) a rise of maternal mortality. I agree as to the first point-but does it matter? So far I have not seen a scrap of evidence for a rise of morbidity or mortality in series of inductions by rupture of membranes. On the contrary, in my own series, and in others I have seen, there was no maternal mortality, and actually a reduction in morbidity owing to easier labours and reduced instrumental interference. Infantile mortality was also reduced. In conclusion I deplore references to the vis medicatrix naturae in obstetrics as some occult power which can operate on a higher plane than simple mechanics. There are always perfectly sound reasons why delivery takes place. It is for us to anticipate them, and my plea is to give the uterus more opportunity of showing what it can do with the plastic head.-I am, etc., Bexhill-on-Sea, June 12. NoRMAN REECE. Prevention and Treatment of Shock


The Jaffna Peninsula depends largely on groundwater resources for domestic as well as agricultural purposes. On several instances, it was pointed out that the groundwater is deteriorating due to overuse and is polluted by excessive usage of agrochemical, fertilizers, waste oil and improper sewage disposal. Hence, an experimental study was undertaken to assess the analysis of groundwater quality. To achieve this, water samples were collected from the area around the Power Station, Chunnakam. All selected 16 wells were contaminated with coliforms. Tested chemicals concentrations are not in risk level even though Average Nitrate nitrogen concentration of tested 16 well ranges from 8.2 to 29.8 mg/l with the mean value of 19.25625. However the SLS gives that the maximum permissible level of drinking water is 10 mg/l. Groundwater condition of Valikamam area, Jaffna peninsula is not much suitable for drinking purpose.

 Key words: Chemical parameters, drinking water, groundwater pollution, groundwater quality, microbial contaminations.


There is a phenomenological similarity between seasonal affective disorder and bulimia nervosa, as sufferers from both show increased appetite and carbohydrate craving and probably share a common dysfunction in brain serotonergic systems. Serotonergic compounds and bright light therapy have proven to be an effective treatment for both disorders. We describe the case of a woman who suffered from seasonal affective disorder and nonpurging bulimia nervosa for 16 years and was resistant to treatment regimens with selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors and bright light therapy. She was successfully treated with the selective noradrenaline re-uptake inhibitor reboxetine. The authors want to encourage clinicians to make attempts to treat seasonal and non-seasonal bulimia with selective noradrenergic compounds.


The main endeavor of this thesis paper was to explore and uncover the correlations between leadership competencies and productive performance in project management. The aspiration was to shed light on key leadership attributes critical for project success and to underline the significance of implementing these competencies in a project environment. This research paper begins with a focus on the value of general leadership and elaborates on the effectives of each leadership style. In today's world of multitasking and constant development, leaders are a fundamental component for any organization to succeed. Leaders take on large responsibilities and move organizations forward. This thesis underlines that, in the field of project management is typically more crucial, due to the involvement and constant integration of multiple projects in organizations. The unique demand and integration of projects creates a need of having qualified project managers, in particular leader those that bring a set of positive attributes to the project and the organization. This thesis presents a highly reflective view of the ideal leadership attributes essential for a project manager; these competencies are grouped as managerial, emotional and intelligence characteristics. Idealistically, the study expanded on principals such as project performance, leadership behaviors, effective project competences and critical project manager traits. Through the combinations of these factors, we have established a strong ground of our findings and have introduced a research model that presented the relationship between project leadership theory and elements of project success. In principle, the research model along with an insightful survey was developed applying qualitative and quantitative technicalities to further support and validate the data that was explored and evaluated in this research paper. Within the confinements of these studies, the objective was to uncover the key constructive factors that project managers ought to exercise to achieve effectiveness in project milestones.


The mammalian Slc11a1 and Slc11a2 proteins define a large family of secondary metal transporters. Slc11a1 and Slc11a2 function as pH-dependent divalent cation transporters that play a critical role in host defenses against infections and in Fe2+ homeostasis, respectively. The position and polarity of individual transmembrane domains (TMD) of Slc11a2 were studied by an epitope tagging method based on the insertion of small antigenic hemagglutinin A (HA) peptides (YPYDVPDYAS) in predicted intra- or extracellular loops of the protein. The tagged proteins were expressed in transfected LLC-PK1 kidney cells and tested for transport activity, and the polarity of inserted tags with respect to the plasma membrane was determined by immunofluorescence in intact and permeabilized cells. HA epitope tags were inserted at positions 1, 98, 131, 175, 201, 243, 284, 344, 403, 432, 468, 504, and 561. Insertions at positions 98, 131, 175, 403, and 432 abrogated metal transport by Slc11a2, while insertions at positions 1, 201, 243, 284, 344, 468, 504, and 561 resulted in functional proteins. Topology mapping in functional HA-tagged Slc11a2 proteins indicated that the N-terminus (1), as well as loops delineated by TMD4−5 (201), TMD6−7 (284), and TMD10−11 (468), and C-terminus (561) are intracellular, while loops separating TMD5−6 (243), TMD7−8 (344), and TMD11−12 (504) are extracellular. These results are compatible with a topology of 12 transmembrane domains, with intracellular amino and carboxy termini. Structural models constructed by homology threading support this 12TMD topology and show 2-fold structural symmetry in the arrangement of membrane helices for TM1−5 and TM6−10 (conserved Slc11 hydrophobic core).


Sociological studies emphasize the influence of religion on human communities in general and on rural societies, in particular. In this paper, we intend to analyze the main aspects that determine modernization, rural religiosity, social changes in rural areas of Romania, highlighting the importance of the priest in these communities. Rural religiosity expresses the specific relation with the sacred. The village is "purposely placed around the Church and cemetery, namely around God and the dead"- Lucian Blaga. Rural religiosity is concrete and practical, not theoretical speculation. In the second part of the paper we have defined the Church as a sanctuary and community of believers and we have presented its main features as Symbol of Faith- "one, holy and apostolic". We presented the Church's involvement in the life of rural community, especially through its local representative – the priest, pointing out that the religious institution interacts with people and supports them in their integration into social life. Over the decades, the Church, by its specific teachings, encouraged the people to love their fellow human beings, to belong to a group and to a society. The Church gives solutions to the social problems that have arisen in people's lives. The Church's involvement in the rural society tends to become normal, considering the fact that it was banned during the communist regime, but its visibility depends also on other institutions like the Mayor, local and central political government and so on.


Development of sequence-specific DNA-binding drugs is an important pharmacological goal, given the fact that numerous existing DNA-directed chemotherapeutic drugs rely on the strength and selectivity of their DNA interactions for therapeutic activity. Among the DNA-binding antibiotics, hairpin polyamides represent the only class of small molecules that can practically bind any predetermined DNA sequence. DNA recognition by these ligands depends on their side-by-side amino acid pairings in the DNA minor groove. Extensive studies have revealed that these molecules show extremely high affinity for sequence-directed, minor groove interaction. However, the specificity of such interactions in the presence of a large selection of sequences such as the human genome is not known. We used the combinatorial selection method restriction endonuclease protection, selection, and amplification (REPSA) to determine the DNA binding specificity of two hairpin polyamides, ImPyPyPy-gamma-PyPyPyPy-beta-Dp and ImPyPyPy-gamma-ImPyPyPy-beta-Dp, in the presence of more than 134 million different sequences. These were verified by restriction endonuclease protection assays and DNase I footprinting analysis. Our data showed that both hairpin polyamides preferentially selected DNA sequences having consensus recognition sites as defined by the Dervan pairing rules. These consensus sequences were rather degenerate, as expected, given that the stacked pyrrole-pyrrole amino acid pairs present in both polyamides are unable to discriminate between A.T and T.A base pairs. However, no individual sequence within these degenerate consensus sequences was preferentially selected by REPSA, indicating that these hairpin polyamides are truly consensus-specific DNA-binding ligands. We also discovered a preference for overlapping consensus binding sites among the sequences selected by the hairpin polyamide ImPyPyPy-gamma-PyPyPyPy-beta-Dp, and confirmed by DNase I footprinting that these complex sites provide higher binding affinity. These data suggest that multiple hairpin polyamides can cooperatively bind to their highest-affinity sites.


Human airway epithelial cells can increase expression of both lactoferrin and ferritin after exposure to catalytically active metal. These proteins transport and store metal, with coordination sites fully complexed, and therefore can diminish the oxidative stress. The intracellular transport of lactoferrin results in a transfer of complexed metal to ferritin, where it is stored in a less reactive form. This effort to control the injurious properties of metals would be facilitated by lactoferrin receptors (LfRs) on airway epithelial cells. We tested the hypotheses that 1) LfRs exist on respiratory epithelial cells and 2) exposure to both an air pollution particle, which has abundant concentrations of metals, and individual metal salts increase the expression of LfRs. Before exposure to either the particle or metals, incubation of BEAS-2B cells with varying concentrations of 125I-labeled lactoferrin demonstrated lactoferrin binding that was saturable. Measurement of 125I-lactoferrin binding after the inclusion of 100 micrograms/ml of oil fly ash in the incubation medium demonstrated increased binding within 5 min of exposure, which reached a maximal value at 45 min. Inclusion of 1.0 mM deferoxamine in the incubation of BEAS-2B cells with 100 micrograms/ml of oil fly ash decreased lactoferrin binding. Comparable to the particle, exposure of BEAS-2B cells to either 1.0 mM vanadyl sulfate or 1.0 mM iron (III) sulfate, but not to nickel sulfate, for 45 min elevated LfR activity. We conclude that LfRs on respiratory epithelial cells increased after exposure to metal. LfRs could participate in decreasing the oxidative stress presented to the lower respiratory tract by complexing catalytically active metals.


This is a ready-to-use toolkit for the library HR manager!Whether the HR function in your library is handled by an entire department, or a single individual, this nuts-and-bolts primer is a treasure trove of templates, forms, samples, and checklists that you can start using today.Organized in a Q&A format for quick reference, the author asks the everyday questions that few other guides bother to address. How do you write a job description? What kinds of questions should I ask in the interview? How should star employees be recognized? What are the most important elements in training staff? How do we handle a Reduction in Force? Every answer is specifically tailored to libraries' particular needs and circumstances.From the basics of hiring and firing, training, evaluation, legal requirements, recruitment and retention - to hot topics like attracting minorities to librarianship, the "graying" of the library workforce, technologies useful for HR tasks, and more - this book gives you the full range of need-to-know information.Particularly useful for students, new professionals, and occasional or "accidental" HR managers who need a reference to consult as issues arise, this book is the ideal go-to guide for quick, well informed advice, useful summaries of the most important research and professional resources, and proven HR tools for every kind of library.


Little knowledge exists regarding what drivers think and how they state their choice of driving speed. Is the choice governed by conscious appraisals, habits or unconscious processes? The objective of the study was to make drivers reflect around such questions. A qualitative method, focus groups was chosen. Four groups were selected: (1) five adolescents 18-20 years of age; (2) eight men 23-47 years; (3) seven women 23-42 years; (4) nine elderly drivers 63-83 years of age. The analysis of the focus groups shows a variety of reasons. The report is structured according to reasons linked to physical factors, interaction with other road users, to the driver and to the society in general, i.e. attitudes about speed limits and reasons linked to the respect for the law.


Our article considers how 'industry architectures' (i.e., the stable but evolving set of rules and roles through which labor is divided within a sector) shape success in international expansion. We argue that industry architectures differ between countries, are not necessarily technologically determined, shape firms' capabilities and their competitive environment, and constitute a distinct level of analysis. We develop related theory and empirically test its impact with a survey of firms expanding in four CIS countries. We find that separability and similarity of industry architectures across countries are robust and important predictors of success in international expansion. Our results suggest that industry architectures should be added to 'firm' and 'country' as an intermediate level of analysis that helps explain success in international expansion.


Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) places emphasis upon results and better management of programs for effective and efficient service delivery. With an increased focus on measuring performance, the transportation demand management (TDM) industry lags other areas of transportation. Without consistent methods of evaluating performance and calculating those benefits, the TDM community is at a distinct disadvantage when transportation investments are being considered at the local, state, and federal levels. This project sought to develop an accurate and sustainable online system to record data and use a consistent and defensible method for calculating the impacts of TDM programs. A literature review and a survey of TDM professionals were used to identify the key outputs and outcomes used today by commuter assistance programs. The data collection tool was pilot tested. The data from the survey are inputs into the standardized societal benefit estimation procedures contained in Florida Department of Transportation's (FDOT's) Trip Reduction Impacts of Mobility Management Strategies (TRIMMS™) model. To facilitate participation and ease of use, the final product, UCARE.TRIMMS, was made an online application.


Photographer Hans Silvester travelled to the remote Omo Valley to capture the striking body art of the local Surma and Mursi tribes. Traditionally nomadic, the tribes decorate the territory of their naked bodies with whatever nature offers, such as leaves, flowers, grasses, butterfly wings and snail shells plus the occasional pen top or Kalashnikov cartridge. The spontaneously woven hats and headdresses are part fashion, part trophy display, part protection from the sun but mainly just the expression of a joyful creative spirit. Silvesters astonishing photographs capture these decorations to form a parade of African fashion that is as rich as it is ephemeral.


The time and space evolution of the distribution of hydrogen in confined settings was investigated computationally and experimentally for permeation from typical compressed gaseous hydrogen storage systems for buses or cars. The work was performed within the framework of the InsHyde internal project of the HySafe NoE, funded by EC. The main goal was to examine whether hydrogen is distributed homogeneously within a garage like facility or whether stratified conditions are developed, under certain conditions. The nominal hydrogen flow rate considered was 1.087 NL/min, based on the then current SAE standard for composite hydrogen containers with a non-metallic liner (type 4) at simulated end of life and maximum material temperature in a bus facility with a volume of 681m 3 . The release was assumed to be directed upwards from a 0.15m diameter hole located at the middle part of the bus cylinders casing. Ventilation rates up to 0.03 ACH were considered. Simulated time periods extended up to 20 days. The CFD simulations performed with the ADREA-HF code showed that fully homogeneous conditions exist for low ventilation rates, while stratified conditions prevail for higher ventilation rates. Regarding flow structure it was found that the vertical concentration profiles can be considered as the superposition of the concentration at the floor (driven by laminar diffusion) plus a concentration difference between floor and ceiling (driven by buoyancy forces). In all cases considered this concentration difference was found to be less than 0.5%. The dispersion experiments were performed at the GARAGE facility, using Helium. Comparison between CFD simulations and experiments showed that the predicted concentrations were in good agreement with the experimental data. Finally, simulations were performed using two integral models: the fully homogeneous model and the two-layer model, proposed by Lowesmith et al. (ICHS-2, 2007) and the results were compared both against CFD and the experimental data.


FOITS (Fast Optical In- vivo Topometry of human Skin) is a new technique for the three-dimensional analysis of the microstructures of the skin. Based on the surface roughness standards used in the metal-working industry, it uses computer-assisted strip analysis to process information gathered from high-speed, non-contact scanning. It is possible to visualise the mathematical data in 3D form. So far, surface relief parameters have had to be acquired indirectly by first making silicone casts of the skin and then digitalising them with image analysis, mechanical scanners or, more recent, laser profilometry and confocal microscopy. We selected the roughness parameters R a , R z , and R max (DIN defined) and ,,positive and negative volume to describe the skin surface. In 40 healthy volunteers we were able to define significant intra-individual differences in these roughness parameters, which were correlated with the location of the area of skin being scanned (p < 0.05). When healthy areas of skin were compared with areas of chronic eczema in 10 patients with neurodermatitis the differences in the above-mentioned roughness parameters were just as striking (p<0.05). In patients with chronic atopic eczema there was a statistically significant correlation between changes in the parameters positive and negative volume, and the smoothing of the skin seen after 14 days of treatment with standard ointments (p < 0.02). Apart from its industrial uses, we see potential applications for FOITS in the investigation of quantitative and qualitative aspects of aging processes, physiological and pathological processes in the skin, and the effect of topical preparations applied to the skin.


Off-farm labour participation is an important way in which farm households adapt their labour resources to farm labour needs, and is often viewed as an income integration and an insurance against risk. Nevertheless, it has also been questioned as a step for exiting agriculture. It is therefore important to assess whether or not it is a permanent status and which are its determinants. Most papers on this issue are based on cross-sectional analyses and thus disregard the problem of persistence in the state. Using a 5-wave panel of Italian family farms we estimate different dynamic nonlinear panel data models of the determinants of off-farm labour participation. We allow for two sources of persistence: unobserved heterogeneity and state dependence, and in addition we control for the initial conditions problem. We find a strong persistence in the state and our findings show that, when taking all these features into account, the present work state is almost totally explained by the previous state and by idiosyncratic characteristics. The variables concerning the farm and the farmer's characteristics, typically found to be relevant in cross-sectional analyses, are not significant in the dynamic setting. The reasons for the inconsistency between our results and those of cross-sectional studies are discussed, and an interpretation of how the determinants influence the off-farm labour participation is presented. The distinction between true state dependence and individual heterogeneity has important policy implications that are discussed.


Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) are functionalized with ethylenediamine by chemical cut and grafting process. CNTs/nylon-6 (PA6) composite is prepared by solution-evaporation method. The dispersivity of CNTs and mechanical properties of CNTs/PA6 composites are tested. Reinforced mechanism is also investigated. The results show that the ethylenediamine-functioned CNTs (s-CNTs) are well dispersed in the formic acid and the weight content of grafted ethylenediamine is about 30%. With only 2wt% addition of s-CNTs, the modulus, strength and strain of PA6 are dramatically improved by about 46%, 85%, and 200% respectively. The tensile course of s-CNTs/ PA6 composites shows that the increase of modulus were provided by both the increase of matrix crystallinity induced by s-CNTs and the recruitment of s-CNTs, and the improvements of strength and strain were attributed to the malleable integration between the s-CNTs and matrix, which was formed with s-CNTs, crystal matrix based on the tubes and the partial entanglements of tubes.


This article is a reply to 'The illusion of the digital commons', an idea introduced by Ossewaarde and Reijers. Their criticism challenges those of us arguing that digital commons are emancipatory, exhibiting post-capitalist dynamics. From the perspective of the digital commoner as well as that of the scholar who studies commoning practices, my thesis is that digital commoning is not grounded in a-political principles as the authors claim. But rather it introduces a political platform upon which various progressive movements are converging.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Macrophages mediate the epithelial response to Helicobacter pylori and are involved in the development of gastritis. Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) regulates gastric epithelial differentiation and function, but little is known about its immunoregulatory role in the stomach. We investigated whether gastric Shh acts as a macrophage chemoattractant during the innate immune response to H pylori infection.

METHODS
Mice with parietal cell-specific deletion of Shh (PC-Shh(KO)) and control mice were infected with H pylori. Levels of gastric Shh, cytokines, and chemokines were assayed by quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction or by a Luminex-based multiplex assay 2, 7, or 180 days after infection. Circulating concentrations of Shh were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Bone marrow chimera experiments were performed with mice that have myeloid cell-specific deletion of the Hedgehog signal transduction protein Smoothened (LysMCre/Smo(KO)). Macrophage recruitment was measured in gastric tissue and peripheral blood by fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis.

RESULTS
Control mice infected with H pylori for 6 months developed an inflammatory response characterized by infiltration of CD4(+) T cells and increased levels of interferon gamma and interleukin 1β in the stomach. PC-Shh(KO) mice did not develop gastritis, even after 6 months of infection with H pylori. Control mice had increased concentrations of Shh, accompanied by the recruitment of CD11b(+)F4/80(+)Ly6C(high) macrophages 2 days after infection. Control mice that received bone marrow transplants from control mice had an influx of macrophages to the gastric mucosa in response to H pylori infection; this was not observed in H pylori-infected control mice that received bone marrow transplants from LysMCre/Smo(KO) mice.

CONCLUSIONS
H pylori induces release of Shh from the stomach; Shh acts as a macrophage chemoattractant during initiation of gastritis.


Faceted search helps users by offering drill-down options as a complement to the keyword input box, and it has been used successfully for many vertical applications, including e-commerce and digital libraries. However, this idea is not well explored for general web search, even though it holds great potential for assisting multi-faceted queries and exploratory search. In this paper, we explore this potential by extending faceted search into the open-domain web setting, which we call Faceted Web Search. To tackle the heterogeneous nature of the web, we propose to use query-dependent automatic facet generation, which generates facets for a query instead of the entire corpus. To incorporate user feedback on these query facets into document ranking, we investigate both Boolean filtering and soft ranking models. We evaluate Faceted Web Search systems by their utility in assisting users to clarify search intent and find subtopic information. We describe how to build reusable test collections for such tasks, and propose an evaluation method that considers both gain and cost for users. Our experiments testify to the potential of Faceted Web Search, and show Boolean filtering feedback models, which are widely used in conventional faceted search, are less effective than soft ranking models.


Digital technology is redefining teaching-learning engagements and challenging the professional teachers to match the advancement; such is integration of augmented reality (AR) in education. Apparently, change often encounters reluctance to embrace it. As a lot of teachers still battle phobia for computer technologies, the integration of sophisticated AR could be a problem. No matter the challenges, reliable data could assist in planning towards mitigating the problems. Pertinently, self-efficacy data on teachers as stake holders are relevant to assist in planning, to maximise innovative potentials of AR in teaching and learning. Therefore, this study investigated teachers' self-efficacy on integration of augmented reality in teaching-learning activities among selected schools in Nigeria. In this descriptive survey research, cluster and random sampling methods were used to select sample. The target population was all the secondary school teachers in Lagos state, Nigeria; the sample comprised 178 participants. Validated Teacher Self-efficacy Questionnaire (TSQ) on 4-Likert scale, of 0.89 reliability coefficient, was used to collect data. The data were computed using percentage, bar-charts and Chi-square. The results revealed that differences in the levels of self-efficacy are not enough to make the teachers in public schools perform differently when compared to counterparts in private schools, if AR is integrated into teaching methods. Based on the results, it was recommended that awareness seminars should be organised for the teachers on how to use AR technology in education. Moreover, to ensure sustainability, require software should be made available, and the teachers should be given competency based training to use it.


When Jane Austen died, at the age of 41, she left behind her not only six novels but a large number of manuscripts, ranging from juvenile works to the novel that she was writing at the time of her final illness. The six published novels are now undisputed classics. The manuscripts, however, despite the extraordinary writing they contain and the way in which they illuminate Jane Austen's work as a novelist, are much less well known. From the brilliance of the juvenilia to the urbane modernity of Sanditon these works show Austen pushing the conventional boundaries of fiction, exploring the implications of vulgarity and violence, experimenting with different styles and tones, and practicing and refining her arts of narrative.This Broadview Edition includes Lady Susan, The Watsons, Sanditon, and ten important early manuscript works. Historical appendices include Austen's letters on fiction; continuations written by Austen's niece and nephew of two of her early works; and Sir Walter Scott's important critical appraisal of Austen from 1816.


Mathematical optimization is an essential concept to manage everyday problems. In the Pre-University Spanish Curriculum, the tools for Mathematical Analysis are used to solve optimization problems. It is exactly in this process where the main teaching difficulties appear. In this article, we present the results of an epistemological study in the evolution of optimization throughout the history of the notion, aiming at fixing the meanings of reference. Then, the notion of optimization is presented in three textbooks, being developed in order to obtain the meaning of this notion in the classroom as well as the potential difficulties the students may find in the concept.


Heart rate dependency of ventricular repolarization (VR) parameters has been a well known phenomenon for many years. Other contributing factors, such as Mechano-electric Coupling, are still under investigation. In this work, we analyze step response of VR parameters after abrupt change in mechanical end-diastolic load. 10 isolated rabbit hearts were perfused in Working Heart mode. The protocol consisted of abrupt changes in preload level of 3 cmH2O. Left ventricle electric activity was recorded by seven unipolar leads at sampling frequency 10 kHz. A second-order transfer function model was used to identify basic parameters of QTEND and QTPEAK step responses, detected in reconstructed global pseudo-lead. Results show inverse relationship between changes in the preload and the length of QT related intervals. Increase of the preload causes significant (p<0.05) shortening of both intervals within the range of 1.6— 26.9 ms. On the contrary, preload decreasing leads to prolongation of repolarization parameters, however, with significantly lower (p<0.05) average magnitude. Dynamic response is highly individual among each heart. Average time needed to reach stable QT in our data is 336.0 seconds, while min. and max. value is 41.4 and 894.0 seconds, respectively.


ABSTRACT This article presents a reconstruction and analysis of the Caldwell Mound located in the central Scioto River valley of southern Ohio. The mound contained a log tomb, at least four burials, and associated funerary objects. Four AMS radiocarbon dates place the Caldwell Mound within the last century BC and first century AD, and the mound contains evidence of practices historically associated with "Adena" and "Hopewell." Few other records exist from this period in the region despite it experiencing perhaps some of the most dramatic socioreligious transformations in precolumbian North America. This analysis documents early evidence for the diversification and segregation of leadership roles based on the interpretation of three buried individuals. It also demonstrates the utility and efficacy of working with amateur-produced records and collections, even when incomplete, to reconstruct and glean insight from important Woodland period sites.


&NA; Monocytes/macrophages are major effectors of lung inflammation associated with various forms of pulmonary hypertension (PH). Interactions between the CCL2/CCR2 and CX3CL1/CX3CR1 chemokine systems that guide phagocyte infiltration are incompletely understood. Our objective was to explore the individual and combined actions of CCL2/CCR2 and CX3CL1/CX3CR1 in hypoxia‐induced PH in mice; particularly their roles in monocyte trafficking, macrophage polarization, and pulmonary vascular remodeling. The development of hypoxia‐induced PH was associated with marked increases in lung levels of CX3CR1, CCR2, and their respective ligands, CX3CL1 and CCL2. Flow cytometry revealed that both inflammatory Ly6Chi and resident Ly6Clo monocyte subsets exhibited sustained increases in blood and a transient peak in lung tissue, and that lung perivascular and alveolar macrophage counts showed sustained elevations. CX3CR1‐/‐ mice were protected against hypoxic PH compared with wild‐type mice, whereas CCL2‐/‐ mice and double CX3CR1‐/‐/CCL2‐/‐ mice exhibited similar PH severity, as did wild‐type mice. The protective effects of CX3CR1 deficiency occurred concomitantly with increases in lung monocyte and macrophage counts and with a change from M2 to M1 macrophage polarization that markedly diminished the ability of conditioned media to induce pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell (PA‐SMC) proliferation, which was partly dependent on CX3CL1 secretion. Results in mice given the CX3CR1 inhibitor F1 were similar to those in CX3CR1‐/‐ mice. In conclusion, CX3CR1 deficiency protects against hypoxia‐induced PH by modulating monocyte recruitment, macrophage polarization, and PA‐SMC cell proliferation. Targeting CX3CR1 may hold promise for treating PH.


Until recently, sequencing has primarily been carried out in large genome centers who also invested heavily in developing the computational infrastructure to enable post sequencing analysis. The recent advancements in sequencing technologies have lead to a wide dissemination of sequencing and we are now seeing many sequencing projects being undertaken in small laboratories. However, the limited accessibility to the computational infrastructure and high quality bioinformatic tools needed to enable analysis remains a serious road-block. The cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technologies can help address this barrier. We deploy the Atlas2 Cloud Pipeline for personal genome analysis via the Genboree Workbench using software-as-a-service model. We report on a successful case study of personal genome analysis using this pipeline.


The principal and school leadership team have established and are driving a strong, positive learning culture, grounded in evidence from research and practice. Explicit and clear school-wide expectations have been established with families, teachers, and students. Strong procedures are in place to encourage a school-wide, shared responsibility for student management, and to encourage the development of a culture that promotes learning.


An attempt was made to determine if the tissue response to surgical trauma and foreign body stimulus (silicone implants) could be altered using vitamin E in rats. The animals were divided into four groups: Group A served as controls, Group B were treated by intramuscular vitamin E, Group C were treated topically with vitamin E around the prosthesis, and Group D were treated topically with croton oil around the prosthesis. The animals in each group were killed at 2 week, 1 month, and 3 month intervals. The intraprosthetic pressure in each prosthesis was recorded using a strain gauge transducer. The capsules were then removed and examined histologically using a light microscope and the thickness of pseudocapsules was measured with an ocular micrometer. In Group B significantly thinner pseudocapsules were observed at 2 weeks, but there was no comparable difference either in thickness or degree of contracture (as measured by intraprosthetic pressures) between Groups A and B at 2 months and 3 months. In Group C, the pseudocapsules were significantly thicker at all tested periods and showed noticeable contracture at 3 months. In Group D the pseudocapsules were thickest and cellular infiltrate more marked than in the other groups.


The fun way to introduce coding with Ruby to kids If you don't have the chance to take coding classes at school or in camp or if you just want to learn on your own Ruby For Kids gears you up to expand your technology skills and learn this popular programming language. Written in a way that's easy to follow and keeping the super tech-heavy stuff to a minimum it quickly and easily shows you how to use Ruby to create web and mobile applications with no experience required. Ruby is considered one of the best and simplest languages to start with when you're learning coding. This fun and friendly guide makes it even easier. Broken down into simple projects designed to appeal to younger programmers, Ruby For Kids gets you up and running with core coding concepts in no time. Before you know it, you'll be tackling hands-on projects, enjoying the support of a vibrant community, and feeling a sense of accomplishment as you complete projects. * Navigate the basics of coding with the Ruby language * Use Ruby to create your own applications and games * Find help from other Ruby users * Offers tips for parents and teachers helping kids learn Ruby So what are you waiting for? Ruby For Kids has everything you need to get in on one of the most popular topics around!


: Despite its importance to anglers, the Arkansas River spotted bass ( Micropterus punctulatus ) fishery has not been intensively studied or managed. Thus, spotted bass populations in the lower nine navigation pools of the Arkansas River were assessed during 2004–2005 using nighttime boat-mounted electrofishing. Across years and pools, size structure measures were within acceptable ranges for black basses (mean PSD Q = 38, range 21–56; mean PSD P = 10, range 0–19). Theoretical maximum sizes generated from growth models were not large for spotted bass (mean L ∞ = 395 mm TL, range 351–429 mm total length), though populations exhibited good condition and growth. Total annual mortality estimated from catch curves averaged 49% and ranged from 43%–57% across pools. Although population metrics exhibited few longitudinal relationships within the Arkansas River, spotted bass populations compared favorably to other populations from similar impounded river systems. Spotted bass populations exhibited significant relationships with macrohabitats in the river. Spotted bass catch-per-unit-effort was directly correlated to long-term areal and proportional increases in main channel and dike pool habitats, whereas condition was inversely correlated to area of diked secondary channel habitat. In light of the documented long-term (1973–1999) macrohabitat changes, results suggested that main channel and associated habitats may be important for the continued health of spotted bass populations in the Arkansas River.


It is widely accepted in the American literature that the cricothyroid muscle is responsible for the paramedian position of the vocal fold in recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis. However, support in the literature for this theory is not conclusive, and the cadaveric vocal fold position expected after lesions of the vagus nerve has also been reported in patients with an intact superior laryngeal nerve. This study compares the configuration of the glottis in patients with unilateral paralysis due to known lesions of either the recurrent laryngeal or vagus nerve. Normal subjects were studied as controls. Results indicate that the alteration of glottic configuration in laryngeal paralysis cannot be adequately characterized by standard terms of vocal fold position. The paralyzed vocal fold is shortened, with anterior rotation of the arytenoid. Patients with vagus nerve lesions had a statistically insignificant tendency for a more lateral vocal fold position, but a discrete difference in position between the two groups was not identified. This study also confirms prior observations that paralyzed vocal folds are frequently not denervated. These findings have significant implications for management of laryngeal paralysis.


The objective of this study was to investigate the aerodynamic effects of a freight train passing through a tunnel. The nose entry generates a complex pattern of reflective pressure waves (piston effect) which can lead to intense aerodynamic forces. Previous research on the topic has focused on passenger trains because of higher speeds. The experiments of this study use a 1/25th scaled moving model at the TRAIN Rig at a speed of 33.5 m/s with a blockage ratio of 0.202. The monitored pressure along the tunnel wall can increase up to almost 1000 Pa because of the initial compression wave, while it drops when an expansion wave or the tail passes by. The maximum pressure is observed at the train nose due to air stagnation (1500 Pa) where the flow is steady, while the roof and sides experience negative pressures due to unsteady flow separation. The effect of loading configuration is significant as partially loaded trains can create a second pressure peak on the tunnel walls (after the initial compression wave) and affect the flow at the tunnel entrance wall. Under the current testing conditions, the results indicated compliance with the requirements of the Technical Specification for Interoperability and a constant pressure gradient of the initial compression wave which is in contrast with the passenger train's two-part gradient. Further work on the topic could provide visual information about the exiting jet towards the portal and the separation bubble around the train.


The synthesis of collagenase in Acinetobacter sp. was found to be inducible by denatured collagen and by its high molecular weight fragments. The presence in the inducer of part of the tertiary structure appear to be indispensable. On the other hand, an addition of Casamino acids, meat protein hydrolysate, or a mixture of amino acids with a similar composition to gelatin does not stimulate collagenase synthesis. Enzyme production was severely repressed in the early phase of growth by glucose, arabinose, and ribose, single amino acids, proline, hydroxyproline, alanine, glutamic acid or casein acid hydrolysate. A mechanism of repression similar to catabolite repression was involved in the phenomenon caused by carbohydrates. However, the fact that cyclic adenosine 3'5-monophosphate did not overcome the repression caused by amino acids or Casamino acids, in contrast to classical catabolite repression, suggests that these two forms of repression may be distinct.


The addition of carbon to Ni-base superalloy single crystals has been increasingly carried out to improve low angle grain boundary (LAGB) resistance and castability. Consequently, the precipitation of carbides is highly probable during long-term application of components subjected to higher temperatures (> 1000 °C). While the view on the role of carbides as strengthening or detrimental is polemical, their inevitable increased presence in carbon-doped alloys must be addressed. In the present work, the evolution of M23C6 carbides forming in the commercial grade Ni-base superalloy LEK 94 during high-temperature and low-stress creep exposure is assessed. Although carbon is not intentionally added to the LEK 94 alloy, it admits up to 0.1 at. %, which together with the high content of M23C6-forming transition metals, leads to their precipitation. The precipitation is induced here during creep experiments at 1020 °C and a nominal applied stress of 160 MPa along [001]. The correlation of precipitation and external load is carried out by evaluating the carbides in the gage section of parallel and circularly notched cylindrical samples, as well as in their heads. Characterization is made by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Although primary MC carbides form mostly in interdendritic regions during casting, high temperature exposure induces M23C6 carbide nucleation especially in the γ phase of dendritic regions, where a stronger partitioning of refractory elements is present. The carbides have a needle shape with their main axis on 〈100〉 and a cube-on-cube orientation relationship. They present incoherent {100} facets along their elongated region and semi-coherent {111} facets at their ends. Their nucleation and growth mechanisms are discussed based on microstructural observation under different experimental conditions.


(AS), 4V, quadrigeminal plate (QP), cerebellar vermis (CV-sagittal), mesencephalon (M), pons, medulla (Med). Patients were divided in 3 gestational periods: 18–21, 22–28, 29–38 weeks. Results: V-Mode is statistically more efficient than of B-Mode for imaging the following mid-sagittal structures: CC 1652 vs. 664 (91% vs. 34%); fornix 1597 vs. 594 (88% vs. 33); AS 1080 vs. 218 (59% vs. 12%); QP 1251 vs. 294 (69% vs. 16%); CVs 1648 vs. 1351 (90% vs. 74%); pons 1284 vs. 1041 (70% vs. 51%). Both techniques do not differ in the visualisation of CSP, 3V, and mesenchephalon. Medulla is better visualised by B-Mode respect of V-Mode. Application of sono-MRI to both techniques does not statistically increase the visualisation of encephalic mid-sagittal structures. Conclusions: It is easier to visualise encephalic mid-sagittal structures with TA V-Mode than B-Mode. Sono-MRI, applied both to VMode and B-Mode, does not improve visualisation of mid-sagittal structures but does increase the quality of B-Mode and V-Mode imaging, and reduces problems related with interpolation of data in reformatted scans of acquired volume.


For successful exploitation of geothermal reservoirs, temperature and transmissibility are key factors. The Molasse Basin in Germany is a region in which these requirements are frequently fulfilled. In particular, the Upper Jurassic Malm aquifer, which benefits from high permeability due to locally intense karstification, hosts a large number of successful geothermal projects. Most of these are located close to Munich and the “Stadtwerke München (SWM)” intends to use this potential to generate most of the district heating demands from geothermal plants by 2040.

We use geophysical logging data and sidewall cores to analyse the spatial distribution of reservoir properties that determine porosity, permeability, and temperature distribution. The data are derived from six deviated wells drilled from one well site. The reservoir rocks are separated by faults and lie in three different tectonic blocks. The datasets include image logs, GR, sonic velocities, temperature, flowmeter- and mud logs. We not only focus on correlations between rock porosity and matrix permeability, but also on how permeability provided by fractures and karstification correlate with inflow zones and reservoir temperature. In addition, we correlate individual parameters with respect to their lithology, dolomitisation and the rock’s image fabric type, adapted from Steiner and Böhm (2011).

Our results show that fracture intensity and orientations vary strongly, between and within individual wells. However, we observed local trends between fracture systems and rock properties. For instance fracture intensities and vp velocities (implying lower porosities) are higher in rock sections classified as dolomites without bedding contacts. As these homogeneous-appearing dolomites increase, from N to S, the mean fracture intensities and vp velocities also increase. Furthermore, we observed most frequently substantial karstification in dolomites and dolomitic limestones. Nevertheless, an opposing trend for the percentage of substantial karstification can be also found, i.e., the amount of massive karstification is higher in the northern wells. The interpretation of flowmeter measurements show that the main inflow zones concentrate in those Upper Malm sections that are characterised by karstification and/or intense fracturing.

In the next step, we will correlate laboratory measurements of outcrop- and reservoir samples (e.g. porosity, permeability, and mechanical rock properties) with the logging data. The aim is to test the degree to which analogue samples can contribute to reservoir characterization in the Upper Jurassic Malm Aquifer (Bauer et al., 2017).

This work is carried out in the research project REgine "Geophysical-geological based reservoir engineering for deep-seated carbonates" and is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (FKZ: 0324332B).

Bauer, J. F., Krumbholz, M., Meier, S., and Tanner, D. C.: Predictability of properties of a fractured geothermal reservoir: The opportunities and limitations of an outcrop analogue study, Geothermal Energy, 5, 24, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40517-017-0081-0, 2017.

Steiner, U., Böhm, F.: Lithofacies and Structure in Imagelogs of Carbonates and their Reservoir Implications in Southern Germany. Extended Abstract 1st Sustainable Earth Sciences Conference & Exhibition – Technologies for Sustainable Use of the Deep Sub-surface, Valencia, Spain, 8-11 November, 2011.


Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the most common genetic cardiovascular disorder and is associated with symptoms of heart failure and increased risk of sudden cardiac death. The most common condition is obstruction of the left ventricular outflow tract. Surgical septal myectomy and alcohol septal ablation are the 2 accepted modes of septal reduction therapy and are indicated when there are advanced symptoms and a peak left ventricular outflow gradient ≥50 mmHg. Advantages of alcohol septal ablation are limited groin approach, reduction of obstruction of the left ventricular outflow tract and functional improvement, but there are higher chances for intracardiac device implantation and residual obstruction. Septal myectomy offers very low mortality, absolute and immediate resolution of obstruction of the left ventricular outflow tract and survival comparative to a matched general population with almost negligible residual obstruction. It is recommended that patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy should be treated at experienced centres.


The details of a settlement monitoring program (SMP) at a multipurpose site development project are presented in this paper. The SMP consisted of constructing: (1) two test fill pads, one over about 55-year old waste and the second one over about 45-year old waste; (2) thirty shallow surface monuments, and (3) four deep (Sondex) settlement monitoring systems. These settlement measuring instruments were monitored for about three years. Based on the evaluation of these monitored data the coefficients of secondary compression for municipal solid waste (MSW) were estimated to be 0.01 due to external loading for test locations, and 0.39 and 0.12 due to self-weight of 45-year old and 55-year old wastes, respectively. The results of this SMP can be used to locate structures in different areas at the site depending on their relative sensitivity to settlements. Also, using these results, a predicted settlement contour plan can be prepared that may be used for site grading and drainage plans.


The anticipated growth of air traffic worldwide requires enhanced Air Traffic Management (ATM) technologies and procedures to increase the system capacity, efficiency, and resilience, while reducing environmental impact and maintaining operational safety. To deal with these challenges, new automation and information exchange capabilities are being developed through different modernisation initiatives toward a new global operational concept called Trajectory Based Operations (TBO), in which aircraft trajectory information becomes the cornerstone of advanced ATM applications. This transformation will lead to higher levels of system complexity requiring enhanced Decision Support Tools (DST) to aid humans in the decision making processes. These will rely on accurate predicted aircraft trajectories, provided by advanced Trajectory Predictors (TP). The trajectory prediction process is subject to stochastic effects that introduce uncertainty into the predictions. Regardless of the assumptions that define the aircraft motion model underpinning the TP, deviations between predicted and actual trajectories are unavoidable.
This thesis proposes an innovative method to characterise the uncertainty associated with a trajectory prediction based on the mathematical theory of Polynomial Chaos Expansions (PCE). Assuming univariate PCEs of the trajectory prediction inputs, the method describes how to generate multivariate PCEs of the prediction outputs that quantify their associated uncertainty. Arbitrary PCE (aPCE) was chosen because it allows a higher degree of flexibility to model input uncertainty. The obtained polynomial description can be used in subsequent prediction sensitivity analyses thanks to the relationship between polynomial coefficients and Sobol indices. The Sobol indices enable ranking the input parameters according to their influence on trajectory prediction uncertainty.
The applicability of the aPCE-based uncertainty quantification detailed herein is analysed through a study case. This study case represents a typical aircraft trajectory prediction problem in ATM, in which uncertain parameters regarding aircraft performance, aircraft intent description, weather forecast, and initial conditions are considered simultaneously. Numerical results are compared to those obtained from a Monte Carlo simulation, demonstrating the advantages of the proposed method. The thesis includes two examples of DSTs (Demand and Capacity Balancing tool, and Arrival Manager) to illustrate the potential benefits of exploiting the proposed uncertainty quantification method.


The challenges for academics in meeting the learning requirements of students are many and varied. This research focuses on the concept of personalised learning, where activities are specifically selected to suit the learning requirements of individual students. The creation of personalised learning activities to suit every student's learning needs, are not easily achieved. A survey was conducted in June 2012 to determine academics awareness of, and views on, the 'novel teaching approach' of personalised e-learning in higher education. Forty academics participated in this study. 60% of academic respondents agreed with the statement: "There is a need to personalise e-learning to suit individual student's learning requirements". 85% of respondents agreed that e-learning can enhance the learning experience of students, and 70% were of the opinion that the use of personalised e- learning activities would enhance the learning experience of students. 43% of respondents agreed that they would use an authoring tool for personalising e-learning if one was available, and 43% did not know if they would use one or not. 'Prior knowledge' was perceived as the most important student characteristic on which to base personalisation and the easiest to achieve, and 'web navigational behaviour' was seen as the least important and most difficult to achieve. This study contributes to existing research into the development of authoring tools to facilitate the creation of personalised e-learning activities by non-technical authors.


This paper studies a class of dynamic voluntary contribution games in a setting with discounting and neoclassical payoffs (differentiable, strictly concave in the public good, and quasilinear in the private good). An achievable profile is the limit point of a subgame perfect equilibrium path -- the ultimate cumulative contribution vector of the players. A profile is shown to be achievable only if it is in the undercore of the underlying coalitional game, i.e., the profile cannot be blocked by a coalition using a component-wise smaller profile. Conversely, if free-riding incentives are strong enough that contributing zero is a dominant strategy in the stage games, then any undercore profile is the limit of achievable profiles as the period length shrinks. Thus, in this case when the period length is very short, (i) the set of achievable contributions does not depend on whether the players can move simultaneously or only in a round-robin fashion; (ii) an efficient profile can be approximately achieved if and only if it is in the core of the underlying coalitional game; and (iii) any achievable profile can be achieved almost instantly.


Bird species world over are faced with the problem of habitat changes. Conservation of birds in fragments of habitats is increasingly important due to the diverse uses of the environment. To meet this challenge, predicting abundance of bird species in relation to specific vegetation taxa in the habitats is required .This study determined bird species abundance and their relationship with habitat variables of tree, shrub and herb abundance. Study conducted in the forested bitumen belt of Ode-Irele, Ondo state, Nigeria evaluated habitat use by birds using 20- minutes birds point count to a radius of 30 meters, carried out in six selected habitats. The vegetation cover was sampled using 5x5-meters and 1m 2 quadrants. Data collected were subjected to t-test of independent variables with LSD in ANOVA for birds' use of habitats and linear regression for the dependence of birds' abundance on habitats' variables.88 bird species belonging to 31 families were associated with the study area. The abundance of birds was significantly affected by habitat types (P<0.05) and predicted by habitat variables. The study would assist decision makers in the management and conservation of habitats' variables critical to the survival of bird species during the bitumen development phase. Keywords : Abundance, Birds, Bitumen, Conservation, Habitats, Nigeria


Background : Traditionally, a fat child is considered as an 'attractive' child and is often referred to as a 'healthy' child, one who is likely to survive the rigors of undernourishment and infection. The obesity has been defined as a condition of abnormal or excessive fat accumulation in adipose tissue, to the extent that health may be impaired. Obesity can be seen as the first wave of a defined cluster of non communicable diseases called New World Syndrome creating an enormous socioeconomic and public health burden in poorer countries. Objective : To study the prevalence of childhood obesity in study area. Materials and Methods : The present cross-sectional study was carried out in Municipal Corporation area among school going children during the period of 1 st Sept 2009 to 31 st August 2010. We prepared the list of children, roll number wise from selected school. Four hundred school children were included in study (286 from government school and 114 from private school). Selection was done by systematic sampling method. First we selected 10 th roll number and then every 10 th roll number children was included in the study. Those children who were absent on the day of survey were not included. The weight and height was measurement by the investigator himself to avoid possible observer's bias. Shoes, Chapels were removed before taking the weight and weight. Results and Conclusion : The study conducted among a sample of 400 school children of Municipal corporation area revealed that 30 (7.5%) of the children were overweight, 25 (6.3%) were obese and 345 (86.3%) of them were normal. Out of a total of 400 children screened, 206 (51.5%) were girls and 194 (48.5%) were boys. Among the total girls, 10.2% were overweight and 6.3% were obese, 83.5% were normal. Similarly, among total boys 4.6% were overweight and 6.2% were obese, 89.2% were normal. The prevalence of overweight and obesity were higher in girls than boys. Difference in the distribution of children according to sex was not statistically significant. The age group of 13-14 years showed highest prevalence in overweight (18%) and obesity (9%).


Disruption to dopamine homeostasis during brain development has been implicated in a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression and schizophrenia. Inappropriate expression or activity of GABAergic interneurons are common features of many of these disorders. We discovered a persistent upregulation of GAD67+ and parvalbumin+ neurons within the anterior cingulate cortex of dopamine D2 receptor knockout mice, while other GABAergic interneuron markers were unaffected. Interneuron distribution and number were not altered in the striatum or in the dopamine-poor somatosensory cortex. The changes were already present by postnatal day 14, indicating a developmental etiology. D2eGFP BAC transgenic mice demonstrated the presence of D2 receptor expression within a subset of parvalbumin-expressing cortical interneurons, suggesting the possibility of a direct cellular mechanism through which D2 receptor stimulation regulates interneuron differentiation or survival. D2 receptor knockout mice also exhibited decreased depressive-like behavior compared with wild-type controls in the tail suspension test. These data indicate that dopamine signaling modulates interneuron number and emotional behavior and that developmental D2 receptor loss or blockade could reveal a potential mechanism for the prodromal basis of neuropsychiatric disorders.


Transfer learning aims to leverage models pre-trained on source data to efficiently adapt to target setting, where only limited data are available for model fine-tuning. Recent works empirically demonstrate that adversarial training in the source data can improve the ability of models to transfer to new domains. However, why this happens is not known. In this paper, we provide a theoretical model to rigorously analyze how adversarial training helps transfer learning. We show that adversarial training in the source data generates provably better representations, so fine-tuning on top of this representation leads to a more accurate predictor of the target data. We further demonstrate both theoretically and empirically that semi-supervised learning in the source data can also improve transfer learning by similarly improving the representation. Moreover, performing adversarial training on top of semi-supervised learning can further improve transferability, suggesting that the two approaches have complementary benefits on representations. We support our theories with experiments on popular data sets and deep learning architectures.


The incidence of auto-immune diseases is increasing nowa- days. Despite of the development of diagnosis and management of diseases, they remained chronic diseases. The patient's lifespan expansion requires long-term treatment with harmful agents, such as Methotrexate or other immuno-suppressive drugs. The Methotrexate toxicities are based on the duration and cumulative dosing of drug, and the combination with other drugs. Myelosuppression and consequent pancytopenia is the most frequent hematologic toxicity, which occur mostly later during low dose methotrexate administration. We demonstrate three cases of low dose Methotrexate toxicity in older patients with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.
All patients were treated with low dose Methotrexate along more than one year continuously.
Two old patients with RA and another with psoriasis developed pancytopenia causing severe neutropenia, cutaneous bleeding, and bruising and septic condition. They required intravenous antibiotic therapy, corticosteroids and limited transfusion dependence as a result of low dose Methotrexate.
We have assessed the possible causes of Methotrexate toxicities and found that all patients used non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs because of pain and protonpump inhibitor to avoid development of peptic ulcer. Two patients recovered, another died in septic condition.
We would like to drawn attention of hematologists, dermatologists and rheumatologists to the harmful effect of low dose methotrexate in this patient population and emphasize the role of rigorous and consequent hematologic testing to avoid these severe late complications.


In Computer Graphics, light plays an important role in the appearance of a scene. Choosing a different light configuration can lead to many different aesthetics for the final image. Lighting design is even more complex when using sophisticated global illumination rendering methods. In this report, we present a new approach to automatically design a lighting configuration according to the lighting goal specified by the user. The lighting goal is expressed as a set of target parameters. These target parameters are used to set up an objective function such that, when the function is minimized, the aesthetics of the image rendered using these optimal light parameters meet the requirements set by the user. Our results show that this method can be used to automatically design a lighting configuration that will give to the final image a classic photographic aesthetics, such as high-key or low-key aesthetics.


ABSTRACT Fabric data from a 2.5-m-thick basal till succession in Kurzetnik, Poland, consisting of three structurally distinct till units including a deformation till were examined to test whether different processes of deposition and deformation as indicated by till structure are reflected in the till fabric pattern. Surprisingly, throughout the succession the till fabric is unidirectional and very highly clustered (mean S1 = 0.876) and standard fabric interpretation methods including binary and triangular diagrams failed to differentiate between the three units and constrain the origin of the till facies. It is shown that the a-axis length as well as the ratio between a/b and a/c axes has no effect on the fabric strength, and there is no correlation between the fabric strength and clast size within the 0.7-5.6 cm grain-size range. The bootstrapping method applied to test the statistical significance of variance shows that (1) some variations in the fabric strength within the same till facies are due to the sampling effect, while other variations can be interpreted as true effects of strain, and (2) fabric strength may vary significantly over very short distances within the same till facies. Very high fabric strength in the deformation till is inconsistent with a model of weak to moderate fabric strength resulting from penetrative deformation, supporting the theory that subglacial deforming tills behave as Coulomb plastic rather than viscous materials.


Participation in the learning-outcome assessment is an important expectation of most communication teachers. Considerable communication research has been devoted to defining assessment, identifying what is assessed, and determining how best to do assessment (Morreale, Backlund, Hay, & Moore, 2011). The National Communication Association (NCA) recently announced the publication of Learning Outcomes in Communication (NCA, 2015). This case study explores how a program, one new to learning-outcome assessment in the basic course, overcame common challenges with implementing assessments. The case illustrates how to use assessment data meaningfully and offers specific strategies that individual communication instructors, course directors, and assessment leaders can use to close-the-loop for communication learning-outcome assessment. The strategies discerned help to ensure that the time and energy that are devoted to the assessment's data collection and analysis benefit students and faculty.


Dental traumas in children are common; therefore the dentist should be trained to solve them. This paper presents the diagnosis, treatment and outcome of a child with a 12 mm overjet, mouth breathing habit and bilabial incompetence who suffered a severe trauma to tooth number 11, causing its mobility. A splint was applied to the affected tooth and subsequently, a root canal filling was performed, all with a satisfactory outcome. Although these traumas are common, the presentation of this case is important due to its use in the teaching context.


Our case presents an artist using a car as an instrument. Contemporary technology enables artists to take everyday objects and create original compositions. Through the use of mobile smartphones, laptops and audio recording technologies the recording studio becomes a much more broadly defined space. We explore implications of audio capture and composition in an efficient manner, through taking simple everyday sounds and processing them to explore the range of creative possibilities. In this space, the environment becomes a canvas for discovery, composition and creative exploration, with limitless potential. We describe some of the working processes of musicians involved in this practice, the challenges, roles and emergent metadata therein.


UNLABELLED: This activity is designed for leaders and managers of healthcare organizations, particularly those involved in the development of physician incentive and physician management programs. GOAL: To describe the challenges inherent in influencing physicians and review the essential elements of any successful strategy for achieving physician support and participation. OBJECTIVES: 1. Describe the reasons why healthcare organizations and medical groups need to influence physicians to be successful. 2. Cite the reasons why it is difficult to influence physicians. 3. Review the current strategies healthcare organizations and medical groups use to influence physicians. 4. Outline the three essential elements of any program designed to influence physicians.


The aim of the research was to determinate type of Allophane minerals by means of Thermogram and to know type of Allophane minerals with Allophane±Organic Matter relations. The research was done in Dolat Rakyat villages, District of Tiga Panah Karo Regency, In Soil Fertility Laboratory University of North Sumatera, and College of Chemical Industry (PTKI), Medan in June October 2014. Soil type is Andisol. The result of the research in Dolat Rakyat Village Tiga Panah District, Regency of Karo Thermogram interpretation showed that type of Allophane minerals Andisol that is Allophane B. Allophane-Organic Matter relations showed that type of Allophane minerals is Allophane B with positive relations between Allophane-Humic Acid; negative relations between Allophane-Fulvic Acid, and Allophane-Humic Acid+Fulvic Acid. Key Word : Allophane, Andisol, Organic Matter


Purpose – This research aims to describe sustainability practices adopted by companies and the influence they have with the involvement of stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative investigation, using case study methodology, was undertaken in 17 companies that use strategic sustainability practices in some way. The companies were observed under the theoretical perspective of social responsibility and sustainability, and with the approach of strategic practices. Findings – Interpreting the data produces an alternative framework of analysis for strategic organizational activities oriented toward the understanding of practices of sustainability, especially in processes aimed at catering to and/or involving stakeholders. The research further supports the idea that sustainability practices, regardless of their level of implementation, have a strong relationship, in these companies, with stakeholder interests. Originality/value – The intent is that the proposed analytical framework will allow further debate toward better understanding of actions focused on environmental determinism and internal company conditions.


Power consumption of pipelined ADCs is a strong function of the number of bits resolved per stage, particularly for high-performance ADCs. Despite this, conventional design techniques continue to use interstage gain levels of 2N which leave significant gaps in the design space, limiting the extent of optimization. This paper discusses a design method for arbitrary integer-valued interstage gain which retain all benefits of conventional schemes while optimizing power consumption. To demonstrate the practical benefits, a prototype 16-bit 20 Msps ADC with a target power consumption of 200 mW is designed using the proposed techniques.


Isotretinoin a synthetic analogue of vitamin A is primarily used for cystic acne not responding to conventional treatment. Several ocular side effects including blurring of vision, decreased dark adaptation, corneal opacities and meibomian gland atrophy have been reported with prolonged use of isotretinoin. There have been reports of muscular damage caused by isotretinoin. Extra ocular myopathy as an adverse effect of long term used of isotretinoin has never been mentioned in literature. We report a case of a young male who presented to us with complaints of diplopia after using isotretinoin for a prolonged period. He was diagnosed as a case of presumed isotretinoin extraocular myopathy after imaging and other blood investigations.


Human melanoma cell lines and tumor tissue from familial and sporadic melanomas have frequent, nonrandom chromosomal breaks and deletions on chromosome 9p21, a region that includes the tumor suppressor geneCDKN2A/ p16 . Germ-line mutations within this gene have been observed in some familial melanoma kindreds, but somatic mutation in sporadic primary melanoma is infrequent. Thirty-nine archival, paraffin-embedded, sporadic, primary cutaneous malignant melanomas (20>3-mm-thick and 19 <0.75-mm-thick cases) were examined for mutations of the CDKN2A gene using single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis and direct sequencing. No mutations were detected. Loss of heterozygosity for the 9p21 microsatellite marker D9S942was detected in 6 of 17 informative thick lesions (35%) but 0 of 18 thin lesions ( P 5 0.006). These results support other studies indicating that intragenic mutation is an infrequent mechanism ofCDKN2A inactivation in primary melanoma. The finding of loss of heterozygosity for the 9p21 microsatellite D9S942 in thick but not thin primary melanoma suggests that deletion or inactivation of CDKN2A or other tumor suppressor gene(s) at this locus is involved in the progression rather than initiation of sporadic malignant melanoma.


Transparent zinc oxide (ZnO) films on flexible copper-coated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheet have been grown by a potentiostatic cathodic deposition technique using aqueous zinc nitrate as electrolyte. ZnO films were fabricated using different deposition parameters such as applied potential, electrolyte concentration and bath temperature. Their structural and optical properties were characterized by X-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscope, diffuse reflectance UV-VIS spectrophotometer and photoluminescence spectrometer. The effects of these deposition parameters on the structural and optical properties of the fabricated ZnO films have been investigated. On the basis of our results, we demonstrate that high quality ZnO films have been successfully grown on flexible polymeric substrates using a low temperature potentiostatic cathodic deposition technique.


Structural plate elements in composite structures are typically fabricated by stacking orthotropic layers, each of which is composed of reinforcing fibers and matrix materials. In this work, three optimum design approaches are compared to clarify the advantages and disadvantages for optimizing the buckling performance of laminated composite plates. The first approach is developed recently by the authors, where the buckling load is maximized with respect to the lamination parameters by a gradient method and then the optimum lay-up design is determined by minimizing the errors between the optimum parameters and parameters for all possible discrete lay-ups. The second approach is the layerwise optimization (LO) approach where the fiber orientation angle in each layer is optimized step-by-step by repeating one dimensional search. The third one is a direct application of a simple genetic algorithm (SGA). In numerical examples, three sets of results are compared to discuss on the methodology for buckling optimization.


We report the case of a 31-year-old pregnant woman who had previously undergone surgery and combined chemo-/radiotherapy at the age of 8 years. In the 32nd 5/7 week of pregnancy she had a cesarean section due to cervical insufficiency and amniotic infection syndrome. During the cesarean section, a placenta percreta within an extremely thin myometrium was found, necessitating a hysterectomy. We discuss whether chemo-/radiotherapy damaged the endometrium and myometrium such that, while pregnancy was possible, it resulted in pathological placentation and preterm delivery.