PURPOSE
We aimed to investigate the association between ATP Binding Cassette Subfamily B Member 1 (ABCB1) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the pharmacokinetics of tacrolimus.

METHODS
A systematic search was conducted in Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Web of Science (SCI), MEDLINE, and Embase from inception to November 2022. Outcomes included weight-adjusted daily dose (DD) and dose-adjusted trough concentration (C0/Dose).

RESULTS
A total of 1059 liver or kidney transplant recipients from 14 publications were included. For adult liver transplantation recipients, DD of ABCB1 3435C>T CC carriers was 0.03 mg/kg/day (WMD = 0.03, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.05, I 2 = 0%) higher than ABCB1 3435C>T T carriers at post-transplantation ≤ 7 days; C0/dose of ABCB1 3435C>T CC carriers were 31.88 (WMD = -31.88, 95% CI: -62.32 to -1.45, I 2 = 83.5%) or 34.61 (ng/ml)/(mg/kg/day) (WMD = -34.61, 95% CI: -65.26 to -3.97, I 2 = 55.3%) lower than ABCB1 3435C>T T carriers at post-transplantation ≤ 7 or 14 days, respectively. No difference in C0/dose was observed for ABCB1 2677G>T/A or ABCB1 1236C>T SNPs in both liver and kidney transplant recipients.

CONCLUSION
ABCB1 3435C>T SNP might have a potential impact on tacrolimus pharmacokinetics in the early stage after liver transplantation, indicating the probability of individualized immunosuppressive therapy based on genetic polymorphism. Given some limitations, further well-designed prospective studies are warranted to validate these conclusions.


Until recently, the selection of which glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor to use for patients with acute coronary syndromes or those undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention largely reflected physician preference, costs, and any evidence supporting the clinical indication. Clinicians often assumed a class effect for these agents: a benefit observed for one agent in one clinical setting (such as percutaneous coronary intervention) would confer benefit in another (such as non–ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes). The need for evidence to guide treatment selection motivated the design of the Do Tirofiban and ReoPro Give Similar Efficacy Trial (TARGET) and the Global Use of Strategies to Open occluded arteries (GUSTO-IV) trials with abciximab. This review examines the results from these and other recent trials of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibition in acute coronary syndromes and percutaneous coronary intervention, presents a rationale for the lack of a consistent benefit with abciximab, and describes future directions for clinical investigation.


This paper reviews all species within the scale insect subfamily Ceroplastinae (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea:Coccidae) known from the Afrotropical Region (here including the whole of Africa, the Atlantic islands of Azores,Madeira, Canary Is., Sao Tome, Principe, and Cape Verde Is., and the Indian Ocean islands of Madagascar, Seychelles,Mauritius, Reunion, Comoros, and Aldabra). At the start of the review, there were 64 species of wax scale insects andsubspecies in 4 genera recorded from this area. This paper describes or redescribes 58 species, 9 of them new, andsynonymises 18 species. We consider that these species are best placed in 19 species-groups and 2 genera, Ceroplastes Grey and Waxiella De Lotto, based on adult female morphology. Only 1 species and 1 subspecies previously recordedfrom Africa have not been seen (Waxiella erithraeus (Leonardi) and Waxiella mimosae neghelli (Bellio)). The preciseidentity of species close to C. rusci (Linnaeus) in Africa still requires further study, probably using molecular analysis asseveral records are considered to refer to cryptic or sibling species. The records of C. ceriferus (Fabricius) and C. actiniformis Green from Africa are considered to be misidentifications. The new species are: C. balachowskyi Hodgson& Peronti spec. nov., C. danieleae Hodgson & Peronti spec. nov., C. delottoi Hodgson & Peronti, spec. nov., C. elaeis Hodgson & Peronti, spec. nov., C. ghesquierei Hodgson & Peronti spec. nov., C. jos Hodgson & Peronti spec. nov., C. mori Hodgson & Peronti spec. nov., C. neobrachystegiae Hodgson & Peronti spec. nov. and C. newsteadi Hodgson P Ceroplastes candela Cockerell & King syn. nov. of Gascardia madagascariensis Targioni Tozzetti (now in Ceroplastes); C. combreti Brain syn. nov. of G. madagascariensis; C. uapacae Hall syn. nov. of C. personatus Newstead; C. vinsonioides Newstead syn. nov. of C. personatus; C. fumidus De Lotto syn. nov. of Coccus rusci Linnaeus (now in Ceroplastes); C. hololeucus De Lotto syn. nov. of C. singularis Newstead; C. spicatus Hall syn. nov. of C. eucleae Brain; C. coniformis Newstead syn. nov. of C. theobromae Newstead; C. constricta De Lotto syn. nov. of C. lamborni Newstead; Ceroplastes egbarum fulleri Cockerell & Cockerell syn. nov. of C. egbara Cockerell (now in Waxiella); Ceroplastes egbarum rhodesiensis Hall syn. nov. of C. egbara; Ceroplastes martinoi Almeida syn. nov. of C. egbara; Ceroplastes ugandae Newstead syn. nov. of C. egbara; Ceroplastes zonatus Newstead syn. nov. of C. egbara; Ceroplastes berliniae Hall syn. nov. of C. subsphaerica Newstead (now in Waxiella); Ceroplastes berlineae enkeldoorni Hall syn. nov. of C. subsphaerica; and Waxiella tamaricis Ben-Dov syn. nov. of C. mimosae Signoret (now in Waxiella). A neotype isdesignated for Coccus rusci Linnaeus (now Ceroplastes rusci (L.)). The subspecies Ceroplastes africanus senegalensis Marchal is here raised to specific rank and transferred to Waxiella as W. senegalensis (Marchal) stat. nov. Ceroplastes luteolus De Lotto, previously synonymised with C. brevicauda Hall, and C. tenuitectus Green, previously synonymisedwith C. rusci (L.), are here accepted as good species (stat. rev.). Ceroplastes cirripediformis Comstock is recorded fromAfrica (South Africa) for the first time. Waxiella uvariae (Marchal) is transferred back to Ceroplastes as C. uvariae Marchal stat. rev. Due to the large number of synonymies introduced here and in order to stabilise the status of some ofthe species, lectotypes have been designated for the following species: C. afrinanus senegalensis Marchal; C. berliniae Hall; C. berliniae enkeldoorni Hall; C. bipartitus Newstead; C. brevicauda Hall; C. coniformis Newstead; C. egbarum fulleri Cockerell & Cockerell; C. egbarum rhodesiensis Hall; C. elytropappi Brain; C. eucleae Brain; C. eugeniae Hall; C. ficus Newstead; C. galeatus Newstead; C. helichrysi Hall; C. lamborni Newstead; C. longicauda Brain; C. personatus Newstead; C. quadrilineatus Newstead; C. quadrilineatus simplex Brain; C. quadrilineatus royenae Hall; C. singularis Newstead; C. sinoiae Hall; C. tachardiaformis Brain; C. tenuitectus Green; C. toddaliae Hall; C. toddaliae spicatus Hall; C. uapacea Hall; C. uapacea chrysophyllae Hall; C. ugandae Newstead; C. uvariae Marchal; C. vinsonioides Newstead; C. vuilleti Marchal and C. zonatus Newstead. Keys are provided to identify the 19 species-groups recognised from thearea here studied and to all species in each species-group. There is a short final discussion, including such topics as thedistribution and the relationships of the species found on the Atlantic and Indian Ocean Islands. Maps are providedshowing the country distribution of each of the species covered and a list of plant species known as host of Ceroplastinae in the Afrotropical Region is appended.


A comparison between United Kingdom (UK) and Australian law concerning irreducible life sentences indicates that human rights charters and/or other strong human rights guarantees in a jurisdiction can produce improved protections for offenders against penal populism. In a series of challenges to draconian state laws that remove any possibility of parole from ten notorious murderers, the Australian courts steadfastly refused to intervene. Without clear authority to consider such legislation's effect on human rights, the judges were careful to avoid creating any perception that they were undemocratically overriding Parliament's will. But while the UK approach to irreducible life sentences is more desirable than that prevailing in Australia – especially concerning child offenders – Vinter v United Kingdom and succeeding events demonstrate that even courts that have explicitly been empowered to resolve human rights controversies possess far from a complete freedom, or ability, to effect change in this emotive area.


Inclusive momentum spectra and multiplicity distributions of charged particles measured with the BESII detector at center of mass energies of 2.2, 2.6, 3.0, 3.2, 4.6 and 4.8 GeV are presented. Values of the second binomial moment, R2, obtained from the multiplicity distributions are reported. These results are compared with both experimental data from high energy ee, ep and pp̄ experiments and QCD calculations.


The influence of perceived severity and sense of personal responsibility of police officers on their level of involvement in cases of intimate partner violence against women is analyzed. Three levels of police involvement are considered: low, medium, and high. The sample consists of 143 Spanish police officers. A 2 × 2 × 3 factorial design is conducted to test hypotheses. Effects of perceived severity and personal responsibility are found only at the highest level of police involvement. For low and medium levels of involvement, no differences in perceived severity and personal responsibility of police officers are found.


The proposed research design relies on the use of case study research. This method has been chosen because its use is appropriate when the researcher seeks to understand a real-life contemporary phenomenon in depth and within its context, and questions related to "how" are being asked (Yin, 2014). Furthermore, it facilitates a more comprehensive study of social networks and the actions, decisions and motives that they involve (Feagin et al., 1991). For this research, SFSCs represent the contemporary phenomena or case studies to be explored within its real-life context. Additionally, multiple cases will be selected as studies based on multiple-case design are regarded as more robust and offering more convincing evidence, which in turn serves to address potential issues related to reliability and analytic generalizability (Yin, 2014). Regarding theory building and generalization of findings, multiple-case design is also ideal and lends itself to falsification as proposed by Popper (Starman, 2013). Falsification requires the comparison of statements deduced from theory with empirical results. If the outcome of such comparison is negative, we may say that statements have been falsified and therefore the theory from where they were deduced. As long as the theory is capable of withstanding continued empirical tests (in this case, multiple case studies) and show positive outcomes, we may say that the theory is corroborated (Popper, 1935/2002).


ABSTRACT Rebel governance assumes a symbiotic relationship between coercion and public goods provision. However, in the rebel-held town of Ndélé, Central African Republic, we find that governance happens in rebel-held territory, but rarely by rebels. Rebels allowed other actors to provide services for the people only when this did not hinder rebels extracting political clout and economic benefit from the people and their lands. We show how rebels' extractive ambitions and governance discourses evolved during successive stages of rebellion through a diachronic comparison rooted in multimethod fieldwork from 2018 to 2022. We ask, why were rebel groups able to set up their rule, then rule for seven years, before ultimately losing power? Rebels evoked public goods at the onset of rebellion to justify the use of coercive means. After rebel rule was established, rebels outsourced public goods to international and state actors allowing for governance in rebel-held territory while focussing their own efforts on extraction. When their rule was challenged, rebels targeted governance actors and spaces in their territory in pursuit of economic gain and political dominance. Our findings call for a re-evaluation of existing rebel governance studies and the ways in which rebel groups are engaged with.


Schistosomiasis is caused by parasitic blood flukes of the genus Schistosoma with an estimated 240 million people infected in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Due to the decrease in efficiency of praziquantel in mass drug administration programmes, the elucidation of a viable vaccine target has been paramount. Tetraspanins (TSPs) are a superfamily of proteins that are located in the cell membrane of multiple organisms. Research on TSPs in 'Schistosoma japonicum' and 'Schistosoma mansoni' has identified tetraspanin 23 (TSP23) as a prime candidate as it is a tegumental protein expressed on the surface of the parasite. It has an extracellular loop that is directly presented to the host's immune system with the vast majority of antibodies raised by the host targeted against it. However, there appears to be little immune memory towards these parasites upon re-infection, and recent studies on S. 'japonicum' show that TSP23 vaccines only exhibit a partial protection against the fluke. Molecular and bioinformatic analysis of TSP23 from different populations of S. 'mansoni' have shown the extracellular loop 2 to be hypervariable arising from allelic isoforms of the protein. Subsequently, variations in protein structure and antigenicity have been detected. Multiple TSP23 genotypes and protein variants are present amongst a sub-population. The multiple genotypes and protein variants are a product of increased recombination in response to positive selection. High frequency of recombination is arising within the antibody binding sites due to the selection pressures placed by continuous immunoglobulin interactions with the protein. Consequently, this mechanism ultimately produces a highly diverse protein. The characteristics described above could be problematic for the use of TSP23 as vaccine candidate, as it is hypervariable and genetically diverse. Notably, other TSPs do not share the same characteristics as TSP23. Whilst it is evident that TSP23 is undergoing adaptive evolution, other TSPs may not be. As such other TSPs should be investigated as opposed to TSP23, as they offer more promising prospects.


The parallel manipulators (PMs) with equivalent composite universal joints Ue are synthesized and a closed forward displacement analysis is performed for a novel 5-DoF parallel manipulator (PM) with 2 equivalent composite universal joints Ue. First, ten novel parallel manipulators (PMs) with equivalent composite universal joints Ue are synthesized. Second, the kinematic model of a 5-DoF 4SPS+SPR PM with 2 composite spherical joints Sc are established. Third, the novel 5-DoF PM with 2Ue is created based on 4SPS+SPR PM by replacing each of 2Sc with Ue, and the formulae are derived for solving forward displacement of the proposed 5-DoF PM with 2Ue. Finally, an analytic example is given for solving the forward displacement of proposed 5-DoF PM with 2Ue, and the analytic solved results are verified by the simulation mechanism using CAD variation geometry. TYPE SYNTHESIS AND FORWARD DISPLACEMENT ANALYSIS OF PARALLEL MANIPULATOR WITH TWO EQUIVALENT COMPOSITE UNIVERSAL JOINTS


To smooth the substrate depositions of DC magnetron sputter (MS), such that the supplementary electrical and mechanical adjustment efforts can be alleviated, a refinement scheme that can be applied directly to the existing DC MS will be introduced. By properly control the magnetic and electric fields inside the vacuum chamber, trajectories of those atoms that are sputtered from the target surface can be more spread out. In addition, with the resultant higher plasma density, chance of collisions among the sputtered atoms and those Ar ions in the plasma will also be increased, hence the resulting distributions of target atoms deposited on the substrate surface will certainly be even out. To further confirm such concepts, a rational emulating process that can exploring both the atom sputtering process from the target and those collisions at the chamber with different three-dimensional magnetic and electric field environments is also developed. Thus the associated performance investigations on the DC MS with different magnetron arrangements can then be conveniently explored.


abstract:Scholars of Greek and Roman art have long recognized that many sculptures that today appear unpainted were originally covered in bright, polychrome paint. In contrast, the hallowed works of China's classical antiquity, the bronzes, are generally believed to have been monochrome works. In recent years, however, many varieties of bronzes have been unearthed with polychrome ornamentation including sacrificial vessels, figural sculptures, mirrors, lamps, weapons, and personal ornaments. This article summarizes and interprets the current evidence for painting on early Chinese bronze artifacts based on recent archaeological discoveries and on newer advances in technical analysis. In particular, I show that the practice of applying paint to bronzes goes far beyond embedding pigment into the intaglio channels of bronzes such as occurred during the Shang and Western Zhou eras. I also demonstrate that especially in the Warring States and early imperial periods, painted coloration on bronzes took off in diversely rich and compelling ways. This article highlights the various modes and techniques of painting bronze in early China, and offers several hypotheses as to why such polychrome ornamentation was desirable in early China, reconciling those motives with our quite different modern sensibilities.


We demonstrated the existence of a group algebraic structure hidden in relational knowledge embedding problems, which suggests that a group-based embedding framework is essential for designing embedding models. Our theoretical analysis explores merely the intrinsic property of the embedding problem itself hence is model independent. Motivated by the theoretical analysis, we have proposed a group theory-based knowledge graph embedding framework, in which relations are embedded as group elements, and entities are represented by vectors in group action spaces. We provide a generic recipe to construct embedding models associated with two instantiating examples: SO3E and SU2E, both of which apply a continuous non-Abelian group as the relation embedding. Empirical experiments using these two exampling models have shown state-of-the-art results on benchmark datasets.


A decade ago, compactness/sprawl indices were developed for metropolitan areas and counties which have been widely used in health and other research. In this study, we first update the original county index to 2010, then develop a refined index that accounts for more relevant factors, and finally seek to test the relationship between sprawl and traffic crash rates using structural equation modelling. Controlling for covariates, we find that sprawl is associated with significantly higher direct and indirect effects on fatal crash rates. The direct effect is likely due to the higher traffic speeds in sprawling areas, and the indirect effect is due to greater vehicle miles driven in such areas. Conversely, sprawl has negative direct relationships with total crashes and non-fatal injury crashes, and these offset (and sometimes overwhelm) the positive indirect effects of sprawl on both types of crashes through the mediating effect of increased vehicle miles driven. The most likely explanation is the greater prevalence of fender benders and other minor accidents in the low speed, high conflict traffic environments of compact areas, negating the lower vehicle miles travelled per capita in such areas.


Although nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), including sulindac, have been used extensively as chemopreventive agents for colorectal cancer, results are not consistent. NSAIDs, most reportedly sulindac, often do not cause a complete regression of adenomas and some patients develop resistance to NSAID treatment. In this study, we evaluated the effect of sulindac on colon tumorigenesis in the ApcMin/+ mouse model. Sulindac (180 ppm) given in drinking water for 9 weeks to ApcMin/+ mice significantly reduced the size of colon tumors, but actually caused an increase in colon tumor multiplicity relative to untreated controls (average of 5.5 versus 1.6 tumors per mouse, respectively; P < 0.0001). This indicated that the drug could inhibit colon tumor progression but not initiation. As expected, in the small intestine, sulindac significantly reduced tumor size and multiplicity relative to untreated controls (average of 2.3 versus 42.0 tumors per mouse, respectively; P < 0.0001). Generation of a panel of prostanoids was comparably suppressed in the small intestine and colon by sulindac treatment. Sulindac is also known to exert its growth inhibitory effects through regulation of many noncyclooxygenase targets, including p21, β-catenin, E-cadherin, mitochondrial apoptotic proteins, and peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor-γ. We found that sulindac treatment protected against E-cadherin loss in colon tumors, with associated inhibition of nuclear β-catenin accumulation. Importantly, p21WAF1/cip1 and peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor-γ expression were absent in colon tumors from sulindac-treated mice, suggesting that loss of these proteins is necessary for drug resistance. Together, these observations may be translatable to designing novel clinical therapies using combinations of agents that target multiple molecular pathways to overcome sulindac resistance. Cancer Prev Res; 3(9); 1187–97. ©2010 AACR.


Guantanamo's historic role in empire explains why the base remains anomalously inside and outside US jurisdiction. Produced by historic empire, the base's legal anomaly permits for detaining over 150 men, eight years after detentions began and over a year and half after President Obama ordered detentions to end. Referring to Alejandro Colas's definition, empire is comprised of space (i.e. territorial expansion without any limit), markets (i.e. wealth-creation through market protection), and culture (i.e. notions of cultural superiority). The Platt Amendment (1902-34) and the Insular Cases (1901-20) point to law's role in a base for empire's space, i.e. the law of extraterritoriality. The base's geopolitical and military functions in protecting US investments overseas, especially the Panama Canal, refer to empire as markets. Notions of Anglo-superiority implicit in foreign relations with Cuba, a US protectorate from 1902 to 1934, reflect empire as culture. This Essay is part of larger project examining the base and current empire as space, markets, and culture. The notion of empire explains why Guantanamo's anomaly is not an aberration but instead is an intended legal objective.


In systems of care, the term family friendly is used to describe services that are aligned with the needs of the families and delivered in a manner that shows professionals value and respect family involvement, empowerment, and cultural differences. The authors devised a 42-item structured observation instrument to rate the family friendliness of one component of the systems of care in Virginia for children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) and their families. The instrument covers typical aspects of the meeting process, such as meeting management, case presentation, and formulation of service plans. It also allows for the collection of data on relevant characteristics of the meeting participants as well as demographic information on the children and their families. This instrument was used to rate the family friendliness of Family Assessment and Planning Team (FAPT) meetings, the purpose of which is to develop community-based service plans for children with EBD who are referred to the team. These teams meet in local communities and typically consist of representatives from the local juvenile court, education, health, mental health, and social service agencies. The authors observed 79 case presentations at 31 FAPT meetings in 7 localities. Although there were variations within, between, and among localities, the overall rating of family friendliness across all case presentations was good (63%). Improvements in the FAPT process are needed to assure increased family friendliness in the planning of services for children with EBD and their families.


Ramucirumab is a fully human immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) monoclonal antibody targeting human vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2). It prevents the binding of VEGFR-2 with its ligands including VEGF-A, VEGF-C, and VEGF-D. Thus, receptor activation and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signal pathways are inhibited, leading to the reduction of tumor neovascularization and growth. Ramucirumab is the only biologic agent targeting angiogenesis that has shown a survival benefit in gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma in phase III trials. Two phase III trials, REGARD and RAINBOW (1,2), demonstrated an improvement in overall survival (OS). The REGARD trial was a phase III, international, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (1). Patients were eligible who had metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma after the failure of first-line platinum or fluoropyrimidine-containing combination therapy; 355 patients were assigned in a 2:1 ratio, to receive best supportive care plus either ramucirumab at 8 mg/kg (n=238) or placebo (n=117) once every 2 weeks.


Background α-1-Acid glycoprotein (AGP) is an acute-phase protein that plays a role in first-line defense against infection and is therefore elevated in sepsis. We tested the hypothesis that AGP levels increase initially in sepsis and decrease after antimicrobial therapy and that these levels may predict treatment outcomes. Methods AGP, biomarkers widely used in clinical practice, and maximum 24-h acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE)-II scores upon emergency department (ED) admission were prospectively evaluated and compared. We further examined changes in AGP concentrations 1, 4, and 7 days after admission and determined the value of AGP that may be used to accurately and reliably predict the prognosis in patients with sepsis. Results Mechanical ventilation, white blood cell (WBC) counts, C-reactive protein (CRP) and lactate levels, maximum 24-h APACHE-II scores, and AGP concentrations were significantly higher upon admission in patients with sepsis who died. AGP and lactate concentrations were also significantly higher in non-survivors than in survivors on days 1, 4, and 7. As indicated by the stepwise logistic regression model analysis and area under the curve analysis, AGP was the best prognostic indicator, and the cut-off value for predicting fatality was 1307 μg/mL, and any increase 1-ng/mL in AGP concentration would increase the fatality rate by 0.5%. Conclusion Based on our observations, AGP may be a good prognostic predictor in patients with sepsis. In addition, serial AGP levels meet the requirements for predicting outcomes in patients with sepsis.


Scientific computation requires a great amount of computing power especially in floating-point operation but a high-end multi-cores processor is currently limited in terms of floating point operation performance and parallelization. Recent technological advancement has made parallel computing technically and financially feasible using Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) developed by NVIDIA. This research focuses on measuring the performance of CUDA and implementing CUDA for a scientific computation involving the process of porting the source code from CPU to GPU using direct integration technique. The ported source code is then optimized by managing the resources to achieve performance gain over CPU. Successful attempt at porting Serpent encryption algorithm and Lattice Boltzmann Method provided up to 7 times throughput performance gain and up to 10 times execution time performance gain respectively over the CPU. Direct integration guideline for porting the source code is then produced based on the two implementations.


Chagas disease is a neglected tropical illness caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. The disease is endemic in Latin America with about 6 million people infected and many more being at risk. Only two drugs are available for treatment, Nifurtimox and Benznidazole, but they have a number of side effects and are not effective in all cases. This makes urgently necessary the development of new drugs, more efficient, less toxic and affordable to the poor people, who are most of the infected population. In this review we will summarize the current strategies used for drug discovery considering drug repositioning, phenotyping screenings and target-based approaches. In addition, we will describe in detail the considerations for setting up robust enzymatic assays aimed to identify and validate small molecule inhibitors in high throughput screenings.


A novel impact assessment tool, the "SUSTAINABILITY EVALUATOR" has been developed for evaluating processes for sustainability. Traditionally, engineers designed processes to meet economic goals; however, with the awareness of sustainability, engineers are now considering other constraints such as resource usage, environmental impacts, social benefits, and economics. This tool applies selected metrics that address economic, environmental, and health and safety concerns. The SUSTAINABILITY EVALUATOR is a Microsoft Excel–based tool that uses mass and energy flows as inputs to evaluate the sustainability of a process. This impact assessment tool equips the process designer with a framework to design industrial processes for sustainability. The objective is for process designers to use the results generated from the tool to assess and improve the sustainability of a process. The ultimate goal in every industrial process is to maximize profits; thus, a process is not sustainable if it is not economically viable. Thus, this study introduces a methodology that involves addressing economical concerns by completing a profitability analysis, addressing environmental concerns by using a set of selected environmental metrics, and addressing social concerns by completing a health and safety risk analysis. The SUSTAINABILITY EVALUATOR has been demonstrated by the dimethyl ether (DME) process. In this work, two options for producing DME are compared and then the most sustainable option is selected. Lastly, the results obtained from the SUSTAINABILITY EVALUATOR are validated with the Environmental Protection Agency's Waste Reduction Algorithm. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 32: 749–761, 2013


Environmental and occupational exposure to arsenite is associated with an increased risk of human cancers, including skin, urinary bladder, and respiratory tract cancers. Although much evidence suggests that alterations in cell cycle machinery are implicated in the carcinogenic effect of arsenite, the molecular mechanisms underlying the cell cycle alterations are largely unknown. In the present study, we observed that exposure of human keratinocyte HaCat cells to arsenite resulted in the promotion of cell cycle progression, especially G(1)-S transition. Further studies found that arsenite exposure was able to induce cyclin D1 expression. The induction of cyclin D1 by arsenite required nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) activation, because the inhibition of IkappaB phosphorylation by overexpression of the dominant-negative mutant, IKKbeta-KM, impaired arsenite-induced cyclin D1 expression and G1-S transition. The requirement of IkappaB kinase beta (IKKbeta) for cyclin D1 induction was further confirmed by the findings that arsenite-induced cyclin D1 expression was totally blocked in IKKbeta knockout (IKKbeta(-/-)) mouse embryo fibroblasts. In addition, knockdown of cyclin D1 expression using cyclin D1-specific small interference RNA significantly blocked arsenite-induced cell cycle progression in HaCat cells. Taken together, our results show that arsenite-induced cell cycle from G(1) to S phase transition is through IKKbeta/NF-kappaB/cyclin D1-dependent pathway.


This article has researched encoding and decoding algorithms of Turbo Product Codes focusing on analysis of Chase-Pyndiah algorithm-based soft in/soft out (SISO) iterative decoding algorithm. The algorithm simulation done under matlab7.0 environment shows that, on an AWGN channel using BPSK modulation, Turbo Product Codes do a similar decoding performance as Turbo codes with a simpler decoding method and faster convergence. After several iterations, the decoding performance of Turbo Product Codes, which can be regarded as a kind of excellent channel coding pattern, has been significantly improved. Finally, a further research on modified decoding algorithm, that is gradient decoding algorithm, has been done and the simulation result approves that it offers a very good compromise between complexity and performance.


While world cities or global cities research has become an established interdisciplinary field over a few short decades, criticisms have been levelled at its narrow focus on selected leading cities and specific economic activities of corporate headquarters, finance and advanced producer services. This article identifies four recent strands of research from geographers and urban scholars seeking more nuanced and critical approaches to processes of globalisation and urban development. First, there has been a shift away from examining urban hierarchies to exploring networks and flows between global cities and the adoption of a relational perspective. Second, there has been a re-scaling of analysis to examine global city-regions and global city-states. Third, researchers have turned to 'alternative' global cities to reveal new nodes and networks that were often written off conventional accounts of the global cities map. Fourth, there has been greater emphasis on social inequality and urban politics within global cities and challenges for positive social change. The concluding section draws together some common themes than run through these research trajectories and highlights some future research agendas that capitalise on geographers' sensitivity to place in studying global cities. This place-based perspective appreciates the very differences that enable global cities to perform particular roles in the global urban network. It also recognises global cities as inhabited by real people and communities and the impetus for positive social change in the face of intraurban and interurban inequalities.


Greening disease of citrus in South Africa is associated with 'Candidatus Liberibacter africanus' (Laf), a phloem-limited bacterium vectored by the sap-sucking insect Trioza erytreae (Triozidae). Despite the implementation of control strategies, this disease remains problematic, suggesting the existence of reservoir hosts to Laf. The current study aimed to identify such hosts. Samples from 234 trees of Clausena anisata, 289 trees of Vepris lanceolata and 231 trees of Zanthoxylum capense were collected throughout the natural distribution of these trees in South Africa. Total DNA was extracted from samples and tested for the presence of liberibacters by a generic Liberibacter TaqMan real-time PCR assay. Liberibacters present in positive samples were characterized by amplifying and sequencing rplJ, omp and 16S rRNA gene regions. The identity of tree host species from which liberibacter sequences were obtained was verified by sequencing host rbcL genes. Of the trees tested, 33 specimens of Clausena, 17 specimens of Vepris and 10 specimens of Zanthoxylum tested positive for liberibacter. None of the samples contained typical citrus-infecting Laf sequences. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the liberibacters obtained from Vepris and Clausena had 16S rRNA gene sequences identical to that of 'Candidatus Liberibacter africanus subsp. capensis' (LafC), whereas those from Zanthoxylum species grouped separately. Phylogenetic analysis of the rplJ and omp gene regions revealed unique clusters for liberibacters associated with each tree species. We propose the following names for these novel liberibacters: 'Candidatus Liberibacter africanus subsp. clausenae' (LafCl), 'Candidatus Liberibacter africanus subsp. vepridis' (LafV) and 'Candidatus Liberibacter africanus subsp. zanthoxyli' (LafZ). This study did not find any natural hosts of Laf associated with greening of citrus. While native citrus relatives were shown to be infected with Laf-related liberibacters, nucleotide sequence data suggest that these are not alternative sources of Laf to citrus orchards, per se.


Shigematsu, Sakuji, Shuji Ishida, Dean C. Gute, and Ronald J. Korthuis. Concentration-dependent effects of bradykinin on leukocyte recruitment and venular hemodynamics in rat mesentery. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Heart Circ. Physiol. 46): H152–H160, 1999.—The results of several recent studies indicate that bradykinin protects tissues against the deleterious effects of ischemia-reperfusion (I/R). However, other studies indicate that bradykinin can act as a proinflammatory agent, inducing P-selectin expression, the formation of chemotactic stimuli, and endothelial barrier disruption. In the present study, we used intravital microscopic techniques to examine the dose-dependent effects of bradykinin on leukocyte-endothelial cell interactions, the formation of platelet-leukocyte aggregates, and venular hemodynamics in rat mesentery in an attempt to explain these divergent findings. Superfusion of the mesentery with low concentrations of bradykinin (#1027 M) increased venular erythrocyte velocity (VRBC) without increasing the number of adherent leukocytes, whereas higher concentrations ($1026 M) decreased VRBC, increased the number of platelet-leukocyte aggregates, and induced leukocyte adhesion in single postcapillary venules. The formation of platelet-leukocyte aggregates and increased leukocyte adhesion induced by high-dose bradykinin were attenuated by administration of a B2-receptor (HOE-140) or a platelet-activating factor (PAF, WEB-2086) antagonist. Thus these adhesive interactions induced by high-dose bradykinin appear to be mediated by a mechanism that is dependent on B2-receptor activation and the formation of PAF or PAF-like lipids. The effects of bradykinin on venular VRBC and blood flow were also concentration dependent, with low doses producing nitric oxide-mediated vasodilation, whereas high doses decreased VRBC by a mechanism that is PAF independent.


During teleoperated laparoscopic surgery with robots, periodic deformations of organs due to respiratory movements may be critical disturbances for surgeons manipulating the robot. Indeed, the surgeon has to manually compensate for these motions if accurate gestures are needed, like, e.g., during suturing. This paper proposes a repetitive model predictive control scheme for driving a surgical robot toward the reference trajectory defined by the surgeon while rejecting cyclic disturbances due to the respiratory motion. A new cost function is proposed for an unconstrained generalized predictive control scheme based on a multiple input-output model of the surgical robot. Contributions of the controller output to the reference tracking task and to the disturbance rejection task are split and computed separately, so that their respective efficiency can be independently weighted. The proposed control scheme is validated through simulations and experimental in vivo results using a surgical robot.


The World Bank's Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Guinea in FY 2014-17 confirmed the Government's priority to build 21st century skills for improved employability and to implement systemic reforms. Guinea is emerging from years of political and economic isolation and instability. The democratic election of President Alpha Conde has opened the door for the international donor community, including the World Bank, to come forward and support the new government. Its important reform agenda, PREMA, has helped restore the confidence of the international community. The World Bank will partner with the Government of Guinea to develop systems that will 'improve lagging human development indicators for absolute poverty reduction, through more efficient and transparent allocation of resources, and to build shared prosperity by aligning the business environment and education system with Guinea's economy' (World Bank, 2013, pp. 1). This is in line with the government's priorities, as per the Third National Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP3) approved in 2013. The PRSP3 aims to reduce poverty and to create and sustain a vibrant private economy by maximizing rents from Guinea's substantial mining sector. The Bank supports the Government's agenda on improving human capital by: (a) promoting both the quantity and quality of education and (b) upgrading skills for the needs of emerging and export-oriented sectors such as agriculture, tourism, mining, and telecommunications and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). In 2012, the Government requested special support from the Bank in the form of technical assistance to conduct an analysis of the higher education system. This analysis will be used to prepare a comprehensive higher education strategy to meet the needs of both the economy and the labor market. Since the early 2000s, the Bank had limited involvement in this critical sub-sector. Per the Government's request, the Bank mobilized resources to engage in policy and analytical work in the areas of governance, financing, and diagnostic of skills demand and supply from a new employer survey prepared specifically under this technical assistance project.


The objective was to evaluate the addition of vegetable oils protected or not from rumen degradation in the diet of feedlot-finished young bulls and their effects on performance and carcass characteristics. Thirty-five Nellore males of 402.69±14.90 kg initial weight and 18±2 months of age were utilized. The animals were confined for 96 days, after 28 days of adaptation, and slaughtered at 532.17±30.25 kg. Experimental diets were: control (715 g total digestible nutrients - TDN/kg of dry matter - DM), with addition of soybean oil or fresh linseed oil, and with the addition of the same oils protected from rumen degradation (765 g TDN/kg DM). All diets were formulated with the same amount of protein and with a roughage:concentrate ratio of 40:60, with sugarcane as the only roughage. The addition of oil, regardless of the type and processing, resulted in greater body weight gain (1.17 and 1.41 kg/animal/day), better feed (0.11 and 0.14 kg weight gain/kg DM ingested) and protein efficiency (0.86 and 1.09 kg weight gain/kg crude protein ingested), heavier carcasses (280.3 and 298.0 kg), with better yield (54.5 and 55.5%) and thicker subcutaneous fat (5.1 and 7.5 mm backfat thickness) and with heavier prime cuts, for control diet and the other treatments, respectively. The use of soybean or linseed oil protected or not from rumen degradation only changed the intake of a few nutrients and carcass yield and depth. Thus the addition of energy sources in the diet is beneficial for finishing feedlot bulls. For this addition, either soybean or linseed oils can be used, and the processing of these oils is only useful to facilitate the mixing with the other ingredients of the diet.


The results are reported of the application of a short-course regimen for pulmonary tuberculosis in routine service in three districts in Kenya. All patients were treated in hospital for one month receiving Streptomycin, Isoniazid, Rifampicin and Pyrazinamide daily and followed by Rifampicin and Isoniazid daily on outpatient basis for five months. There was no failure of chemotherapy among 194 patients with pre-treatment sensitive strains at the end of chemotherapy. Six (3.9%) had a doubtful status but none relapsed during follow-up. Among 123 patients assessed after completion of follow-up only one (0.8%) relapsed and 16 of 22 patients with pretreatment resistant strains had a favourable response at the end of chemotherapy and follow-up. The therapeutic results achieved are excellent under programme conditions though of necessity with some amount of supervision that is not routinely available. Considering the advantages of short course regimens, a case for the choice of an appropriate short regimen to be used nationwide in the near future is made.


The Tetrahymena L-21 ScaI ribozyme derived from the self-splicing group I intron catalyzes a reversible reaction analogous to the first step of self-splicing: CCCUCUA (S) + [UC]G right harpoon over left harpoon CCCUCU (P) + [UC]GA. To relate our understanding of the ribozyme to the self-splicing reaction and to further the mechanistic dissection of the ribozyme reaction, we have established a quantitative kinetic and thermodynamic framework for the forward and reverse reaction of the L-21 ScaI ribozyme under identical conditions. Examination of the framework shows that binding of products is cooperative with binding enhanced 5-fold, as was observed previously for binding of the substrates. Further, binding of UCGA is 12-fold weaker than binding of the unphosphorylated UCG, analogous to the 20-fold weaker binding of phosphorylated S relative to P; the molecular interactions underlying the stronger binding of UCG were traced to the 3'-hydroxyl group of UCG. The symmetrical effects on binding of substrates and products result in the equilibrium between ribozyme-bound species, K(int), that is essentially unperturbed from the solution equilibrium, K(ext) (K(int) = [E.P.UCGA]/[E.S.UCG] = 4.6 and K(ext) = [P][UCGA]/[S][UCG] = 1.9). Last, we show that the pK(a) values of the nucleophiles in the forward and reverse reactions are >/=10. This observation suggests that metal ion activation of the nucleophile and stabilization of the leaving group can only account for a portion of the rate enhancement of this ribozyme. These and prior results suggest that the Tetrahymena group I ribozyme, analogous to protein enzymes, uses multiple catalytic strategies to achieve its large rate enhancement.


This paper presents a three-level conceptual and methodological framework for assessing local journalism and the extent to which it meets community information needs. This research grows from frequent calls from policymakers, foundations, and advocacy groups for methods and measures to facilitate comparative analyses of the state of local journalism in different communities. Further, the goal here is to develop a methodological approach that can be realistically scaled to large numbers of communities in order to facilitate analysis of both the factors that affect the state of local journalism and the ways local journalism may affect the state of local communities. The methodological approach presented here focuses on infrastructure (the availability of journalistic sources), output (the quantity of journalistic output from these sources), and performance (the extent to which this output is original, is about the local community, and addresses critical information needs). An exploratory application of this methodological approach is then presented for three communities. The results indicate substantial differences in the journalism infrastructure, output, and performance across these communities and suggest possible points of focus for future research.


Banana fiber/tapioca starch (BFRTPS) composites modified by magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2) were prepared with glycerin as the plasticizer, banana fiber as reinforcement and thermoplastic tapioca starch as matrix. Rheological properties testing showed that Mg(OH)2 take a strong effect to the preparation processing and made it hard to mix while the content increasing. Mechanical properties testing revealed that at the range of the Mg(OH)2 content from 5 to 20phr, the tensile strength of the composites increased from 12.8MPa to 24.8MPa at 15phr Mg(OH)2 content, but its elastic modulus was increased with the increasing of Mg(OH)2, reached the maximum of 3100MPa at 20phr Mg(OH)2 content. Obviously, Mg(OH)2 has an enforced effect to the composites. Combustion performances of the composites was improved by Mg(OH)2, the limited oxygen index(LOI) of the composites reached to 31% while the content of Mg(OH)2 was 20phr, and then the result of flammability testing achieved UL94HF-1 and UL94 V-0 level.


Two tetragonal (t) zirconia-alumina composites were prepared by adding Al2O3 (20 vol%) into t-ZrO2 solid solutions doped with 3.0 mol% Y2O3, 1.6 mol% Nb2O5, 3.6 mol% CeO2 (Al20Ce) and 5.3 mol% Y2O3, 4.6 mol% Nb2O5 (Al20) as the femoral heads for the total hip replacements. The effect of machining and annealing on the hydrothermal stability and surface roughness of the composites was evaluated by comparing with the commercial 3 mol% Y2O3 stabilized t-ZrO2 (3Y-TZP). Machining was conducted by using the high-precision machine, where the spindle speeds (rpm 9000~18000) and the electroplated wheels (#400, 800) can be easily adjusted. The machined specimens were annealed at temperatures from 900 to 1300 oC and subsequently autoclaved for 5 days at 120oC under 0.3 MPa water vapor pressure. Although the phase stability and surface roughness of the machined composites were found to be inferior, the hydrothermal stability of the annealed and subsequently autoclaved composites was determined to be excellent as compared with that of the commercial 3Y-TZP. The lower phase stability of the machined composites was likely to be due to numerous machining damages (surface defects) of the composites than those of 3Y-TZP.


Nitrogen (N) is known to be a limiting factor in peatlands and as such, the vegetation present has adapted to living in low N conditions. This makes such ecosystems particularly vulnerable to increases in the deposition of reactive N (Nr), which may result in significant changes to its biodiversity and biogeochemistry. Since the industrial revolution, the amount of anthropogenic Nr globally has increased from ~15 Tg N y-1 in the 1860?s to ~187 Tg N y-1 in 2005, and is estimated to reach ~267 Tg N yr-1 by 2050 (Galloway et al. 2004, Galloway et al. 2008). Consequences include acidification, loss of biodiversity, changes in vegetation, N-saturation, eutrophication, health impacts and the release of greenhouse gases.Objectives of this thesis were (i) to measure key components of the N-budget at Auchencorth Moss, a Scottish moorland, for a two year period (Jan 2009 ? Dec 2010) and (ii) to compare current deposition rates with those measured 14/15 years previously. Annual fluxes of N inputs were estimated from measurements of wet only deposition, estimates of N-fixation deposition and from atmospheric deposition modelled from hourly concentrations of N containing gases and aerosols. Exports were estimated from stream measurements and from atmospheric emissions modelled from hourly concentrations. Organic N is often an underreported part of the N-cycle, but the results presented here suggest it is an important part of the N story. An attempt to identify (dissolved organic nitrogen) DON compounds in both precipitation and stream water was made using GC�GC-NCD. Ten unique compounds were detected, of which only five could be identified: pyrrole, benzonitrile, dodecylamine, N-nitrosodipropylamine and decylamine. Pyrrole, benzonitrile and three unknown compounds were present in both precipitation and stream samples. Ammonia (NH3) fluxes were measured over a 7 month period in 2009 using a wet-chemistry gradient system with online analysis and calculated with the aerodynamic gradient method. The results were used to refine a bi-directional dynamic exchange model. Several parameters were updated, including an increased stomatal emission potential from 180 to 350, a reduction of the minimum cuticular resistance (Rw,min) used to calculate Rw from 20 s m-1 to 15 s m-1 and an increase in the leaching rate (Kr�) from the leaf surfaces from -0.01 to -0.1 s-1. The exchange parameterisations used to estimate HNO3, HONO and the aerosol compounds were taken from the literature and earlier studies at the site.Overall, Auchencorth was found to accumulate N, with deposition exceeding export by -1.61 kg N ha-1 yr-1. The main N deposition was from NH3, followed by wet deposition of ammonium. DON, which is not routinely included in N budgets, contributed 6.5% of total deposition. The largest loss of N was as DON via the stream with N losses of -5.31 kg N ha-1 yr-1 or 71.8% of total export. Between 1995 and 2009/2010, deposition decreased by 0.81 kg N ha-1 yr-1, with the wet deposition of inorganic nitrogen decreasing by 25.2%, but dry deposition increasing by 12.5%. DON, N2O and N-fixation were not included in the comparison as they were not measured in 1995.This thesis has demonstrated that DON is an important parameter in the overall N budget, and should be routinely measured when assessing the N status of ecosystems.


This collection of articles combines a set of works that study the contribution of transport infrastructure to the process of state building in different countries in Western and Central Europe. The focus and the themes treated vary, but have two common denominators: firstly, they are based on either completely original, or previously little-used, primary sources; and secondly, each work reveals new ways of interpreting how transport networks have shaped the territories into which they were introduced. Each article is an example of the wealth of potential approaches available and also helps us to interpret the processes involved in state building, which are a necessary precedent to European Integration (EI). To put the seven works that make up this special issue into context, I shall start this introduction by examining three aspects that complement them. I shall firstly clarify what we mean by EI. Secondly, I shall examine whether EI processes existed prior to the creation of the institutions that were set up after World War II to promote integration. Then, thirdly, and finally, based on the previous analyses, I shall look at the emergence of a railway network in Europe and the role that the European states played in this process. The fourth section will present the articles.


Modular Multilevel Converters (MMCs) are distinguished by their modular
nature that makes them suitable for wide range of high power and high voltage
applications. However, they are vulnerable to internal faults because of the large number of series connected Sub-Modules. Additionally, it is highly recommended not to block the converter even if it is subjected to internal faults to secure the supply, to increase the reliability of the system and prevent unscheduled maintenance. This thesis introduces a fault tolerant control system for controlling the MMC in normal as well as abnormal operating conditions. This is done through developing a new adaptive voltage balancing strategy based on capacitor voltage estimation utilizing ADAptive LInear NEuron (ADALINE) and Recursive Least Squares (RLS) algorithms. The capacitor voltage balancing techniques that have been proposed in literature are based on measuring the capacitor voltage of each sub-module. On contrary, the proposed strategy eliminates the need of these measurements and associated communication links with the central controller.
Furthermore, the thesis presents a novel fault diagnosis algorithm using the
estimated capacitor voltages which are utilized to detect and localize different types of sub-module faults. The proposed fault diagnosis algorithm surpasses the methods presented in literature by its fast fault detection capability without the need of any extra sensing elements or special power circuit.
Finally, a new Fault Tolerant Control Unit (FTCU) is proposed to tolerate the
faults located inside the MMC submodules. The proposed FTCU is based on a
sorting algorithm which modifies the parameters of the voltage balancing technique in an adaptive manner to overcome the reduction of the active submodules and secure the MMC operation without the need of full shut-down. Most of fault tolerant strategies that have been proposed by other researchers are based on using redundant components, while the proposed FTCU does not need any extra components.
The dynamic performance of the proposed strategy is investigated, using
PSCAD/EMTDC simulations and hardware in the loop (HIL) real-time simulations, under different normal and faulty operating conditions. The accuracy and the time response of the proposed fault detection and tolerant control units result in stabilizing the operation of the MMC under different types of faults. Consequently, the proposed integrated control strategy improves the reliability of the MMC.


This Article seeks to clarify the relationship between contract law and promises of privacy and information security. It challenges three commonly held misconceptions in privacy literature regarding the relationship between contract and data protection — the propertization fatalism, the economic value fatalism, and the displacement fatalism — and argues in favor of embracing contract law as a way to enhance consumer privacy. Using analysis from Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc., marketing theory, and the work of Pierre Bourdieu, it argues that the value in information contracts is inherently relational: consumers provide "things of value" — rights of access to valuable informational constructs of identity and context — in exchange for access to certain services provided by the data aggregator. This Article presents a contract-based consumer protection approach to privacy and information security. Modeled on trade secret law and landlord-tenant law, it advocates for courts and legislatures to adopt a "reasonable data stewardship" approach that relies on a set of implied promises — nonwaivable contract warranties and remedies — to maintain contextual integrity of information and improve consumer privacy.


Polymicrogyria and asymmetric dilation of the lateral ventricles were seen in related Standard poodles that had cortical blindness. Three of the affected dogs also had gait and postural abnormalities, and one of these had seizures.Two of the affected dogs were littermates. Thorough ophthalmologic and neurologic examinations (including electroretinography, electromyography, cerebrospinal fluid analysis, plain radiographs, and computerized tomography scans) revealed no significant abnormalities outside of the brain that would account for the blindness. Computerized tomography scans in three dogs demonstrated bilateral dilation of the lateral ventricles which was more severe in the right. All dogs were necropsied between 5 and 9 months of age and had strikingly similar brain abnormalities. Numerous small irregular gyri with shallow sulci covered the middle and caudal dorsal and lateral cerebral cortex. The bony ridges of the inner calvaria in this area conformed to the underlying microgyral pattern. The lateral ventricles were asymmetrically dilated with the right more severely affected, particularly in the occipital area, and the cortical grey and white matter, including the corpus callosum, were thinned in these areas. The third and fourth ventricles and mesencephalic aqueduct were normal. Histologically, there was thinning and simplification of the cortical grey matter with an increased density of medium to large neurons. The corona radiata and subcortical white matter were also thinner than normal with no evidence of demyelination of astrocytic scarring. This congenital anomaly of the visual cortex causing blindness in the Standard Poodle appears to be inherited as an autosomal recessive trait. Disciplines Medicine and Health Sciences | Veterinary Medicine | Veterinary Pathology and Pathobiology Author(s) Thomas J. Van Winkle, John C. Fyfe, Betsy Dayrell-Hart, Gustavo D. Aguirre, Gregory M. Acland, and Donald F. Patterson This journal article is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/vet_papers/24


In this paper, condition monitoring of the internal parts of a radial active magnetic bearing (AMB) system is performed by means of Cepstrum analysis, Wigner-Ville Distributions (WVD) and enveloped Equi-Sampled Discrete Fourier transforms (ESDFT). Sensor faults, power amplifier failures and controller faults were induced in both the simulation and physical AMB system. Condition monitoring by means of the abovementioned techniques were then performed on the displacement and current signals of the simulation and physical AMB system. Results were compared and conclusions were made on how effective Cepstrum analysis, WVD and enveloped ESDFT were on the faults induced on the AMB system.


Previous research on selfies has primarily focused on selfies as media products rather than as an activity. In this paper, we examine selfies as a situated practice, connecting the social media phenomenon to the local spaces where it is performed. Based on ethnographic studies of selfie photography, we present and discuss three aspects of selfies in the wild. First, we consider selfies as part of a larger photographic context and show how they are often taken in series with other genres of images. Second, we expand upon the notion of selfies as conversation and show how selfie photographers exchange messages with remote friends and followers while attending to the local environment. Third, we discuss socializing around selfies, examining how copresent friends socialize around the production of selfies. These findings show the importance of considering selfies beyond the online context, and highlight the many ways that selfies are interweaved with our everyday activities.


Abstract The Brazilian Atlantic forest has been reduced to a small fraction of its original area, with most remaining fragments being small and surrounded by anthropogenic matrices. This degree of disturbance, together with the increasing sprawl of cities towards the rural zone, greatly facilitates the entrance of domestic animals into these remnants. We used camera traps to compare the abundances of the domestic dog with a similarly sized native carnivore, the ocelot, in a 957-ha reserve of the Brazilian Atlantic forest in a landscape largely composed by pastures and agriculture. The dog was the most recorded species among all 17 mammal species "captured" by the cameras. Dog abundance (32–38 dogs) and density (0.812–1.813 dogs/km2) were significantly higher than that of the ocelot (n=2 ocelots; density=0.158–0.347 ocelots/km2). Although our result is restricted to a single study site, it is supported by an increasing number of recent studies, which have detected dogs inside other Atlantic forest reserves. Our study suggests, therefore, that this invasion might be more widespread than generally thought. The presence of the domestic dog is a threat to native fauna and constitutes an important edge effect of human presence at the rural zone.


The prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis among asymptomatic pregnant women in four Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Delta State, Nigeria was investigated in this study. The four LGAs were Ethiope West, Sapele, Warri South and Warri North. A total of 200 pregnant women who visited the Primary Health Care Centres for antenatal care aged between 16 and 45 years were sampled across the four LGAs comprising 50 pregnant women from each of the LGAs between October 2017 and February 2018. The women were categorized into six age groups: 16 – 20, 21 – 25, 26 – 30, 31 – 35, 36 – 40 and 41 – 45. Collected urine samples were examined in the laboratory for the presence of C. trachomatis using sedimentation and microscopy. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was used to identify the DNA of the isolated bacteria specimens. Results from the four LGAs showed that 93 pregnant women (46.5%) tested positive for C. trachomatis. Prevalence was highest in the subjects from Warri North LGA (27/93) (29.03%), while the least prevalent was the subjects from Warri South (19/93) (20.04%). Women aged 26 – 30 had the highest prevalence (38/93) (40.86%), while prevalence was least in women aged 41 – 45 (3/93) (3.23%). There was no significant difference in number of infected pregnant women in the four Local Government Areas (p>0.05). Findings from this study are important, considering the growing concern of cases of infertility and death of newborn. Thus, there is a need for sexually active men and women to embark on routine check up to ascertain their health status.


According to the biological species concept, species are defined as groups of interbreeding populations reproductively isolated from other such groups. Hybrid seed lethality is a common reproductive barrier between plant species. Most frequently its developmental cause lies in the endosperm, but its molecular basis is not well understood. Hybrid seed defects differ depending on the cross direction, suggesting parent-of-origin-specific effects at work. Therefore, genomic imprinting, leading to the parent-of-origin-specific expression of genes in the endosperm, has been proposed to underlie hybrid seed lethality. Nevertheless, this hypothesis remains to be thoroughly tested.
Therefore, the main goal of this thesis was to explore the link between genomic imprinting and hybrid seed lethality in Capsella. The first part of this work aimed at characterizing the imprintome (the set of imprinted genes) of Capsella rubella and to compare it with the imprintome of the closely related species Arabidopsis thaliana (10-14 million years apart). This revealed that the imprintomes of both species are poorly conserved. Nevertheless, the pathways regulating genomic imprinting target transposable elements (TEs) in both species. Furthermore, studying the imprintomes of three Capsella species supported the notion of poor imprinting conservation between related species. This work also revealed that imprintome divergence between Capsella species is based on the divergence of TE insertions and consequent silencing mechanisms. Furthermore, this work discovered that hybrid seed lethality is widespread between each of the Capsella species. This phenomenon originates in the endosperm and exhibits a parent-of-origin pattern. Importantly, this work revealed that endosperm-based hybridization barriers in Capsella correlate with the number and expression of paternally-expressed imprinted genes (PEGs). In addition, the mating system strongly impacts on the number of PEGs, which suggests that transitions of mating systems fuel the establishment of postzygotic hybridization barriers.
Altogether, this thesis proposes a molecular and evolutionary explanation for the arising of endosperm-based hybridization barriers, in connection with genomic imprinting, TE dynamics and mating system. These data are expected to have a strong impact on plant breeding strategies and to promote further studies in this direction of research.


Anion photoelectron spectroscopy combined with quantum chemistry calculations and a particle swarm optimization (CALYPSO) global search algorithm were used to investigate the structural and bonding properties of TaSi16−/0 clusters. The vertical detachment energy (VDE) of TaSi16− was measured to be 3.81 ± 0.08 eV. The global minima of the TaSi16− anion and TaSi16 neutral are confirmed to be a fullerene-like cage structure with the central Ta atom coordinated with nine Si atoms. Molecular orbital analysis shows that TaSi16− possesses σ + π double delocalized bonding patterns and has a large HOMO–LUMO gap. TaSi16− can be viewed as a superatom cluster due to the closed-shell electron configuration of |1S2|1P6|1D10|2S2|1F14|2P6|2D10|1G18|3S2| in terms of the jellium model. Theoretical calculations indicate that both the TaSi16− anion and TaSi16 neutral have aromaticity.


This work describes a study of perception of light signals used in aeronautics. Devices known as "obstruction light" (L-810 type, according to the Organization of International Civil Aviation OACI and the Federal Aviation Administration FAA) with LED technology were fed with square pulses of voltage, attaining flashes with imperceptible rise times. The lights were presented to observers, simulating the habitual vision conditions for these devices. With this diagram, perceptive comparisons for different flash frequencies were carried out, exploring especially the transition zone between flickering and steady vision of light. The test showed that an important number of people experienced a perceptive increase in such transition zone. The phenomenon, which can be related with to Broca-Sulzer effect, could be used in order to improve the signal visibility.


ObjectiveIt remains unclear whether habitual physical activity can attenuate the rate of progressive muscle strength loss in individuals with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). The aim of this study was to identify whether there were any strength differences between DM1 patients who were habitually active or sedentary. DesignKnee extension, handgrip, and elbow flexion quantitative strength measurements were investigated in the DM1 patients using isokinetic dynamometry. Strength was compared between the patients who followed self-selected formal exercise plans for at least 1 yr, those who were sedentary (controls), and those who initiated or terminated a formal exercise routine. ResultsPhysically active DM1 patients with midrange CTG repeat size (100–500 CTG repeat sizes) had significantly stronger handgrip and knee extension and elbow flexion torques as compared with their sedentary counterparts with the same CTG repeat range. The DM1 patients who began a formal exercise routine experienced a significant improvement in knee extension torque measurements (+24.3%) in comparison with those who were habitually active or sedentary. ConclusionsThese data suggest that there is an association between physical activity and strength. This may be shown to be a useful tool for the management of this condition. Further investigations into the relationships between physical exercise, muscle weakness, and genetic factors are needed before evidence-based recommendations can be made.


Abstract Distal hair segments collected at delivery may allow for the assessment of maternal cortisol secretion in early pregnancy, an important time window for fetal development. Therefore, an investigation of the validity of distal hair cortisol concentrations is warranted. We examined the concordance between proximal and distal hair cortisol concentrations (HCC), both representing the first trimester of pregnancy. The study population was comprised of a random sample of 97 women participating in the Pregnancy Outcomes Maternal and Infant Study, a prospective cohort study of pregnant women attending prenatal clinics in Lima, Peru. Each participant provided two hair samples: once at enrollment [mean gestational age (GA) = 13.1 weeks] and again at full-term delivery (mean GA = 39.0 weeks). Hair segments reflecting the first trimester were: 3 cm hair segments closest to the scalp on the first hair sample (proximal) and 6–9 cm from the scalp on the second hair sample (distal). HCC was determined using Luminescence Immunoassay. A subset (N = 28) had both hair segments additionally analyzed using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). HCC values were log-transformed (logHCC), and proximal–distal differences tested using paired sample t-tests. Concordance was evaluated within and across assay types. LogHCC, measured using immunoassay, in distal hair segments was lower compared to proximal hair segments (1.35 versus 1.64 respectively; p = .02). No difference was observed using LC-MS/MS (1.99 versus 1.83, respectively; p=.33). Proximal–distal concordance was low within assay (immunoassay: Pearson = 0.27 and κ = 0.10; LC-MS/MS: Pearson = 0.37 and κ = 0.07). High correlation was observed across assays for both distal (Pearson = 0.78, p < .001; κ = 0.64) and proximal segments (Pearson = 0.96, p < .001; κ = 0.75). In conclusion, distal first-trimester hair segments collected at delivery have lower absolute HCC compared to HCC in proximal first trimester hair segments collected in early pregnancy, and are poorly concordant with HCC in proximal segments. Findings may inform the design of future studies.


Removal of heavy metal contaminants from sewage sludge is a necessity before it is used as an agricultural fertilizer (biosolid), due to environmental concerns and municipal, provincial and federal regulations. The bioleaching method is recommended as an economical and effective process for the removal of heavy metals from the Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant (ABTP) sludge, some of them with concentrations exceeding the recommended level by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs guidelines. The Gram-negative thiobacilli is a group of organisms with physiological and morphological similarity and grows by oxidizing ferrous ion and reduced sulphur compounds. One species of thiobacillus, T. ferrooxidan , was recommended as an effective bacterium for the heavy metal removal from sewage sludge. This research involved the incubation of adapted sludge using fresh raw digested sludge and activated sludge of ABTP. Using adapted sludge for the bioleaching process, the method was tested in a continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) in combination with a series of jar tests. Results showed that the metal removal efficiency increases with decreasing pH, and the solids content does not affect the removal efficiency of cupper and zinc very much during short term jar test. The results from the long-term (20-day) CSTR test demonstrated that the high T ferrooxians-contained adapted sludge could remove copper from the sewage sludge of ABTP very effectively, by as much as 79.2%. In comparison, the simultaneous removal efficiency of zinc and cadmium were also studied for the same process and, they are 82.0% and 83.9% respectively. The TSS degradation constant rate during the 20 days' bioleaching was found to be 0.0522 day -1. It is concluded that Ontario should continue to apply sludge to agricultural land, as sludge is an economic alternative, promotes recycling of resources, and is a valuable fertilizer. However, the toxic metals in sludge should be removed from sewage sludge using the bioleaching process to recommended level before it is disposed as a fertilizer for land application.


Objective Analyze the influence between the components of metabolic syndrome and the independent risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the elderly. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out with 205 older adults from a primary healthcare unit of the Federal District, Brazil. The cardiovascular risk was determined by the Framingham Risk Score (FRS). The National Cholesterol Evaluation Program for Adult Treatment Panel III 2001 (NCEP-ATP III) criteria were considered to analyze metabolic syndrome (MS) diagnoses. Results There was a strong association between MS and high cardiovascular risk (OR = 8.86). The univariate analysis main findings revealed that male gender, diabetes, smoking habit, systolic blood pressure, HDL level, high blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, and LDL level were associated with high cardiovascular risk. FRS increases significantly with the presence of four or more MS components (by 30%, if 4 components are present, and by 40%, if 5 components) when compared with the presence of three or fewer components (P <0.001). A logistic regression analysis of high-risk predictors was described to reduce the effects of confounding and bias factors. Conclusion The identification of MS associated with high FRS values represents a cascading of adverse effects on the population's aging process.


Abstract. Drought is a natural hazard that occurs at many temporal and spatial scales
and has severe environmental and socioeconomic impacts across the globe. The
impacts of drought change as drought evolves from precipitation deficits to
deficits in soil moisture or streamflow. Here, we quantified the time taken
for drought to propagate from meteorological drought to soil moisture
drought and from meteorological drought to hydrological drought. We did this
by cross-correlating the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) against
standardized indices (SIs) of soil moisture, runoff, and streamflow from an
ensemble of global hydrological models (GHMs) forced by a consistent meteorological
dataset. Drought propagation is strongly related to climate types, occurring
at sub-seasonal timescales in tropical climates and at up to multi-annual
timescales in continental and arid climates. Winter droughts are usually
related to longer SPI accumulation periods than summer droughts, especially
in continental and tropical savanna climates. The difference between the
seasons is likely due to winter snow cover in the former and distinct wet and
dry seasons in the latter. Model structure appears to play an important role
in model variability, as drought propagation to soil moisture drought is
slower in land surface models (LSMs) than in global hydrological models, but
propagation to hydrological drought is faster in land surface models than in
global hydrological models. The propagation time from SPI to hydrological
drought in the models was evaluated against observed data at 127 in situ
streamflow stations. On average, errors between observed and modeled drought
propagation timescales are small and the model ensemble mean is preferred
over the use of a single model. Nevertheless, there is ample opportunity for
improvement as substantial differences in drought propagation are found at
10 % of the study sites. A better understanding and representation of
drought propagation in models may help improve seasonal drought forecasting
as well as constrain drought variability under future climate scenarios.


It is well known that there is a gap between comparative law theory and the way in which comparative lawyers actually compare. This contribution was written for a book that attempts to bridge the gap between theory and practice in comparative legal studies. It offers a search for the methodological underpinnings of the author's work in the field of European private law by looking at three research lines: work on uniformity and diversity in law, on how law develops over time and on the changing role of legal institutions in a post-national society.


The article presents a number of aspects of gentlemanly masculinity in Victorian Britain (1837–1901) from various sources. The first part describes gender order of the Victorian society. It shows that patriarchal values provided men with the widest range of rights, while the field of women's activities was extremely limited. The view that different dominant traits in the characters of men and women predetermined the success of the former in public affairs and the latter in the household was at the heart of the popular patriarchal idea of separate spheres for men and women. It is noted that the rules of a gentleman, set forth in the books of etiquette, were the standard of male behavior towards women in the Victorian era. At the same time, social processes contributed to the democratization of the concept of "gentleman" and to the gradual erosion of the image of a gentleman as a bearer of moral values. Based on the analysis of publications on ungentlemanly behavior towards women, the author makes a preliminary conclusion that, in general, such incidents were an exception. It is shown that the standard of gentlemanly behavior in Victorian society was maintained by such mechanisms of gender control as civil initiatives in the form of personal appeals to newspapers, press activities, which highlighted examples of unacceptable treatment of women, and the judicial system that punished gentlemen for misconduct. doi 10.17072/2219-3111-2018-4-15-21


Ant colony optimization (ACO), which is one of the metaheuristics imitating real ant foraging behavior, is an effective method to find a solution for the traveling salesman problem (TSP). The rank-based ant system (ASrank) has been proposed as a developed version of the fundamental model AS of ACO. In the ASrank, since only ant agents that have found one of some excellent solutions are let to regulate the pheromone, the pheromone concentrates on a specific route. As a result, although the ASrank can find a relatively good solution in a short time, it has the disadvantage of being prone falling into a local solution because the pheromone concentrates on a specific route. This problem seems to come from the loss of diversity in route selection according to the rapid accumulation of pheromones to the specific routes. Some ACO models, not just the ASrank, also suffer from this problem of loss of diversity in route selection. It can be considered that the diversity of solutions as well as the selection of solutions is an important factor in the solution system by swarm intelligence such as ACO. In this paper, to solve this problem, we introduce the ant system using individual memories (ASIM) aiming to improve the ability to solve TSP while maintaining the diversity of the behavior of each ant. We apply the existing ACO algorithms and ASIM to some TSP benchmarks and compare the ability to solve TSP.


Usage of big data with before-after methods of analysis makes it possible to evaluate the effect of major transport investments on system performance. In employing before-after methods to investigate the impact of lane closures on congestion and travel reliability, changes and trade-offs in performance indicators are quantified and policy action effectiveness is evaluated. This is illustrated through a case study of two separate lane closure interventions on the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto, Ontario. Models using a regression framework were developed for the pre-, peri-, and post-closure test periods of the first intervention and pre- and peri-closure periods of the second intervention. Results suggest the impacts of policy actions on system performance are strong, and that congestion and travel reliability counterintuitively move in different directions. Reduced demand effects are observed, prompting discussion on how highways and congestion should be managed and whether or not municipalities should add capacity to regional assets.


In order for town centres to manage increased competition in retailing, cooperation between stakeholders in a strategic alliance has become more important. Typical stakeholders in such a strategic alliance are retailers, local authorities, and property owners. The importance of retailers and local authorities is well researched. However, the property owners' importance is not. The aim of this article is to uncover the perceived importance of property owners in a strategic alliance. This is a case study of a medium-sized town in which semi-structured interviews with different stakeholders were conducted. In the chosen town there is a town centre management alliance at work. The case studied shows a fragmented property owner market with no dominant property owner. Our study shows that the perception of the role of the property owner is crucial for town centre development. However, many property owners do not recognise their own significance for the town centre development. The main reasons for this opinion are that they do not consider themselves to have enough resources or the capability to influence the town development.


Differential cross section for vibrationally elastic and inelastic ( Y = O+ 1,2,3,4) scattering from N, have been measured at incident energies of 2.1, 2.4 and 3.0 eV over an angular range 20-90". The measurements cover the energy range encompassing the well known resonance and enable, for the first time, a comparison of measured cross sections for high-order vibrations with theoretical calculations in this energy region.


Inherited metabolic disorders consist of a diverse group of more than 800 rare disorders. Metabolic disorders used to be principally the clinical domain of paediatricians, because of their inherited character and the frequently limited life expectancy. Not all metabolic disorders are revealed during childhood; a significant proportion will first appear in adulthood. The number of adult patients with an inherited metabolic disorder is increasing due to improved clinical care and extended diagnostic modalities. This increase means that more medical specialties will be confronted with this patient population. Adult clinical care has its own specific challenges, such as the care of patients with an inherited metabolic disorder during pregnancy. Prolonged fasting, for instance around a surgical procedure, can lead to life-threatening metabolic disruption, especially when the appropriate precautions have not been taken. The INVEST group is an initiative founded by Dutch and Belgian internists with the purpose of improving the care of adults patients with a metabolic disorder.


Faecal pellet counts are commonly used as indices of lagomorph abundance but uncertainty over variation in decay rates among sites has led to most researchers recommending the use of pellet accumulation rates in previously cleared plots rather than the simpler and quicker method of counting uncleared plots. We use data from cleared and uncleared 0.1-m 2 brown hare pellet plots at six sites in the central North Island of New Zealand to test the reliability of the two methods. The sites varied considerably in hare pellet density and also varied in altitude and rainfall, but the initial cleared count was extremely tightly correlated with the subsequent pellet accumulation rate (r = 0.987) suggesting there is minimal bias from differential decay rates in uncleared plot counts. Our results show that the simpler and less time-consuming uncleared-plot method is an adequate index of hare density across a range of hare densities and climates and is not unduly biased by differential decay rates. This should simplify the work of land managers interested in assessing relative abundance. At one site (the area round Manson Hut on the Kaweka Range) where the plots were followed for a year in a variety of habitat types, there were strong seasonal changes in hare abundance (peaking in summer and declining through winter), and strong habitat preferences for exotic grasslands and grassland-herbfield mixes, while pure herbfield, and particularly rocky scree and southern beech forest were not favoured. We estimated that based on published defecation rates of hares, population densities at our six sites varied from 0.03 to 3.93 hares per hectare and that they consumed between 1.4 and 188 kg ha -1 of biomass annually.


Electroanalytical methods enable determination of electroactive species in nonhomogeneous systems, as limiting currents are little affected by the presence of solid and colloidal particles. An example of such applications of electrochemical methods are studies of binding of toxic substances, such as pesticides, on slightly soluble polymers, such as lignin. To successfully apply polarographic methods for following free pesticides in a slurry of lignin, it is first necessary in principle to elucidate the electrochemical processes involved. In aqueous buffered solutions the electron transfers, in which organic compounds participate, are in the majority of cases accompanied by chemical reactions. To elucidate the nature of the electrochemical process, it is necessary first to find the pH-region in which the given pesticide is electroactive, i.e., gives a wave on the current-voltage curve, and to determine the number of electrons transferred. Further information is obtained from dependences of limiting currents and half-wave potentials on pH. Such investigations, combined with spectrochemical determination of equilibrium constants and identification of products formed by controlled potential electrolyses, enable recognition of the sequence of chemical and electrochemical steps. In the examples presented, the reduction of the ethylenic bond in maleic hydrazide (I), and reductions of azomethine bonds (\( > \)C=NH\( + -\) in some diazine and triazine pesticides, are accompanied by acid-base equilibria, by covalent addition of water to C=N double bonds, and by a ring opening. Such studies are demonstrated by elucidation of the pattern of reduction of some 2-aminopyrimidines (sulfometuron methyl, II), a 1,3,5-triazine(hexazinone, III) and two 1,2,4-triazines (metamitron, IVa and metribuzin, IVb).


According to the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC)/ American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC), staging system for the locally advanced laryngeal cancer generally denotes stage III or IV, stage III being represented by T3 or N1 tumors and the non-metastatic stage IV including N2-N3 or T4 tumors. The main therapeutic goals are local control and survival, but also the functional organ preservation (speech, swallowing and airway patency), if possible. To achieve these objectives, the management should be established by a multidisciplinary tumor board, based on the analysis of patient-specific factors (age, performance status, comorbidities, and psychosocial support), cancer topography and staging, but also the physician expertise and the availability of rehabilitation services. Regarding the larynx preservation, there are two major therapeutic strategies: total laryngectomy (associated with adjuvant radio- and chemotherapy) and larynx preservation strategy, which includes neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by exclusive radiotherapy or concurrent radio-chemotherapy or radio-biotherapy. Total laryngectomy can be performed by open surgery or, in order to avoid a wide surgical field and reduce the local morbidity, by transoral techniques. After laryngectomy, the recurrence can be local, at the resection site, nodal, at cervical lymph nodes, or distal, the lung being the most common site of recurrence as a distant metastasis. To improve locoregional control and survival, adjuvant treatments are proposed, including radiotherapy, chemo- and biotherapy.


The implementation of work-based learning elements in tertiary education programmes can be seen as a trend of recent years. Different models and approaches have been developed. In the context of a Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) research project, examples from England, France, Ireland, Norway, Austria and Poland were investigated, analysed and thus the great variety of practice-oriented and practice-integrated programmes revealed. Interviews with representatives from research, education policy administration as well as with students, companies and educational institutions provide an insight into the concrete experience and appraisal of selected educational programmes. The overall goal of the project and this publication was to contribute to the greater visibility of vocational/professional education at tertiary level and to facilitate a more critical debate about the issue of increasing academisation.


Banturejo village is a village in the region Ngantang, Malang regency, East Java, province of Indonesia which has agricultural commodities, livestock and fisheries abundance, as well as close to the tourist sites, namely Selorejo Lake. Fishery commodities is the flagship of the village Banturejo and continue to develop. Besides fish produced from reservoirs, currently there are many citizens who do catfish farming. Catfish are sold directly for consumption and sale around Selorejo Lake. The existence of a superior product for souvenirs can be used as a complement to visitors for souvenirs. Women Cooperative (Kopwan) Heroine is located in the village Banturejo, Ngantang, Malang capture this business opportunity by processing the fish into shredded fish sources. Shredded fish introduced by the consideration that the processed products have a good chance to be a typical souvenirs Selorejo Lake is a high chance. Making shredded fish produced by Heroine Kopwan still using the conventional method is very simple and the result is still a lot of oil content in the floss. In addition, the production capacity of 10 kg of shredded fish is only able to meet 25% of consumer demand. "Oil Pulling Spinner" is a creative solution that is applied to overcome the problems of partners, as means to alleviate the oil in the manufacture of food products. In this case, the resulting product "Spinner Pulling Oil" can be applied in the elaboration of fishing effort through the harness spinner shredded products especially in Women Cooperative Heroine, Banturejo Village, Ngantang, Malang. Thus, expected by the "Oil Pulling Spinner" can explore fishery resources in the village Banturejo and is expected to improve the welfare of society. Spinner Tool Oil Pulling can set rotation (rpm) tool automatically and optimally to reduce the oil in a shredded. For the introduction and marketing tool widely shredded products, publications done using print, electronic and online. So shredded sold in large quantities. Keywords : Spinner Pulling Oil, shredded, Women Cooperative (KOPWAN), Banturejo Village


In this paper, uniform, critically decimated filter banks are used to approximate nonuniform filter banks wherein different filters have approximately the same magnitude response, but different phase, thus forming a linear periodically time-varying filter whose characteristics are similar to those of a nonuniform bank. This is done by post-processing a number of selected subbands of a uniform bank using a special synthesis filter bank, which combines the selected bands into one. Design methods for the post-processing stage are discussed and design examples are presented.


Learn JavaaA A on the MacintoshA (R) provides everything you need to learn the most powerful and exciting computer language in use today--and in a "no experience necessary" format. You can learn Java with this book, even if you don't know any other programming languages. Filled with clear and useful diagrams, explanations, examples, and exercises, this book will teach you the basics of programming in Java. The accompanying CD-ROM contains the Metrowerks CodeWarrioraA A Java Lite environment and all the files you'll need for hands-on, step-by-step practice. All you have to bring to the table is your Macintosh, a CD-ROM drive, and a desire to program in Java.Learn Java on the Macintosh includes: In the book *Details on implementing the CodeWarrior Java environment, the premiere Java programming environment for the Mac *A clear, concise introduction to Java's essential programming concepts: classes, objects, methods, variables, and operators *An overview of programming for the World-Wide Web and how to build Java applets On the CD-ROM *Metrowerks CodeWarrior Java Lite, a special edition of the leading Java development environment for the Mac *Code examples from the book, all of which can be run with the Metrowerks environment *Java applets for the World-Wide Web, ranging from simple to sophisticated, that illustrate all the concepts discussed in this book This easy-to-follow tutorial doesn't stop at the basics: You'll also learn how to use Java's object-oriented features and techniques, how to create a graphical user interface in Java, how to paint pictures in your applet's window, how to respond to error conditions, and much more. This is Java presented the way it should be--a straightforward approach to the latest and greatest programming language on the market today. 0201191571B04062001


Abstract. To further our understanding of the effects of biomass burning emissions on atmospheric composition, we report measurements of trace species in biomass burning plumes made by the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) instrument on the SCISAT-1 satellite. An extensive set of 15 molecules, C 2 H 2 , C 2 H 6 , CH 3 OH, CH 4 , CO, H 2 CO, HCN, HCOOH, HNO 3 , NO, NO 2 , N 2 O 5 , O 3 , OCS and SF 6 are used in our analysis. Even though most biomass burning smoke is typically confined to the boundary layer, some of these emissions are injected directly into the free troposphere via fire-related convective processes and transported away from the emission source. Further knowledge of the aging of biomass burning emissions in the free troposphere is needed. Tracer-tracer correlations are made between known pyrogenic species in these plumes in an effort to characterize them and follow their chemical evolution. Criteria such as age and type of biomass material burned are considered.


The nucleotide sequences of a highly polymorphic region of the mitochondrial gene for cytochrome oxidase I (237 base pair) were determined for 240 individual specimens of the Japanese turban shell Turbo (Batillus) cornutus collected from 12 sites around Japan Synonymous nucleotide substitutions were detected at 34 positions, dnd the 49 haplotypes obtained were divided into 2 clusters that formed 'star' phylogenies. The distribution of the 2 clusters was closely related to the pathways of the 2 warm currents along the Japanese Islands, namely, the Kuroshio and Tsushima Currents. The appearance of 2 clusters in the Japan Sea and the Seto Inland Sea is probably attributable to gene flow through the Kanmon Strait during the past 5000 yr. The genetic polymorphism found anlong the natural populations of the Japanese turban shell provides useful information with which to assess the anticipated genetic disturbance introduced by human activities, such as stocking with artificially bred juveniles.